Recipe: Roasted Root Vegetables Scented With Apple and Mustard by John Ash

Two years ago at a New Year's Eve party someone brought this dish and everyone, including myself, was going crazy over it! So, just a week ago, I was at another party at this same house and the woman who had brought that dish brought a bunch of copies of that recipe. Thank God because I've tried to recreate it myself and it was never the same.

It appears to be from a magazine titled Your Organic Kitchen (pg. 194).

Roasted Root Vegetables Scented With Apple and Mustard

by John Ash

Ingredients:

3 cups apple cider or juice

1 cup fruity white wine such as Fetzer Gewurztraminer

2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons butter (obviously you can change this out for vegan butter)

4 - 5 pounds root vegetables, both sweet (carrots, parsnips, and/or yams) and savory (turnips, rutabagas, and/or celery root), peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

In a saucepan, reduce the apple cider or juice, wine, and mustard over high heat to 1.5 cups. Whisk in the butter and pour over the vegetables tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place the vegetables in a single layer in a large roasting pan (s) in a preheated 375 degree overn. Roast for 1 hour or so, or until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender. Stir the vegetables 3 or 4 times during the roasting process to promote browning on all sides.

Makes 8 servings.

Black Bean and Walnut Veggie Burger - Vegetarian Times Recipe

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Katie, at www.FreeTheMoms.com- a great website for Moms to share their truths, stories, recipes, tips and ideas and to not have to worry about being judged, which as any Mom knows, can be as big of a part of Motherhood as Mom Guilt. None of us need it, none of us have time for it and none of us should be encouraging it. We are all doing our best (which is the only reason we care when someone judges our decisions) and we all need to support each other and help each other to learn and grow without fear of judgement or failure. Wow, I had no idea I had so much to say about Mom judgement! So anyways, go check out www.FreeTheMoms.com and see what it's all about for yourself!

Here is Katie's excerpt on the veggie burger recipe she discovered (click here to read it on www.FreeTheMoms.com directly):

I made these last night and they were super easy and extremely tasty. I got the recipe fromhttp://www.vegetariantimes.comwhich has amazing recipes and I highly recommend getting the magazine subscription. Every recipe they have that we have made has been very good.

Black Bean and Walnut Burger

2 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained well

2 tsp. ground cumin

3 tsp. chili powder

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup chopped red onion

3 Tbs. canned corn

1/3 cup cornmeal

guacamole, for garnish

chunky salsa, for garnish

These burgers go together in no time, but if you want to get a jump-start on cookout prep, you can make them a day ahead. Refrigerate the mixture until about an hour before you’re ready to grill.

Purée 2 1/2 cups beans with cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper until smooth. Add rice, walnuts, onion, corn and remaining beans, and pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. (Mixture should be stiff but not dry.) Add 2 to 3 Tbs. water to moisten, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill, if making ahead. Divide mixture into 8 burgers. Dredge burgers in cornmeal. Chill 30 minutes (unless mixture has been made earlier and chilled.)

Coat nonstick pan or grill with cooking spray. Cook burgers over medium heat 4 minutes. Flip, and cook 4 minutes more, or until heated through. Garnish with guacamole and salsa, if desired, and serve.

Looking at the Beef in the Vegetarian Argument (A TreeHugger.com Article)

Graham Hill, founder of Treehugger.com (an incredible source for anything to do with living a green lifestyle) is questioning how eating meat can or should be a part of a system of sustainable agriculture. A meat-eater himself, Graham recently collected some facts on how a meat eating diet contributes to both our health and our environment.

Perhaps if Graham Hill still needs some more facts, he should read John Robbins' book, "The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World".

Click here to read Graham's article on TreeHugger.com. Below are the main facts he discusses in this article:

1. Eating a hamburger a day could increase a person's risk of dying by a third from cancer, heart disease, stroke and the list goes on.

2. Billions of extra health care spending can be attributed to our meat eating lifestyles.

3. Eating meat spews more emissions than our cars, trains, and planes combined.

4. Pound for pound beef production uses at least 100 times the water of say, lettuce.

5. And, beef production emits nearly 100 times more greenhouse gas emissions than growing veggies.

6. Meat and livestock cause twice the pollution of all industry combined.

Vegan Shepherds Pie and Mashed Potatoes

Vegan Shepherds Pie

I love Shepherds Pie. Here is my vegan version.

2 Boca Burgers, cooked, chopped

3 oz. Organic Tomato Paste (1/2 the small can)

2-4 Tbl. Bragg Liquid Aminos (optional)

2-4 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce (optional, yes it contains

anchovies, but I check my 3% rule when using this item)

2 Tbl. A1 Steak Sauce (optional)

1/4 c. water

½ to 1 c. frozen peas and carrots

1 can mushrooms (optional), or 1 c. fresh mushrooms, slice and sautéed

Mash Potatoes

(If you didn’t have tomato paste, you could probably use ketchup.)

Preheat oven to 450.

Cook Boca Burgers completely, then chop into small pieces. While cooking Boca Burgers, whisk tomato paste and all liquids together in a bowl. Put Boca Burger pieces back in pan and add tomato paste mixture and vegetables. Cook over medium-low and mix well about 5 minutes. The tomato liquid should be slightly thinner than ketchup. Place all ingredients in an oven safe deep sided casserole dish and top with mash potatoes. Bake for 35 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

What I love about this dish is you don’t have to be exact in your measurements or ingredients. I have made it with mushrooms and without. I have used just tomato paste, water and spices, instead of the sauces. I have used instant mash potatoes and homemade. You can make it a couple days before you want to eat it and it stores well. It also makes great leftovers. I am a huge fan of leftovers.

Mashed Potatoes (VEGANIZED!)

So I’ll be real with you… I don’t measure anything when I make homemade mashed potatoes. But I will tell you what I use and how I do it.

4-5 potatoes, russets or large baking potatoes

2-3 garlic cloves (optional)

1 Tbl. dried Rosemary

Earth Balance Vegan Organic Buttery Spread

Organic Rice Milk

Garlic Powder

Sea Salt and Fresh Pepper

Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Wash potatoes and either peel or de-eye if needed. Cut potatoes into thirds to help cook faster. Fill pot so the water just covers top of potatoes. I have found putting in one tablespoon of dried rosemary and a couple of garlic cloves into the water tastes good, but that is optional. Bring water to a boil and then leave over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender. Drain water leaving potatoes in the pot.

Generously sprinkle garlic powder (NOT garlic salt) maybe about 2 tablespoons, sea salt or kosher salt and pepper. Then scoop 2-4 big spoonfuls of vegan buttery spread and top with some rice or soy milk. Then start mashing. I have also used my Kitchen Aide and whipped my potatoes. Either way works great. Then taste. I usually have to add a bit more garlic powder and salt. An excellent addition is to add Nutritional Yeast to give your potatoes a bit of a cheesy taste. Delicious!