Veganizing Better Homes & Gardens

A few weeks ago, I picked up a very retro-looking copy of Better Homes & Gardens Meatless Main Dishes from the Kitchen Witch new and used bookstore in New Orleans. Though it's a vegetarian cookbook, it was printed in 1981 and almost every recipe is LOADED with dairy or eggs. I purchased the book for the challenge of veganizing a few of the recipes.

I chose to start with this Mediterranean Stroganoff:

A rich, cream sauce with fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and olives tops healthy quinoa pasta. Of course the recipe didn't call for quinoa pasta, but that's what I had on hand ... so that's what I used. Probably healthier that way anyway. Honestly though, the recipe tastes perfectly sinful. I used a ton of vegan dairy substitutes, including my new favorite thing — MimicCreme! I picked up several cartons at a health food co-op in Jackson, Mississippi (about 3 hours south of Memphis) since it isn't sold here.

I don't typically share recipes from other people's cookbooks, but I heavily adapted this one. It called for heavy cream, sour cream, ricotta cheese, and parmesan. So, um, I made some serious changes. I'll share this one, and hopefully, Better Homes & Gardens won't hate me.

Veganized Mediterranean Stroganoff
(adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Meatless Main Dishes)

2 cups cauliflower, chopped
2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
3 cups button mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups MimicCreme Non-Dairy Cream Substitute or soymilk
1 vegetable bouillon cube, crumbled
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1/2 pound firm tofu, drained
3/4 cup Tofutti sour cream
1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese
12 ounces quinoa pasta (or other pasta)

Steam the cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots in a steamer basket until tender. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.

In another saucepan, melt the margarine. Add onions and saute 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for about 7 minutes or until the mushrooms shrink down a bit. Add garlic and saute one more minute.

Quickly stir in flour and then add MimicCreme or soymilk. Crumble in bouillon cube. Stir until thick and bubbly. Carefully fold in steamed vegetables and black olives. Turn off heat.

In a separate bowl, mush tofu with your hands for about three minutes or until it achieves a ricotta-like consistency. Add sour cream and vegan parm and stir to combine. Slowly add the tofu ricotta/sour cream mixture to the cream sauce in the saucepan. Return to a low heat and cook several minutes or until heated through, but not boiling. Serve over hot pasta.

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In other news, the awesome Zel Allen (author of Nut Gourmet) has posted the recipe for Nutty Oatcakes (which I posted about on Monday night) on her blog. Check it out here!