Vegan Waldorf Blue Cheese Crepes

Three of my very favorite things all wrapped up to make a delicious meal: waldorf salad, blue cheese dressing, and crepes! This is such an easy and quick dish that’s great for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. Serve at a gathering and it’ll definitely be the star of the party.

I love crepes. I think they may be my favorite food. They’re quick. They’re customizable, great for breakfast or lunch (or dare I say even dinner?). They can be sweet OR savory. What else do you want, man?!

Isn’t it especially fantastic when a recipe blooms from the need to use up ingredients in the fridge? This all started with a bottle of blue cheese dressing I found that was almost empty and about to expire next month. Some leftover plain butter lettuce that was given to me after a dinner party. A honeycrisp apple that I needed to use before our vacation and voila! Waldorf Blue Cheese Crepes. The best recipes are often improvised recipes. I firmly believe this.

Vegan Waldorf Blue Cheese Crepes

By Kathleen Henry - Produce On Parade

Three of my very favorite things all wrapped up to make a delicious meal: waldorf salad, blue cheese dressing, and crepes! This is such an easy and quick dish that’s great for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. Serve at a gathering and it’ll definitely be the star of the party.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vegan granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp Kala Namak salt or table salt
• ¾ cup plain, unsweetened soy milk
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp liquid from a can of chickpeas (about ½ can)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 heads of butter lettuce, chopped
• 1 medium honeycrisp apple (or similar), chopped small
• 1 medium celery stalk, chopped small
• ½ cup dried cherries, chopped (or dried blueberries, cranberries, or raisins)
• ½ cup toasted walnuts or pecans (I like pecans), chopped
• ¼-½ cup vegan blue cheese dressing, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour through the salt. Whisk the soy milk, chickpea liquid, and oil into the dry mixture until smooth and no lumps remain. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
2. While the batter rests, make the salad filling by adding the lettuce through the nuts to a large bowl; toss to combine.
3. Once the batter is done resting, heat a 12 inch large cast iron skillet coated with a nonstick cooking spray over medium-high heat. Test if it’s hot enough by flicking a droplet of water into the pan; if it sizzles then it’s ready. Using a ½ cup measuring cup, ladle the batter onto the hot pan. Tilt the pan in a circle, allowing the batter to fill the entire base of the pan. Heat for about 3 minutes, until just slightly golden and the top is firm to the touch. Flip using a skinny, heat-proof spatula by sliding it around the edges to loosen the crepe, then down the middle of the crepe to flip. Heat for 1 minute then transfer to a large plate and repeat with remaining batter.
4. To assemble the crepes, fill the middle of one crepe (top to bottom) with a handful of the salad then top with a drizzle of dressing, to taste. Roll the crepe like you would a burrito, then drizzle more dressing on top if desired. Serve immediately.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 12 in crepes

Chickpea Artichoke Rice with Lambsquarter Greens

This is a hearty brown rice dish featuring protein-rich chickpeas, tasty artichoke, savory herbs and spices, wild-foraged lambsquarter greens, and a dash of zingy fresh lemon. Hands-off and great for a weeknight meal, this is a healthy and delicious way to introduce picky eaters to brown rice and foraged greens (or spinach!)

Do you ever forage for wild plants? I really love to incorporate treasures from our backyard in our meals and each year I try to include more. We have an abundance in our woods that offer themselves at various times of the year. Highbush cranberries, red currants, horsetail, many wild edible flowers, bolete mushrooms, spruce tips, fiddlehead ferns, chickweed, wild raspberries, and lambsquarter. These are just a few; Alaska has so much to give!

I remember foraging lambsquarter with my grandmother and eating it. “Tastes like spinach!”, she used to say. And she was right, it does taste like a mild spinach. It’s very recognizable and has a white powdery substance that coats it. Anything you forage should be washed well and of course it’s vital to be absolutely 100% sure you know what you are picking.

If you’re not able to harvest any wild greens where you are, spinach will work just beautifully in this dish or feel free to just omit the greens completely if you prefer.

What kinds of things do you forage?

Chickpea Artichoke Rice with Lambsquarter Greens

By Kathleen Henry - Produce On Parade

This is a hearty brown rice dish featuring protein-rich chickpeas, tasty artichoke, savory herbs and spices, wild-foraged lambsquarter greens, and a dash of zingy fresh lemon. Hands-off and great for a weeknight meal, this is a healthy and delicious way to introduce picky eaters to brown rice and foraged greens (or spinach!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups + 2 tbsp (thereabouts) vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small brown onion, diced small
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp seasoning or table salt
• dash of white pepper
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
• 1 15 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 cup unpacked foraged lambsquarters leaves or spinach
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ lemon, zested and juiced

Instructions

1. Add the dry rice to a rice cooker. Drain the diced tomatoes, reserving the juice in a liquid measuring cup; add in enough vegetable broth to equal 2 ¼ cups of total liquid (for me this was about 2 cups and 2 tbsp of broth). Add to dry rice, and cook according to your rice cooker. Brown rice takes about 1 hour to cook.
2. While the rice cooks, heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large rimmed frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, sauteing for about 5-8 minutes until the onions are translucent. Stir in the spices, herbs, salt and pepper; cook for an additional 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the chickpeas and artichokes; simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cover; allow to rest until rice is cooked.
4. Wash the greens well. When the rice is done cooking add the greens to the pan and stir until wilted. Add in the rice, parsley, and lemon juice and zest; stir well to combine.
5. Serve hot and topped with additional parsley and lemon zest if you like.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 4

Vegan Dracula's Revenge

Delicious roasted garlic and browned vegan sausage mingle in a creamy, cheesy sauce mixed with penne pasta and baked to golden perfect. If you like garlic, cheese, and sausage this dish is going to become a staple!

Every september for years and years my family would make Dracula’s Revenge. It was my little brothers absolute favorite dish and he would always request it for his birthday. How he even found out about this oddly named pasta bake is beyond me. It seems like a weird request from a seven year old but what do I know.

For some reason, the other day, I was really craving it. Of course Dracula’s Revenge is decidedly NOT vegan but it certainly wasn’t hard to veganize this nostalgic dish. It did not disappoint! Have you ever had or heard of it before?

Vegan Dracula’s Revenge

By Kathleen Henry from Produce On Parade

Delicious roasted garlic and browned vegan sausage mingle in a creamy, cheesy sauce mixed with penne pasta and baked to golden perfect. If you like garlic, cheese, and sausage this dish is going to become a staple!

Ingredients

• 1 large garlic head
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• ½ tube (7 oz) Gimme Lean Lightlife Sausage
• 8 oz dry penne pasta
• 3 tbsp vegan butter
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups plain, unsweetened soymilk
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp salt, to taste
• ⅛ tsp dried rosemary
• ⅛ tsp dry rubbed sage
• Dash of white pepper
• A few drops of liquid smoke (optional)
• ¼ cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta and preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Remove the excess papery skin from the garlic head but leave the head intact; wrap the entire thing in parchment paper then aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour then remove from the oven and allow to cool to the touch. Turn up oven to 400° F.
3. Once cool, separate the cloves and squeeze to extract garlic the pulp. Smash the garlic in a small bowl with the back of a wooden spoon to make a paste; set aside.
4. In a large cast iron skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Break up the sausage into bite size pieces by hand and saute for about 5 minutes until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. When the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to package then drain and set aside.
6. In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about three minutes until lightly browned. Slowly whisk in the milk, ensuring no lumps, and cook for about 8 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined; then stir in the pasta and sausage.
7. Spray a small casserole dish with a nonstick cooking spray then transfer the pasta into the dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until thoroughly heated. Serve hot and topped with additional cheese if you like.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 4-6