Portobello, Leek and Walnut Turnovers for the Virtual Vegan Potluck!

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Happy Virtual Vegan Potluck! Welcome, welcome! I’m pleased to be participating for the second time. For more appetizer ideas, check out the Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips I submitted last year.

These delectable turnovers are a big hit at potlucks; everyone will think you slaved for hours over the dough when in fact using regular store-bought sliced bread is the secret time-saver. Be sure to choose soft bread. The mustard and thyme pair really well with the mushrooms, leeks and walnuts.
Portobello, Leek and Walnut Turnovers
by Earthgiven Kitchen

2 cloves garlic, minced (about ½ tbsp)
1 leek, finely diced and washed well (about 2 cups chopped)
3 tbsp vegan margarine
6 cups chopped Portobello mushrooms (or other mushroom variety)
1 tsp dried thyme
¼ cup vegetable broth (I use homemade broth)
½ tbsp mustard
¼ cup vegan cream cheese
½ cup walnuts, chopped
24 slices of soft bread (I used whole wheat)
coconut oil (optional)

Melt the margarine on a large pot on the stove set to medium heat. Add the garlic and leek and cook for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook another 5 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated. Meanwhile, toast the walnuts for a few minutes on a stove-top pan or broil in the oven. Add the thyme, broth and simmer on medium heat until nearly dry, then add the mustard and cream cheese and stir. Stir in the walnuts and remove from heat.

While the veggies cook on the stove, take out the bread and roll flat with a rolling pin, then trim the crusts off. I enlist my kids for the rolling, which they love to do. Save the crusts to make breadcrumbs or croutons later. Keep the bread in plastic wrap or under a kitchen towel so that it doesn’t dry out.

Fill a bowl halfway full with water; this will be used to keep your fingers wet while you form the turnovers.

Mound a small scoop of the veggie filling in one corner of the bread slice. With wet fingers, fold the bread into a triangle and press the edges firmly to be sure that they are tightly sealed. Repeat with the remaining bread and filling. Optional: brush the outsides of the turnovers with melted coconut oil.

Arrange turnovers in one layer on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, or until golden.

Serve warm with mustard or your favourite dipping sauce.

Makes 24 turnovers. Depending on how full you filled the triangles, you may have filling leftover. It makes awesome filling for grilled cheese the next day! Just add some Daiya or your favourite cheesy spread and you’ll have a gourmet sandwich, bonus!

Thank you to An Unrefined Vegan and Vegan Bloggers Unite for hosting and coordinating this great celebration of vegan eating!

If you liked this recipe and want more Earthgiven Kitchen goodies, you can subscribe to this blog with the doohickey near the top right of the sidebar or like me on facebook here:

Stick around and enjoy more potluck fun…..

Go Back and see the hot spinach and artichoke dip from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes!

Go Forward and see the Muhammara from Anne Sture Tucker!

For a list of all VVP participants, click here.

Organic food delivery

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

This is Vegan MoFo post #10 — halfway to my goal of 20 posts in October, are you sick of me yet? Thanks for sticking with me!

I am fortunate to live in southern Ontario where there are tons of amazing farms surrounding our city. I grow some of our own food, but my fruit and vegetable garden is pretty meager and our family consumes a lot of fresh produce. We have been receiving local organic produce by home delivery since 2007 thanks to Homefield Organics. Every weekend, Homefield emails out the organic and local food that will be available that week. The list notes which items are local, which are certified organic, and which are both. Place an order, leave a cooler on your porch, and come home to gorgeous farm-fresh food.

Here is a photo of the goodies from our last delivery: kale, garlic, potatoes, tortillas, parsnips, sunflower sprouts, bagels, spinach, red onions, squash, broccoli and pears.
I’ve found their prices normally a bit lower than the grocery store (which may not be supporting any local organic farmers), and delivery is just $5 to save you the hassle of shopping yourself. Beyond fruits and vegetables, Homefield also carries breads and pantry items like quinoa, rice and preserves.

Homefield also sells the most delicious whole wheat tortillas by J&D Peters, which are vegan (no honey or L-cystein, etc). In five years, we’ve never had a negative experience with Homefield. If anything was ever amiss, we were issued a credit or refund, but the food is almost always perfectly fresh. Homefield delivers to Guelph, Waterloo Region, Elora and area. To sign up, go to their website here: http://www.homefieldorganics.com/.

Banana Zucchini Bread with Cranberries

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Last week’s heat wave diminished and it put me in the mood to do some baking. Our organic food delivery service dropped off a ton of zucchini this week (ours aren’t ready to harvest yet) so I made banana zucchini bread. My version has cranberries and a little bit of fresh ginger which I think go great in the moist bread. We ended up snacking on it morning, noon and night.

Banana Zucchini Bread with Cranberries
2/3 cup nondairy milk (note: rice milk not recommended; soy or almond work better)
1 tsp vinegar (I used coconut vinegar)
2 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup grated zucchini (about 2 zucchini)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger (add more if you like a gingerbread taste)
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Add the vinegar to the nondairy milk and let sit for ten minutes to create a buttermilk that will help the bread rise. Combine the banana, vanilla, oil and sugar in a food processor. Once mixed, add the zucchini and gently combine. In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, salt and spices. Pour the cranberries (and nuts if using) into a bowl. Scoop out about two tablespoons of the flour mixture and add to the cranberries and nuts, stirring to coat. This will help the cranberries and nuts to not get stuck together and clump to the bottom of the bread. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined. Add the cranberries and nuts and stir gently again, careful not to over-mix. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 inch square pan. Smooth out and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan for about ten minutes before slicing into squares and serving.

Maple, Apple and Spinach Grilled Cheese

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

As a vegetarian teenager, approximately 80% of everything I ate was some form of cheese and bread, without a thought to vary my diet much. (I certainly eat a diet that’s healthier and more widely varied now that I’m vegan.) In university, a friend in residence friend taught me to add raisins to my grilled cheese and serve with maple syrup instead of ketchup, what a treat! From then on, I tried adding different fruit and vegetables to my grilled cheese. This one is our favourite version. Daiya is by no means a health food– it’s highly processed and 67% of calories come from fat–but it’s a fun food to occasionally indulge in and my kids will happily eat healthy foods like spinach and mushrooms when accompanied by Daiya.

Maple, Apple and Spinach Grilled Cheese
Two slices of your favourite bread
Daiya shreds
One small apple, sliced thinly
A few leaves of spinach
Mushrooms, sliced thinly (optional)
Cinnamon
Pure maple syrup
Mustard
Earth Balance Butter or vegan margarine to butter the bread

Spread mustard on one side of the bread, top with apples and veggies, sprinkle with cinnamon and Daiya, drizzle with mustard. You already know how to make grilled cheese, right? Grill away. If you use a pan and flip after a few minutes, I use two spatulas, one for the bottom and one for the top of the sandwich to hold it tight while flipping since Daiya isn’t as sticky as dairy cheese and shreds may fall out if given the chance. Serve with maple syrup or ketchup. Make gluten-free by choosing GF bread.