Thursday, September 23, 2010

Nobody Makes Dressin' Like My Mama

Not even me. My mom only makes her famous cornbread dressin' twice a year — at Thanksgiving and Xmas. Though her original recipe isn't vegan, she makes a small vegan version just for me. My mom is the best! Everyone in the family loves, loves, loves this dish. The holidays wouldn't be the same without it.

Mama passed her Vegan Cornbread Dressin' recipe on to me, and it's going in my cookbook:

I follow her exact recipe with one exception — I sub out whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose in the cornbread. It's healthier that way, but I think mama's tastes a little better with the white flour. However, I'll save my white flour consumption for special occasions like the holidays. Mama's may also taste a little better because mama made it. Everything tastes better when your mama makes it, right?

By the way, this recipe is a little labor-intensive. You have to make two batches of cornbread and a vegan cream of celery soup from scratch first. Luckily, my cream of celery recipe makes plenty of extra, so you kinda get two meals out of this. Nothing beats a fall day with a bowl of celery soup and a Daiya grilled cheese.

On the side, I whipped up some of my Mashed Sweet Taters:

Another cookbook recipe, these simple sweet potatoes come together quickly and make for a wholesome, creamy side dish. By the way, tonight when I was eating the leftovers, I discovered that the potatoes were especially delicious topped with a little raw coconut butter. Yum!

By the way, I've noticed that some bloggers are ending posts with questions for commenters. I enjoy answering them on other people's blogs, so I think I'll start this too. Soo ...
Question: What's your favorite dish that your mama (or daddy) makes?

25 comments:

radioactivegan said...

That's so funny -- my mom has a dressing recipe too that she only makes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've been thinking about veganizing it for a few years; I might have to try it this year!

San Diego Vegan said...

I think this is my first time commenting on your blog. So, hi! Those mashed sweet potatoes look sooo delicious. Every year for Thanksgiving my mom would make cooked carrots. I literally looked forward to them all year. They were just sliced carrots cooked in butter, but they were the best! Last year she veganized a little pot of them for me and cooked them with earth balance and they were just as good. Someday when I make my own Thanksgiving dinner, it will definitely include cooked carrots!

ashtree said...

I've been meaning to say hi for a long time now...I love your blog! I also love my mama and cornbread dressing. I grew up in Mississippi but lived in Memphis for 5 years before I moved to Oregon. I've enjoyed reading about some the places I miss in Memphis. My favorite dinner that my mama makes is kale greens, baked tofu and garlic mashed potatoes. I've made it myself a million times but I can't make it like my mom does. She also makes yummy vegan cornbread stuffing.

Amey said...

I got so excited when I saw the title of this post, and I thought "No, MY mom makes the best salad dressing!" Ha ha. Out here in Santa Cruz, your kind of dressing is "stuffing" and "dressing" goes on salads. So, in the end, your mom can make the best dressing, and so can my mom. My mom's a pretty good cook. I really, really love her tasty salads and also she makes a great sun dried tomato pesto. But like you said, most things made by mom taste pretty great. Long live moms!

The Health Sensei said...

we can't stop putting coconut butter on sweet potatoes and squash here...add in a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg et voila! a perfect dish.

my mama hasn't veganized any of her dishes for me, even though i've asked her to. my family is not accomodating to my lifestyle and it kinda sucks, i must admit.

jessy said...

i remember you talk'n about your mom's cornbread dressing before and it's always sounded sooo super delicious! hooray for you sharing the recipe in your upcoming cookbook, Bianca - i can't wait! (and i can't wait to test it out!) w00t! smashed sweet taters sound most excellent with a little raw coconut butter, totally gonna have to give it a whirl! as for the questions - i always loved my mom's tuna casserole. i veganized it sometime last year and i'm sooo glad i did. it's my absolute favorite - comfort food at its finest! happy friday, Bianca - and enjoy your weekend!

Jessica said...

Yeah! I love seeing a dressing recipe, and I bet it is delicious with homemade creamed soup. I remember entering the great stuffing/dressing debate and finally showing stuffing fans how they're not the same thing, and dressing is way better.
I love my mom's skillet fried okra, she does it perfectly.

Sarah @ See Sarah Eat said...

Oh gosh, this is awful but I actually can't think of one. Both of my parents worked, sometimes 2nd jobs too, so there wasn't much cooking in my house growing up. My mom did teach me how to make grilled cheese though, which I have been able to recreate vegan and it's lovely :)

Those mashed sweet potatoes look divine! I will have to make them for Thanksgiving this year.

T said...

Mmm this post has me longing for thanksgiving! My favorite used to be my Mom's grilled cheeses- now i like her veganized mashed potatoes.

Erin said...

Oh man, I haven't had a proper "dressing" in so long! Looks fantastic. Growing up, I think the best thing my mom made was her homemade, meaty spaghetti sauce. Now I think it's her apple pies. She is a master of pie crust, and uses all vegetable shortening when I'm around to make them vegan.

Dianne said...

Hm, my mom made a lot of good stuff for us. Maybe broccoli casserole? Or to go way back, turkey a la king! I might just try veganizing that sometime....

dreaminitvegan said...

You are so right. My mom and grandmother always made the best cornbread stuffing.

Vegan In The VI said...

I am always happy with Stove Top brand stuffing made with Earth Balance. Highly recommend.

Susan said...

Same here about the cornbbread dressing--Mom (and I) only make it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just leave the hardboiled eggs out of mine and sub veggie broth for chicken broth, and it's pretty darn similar.

My favorite foods from my mom are the country-style fried foods that we don't allow ourselves to have very often--okra, squash, potatoes.

Claire said...

My mom make amazing falafel...true story. She grew up in Israel and even though I use her recipe I can just never seem to make mine quite as good...

Just Us said...

I love dressing. I am already dreading not being able to eat it at Thanksgiving.
My mom makes the best chocolate chess pie ever! I so miss being able to eat it! :-(

Jen said...

my mom was a pretty gross cook, and i grew up on grade z meat: spam, ground beef in a tube, etc. i don't really want to recreate any of that.

Jen said...

ps-are you still needing testers?

Holly said...

your blog is awesome, its hard being vegan when youve grown up in the south, unless its deep fried of smothered its usually not considered food, :) thanks for the recipes

Kim Franklin said...

My mom makes some awesome veggie fajitas with all the colored bell peppers and onions.... with brown rice... sooooo good, those mashed sweet taters look yummmyyy

The Voracious Vegan said...

Neither of my parents like cooking so I've kind of forgotten any meals that they made, especially since I do all the cooking now!

Your mama's dressin' looks amazing! I'm sure it is well worth the effort. YUM!

Jess - The Domestic Vegan said...

This looks AWESOME!!! At first I thought it was going to be about salad dressing because we call it "stuffing" up here in the North. Haha. :)

My mom makes the best spaghetti sauce that I just can't recreate, even with the recipe... It's my favorite meal when I go home, and I guess it makes it extra-special that I only have it occasionally when my mom makes it!

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

My favorite thing that my mom makes is her vegan cinnamon rolls. They are super delicious.

Rachel said...

Delurking to comment :) Love your blog! It's so true that everything is better when mama makes it, my mama makes the best fried shrimp po'boy ever!! I'm a recent vegan but I ate it anyway the last time I visited her in MS. She veganizes everything else for me when I visit, so now we have to figure out a super yummy vegan po'boy!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Oooh, the dressin' looks good! I love my Mom's Carrot & Raisin Salad.