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My Favorite Holiday Barley Casserole

emily — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:48:26 +0000

What does a vegan make for Thanksgiving? While there are plenty of festive options, my “go to” recipe is for the Barley Casserole from my “go to” vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

This casserole is hearty, extremely flavorful, and popular with both vegans and non-vegans. It also tastes equally delicious hot or cold.

Aerial View of Barley Casserole

The first step is to prepare the barley.

Barley Boiling

And strain it!

Barley in Strainer

Gather the ingredients…

Barley Casserole Ingredients

And sauté the garlic and onion.

Sauteed Garlic and Onion

Then add the veggies.

The recipe also calls for shoyu. What is shoyu and how is it different from soy sauce? The short answer is that shoyu is natural soy sauce. Natural soy sauce is made from a combination of soybeans, roasted hard red wheat, sea salt, and water while mass-produced soy sauce is made from chemically produced defatted soybean pulp. To learn more about the differences between shoyu and soy sauce click on:

http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/soy-sauce-shoyu-tamari/

When I made this recipe, I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, a soy sauce alternative. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a certified Non-GMO, gluten-free, protein concentrate made from soybeans. It tastes like soy sauce and can be substituted in any recipe.

The bottom line is that you can use soy sauce, Shoyu, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in this recipe and achieve great results!

Veggies for Barley Casserole

Add the spices…

Spices for Barley Casserole

And you’ve completed the barley layer!

Barley Mixture

Next up, is the Tahini Dressing.

Tahini Sauce Ingredients in Food Processor

Blend all of the ingredients in food processor.

Tahini Dressing in Food Processor

Mix 3/4 cup of Tahini Dressing to the barley mixture. It’s then time to assemble the casserole! Start with a layer of barley.

Barley Layer

Then add a layer of Tahini Dressing.

Tahini Dressing Layer

Then add a second layer of barley.

2nd Barley Layer

And a final layer of Tahini Dressing and put the casserole in the oven.

2nd Layer of Tahini Dressing

While baking, mouth watering aromas will fill your home. And after 35 minutes, the Barley Casserole is done!

Barley Casserole Out of Oven

Dishes like this ensure that I never miss meat. Dig in and enjoy!

Barley Casserole in Bowl

Vegan Barley Casserole

Ingredients

Barley Layer
2 cups hulled barley
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
5 tablespoons shoyu
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ cup tahini dressing (see below for recipe)
Tahini Dressing
¼ small onion, diced
½ cup tahini
1 tablespoon shoyu
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of paprika
⅛ teaspoon dried basil or ½ teaspoon fresh basil
pinch of dried oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup water

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350
Boil 3 cups of water and add barley.
Cook until tender (about 55-60 minutes)
Add olive oil to saucepan and saute onion and garlic
Add carroty, celery, shoyu, salt, basil, oregano, and garlic powder, until vegetables are tender.
Add barley to vegetable mixture and set aside.
Combine onion, tahini, shoyu, garlic powder, paprika, dried or fresh basil, dried oregano, and water to food processor for tahini dressing
Mix ¾ cup Tahini Dressing to barley mixture
Transfer half of the barley mixture to a 8 x 12 baking dish
Drizzle half of the Tahini Dressing on top of the barley mixture
Add the other half of the barley mixture on top of the tahini layer
Drizzle the other half of the Tahini Dressing on top of the second barley layer
Bake uncovered for 35 minutes

The post My Favorite Holiday Barley Casserole appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

emily — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 18:46:22 +0000

Who doesn’t love sweet potato casserole, especially when it has a brown sugar, pecan topping? For me, this dish signifies the beginning of the holiday season. I based my recipe off of Susan Voisin’s on FatFree Vegan Kitchen:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/12/sweet-potato-casserole-with-pecan.html

I first assembled my ingredients…

Sweet Potato Casserole Ingredients

And roughly chopped the pecans.

Pecans for Casserole

It was then time to roast the sweet potatoes. I poked them a few times with a fork before putting them in the oven. I start to monitor the sweet potatoes when the juices begin to bubble out of the holes made by the fork.

Roasted Sweet Potato on Parchment Paper

It’s also easy to remove the skin of the sweet potato when they’re warm. Just make sure not to burn your fingers!

Peeling Sweet Potatoes

I don’t have a potato masher, so I decided to use my electric mixer.

Sweet Potato and Earth Balance

Which quickly made my sweet potatoes smooth!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I added spices, maple syrup, and some sugar.

Sweet Potato Base Ingredients

I greased my pan with coconut oil and poured in the sweet potato mixture.

Sweet Potato Casserole Base Layer

It was then time to make the top layer of the casserole.

Casserole Topping Ingredients

Once the ingredients were mixed, I had a delicious looking topping!

Topping Ingredients Mixed Together

I used my hands to sprinkle the mixture on top of the sweet potato layer.

Sweet Potato Casserole Layered

After 45 minutes in the oven, the casserole was ready! I admit I had my first taste right when it came out of the oven.

Piece of Sweet Potato Casserole

The sweet potato casserole is easier to serve, however, once it has cooled!

Pieces of Sweet Potato Casserole

5.0 from 1 reviews

Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients

Base Layer:
4 roasted sweet potatoes (see below for instructions on how to roast sweet potatoes)
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
¼ cup almond milk
¼ cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
Topping:
¼ cup Earth Balance
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup flour
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Place 4 sweet potatoes on parchment paper lined cookie sheet
Poke potatoes with fork several times
Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes tender
Remove skin from sweet potatoes
Base layer
Preheat oven to 350 and grease 8 x 8 pan with coconut oil
Mash sweet potatoes and mix with Earth Balance
Mix in almond milk, orange juice, vanilla extract, sugar, maple syrup, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Pour mixture into greased pan.
Topping:
Mix Earth Balance, brown sugar, flour, chopped pecans, and maple syrup in a bowl.
Sprinkle topping on sweet potato base layer.
Bake dish for 45 minutes.

The post Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole appeared first on The Fussy Fork.