Vegan Mashed Potatoes with Almond Milk

Vegan Mashed Potatoes Almond Milk

Vegan mashed potatoes with almond milk, so easy and yummy.

It was last Friday and I was supposed to go out to a friend’s house. I was planning on making a dessert and bring it over but, by the time I got my act together, all the grocery stores were closed. :S

In a slight panic, I opened my fridge and saw that it was pretty empty. Shoot.

But I did have potatoes and leftover gravy from my vegan lentil loaf with mushroom gravy that I had made a couple of days back. Aha! Mashed potatoes anyone? Not as exciting as dessert, I know, but maybe just as delicious?

I didn’t have much (vegan) butter to make a creamy texture so I added some olive oil and almond milk instead. The vegan mashed potatoes  almond milk recipe was born. 🙂

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients for Vegan Mashed Potatoes Almond Milk

  • 3 pounds (about 7-8 medium sized) golden potatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic + 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 2 tablespoon vegan butter
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Vegan Mashed Potatoes Almond Milk

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Place garlic cloves onto a sheet of foil paper and drizzle with the olive oil. Wrap up and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
  3. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water add the salt and bring to a boil. Cook until you can poke them with a fork easily.
  4. Once the potatoes are cooked, remove the skin and add the roasted garlic + the remaining ingredients.
  5. Mash everything and enjoy!

Note: Be VERY careful is using a blender to mash the potatoes, you run the risk of making them glue-like. I know because I have made this mistake in the past. For more tips on how to make mashed potatoes see here.

 

 

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Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy

Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy

This vegan lentil loaf with mushroom gravy, definitely a keeper! This recipe is so quick and delicious, I want to make it again and again. 🙂

I originally made this for my friend Fatima who came over for dinner (who also happens to be on the anti-inflammatory diet, yay for anti-inflammatory friends!).

Note: if you are using a pressure cooker to cook the dry lentils, be careful! (I have a pressure cooker which I use to cook most of my dry beans, along with anything else that can be made in a pressure cooker) Unlike a regular pot that you can keep an eye on as your stuff cooks, pressure cookers cook super fast. Err on the side of caution and keep checking the lentils frequently. Overcooking them by even a couple of minutes can make them too soft to work in a lentil loaf. I know this by many mistakes. 🙂

I served the this vegan lentil loaf with mushroom gravy with a side of steamed kale

Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy
Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy | happygut.ca
Serves 4-5

Ingredients for Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy

Lentil Loaf
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sage
  • 3 cups cooked lentils
  • 3 cups cooked wild rice (or a brown rice and wild rice combination)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 cup dry gluten free breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons lemon
  • 2 tablespoons ground chia + 6 tablespoons of water
  • 2 tablespoons gluten free flour
  • salt & pepper to taste
Mushroom Gravy
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup rice flour (or any other gluten free flour you have handy)
  • 4 tsp nutritional yeast
  • 4 tbsp braggs amino or soy sauce
  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 6-8 mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp pepper sage
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions for Vegan Lentil Loaf With Mushroom Gravy

Lentil Loaf
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Chop onion and celery finely, and crush the garlic clove.
  3. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat and saute the onion, garlic and celery until the onion is translucent
  4. Add the sage and cumin.
  5. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  6. Oil loaf pan and fill the with the mixture.
  7. Press down and cover with foil paper.
  8. Bake 30 minutes covered, 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand for another 30-40 minutes before cutting and serving (I found that it took a while for loaf to settle and get hard enough).
Mushroom Gravy
  • Heat oil in a pan.
  • Add garlic and onions and saute until the onions get translucent.
  • Add all the ingredients except for the spices and stir continuously until you a thick sauce is formed (you’ll have to stir very quickly to ensure there are no lumps)
  • Add spices and continue to stir
  • Add more gluten free flour to adjust the thickness
  • Adjust the spices to taste
  • Serve and enjoy

 

 

 

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Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

Warm quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash…sigh…it’s recipes like these that make fall even sweeter. 🙂

I love walking down the street on a beautiful fall day, picking up my fruits and veggies and bringing them home to cook. This was one of those wonderful days.

I had a friend come over and wanted to try something new. I bought butternut squash and had no idea what to do with it. I was thinking about making squash spaghetti but go lazy. 😛 I still wanted to use the squash but wanted an easy, warm and yummy dish. Quinoa is always a good and quick option. It takes me about 10 minutes to make (I have a pressure cooker) and is so versatile that it goes with just about anything.

In the end, I decided to make a warm quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash.

The result: amazing!

Ingredients for Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

  • 1 squash (I used acorn, but you can choose your fancy)
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1.5 cups veggie broth
  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas (or any other bean)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 3 tbsp each olive oil
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice and freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/4 cup roasted almonds (or any other nut), chopped (optional)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
  • fresh chopped mint for garnish
  • salt & pepper to taste

Directions for Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

  1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
  2.  Cut squash in half, remove seeds and bake for about 25 minutes.
  3. Wash and cook quinoa in veggie broth
  4. Add all ingredients to the cooked quinoa and toss together
  5. Place quinoa mixture into the squash “bowl”
  6.  Enjoy with your favourite side of greens

For a video of another acorn squash recipe (which is also pretty entertaining), this out.

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