As you read this, I am off in Italy playing tourist so I’m going to keep this week’s recipes short and sweet.
As much as I love to cook, and I really do, sometimes I need to nourish my body and do it easily or quickly. Sometimes that means one pot meals and other times it means something similar, a tray bake recipe.
Vegan tray bake recipes are absolutely perfect when you want to eat good and eat well with very little effort. Today’s recipe features TVP, sweet potatoes and carrots. And I threw in a small batch of kohlrabi greens because I wanted to use them before they started to turn yellow and bitter.
Some people might say that Spring is too warm for vegan polenta recipes and I say those people are wrong. 😛 Sometimes I get so deep into the writing cave that I’ll look up and find it’s 10:30 and it’s my night to cook, and that’s when a dish like this is a gift.
Seriously though, sometimes you want a homemade vegan meal that’s simple to throw together and doesn’t take a long time to make. Polenta does take about 10 to 15 minutes if you want it really creamy and delicious, but the good news is that the oven is doing all the work for the vegetables so you have plenty of time!
And this is also a perfect whole food vegan dinner, but if you want to add a vegan meat alternative feel free since you’re the one who has to eat it.
Creamy vegan polenta & veggies
This is an easy vegan dinner made with sheet pan vegetables so it’s also an easy weeknight dinner any vegan will enjoy!
For many years I have had a love-hate relationship with stuffed mushrooms because they either come out too soft & mushy, like my Carrot Greens Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms or too underdone like the Mince & Couscous Stuffed Mushrooms. For a couple of years I just gave up on those elusive stuffed mushrooms that I’d enjoyed at restaurants in Chicago and Boston and Wurzburg.
I thought I’d have to resign myself to only eating them when made my a professional chef. Or my husband’s New Year’s Eve mushrooms
And then one day I was browsing the aisles of Lidl here in Romania and you know what I found? Portobella mushrooms. Not those flat wide one with more gills that mushroom flesh, but the gorgeous ones that were already practically a bowl just begging to be filled.
I tested them out a few times over the past few months and I am happy–ecstatic, actually–to report that I have finally achieved the perfect stuffed mushroom.
And you know what the perfect stuffed mushroom requires? The perfect vegan mince and I’m talking about Beyond Burger. Okay, maybe it’s not the most perfect vegan mince but of ALL the ones I’ve tasted, it’s the best damn one around.
So, let’s talk about these Beyond Burger stuffed mushrooms with bulgur and Brussels sprouts.
Vegan mince stuffed mushrooms.
I know this looks like a lot for a pretty simple recipe, but it’s really not. I promise.
And if you don’t like Brussels Sprouts, switch it up to something else like broccoli, asparagus or kale.
I know, I know. Beans and sausage are both proteins and totally unnecessary in one desk. I know. Really, I do. In fact, most nights of the week I’ll be the annoying vegan making that argument. But a deal is a deal and when we decided, ages ago, that as long as we had the ingredients and the know-how, we would make the dish the other person requested to the best of our ability.
And we’d just bought some Verdino brand vegan sausages, and there are ALWAYS beans in the pantry, so I had no excuse not to do it. Other than being difficult, of course, which I am always happy to do.
But, I didn’t. Bummer.
But, life goes on.
He asked for Sausage & Bean casserole with mashed potatoes and this is what I came up with.
Before we get to the yummy smells and full bellies, we need to gather our ingredients.
Ingredients: Cannellini beans Vegan sausage Onion Garlic Potatoes Bell pepper Dried chili peppers Red wine Tomatoes (fresh or crushed) Vegan butter Plant milk (I used almond, unsweetened) Thyme Bay leaf
This lovely graphic is courtesy of Cronometer.com, the app I use to track my calories/nutrients.
You can cook the vegan sausages in the pan to start if you’d like, but I cranked the oven up and cooked them in there, turning every 3 to 5 minutes until good & crispy on all sides. It’s a good way to multi-task and a better way to make this a no oil added vegan dish.
Take a minute to get your potatoes boiling so everything finishes around the same time.
Next, heat up the skillet and add the onion, dried chilies and bell pepper, cook until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme, cook until fragrant.
Then, add the red wine and simmer until it starts to reduce.
Add beans and cover, simmer 10 to 20 minutes, or until a thick sauce starts to form.
When potatoes are tender, drain and reserve some of the starchy water in a measuring cup. Add the vegan butter to the same hot pot you used to boil the potatoes until it sizzles. Toss in the minced garlic until brown & fragrant, turn down heat and remove the pot to a sturdy, flat surface so you can give the potatoes a proper mashing.
Use plant milk and starchy water to get the consistency you’re going for and return to heat until its warmed through.
Take the vegan sausages from the oven and toss with the bean sauce, serve on top of the potatoes.
This meal is perfect when you want red wine in your dinner instead of with it, when the weather gets cold, which it seems be doing whenever it feels like for the past few weeks, or when you’re in the mood for a protein-heavy vegan meal. It’s pretty much perfect any way you look at it.
Enjoy and if you try this recipe, I’d love to hear/see it, so hit me up on Instagram.
How to cook "with visual instructions" "using familiar ingredients from your local grocery stores" healthy, traditional and delicious Japanese dishes!!
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