On this Sunday before Christmas I’m sharing holiday recipe links, instead of news. If you’re having trouble with your menu you just might find some inspiration here!
Let me start with a little something that I whipped up for lunch after my husband and I went out for a bike ride with two friends yesterday. Oh, hey, it was my first bike ride in Colorado!
Riding in the Garden of the Gods is gorgeous – and it’s hard (hills, hills hills)!
Back to the lunch. I grocery shopped early in the morning and had decided to bake an acorn squash. I also realized I had some fresh cranberries in the refrigerator that needed to be used up soon. I roasted them. I took both out of the oven before our bike ride. When we returned from out workout I decided we four hungry people needed to eat ASAP so I peeled the squash, diced it and tossed it with the cranberries. A new salad recipe was born!
Warm Squash and Cranberry Salad
by JL Fields @ JL goes Vegan
PRINT RECIPE
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon clear agave
- 1 acorn squash
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400F
- In a large bowl mix cranberries, pepitas and walnuts with lime juice and agave.
- Spread on a greased baking sheet (I used avocado oil spray)
- Wrap the whole squash in foil (shiny side inside) and place on a baking sheet.
- Put both the cranberries and the squash in the over at the same time.
- Bake cranberries for 15 minutes (they will be soft and some will have burst). Remove from the oven, transfer them to a large bowl and allow to cool on the counter.
- Bake whole squash for 60 minutes.
- Remove the squash from the foil, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, peel, and dice.
- Add the diced squash to the bowl and toss with the cranberries.
- Add avocado oil, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Serve warm.
My friends came back for dinner last night and I was a very bad blogger. I forgot to take food pictures! I made my Cheesy Dip with Cashews and Capers, (I add more cashews to make this a thicker dip versus a thinner salad dressing), served with raw veggies, for a nosh. My husband made cornbread from a mix that I bought at an event I attended last week: Golden Cornbread Mix from the Women’s Bean Project (he used Ener-G egg replacer, which worked perfectly).
I made chili but not just any chili! I picked up a bag of seitan crumbles in Denver last weekend and the fine folks at Linden Tree Foods sent me their recipe to Seitan Crumble Chili (now up on their site). I made a few adjustments, simply because I wanted to have enough for four very hungry people.
- I added one extra can of black beans and one extra can of diced tomatoes.
- I used 1 and 1/2 cups of seitan crumbles.
- I added 1 and 1/2 cups of vegetable broth.
- I also adjusted the spices a bit: 3/4 t garlic powder, 1 and 1/2 t cumin, 2 T chili powder, 1 t cayenne pepper.
This 100% vegan dinner for three non-vegans and me was a huge hit! While we didn’t take food photos, there is some photographic evidence of the impromptu dance party that ensued in the living room after the wine and beer flowed.
I think my guest is dancing with joy because he didn’t know how great vegan food could taste!
My husband and I are going to continue celebrating the holidays by seeing the stage production of A Christmas Story at the Fine Arts Center. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and joy-filled week with family and friends. Enjoy these delicious holiday links.
This week’s vegan links and news
- This looks perfect to set out for Santa on Christmas Eve: Raw, Vegan Chai Spiced Hot Chocolate and Vegan Gingerbread Cookies from Gena Hamshaw on Choosing Raw.
- Ricki Heller is offering a special holiday Wellness Weekend recipe round-up on Diet, Dessert and Dogs.
- For a veganized holiday favorite, try Christy Morgan’s Sweet Potato Casserole from The Blissful Chef. (If you have some extra sweet potato try this Mango Sweet Potato Smoothie Recipe from Heather Nauta at Healthy Eating Starts Here the next morning!)
- For dessert, you could try Dreena Burton’s Vegan Pumpkin Cake and Fluffy Dairy-Free Macadamia Mallow Frosting or Allyson Kramer’s Double Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies (or both!).
This week on the blogs
JL goes Vegan
TUESDAY:Living my vegan life in Colorado
WEDNESDAY: Multivore Holiday Cooking, Gifting Vegan Lifestyle Coaching, and Holiday Survival Tips
FRIDAY: Pigs are friends, not food. Eat this BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich.
Stop Chasing Skinny
Have you stopped chasing skinny? Submit your story today.
