Category Archives: Pot pies

Holiday Recap and a Soy Curl Potpie Recipe

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Appetizer, Bagels, Baked Goods, Breakfast, Cats, Christmas, Coconut, Cookies, Cooking, Desserts, Dinner, Dinners, Gluten Free, Hanukkah, Holiday Food, Ideal for potlucks, Jewish Vegan Food, Meatless Meats, Menus, Mini Foods, Nutritional Yeast, Pastry, Pie, Pot pies, Raw vegan food, Recipes, Sammy, Soy Curls, Update, Vegan Junk Food, veganism and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been so busy lately. Between graduate school, taking an improv comedy class, the holidays, my grandmother dying, etc., I’ve barely had time for cooking. I was able to create two Youtube videos in the beginning of the semester, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGj10TPGenVBNH6vySDPpw! I hope to make more videos on Youtube in the coming year.

I’ve also been regularly updating my blog’s new(ish) Instagram account, which you can follow @bananacurlvegangirl

If you’re not on Instagram or following along here, I’m going to do a quick photo recap of some of the food I made for the holidays.

For some homemade gifts, I made my famous sour cream and onion kale chips, green tea, goji, and coconut superfood energy bars (adapted from this recipe), vegan and gluten-free marshmallow wreaths, and chocolate peppermint patties from a recipe that’s basically this (not pictured).

 

We had 4 relatives staying with us from Christmas Eve day until yesterday. My aunt and uncle and cousins have a tradition at their house of making appetizers on Christmas eve. So, I made lentil faux chopped liver dip, a spinach and artichoke dip, and we made mini potato latkes because it was also the first night of Hanukkah and my dad celebrates the holiday and loves having latkes. Instead of using eggs, we used the Neat egg for the first time and it worked out really well! There was also a salad made that I was able to eat.

 

For dessert, I had these gluten-free, vegan sugar cookies I made from a recipe on Minimalist Baker. Check the recipe out here.

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For Christmas morning breakfast, everyone else was having bagels. My mom was nice enough to go to a local gluten-free bakery and pick up some vegan and gluten free bagels. I topped them with Kite Hill chive cream cheese, my papaya lox, and capers.

lox-bagels

For my dinner later that day, I made gluten-free, vegan stuffed shells with Kite Hill almond ricotta and pesto. I forgot to take a picture of them. We also had my favorite vegan caesar salad ever, which I also forgot to photograph, but believe there are previous posts on this blog about it.

It was a sweet Christmas! I hope you had a very merry one yourselves! As a thank you for reading, here is a picture of my three cats, that my brother photoshopped for a card.

christmas-cats

However, the best Christmas present is that I have a new recipe! For a soy curl chickun potpie that is soooo good!

WordPress has a new feature here, so I’m going to try to see what happens when I upload a word document of the recipe.

soy-curl-chickun-potpie (link to a downloadable recipe? or something)

Soy Curl Chickun Potpie

Vegan and Gluten-free

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups soy curls
  • ½ cup frozen peas
  • ½ cup frozen corn
  • 1 medium potato, chopped
  • 6-8 baby carrots chopped into rounds
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • one small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tsp dried rubbed sage
  • ½ cup vegan no-chicken broth, divided
  • 1 tbsp vegan butter or coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp garbanzo flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened plain coconut milk
  • 1 no-chicken bouillon cube
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 gluten-free, vegan pie crusts, homemade or store bought

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Soak soy curls, corn, and peas in a bowl with enough warm water to cover. Let sit for at least 10 minutes and drain. Set aside.
  3. Steam potatoes and carrots in a steamer basket for 10 minutes.
  4. Place olive oil, celery, onions, and garlic in a skillet on medium heat and sauté until soft. Add in the soy curls, corn, peas, nutritional yeast, sage, and ¼ cup broth. Mix in the potatoes and carrots. Stir and heat until the soy curls are warm.
  5. To make a gravy for the pie, place the vegan butter and garbanzo flour in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until crumbly and beginning to brown. Slowly add in the coconut milk, continuing to whisk. You may need to lower the heat. Add the remaining ¼ cup broth and the bouillon cube. Keep whisking until the bouillon melts and the gravy is thick. You can add salt and pepper to taste once you turn off the heat.
  6. Add the gravy into the soy curl and vegetables.
  7. Spoon into a bottom of a pie crust. Place the top of the pie crust as you like it. Make slits in the top to allow steam to escape. You may have some leftover filling that you can eat separately or make into other dishes.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden in color.
  9. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
  10. Bon Appetit!

Enjoy the new year festivities if I don’t post before then (but I do have several posts lined up!) Happy Holidays from Banana Curl, Vegan Girl!

 

Going gluten free. First gluten free and vegan baked good –strawberry rhubarb pie!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Baked Goods, Fruit, Gluten Free, Original Recipes, Pot pies, Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well, I am somewhat relieved to finally have an explanation as to why I have been so exhausted lately. I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disorder. I also have hypothyroidism as a result of it. So, I started researching what else I can do that will help me to feel better besides what my doctor is doing for me. And I kept seeing the benefit of going gluten free. I know I seem to have issues with feeling like crap when I eat too much gluten, so I am trying it. It’s sad for me, because I really loved gluten. I will need to learn more about baking gluten free, and I know I can do it, and be making all sorts of new delicious vegan AND gluten free stuff in the future!

In fact, I made a pie. Unfortunately, my oven and stove just randomly stopped working yesterday. I’m glad I made this before that! I have some ideas up my sleeve for the future, but they will have to wait until it gets fixed 😦

IMG_3740It’s my favorite pie of all time, strawberry rhubarb.

I actually used Bob’s Red Mill Pie Crust Mix. I had used it before and thought it was awesome even when I wasn’t gluten free.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag Bob’s Red Mill gf pie crust mix
  • 12 tbsp Earth Balance cut into tbsp sized pieces
  • 8 tbsp cold non hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening
  • 8 tbsp cold water
  • 1 lb strawberries, chopped into slices
  • 1 1/4 cup rhubarb, chopped
  • 1 cup vegan sugar
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

  1. First make the crust. Follow the directions on the back of the packaging. I always need the full 8 tbsp of water it says I might need. You may need 6 or 7 like it says. I find it hard to roll out after it’s been in the fridge…but I manage to fix it up if it breaks apart a bit as it’s pretty easy to put back together.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  3. While the crusts are chilling, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice into a large bowl.
  4. Take the crusts out of the fridge after the hour has passed, and roll one out into a large circle.
  5. Press into a pie pan.
  6. Pour the filling inside.
  7. To make a latticed topping, cut strips out of the second pie crust after rolling it out a bit.
  8. Place the strips across the pie. First lay them out horizontally, then vertically. You may need a spatula to help you get them off your work surface, and they will probably break apart, but it will still look nice even if they break apart on the pie. Just smoosh them together a bit if they crack or fall apart in the process.
  9. Place in the oven with a cookie sheet underneath to avoid the gooey delicious filling from falling on the bottom of the oven, making a mess and a nasty smell/smoke.
  10. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350 and bake for anywhere between 30-60 additional minutes until the crust is firm and golden/brown around the edges.
  11. Enjoy! My entire family loved it. When I asked if they could tell the difference between this and a gluten based pie crust, they said they couldn’t. (I can, unfortunately, haha! but it’s still really good!)

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Jalapeno Popper Vegan Quiche

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Nut free, Original Recipes, Pot pies, Spicy, Tofu and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi! Didn’t realize I’d be back so soon.

Today I invented an awesome new recipe. This one will not be in my zine, haha.

It’s a jalapeno popper flavored vegan quiche!

I used a pre-made pie crust bottom–gasp. Surprisingly a lot of store bought pie crusts are indeed vegan! I wanted to make it quickly so I chose that, but if you want to make your own, here is my recipe for a pie with a crust recipe (you’d only have to make half of it).

popper quiche!

popper quiche!

Jalapeno Popper Vegan Quiche

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb extra firmed tofu (I used sprouted tofu)
  • 1 tbsp Ener-g egg replacer without water added
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
  • 2 tbsp Earth Balance
  • 1/4 cup plain almond milk or other non dairy milk of choice
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp Indian black salt (the kind that smells like eggs)
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup daiya cheese shredded mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (I used whole wheat)
  • 3 jalapenos, chopped into thick rounds, seeds and veins removed
  • 1 9 inch prepared pie crust, or homemade from the recipe linked above

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Place tofu, egg replacer, nutritional yeast, Earth Balance, non dairy milk, onion powder, black salt, and black pepper into a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula and then blending a bit more.
  3. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in the daiya cheese, bread crumbs, and jalapenos.
  4. Place into pie crust, smooth down with a spatula.
  5. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool slightly, then dig in!

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Vegan Mofo 2014: Friday Pie Day: Basic Veggie Pot Pie

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Baked Goods, Comfort foods, Original Recipes, Pot pies, Recipes, Vegan Mofo 2014, Vegetables and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi there,

I originally fell in love with vegan pot pies after trying to follow this recipe, which was originally on vegweb. However, it inspired me to create my own pie crust recipe, because prepared vegan pie crusts are a pain to find. Also, since so much of the recipe just says “to taste” it’s hard to find the right amounts to make it feasible. I have experimented with all kinds of fillings, but this is my favorite combination (much of which isn’t really on the original recipe). I also have more or less figured out a good proportion for the broth, cornstarch and water, and almond milk but please note that it can vary depending on how big or small the vegetables are.

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Basic Vegan Veggie Pot Pie Recipe:

Ingredients:

For the crust:

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp cold Earth Balance
  • 6 tbsp non-hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 cup cold water

For the filling:

  • Cauliflower- 1 cup steamed
  • 1/2-1 cup mushrooms, sautéed until the juices are released
  • 1 zucchini steamed
  • 1 yellow squash steamed
  • 1 onion, sautéed for about 3 minutes with a bit of oil
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 1 cup veggie broth
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp ground sage
  • 4 daiya cheddar slices or 1/2 cup daiya shredded cheddar

Directions:

For the pie crust:

  1. Place flours and salt in a food processor. Give it a quick whir to combine together.
  2. Add 2 tbsp of shortening, quickly pulse, and continue to add the shortening 2 tbsp at a time until you’ve put in 6 tbsp.
  3. Follow the same method with the earth balance as above.
  4. With the processor running, open the little opening thing on top and slowly pour in the water.
  5. Separate the dough into fairly equal halves.
  6. Smoosh into two round disk shapes, and wrap each in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to 2 hours.

For the rest of the pie:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Take out the crust disks from the fridge to soften up a bit depending on how long you placed them in the fridge. If you only placed it in for 15 minutes then just take it out right before you want to use it.
  3. Prepare the vegetables accordingly. Once each is cooked place in a large bowl.
  4. Once the oven is heated, roll out one disk of the dough on a flat surface over plastic wrap into a thin circular shape (it’s okay if it’s not perfect) and place over a pie dish. Mould to the sides of the dish, place some slits with a knife into the bottom of the dough, and bake for 5-7 minutes so it isn’t as soft as it was before. Set aside.
  5. Prepare the broth/gravy.  Mix together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl or cup. Set aside and boil together the veggie broth and almond milk and herbs and spices. When hot, add in the cornstarch and water mixture and whisk until this all starts to boil and thicken. Pour over the vegetables in the bowl you set aside and stir to combine.
  6. Place the Daiya cheddar in the bottom crust.
  7. Place the veggie and gravy filling inside the crust.
  8. Repeat the steps you used to roll out the bottom crust and place on top, pinching the sides together. Design a cute decoration out of the slits you cut for ventilation.
  9. I find it a good idea to place a baking dish under the pie before baking in case things ooze out.
  10. Bake for 35-40 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to ensure the crust isn’t burning in your oven. If you think you need more time to bake it but the crust is starting to brown around the edges, you can wrap foil around those edges and it will help with that problem.

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Made with love!

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The filling before it was baked

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Happy Friday, everyone!!

Vegan MoFo Day 5! Friday! Pie day (and pizza day next Friday!) Broccoli, Cheese, and tempeh bacon pot pie!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Comfort foods, Nutritional Yeast, Original Recipes, Pot pies, Recipes, Vegan Bacon, Vegan Mofo 2014, Vegetables

So I realize Friday’s theme might be a little confusing, but it’s pizza and pie day, but the pie recipes rotate along with pizza recipes. The pies are pot pies that you’d eat for a meal, not desserts.

photo 1 (4)

Here is the first one:

Broccoli, Tempeh Bacon, and Cheese (nutritional yeast based) Pot Pie:

I had originally made this for a pot pie day at Girls Rock RI’s volunteer lunch during the camp this Summer, and it was a big hit! I made it again to make sure I had it down pat (and because I hadn’t even tried it during the camp), and it’s really good! 

The broccoli and cheese is obviously a delicious combination, but the smoky tempeh bacon gives it extra protein and complements the flavors so well!

Ingredients:

For the pie crust:

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp cold Earth Balance
  • 6 tbsp non-hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 cup cold water

 For the cheese sauce:

  • 1 tbsp vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)
  • 1 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/8 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or substitute gluten free flour)
  • 3/4 cups nutritional yeast
  • 1 slice Daiya cheddar cheese (what I used) or 1/4 cup Daiya cheddar shreds
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard

For the pie filling:

  • About 2 cups steamed broccoli
  • 8 strips prepared tempeh bacon cooked in 1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Pie Crust:

  1. Place flours and salt in a food processor. Give it a quick whir to combine together.
  2. Add 2 tbsp of shortening, quickly pulse, and continue to add the shortening 2 tbsp at a time until you’ve put in 6 tbsp.
  3. Follow the same method with the Earth Balance as above.
  4. With the processor running, open the little opening thing on top and slowly pour in the water.
  5. Separate the dough into fairly equal halves.
  6. Smoosh into two round disk shapes, and wrap each in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to 2 hours.

To make the pot pie:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Roll out one of the dough disks into a thin circle on top of plastic wrap and with flour dusted onto the rolling pin.
  3. Carefully lift the dough while still on the plastic wrap onto a pie pan. Fold over the edges.
  4. Bake in the oven for five minutes. Take out and allow to cool while you prepare the rest.
  5. Steam broccoli in a steamer basket until bright green. Set aside in a bowl.
  6. Cook about 8 strips of tempeh bacon (I used Tofurky brand) with coconut oil in a frying pan until browned on both sides.
  7. Place on the bottom of the pie crust so that it covers the bottom of the crust.
  8. Make the cheese sauce: on medium heat, melt the earth balance in the almond milk. Turn to low heat. Add the flour and stir. Add the nutritional yeast and stir. Add the slice of daiya and allow to melt, while, you guessed it, stirring. Turn off the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients.
  9. Mix this sauce in with the broccoli and scoop into the bottom pie crust.
  10. Roll out the other half of the dough as you did before, only this time placing the dough on top of the pie and closing the edges together.
  11. Cut slits or a design out of the middle.
  12. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
  13. Allow to cool 5 minutes, slice, and enjoy.

photo 2 (5)

Yay!