barbecue veggie kabobs

i live in the midwest, and have grown up eating grilled barbecue food for most of my life. i love portabello mushrooms, stuffed green peppers, homemade brats, and everything in between. i really love veggie kabobs because you can use a variety of veggies to mix it up each time. this isn't really a 'recipe', per se, but an idea of how us veggie folks grill non-meat style. trust me, it is so filling! pardon my non-plated picture, but i was just too hungry!


veggie varieties:

• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• bell peppers, any color
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cactus
• corn cob sections

cut all your favourite produce so it is close to bite-sized. find some wooden or metal skewers, and mix and match all your veggies. i use a basting brush, and coat everything heavily in bbq sauce. if you have too many veggies, toss the remainders in a grill basket with seasoning salt. make sure to put things like corn and potato slices on their own skewer as they need longer amounts of time to grill. after starting those kabobs, add the skewers with more tender veggies - they finish up in about 7-10 minutes on grill-medium heat.

when everything is grilled, pull all veggies off and eat up. optionally, serve on a bed of rice.

on a side note, i kept wanting to spell 'kebab' - but i guess that is traditionally more meat oriented. if i would google just 'kabob', it would ask me if wanted to spell 'kebab' instead. but i would google 'veggie kebab', it would ask me to spell 'veggie kabob'. interesting....

vegan pot pie

i wish i could say that this was made with all fresh veggies, but alas, it was not. i worked with what i had, which was a mix of fresh and canned vegetables. of course, if you have enough fresh produce around, you can just approximate the measurements (1/2 can = 1 cup). this recipe makes 2 ginormous pot pies.


for the crust:

• 1 ½ cups all purpose unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons softened vegan butter
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/8 vegetable oil

for the filling:

• 1 can vegetable mix
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/2 can canned potatoes diced
• 1/2 can green beans
• 1/2 can corn
• 3/4 cup button mushrooms, diced
• 3/4 cup soy milk, unsweetened
• 1 tbsp veggie broth base(better than bouillon)
*could sub approx 1/2 bouillon cube
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
  
• 3 tablespoons herbs de provence
• 2 tablespoons bragg liquid aminos
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

to make the crust, mix flour, salt and butter in mixing bowl. add in water and vegetable oil and continue mixing until everything is well incorporated. i just use my hands for this. form into a ball and let rest while starting the veggie filling.

you can use any veggies you like, but be sure to make about 4-5 cups of mixture if you are using 2 4 cup pyrex containers for cooking. heat veggies in a large sauce pan on medium heat. after about 5 minutes, add in the rest of the filling ingredients except for the cornstarch. simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes with veggies. if the sauce thickens to quickly, add another 1/4 -1/2 cup water. after simmering, add in the cornstarch and mix well for about a minute and then remove from heat. the sauce should be thickening up quite nicely at this point - the end result should be the consistency of a thick gravy sauce.

while the veggies are cooking, divide the dough in half. from each these two sections, you will use about 3/4 of the dough for the lining and the remaining for the top crust. flatten out both the lining and top layer dough with a rolling pin. spray the inside of a 4-cup round pyrex dish and lay the lining dough inside of the dish (all the way up to the top edge). you'll probably have to shift and spread the dough around inside of the dish to make sure it fits nicely. spoon half of your veggie mixture in, and lay the top layer across. with the remaining overage of dough, roll down to create a crust edge (you can press with a fork for decoration). cut slits in the the top for baking and repeat with second dish.

bake at 400°f for 40 minutes, or until dough is browned and veggie sauce is simmering over. let cool for a couple minutes, and then pop pie out of pyrex. :)

canned potato mexi burrito (breakfast burrito #2)

i'm a big fan of the breakfast burrito. it's the perfect hungry girl's solution to a ravenous morning. i like mine a variety of ways, but always overstuffed with my favourite ingredients, warmed up and super tasty.

• 1 can of potatoes (sliced)
• 2 cups bell peppers (any color)
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup black olives, chopped
• vegan cheese sauce (see recipe below)
• salsa
• 2 large 10" tortillas

for the vegan cheese sauce:

• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon tahini

put the cheese sauce ingredients in a small mason jar and shake vigorously. if you read my recipes, you'll notice that i use the same ingredients for cheese sauces most of the time. in this case, i reduced the amount liquid so that it was thick and wouldn't create a super messy burrito.

in a large non-stick skillet, use only a light coating of cooking spray and then heat the sliced potatoes and bell peppers on high. after about 3 minutes, add the taco seasoning. continue cooking on high for about 5-10 minutes - until the potatoes brown to your liking (extra crispy in my case).

when done, add the potato mixture and rest of the ingredients in burrito. make sure you warm your tortillas first, or you will probably have a hard time folding them without tears.

this make about 2-3 large burritos (depending on how you stuff them). :)

potato enchiladas

a few years ago, i bought a can of potatoes, and it changed my potato life. they are in the canned vegetable section, and just look like baby peeled potatoes. they are super quick to heat up and throw in anything (like my previous kraut & potato recipe). i used them here to make potato enchiladas.

• 1 can whole potatoes
• 1/2 can re-fried beans
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons burrito or taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/2 block (5 oz.) vegan gourmet pepper jack cheese
• 14 oz. enchilada sauce
• 4 or 5 8" whole wheat tortillas
• vegan sour cream & black olives (optional)

in bowl, mash up potatoes, beans, onion powder, garlic, burrito seasoning, nutritional yeast, and salsa. heat up each tortilla in the microwave for about 10 seconds right before you fold them up - it makes them more flexible for rolling. put two scoops of the potato mixture into the middle of the tortilla and fold one side over the mixture. then fold in the sides, and finish rolling up the enchilada. continue with the rest of the tortillas.


place the enchiladas in a glass baking dish, and pour enchilada sauce over the top. spread the shredded pepper jack cheese over the top, and add the black olives if you want. bake in the oven at about 360f° for about 15-20 minutes... pull out when the cheese starts to melt and the enchilada sauce is bubbly. use a spatula to serve, and top with sour cream if you please!

kraut potato medley

i'm going to hermann, missouri at the end of this month for octoberfest, and it has been putting me in mind of my favourite german food: sauerkraut. i made this the other morning when i was craving some sort of breakfast scramble, and the leftover sauerkraut from my pizza was calling my name.

• 1 can whole potatoes, drained
  
• 1/2 cup (or more!) sauerkraut, drained well
• 1½ tablespoons onion powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegan bacon bits

slice up the potatoes into round coins about 1/4 inch thick. cook on high in a non-stick skillet until they start to brown a little on the edges. i don't use oil or butter as i try to keep things healthy when i can, but that might speed up the browning process if you don't care about that stuff.
add everything else to the skillet and continue to cook - about 5-10 minutes until everything starts to get crispy. in this picture, i used tastefully simple's bacon bacon... but i've also grown quite fond of j&d's hickory bacon salt (be careful - the original and natural flavours aren't vegan). it's 0 calories - woot!