Thanksgiving Day Parade #11: Apple, Sage & Molasses Vegan Holiday Roast with Mother-In-Law Stuffing

Not the best photo of this best meal. 

So I'm back on my Mac today and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the photo editor to flipping work... so not only is this not my favorite picture of this simple yet snazzy Thanksgiving recipe, but it's not frakking edited at all. Kill me. I have a much better photo--really beautiful, and you guys know how hard I can be on my myself--but it won't load. This whole photo situation is probably the most stressful part of this post.

The Treasure 

As you may remember, we've been searching for vegan holiday roasts all over New York City. Last week after a pretty tramatic* doctor's appointment, I found myself wandering around near Central Park. That's when I found them. NYC's vegan holiday roast stockpile was being horded away at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. So like a good little food blogger, I grabbed as many as I could carry and put them on our credit card. I may have had a little buyer's remorse halfway home when my back freaked out on the subway; but all was forgiven by the time I was preheating my oven. See folks, I didn't just find the usual holy grail of holiday roasts... I found the new kid on the block that's causing such a stir. Yes, I found a Gardein Holiday Roast!

We're big fans of Gardein (obviously) so we've been looking out for this roast since we first heard rumors that it exsisted. And I am happy to report it lived up to our impossibly high standards. Seriously, I'm rough on products and don't post things I think will make anyone question a cruelty-free lifestyle. I think this holiday roast has great texture and flavor, and makes a great canvas for our Apple, Sage, & Molasses baste--which means it's great for anyone who wants to personlize their holiday a little. Yes, we did include tips below on how to level up the gravy that comes with your roast. The only thing I didn't love is the stuffing center - though I love that they included cranberries. Next time we make one, I might just have to get out our flavor injector and doll that up a bit. But really, who can complain about an excuse to make a big pot of your own stuffing?

Hidden in the back of a display of chicken-flavored stuffings was a lone Whole Foods brand vegan stuffing package. It was a great find for lazy, emotionally-drained me and gave me a great excuse to pilage Whole Foods anti-pasta bar. See, I've been playing around with this idea of making an Italian-themed stuffing for awhile now... it's an idea who's time has come. I love this stuffing so much, I had some the next day for breakfast and then like an hour and a half later for brunch. The idea of an Italian-themed stuffing with green olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts isn't new. I've been making artichoke heart "oyster" stuffing for years... but I really think the combo of the baste and this stuffing makes for a holiday meal that's both sweet and zesty. Yeah, I used the word zesty. It's a silly word, but it does a better job of describing this really unique and appetizing flavor than, I don't know tangy, savory, or like, piquant. Though piquant seems pretty prefect too. 

Thanksgiving is almost here. I apologize for posting this so late in the season, but the clock is a-ticking so let's get started. 

The Betty Crocker Project: Maple Glazed Holiday Roast

So I never grew up with a huge ham for Easter dinner. As many of you already know, around The Ol' Shannon Homestead we look forward to Passover every spring but that's not to say I don't appreciate many of Easter's fine qualities like Sweet & Sara's Vegan Easter Peepers & Skippers and big dinner or brunch parties. Since we became a "we", Dan and I have hosted some pretty outstanding secular Seders for Passover. I can tell you from experience that the best ones took awhile to plan. Which brings us to the other day when I realized we weren't gong to be able to host a huge Seder this year because we just don't have the room and I haven't had the time to rent a space. Last year we had to settle for a big dinner at a Thai restaurant because we were moving. So what's a grrl like me to do with literally years worth of pent up Seder planning? Well, she starts to explore Easter dinner.

She starts to look at the springtime vegetable dishes and desserts and wonder why she never really thought of Easter food as being more than candy, chocolate and of course those damn eggs. I decided to start with something pretty easy but also pretty crucial to any dinner party... the center piece dish!

Every dinner party has one whether they know it or not and from what I gather when it comes to Easter the traditional super stars are Ham, Lasagna and Manicotti. We used a Tofurky to replace the the less compassionate ham but still played around with the whole cloves and baked it with a smokey maple and brown sugar glaze to create a vegan dish that will feel right at home being the center of attention.

The Betty Crocker Project: Thanksgiving Day Parade #8 - Roasted Rosemary & Dark Beer Tofurky

So this is one of those blog posts where I feel like complete honesty in easy to follow bullet points is called for:

• This recipe is an amazing way to level up your Tofurky. It has a dark and rich unique flavor that is intended to recreate what you get when you brine a turkey. Our process isn't really anything like the long one used to brine turkeys but the result of this recipe seems very similar. 
• This recipe makes a thin but flavorful crust on the outside of your Tofurky that doesn't recreate a "skin" completely but it's wonderful. So you can really appreciate it.
• We cooked Brussels sprouts in the dark beer marinade like Betty suggested but it was not my favorite thing to ever happen. The marinade reduces over the vegetables to makes something too strong for me but I do suggest instead steaming or roasting your Brussels sprouts and then using the leftover marinade to make a gravy by adding 1 cup of vegetable broth.
• You can skip the flavor injector step if you want but it's kinda cool.  You really should give it a try if you can.

I think this photo shows you the delicious crust.

 And don't forget to enter to win a coupon for a Free Tofurky Feast!

You ready to show this Tofurky who's boss!

Vegan Rock-toberfest & The Betty Crocker Project!

I'm not German but I love love love Oktoberfests! I mean what's not to love? Polka dancing, pretzels, cheap random imported beers, sauerkraut, beer brats (vegan of course) and all kinds of other awesome-ness. When we were in Budapest we hid out from a biblical thunderstorm in a German-fest tent (not an Oktoberfest but it had the same vibe) and watched some pretty amazing accordion* accompanied karaoke. Of course in Budapest around May Day festivals aren't hard to find but it was one of the best nights we had there during one of the best weeks ever. This month we're going to be Deutsching it up with a handful of vegan recipes to help you rock-toberfest!

In America, we're used to our potato salad chilled and with more mayo than potato but in Germany there is a very popular dish called Kartoffelsalat that is actually a potato salad served warm and with bacon.We made our own tweaks of course on Betty's Recipe to make it our own vegan noms and so you can add this side to your party with some Roasted Vegan Black Pepper Beer Brats (recipe also included)! I know! two recipes in one day! It's OK to say "Hölle ja!" right now.

You would think in Germany they would call this "Das Gutes" but they don't. Silly Germans.

I know I promised news to explain my bad blogging habits lately so here ya go : I recently resigned from my job to focus on this blog and our upcoming book full-time. This is going to be my last week balancing working a full-time (plus) job and busting through The Betty Crocker Project! It's been a bit of a challenge wrapping up a job I've had for 6 years but it's time. I'm sure you don't want to hear about that though... you want to hear about the contests and guest posts we have lined up this month for Vegan MoFo but this isn't a time for spoilers... Now is when you need to open a bottle of your favorite Bier, put on some Hasselhoff and get on your Pleiderhosen**!

You ready to Rock-toberfest?

Vegan Italian Sausage Chunky Minestrone & Easy Olive Oil Garlic Toast

I like these new purple plates but I'm not sure they look that great in photos.

Yesterday was a big day for the ol' Shannons. As many of you know, our kitchen in Norfolk was about the size of a bathtub. One of the selling points of our new place in Brooklyn was the bigger kitchen. There was room for a kitchen island to increase the counter space, and of course there was the coveted exposed brick. But even with all this upgrading, we were only half way to our dream kitchen. We needed something extra for all our pretty plates and schmancy wine glasses and all those random grains I like to experiment with and other random yumminess. That's why last weekend my handsome husband built me a Tardis!

Click on these photos to enlarge.

Now if you don't watch Doctor Who, you might not know what a Tardis is or what the hell I'm talking about. See, the infamous Tardis was created by the Time Lords to travel through time and space and is able to blend into it's surroundings using something called the 'chameleon circuit' while having the mystifying ability to be larger on the inside. Our new 'Tardis' not only matches all our kitchen gear but has pretty much doubled our cabinet space. This one addition to our kitchen is what I am calling a game changer and is pretty much one of the best things to ever happen to the Shannon kitchen since we starting making the vegan fried egg!

Check out how much it holds!

The only downside is that construction took up most of the kitchen Sunday but even without a kitchen... there is always the slow cooker. Minestrone is a thick soup that is as common on Italian dinner tables as pasta. It is also one of those soups that it is easy to take for granted because it is often already vegan but this one includes some vegan Italian sausage to make it a complete meal in a bowl. It's an easy dinner that pretty much makes itself. This soup is also kinda like The Doctor's Tardis ironically enough. It's full of way more vegetables and subtle savory flavors than you would think. We had ours with some Olive Oil Garlic Toast - a recipe I am sharing for those folks who love garlic bread but are trying to avoid the palm oil in most margarine. I actually think I might prefer the olive oil version but I'm a sucker for olives and olive oil and all things even a little related.

The downside to the slow cooker is pretty obvious. It's slow. This soup takes about a half hour to prep for and about 6 hours to make. So we should get started!

Come & Get It! Our Top 15 Favorite Vegan Recipes for Picnic & BBQ Season!

Howdy Partner! (Just kidding; I won't write this whole thing cowboy-style.)

Let's get serious here, because we're about to talk about something I take very seriously... POTLUCKS! See, planning a really amazing group dining event combines art with mathematics, originating in imagination but ultimately rooted in procedure*. There are relationships between the invitees and seating to take into account, and let's not forget making sure you have enough silverware and cups and all those basic resources. And of course, there's the menu. We've collected a few of our favorite Summery BBQ, Picnic, and Potluck favorites in time for this long weekend and compiled them here to make your menu planning easier. OK - maybe more than a few.

These vegan recipes are BBQ and Potluck Tested and Approved.

The Betty Crocker Project : The Vegan Meat Lover's Pizza Casserole

We made ours into personal mini-casseroles.

It's St.Valentine's Day! A day when we're all suppose to show a little love. Everywhere you look - there is chocolate, candy and sugary invaders. Not that that's a bad thing but my Dan isn't really that into "sweets" so really any super powered chocolate heaven explosion would be more for me than for him and I think we've all dated that person. You know the one. The one who (perhaps innocently) enjoys your giving nature in a relationship a little too much and somewhere along the way the relationship becomes a one man or woman show. I think we should all agree this year that we shouldn't be those people or date them. Like a Valentine's Day Resolution. I mean Dan already took a week off work making me food and keeping you all updated with our culinary adventures. He took care of me when I was sick and even watched a lot of Star Trek. I mean a lot. Even after all that... there are still rumors of a present. GASP! I'm not sure what I did to deserve him. Maybe it is Karma from all those years of being vegan. Who knows? Let's not question it too much.

After Dan's crazy week in the kitchen I think he deserves a vegan vamped up version of Betty's Cheesy Pizza Casserole. Don't you? A clever combination of baked rigatoni, pizza flavors and mock meat... I know what my man likes.

The Betty Crocker Project : Southwestern Sausages with Spicy Corn

I really just don’t like real-time strategy games; they’re way too hectic for me. “Oh no! His axemen are attacking my fort! Better go click on these archers and send them over. Oh wait crap, those are the cavalry. Are cavalry strong against axemen? I forget. Oh crap they’re not, they’re getting slaughtered. Better send them into the fort to heal. Ack, I had the archers selected; now they’re not firing on the axemen anymore. What happened to those cavalry? Oh great, they’re dead.” No thanks.

The thing is, I THINK that I like RTS games. Or maybe I just want to like them. I don’t know. But despite years of playing these games and not really enjoying any of them (Command & Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of Empires, etc etc etc) every time some flashy new one comes out I think “Ooh, that game looks good!”

This weekend, there was a King Arthur game on sale for like 75% off on Steam. I LOVE King Arthur. Had this old bound illustrated storybook when I was a kid and everything. “I’ll have to try this game out,” I thought to myself. “Oh, look though, it’s an RTS. But it’s such a good deal… I’ll just try it.” Two hours later, I had a pile of dead cavalry and was thoroughly annoyed with myself for yet again falling into the trap of forgetting my own personal preferences.

I do the opposite of this with fresh salsa. Annie always gets it at Trader Joes, and I always think to myself “Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t really like fresh salsa.” And then we get home at eat it, and I’m always like “Oh damn, this is really good! Note to self for next time: you like fresh salsa.” And then the next time we’re at Trader Joes, and Annie puts it in the cart, I go “Hmm, I don’t know…” And the circle is complete.

Today we’re going to hopefully hammer this message into my feeble little brain once and for all, by making our own fresh salsa. It’ll be the perfect condiment for our sausages, prepared with Betty’s delicious Southwestern Rub. Future self, if you’re reading this post, please listen to me: you really like fresh salsa. And you don’t like real-time strategy games. Really.