Toast From Pajottenland....

This has seriously become my favorite lunch. It is super simple and super satisfying. I Love the combination of flavors and I think this is a great way to utilize radishes. Radishes are a vegetable I really love but hardly have occasion to use in anything other then a salad, I imagine other people find this to be true, and while in a salad is not a bad way to eat radishes, I do enjoy new creative ways to eat them.

This simple open-faced sandwich originated as a Belgian snack food. Coming from the Pajottenland area West of Brussels.  Pajottenland is famous for unfiltered, fermented Lambic beers, and stinky cheese. The traditional recipe calls for either Quark (A stinky cheese from the area) or sour cream, so it was easy enough to veganize using Vegan Sour Cream. You can make this with or without Daiya, I've done both, and love it both ways.  However you choose to make it, enjoy!

Toast from Pajottenland

1 loaf Dark Rye or Pumpernickel Bread Sliced.
1 Bunch Radishes Sliced thin
12oz Vegan Sour Cream
1-2 Shallots finely diced
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
3Tbsp chopped fresh Chives or Green Onions
Daiya Cheddar Cheese (Optional)
Minced Parsley to Garnish (Optional)

- Toast the Bread.

- In a bowl mix the sour cream, garlic powder, salt, pepper, shallot, and chives/onion.

- Spread a layer of the sour cream mixture over each slice of toasted bread.

- If using Daiya sprinkle a layer of the cheese over the sour cream.

- Place the sliced radishes on top.

- Sprinkle with parsley and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast....

 

It's not called The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast for nothing. This meal is pure 'meat' and potatoes, it's 'carbs, carbs, and more carbs.' it is exactly the kind of food you want to eat and should indulge in when you're grooving in your happy place, and everything is beautiful. One of the best things about it is how low effort it is, yet the flavor is not sacrificed. It's also super hearty, it'll tame even the wildest munchies, of course, don't limit yourself to just eating it at breakfast time!

Now, there are two ways you can eat this. The 'traditional' way with each food having it's own separate space on the plate. Or you can eat it like a taco. Yeah, you heard me, a pancake breakfast taco. How awesome is that? I know it sounds strange but trust me when I say it's amazing. My husband was really skeptical at first too, but after he watched me down 3 of these bad boys he was convinced enough to try it. If you enjoy it in Taco form then you can essentially add anything you like as a topping which is awesome, it makes it versatile. So trust me on this one, and give it a try.

(PS: You can use any pancake recipe you like, but I've included my go-to just incase you don't have one. I have also made these with gluten-free flour before and they have turned out well.)

Cheese Tots

Olive Oil
1lb Frozen Tater Tots
1 Small Yellow Onion Diced
Garlic powder
Sea Salt
4 Sliced Green Onions
1/2-1 Cup Daiya Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese.

- Preheat Oven to 400'F

- Dump the tater tots into a baking dish with the diced onions. Drizzle a little olive oil over them then sprinkle them with salt, and garlic powder. Stir to combine everything.

- Pop it in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until tots are cooked to your taste.

- Remove from the oven, Sprinkle cheese, and green onions over top. Return to the oven and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese has just melted and the onions are soft.

- Enjoy on their own as part of your breakfast, smothered in ketchup, sour cream, or mayo. Or enjoy in a taco!


Classic Go-To Pancakes

2 Cups White Flour
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cups water
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup

- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

- Combine the water, maple syrup and olive oil.

- Pour the wet into the dry and stir until just combined.

- Heat a pan, spread a 1/4 C of batter out into the pan, spread it thin, but not too thin, similar to the thickness of a flatbread.

- Cook for a few minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. flip and cook another couple of minutes until golden brown. Repeat.

The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast.

Add-Ons and Extras

Avocado
Sour Cream
Mayo
Ketchup
Maple Syrup
Your Favorite Tofu Scramble
Jalapeno Slices or Hot Sauce if you like it spicy

To Serve the "Traditional Way" Heap a mound of Cheese Tots onto your plate, Slap down 3-4 Pancakes next to it, then add on a portion of your favorite Breakfast Sausage, a portion of your favorite bacon, with half an avocado on the side. Serve with ketchup and mayo for the tots, and Maple Syrup for the pancakes and sausage.

To Serve it the "Taco Way" Spread a thin layer of Syrup over one pancake. Place 1/2 a slice of bacon (or a full slice if you prefer) on top of the pancake, then a breakfast link.  Pick the pancake up, and hold it in your palm like you would a taco shell. Take a spoon and scoop a small portion of the cheese tots inside your pancake shell. If you're using tofu scramble as well, scoop a small portion of that into the pancake taco along with the tots. Drizzle a bit of ketchup over top, and then serve with dollops of sour cream and/or mayo and whatever other add-on's you wish. It's great with or without avocado, and I personally like the mix of sour cream and mayo. So delicious!

Vegan Mofo #12: Bacon Salad with Farmhouse Cheese Dressing...

I don’t know how typical of an Irish Salad this is, but I found a recipe for bacon salad with cheese dressing in an Irish cook book and found my mouth watering at the thought. The original recipe says to use cooleeney cheese and apples from Tipperary, I’ve never had cooleeney cheese in my life and have no idea what it tastes like, but it seems to me that most farmhouse cheeses have a strong or distinct flavor. Unfortunately while the vegan cheese market is growing it has not yet grown so big as to incorporate ‘off beat’ or regional or specialty cheeses. So I chose to use a combination of vegan Provolone and cream cheese as that was all I had available outside of cheddar, jack, mozzarella or Jalapeno Havarti. Still, despite my recreation not being as accurate as possible I do think it turned out damn delicious, and I will definitely be making it again.

The key to this salad I think is to make sure you use quality products, because it’s so simple you want the best flavor you can find. Get the freshest fall apples, get the crispest lettuce, use your favorite vegan cheese and buy the good coconut flakes to make the coconut bacon. You do that, and you’re going to have a shining star of a side salad. A great accompaniment to any meal, or a nice light lunch, if serving as a lunch enjoy with some brown soda bread scones!

Bacon Salad with Farmhouse Cheese Dressing 

2 Heads Romaine lettuce chopped or torn
½ Cup Coconut Bacon (Recipe Follows)
1 Large tart Apple Chopped (I Used Pink Lady)
Dash of Sea Salt
Dash of Cracked Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Minced Fresh Parsley

Cheese Dressing

1/3 Cup Vegan Sour Cream
1- 2 Tbsp Vegan Cream Cheese
2- 4 Slices Vegan Provolone (or favorite sharp vegan cheese)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Cracked Black Pepper to taste
A Dash of Agave if a sweeter dressing is desired (Optional)

Coconut Bacon 

½ Cup Dried Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
½ Tbsp Liquid Smoke
Dash of Smoked Paprika
Dash of Garlic Powder
Dash of Smoked Sea Salt

Instructions - Coconut Bacon 

- Combine all liquid ingredients in a bowl, and pre-heat a small pan over medium heat. Once heated add the coconut flakes and pour the sauce over, mix with a spatula to combine. Fry for 3-5 minutes turning occasionally so the flakes don’t burn. Once browned and most of the liquid has been absorbed turn off the heat and remove the coconut to a plate to cool. Let cool 5 minutes. Leave any remaining liquid in the pan.

Instructions - Salad 

- Cook the chopped apple in the liquid remaining in the pan you used to cook the coconut bacon. Saute apple until golden and then remove from the heat.

- Place Romaine, Coconut Bacon, and Apple in a large bowl and garnish with salt, pepper and parsley.

Instructions - Dressing 

- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small pan over medium heat. Whisk together until cheese has melted and everything is smooth and heated through.

- Pour the warm dressing over the salad, toss to combine and serve!

Steamed Broccoli with Creamy Garlic Mustard Dressing...

Today’s recipe is super quick and super simple. It’s a perfect side dish to make on a busy night when all you want is to be done in the kitchen fast, yet don’t want to sacrifice on flavor.

As a broccoli lover I could eat broccoli all day long, I can eat it steamed and plain without any need at all to jazz it up or make it fancy. However on this particular night I felt like something more. I had a ton of broccoli in the fridge that needed to get used, and felt like being a bit more creative about serving it. Earlier in the day I’d been flipping through my copy of Deborah Madison’s book “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” It’s a book I’ve rarely used for two reasons, 1) most of the recipes seem like they’re made for beginners or at least vegetarians just starting out, and 2) Since it’s vegetarian cooking for everyone and not vegan cooking, a lot of the recipes are quite heavy on the dairy ingredients, which I didn’t feel like working around once I’d gone vegan. That said I don’t like to neglect my books, and on this particular day I was casually flipping through it thinking in the very least I might find something interesting.

Which of course I did. I stumbled across a recipe for a mustard vinaigrette that sounded pretty good. It wasn’t vegan of course but I could fix that in a pinch. Madison suggested that this would taste good over steamed broccoli and so I was intrigued. Unfortunately as I looked over the list of ingredients I realized that I was lacking several of them. No matter I decided, I would just have to put my own spin on it. What I ended up with was absolutely delicious and paired beautifully with the tender-crisp broccoli I’d steamed. It turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to the main dish I’d decided to serve, and as I found out the following day the leftover dip also made a pretty tasty spread for raw veggies. Grape tomatoes and carrots in particular paired well with this garlicky, mustard, and caper concoction. The blend of flavors are pure magic! Give it a try next time you need to use some broccoli and just see if you don’t fall in love!

Steamed Broccoli with Creamy Garlic Mustard Dressing 

4 Heads broccoli trimmed and separated
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
½ a small or medium sized red onion finely diced
4 garlic cloves minced (to taste)
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 ½ Tbsp non-dairy sour cream
½ C Olive Oil
1/8 C chopped green onion
1/8 C finely minced parsley
2 heaping Tbsp Capers
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Sea salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste

- Fill a medium sized pot with enough water to cover the bottom. Fit it with a steamer basket and add your broccoli. Steam for 5-8 minutes until broccoli is bright green, tender and crisp.

- To make your dressing combine the red wine vinegar, red onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.

- Whisk the in the olive oil, Dijon Mustard, and non-dairy sour cream. Stir vigorously until the dressing is nice and creamy.

- Stir in the parsley, green onion, capers and smoked paprika. The dressing will be thick and chunky however if it’s a little too thick for you don’t hesitate to add in a bit more olive oil. Taste for flavor and adjust as needed.

- When the broccoli is finished remove from the steamer basket and plate. Spoon the dressing over top and enjoy!

*** Note - Can be made Soy-Free if using soy-free non-dairy sour cream. ***

The Ultimate Spring Onion Phyllo Tart

When I first thought about what I wanted to make and then eat for Earth Day, onions were the first thing to come to mind. I had just discovered - and fallen in love with - ramps, I had leeks and green onions handy, and I’ve always been an onion fanatic. A tart using spring onions would be the perfect main course. The only problem was that I’d never cooked a tart before. I made a French Onion Pie once but that’s not exactly the same. So I searched the internet looking for a good onion tart recipe, and you know what I found? A whole lot of nothing, or at least nothing good. None of the onion tart recipes I found were vegan for one thing, the only vegan recipes I could find that came even close were for vegan French onion pie which I absolutely did not want to make. The vegetarian recipes were all very heavy on egg and cheese, and the non-vegetarian recipes were heavy on eggs, cream, cheese and meat. All of those things I might have been able to remedy however, but the problem was that almost none of the recipes used more then 1 kind of onion! Only one kind of onion? What kind of tart was that? Where was the creativity? Where was the onion love?

No, no, no... they wouldn’t do at all. I wanted to showcase a variety of onions in my tart, particularly fresh spring type onions. I wanted a ton of onion flavor, pure and simple. I didn’t want my tart stuffed with mushrooms and veggie meats, and heaping cupfuls of non-dairy cheeses. I didn’t want it full of breadcrumbs and other such nonsense. I just wanted onions. I didn’t think that was asking too much, but by the looks of the recipes I found it was. Sometimes despite all the cook books I own, and the wealth or recipes available I just feel like there’s a lack of creativity out there. Like everyone gets stuck in the same culinary vacuum. Not that there aren’t creative people out there, because there are, I read lots of awesome vegan blogs written by the most inspirational and talented people, but it’s like that old saying. Sometimes if you want something to get done and get done right you just have to do it yourself.

So I had to put on my thinking cap and figure out how to work out this tart. It didn’t take a lot of time to come up with a recipe and I’m so, so happy I was able to put this together because this Onion tart is simply incredible! I’m telling you, it’s a plate of absolutely mouth-watering, mind-blowing awesomeness. Really, I am going to be making this again and again! Really, It's got five kinds of onions, plus garlic!  If that isn't Ultimate I don't know what is. It was also rich, creamy, buttery and full of good old onion flavor. However, despite the massive amount of onions in this dish the onion flavor wasn’t overpowering at all. It was perfect, and just a tad sweet thanks to caramelized onions.  However if you prefer a little more sweetness you can add in the optional sugar I’ve listed, I don’t think it’s necessary but decide for yourself.

This turned out to be the perfect main course for my Earth Day dinner. Everything about it was amazing. For me the dish really embodied spring, so I hope you make it and enjoy it too. Oh, and FYI - It tastes even better reheated the next day!

The Ultimate Spring Onion Phyllo Tart 

2 Large Shallots
10 Garlic Cloves minced
3 Knob Onions sliced (White and Green parts)
1 Large Leek sliced (White and Green parts)
12 Ramps (Bulbs and Leaves)
1/3 C Sliced Green Onions
2 Tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter
3/4 tsp ground Thyme
3/4 tsp dried Sage
3/3 tsp dried Summer Savory
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp White Pepper
Sea Salt to taste
½-1 Tbsp Sugar (Optional)

1/4 C Non-dairy Sour Cream
8oz non-dairy Cream Cheese
3 tsp White Miso

1/4-1/2 C Melted Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter
Sliced Green Onions to Garnish
Black Sesame Seeds to Garnish
10oz Phyllo Dough

- Preheat oven to 375'F

- Heat 1 Tbsp of non-dairy butter in a pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, shallots, and white parts of knob onions until caramelized. About10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

- Heat remaining 1 Tbsp of non-dairy butter in pan, and add the leeks, ramps and green parts of knob onions. Saute over medium heat until fragrant and soft. 8-12 minutes. Remove from heat and add to the bowl with the other onions.

- Add Thyme, Summer Savory, Sage, Smoked Paprika, White pepper, salt, Green Onions, Sour Cream, Cream Cheese and Miso, and sugar if using to the bowl with the onions. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, then set aside.

- Lightly spray a 11 inch quiche or tart pan with non-stick spray. Melt a quarter cup of Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter and keep handy. Carefully layer sheets of the phyllo dough into your quiche pan, covering the bottom and sides. It’s okay if some over hangs. Lightly brush every sheet of phyllo with melted non-dairy butter before adding another sheet.

*** Note - Ultimately how many sheets you decide to use is up to you. You want enough to form a nice crust on the bottom, but not so much that there isn’t room for the filling. Also a sheet of phyllo dough isn’t going to fit your quiche pan perfectly, so it’s okay to cut the sheets into workable pieces that you can layer in 8-10 sheets (depending on the size of your sheets) should be more then sufficient. Also don’t worry about it looking perfect, a little looseness around the edges will give it a nice rustic look. ***

- Once you’ve layered your phyllo sheets into the bottom and over the sides of the pan, add in your filling. Spread the filling evenly inside the pan.

- Carefully layer more sheets of phyllo over top of the filling. Use roughly the same amount that you used to form your crust and make sure to brush each sheet with melted non-dairy butter before applying it.

- When you’ve finished layering your top crust, carefully break or cut away any excess dough hanging over the edges. A little hang is okay, but you don’t want excessive dough hanging over or it’ll just burn. Brush the top crust with a little melted non-dairy butter then sprinkle with black sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until your tart is a nice golden color.

- Let cool 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

PS: Don't let all the steps worry you, this is actually really simple and pretty easy to make. Phyllo is a pain in the ass to work with, but once you get over that, this tart's a snap! and it's SO worth it!

Beef(less) Stroganoff...

Before I get on with it I just want to say that I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year’s, and I wish you good health and all the best for 2012! I will definitely update about my New Year’s in the next day or so.

I have never really liked beef stroganoff. In fact I don’t recall ever eating it once growing up. The dish originates from Russia, so culturally it’s not a meal any of my ancestors would have prepared, and since my mother rarely served beef while I was growing up it’s not something she’d ever cook up on a whim. Until I moved to the States, I think the closest I ever came to stroganoff was the occasional plate of hamburger helper. (Yuck!)

Stroganoff however was one of my husbands favorite dishes growing up. He loved it immensely, and gobbled it up with relish whenever it was served. It’s a dish that for him has a lot of sentimental value attached, despite the fact that it’s never really agreed with him, and often made him quite ill afterwards.
To the best of my memory, my first stroganoff experience was after we were married and I’d moved to the states. My mother-in-law would make stroganoff now and then, and though my first bowl of it was something short of mind-blowing I continued to eat it reluctantly whenever it was served. I don’t say that to disparage my mother-in-law’s cooking by the way, it’s just that I’ve never found the components of the dish very appealing when cooked together, and I’ve always been a firm believer that sour cream should remain cold when served. Something about mixing it into a hot bubbling broth, and mixing it with flour and greasy beef just gives me that ‘ick’ factor.

When my husband decided to join me on the vegetarian path a year ago, he let go of a lot of things. He ceased the consumption of many dishes he’d previously enjoyed, including beef stroganoff, and honestly didn’t seem all that saddened by it. He continued to happily move forward without looking back. So when I asked him just before Christmas what he wanted me to make him for his birthday dinner how could I refuse when he came back at me with "A vegan Sloppy Joe Casserole, or a Vegan Beef Stroganoff."? Though I was less then impressed with this answer, as I’m not a fan of either dish, nor does either dish really challenges my culinary skill, I did what any loving wife would do, and agreed.

Now I have never made a stroganoff in my life. I don’t think I’d ever even seen a stroganoff recipe before last week. So all I knew about it was that it contained beef, sour cream, flour, broth and that my mother-in-law always served it over egg noodles. I immediately asked her for her recipe thinking I’d simply veganize it, but the temptation to put my own spin on it was far to great, especially considering the original recipe was a little sparse.

So after some careful thought, and planning this is what I came up with two days before his birthday, surprisingly it was pretty damn good, and my husband absolutely loved it. Considering this is not a dish I’ve ever liked I find it so funny that I enjoyed it enough to go back for a second bowl. Isn’t if funny how you can love the vegan version of a food you once hated?

Now a traditional Russian Stroganoff doesn’t actually contain onions or mushrooms, or garlic and tomato paste for that matter, but over the past century the dish has changed a lot. Different cultures have adapted it to suit their needs, taking things out, and putting other things in. It’s a pretty versatile dish these days to tell the truth, and in my humble opinion a good stroganoff can not be without onions, garlic and mushrooms, but that’s me.

Beef(less) Stroganoff

1 Tsp Olive Oil
2 Packages Gardein Beefless Tips
2 Tbsp Earth Balance
1 Onion diced
1 C Baby Bella Mushrooms Sliced (Can use white button if you prefer)
8 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 Faux Beef Bullion Cube + 2 - 2 ½ Cups warm water
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp ground paprika
2-4 Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Organic Cornstarch
½ - 3/4 Heaping Cup non-dairy Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb Eggless Egg Noodles or other Wide Noodle

- Cook Beefless Tips according to package directions and then set aside.

- Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. When boiling cook Noodles according to package directions, drain and keep warm in pot.

- In same pan that you cooked tips, add 1 tsp of olive oil and Earth Balance. Heat until Earth Balance has melted and then add in the garlic and diced onion. Saute on medium heat for about 4 minutes.

- Add mushrooms and continue to saute on medium for another five to six minutes until onions are translucent, and mushrooms are soft.

- While onions and mushrooms are sauteeing, whisk together your faux beef bullion cube and water. Until dissolved or mostly dissolved.( How much water you use depends on how thick you want the sauce to be. For a thinner sauce use more water, for a thicker sauce use less water or more sour cream.) Whisk in flour, and cornstarch then add to the pan of onions and mushrooms.

- Stir in ground mustard, paprika, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a low boil, then let simmer until the sauce has thickened. About ten minutes.

- Stir in the non-dairy sour cream, and mix until thoroughly combined. Let simmer another five or so minutes. Then taste for seasonings and adjust salt and pepper as desired.

- Serve hot over a bowl of noodles!

PS: I realize I promised to post this recipe days ago, but it ended up being a far busier week then I’d anticipated. Apologies!

Mashed Red Skinned Potatoes with Fresh Dill and Sour Cream...

With the holiday season comes business, and with business inevitably comes exhaustion, which unfortunately is exactly what I’ve been experiencing since Thanksgiving. As much as I hate being absent from the blog, especially when I have so many things I’m dying to share with you, health and sanity always come first, and so this past week I’ve been relaxing and taking it easy when I’ve been at home. I haven’t really even been all that creative in the kitchen. Cooking more from cookbooks then my own imagination and even slacking on that front by forgetting to have my camera handy at meal times. I’m hoping that now after my period of rest things can finally get back on track and I wanted to start things off with sharing a dish I made a couple of weeks ago.

Have you ever found yourself craving a food you haven’t eaten or even thought about in years? Well that’s exactly what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting at home plainly minding my own business when all of a sudden I got a craving for mashed potatoes. Not just your ordinary garden variety mashed potatoes mind you but a very specific sort, of which I hadn’t had since I was a child. Let the back story begin!

In the summer of 96 I went with my Oma to Minneapolis to visit my aunt who was living there at the time. We did a lot of fun stuff while we were there but a lot of it has escaped me now since I was so young and the trip was so long ago. One thing however that I guess has always stuck with me is a particular side dish that my aunt’s husband made with dinner one night. He is by all accounts quite proficient in the kitchen and I remember being particularly blown away by his ‘upscale’ version of mashed potatoes. I don’t know where he got the recipe, I can’t recall detail for detail everything that went into it, and though I know now that it isn’t unheard of to do this kind of thing with mashed potatoes, at the time it was new, exciting and amazing to me. I think up until that point I’d always considered mashed potatoes to strictly be a winter food, suitable only when served alongside a roast or turkey, and certainly never without a generous helping of thick brown pan gravy.

But this take on mashed potatoes opened my young eyes to a world of possibilities, and even though I haven’t thought about that dish, or that moment for years it must have stuck with me. For two weeks ago I found myself salivating at the very idea of trying to re-create it. Who knows why these unconnected little moments stick with us, or why they float to the surface unannounced and unbidden years later. One thing I do know however is that they often provide some much needed creative stimulation.

Now I have no idea what actually went into my aunt’s husbands original recipe, all I recall are a few flavor notes. Garlic, dill and sour cream. So from there I worked with the memory of my tastebuds and did my best to recreate a flavor from the past. I have to say I did a pretty damn good job of recreating the flavor I remember, though whether this recipe bares any resemblance to the one that inspired it I couldn’t say. Likely it doesn’t, but it is extremely satisfying and delicious. Even my husband gobbled it up with unbridled zeal, a surprise indeed considering he doesn’t like sour cream in the least, non-dairy or otherwise.

Though as good as these mashed potatoes are, before you dare to embark on making them - and I do dare you - I believe a word of warning is in order. These mashed potatoes most definitely fall under the category of ‘comfort food’ not ‘health food’ but trust me when I say they are so worth it!

Mashed Red Skinned Potatoes with Fresh Dill and Sour Cream

2 lb Red Skinned Potatoes, peel left on and quartered
1/4 Unsweetened Almond Milk
½-1 C Non-dairy Sour Cream (or to taste) (I used Wayfare which is Dairy-Free, Soy-free, Gluten-Free and Non-GMO)
2 Tbsp Earth Balance
1 Large bunch Dill finely minced (or to taste)
4-8 Cloves Garlic, crushed, minced or pressed (to taste, or garlic powder to taste)
1 tsp Olive Oil
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Dash Onion Powder to taste
1/4-1/2C Diced Green Onion for Garnish (or to taste)

- Since you are leaving the skin on these potatoes you must wash them very well, and scrub every nook of possible dirt. Once washed quarter them and place them in a pot of salted boiling water.

- While potatoes are boiling saute garlic over medium-high heat in 1 tsp of olive oil until fragrant and golden. About 5-8 minutes.

- When potatoes are fork tender, drain and return to pot. Add the sauteed garlic, Earth Balance, Almond milk and 1/2C of non-dairy sour cream. Using a handheld blender whip potatoes until they are broken down and creamy. Because of the skin they will not be entirely smooth, there will be lumps but that’s what you want!

- Taste and add salt, pepper, and a dash of onion powder to taste. If not garlicky enough for your taste add a few dashes of garlic powder as well. If not creamy enough or not sour creamy enough add in more sour cream 1/4 C at a time until you reach desired taste and consistency. Blend again until all spices have been combined.

- Add minced dill and blend until incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

- When ready to serve garnish with the chopped green onions and enjoy!

PS: I think the raw chopped green onions give the potatoes a really nice texture and flavor, so if you’re like me feel free to use more.

PPS: Apologies for the poor lighting. My kitchen is a bit dark, gloomy and slightly ‘golden’ once the sun goes down. I do try my best but sometimes even that is no match for bad lighting.