enVeg Valentine’s Day Event: How to Grow Your Love, Not Your Impact!

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups mushrooms sliced (use a combination, such as cremini and shitake)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tbsp sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/4 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla flavor)
2 tsp flour dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
1 shallot, sliced (optional)

1. Heat oil up on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and shallot. Saute for 10 minutes. Add minced garlic, salt, pepper and sage. Saute 5 minutes more.
2. Add white wine and vegetable broth. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until liquid is reduced by about half. Stir occasionally.
3. Add flour mixture and stir until sauce is thickened. Add soy milk and cook only 1-2 more minutes. It’s ready!

5 cups uncooked green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
1 Tbsp salt for cooking beans

1.Bring the water to boil in a large pot. While it’s heating, cut up the beans. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cook for 6 minutes.
2. Drain beans in a colander, and rinse with cold water. Let the beans drain.

Sauce
10 ounces mushrooms, chopped into small pieces (any combination)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup vegetable broth or water
3/4 cup full-fat soymilk (plain or vanilla)
1 tsp vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

3. Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are very soft and exude their juices.
4. Whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and add to the mushrooms. Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add the soy creamer and simmer until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and stir in the beans.

Topping

1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
1/4 cup nuts (any combination)
1 tablespoon Earth Balance margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces of French fried onions

5. Put the bread, margarine, salt, and pepper into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Pour into a bowl and add the onions. Stir to combine.

To assemble:
6. Put the green beans into an oiled casserole dish and top with the topping. Bake at 425 F for about 15-20 minutes. If you are not serving this right away, refrigerate the topping separately and sprinkle the topping on the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes or until hot throughout.

three 16-ounce cans of peas, drained and rinsed 
1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 large carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
2 cups grated squash (or more)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (preferably whole wheat)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp parsley
dried sage, oregeno, parsely, and garlic powder to taste (unsure of how much to add? start with 1/2 Tbsp each then see how it tastes)
salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. In a large bowl, mash the peas well for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the vegetables and mix, add bread crumbs and mix, then add the oil, and mix again. Finally, add the vegetable broth and salt, and mix one last time.
4. Transfer all ingredients to a 9×13 dish. Press the mixture firmly into the casserole.
5. Cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

Last month, enVeg had the pleasure of hosting a talk with Brendan Brazier at the University of Florida. Brendan came to tell us about how a plant-based diet has improved his athletic career and his life.

Brendan is a triathlon competitor, a two-time Ultra Marathon winner, and the owner of a whole food health company called VEGA.

Brendan’s talk was engaging and informative. He knows a lot about nutrition and how it affects the body, and he relays what he knows in a very practical, common-sense manner. At the end of the talk and question-and-answer session, most of us in the audience stayed to check out his book and to talk to Brendan, who took his time to chat with everyone.

A month later, some of us who attended are still inspired by Brendan and by his book, Thrive. We have incorporated what Brendan taught us into our outreach and into our lives. For example, when we talk to students on campus about the plant-based diet, we now tell them what Brendan told us about inclusion vs exclusion: that it is better to focus on incorporating new whole foods into your diet than to worry about excluding your usual processed foods. On a more personal level, some of us in enVeg have become more engaged in athletics and more conscious of what we eat.

Thank you to Brendan and his wonderful assistant Leslie Hugh for thinking of us and for coming to pay us a visit in Gainesville. We would LOVE to have you again.

~ enVeg

P.S. Check out this promotional theatre gig we did in UF’s Plaza of the Americas to promote Brendan’s talk:

You can only get free Thanksgiving food in the Plaza once a year! To celebrate this as well as Meatless Mondays, enVeg will be hosting a Vegan Thanksgiving Tasting in the Plaza of Americas. We invite everyone to come check out how delicious a sustainable Thanksgiving can be. That’s right, free food.

Some things to expect are Tofurkey with gravy, Rolls, Potatoes Au Gratin, Green Bean Casserole, Pumpkin Pie, Cashew Lentil Loaf, Cranberry Sauce, and much more.

We would more than love to have anyone willing bring a ready-to-eat vegan dish to offer to the tasters! The more delicious food we can show people, the better. Bring whatever you would like!

Date: Monday, November 23, 2009
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Location: Plaza of Americas

Thanks to everyone involved in saving the planet, one meal at a time. Have a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.

Love PETA? Hate PETA? Weirded out by veganism or want to learn more? This is a great opportunity at the University of Florida for any and all reasons!

Bruce will speak at UF Saturday October 24 at 5:30pm in the Florida Gym, room 210. During a 45 minute talk, he will make the case for a vegan diet, including ethical and environmental reasons. Agriculture students, animal rights activists, environmentalists (and everyone in between) are welcome to express their thoughts during the 45 minute Q&A session.

Continue reading to learn a bit about Bruce.

Click to read the rest »