Friday, February 3, 2012

Vegan Recipe - Vegan Poutine

It is the first Friday of the month and that means ... another delicious, vegan recipe. Why?? Because eating a plant-based diet is one (if not the) easiest ways to walk gently on the earth. Adding just one meatless meal to your week has a huge impact. In an article (found on the Environmental Defense Fund site) about Meatless Mondays, author Dominique Browning says "If all of us adopted this simple initiative, we would save enough energy annually – from avoided meat production – equivalent to taking eight million cars off the road." Imagine ... just one vegetarian/vegan meal a week!

I'd like to introduce you to Nicole and Eco-Veg Footprint (EVF). EVF is unlike any other vegan site. It is as varied, and interesting, as Nicole herself who hosts a 2-hour radio program called Maximum Joy, is involved with Food Not Bombs and speaks out on such topics as Feminism, Fracking and "Our Street London". Sprinkled liberally among posts about green living, you'll find fabulous vegan recipes ... things like Veg Nachos, Curry Potato Mash & Cuke Salad with Always Special Sauce and Bloody Beet Root, Apple & Kale Salad. EVF is a fabulous site ... it leaves me feeling empowered and with a sense that, with people like Nicole in our world, we can make a difference.

Nicole has graciously agreed to share a recipe with us ... Vegan Poutine. I first heard about Poutine when I lived in Florida and frequented a "flea" market hosted by some folks from Quebec. The original version is a high-fat dish consisting of french fries topped with cheese curds and covered with gravy. Nicole has created a healthy, vegan version that looks delicious. I hope you and your family will give it a try:


Vegan Poutine

Serves 3-4

On baking sheets:

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into fries
dressed with :
oil (mustard, grapeseed, olive, etc.)
1 small Spanish onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
paprika, cumin, sea salt and pepper,
dash of cayenne pepper/chili powder
Bake at 350 for 25 mins

1 large zucchini, cut into halved disks
1 can of white beans
1 large beet, shredded or cut into small cubes
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
Bake at 350 for 15 mins

Prepare a bowl of 5-6 med-large carrots, shredded
Serve as topping or mix with creamy curry sauce and serve as "gravy"

Creamy Curry Sauce
4 tbsp vegan mayonaise
1 tbsp rice milk
1 avocado
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp curry powder
add crumbled tofu for desired consistency
mix in a blender, especially for larger portions!

Serve with option of balsamic vinegar dressing, chimichurri sauce, or ketchup!

Serve sweet potato fries as the base, the zucchini and bean mix as a "cheese curd replacement" topping and the creamy curry sauce with carrots as the "gravy".

Thanks, so much, to Nicole for sharing that dish with us. For additional information on this dish and some variations, click HERE.

If you have a vegan recipe which you'd like to share, please send it to me HERE. And for all the recipes we've shared so far, be sure to visit our recipe page using the tabs at the top of this blog ... or by clicking HERE.