Ayocote Morado Beans

Rancho Gordo beans are incredible heirloom and indigenous beans. These are grown in Mexico and they are beautiful, big, beefy and tender. I slow cooked them overnight in my crockpot on low.

 

Pozole with tvp.

 

Pouding chomeur.

One of my favorite desserts, a classic Québécois cake called Pouding Chomeur which translates to “Unemployment pudding” (how appropriate!). It’s basically a white cake with a gooey delicious brown sugar sauce. Here’s the recipe that I veganized from my late mother in law’s recipe. 

Vegan Pouding Chomeur

Sauce:

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup water

1 TB vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Set aside.

Cake:

1 TB vegan margarine

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup soymilk (or other non dairy milk)

With a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream margarine and sugar together. Add vanilla and soymilk. Mix flour, baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add to the rest of the mixture and mix until combined. Pour batter into a greased medium sized glass baking dish. Pour the sauce that you set aside evenly over the top of the batter. It will be watery, don't worry. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until top is browned. As it bakes, the cake will rise to the top and the sauce will be underneath.

Cabbage casserole

 

I love cabbage rolls but hate the time it takes to make them. This way is so much easier using shredded cabbage. You can blanche or briefly cook the cabbage before hand if you want. 

Cabbage Casserole

1 small head of cabbage, shredded or chopped

1 jar of marinara sauce 

2 TB olive oil

1 onion chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

2 ribs celery chopped

1/4 cup each of fresh parsley and cilantro chopped

1 package veggie ground beef (I used Impossible)

1 1/2 cups cooked rice 

Salt pepper to taste 

Daiya cheese 

Tomato sauce topping:

1 - 14oz can tomato sauce 

(Mix in a bowl with garlic powder, salt, pepper, pinch of sugar and dried dill)

1. Preheat oven to 350 f and prepare a casserole dish sprayed with oil.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat and sauté onion, garlic and celery until tender. Remove from pan and  set aside. 

3. In same pan, Cook ground veggie meat in oil and break it up with a wooden spoon. When it’s cooked through, add back the onion/celery, the marinara sauce, herbs and season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. When sauce starts to bubble. add rice and cook for about five more minutes.

5. Prep the tomato sauce. Add a thin layer of the sauce to bottom of the baking dish. Layer a third of the cabbage next and then half of the meat tomato rice mixture. Then cabbage again, then meat tomato rice and end with cabbage on the top layer. 

6. Pour the remaining tomato sauce all over the top and spread to cover. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes. Remove foil and put it under the broiler for five minutes.