Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Hi! I'm Scarlett, I'm new to the blog, so I guess I should tell you a little about myself, huh? I'm a vegan, (meaning I don't consume anything that is either an animal product or a by-product - dairy, honey, meat...not a part of my diet). I also LOVE LOVE LOVE food and figuring out how to take traditional recipes and making them vegan. I'm always up for being experimental and trying something creative and new in the kitchen - sometimes the flavours you should NEVER put together wind up being the absolute best!

The first recipe I want to share is my creamy mushroom gravy. This stuff is absolutely amazing; it's perfect for topping vegetables, meatloaf (or wheatloaf, in my world)...anything. It's rich and flavourful, and you won't even be able to tell that it's vegan!

My favorite way to serve this up, however, is turning it into a stroganoff. Add your favorite cut of beef, pour over noodles, and top it with a little bit of sour cream, and you've got the makings of a delicious meal! (I prefer meatless meatballs, mini rotini, and Tofutti's Better-Than-Sour-Cream.)

Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients:

Yes, I'm a setter-outer when it comes to my ingredients.

3T olive oil
1/2c minced onion (I use red, but whatever floats your boat)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I found a fabulous roasted garlic in a glass jar; works great!)
1 1/2c chopped white mushrooms 
2T soy sauce (low sodium is an awesome substitute for the regular)
1t dried thume
1/4t salt
1/4t black pepper
1 1/2 c vegetable stock (I have fallen in love with Better than Bouillon!)
1/4 c plain soy milk (Westsoy is a good brand to start with, if you're not a soy person)
2T nutritional yeast (found in the bulk foods section of most supermarkets)
2T corn starch 

• Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onion and stir, cooking until it's soft and just beginning to get translucent (about 3-5 minutes). 

• Add garlic and mushrooms, and heat until softened, stirring often. I usually wind up adding a little more oil at this time, just to keep things nice and juicy. When soft, stir in the soy sauce, thyme, salt and pepper.

• Pour your veggie/spice mixture to a blender, add vegetable stock, soy milk, nutritional yeast, and cornstarch. Blend on high until your gravy is smooth and creamy. It will be pretty thin at this point, but don't worry! The gravy-consistency is brought on in the next step.

•  Pour the gravy back into the saucepan, bring to a boil. Stir constantly, making sure it doesn't stick! After it just barely starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer the gravy. It will thicken up in a few minutes.

• Add meat and noodles for a delicious stroganoff, or simply pour over your favorite vegetables!

Enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Vegan on the Cheap, by Robin Robbertson

[menu plan] week of feb 07

i have a new favorite website. have you been to $5 Dinners? it's great. cheap, easy meals. and if you don't use their recipes, at least you'll get some ideas for what you want to make.

i've been really slacking in the meal planning department lately. and i'm sick of going to the store every day, not knowing what i'm going to make for dinner that night, and then buying something easy, not so healthy, and not so cheap. so i've made a weekly meal plan today, and will stop by the store on the way home today to get food for the whole week. i'm so excited.

here's the meals. i still have no idea what order i'm going to make them in, but i imagine things like the pilaf will wait til the end of the week, because it's not so much fresh produce in it. the ingredients can sit around for a little bit.


mushroom quinoa pilaf
sloppy joes with mac-n-cheese
croissant hot dogs with pasta salad
cashew chicken
tacos with mexican rice