Last Minute Thanksgiving Offerings- Savory Yams, Roasted Garlic Mash and Falldorf Salad

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So this year for the big food day I'm making Savory Yams, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Falldorf Salad. Falldorf Salad you ask? Well, it's similar to the classic Waldorf but instead of apples I use pear and persimmon and add a dash of nutmeg. So yummy!

FALLDORF SALAD

Ingredients:

2 ripe pears cubed
2 fuyu persimmons cubed
3 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cup of halved red grapes
4 tablespoons of mayo or vegenaise
juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Behold! The Last bunch of celery left in Atwater Village....

Ahhh the glorious color of the Fuyu

Mix the ingredients adding nutmeg to taste as well as salt and pepper. Serve over a bed of lettuce and friggin enjoy this no-cook, recipe that even your vegan cousin Max will enjoy with fervor.

SAVORY YAMS

Another vegan fave for your cousin to shove in his mouth as he tells the family about his new yoga studio.

Preheat oven to 400.
Cube your peeled yams. Toss in oil and dust with McCormick's Honey Chipotle Rub, if you don't have this on hand sprinkle brown sugar (or honey), salt, cayenne, pepper and a dash of cumin. Bake until tender, occasionally rotating and flipping the cubes for an even back.

OHhhhh Yes these smell good.

In batches, add to a food processor adding a bit of unsweetened soy milk, don't drown them, and blend until creamy.

Now smooth the top and lick the spatula clean. Soooo good right?

ROASTED GARLIC MASH

I went with the red smooth taters for this one. Threw them into a pot of boiling water with two bay leaves and some salt. Once they were really tender and ready for a good mash I pulled them out. As for the garlic, I cut an entire bulb in half, drizzled olive oil over it and baked it with my yams. It got golden brown and buttery soft. Add the potatoes to a bowl with chopped fresh thyme, a few tablespoons of Earthbound or butter, some unsweetened soy milk and squeeze the cloves of garlic out from the bulb.

I don't have a masher so I first smashed them a bit with my spoon and then did the rest of the dirty work with my trusty hand blender. Worked like a charm!

Add salt and pepper to taste. Super yummy and guess what? Max the vegan just licked his plate clean and didn't complain once that there wasn't any food for him this year.

Have a great Thanksgiving. See you all next week.

Aromatic Artichoke with Simple Sage Risotto

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So I find myself afflicted with the current cold that seems to be pestering everyone this month. I left work early and did not feel like creating a fun artichoke dish. I was feeling a tad more like crawling into a whole of mashed potatoes and matzo ball soup. But alas, my devotion to the cause was too great. I went with good ol' fashioned boiled artichokes. Yup the first veggie recipe in Julia's famous literary triumph. I decided that I'd throw in some seasoning to the water to see what would happen.

I've read some recipes that suggest lemons in the water. Why not? So I went one better and also added the rest of the thyme and rosemary I bought for the chicken soup.


So there you have it. Salted boiling water with lemon quarters, thyme and rosemary. Boil that sucker till it's tender, 'bout 30 min.

BOOYAH! when it finished it was heaven. Leaves pulling off by just giving them the eye.

I whipped up a batch of veganaise dipping sauce by adding lemon and garlic Mrs. Dash to taste. And oh does it taste!

Whilst my arties were boiling I decided to throw together a risotto to go with the tuna steak that the roomie was cooking. 1/4 of a cup or so of arborio rice in a pan with butter, onions, and garlic. Toast those grains till you start to smell some yummy nutty action. (almost forgot to mention that I threw in some sage leaves at this point)

Then start adding little dashes of vegetable broth, stirring constantly. Risotto demands your patients. You can't really walk away from this sucker. Keep adding a smidge of water at a time, letting the grains slowly give up and let their starchy guard down. Go on girl let that girdle down and let in that broth.

Once the grains are soft and chewy the pan will seem saucy already. Add a bit of half and half. I use soy creamer in all my recipes. It's a great substitution for cream or milk in just about any recipe. None of that soy milk sweetness here. I don't want to know what kind of hell those little soybeans had to go thru to taste so creamy.

Plate the risotto as soon as it's done and sprinkle some of that parmesan you have from the stuffed couscous. Throw that aromatic artichoke and the tuna steaks. Holla!! you just made dinner.

P.S. If you leave out the parmesan and tuna steak its VEGAN!!

It's funny to me how I thought I was so exhausted, I was, but once I get to cooking I find a secret stash of energy that keeps me going till the moment I sit and stick the fork in. I think tonight I'll make artichoke dip. We'll see...

Ingredients:
artichokes
1 lemon
sprigs of rosemary and thyme
veganaise or regular mayo
Mrs. Dash- your fave flavor
1/4 cup arborio rice
vegetable broth
sage leaves
1/2 white onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped