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: Vegan Chili-Lime Chicken

OK - So we had a huge bunch of cilantro and so we got a little crazy with it this week. I think there are worse crimes. If you're one of those who don't love the taste of this leafy green -- you can always skip that part of this recipe.

It's another fast and easy recipe that will get you in and out of the kitchen with little suffering. We had ours with some lemon pepper Israeli couscous from Whole Foods made with peas and had dinner in about 30 minutes. We defrosted our Gardein chick'n scaloppini breasts earlier so that definitely cut back on how long this took.

I know a lot of us might be feeling a little food prepping, dish washing and hostessing burn-out after yesterday's festivities so I thought this might help give you an out for dinner for the rest of the week. I mean making sure that the ice chest stays full while the BBQ coals don't go out and figuring out how to keep bugs away from the pie and Soy Delicious is fun at the time but after the fireworks... it's freaking exhausting.

We celebrated this year with an epic game of Civ5 and season 4 of Sons of Anarchy* because Dan caught some kind of death flu on his work trip to Seattle. Oh and we're total nerds. So there was no read, white and blue flag cakes or BBQ burgers for us this year. But that's what grill pans and liquid smoke are for right?

Super Fast & Easy Soyrizo Pasta Dinner

So I admit it. I burnt myself out. if you know me in person -- you know that me admitting this is a huge deal.

After years of working 40+ hours a week in the animal rights movement and writing this blog and then writing our book and now starting our second book... I'm exhausted. There was also a slight shift in this blog that was unintentional but after taking a little break from posting regularly I can see pretty clearly. See in the beginning this blog was about our mission to make anything and everything vegan but as this blog became more popular and more and more people who I didn't know and who have never eaten any of my food began to read this thing -- well there was this pressure for lack of a better word -- to not have typos and never admit that that I burnt a cookie or that a recipe was anything less than a cruelty-free dream come true.

I neurotically tested and tested recipes for the book and I tried to keep up with all the emails we get and failed. Somewhere in all this I started to feel like a little rock was sitting on my chest. I started to stay up late worrying that people won't like our book and worry that people wouldn't read it and understand that Betty Goes Vegan is full of great weekday standbys, old family favorites and guilt-less pleasures. It's also about helping people use all these great vegan products out there to their full potential. I mean yes a lot of us are DIY types but most people in our society choose their food based on convenience, cost and flavor. I've been doing vegan outreach for over 20 years now and I keep hearing the same reasons why people were reluctant to go vegan : giving up their favorite dishes, weird food and inconvenient. The reasons I keep hearing why people stopped being vegan : giving up their favorite dishes, weird food and inconvenient. That's why Betty Goes Vegan is carefully designed to not just help people go vegan but stay vegan by turning old meaty and cheesy favorites into vegan classics.

Yeah. I've lost a lot of sleep lately over it. It can be scary to put yourself out there and care about things. But there was a few things that have happened lately.

The Tacos  Photo Credit : Hannah Banana Baker

1. I read this post by Bonsai Aphrodite. See after 3 years (just like us) she also was dealing with a serious case of burn out. I related more than I liked to almost every line of this post and after reading it had this moment when I asked myself why something I love as much as this blog wasn't making myself deliriously happy. So I remembered why I fell in love with this blog and vegan outreach to begin with.
2. A vegan bakery named The Hannah Banana Bakery in the UK posted photos of our Thai Lemongrass Tofu Tacos and I started to cry a little. I have no idea why I get so excited when you guys send me pictures but it made me think over my morning tea and inspired me to write this long post and to get back to sharing that joy with all of you!

So here I am sharing with you a dinner we had the other night that is super simple and fast. So you know less time in your hot kitchen. It also features Tofurky's new vegan Chorizo style grounds but you can also use your favorite vegan soyrizo product if you can't find the Tofurky grounds in your area yet. I do recommend enjoying this with a salad. I try to get greens in every meal and this recipe lacks greens. Besides that... It's a pretty much a perfect weekday dinner.

I'm also promising that I'm giving up my little rock of doubt and fear... insecurity and getting back to posting on a regular basis. I'm trading in that rock for hope and not taking myself so seriously... and soyrizo pasta dinners.

OK enough gabbing. Let's eat!

Vegan Meyhane Pilavi (Turkish Bulgur Pilaf)

There is a crazy thing that happens when you're a food blogger who hasn't been able to post reguraly because you're working on a book. You're still writing all the time but you can't decide what to post and then you end up not posting at all. This week we actually had a house guest! So it was double the posting drama.

I know! We actually let someone into our Fortress of Solitude that has become our Brooklyn apartment. Michelle Schwegmann from Herbivore Clothing Company and I stayed up late talking like we were having a slumber party and explored this not so little borough we call home. Including a happy jaunt around Park Slope and an afternoon in uber-hip Williamsburg. We had a vegan Creamsicle shake, vegan Caesar salads and some Buffalo fries with the lovely animal activist Amy Trakinski at Foodswings then took a walk over to see Leanne and her adorable dogs at Vaute Couture. Not a bad week. Not a bad week at all.

But it left little time for cooking and blogging. Then I woke up this morning with the remains of a dream in my head. In this dream, I was talking to people on a bus about how much I love bulgur and all the fun dishes I have made over the years with it. I was speaking with real purpose and passion about my adoration for this grain and at times would turn to people for validation to find that they were either completely captivated or looked like they were being held captive by a crazy person. Yes. It was an odd dream but it reminded me that I had a recipe I had been meaning to share since our return from Istanbul a few months ago.

Now some of you might remember when we made Vegan Turkish Tempeh Whole Wheat Lahmacun -- we mentioned that we bought a pretty interesting Turkish cook book. Well, we've made a few things out of it since then and everyone has been pretty much awesome. This dish was one of my personal favorites because (obviously) it's a very flavorful bulgur pilaf that gave us an opportunity to use some of the herbs we bought at The Grand Bazaar. The thing about this book is that it's full of inspiration but the recipes are strangely vague. For example the original recipe for this dish in the book calls for 150 grammes meat in small cubes. I guess it doesn't need to be any particular kind of meat and the liquids in the book are measured in "glasses". I'm not kidding.

Needless to say - we took some liberties like usual. Our dish is pretty delicious and makes a lot. You'll have a lot of leftovers to keep your kitchen cool this summer or to take to lunch for work. Whatever you want. That's not my business. What I can tell you -- this recipe will flip you for real!

The Betty Crocker Project: Vegan Chicken & Cashew Dinner

Editing a book is a deceptively slow process. It's the kind of thing that seems to go fast and is pretty easy till you realize you've actually gone through several pages and you don't even remember what you've just read. I've heard of similar things happening to truck drivers with great mix tapes on long highways in Kansas. It's not unlike what happens when you start watching Battlestar Galactica or Sons of Anarchy. Except in those cases, you're so amped up, the blur comes from an overdose of awesome.

I've been living lately in this kind of state. I love our book and I think you will too but I hate that I'm a terrible typist*.  I find whole sections of the day disappear in a blur of shortening this and formatting that and then more website stuff and more emails. I take breaks to tweet and post updates on our Facebook page but I've lately come to find an even more sincere appreciation for Betty's Quick and Easy Recipes. In Betty's recipe, she makes the dish more "healthy" by deceasing the number of cashews (fat) but we went another route. We took out the birds and added vegetables and a lot more ginger. It's a fast and flavorful dinner that made our home smell lovely.

No matter what you're busy with right now or what level of chef you are... you can make this. You can do it! 

Now let's high five and go make some dinner...

Pasta alla Puttanesca with Vegan Sausage - not your everyday red sauce

Rome is often called "The Eternal City."

Perhaps it's because it has survived being burnt to the ground, sacked and rebuilt again and again. Maybe it's because even Alaric, the Visigoth king that burnt most of the city to the ground and took a large percentage of the population prisoner, looked to Rome as a foundation of civilization and tried to negotiate peace rather than destroy her. The first time I walked down the gradual incline of Via Cavour and saw my first glimpse of the  Colosseum between two buildings. Just hiding in an alley like a pick pocket. I literally stopped and thought "Nothing lasts forever but Rome is damn close."*

A few months ago Dan and I spent a few days in Rome during a freak snow storm that shut down the city. Like most of the city we took advantage of the weather to eat and sample wines. See Rome can be a pretty vegan friendly place with Penne Arrabiata and Marinara Pizza on menu's all over the city. Of course, if you don't trust the servers when they tell you the pasta is eggless, there is always Il Margutta, Rome's most popular vegetarian hot spot. They have several vegan options. 

Before we left I picked up a ridiculously thick book of Pasta recipes to veganize and I've been playing around with some the easiest and most intriguing ones first. I could say it was a good excuse to work on my Italian but really I just love pasta. 


Pasta alla Puttanesca is actually called Pasta alla Sorrentina in my book - probably because Puttanesca means something like "whore style." Even with a name like that, this Neapolitan dish is pretty well known and popular in restaurants everywhere. Which is impressive because in Italy's long and well documented history, Pasta alla Puttanesca is pretty new on the scene and for generations was considered "poor people food." It wasn't even mentioned in books till around the 70s and its interpretation doesn't just seem to differ from region to region - but by city and sometimes even neighborhood. The kosher Puttanesca I had in Rome's Jewish Ghetto was actually accidentally vegan because it was their option for those with allergies or who wanted to lose weight. The ones on the menu near the Trevi fountain were not. The key elements seem to be a red sauce with garlic, onions, capers, oregano, olives, basil, parsley and anchovies (although that is sometimes replaced with seaweed or in our case kelp). We tossed Tofurky Italian sausage, red bell peppers, spinach and played around with the ingredients a bit to level it up. 

It's lovely and spicy in a unique way that makes it more than just another red sauce. I know I should dive into my arsenal of adjectives to describe this better but really - it's just more. 

Mangiamo!

The Betty Crocker Project : Louisiana Vegan Chicken Skillet Dinner

 I debated if I should post this recipe today because even though this is a very easy and delicious dinner - the photos just didn't really show that. I mean this dinner has it all. There's leafy kale, Vitamin C packed red peppers, cute little back-eyed peas, smokey vegan bacon and big Creole kick. It's great.
It's also one of those almost one pot wonders that Americans have come to know as "skillets."

Back in my wasted youth, my friends and I used to call each other "Home Skillet" when we were feeling what Emerson called "the comradery of peers."

So I guess it makes sense that an easy dinner than requires less clean up would earn this term of endearment. I mean we loved it. During all the soul crushing recording of receipts and organizing papers that was going on around ehre last week -- there was this recipe to look forward to. Not just as a dinner but for lunch the next day as leftovers. Yeah. This dinner is my "Home Skillet."

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.

Hazelnut Pesto with Vegan Chicken, Broccoli and Orecchiette Pasta

St.Patrick's Day is almost upon us and so last night I decided I should wrap up this week with something green. Like many willful people, I got a certain idea in my head and then focused on making it happen as soon as possible. I wanted to make something with fresh spinach and fragrant basil and lots of  emerald colored flavor. In my Mediterranean heart that instantly meant pesto. 

See I'm still quite new to this whole Irish thing and the Sicilian half of my DNA has decided it won't give up that easily. 

It wasn't till I sat down to eat that it hit me that besides the color - there really was not much that "Irish" per se about this dinner. It's still a great recipe though that I'm happy to share. Fast and easy and everything you need for a weekday dinner or a quick dinner before a night on the town of green beer and wooo-hoooing* if that's your thing.  

Either way - Start your food processors! Let's pesto! 

Hot & Sour Soup with Sesame Garlic Tempeh

Tempeh not pictured... I ate it all too fast. 

Ever have a weekend you needed a weekend to recover from? This past weekend I had the pleasure of helping out at The Herbivore Clothing Company booth at The NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. It was a blur of friendly new and familiar faces, food and lots of fun. I know "fun" is kind of a lazy word to describe a day but I stand behind it. If you missed it - you can see the photos on our Facebook page by clicking on this sentence.

There's something kind of wonderful that happens when you're exhausted and busy though... with the right mindset you can look at the random collection of leftovers from meals past and see something new. This isn't a traditional Hot & Sour Soup - it's more a collection of wonderful that makes up a soup that is hot and sour but we loved it.

It might be March already but it's still cold out and that means soup season is still here! Enjoy it while we still can!

Turkish Tempeh Whole Wheat Lahmacun (kinda)

We got back from Istanbul a few weeks ago and since then it's been one project, road trip and Valentine's day after another. I've barely had a chance to catch up on my stories. Mostly I've been working on upgrading this blog into something a little fancier but I've also been baking a lot, figuring out my trip to Minnesota to visit The Betty Crocker Test Kitchen and veganizing recipes from the cookbooks we brought home from our trip.

I feel like I should tell you - I was unprepared for what an amazing city Istanbul is. I knew Turkey would be one of my favorite parts of our trip and that it would be freezing. What we didn't see coming was how we would feel when we walked into the Hagia Sofia for the first time. For a place so remarkable - there just isn't words. Here's the slideshow of the photos from the part of our trip we were in Turkey if you want to see for yourself.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

But that brings us to today and this recipe... You can find Lahmacun in shops and stands all over Istanbul.  Usually made with ground lamb meat, this portable meal is usually rolled up like a New York slice or folded like a taco and wrapped in paper. We actually didn't have one of these in Istanbul for pretty obvious reasons but we started with this recipe because we wanted an excuse to use the new spices we bought in The Grand Bazaar and I was craving pizza. That's why our Lahmacuns are more like personal pizzas you'll need a fork to eat than flatbread wraps but they're still a great dinner and an excuse to expand our spice inventory.

If you're also looking to expand your spice rack - here are the two items you'll need to locate:

• Sumak/Sumac : This is a dark red powder made from a berry sourced in Anatolia. It has a bitter flavor similar to lemons. If you can't locate it - you can replace it with Cumin or Paprika in the recipe below. 
• Green Bazilicum/Fesleğen : I hope you get a little laugh out of this - I did. Behind these foreign names, this green herb that we found in a small spice shop hidden in the winding streets of The Grand Bazaar is just a type of basil. I mean it's a different type than the one we commonly use in The US and it has a very subtle fresher flavor similar to mint but it's basil none the less. So if you can't locate this particular type of basil - I'm sure you'll be able to find a substitution.

Tomorrow there will more Betty baking but tonight we recommend making yourself something kind of different and undeniably delicious! 

The Betty Crocker Project : Cuban Beef-Less Steak Dinner (similar to Ropa Vieja)

Our Cubanelles began to ripen while we were away - making them them beautiful and multi-colored.  

So there's this thing that happens when you get back from an adventure: you realize how many little things you do every day in your regular life. I came home with a small stack of Italian, Greek, and Turkish cookbooks, and dreams of bringing our adventure to your kitchen and tummies, but sadly this required fresh vegetables and bread, which we didn't have. It also required time that was quickly eaten up by catching up on emails and news, following up on our new blog/website, unpacking, and various other forms of being "productive."

Which brings us to today. I had planned to post a recipe today for Carciofi alla Romana (Roman-Style Artichokes) but yesterday I burnt the first and second batches. I know. I can't believe it either. But those little jerks were singed beyond being pretty - although I admit I cut off all the crunchy leaves and still enjoyed the filling and hearts with lemon, all while being reminded the hard way that even the easiest recipes require your undivided attention. So today I have a new bag of artichokes and we're going to try again, because this is a recipe I really believe will improve all your lives. 


So today I'm posting a recipe that I was saving for our friend Cassandra's birthday this summer. Right now our beautiful vegan friend is in medical school in Cuba and making the world a better place. We had planned to add this recipe to our New Friday Philosophy; which usually involves Mexican food, but sometimes you just have to get a little crazy and mix it up*. This recipe is similar to a Cuban dish called Ropa Vieja, except we skip the cows. It may look like something you've had before, but there's a unique fresh flavor from the Cubanellle peppers that really comes out with the lime juice and a subtle sweetness from the rum. It's a lot like our Cassandra. It's also super easy and can be made using things you have hanging around your house; well, except the fancy peppers that you can easily replace with green and red peppers. So tomorrow night when you get home from work, all cold and kinda beat, you can treat yourself to something a little more exotic than the typical soy cheese pizza or veggie burgers** before hitting the town. 


May the New Friday Philosophy be with you! 

The Chicago Beer Dogs

I was never a hot dog person. Even when I was a little eater that hadn't gone vegan yet... hot dogs were just never my thing. Which I'm actually really happy about - meat based hot dogs aren't really food. So you can imagine my surprise when years ago I had Tofurky Beer Brats and actually liked them. I mean I loved them.

Over the years, Dan and I have been exploring new and exciting ways to add a little variety to our beloved cruelty-free brats. This is one of my favorites thus far. I know you're probably wondering why I'm not posting Manhattan Dogs since NY is going to the Super Bowl this weekend... well it's like I said - this one is kinda my one of  my favorites.

The Blueprint by Hawk Krall - from Serious Eats

Now we did tweak it a bit like we skipped the neon relish because sweet relish is just superior in many ways. We also used celery seeds instead of celery salt and just sprinkled poppy seeds over the top rather than using a poppyseed hot dog bun because I couldn't find a brand that didn't have eggs in it and baking my own seemed like more work than most people are willing to put into a hot dog.

Like many of our posts - I feel weird even calling this a recipe since it is so easy and is kind of more of an ingredient combo magic trick.

Are you ready to be amazed - with hot dog magic?

Vegan Chicken Amandine

Still working on a new computer & with a new camera.

The other day I was looking through our cabinet and decided it was time to use the almond slivers and wild rice I'd been hoarding like some stingy squirrel. I started looking around for a good recipe where these almonds would get a chance to show off a little. Enter the world of Amandine recipes.


See Amandine is a culinary term used to describe several different types of dishes that are garnished with almonds. These dishes range from green beans and rice pilaf side dishes to main course seafood recipes. Here's another crazy thing... there seems to several different takes on what a Chicken Amandine recipe should look and taste like. Some included a light gravy-like cream sauce and some has more of a lemon pepper marinade or rub. One thing they all had in common was that they relied on butter and the fat or grease from the chicken breast to add both flavor and for lack of a better word "juice".


Ours is not only nicer to birds but nicer to you. We replaced the butter and chicken fat with olive oil and used smoked paprika and lemon to flavor our Amandine. Then we included green beans and served it over wild rice to sort of combine all the best Amandines into one remarkable dinner that never had a chance to become leftovers because we had so many helpings that night. 


I assume this recipe would serve 4 normal people but I know it will feed 2 vegans eating to win! 

The Cruelty-Free Crawfish Boil

We've been buried in book-writing the past few weeks. We even postponed New Year's Eve till after the manuscript gets sent in. We bought a few extra weeks of caffeine and chocolate and sitting on the sofa before those New Year's Resolutions kick in. I wish we could enjoy them, but I guess it goes without saying that I've been too lost in the book to enjoy anything. If you haven't figured this out about me yet from reading this blog, I can get a little hyper-focused on a project--and I really like doing things right.

Which brings us to today's post! Honestly this isn't part of The Betty Crocker Project, and I'm really glad it's not. See, crawfish boils are a big thing in The South. If you've never of them, I'm just going to link to this and spare you the heartbreaking details. The thing is that with the rise in popularity of Cajun and Creole food, these events are becoming popular all over the US. Food bloggers from LA to NY hosted them in their backyards last summer and well, that's just sad. I also hope that doesn't mean next summer all those squirrels and opossums need to watch their backs too.

Our crawfish boil actually uses May Wah's Shrimp Balls and Vegan Prawns, but captures the spirit of this dish without any of the cruelty. It's also insanely easier and cleaner! You can make this year-round and enjoy a little faux summer in the middle of winter.

Bon Appetite!

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!

Tofurky Meets The Shannons Contest!

Cajun Deep Fried Tofurky with Okra Giblet Gravy

It's no secret that we love Tofurky! We love the deli slices for lunch in sandwiches and salads. We love the roasts with Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. We love the leftovers cut up into chunks in pot pies. I mean what's not to love about this vegan classic that has become a Thanksgiving tradition all over the world? Not only is it a compassionate alternative to eating sweet birds like Beatrice at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary and Skip and Victoria at Farm Sanctuary but Tofurkys are prefect for whatever creative cooking ideas you want to experiment with during the holiday season. 

We've deep fried them Cajun style after injecting them with a spicy marinade all Paula Deen Style and served them with okra giblet gravy. We've roasted them over an over flame and a can of beer. Yes, we are talking about the infamous beer can Tofurky. We've wrapped it in vegan bacon and brushed it with sea salt and black pepper. We're glazed it with orange and miso and partnered it with Asian vegetable stuffing. Tomorrow we're posting a recipe for a Tofurky roasted in Dark Beer and Rosemary. Today we're launching our Tofurky Contest!

I won't make you wait any longer. Here's the contest! Leave a comment below telling us what Vegan Thanksgiving tradition or dish you're the most looking forward to and we'll randomly choose ONE Comment from a Member to win a coupon for ONE FREE TOFURKY FEAST! That includes:

• One Tofurky® Roast (made with organic non-genetically engineered soybeans) - now 20% larger
• Savory Giblet Gravy
• Wild Rice, Whole Wheat Bread Crumb Stuffing
• Tofurky® Jurky Wishstix
• Organic Chocolate Cake from Amy's Kitchen
• Happy Tofurky Day card & coupons

We're choosing randomly so you can be as honest as you want. In other words, we won't judge if your favorite Thanksgiving tradition is football with pizza veggie dogs or surfing and smores. Sorry folks you have to live in the United States to win. You also have to be a member so we can contact you later to send you your feast! If you're not already a member, you can find the button to join in the right hand column. We'll be choosing the winner on Friday November 11th.

So who wants to win a FREE Tofurky Feast?!?!?

The Betty Crocker Project : Baked Vegan Chicken & Waffles

My only compliant about this recipe is that I didn't add enough Maple syrup in the pictures.

When I lived in Atlanta, there seemed to be signs everywhere for Chicken and Waffles "Shacks". I mean even Motown Legend Gladys Knight had a chain that seemed to be in every strip mall*. Which at first I assumed meant they served waffles in the morning and fried chicken at night. Imagine my Northern girl surprise, when I learned about this heart attack inducing dish was a staple in Soul Food cuisine. I mean I had lived in St.Louis and spent time in Kentucky and Louisiana and never heard of such a thing. But any cuisine can vary from region to region. Take the French dish Ratatouille: It originated in Nice and was simply seasoned with thyme and black pepper but then those show-offs down the coast in Provence started adding all these green herbs and a bit of lavender and the flavor turned into something completely different. Well, Soul Food is no different**. You can go to a completely legit Soul Food restaurant in Texas and have a pretty different experience than you would in Florida or Tennessee. From what I gather, the epicenter of Chicken and Waffles is Georgia. At first it seemed strange to me but then when I thought about it. Is it really that much weirder than having a side of fried bacon or sausage? I mean it's savory and oily meat with sweet waffles.

So when I was putting together a menu for a vegan Soul Food dinner party, I started thinking of ways to veganize this classic unique dish while also making it a bit more healthy but didn't have a proper waffle iron to pull it off. $40 later and here we are enjoying Baked Vegan Chicken and Waffles. I have to admit I've fallen in love with this unusual but awesome combo.

Speaking of awesome combos... Tonight we're going to a Hen Party with free cupcakes! No, not a British bachelorette porn and baked goods extravaganza. There is a party for our dear friend Jasmin Singer over at Our Hen House. If you find yourself anywhere near Manhattan tonight you should stop by and say "Hi". Just Click Here for the details if you didn't already click on the other link.

Even if you can't make it tonight - You can still enjoy this Georgian country classic! If for not other reason than to add it to the list of things you've done in your life.

The Betty Crocker Project : Sesame Teriyaki Beef-less Skewers

One would think that resigning from your job would make life simpler. That afternoons would open up and every day would be like Saturday. This isn't the case. I mean at least not for me. Probably not for anyone who has projects they care about and talented friends who are making the world amazing.

My dear friend Marisa Miller Wolfson is one of those talented and dedicated activists for animals I'm talking about. She's the Esprit Créatif behind Vegucated, a feature-length documentary that follows three meat-loving New Yorkers while they adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. It hasn't just been a hit within our little animal loving community either. At this year's Toronto Independent Film Festival, Vegucated got a standing ovation and took home the award for Best Documentary. Tomorrow night is the NYC Premiere! This event promises to be the vegan event of the year in a city full of some pretty amazing vegans, and is the first of ten stops on The Let's Get America Vegucated! Autumn 2011 Tour. If you don't have your tickets yet, there is still time--but not a lot, so no more lollygagging. And who knows, maybe tomorrow night you'll spot a Shannon or two.

Living in an exciting city with beautiful, accomplished people can make it hard to have lots of time to cook. So I've been burning through a lot of Betty's 20 minutes or less type of recipes. This one is pretty much my favorite thus far, and goes great with some brown rice or on a split baguette. It's also a little fancier than it would seem considering how easy it is.

Even the most novice vegans and chefs are going to love this one. Start your ovens!

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?