Sweet Curry "Crock-Pot Pie"

This was technically inspired by this recipe. Instead of the traditional pot pie, this recipe is sweet and spicy. The soup is curry based, but has the traditional pot pie veggies making it both familiar and exotic. 

Soup:

yellow onion

2 stalks celery

can sweet corn

1 stalk green onions

1/2 cup edamame

1/2 cup peas

4  carrots

1-2 garlic cloves

2 cups vegetable broth
6-7 whole cloves*

1-2 sprigs fresh sage (remove from stem)

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary (remove from stem)

1-2 sprigs fresh thyme (remove from stem)
Optional: fennel fronds (I used one ice cube's worth of frozen, stored from a fall CSA share)

Rue:

1/2 tsp cumin*

~ 1/4 tsp cinnamon*

~ 1/4 tsp ground coriander*

1/2 tsp tumeric*

pinch paprika*

pinch cayenne pepper*

salt 

pepper

1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)

* If you don't have these ingredients, use maybe 1 tbs of curry powder --it will have the same spices and close to the same flavor.

Bread Top:

2 1/4 cups bisquik/ biscuit mix

2/3 non-dairy milk (I used plain soy)

Chop onions, slice carrots and celery, mince garlic. Combine vegetables, broth and fresh herbs in crock pot. Combine rue ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir into the soup. Cook on high for 1-2 hours.

Mix bread top ingredients and spread/drop evenly over the top. We took spoonfuls and dropped them like dumplings across the top, but it worked out fine in the end--It may sink at first, but will puff up and float to the top. Reduce heat to low and cook for ~2 hours until the dough is cooked all the way through.

It was sweet and spicy treat, very delicious!!!!

Chocolate Chai Cupcakes

For a Holiday "Classy Evening Affair," I made these Chocolate Chai Cupcakes  and topped them with a  Pumpkin Amaretto Frosting (modified from this recipe). I did a double batch of the cupcakes for this amount of frosting.

Here is my frosting recipe:

Pumpkin Amaretto Frosting

4 oz vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti)

2 tbsp Earth balance margarine

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1-2 oz Amaretto (if you use more, you may need more powdered sugar, or use less pumpkin)

2 cups powdered (confectioner's sugar)

Optional: Chocolate-covered espresso beans 

Blend the cream cheese and butter together until smooth (use a whisk or a hand mixer). Blend in the pumpkin and amaretto until the consistency is smooth and the color is even. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, being careful to avoid clumps (if you have one, a flour sifter would be really helpful at this step, but not necessary). The frosting should peak, and in general be thick enough to not run off the side of the cupcake. Add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny and use a high speed on the hand mixer to  "whip" the frosting into shape! Using a large spoon, frost the cupcakes. Mine were topped with chocolate covered espresso beans. Pictures to come.

Broccoli Spinach Lasagna

This is a good way to clean out the fridge. For us, we had spinach, broccoli, and icicle radishes. The two of us had left overs for lunch and quick dinners for 3 days. But, it was super delicious!! Pictures to come.

Vegan Lasagna
Serves 6-8 (or 2 for days :-P)

1/2 package lasagna noodles
1 package extra firm tofu (14-16 oz)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Spices to taste- about 1/2 tbsp of each: lemon garlic spice mix, salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme.
Spinach- about a quart of fresh or frozen spinach
4 small icicle radishes
1 head broccoli
2 large cloves garlic
1 red onion
2 regular cans tomato sauce or one large jar pasta sauce
1 package soy mozzarella cheese


Step 1: Cook lasagna noodles as per package instructions. While cooking, drain/press tofu. If using, blanch fresh spinach in left over pasta water.
Step 2: Using a fork or hands crumble tofu to ricotta texture. Add nutritional yeast and spices, mix well.  Mix in spinach. Set aside.
Step 3: Dice radishes and broccoli into small edible pieces. Mix together and set aside.
Step 4: Chop onion and mince garlic, Saute briefly in olive oil until onion is translucent.

In a 9x13 baking pan, layer accordingly:

Thin layer of tomato sauce (Sauce)
Noodles
Sauce
Broccoli/radish mix
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Onion/garlic mix
Tofu ricotta
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Top with soy mozzarella cheese



David had already dug in before we could get a great shot of the lasagna, but here is what the final product should look like (minus a slice):



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