southern au gratin recipe.

so last night i graduated from yoga teacher training (yay us! what an unbelievably incredible experience, but i won't go into it here) and we had a big fancy potluck at the yoga studio. i wanted to make something really awesome (read: not salad (for the record, as a vegan, i don't even really like/eat salad)) to rep the veg community, so i made this, and everybody flipped out. it was very successful. so i figured y'all might want the recipe. here it is!

  southern au gratin

1/4 cup earth balance
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds collard greens (or whatever greens you wanna use), leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of pumpkin pie spice (or nutmeg/cinnamon/allspice)
2 cups full-fat coconut milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour (i like to use whole wheat pastry flour, in general)
2 pounds medium sweet potatoes (i looooove japanese sweet potatoes if you can find them), sliced super-thin (1/8 inch maybe)
Seasoning and/or fresh herbs of your choice (I'm obsessed with Bragg's Sprinkle seasoning)
Lotsa sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pack of mozzarella daiya
1/4 cup bread crumbs (optional, but delicious)

Prep greens: sautee onion in 2 tablespoons of earth balance in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper then transfer greens to a colander to drain well and press out liquid.

Make sauce: Combine coconut milk and garlic in small saucepan; bring to simmer; keep warm. Melt two tablespoons earth balance in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, one minute, then slowly whisk in warm coconut milk and boil, whisking, one minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Assemble gratin: Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease deep 9×13 baking dish. Spread half of sweet potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, herbs and daiya. Distribute half of the greens mixture, then sprinkle more salt, pepper, herbs and daiya. Pour half of bechamel sauce over the first two layers then continue with the remaining sweet potatoes, more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and then the remaining greens, salt, pepper and herbs. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the gratin, pressing the vegetables slightly to ensure that they are as submerged as possible. Sprinkle with daiya and bread crumbs.

Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden + bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let it cool before serving, or cover it in towels and shove it in a bag because you're no good with time management and you're late for your yoga potluck.


xo
m

p.s. i also made oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies (yes really), but i don't feel like i've got them quite right yet, so i'll hold off on the recipe till i feel more confident that i can fully express their magical wonder.

them eyes as big as stars.

this is what i sound like covering jason isbell! did i mention i want a banjo?

<3

veg benedict recipe

well hey there. i started this blog a few months ago with the intention of doing something probably really great with it and promptly got distracted by something else probably really great, and then it just fell by the wayside. fast forward to this morning, breakfast time resulted in a variation on eggs benedict that was so pretty i posted a picture on facebook, and everybody's mouths watered because we are master chefs. so i thought, hey! why not utilize that dusty abandoned blog over there and post the recipe? so that is what i will do. and who knows, maybe it'll become a regular thing. or maybe i'll get distracted learning to play the banjo i'm searching for on craigslist on my other tab.

veg benedict

okay so there are infinite variations on a vegan eggs benedict, which is essentially bread, whatever meat-ish product you like, tofu, hollandaise sauce, and whatever other stuff you wanna put on it. we deliberated in the grocery store for a while before i had what i like to consider a stroke of genius and we decided on portobello mushroom caps. MAN I'M AWESOME. pat on the back for that one. we also added spinach for green stuff, cause we like green stuff. so here we go:

serves 2

for the "poached egg"

• 1/2 a pack of firm tofu, drained and cut into rectangles
• turmeric
• salt + pepper
• paprika

hollandaise sauce

• 1/2 Cup Vegan Sour Cream 
• 3 Tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast 
• 3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
• 1 Teaspoon Margarine
• 1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 Teaspoon Braggs

for the portobello meat + marinade

• 2 portobello mushroom caps, rinsed and stemmed
• 2 tbs liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 drops liquid smoke (optional)

other stuff

• 2 english muffins
• 1/2 cup raw spinach (or however much you want)
• paprika to sprinkle on top cause it's pretty

1. heat the oven to 400.
2. mix together marinade ingredients, coat portobellos and let 'em hang out while you
3. toss tofu wedges in spices, grease a cookie sheet, bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown, flipping halfway through.
4. grill the portobellos in a skillet with a little oil, flipping as needed, eventually pouring leftover marinade onto underside, and flipping again. 
5. mix together hollandaise ingredients in a sauce pan.
6. toast your english muffins
7. stack spinach, then mushroom (underside up), then tofu, and smother it in hollandaise because it is delicious.
8. eat it. because it is delicious.

that's all! super easy. maybe 25 minutes. and you guys, really, it is so good. have fun! tell me if you make it, that would be exciting.

love love love,

m