Christmas Eve hors d'oeuvres

My family tradition is a dinner of hors d'oeuvres on Christmas Eve. All the rich, heavy, trashy things you have to moderate at parties are suddenly unlimited and in excess. It's a great celebration and it keeps you full until late the next morning when either the cinnamon rolls or breakfast casserole are done.

The past several years I've been making vegan equivalents of a few dips so I can have something, as the usual offerings are heavy on the meat, cheese and sour cream. My standards are: 1) hot cheeze dip: Follow-your-heart cheddar mixed with half a can of Rotel (chopped tomatoes + jalapenos/green chiles) and melted on the stove, to be eaten with tortilla chips; and 2) onion dip: instant onion soup/dip mix with a container of sour supreme. I'm usually fighting for a corner of the kitchen and begging for rides to the 'hippie' store so my options are generally limited.

This is the first year ever I haven't been with my family for Christmas, so to keep me from getting too sad about it I decided to host my own Christmas Eve hors d'oeuvres party with friends.

It was a great success! As the only vegan I was only concerned with feeding myself, and everyone else was welcome to bring their favorites. Friends brought veggie plates, fruit plates, cheese plates, crackers, spiced nuts, walnut spread, baguettes, cookies, beer, wine and bourbon to spike the rice nog. It ended up being an impressive spread and a lot of fun, as we sat down to watch Die Hard and munched on Chex Mix.

Grace made My New Roots' Warm Cabbage Salad (the goat cheese was in a bowl on the side). It was delicious and I'm having the leftovers alongside some wonton-wrapper-perogi and caramelized onions for dinner this week.

In addition to all of the above, I made a hot spinach artichoke spread/dip. I tend to make variations on this often, usually without the dip mix and cream cheeze, but added both for the special occasion. Half a can of coconut milk instead of the cashew cream will still add a nice creamy, smooth consistency without actually tasting of coconut.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip/Spread

• 1/4 cup raw cashews
  
• 2 garlic cloves
  
• 1 can cannellini beans (white beans), drained & rinsed
  
• 1 tsp miso paste mixed into 2 Tbsp water
  
• 1 tsp lemon juice
  
• 1 package Simply Organic spinach dip mix
  
• 1 tsp basil flakes
  
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
  
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed (optional)
  
• black pepper
  
• 1 package Tofutti Cream Cheeze
  
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

1. Soak the cashews in enough warm water to cover them, at least 30 mins but several hours/overnight is better.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Put cashews and the soaking water, plus garlic cloves, in food processor and liquefy until it resembles (stinky) heavy cream. This may take 5-10 minutes of processing and pauses to scrape the sides and the paste off the bottom. A little 'grit' is fine.
   
3. Add beans, miso and juice and process. Add water as needed to thin enough for beans to process (hummus consistency).
   
4. Add dip mix, basil flakes, artichoke hearts, and thawed/squeezed spinach. Process until mixed.
   
5. Add the cream cheeze, nutritional yeast, and black pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. If the mixture is too thick for the processor, dribble in water.
   
6. Pour dip into a shallow baking dish (oval or 8x8") and bake until the edges begin to brown, about 20 minutes.
   

Vegan Gluten Free Chex Mix

• 1/2 cup of margarine
  
• 4 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce (see recipe below)
  
• 1 1/4 tsp of season salt
  
• 2 2/3 cup of Rice Chex
  
• 2 2/3 cup of Corn Chex
  
• 2 2/3 cup of Honey Nut Chex
  
• 1 cup salted mixed nuts

1. Preheat oven to 250F.
   
2. Pour the cereals and nuts into a clean paper grocery bag, fold over the top and shake well until mixed.
   
3. In a large baking pan (8x13 is usually tight, a roasting pan is great), melt the margarine either in the preheating oven or on two stove burners on low heat.
   
4. Mix sauce and salt into margarine and stir.
   
5. Pour cereal/nut mix into baking dish and mix with the margarine, flipping and stirring to coat as much as possible.
   
6. Bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 10 or 15 minutes.
   
7. Store in paper grocery bag in the freezer.
   

Vegan Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce
adapted from this recipe

• 6 Tablespoons water
  
• 4 Tablespoons wheat-free tamari or soy sauce
  
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  
• 4 TBSP of regular molasses + 1 TBSP water (or 6 TBSP brown rice syrup)
  
• 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
  
• 1/4 tsp tamarind paste (optional)
  
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
  
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  
• a pinch of onion powder
  
• a pinch of powdered cloves or pumpkin pie spice

1. Pour all ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake well until mixed. Store in fridge and use measure-for-measure to sub for regular Worcestershire sauce, or add a little extra of this. Shake well before using.

Happy Festivus!

Vegan Southern-style meal, and why factory meat is terrible for everyone

This article covers a lot of ground about why people go vegetarian, or why spending more money on quality meat is important: How the meat industry turned abuse into a business model | Grist

I've said multiple times that I don't expect most people to go vegetarian, let alone vegan. What I would like to see is people buy better meat, less often. Spend the same amount of money, eat less meat, have that meat be delicious and healthy (for the animals, the workers, the environment, and you).

I figure the least I can do is offer some yum meatless meals for those who feel lost at the concept. Here's what I made the other night. It'd be perfect for a True Blood watching party, as it's vaguely Southern-style food.

Vegan Southern Greens

2 tsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, coarse chopped
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 LBS of washed, chopped greens (Collard, mustard or turnip greens, spinach, kale - any mixture works. Trader Joe's sells a big bag of Southern Greens that's perfect - use 2 in this recipe)
3/4 cup vegetable broth (sub water or wine, just add more salt)
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 TBSP rice vinegar (sub: red or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
salt & pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste (optional)
2 tsp sesame oil, to finish (sub liquid smoke or smoked salt/paprika)

1. Heat oil in your biggest stew pot or wok on medium-high heat. Add onions & sauté until partially translucent.
   
2. Add garlic & sauté until fragrant.
   
3. Start adding handfuls of greens and mixing top-to-bottom. As they cook down, add more greens until they're all in the pot.
   
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir greens in broth until they're fully wilted (they should reduce by 80% or more).
   
5. Add the red pepper, vinegar, salt, pepper & Tabasco & stir.
   
6. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30+ minutes, until the greens are tender but not falling apart.
   
7. Taste & add any extra seasonings as needed. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
   

Serve with a slotted spoon. They'll be soupy, so either serve with something to soak up the broth or strain it for the next time you make rice or soup. While the greens were simmering, I made a box of Zatarain's Dirty Rice (Jambalaya would work) and in place of meat, drained, washed and mixed in a can of black beans and a can of black-eyed peas (sub kidney, garbanzo or white beans). I feel ok about using Zatarain's once in a while, because they're a New Orleans-based company and there's not too many sketch ingredients as processed food goes, but if you want you can make your own from scratch - I don't like TVP so I would still sub in beans.

Serve side by side with some limeade, sweet tea, bourbon or a mint julep and watch you some "vamperrs".