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.

Veganmofo: Delicata Squash Soup

Last night my hubby Neil made some wonderful soup from our delicata squash that was part of our CSA this week. He used veganyumyum's recipe for delicata squash soup and it was super yummy! I have a photo but it is on my film camera so you will have to wait until I get them developed and put on a disc. To acompany our soup we had a slice of our Elmore Mountain Pain au Levain bread from our CSA and I made a warm shallot dressing with Sweet Salad Turnips over a Bunch Mizuna. Our entire meal used ingredients from our CSA and were otherwise local and organic it was a great light meal before our first yoga class at Yoga Mountain.

Veganmofo: Cupcakes and Squash

This morning I was very ambituous and I decided to makes cupcakes and roasted squash soup for a dear friend of mine who just found out her father has cancer. She is home right now to be with him and her mom and I decided to make some "lets be positive cupcakes" and some yummy comforting roasted squash soup. I am going to deliver them to her tonight after work, I hope they enjoy them!

Roasted Squash Soup:

adapted from Andrea's Recipes

Ingredients
1whole butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 whole acorn squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)

fresh ground black pepper

kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) margarine

1 onion, diced

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

6 cups of vegetable broth

1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh sage

1/4 cup plain soy milk

1 T maple syrup

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Cut the butternut and acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Place face down on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool so that you can handle it without getting burned. (If you have a convection oven, do not preheat. Put the prepared squash on the baking sheets and put into the cold oven. Bake at 400° F for 20 to 25 minutes.)
3. Scoop all of the squash out into a large bowl and mash with a potato masher.
4. Melt the margarine in the pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, mashed squash, and herbs and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Pour about 1/3 of the soup into the blender and puree. Pour puree out into the large bowl and repeat two more times. Pour the pureed soup back into the pot. Stir in the soy milk and maple syrup and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Cupcakes:

I added thawed frozen raspberries and saved the juice for the frosting.

Frosting Recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, we use Earth Balance

1/4 juice of raspberries

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
INSTRUCTIONS
Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Friendly Fall Feast

With fall quickly approaching (if not here in all but date only), Lindsay and I have been looking forward to making good, hearty, stick to your ribs type of meals with all the lovely food we have been able to get at the local farmer's market as well as from our own garden.

As I've gotten older, fall has definitely become my favourite season. I love the crisp smell in the air, the changing colours of the foliage (and now that I'm in Vermont, it's even more beautiful than back home in NB), cuddling close to my lover to keep her warm at night and not to mention being able to wear sweaters and long sleeve shirts again.

Lindsay had a couple of her girlfriends down visiting from Burlington today and we decided to take advantage of that and go all out and make a four course meal featuring all kinds of different local goods. After some searching online, Lindsay found a good inspiration for our fall feast on Vegan Yum Yum. We spent the morning at the Farmer's Market in Montpelier picking up the rest of what we needed to prepare our feast for our guests.

To start, Lindsay made a green salad using mesclan mix and spicy sprouts and a maple vinagrette made from Vermont maple syrup, dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. It was a nice light start to the meal.


For the second course, I made a roasted squash soup out of three different squashes that we had grown in our (organic) garden at Lindsay's parents house in Waterville. The three varieties of squash we used were acorn, buttercup, spaghetti. We cut each of the squash in half, drizzled olive oild over them, and roasted them in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 F. I started the soup by sautéing a medium sized onion and four large garlic cloves (from a local organic farm at the Rutland, Vt farmers market) until they were tender, being careful not to burn them. At this point I added the squash, fresh thyme, fresh sage and vegetable stock and let the soup simmer for some time allowing the squash to become more tender and the flavours to come together. At this point, I used an immersion blender to puree the soup and then added soy cream (which I made using soy milk, flour and some sugar) as well as Vermont maple syrup. After mixing that in, I seasoned the soup with sea salt and fresh pepper to taste. I made the soup a five or six hours before dinner which allowed the soups flavours to develop even more. I think the mix of the different types of squash gave it a nice flavour that you wouldn't experience if using just one type of squash.

Following Lindsay and I made a variation on Shepherd's pie using lentils rather than ground meat (obviously) or a meat replacement. The base of the meal was sort of a stew made using lentils, peas, veggie stock, fresh sage, fresh thyme, garlic, carrots, and onions (the last three all from the local farmer's market). She used a flour and water slurry to help thicken the stew. We topped the stew off with a couple scoops of whipped yellow potatoes that we had gotten from the farmer at the Rutland Farmer's market the weekend before. It turned out really well and is something we would definitely make again (and I'm really looking forward to eating the leftovers)

Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. And no fall dessert is complete without pumpkin (well, I think so at least!). For our final course, Lindsay had prepared Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from a recipe that she had gotten from Vegan Yum Yum. They turned out better than I ever could have imagined. I think Lindsay was most excited by the fact that she finally got to put our kitchenaid to good use. The flavour for the cookie batter came from the pumpkin puree, molasses, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. She then made a cream cheeze frosting using vegan cream cheeze and icing sugar. Of course being the loving husband that I am, I volunteered to taste test the batter. It reminded me of a molasses cookie but more sweet and rich. The whoopie pies were a great finish to the evening and I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow :)



We have decided to sign up as members of a CSA with Pete's Greens and are looking forward to making the most of all the amazing fall and winter vegetables that we will be getting from them.