Low Fat Sausage Stew

One package vegan sausage of choice (we used Beyond Meat)

One can sauerkraut (I like Bavarian style)

2-3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and sliced

One onion, sliced into rings

2-3# red potatoes, quartered

3 c. vegetable broth

Caraway seeds

In a crockpot, layer the potatoes, sauerkraut, apples, and onion. Pour in vegetable broth, and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Cook on High for 4 hours.

While cooking, cook your sausage in your preferred method. We bake ours, because it gives the outer part a nice crispness. When done and cool enough to touch, cut into coins and set aside.

When the vegetables are done, scoop a serving into a bowl and top with sausage, stir to mix.

Enjoy!

I served it with chewy ciabatta bread. This could be made in a Dutch oven and simmered until potatoes are tender.

Nicoise Salad with Spring Vegetables

Nicoise salads always sound so posh. But really, they are just a salad with a little extra. More like a cold side dish than a salad. But pretty tasty!

Nicoise Salad with Spring Vegetables

12 small red potatoes, quartered
2 c. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 container vegan plain yogurt
1 T. basil
1 onion, sliced
1 can vegan tuna
Black olives
Romaine lettuce

Boil the potatoes about 10 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Add the green beans and cook about 5 minutes more. In a food processor, add the yogurt and basil and whir to blend. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place the romaine leaves on the bottom. Add the potatoes and green beans, the onion, tuna, and black olives. Dollop the yogurt mixture on top.

Before serving, mix it all together, to make sure the salad is coated with the yogurt dressing.

Serve. Enjoy!

Non-traditional Thanksgiving

You could say our Thanksgivings have been anything but traditional since we became vegan. Despite the lack of a turkey centerpiece, I still love the multitude of dishes that are made for the day. Leftovers!

This year we went to my parent's to celebrate with them. My father has had a turkey aversion for a few years now, after getting sick after eating some. While I would say that suits me fine, it hasn't stopped my parents from having some meat dish for the day's meal. This year my mom settled on ribs. Knowing that the vegans in my family wouldn't be eating any, and that I would be cooking later in the day for a second feast (my kids work retail and wouldn't be home until evening), I volunteered to make a couple of sides to accompany my mom's choice of macaroni and cheese (non-vegan, of course!)

I went with potato salad and coleslaw. Completely non-traditional, but certainly an accepted accompaniment for ribs.

Dill and Sour Cream Potato Salad

3 lbs. red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 T. fresh dill
1/2 t. black pepper
2/3 c. vegan mayonnaise
2 t. fresh parsley
One container vegan sour cream
1/2 t. salt

Boil the unpeeled potatoes until tender, about 20-30 minutes. Drain and cool. Refrigerate them until ready to mix with remaining ingredients.
When ready, add remaining ingredients to the chilled potatoes and mix well. Refrigerate again until serving time.

Tri-Color Coleslaw

One head red cabbage, shredded
One head green cabbage, shredded
One bunch kale, shredded
2/3 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. pumkin seeds
Vegan mayonnaise

Mix all the ingredients together with enough mayonnaise to coat well, but not too juicy. This makes a LOT of coleslaw, so make sure you are feeding a crowd!

My mom loves potato salad and my dad loves coleslaw, so the choices were a success. My husband thought the potato salad needed more salt (I tend to use less because of his propensity for salting at the table before tasting) and my dad doctored his coleslaw servings with more mayo (he likes his creamier), but everyone else thought the dishes were just right.

Personal preferences aside, try these out at your next cookout or non-traditional feast. Enjoy!

Low Country Boil aka Frogmore Stew, Vegan Style

Low country boils are associated with South Carolina and Georgia, and being a native born southern girl, I grew up eating a lot of seafood. Knowing what I know now, how scientific studies have confirmed that fish have a complex nervous system and can feel physical pain, how fish immediately begin to suffocate when pulled from the water, and how the sudden pressure change can rupture their swim bladder, I just can't in good conscience justify eating seafood. Overfishing has created dead zones in the ocean, where no life exists. I can pluck an apple from a tree or a carrot from the ground; when we fish we deprive ocean mammals of their only source of food.

So how does one go about enjoying foods one grew up with, but in a cruelty-free and responsible manner?

Easy!

Low Country Boil aka Frogmore Stew, Vegan Style

12 c. water
1/4 c. Old Bay Seasoning
6 red potatoes, washed
6 ears of corn
2 cloves of elephant garlic, sliced
One package vegan sausage (I used Field Roast Mexican Chipotle), cut into one inch pieces

This recipe uses a pressure cooker.

Add water, Old Bay and potatoes to the pressure cooker and close the lid. Bring to pressure and let cook 5 minutes. Quick release the pressure.
Add the corn, garlic and sausage, close the lid and bring to pressure once again. Cook 5 minutes and let pressure come down on its own.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can add all of the ingredients to a Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook about 30 minutes. When potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork, it's done.

Serve using a slotted spoon. It will be HOT! I added a little vegan butter to my potato and corn and nothing else.

Low country boils and Frogmore stew are the same dish - both have potatoes, corn and sausage. They differ from mine in that I don't include the shrimp. If you want to add some vegan shrimp to the dish, go ahead! I'm sure it will be absolutely delicious! I didn't have any on hand, so went with what I did, including the odd addition of the spicy Mexican Chipotle sausage. Any sausage would work.