Vegan Mac and Cheese

8-10 Oz Whole Wheat Rotini
2 Cups Steamed Broccoli Florets
2 Pieces of Bread, toasted and ground to breadcrumbs

1 Cup Peeled, Finely Chopped Potatoes
1/4 Cup Peeled, Finely Chopped Carrots
1 Cup Water

1/3 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tbs Miso (any kind, I like red)
1 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Lemon Juice (sub: 2 tsp White Wine Vinegar)
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/3 Cup Earth Balance Margarine
1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 to 1 1/2 tsp Salt
Black Pepper to taste
Paprika for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350º

Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, steam broccoli and set aside. I use my rice cooker. Simply put the florets in the cooker with 2-3 Tbs of hot water and turn the cooker on. Broccoli will be bright green and tender-crisp when done. Don’t forget about it in there–it’ll finish cooking before the rice cooker clicks off, so if you forget about it, you’ll overcook your broccoli. Mine takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

Make sure the carrots and potatoes are chopped very small; this will reduce the cooking time greatly. Place the chopped potatoes and carrots in small sauce pan that has a lid. Add the 1 cup of water. Boil covered until tender, 10-15 minutes.

While the potatoes and carrots are cooking, add the remaining ingredients to the blender (cashew, miso, lemon juice, mustard, earth balance, nut. yeast, salt and pepper). Once potatoes and carrots are done cooking, add them and their cooking water to the blender as well. Blend until VERY smooth. If needed, add soymilk or water 1 Tbs at a time to thin. Taste for seasoning.

Toast the bread and process into crumbs.

Toss the cooked pasta and broccoli with the sauce. Place in a casserole dish and top with breadcrumbs, black pepper, and paprika.

Bake for 25 minute at 350º F until browned and bubbly.

Potato Rolls

Ingredients:

1 medium potato, peeled and diced
2 cups water
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Place potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Set cooking liquid aside to cool to 110 degrees F-115 degrees F.

Mash potato (don't add milk or butter); set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm cooking liquid. Add the honey, oil, salt, egg, 4 cups flour and mashed potato. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 7-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 36 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Brunner Yeast Rolls

Ingrediants:
1/3 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 Packets Yeast
4 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter
2 eggs

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, and yeast in food processor. Melt butter. Combine butter, milk, and eggs. Add the wet ingrediants to the dry in a food processor. Add salt. Once ingrediants are combined, kneed on lightly floured surface for 5-10 minutes.

Place dough into a greased bowl and let proof for 1 hr.

Once dough has doubled in size punch down and roll on lightly floured surface into 12 knots.

Allow knot rolls to proof for 20 minutes until risen.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake rolls for 10 minutes until lightly golden.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

For the topping:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Nonstick spray

For beans:
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
1 gallon water
2 tablespoons kosher salt

For sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Bake in the oven until golden brown, tossing every 10 minutes, for approximately 30 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use.

Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Add the half-and-half and cook until the mixture thickens, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Corn Pudding

Ingrediants:

2 ears fresh corn
1 16 ounce bag frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1 cup half and half (I used low fat)
1/2 cup milk (whatever kind you have, I used skim)
2 eggs, plus 1 egg white
1/2 stick butter, melted (I used the unslated SmartBalance-butter blend stick)
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the kernels off both ears of fresh corn, setting aside 1/2 cup of the whole kernels. With a cheese grater, grate the ears of corn over a plate to remove all of the milky corn still left in the ears. With the 1/2 cup of corn you set aside, you should have about 3/4 cup of corn kernels and ‘milky’ corn left.

Pour the 3/4 cup corn from the fresh ears in a food processor. Set aside 1/2 cup of the frozen corn kernels. Pour the remaining frozen corn in the food processor with the fresh corn. Blend the corn until it is evenly minced, almost to a puree. Pour in the milk and half and half and blend until combined.

In a medium bowl, beat your eggs and egg white slightly with a fork. Pour the corn mixture in the bowl, stirring to mix well. Slowly pour in the melted butter, stirring as you add it. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cheese and stir to combine. Spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick spray, and pour the entire mixture into the dish. Bake about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the middle is set. Let the dish stand for at least 30 minutes. Can be refrigerated and reheated.

Cornbread Stuffing

Ingrediants:

2 slices bacon, chopped
2 stalks celery, minced
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon freshly chopped sage leaves
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
2 1/2 cups crumbled cornbread
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large heavy bottomed saute pan, begin to fry bacon. Add celery, onion and garlic to pan and allow to saute with the crispy bacon. Add rosemary, sage and parsley after bacon has cooked for 8 to 10 minutes. Saute until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl add cornbread, dried cranberries and chicken stock. Stir in the cooked vegetable mixture. Mix well.

Place in 8x8 inch baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.