Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust

Home made pumpkin pie is just so much better than store bought I can't even compare the two.  On top of that, it really wasn't that hard to make.  I did cheat and used purchased pureed pumpkin.  Still delish.  On top of that - vegan - who knew how versatile tofu could be - for this recipe use silken soft tofu.  This is another recipe I tried from "The Joy of Baking" vegan recipe book.  Was not too difficult - but a bit more work than I'm used to.

I served this at a family birthday party - and it went over very well.  I will definitely use this recipe again.

 Pecan Crust? Yes please. This was delicious - and easy.  Make the pumpkin pie extra special. First make your crust and leave it to cool.  Then onto the filling.

Just take all the filling ingredients and add them to a food processor.  Blend until done!  Then add them to that delicious pecan crust you made and bake.  Very easy.



Winter Vegetable Pot Pie

Veggie Pot Pie

I made this veggie pot pie for a family dinner and it was so good I made it the next day and the following weekend - I doubled the recipe and made a whole lasagna pan full of pie.  All my veg was purchased at the farmers market.  We ate it for lunch all week.  Easy and yum.  Enjoy this vegan pot pie.  Experiment with different vegetables and spices.

This recipe will make a full size lasagna pan full - I suggest you use glass.

Preheat Oven to 350 F

Ingredients - Pie Filling:

• 2 Parsnips
• 2 Medium Carrots (or 1 Very Large)
• 2-3 Medium Potato (or Yam)
• 1 Large Yam
• 1/2 Pumpkin (any squash)
• 2 onions (I used 1 Red/ 1 White)
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Peas or Corn
• Optional: Jalapeno & Sweet Hot Pepper
• Dash of Cumin
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Ingredients - Sauce:

• 2.5 Cups Water
• 2 Veggie Cubes
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Corn Starch

Ingredients - Crust:

• 2.5 Cups White Flour
• 1 Cup Vegan Margarin or Earth Balance (frozen)
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 3/4 Cup Ice Water

Crust 

Before you do anything else make the pastry dough - this has to chill for 30 minutes before you roll it out.

1. Add the flour and salt to a large bowl

Vegan Butter - very good, I get it from Organza in Winnipeg

I chilled my Earth Balance, flour & the bowl in the freezer before starting

2. Add the margarin or earth balance to the flour and cut it into the flour by hand using a pastry cutter until the mixture is all crumbly

3. Add the ice to your water & drip most of the water across the surface (you may not need it all) - just until you can start making a ball

Drizzle over surface

Once sticky stop adding water

4. Get your hands dirty and quickly with minimal touching form the dough into a ball - wrap that in Wax paper and put it away in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling it out

Ready to chill

Making the Filling:

1. Clean, peel and chop up all the veggies

Beautiful

Taters

Parsnips look like big White Carrots with fat tops

Pumpkin

Very Large Carrot & my Mini Schauzer

2. Add the Root Veggie to a pot & boil 10 minutes.  Once done - pour into pan & leave to the side

3. Add the Onion with a bit of oil to a fry pan on Medium heat - cook until translucent - once done - add to the veggie mixture along with the frozen peas

mmm red onion

I added Jalapeno & Sweet Hot Pepper to the onion

Sauce:

1. Pour 2 Cups (saving 1/2 cup) of water into sauce pot, add the veggie cubes & soy sauce, bring to boil

Any kind of Veggie Cube works

2. Once at a boil - mix the corn starch with the remaining water, add & quickly whisk - the mixture will turn into a thicker brown sauce, remove from heat

3. Pour Sauce over Veggie Mix and mix the whole thing together (you can also add some veg to sauce first and smash it up then pour this thickened version over

4. Take the dough out and roll it slightly bigger than the pan (I use wax paper to measure out how big so I know when I'm done rolling

Remember to use lots of Flour!

5. Place the dough over the pie filling, snip around the edges & knife along the surface

Dough over pan

Knife Marks (and extra dough as decoration in center)

6. Bake for 45 Minutes at 350 F - once complete - let sit 5 minutes before cutting.  Enjoy.

45 minutes

Pumpkin-Potato Coconut Milk Soup

I love making soups.  They are so easy and so delicious.  I used to think you needed a good soup base to start - wrong try again.  You can make soup without so much as a veggie cube.  Here's one of my favorite soups.  Keep in mind that I don't go by recipes so the proportions are approximate - don't worry about getting it perfect - it will be easier than you think.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 1 Squash (your choice! I like anything orange but others work too)
• 2-3 Large Potato Diced (Or Yams if you got them!)
• 1 Onion Chopped
• 5-6 cups of water (start this boiling while you chop!)
• 1 Can Coconut Milk
• 1-2 Tbsp Curry Powder
• A Pinch of Fresh Sage (if you got it)
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Basil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

1. Cut that squash in half - spoon out the inside cuts & chop off (or peel) the skin.  Chop this up into bite sized pieces.

2. Chop up the Potato (or Yam) into Bit Sized pieces.

3. Toss the Potato & Squash into the boiling water.  Boil for 15 minutes or until soft.

4. While the veg boils chop up the Onion (I like to use Red) and fry this up at Medium until they get a little transparent & soft - I've been happy using Safflower Oil lately for my pan frying.  Half way through frying I like to toss some of the spice right on the onion (your choice).  Once done, add this to the pot of soup along with the rest of the spices

5. Boil at a Medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  Half way through add the Coconut Milk & Brown Sugar.

6. Finally fill a blender to 3/4 with the chunky bits of the soup.  Make sure to hold the top bit open on the blender lid or it will fly out with the pressure.  Keep flicking the switch back & forth from off to low quickly until it's blended.  Add this back into the soup.

7. Done - Beautiful Creamy Delicious home made soup.