Cranberry, Walnut, Green Bean Quinoa Salad, With Veggie Burger

Cranberry, Walnut, Green Bean Quinoa Salad

This is a great quinoa salad to eat as a side, or bring to a pot luck. (as long as there are no nut allergies that is...). It is packed full of flavour and is also really healthy for you. I saw something like this first made at the Vegetarian Food Fair in Toronto, but it had oranges and it didn't have this dressing.

ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
dried cranberries
chopped walnuts
fresh green beans
balsamic vinegar
olive oil

pepper
salt
garlic powder

directions:

1. Cook quinoa in slightly salted water in a pot. 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water. Bring to a boil, and let it simmer until quinoa absorbs all of the water.

2. Set the cooked quinoa aside, and let it cool a bit. After it has cooled, fluff it with a fork.

3. Slice fresh green beans into more bite sized pieces, and steam them so they are cooked through. Blanch them in ice water immediately after to stop the cooking process. This will keep them crisp, and not soggy for your salad, as well as bright green.

4. Mix your dried cranberries, cooled green beans, and chopped walnuts into the quinoa.

5. To make the dressing for the salad, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder into a vinaigrette. The ratio of oil to vinegar should be 3 to 1. 3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar. Mix through, then pour on salad and mix til it is fully coated.

Vegetarian Christmas Dinner, Miso Gravy, Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce

Vegetarian Christmas Dinner

When I was vegetarian, one of the things I missed the most was gravy. When I discovered miso gravy was a thing, I decided I must figure out how to make it. So it was close to christmas time, so I made this faux chicken and miso gravy feast. The stuffing is veggie as well. Actually, it all is veg!

ingredients:

faux chicken
zucchini
potatoes
milk
butter
salt
pepper

stuffing:

bread
egg
apple
onion
celery
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

directons: Toast the bread and cut it into cubes. Beat eggs and mix with bread so it's coated. Fry chopped onions and celery in a pan. And add those with the apple to the bread mixture. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Put in a casserole dish and cook in an oven at 400. Maybe 20-30 minutes.

cranberry sauce:

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1/4 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup sugar

directions: Put cranberries, orange juice (and zest if you have it), and sugar into a small pot at medium heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes. The cranberries will burst on their own and the pectin in the cranberries will turn it into a sauce on its own.

miso gravy:

1 and 1/2 cups veggie stock (or water with veggie bouillon cube)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp miso paste
corn starch or flour

directions: Add your veggie stock into a sauce pan, mix in your miso paste, add your oil (for fat), dijon mustard (for tang), and some garlic powder. Mix with a whisk. Thicken with a corn starch mixture, or flour, until it is a gravy consistency.