Toll House Pie...for Vegans

Since I was about 13 (approximately 21 years), it has been a tradition that I make Toll House Pie on Thanksgiving. Almost no one ever touches it, except me, but I make it annually anyway. This year, I decided to veganize it. It was quite an adventure, as the extra shortening I put in to replace the eggs ended up dripping over the sides of the pie pan and eventually led to literally setting my oven ON FIRE.

However, the end result tasted exactly the same as the dairy variety. It might have been a little crisper, though, which I actually preferred, because it had a more cookie like texture

Okay, so this is not going to technically be Toll House Pie, since it doesn't use Toll House chocolate, but this is my rendition. ***Be sure to bake on a cookie sheet so you don't set your oven on fire too.

Faux House Pie

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell - make your own or buy your fave

For binding mixture:
4 tbsp flour
1 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 tsp baking powder
4 tsp water

To complete filling:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine, melted
1 cup (6 oz.) vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts in mine, but pecans or something else of that ilk work just as well)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325° F.

Mix 4 tbsp flour, water, shortening, and baking soda in a small bowl

Combine 1/2 cup flour, sugars, and margarine in a separate bowl. Add binding mixture and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Pour mixture into pie crust.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Veggie Chili

This is one of the quickest recipes that I like to throw together at this time of year. It involves veggie crumbles, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, and a prepackaged chili kit. I usually like to toss some onions and peppers in with the mix, but felt kinda lazy about it today, so went without. All in all, it turned out pretty good. It was mild, because I left the cayenne pepper out, but I'm not much for super spicy foods anyway. Served it up with some multigrain saltines and called it dinner.

Vegan Burritos and Pasta with Squash

I made a couple of dinners this past week. Since I live alone currently, I usually live on leftovers until their gone or until I just can't stand to eat the same thing again. Sunday's venture was vegan burritos. I threw some taco seasonings and vegetarian refried beans in with some Morningstar Farms crumbles and added some sweet peppers and onion to the lot. I rolled that stuff up with some homemade guacamole and vegan sour cream in a big flour tortilla. Not too shabby.

Last night, my sister was over, so I threw some onions, garlic, summer squash, broccoli, pine nuts, and diced tomatoes together with a few vegan meatballs I had floating around in the freezer (okay, they weren't really floating, they were still in their original packaging), tossed in a few spices and poured it over some linguine. Pretty fantastic, if I do say so.

Dude...I need a digital camera to document my cooking genius! It's on my list, I swear.

An Attempt

After weeks, perhaps months, of putting it off, I made my first batch of scrambled tofu today. Sigh. I was disappointed. I admit I'm not a big tofu fan, but after reading about Isa Chandra Moskowitz's (my vegan hero, btw) Scrambled Tofu in her books and on her blog, I just knew this was going to be a life saver. Alas...no. It's a no-go for me. I used her basic recipe and added sauteed onions. In addition to not being a big tofu eater, I also just wasn't feeling the curry-esque flavour palate.

I'm going to look for some other flavour combinations, however, and see what I can come up with, as I'm not totally ready to give up on scrambled tofu quite yet.

Meanwhile, I made a lovely accompaniment of oven home fries. I am the QUEEN of oven fries and simply adapted my recipe by adding some chopped onion and cutting the little potato guys into smaller chunks. While they tasted just fine, I wasn't really feeling them either.

Sadly, the past few months my breakfast appetite has depleted, so perhaps that was the biggest culprit in my disappointment in the whole meal.

For lunch today: Vegan Burritos...my own recipe. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, here's my quick oven-fry throw-together:

Oven Fries a la Deedee

Ingredients:

2-4 small to medium russett potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cajun seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the oil and seasonings in a large bowl. Cut the potatoes into french fry sized strips. Toss potatoes in the oil mixture. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Turn potatoes and bake for another 5 - 15 minutes, depending on desired crunchiness.

To turn these puppies into breakfast home fries, simply chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and throw in a quarter of a large chopped onion. Baking time stays the same, depending on preference.