Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 & 1/2 lb. pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• handful Italian parsley, chipped
• 1/4 cup Thai sweet spicy sauce

Directions:

1. Prepare the pumpkin early enough to cool before serving.
2. Peel the pumpkin or squash. Remove the seeds and cut into bite-sized cubes.
3. Steam the pumpkin until soft yet al dente and still holding its shapes. (5-8 minutes)
4. Place the cooked pumpkin pieces in a bowl and cool in the refrigerator.
5. Prepare the onion in thin slices.
6. Heat the oil and saute the onion until soft.
7. Drain on a paper towel.
8. Chop the parsley, leaving a few leaves as garnish.
9. Add the onion slices and chopped parsley to the pumpkin and gently toss to mix.
10. Place the salad on a plate or in a bowl and drizzle the Thai sauce on top.
11. Garnish with a few parsley leaves.
12. We also sprinkled a few red pepper flakes as garnish.

Notes:

We used an Uchiki Kuri pumpkin, although it would be good with any pumpkin or winter squash, such as butternut.

We substituted soy cheese for the Mexican cheddar that she used, and we used soy yogurt instead of the sour cream and vegan margarine instead of butter. Actually, we used one of our last red kuri pumpkins instead of the acorn squash. So we did have a nice vegan version of this recipe. It was a great lunch that we both enjoyed.

Yield: 1 med-large pizza

Ingredients:

for one wholewheat pizza dough:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat four
• 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1 pkg. yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• small pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water

for the pumpkin/butternut squash:

• 2-3 cups pumpkin, de-seeded and cut into small cubes

for the tomato sauce:

• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1-2 cans water
• pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon Italian herb blend
• small sprinkle garlic powder
• small sprinkle onion powder

for the cheddar cheese dollops *1:

• 4 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1-3 tablespoons miso
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• splash lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2-1 teaspoon grainy mustard
• pinch sugar or agave
• 1/2 block soy cheese grated

Directions:

to make the dough:

1. Place the flours and salt in a bowl and whisk to mix.
2. Put the sugar and yeast in the warm water and allow to bubble for 3 – 5 minutes or so.
3. Pour the yeasted water into the flour.
4. Add the oil and mix with a mixer.
5. Put a lid, plate or plastic wrap on top of the bowl and place in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the pizza.

to make the tomato sauce:

1. Empty the can of tomato paste into a small bowl.
2. Refill the tomato paste can once or twice with water and add to the tomato paste to thin to a sauce consistency.
3. Add the seasonings and water and mix well.

to prepare the pumpkin:

1. If you have an organic pumpkin or squash, you can leave the outer skin on.
2. De-seed the pumpkin and cut in small pieces.
3. Place in a steamer and steam until soft.

to make the cheddar sauce:

1. Melt the margarine in a saucepan.
2. Add the flour and stir to mix.
3. Add the soy milk and stir to bed a thick sauce.
4. Add the salt, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powders, stir well to mix.
5. Remove from the heat and add the miso, lemon juice and mustard.
6. Season to taste with a pinch of sugar and possibly some white pepper if desired.

to make the pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F / 232 C or whatever temperature you usually use to bake pizza.
2. When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured workspace and roll the dough into a nice round pizza.
3. Place the dough on the pizza pan.
4. Top with the tomato sauce, then the pumpkin pieces.
5. Using a tablespoon, place dollops of cheddar sauce here and there on the pizza.
6. Grate the soy cheese over the top.
7. Place in the oven to bake for about 18-20 minutes or when ever the bottom of the pizza is lightly golden brown and the top is melted.

Notes:

Some may want to add sage as it is a nice seasoning with pumpkin or butternut squash, however we chose not to as the Italian herbs were perfect with this pizza. We really enjoyed this and will have it again during the winter.

*1 adapted from http://www.veganwolf.com/recipes/sauces/vegancheddarcheese.htm

Please, give the recipe a try as it is really tasty. It’s easy to veganize by using maple syrup instead of honey and change the butter to vegan margarine. Otherwise the recipe is vegan. We used a pumpkin but either butternut squash or pumpkin work well. And, please use a lime not a lemon.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of pumpkin or butternut squash, seeded and cubed
• 2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cubed
• 3-4 shallots, peeled and cut into slices
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons oil
• pinch cinnamon
• pinch cardamom
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat he oven to 450 F / 232 C.
2. Place the pumpkin or squash, pears, shallots and garlic in a ovenproof baking dish.
3. Drizzle the oil over and roast for 35-45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
4. Puree the roasted vegetables with the vegetables stock, dig 2 cupfuls first and then more according to how thick or thin you want the soup to be.
5. Alternatively you can use an immersion blender and puree the soup in the pot.
6. Add the cinnamon and coriander and season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
7. Reheat the soup in a pot and serve with croutons and garnished with a couple of sprigs of chives.

Notes:

You can use butternut, kombucha, orange hokkaido/uchiki kuri pumpkins. We prefer the orange hokkaido as they are orange and organically grown, there is no need to peel them, we can use the skin as well.

adapted from http://thesepeasarehollow.blogspot.com/2009/12/soup-arsenal.html

Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite blogs to visit. Although it is an omni blog, the photos are always inviting and sometimes the recipes are vegan. We saw this salad a few weeks ago and have been looking forward to making it ever since. It was delicious and we will enjoy it more often over the year. Deb had adapted the recipe from Orangette, who adapted it from Casa Moro. We made it as posted on Smitten Kitchen, only we used an uchi kuri (hokkaido) pumpkin instead of the butternut squash.

Tonight we enjoyed Spaghetti Squash I from http://allrecipes.com. It was a rather traditional style marinara sauce, with black olives and fresh basil. It was a very nice recipe. We also looking forward to trying an Alfredo recipe with spinach.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

for the pea dumplings

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fat (vegan margarine)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 scallion, white and green leaves
• 7-8 fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup warmed soy milk

for the soup

• 1 scallion (white and green parts, chopped
• 1 large carrot, cut in bite sized pieces
• 1 large sweet potato or yam, chopped in bite sized pieces
• 150 grams butternut squash or pumpkin, cut in bite sized pieces
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 – 1.5 liter water

Directions:

1. Using a big pot, bring the water, bouillon and cut up vegetables to a boil, and then turn the heat down to simmer.
2. The vegetables should be sufficiently cooked in 15- 20 minutes.
3. I do not puree this soup, but rather enjoy the clear consumer of vegetables with the nice pieces of vegetables.
4. Meanwhile make the pea dumplings.
5. Ten minutes before serving put the dumplings into the soup broth and cook.
6. Serve a hearty bowl of soup to each person with 2 lovely floating dumplings.

Making the dumplings:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl
2. In a 2nd bow, combine, the peas, chopped scallion, mint leaves and margarine.
3. Using a staff mixer or blender, puree these ingredients and add the soy milk to make a paste.
4. Shortly before serving the soup, combine the wet pea mixture with the dry ingredients .
5. Mix only enough to moisten.
6. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot soup and cook for 10 minutes.

Note:

I saw the recipe for pea dumplings at the Brownie Points blog. This recipe was easy to adjust to be vegan and it is delicious!

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 zucchini or yellow squash
• 2 tsp. marjoram
• 1 bell pepper or pepperoncini, deseeded and cut into pieces
• 1 can chickpeas
• 100 grams tempeh or tofu, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup black olives, sliced
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 3 tbs. lemon juice
• black pepper to taste
• cayenne
• 1 cup soy cheese, grated (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
2. Add the tempeh or tofu and saute until golden brown.
3. Add zucchini/squash, bell pepper & marjoram and cook on medium heat until zucchini/squash is just tender.
4. Add chickpeas, olives, cumin (or 2 tsp. mint if desired), lemon juice and seasonings.
5. Cook until everything is heated through.
6. Ladle mixture over cooked rice or couscous.
7. Top with soy cheese. (optional)