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apples, chestnuts, cooking, cooking blog, cornbread, food, gravy, Kosher, may I have that recipe, mushrooms, Parve, recipe, recipes, sage, stuffing, thanksgiving, vegan

Kids say the darndest things.

I should know…

As prepared as I think I am to hear whatever my 6 year old will say next, he somehow always finds a way to surprise me.

On our way out of Whole Foods a couple of days ago, all of the sudden he pointed at a picture of a raccoon he saw on the bulleting board and said: “Look mommy, your twin!”

He was referring, of course, to my dark circles.

It totally caught me by surprise, but I couldn’t stop laughing! (It also made me realize that, if they’re that obvious, it’s time to either get more sleep or invest in a really good concealer. Oh well… )

I love how kids can be brutally honest in the most innocent way. Like in this case. He wasn’t trying to hurt my feelings, or be mean or disrespectful. He just saw something that was obvious to him, and pointed it out. And it didn’t bother me one bit. Honestly, I wish I could do that sometimes too…

But anyway… let me focus and get back to what’s important right now: Thanksgiving. 10 days away. So here’s another vegan idea for you: stuffing and gravy. Two recipes we totally made up, since these are dishes we didn’t grow up eating.

So fell free to be brutally honest and tell us what you think 😉

Enjoy!

Ruth

APPLE-CHESTNUT CORNBREAD STUFFING

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients:

Vegan cornbread:

5 tbsp non hydrogenated vegetable shortening melted and slightly cooled (we use Earth Balance All Natural Shortening Sticks) plus extra to grease the baking dish
½ cup unsweetened almond milk (we use Silk Pure Almond)
3 tbsp flax meal
1 ½ cups cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1- 6oz container vanilla soy yogurt (we use Silk Live!)
½ cup seltzer water
Zest of 1 small lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 8inch square baking dish
In a small bowl, whisk together almond milk and flax meal. Set aside
In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, almond milk/flax mixture, melted shortening and lemon zest
Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add seltzer water and mix until well incorporated
Pour batter into prepared dish and bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes. Let cool completely

Stuffing:

2 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegetable spread (for extra flavor, here we used Earth Balance Roasted Garlic & Herb Spread) plus extra to grease baking dish
1 medium granny smith apple, diced
6-7 celery stalks, diced (about 2 cups)
12oz tray mushrooms, chopped (about 1 ½ – 8oz trays)
1 cup packaged cooked chestnuts, chopped
¼ tsp salt (or to taste)
¼ tsp onion powder powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
2 cups vegetable broth (or 2 cups water plus 1 vegetable bouillon cube)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish with vegetable spread
Dice cornbread in approximately 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside
In a large non stick skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of vegetable spread at medium heat. Add apples and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften
Add mushrooms, chestnuts, salt, onion powder and sage and cook for another 10 minutes
In a large bowl, combine cornbread and vegetables. Toss it all well together and transfer to the greased baking dish, pressing down gently. Pour vegetable broth all over it and bake uncovered at 375F for 40 minutes, until golden brown

VEGAN MUSHROOM GRAVY

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients (yields about 2 ½ cups):

1-8oz tray button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegetable spread (here we used Earth Balance Garlic & Herbs Spread)
½ tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp dry rosemary, chopped
1-2 sage leaves, chopped
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups vegetable or mushroom broth
1 cup water
1 ½ to 2 tbsp corn starch plus 2 tbsp cold water

In a large sauce pan, sauté sliced mushrooms in vegetable shortening at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add lemon pepper, dry rosemary, sage, onion powder, smoked paprika and salt. Continue cooking for about 3 more minutes
Add broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes
Strain sauce using a small mesh colander (reserve the mushrooms) and return strained sauce to heat
In a small bowl, dissolve corn starch (use 1 1/2 tablespoons for thinner gravy and 2 tablespoons if you like it thicker) in 2 tablespoons of water. Pour into sauce, stirring constantly. Bring to a quick boil, reduce heat and cook for 1-2 minutes until it thickens
Add mushrooms to gravy. Serve with Pretzel and Cashew Crusted Tofu