Tag: comfort food

Vegan Minced Mushroom Burger

This is our latest burger. We are always trying new recipes, tweaking, and then trying again. My freezer is sometimes full of things I’ve tried and then I can’t wait to make it again and change one thing. So into the freezer all the tests go. Thankfully I have lots of people who enjoy eating all the attempts. I have one son who says he basically eats experiments every time he’s home.

The first thing you want to do when making these burgers is to cook your rice in the rice cooker. I usually prepare 3 cups of uncooked rice which gives me more than enough. The mushrooms need to be pulsed in small batches through a food processor, you don’t want them to be paste, just minced. The onions need to be finely diced. This was my third attempt with this particular burger and I couldn’t bring myself to make another batch just to dice the onions finer. So in my photo you can see the onion…the burger will hold together better if they are finer.

Summer Savory seems to be a difficult spice to find, so be aware. The light sweet miso is sometimes found on the shelf and I have also found it in the refrigerator section, so just poke around or ask. I use a 1/2 cup measure to form my burgers so they all have the same amount of “meat”. Using the 1/2 cup measure this recipe makes 18-20 burgers. Freeze those leftovers to make for an easy dinner another day.

We eat burgers with 100% whole grain buns, usually some lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, some homemade hummus is always nice as well.

Vegan Minced Mushroom Burger

  • Servings: makes 18 burgers
  • Difficulty: medium.
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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds mushrooms, pulsed
  • 2 large onions, finely diced
  • 4 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 16 ounce can tomato paste
  • 3 Tbsp. dried parsley
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 Tbsp. light sweet miso
  • 3 Tbsp. dried basil
  • 2 tsp. thyme
  • 2 tsp. summer savory
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 4 tsp. minced garlic
  • 3 cups vital wheat gluten
  • no salt seasoning (for sprinkling on burgers before baking, if desired)

Directions

  1. Pulse mushrooms in batches and put in a large bowl.
  2. Finely chop onions and add to the mushrooms
  3. Add rice to the mushroom mixture
  4. Mix in tomato paste
  5. Blend in parsley, soy sauce, miso, basil, thyme, summer savory, allspice and garlic. Mix well so that the spices are evenly distributed.
  6. Add in the vital wheat gluten.
  7. Form burgers and place on prepared baking sheet. (line the sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper) Sprinkle with no salt seasoning.
  8. Bake at 350° for 30 min.
  9. Enjoy!

theheartie.kitchen

Plant Based Potato Salad

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My mother in law used to make the most fabulous potato salad, the kind that is so rich and creamy it just melts in your mouth.  But alas, it was far from plant-based with its mayo and eggs.  So this is the substitute, not as creamy but certainly as tasty.  We test made this over the Labor Day holiday weekend, when all my kid’s were home.  They are always good taste testers.  They agreed it passed and could be added in to those family gatherings where we used to enjoy grandmas potato salad.  It’s fairly quick and easy to pull together and best yet, it can sit outside at the family picnic without any worries about whats going on with the mayo sitting in the sunshine.  We chose to leave the skin on the potatoes but you can certainly peel them if you want.  Potato skins are actually quite healthy.  One whole baked potato amazingly has more potassium than a banana. Spuds are also rich in iron, magnesium, and fiber, and fiber my friends is only found in plant food, and is a must have for our bodies to run efficiently.  Enjoy!

Plant Based Potato Salad

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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A flavorful salad, rich with herbs and packed with nutrients

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs medium red potatoes, cubed
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups diced celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup minced scallions
  • 1/4 c. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 Tbsp chopped dill

Directions

  1. Put potatoes in a saucepan full of water.  Bring to a boil and cook 5-8  minutes, until just tender.  Drain and set aside.
  2. Whisk apple sauce, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the hot potatoes and toss to coat.
  3. Add celery, parsley, scallions, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped dill.  Stir.
  4. Serve immediately while still warm or refrigerate to serve chilled.

theheartie.kitchen ❤️ur❤️

Steff’s Mac and Cheese

 

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This past 4th of July my family traveled as we have for many years to my sister’s house on the east side of Cleveland.  Her home is nestled in Ohio wine country and we celebrate yearly at Chalet Debonne Vineyards.  It’s a joy to visit because she prepares scrumptious plant-based dishes too.  This year she prepared a Mac and Cheese, (along with lots of other dishes) that was extra yummy.  My hubby even went back for seconds and he was never a Mac and cheese kind of guy before this plant-based adventure.  I was initially a little concerned because following Dr. Esselstyn’s prevent and reverse heart disease lifestyle one is supposed to stay away from nuts.  I have been avoiding them like the plague.  However, at a recent conference, Dr. Esselstyn was asked about nuts and he stated he doesn’t like nuts because no one can stop with just one handful and people end up with nuts in their car, nuts in their desk, nuts in their purse, essentially you can’t stop with just one.  So I made the executive decision that I can use them occasionally within a recipe and just keep them out of sight and hidden in my house so they don’t become a go to snack.  Over Labor Day weekend I prepared Steff’s Mac and Cheese for the first time.   My sister assured me it was super easy.  Just toss everything in the Vita-mix.  I’m told if you have a Vita-mix you don’t need to soak your raw cashews, however the ones I had were lightly salted so I soaked and rinsed them just to get rid of the added salt.  I had to text her photos of my progress several times during the process because I was expecting the sauce in my Vita-mix to be much thicker than it was.  She assured me it was perfect.  Sticking with Esselstyn I used 100% whole grain elbow macaroni.

Steff's Mac and Cheese

  • Servings: 5-7
  • Difficulty: easy
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A yummy substitute for the traditional blue box, approved by one their most avid fans.

Ingredients

  • 2 red peppers
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 -1lb box elbow macaroni

Directions

  1. Place the nuts in a small bowl and cover with water, let sit for approximately  6 hours, then drain and pat dry, this step is not necessary if you are using a Vita-mix.
  2. Prepare pasta and while the pasta is cooking, chunk up red peppers.
  3. Toss red pepper chunks, nutritional yeast, onion powder, water, cashews, salt, nutmeg and turmeric in food processor. Blend until smooth.
  4. Drain pasta and pour back into pan.
  5. Pour sauce over the cooked pasta, stir and place over low heat just until heated through.

theheartie.kitchen

Tofu Breakfast Scramble

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Before going plant based I would make a lovely breakfast casserole for every holiday or basically anytime we had everyone home. I would assemble my ingredients the night before and then pop it in the oven the next morning while everyone was still sleeping. Waking up to the aroma of something wonderful baking is just a basic part of a family get together. So I knew I needed to come up with a suitable substitute. This is it! There is no evening before preparation and there are so many variations, the options are limited only by your palette. I use a 9×13 baking dish and just cover the whole bottom with tater tots, I have used both tots and crowns so either are fine. The best part is the veggies that get mixed with the tofu…they literally can be any veggies. This past Christmas we used leftover stuffing in place of the veggies and it was fabulous. We have also added in some leftover corn casserole and again it was tasty. I have to admit the dairy free cheese on the top isn’t my favorite but my kids love it. Kala Namak is a seasoning that gives the tofu its eggy flavor and a little goes a long way, you really only need a pinch. You can order it from Amazon. I have also found my local Indian grocery store carries it. Typically we make this or some variation every morning of the holidays. Enjoy! ❤️ur❤️

Tofu Breakfast Scramble

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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A hearty warm breakfast for a cold winter morning.

Ingredients

  • frozen tater tots, I use rounds
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 red sweet peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup spinach leaves, roughly chopped
  • 2 pound extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
  • 1 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 4 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbsp. corn starch
  • A few pinches of kala namak
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • vegan cheese shreds to sprinkle on top
  • sliced tomatoes for the top

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a large skillet, sauce the onion, garlic and sweet pepper in a little water over medium heat.
  3. Once the onion is translucent, add the mushrooms and spinach.  Saute until the mushrooms are soft and the spinach is wilted.
  4. Crumble the tofu in a small bowl and stir in the turmeric powder, paprika, nutritional yeast, corn starch, kala namak, salt and pepper.
  5. Stir the vegetables and the tofu together until combined
  6. Arrange the tater rounds in a casserole dish. Spread the tofu and veggie mixture over the top. (Sprinkle with optional tempeh)
  7. Top with tomato slices and vegan cheese shreds.
  8. Bake for approximately 30 minutes

Optional tempeh instructions

  • 5 oz. tempeh
  • 1 Tbsp. barbecue-sauce
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke

Cut the tempeh into small cubes, stir in the barbecue-sauce, paprika, soy sauce, and liquid smoke and cook over medium heat for approximately 5 min.

theheartie.kitchen