Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-3 tablespoon sugar
• 1 & 1/2 cups prepared chestnuts, chopped
• 2 apples
• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine
• 1 lemon or lime juice
• 1 tablespoon agave
• pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• pinch cinnamon

Directions:

1. Warm the water in a small saucepan.
2. Add the vanilla and 2 tablespoons sugar as well as the chopped chestnuts.
3. Cook the mixture on a low heat.
4. Cut the apples in half, remove the seeds and core.
5. Melt the vegan margarine in a frying pan.
6. Place the apples, cut side down in the melted margarine and cook the apples for 10 minutes to soften.
7. Puree the chestnuts to make a soft, smooth puree.
8. Season to taste with a pinch of salt and possibly another tablespoon of sugar or agave.
9. Remove the apples from the frying pan.
10. Zest the outside of the lemon or lime and squeeze the juice.
11. Mix the lemon and zest with the agave syrup.
12. Add the 1 tablespoon of sugar to the pan and cook to caramelize the sugar.
13. Return the apples to the pan and lightly dredge the apples through the caramelized sugar to coat the top of the apple. Place the apple on a plate to serve and dust with cinnamon.
14. Fill the hollow where the core and seeds had been with the chestnut mixture.
15. Drizzle the lemon zested syrup over the top or around the plate and serve warm.

The recipe is very tasty and we enjoyed having our own fruit in the winter. I do suggest you put the spices in a mulling bag as suggested on the blog, as otherwise, you will be picking individual cloves and star anise pieces out from the compote. Instead of Greek yogurt we used plain soy yogurt. This is  a very nice, sweet treat to enjoy over the winter.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

for the dressing:

• 4 tablespoons walnut or pumpkin seed oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon sweet grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1-2 tablespoons syrup (maple, agave, or fruit)
• pinch salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Thai sweet spicy sauce (optional)

for the salad:

• 1 & 1/2 cups pumpkin or winter squash, peeled and grated
• 1 & 1/2 cups apple chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• red chicory or radicchio

Directions:

to mix the dressing:

1. Place the oil, mustard, syrup, ginger and lemon juice in a cup or small bowl.
2. Mix well.
3. Add the salt and pepper and Thai sauce if desired.

to make the salad:

1. Peel and grate the pumpkin or winter squash.
2. Place the grated pumpkin in a bowl.
3. Chop the apple in small pieces or optionally grate.
4. Add the apple pieces to the grated pumpkin.
5. Add the raisins and stir to mix.
6. Chop the walnut pieces.
7. Add most of the walnut pieces to the salad, reserving a few pieces as garnish.
8. Add the dressing to the salad and mix well.
9. Clean the red chicory or radicchio and separate the leaves.
10. Place a leaf on each salad plate as a cup to hold the salad.
11. Fill the leaf with the salad.
12. Top with a few walnut pieces and optionally garnish with a parsley leaf or chervil leaf.

Yield: 12

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
• 2 egg replacements (I used No-Egg from Orgran)
• 8 tablespoon vegan margarine, melted and cooled
• 3/4 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup apple, peeled and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 177 C.
2. Grease the muffin pans and paper muffin liners.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon, ginger and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg replacement and sugar.
5. Add the melted, cooled vegan margarine, non-dairy milk and vanilla.
6. Put the chopped apples and cranberries in the dry mixture and mix lightly. This will allow the fruits to stay suspended in the mixture rather than dropping all down to the bottom.
7. Fold the wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing until just moistened.
8. Spoon into prepared pans, 3/4 of the way full for each muffin.
9. Bake large muffins 25 to 30 minutes or miniature muffins about 20 minutes.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 apples
• 9 frozen puff pastry squares, thawed (2 per apple plus one for decorations)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit mix – raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, goji berries or others
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• pinch cinnamon

for the vegan caramel sauce:

• 4 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 1/2 cup brown
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• pinch salt

Directions:

1. Thaw the puff pastry squares.
2. Preheat the oven to the indicated temperature on the package of puff pastry.
3. Mix the dried fruit with the tablespoon sugar and pinch of cinnamon.
4. If using organic apples, you can leave the skin on, or if you prefer not to eat the skin, then peel the apple and remove the core.
5. Set each of the apples on 1 square of puff pastry.
6. Fill the cored area of the apple with the dried fruit mixture.
7. Place the 2nd square of puff pastry over the top of the apple.
8. Gently press the 2 squares of puff pastry together to completely seal the apple inside the pastry.
9. Using a cookie cutter of choice, cut out small decorations for the dumplings.
10. Moisten the under side of each decoration with water and place on top of the dumpling.
11. Bake in the oven for 18-25 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden brown.
12. While the apples are baking, make the caramel sauce.
13. Heat the vegan margarine in a small saucepan.
14. Add the brown sugar, mix well and melt.
15. Mix the corn starch in the vanilla soy milk and add to the brown sugar.
16. Add the pinch of salt, and stir until the mixture has thickened.
17. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
18. When the apples are golden brown, remove from the oven.
19. Allow the apples to cool for a few minutes as they are very hot inside.
20. Serve each apple with caramel sauce drizzled on top.

This salad has a nice mixture of mint and parsley, with a wonderful dressing using apple juice. It was easy to veganize, by using agave instead of honey.We also added pomegranate seeds for texture and color. This was a quick and easy recipe to make, full of flavor and very healthy.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 18 ounces sauerkraut
• 1/2 sweet red bell pepper
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1-2 fresh sweet apples
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ripe mango
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 limes juiced

Directions:

1. Squeeze the juice from the sauerkraut, save it for another recipe (it’s very healthy).
2. Put the sauerkraut in a sieve and lightly rinse with cold water to remove most of the salt, and squeeze the water out.
3. Separate the sauerkraut with a fork and place in a large serving bowl.
4. Cut the stem from the sweet red bell pepper. Slice half of the pepper in very thin strips.
5. Cut the top of the chili pepper of, and remove the inner veins and seeds. Slice the chili pepper in very thin slices.
6. Add both peppers to the sauerkraut and mix.
7. If the apples are biological, you can include the skin, if not, peel and core.
8. Grate the apples into the sauerkraut and mix well.
9. Mix the lime juice and olive oil and pour over the sauerkraut and mix the salad well.
10. Slice the mango, remove the seed and peel.
11. Slice 1/2 of the mango in medium chunks and mix through the salad.
12. Slice 1/2 of the avocado in medium chunks and mix through the salad.
13. Serve generous portions on 4 salad plates.
14. Slice the other halves of the mango and avocado and use as garnish on top of each salad.
15. Any salad that is left over after serving can be placed at the tale in a serving bowl for people to help themselves.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 apples, cored and sliced
• 3/4 cup apple juice

for the crepes:

• 1 cup chick pea flour
• 1 cup white unbleached flour
• 3 ¼ cups water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tablespoon sugar

for the caramel sauce

• see Medjool Caramel recipe

Directions:

for the apples:

1. Heat the apple juice in a small saucepan.
2. Core and slice the apples and add to the hot apple juice.
3. Cook the apples just until they soften, then remove from the heat.

Make the caramel sauce before starting with the crepes.

to make the crepes:

1. Place the ingredients for the crepes in a medium large bowl.
2. Beat or whisk the batter to a smooth consistency.
3. Allow the batter to “sit” for 10 minutes and then whisk once more.
4. Heat a non-stick crepe pan and pour 1/3 of a cup of the batter into the pan.
5. Spread the batter around the pan with a crepe spatula or tip the pan to create an even crepe.
6. Cook the crepe until it has a dry surface.
7. Gently shake the crepe pan to loosen the crepe so you can flip it, or turn with a pancake spatula.
8. Continue until all the batter has been used.
9. You can keep the made crepes warm in the oven until all have been prepared.

to combine:

1. Place a crepe on each plate.
2. Using a slotted spoon, place 4-5 apple slices in each crepe.
3. Fold the crepe over and drizzle the caramel sauce over the top and along the sides.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 baby pumpkins
• 2 apples
• 8 chestnuts pre-prepared
• handful raisins
• handful dried cranberries
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine
• hot water
• date caramel sauce (recipe)

Directions:

1. Carefully using a knife cut a circle around the stem of the pumpkin about 1/4-1/3 of the way away from the stem to remove the stem and a bit of the top portion of the pumpkin.
2. Using a melon baller or spoon, scoop out the seeds and stringy parts. (I save he seeds to plant next year’s pumpkins).
3. If your apples are organic, then cut them in small pieces, discarding the core and seeds. Otherwise, peel the apple and cut in small pieces.
4. Place the apple pieces in a bowl.
5. Cut the prepared chestnuts in small pieces and add to the apple pieces.
6. Add the raisins and dried cranberries.
7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the fruit mixture and mix well.
8. You will need about 2 cups of fruit mixture for the 4 small pumpkins, depending upon their size.
9. Spoon the fruit mixture into each of the small pumpkins.
10. Put a small dollop of vegan margarine on top of the fuit mixture so that as it melts it mixes with the fruit and pumpkin.
11. Place the pumpkins in a baking dish that has a lid. Don’t forget to put the pumpkin tops in there also.
12. Put the baking dish in the oven.
13. Add the water to a level 1/3-1/2 way up the pumpkins and put the lid on the baking dish.
14. Cook the pumpkins at around 415 F / 213 C for about an hour or until the pumpkins are soft and can be easily pierced with a sharp knife.
15. Meanwhile prepare the salty date caramel sauce. (see recipe)
16. When the pumpkins are done, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven. 
Using a slotted spoon or slotted utensil, carefully lift the pumpkins from the hot water and place on individual plates.
17. Allow the pumpkins to slight cool before serving.
18. We enjoyed the pumpkins with the salty date caramel sauce on top.

It is a delicious soup and very easy to adapt to be vegan. Just replace the butter with vegan margarine, and use either soy cream or soy yogurt instead of the creme freche. We used fresh organic apple juice instead of the cider, but the cider would also be tasty. It’s quite important to use the spice “ras-el-hanout”. It’s a lovely Middle-Eastern spice that gives depth to many recipes without giving them a sharp flavor. I hope you give the recipe a try, and find it as tasty as we did.