Carnival Squash and Black Bean Casserole

Tonight I am making (it's in the oven right now):

Carnival Squash and Black Bean Casserole
Adapted from Fat Free Vegan's Pumpkin and Black Bean Casserole


1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (or one can, rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder (or other mild chili powder)
1/8 - 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (to taste)
15 ounces canned tomatoes, drained and liquid reserved*

1 pound pumpkin (about 1/2 one small pumpkin) or any winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc.)

3/4 cup soymilk or other non-dairy milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon tahini (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the black beans with the next 8 ingredients and set aside.

Cut the pumpkin in half. Set aside one half for another use and peel the other half. Cut it into very thin slices about 1/4-inch thick and 2 inches long.

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with canola oil. Lay one-third of the pumpkin slices in the bottom of the dish, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cover with half of the bean mixture. Repeat layers with another third of the pumpkin and the remainder of the beans. Finish with the final third of the pumpkin slices.

In a blender, combine the reserved *tomato liquid (about 1/2 cup) with the soymilk and remaining ingredients. Blend well and pour over the pumpkin. Cover tightly, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 20-30 minutes, until sauce is thick and bubbly and pumpkin is tender.

*If you prefer to use fresh tomatoes, use one cup of chopped tomatoes and substitute 1/2 cup of water for tomato juice in the sauce recipe.

CSA SHARE

This Week's Share Contains Yellow Potatoes (Some Russets and Other Mixed In); Bunch Kale (Maybe depends on the weather);Shallots; Mars and/or Torpedo Onions; Turnips -or- Rutabaga; Pie Pumpkin -or- Red Kuri; Parsnips; Brussels Sprouts; Bag of Greens (Probably Mix of Claytonia and Tatsoi); 2 Mini Decorative Pumpkins; Butterworks Farm Early Riser Cornmeal; Fresh Cranberries from Vermont Cranberry Company;Dozen of Deborah's Eggs; Organic Quebec Flaxseed


You may have noticed that there was no CSA share post last week that is because our partners took everything last week and we are taking everything this week because our CSA partners will be out of town this week. We will be giving the eggs to my parents as obviously we will not be eating them and our partners will not be around to take them.

Some plans we have to use these items are:

• Whipped Montreal Chicken Spiced Potatoes
• Mashed Turnip/Rutabega
• Fried parsnip rounds
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Chickpea Pumpkin Tagine
• Apple Cranberry Salad with Fried Seitan and Almond Dijon Dressing (using the greens)
• We will be freezing the cranberries and using them for Christmas Dinner
• As for the other items only time will tell

BITE ME

The other night Neil and I decided to go to dinner and after discuss about a million places that we might go we decided on pizza. There is this new pizza joint off Howard Street downtown called Bite Me. It is a localvore and organic pizza place that is super small but has great pizza. Along with this they have specically vegan pizzas that is labled on the menu you can also create your own vegan pizza. We decided to get the vegan pizza which was called "The Vermont Intervale Ghosts- it had marinated tofu, roasted eggplant, baby spinach, squash, roasted red peppers, red beets, caramlized onions, yellow and red tomatoes and lemon oil drizzle for $20. The price might seem high but this pizza is huge and worth the costs.

Other vegan toppings include:
basil, thai basil, baby arugula, baby spinach, callions, cilantro, sprouts, sunflower seeds, apples, walnuts, pears, grapes, pineapple, okra, broccoli, crimini mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, tomaotes, onion, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, squash, roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted eggplant, marinated tofu, carrots, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, red beets, olives, kim-chee, and shitake mushrooms with your choice of tomato sauce or spicy red sauce...they have a pesto but i am not sure if it is vegan and the richard's bbq sauce is not vegan there is worcestershire sauce in the bbq sauce.


i would definitly reccommed this place and can't wait to try their kimchi pizza

faux sausage and mac &cheeze

Last night I made faux sausage for the first time from Everyday Dish TV and they were great. I also tried Vegan Dad's Creamy mac and Cheeze which is soooo yummy.

Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages
Makes 8 links

2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tbsp Bills Best Chik’Nish Seasoning (if using another brand which is salty, or saltier than Bill’s Best, you’ll want to greatly reduce the amount you use)
2 tbsp granulated onion
1 to 2 tbsp fennel seed, optional
2 tsp coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp dried chili flakes, optional
1 tsp ground smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 1/4 cups cool water*
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the water, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce and using a fork, gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.
2. Scoop 1/2 cup dough mixture at a time and shape into logs. Place logs on piece of aluminum foil and roll up, twisting ends. Place sausages in steamer and steam for 30 minutes. Once sausages have cooled, remove from foil and refrigerate until ready to eat. After cooling, the sausages may feel a bit dry on

New Ethic x 2

So I have to admit Neil and I loved New Ethic and not only did we go their Friday night we went Sunday for lunch as well. Friday night we met up with our friend Monica and we decided to each get something and share it since we were all curious as to what everything tasted like. Neil ordered the nachos, Monica the fried chicken sandwich, and I ordered the soul food plate, we also got a side of mac and cheeze to share.

Let me tell you this was amazing food. The nachos were perfect they were sooo fresh and good! The chicken sandwich yum yum yum, their mock chicken is the best I have ever had. The mac and cheese really good too (my hubby and I would have liked some ketchup for it or hot sauce but it was good anyways). Lastly the super star of this dinner was the soul food plate which consisted of fried chik'n with ranch dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn bread; all of this was incredible the chik'n so good, the cornbread was sweet and yummy and the potatoes soo good the only thing that was meh where the green beans but that can easily be overlooked.

On sunday Neil got the Sweet chili burger with coconut bacon and i got the cobb salad. Both were really good. The coconut bacon which everyone was raving about was good however I felt that the coconut flavor was slightly over powering in my salad, it was great on the burger though.

Over all this restuarant is amazing and anyone who comes to Burlington....or VT in general should make a special trip here.

Tonight

I can't wait for tonight it is going to be great. Neil and I are meeting up with my good friend Monica and we are going to

Then Neil and I are going to see Murder by Death at Higher Ground!

What We've Been Up To

Finally things have slowed down for a minute and I can write a little bit. Unfortunately I am without recipes for you right now but will be getting back to it soon.

Although Neil and I have been a little under the weather we still have managed to make some yummy dishes which I will post photos of when I get home and upload them to my computer.

I made some roasted root vegetable soup which included kohlrabi, red kuri squash, butternut squash and carrots; this was great and helped us feel somewhat better.

On Saturday we took a morning stroll and stopped in at Coffee Corner and got this amazing (and huge) breakfast which consisted of home fries, bread, and marinated tofu scramble with roasted red peppers, mushrooms and spinach YUMMM!. That night we had some pizza using our dough from our CSA and topped it with sautéed wild mushrooms and teese and some greens tossed with a dijon balsamic dressing. Sunday for lunch we had some tofu with vegetarian oyster sauce (there was more than just that in it I adapted it form a thai recipe I found that was beef with oyster sauce) it was absolutely delicious.

Neil made me the best dinner I have had in awhile the other day it was with soy curls and mixed veggies in a veggie oyster sauce and soy sauce kind of sauce (how many times can I use sauce in this sentence) anyways it was just like take out Chinese and SO yummy.

Last night I used some Brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions and carrots from our CSA and made a yummy hash which we had with veggie burgers and green beans.

Well back to work, I will update the blog with photos and recipes ASAP!

Adopt/Sponsor a Turkey this Thanksgiving

Rather than eating a turkey this year lets save some and sponsor them through the Farm Santuary. Go here and sponsor a turkey for this holiday season and make it a new tradition.

CSA Week 4

This Week's Share Contains Red Kuri Squash; Russet Potatoes; Mixed Medium Beets; 2 Stalks Brussels Sprouts; Torpedo Onions; Bag Mixed Spinach and Claytonia; Green and/or Purple Pac Choi; Bunch Cilantro; Sweet Salad Turnips; Rolled Oats from Quebec; Butterworks Farm Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour; Red Hen Pain au Levain;
(and eggs for our omnivore share partners)

Updates Soon!

I know it has been forever since I have posted. Neil and I have been sick and super busy at work. Updates soon though!

CSA week 3

Red Kuri Squash; Acorn Squash; Garlic; Walla Walla Onions; Head Lettuce; Green Tomatoes; Bag Mixed Spinach, Baby Tatsoi and Claytonia; Bunch Sweet Salad Turnips; Bunch Kale; Bunch Sorrel; Oyster or Shitakii Mushrooms from Amir Habib; Bufala di Vermont Mozzarella Cheese; Elmore Mountain Pizza Dough.

Sans Mozza which goes to our omnivore partners.

Back from Boston

I am back from Boston :( . It was a great time and there is so much to tell.

We started our trip out at Grasshopper in Allston. I had the Vegie Beef and Broccoli with Brown Rice and Neil had the Gluten Ginger Stir Fry with fried rice. We started with the friend dumplings. Mine was okay the broccoli was fresh which was nice but it was kind of unimpressive and the vegie beef was kind of rubbery. Neil's dish was awful I took a few bites and just wasn't liking it at all. There was too much ginger and it was slimmy; he didn't care for it either but his dislike was nothing like mine. The fried dumplings we started with were fine it's hard to mess up fried food. Overall I was not impressed with Grasshopper at all and probably wouldn't go back unless I wanted a cheap lunch. It is great if you want an all vegan dining spot however beyond that I'd look elsewhere.

(grasshopper photos to come)

After our lunch at Grasshopper we jumped next door to TJ Scallywaggles and picked up a giant carrot cake cupcake that was really good.

(pic of cupcake)

For dinner on Friday we went to Lowell to Life Alive. It is located in the historic arts district and is this great vegetarian cafe that uses mostly whole foods and is all organic. We had this great salad called the Mystic Mountain and it had roasted garlic lemon parsley hummus along with granny apple slices and cashews along with other veggies. Neil had a large version of this and I had a small one with a cup of curried squash and apple soup. Everything was fresh and yummy and their menu is mostly vegan with a few exceptions that can be made vegan except for the one with eggs. To end my meal and please my sweet tooth I had a Coconut Alive Smoothie made withTherapeutic Coconut Oil, Banana, Vanilla Rice Dream, & Rice Milk; Immune Boosting, Fat Reducing, Heart Protecting...and DELICIOUS!

(photos for Live Alive)

Saturday morning we headed to the Veg Fest. When we got there we were told to head upstairs first and we tried a few samples and then filtered down the hall to a classroom where we were lucky enough to hear Sarah Kramer talk about her books and vegan travel. She was great and had a lot of spunk. After this we headed downstairs where the craziness began. There were tons of people and lots of booths go view. Below are a number of the free samples we got (besides the ones we ate) and a few things such as the non-cheese crackers, marshmellows and teese that we bought there.



After Veg Fest we headed to our hotel to relax for a bit and then to Harvard Sqaure. We were a little hungry and feeling unsatisfied from our ridiculous snacking on samples that were mostly sweets so we decided to stop at b.good and share a veggie burger and sweet potato fries. This place was great and everything is baked not fried and so yummy.


Later that evening we wondered over to Chinatown in search of Supper 88 however to our dissapointment the one on Essex St. was closed for renovation. However we jumped over a street and to our surprise Buddha's Delight no longer exist it has been replaced with My Thai Vegan Cafe (which is also located in Brookline). Excited to see that a vegan restaurant had replaced Buddha's we decided to try it and we are glad we did it was incredible. This place had great food and really out shinned Grasshopper by 100%. We started with some fresh rolls that were really good and had this increible peanutty dipping sauce. I had the yellow curry noodles with vegie chicken which was so yummy and Neil had yellow noodles with vegie chicken (they had sort of a brown sauce on them) those were the yummiest things. We were pleasntly surprised and impressed by My Thai and can't wait to go back.

(my thai photos)

Sunday morning before heading home we decided to go to our favorite breakfast spot - Espresso Royale/Bagel Rising on Newbury st where we got our soy chai lattes and the yummiest whole wheat everything bagels one with veggie tofu spread and the other with sundried tomato tofu spread (we shared).






After this we stopped at Tradder Joe's on Boylston and then headed out to Allston to the Super 88 and then to Whole Foods in Boston. We picked up a number of goodies (pictures below).


Now I am tired and don't want to head to work but I must. Enjoy and I will update with more pictures this evening.

p.s. the tofu loaf picture is now up