Home cooking vegetarian meatloaf

It’s week 2 with one less bird in the nest. We’re still getting used to it and I somehow expect Alec to walk through the door at any moment. Alas, he’s already enjoying college life, including the thrill of having so many food choices at any given moment.

I am saving about $100 a week in groceries and figure Lake Forest is losing money on his meal plan 😉

Avery is enjoying being an “only” child and not having to share the car with anyone.

We look forward to seeing him at Thanksgiving and hearing all about he’s learning (History of Global Capitalism, anyone?)

I figure the thrill of dorm food will have worn off by then and he’ll be grateful for anything cooked by Mom, including this vegetarian meatloaf. Maybe I will FedEx him some. I am sure his roommate would love it.

Vegetarian meatloaf

• 14oz vegetarian sausage
• 10 oz vegetarian meat crumbles
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 1/4c fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/2c panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Salt and pepper

Sauté onion in 1 tsp olive oil until soft, 3-5 min. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook another 3-5 min. Add Worcestershire sauce, herbs, salt and pepper. Mix in meats, eggs, breadcrumbs and combine gently. Put into loaf pan. Combine tomato sauce and brown sugar, cover meat in glaze. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.

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I can’t believe it’s meatless Bolognese (vegan)

So the thing about change is that it requires flexibility and curiosity. Changing how you eat after 20+ years is kind of a big deal. You really have to think and act differently. As in, be mindful about food rather than fall into autopilot. It’s hard.

We started the boys early on trying new foods and basically expected them to eat like adults from very early on. If they didn’t like something, fine. But they had to try it. Multiple times.

So the vegan thing is just taking that to another realm. Mostly it requires ME to change. I have to adjust favorite recipes, find new ones and shop differently. Mostly it’s fun and I am enjoying experimenting.

We try some things and add them to the buy again list–like cashewyogurt–and others–like tempeh bacon–will need to grow on us. But every week I have tried something new, a new product or a new technique.

There are an incredible number of fantastic plant-based products out there. Avery is never going back to regular milk from his barista smooth Almondmilk. (And no this isn’t paid product promo).

This vegan bolognese was a wild success. “Mom, you can make this every week!” And the best part is that it doesn’t take 3 hours of simmering (plant protein doesn’t break down the same way animal protein does).

There are a couple of secret ingredients in this–wine and cinnamon. Plus it’s important to cook the mirepoix before adding the meat, then garlic and herbs, then tomato paste. (If your sauce sometimes tastes bitter it’s probably from uncooked tomato paste. It only needs a minute or so but removes the sharp bite).

Oh, and the only reason to make bolognese in July is a state swim meet: Go Aquajets, Power of the team!

Bolognese sauce (vegan)

• 1/2 diced onion
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 package ground meatless crumbles
• 14oz veggie sausage
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 15oz can tomato sauce
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup veggie broth
• Salt and pepper

Sauté veggies in olive oil until soft. Add “meats” and brown. Getting a nice crust adds depth of flavor. Add garlic sauté 1 min. Add tomato paste and herbs, cook 1 min. Add diced tomatoes, sauce, bay leaf, cinnamon, red wine and veggie broth. Season with salt as it simmers about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Serve over pasta.

Emotional eating

There’s a time and place for emotional eating. This weekend is one of them. It’s mid-April, and we’ve already taken our winter vacation. I thought it would be downhill after our return. Silly me.

It has snowed 15″ in the last 48 hours. And it’s not done yet. This is definitely stretching my optimism skills, as hockey season is almost done (go Wild!) and baseball is underway (go Twins!) But Avery will be lucky to be practicing and playing outside by the end of the month, roughly half of the HS baseball season. He’s not happy.

By Saturday night I was pretty squirrelly after being stuck inside so long. So I did what I do when my emotions run wild, I cooked. I made chocolate chip cookies and opened a bottle of wine. Fully admit this is emotional eating. And not vegan. Real Irish salted butter made these the best cookies I have ever made (keep it in the fridge for splurges and this definitely qualifies).

When the plows finally came through this morning and Matt had collapsed from shoveling the driveway (spring snow is heavy!), I ventured out to the grocery store to re-stock. And do some more emotional cooking.

We’re having favorites this week –made egg salad for Matty, bought lunch meat for the boys, spaghetti and “meat”balls, roasting a bunch of vegs and making ramen for me, which starts with an awesome garlic vegetable broth. All comfort foods that definitely have meaning for each of us. Is it so wrong to attach emotions to food and use it to perk up oneself from time to time?!

The cooking process itself calms me down. I came out of my rage as the broth simmered, realizing how few “snow days” we have left as a family. That we were all safe and snuggled in wearing pajamas for 2 days straight, gathered round the kitchen laughing and making the best out of it (binge watch recommendation = The Looming Tower on Hulu).

And it’s helping me make my case that our winters (Nov to May) should be spent elsewhere…just 2 more to get through! My suggestion to sell the house and buy a boat to sail the Caribbean is looking a lot less “crackpot”….

Garlic miso broth

• 8 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 cups water
• 2 stalks celery (with leaves)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 2 scallions
• 1 bunch fresh herbs, parsley or cilantro
• Miso individual soup packet (optional)

Sauté smashed garlic in olive oil over low heat until brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic head, water, celery, scallions, bay leaf, herbs and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain and add miso packet, salt and pepper as desired. A great base for ramen or any veg soup.

Roasted butternut squash rosemary lasagna

When I crave lasagna, I generally don’t think vegan–getting rid of the meat is the easy part, it’s all that cheese holding the layers together that’s hard to replicate. And I haven’t yet found a really good nondairy cheese that both melts well and holds up in the oven in a dish like lasagna (suggestions welcome!)

So when my sister served this lasagna at a recent family celebration, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s based on this butternut squash garlic lasagna recipe.

I fully admit that I did not go all vegan on this, but used real parmesan. I would have liked to try again with nondairy parm before posting this, but probably won’t get a chance before we’re done with winter roasting weather here in Minnesota.

That’s good news, it means that I am looking forward to roasting corn outside on the grill…soon!

Roasted butternut squash rosemary lasagna (almost vegan)

• 12 par-cooked lasagna sheets
• 1 Butternut squash, cubed (buy the precut cubes if you can, about 6-8 cups)
• Olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 cups nondairy milk (I used unsweetened coconut)
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 4 tbsp nondairy butter
• 1 cup nondairy creamer (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 oz parmesan
• Salt

Toss squash cubes in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, depending on how big you cut your cubes and how “roasted” you like your vegs.

Bring milk to a simmer and steep rosemary for at least an hour. Remove sprig.

Sauté garlic in “butter” 30 seconds, add flour and stir until the roux is browned, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour in milk mixture and cook until sauce is creamy about 10 minutes. Add squash. I really smashed my cubes into the cream sauce since I wanted a smooth consistency. Depending on how roasted your cubes are this may require a bit of elbow grease 😉 I liked the extra depth of the well roasted squash. Season with salt and pepper.

Layer lasagna by putting 1/4 of sauce on bottom of pan, top with 3 noodles, sprinkle with cheese and repeat 3 more times with the top layer as noodles. (I used more layers than the original recipe, which made it have a bit more structure.)

Pour cream over top and remaining parmesan (this too is a change from the original recipe as the “whipping” of almond milk will result in a giant mess but try if you insist 😉).

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40 minutes until noodles are soft. Cool before cutting.

Chipotle chili (vegan)

One of the reasons I started doing the blog is to force myself to write stuff down. And actually measure. Ummm, yah, not so great at either of those things. I’m a little vague on exactly how much of what that I put into this chili. It’s the first time I have made it and just grabbed what I had on hand.

Wouldn’t you know it, this was fantastic. A nice smoky heat and good heartiness. I should try harder, and take pictures of the steps. Then I wouldn’t have this problem. But that sounds like a lot of work. Almost as much work as actually measuring and then actually writing it down. This is why I am a “cook” and not a baker. Too hard.

I think I will just call my stuff “recipes”. As in good enough. If you test this and find the amounts in odd proportion, you’re probably right 😉

Chipotle chili

• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 chipotles plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 c diced bell peppers (yellow, orange, red)
• 4c vegetable stock
• 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2c quick cook barley
• 1 can pinto beans
• Salt

Sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chipotles/adobo and peppers and sauté another 2 minutes. Add stock and tomatoes, bring to simmer and add barley. Simmer on low about 20 minutes and add beans, cook 5 minutes more. Season to taste.

Redemptive root vegetable stew (vegan)

So several weeks ago I posted about a “failure” in trying to make something into what it’s clearly not: “Beef” stew (vegan), using substitutes that simply didn’t measure up to the original. The main problem was that I was using a “beef” tips product that should not be slow simmered. It got sour and bitter. The boys nicknamed it “feeb” stew, beef backwards and feeb for feeble.

I continued to tinker and found the flavor profile that was “close” to the original but still honored the inherent flavors and textures of the replacements. I feel this recipe redeems itself now.

If you have never had turnips, this is a great one to try them in. The root vegetables in this all tend towards sweeter than potatoes and are a bit firmer in texture. It’s soft, but not mush. It’s a perfect Sunday supper and makes the house smell good!

So here’s one thing about eating vegan–it’s not about “replacing” meat with a different plant protein. It’s working for us when we reimagine familiar recipes with new ingredients and techniques.

It takes a bit of layering to bring out the “umami” flavor meat adds, I am starting to figure it out. The mushrooms do it in this one, and cremini are solid enough to hold up to the long cook time without getting bitter. Cooking the tomato paste also helps bring depth and bay leaves in the broth brighten it up.

I truly love this version as an update to a comfort food winter favorite. The original recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. I served it with yukon gold mashed potatoes (boil, mash and add unsweetened coconut milk) and peas. Multi-colored carrots are a nice touch for visual variety, orange/purple/white.

Feeble no more…power to the plant!

Root vegetable stew

• 1 onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz tomato paste
• 8 cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Dash sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 turnips, peeled and diced
• 1 parsnip, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
• 4 carrots, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
• Salt and pepper

Sauté the onion in oil until translucent, about 5 min. Add garlic and mushrooms, cook another 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, add bay leaves, sugar and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours until liquid reduces to half. Add diced vegetables, cover and cook another 45 minutes to an hour until soft. Remove bay leaves.

Serve with mashed potatoes and peas.

Food as self care

It snowed again today. I hate January in Minnesota. If you’re coming here for the SuperBowl in a few weeks, pack your warm stuff!!

The only good thing about weather like this is that it keeps us inside together and gives us time to read, watch movies/tv and just be together.

It was a day off of school for the boys, and they enjoyed the leftovers from yesterday’s football game (Go Vikes!): Halftime chili and cheesy cornbread. I was surprised to learn that most of the teenage boys who came over to watch the game hadn’t ever had chili “Cincinnati style”, which is served over pasta. Anything that can be served over pasta is in our house!!

I did not partake, but instead made an açaí bowl with fruit and desiccated coconut. It looks awful but is utterly fantastic. I’d had this unique superfruit full of antioxidants in Kauai and was thrilled to find a smoothie ready frozen package. Individual servings make it fast and easy.

For dinner I made grain bowls with quinoa and black beans over mixed greens with whatever vegs I could find. I roasted green beans (20 minutes at 400 degrees), and this is absolutely my new favorite prep for what can be a tasteless veg in winter.

That got me thinking about how much we enjoy trying new foods and techniques, and that our habits have changed pretty dramatically in 15 years (since Avery was born). We used to care mostly about cheap and familiar.

With more time and more adventurous spirits, every week is different now. Food (and food prep for me) has become a form of self care. I truly enjoy learning and exploring, and slowing down after a busy day to pull a meal together.

I’m really feeling so much healthier these days–more energy especially–and think a lot of it is the vegan diet (particularly getting rid of dairy). It’s easy to stick with something that makes you feel better!!

Ps We’re planning our winter getaway, which involved updating my passport. I am thrilled to be getting rid of this photo (12 years ago)!! 40 something is way better than 30.