Christmas Pot Luck

Last night was our staff Christmas Pot Luck. It was a wonderful eve with good conversations, loads of food and a celebration of our Exec Director having served 10 years. She is an amazing woman who has dedicated her life to serving others as she serves God.

The food was of course great & this time I actually managed to eat closer to my normal; though not fully as I did have some dairy & gluten. Of course by the time I left my fingers & knees were swollen & I was in pain!  So back to the healthy eating or I shall be sick over Christmas & I sure don't want that.

I decided to do 2 dishes Creamy Carrot Soup and a Vegan Sausage & Sweet Potato Casserole.

Creamy Carrot Soup
This is a mild flavoured soup that is rich but with a hint of orange & ginger it has a surprisingly fresh taste. Cashews and coconut cream powder provide the creaminess that holds all the flavours together.
You will need a blender for this soup.

2 tbsp water
2 onions chopped
1 clove of garlic - this is enough for this soup, just enough to add depth without overpowering it
2 sticks of celery, sliced
piece of ginger, size of 1st joint of 1st finger, peeled & sliced thin
6-8 carrots sliced, more if they are small
1 orange .
1/2 cup of cashews
2 vegetable stock cubes
1/8 tsp brown sugar - this just helps bring out the flavour of the carrots & adds another depth
2 tbsp coconut milk powder; you could use a tin of coconut milk if preferred
Water to fully cover

In a medium large soup pan put over low-med heat with 2 tbsp of water. Add onions & garlic, cook to soften. Add the celery, ginger & carrots and a little water to prevent sticking.
Prepare the orange by removing a thin layer of peel from 1/2 the orange for the zest with a zester or fine grater. Cut orange in 1/2 crosswise as you would to squeeze the juice.  Peel one 1/2 of the orange & put the segments from that 1/2 into the pan with the veg. Squeeze the juice from the other 1/2 into a cup & keep for later. Keep the peel for making the garnish.
Add cashews, coconut powder, brown sugar & stock cubes to pan, pour in water to fully cover and come a couple of inches above veg mix.
Bring to a boil & then turn down to simmer for about 30-40 minutes

Garnish
1 small carrot sliced thinly into rounds
the peel from the orange
a very small pinch of salt
2 cups of water

Place all in a small pan & bring to boil. Simmer til carrots cooked al dente, about 10 minutes. Do not drain, just place pan to side.

Serving
If you do not have a vitamix or other high power blender that can cope with hot liquids  let the soup cool for a while. Put the soup mixture though your blender in batches. It should be rich & creamy but not too thick, use the water from the garnish carrots to thin down after you have blended the complete soup mix. Discard the cooked orange peel, unless you want to cut away any remaining zest to add to the soup.Gently reheat.

Top bowls of soup with a few slices of the garnish carrots.
Enjoy

Vegan Sausage & Sweet Potato Pot
This is a hearty dish that is pure comfort food & one man said he would not have known it was a vegan sausage as it was tasty & had a nice texture.
This dish does take time & has a few different steps to make it the best taste & texture, there are shortcuts but using them gives a very different dish.

Step 1
1 large sweet potato, cut into chunky cubes
1 carrot cut into similar size chunks
1/4 butternut squash, peeled & cut into similar size chunks
1 small potato cut into 8
2 small round eggplants, cut into 8-12 bits
1 tsp olive oil
salt

Pre-heat oven to 375
In a baking tray, spread olive oil over bottom. Toss all veg in oil in pan, then arrange in one layer sprinkle with a little salt. Cook for 15 -20 mins, stir so all veg is turned over. Cook for another 15-20 mins till all veg is cooked, soft on inside with a bit of brown crispiness on outside

Step 2
Do this while root veg are roasting:
2 onions cut in 4 & sliced thinly
1 head of garlic sliced crosswise
1 tbsp vegan marg

Put marg into a large frying pan or wok & melt, add garlic & soften, add onions & cook slowly to caramelize.
Add
8-10 mushrooms quartered
1/2 red pepper
Cook for a few mins til pepper has softened & mushrooms are nearly cooked. if the mix is getting dry add a tsp each of balsamic vinegar & tamari
Add
2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped.
2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
2tsp tamari

Cover & simmer on low for 5 -10 mins

Step 3
2 Tofurky spicy Italian sausages, sliced into round (about 16 per sausage)
a little olive oil to stop sausage sticking to pan

In a large flat bottom fry pan heat oil over a medium heat add slices of sausage in one layer. Cook till beginning to crisp & brown, turn over slices & cook till crisping a little.

Combining
Add the roasted veg to the caramelized onion mix, stir. Top with sausage slices, stir to just mix them in a bit. Serve.
This goes well with a crispy salad or some steamed green veg, like broccoli or spinach
Enjoy

The shortcut ..........
I have made this all in one pan, starting with the onions etc from step 2, then a adding the veg from step three &  adding  stock then cook everything together. Just before the end I add the sliced sausage. This method produces a wetter, mushier dish; it still has flavour but is less  complex in both preparation and in resulting quality.