FOUR VEGAN RECIPES FOR EASTER

Eating vegan might seem a bit tricky around the holidays, but with a little bit of menu planning you can whip up a tasty, cruelty-free Easter meal for eight that’s sure to please. Rather than trying to replace the meat, which can be really off-putting for omnivores, this menu focuses on what I think is the best part of a vegan diet: delicious fruits, vegetables, starches, herbs, and grains!

Field Green Salad with Pear and Almonds

This salad is a simple and delicious way to
start your Easter meal.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 8c mixed field greens
• 1 pear, diced
• 1c sliced almonds
  
• 2 Haas avocados, diced
• 3/4c olive oil
• 1/4c lemon juice
• to taste salt and pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Toss the field greens with the pear, almonds, and avocado.
2. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper together and pass the dressing alongside the salad at the table.

Roasted Veggies with Tahini Miso Dressing

Hearty roasted veggies and potatoes are a filling dish,
and this version gets rave reviews from my omnivore pals. The tahini dressing makes this really special and adds a protein boost, too!

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 8 red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
• 4c Brussels sprouts
• 1 large red onions, chopped
• 1 red pepper, sliced into 2″ strips
• 1/2c olive oil
• 1/4c soy sauce
• 1T herbes de Provence
• 1/2c Tahini
• 1/3c red miso paste
• 1/4c rice wine vinegar
• 1″ piece of fresh ginger, minced
• water

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. In a baking pan, toss the veggies with the oil, soy sauce, and herbes de Provence.
3. Bake for one hour, stirring the veggies every 15 minutes, so that they cook evenly.
4. To make the dressing: Whisk the tahini, miso, vinegar, and ginger together. Add water 1T at a time, until the dressing reaches a creamy consistency.
5. Serve the veggies with the sauce along side

Stuffed Mushrooms

Roasted, stuffed mushrooms are a hearty, satisfying
crowd-pleaser. This recipe makes enough for three
mushrooms per person.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup slices of whole grain bread, toasted and ground in the food processor
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 24 “stuffing” mushrooms, stems removed and reserved
• 1c raw cashews pieces
• to taste salt, pepper, onion powder
• 3c spinach
• 1c fresh basil
• 1c nutritional yeast
  

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Process each ingredient in the food processor and combine everything in a big bowl. Drizzle with enough olive oil to moisten.
3. To stuff the mushrooms, form a ball with about 2T stuffing and cram it right into the caps! Layer the stuffed mushrooms on a greased glass baking pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. You can serve them right out of the oven or at room temperature.

Peach Pie

Nothing rounds out a lovely meal like pie! You can go
the easy route and pick up a vegan pie
crust at the store, or whip up your own vegan pie crust from scratch! For the sake of simplicity, I’m going with a pre-made crust here.

Ingredients

• 8 peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1c brown sugar
• 3T flour
• 1t cinnamon
• 1T lemon juice
• 2 vegan pie crusts

Cooking Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Let this sit until the peaches get nice and soft, at least 10 minutes.
2. Pour your peach filling into one of the pie crusts.
3. Use the second crust to top the pie. Either slice into strips to create a lattice top, or just layer it right on. If you go for the latter, make sure you cut a few small holes in the center of the crust to let steam escape.
4. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until the peaches are soft

The Perfect Vegan Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup margarine
• 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl with fork, lightly stir together flour and salt.
2. With pastry blender or two knives used scissor fashion, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until pastry just holds together.
4. With hands, shape pastry into ball (if it's a hot day you may have to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or so).
5. For a two crust pie, divide pastry into 2 pieces, one slightly larger, and then gently shape each piece into a ball.
6. On lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, roll larger ball into a 1/8 inch thick circle, 2 inches larger all around than pie plate.
7. Roll half of circle onto rolling pin; transfer pastry to pie plate and unroll, easing into bottom and side of plate. Fill as recipe directs.
8. For top crust, roll smaller ball as for bottom crust; with sharp knife, cut a few slashes or a design in center of circle; center over filling in the bottom crust.
9. With scissors or sharp knife, trim the pastry edges, leaving 1 inch overhang all around the pie plate rim. Fold overhang under; pinch a high edge. Bake pie as recipe directs.
   

By Becky Striepe