Vegan Mofo #18: Toulousaine Sausage and Bean Salad...

I don’t know how traditional this recipe is or how common, but after doing a bit of googling I found there are all kinds of recipes for sausage salads in Toulouse, the ingredients vary but usually it’s a vinegar mustard dressing, and has beans and sausage. This particular recipe I found when flipping through an interesting book called “The French Market” written by Joanne Harris and I thought it sounded so good that I wanted to try and veganize it, just to see how it was. I think it ended up being really good, and even my husband loved it which amazed me since he typically is no fan of beans, certainly not this many beans all at once!

I love the simplicity of the dish, I love both the bold and subtle flavors, the creamy beans mixed with the chewy sausage. Loved it over a bed of greens though you can simply eat it as is without the lettuce. Obviously the original recipes call for sausages from Toulouse, but in liu of that Harris recommended Italian Sausages so I went with my favorite, Field Roast.

Toulousaine Sausage and Bean Salad
(AKA Salade Toulousaine) 

4 Vegan Italian Sausages
1 15oz Can Chickpeas Rinsed and Drained
1 15oz Can Navy Beans Rinsed and Drained
1/4 Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Whole Grain Mustard
1/4 tsp Dried Sage
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
4 Ripe Tomatoes
Lettuce, Arugula or Mixed Greens for serving (Optional)

- Heat a bit of Olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Slice the sausages into rounds and fry in the oil until browned on both sides, 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and place on a plate.

- Place the Chickpeas and Navy Beans in the same pan. Add the Oil, Vinegar, Mustard, Sage, Salt and Pepper. Mix to combine well and then cook for about 5 minutes until heated through.

- Add the tomatoes to the beans, mix well, and cook about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and place the bean mixture into a large serving bowl. Add the sausages and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

- Line serving bowls or plates with a bit of lettuce or mixed greens, then top with 2 generous scoops of the Sausage and Bean Salad. Enjoy Hot, at room temp, or cold, I personally liked it best at room temperature.

Memories of Ireland, Potato and Leek Soup

When my husband and I were in Ireland in 2009 we ate a ton of Potato and Leek soup, we probably ate it once everyday, served with a few slices of thick dark bread. It was the main staple of our diet on that particular trip, and not because we were vegetarian - at the time neither of us were - but because it was cheap, abundant, delicious and filling. My husband and I have never been the kind of people that travel for the food. We don’t seek out exotic culinary delights, or spend copious amounts of money on fine dining. When we travel we spend our money on seeing and doing amazing things, because if you’re not going to get the most out of your trip then what’s the point in going right? Which explains the potato and leek soup. You see, it’s a pretty standard offering in most pubs and restaurants in Ireland, and when we were there you could get a nice hearty bowl of it with bread for between four to six euro, four to six pounds if we’re talking about Northern Ireland. That makes for a pretty cheap lunch or dinner for two people while traveling and because potatoes are so heavy one bowl really is sufficient. If you’re extra hungry you might want to throw a three euro side salad into the mix, but it still keeps the cost pretty low.

We traveled to fourteen different cities in Ireland, and we ate Potato and Leek soup all the way from Dublin to Belfast, to Derry, to Galway, to Killkenny, to Cork, to Waterford, back to Dublin. No matter where we went the soup was always phenomenal, and I just fell in love with it - as I did so many other things about Ireland. After we returned home, despite having eaten it every day for the duration of our trip I wanted more potato leek soup. So began my mission to make a potato leek soup from scratch that was just as good as those I’d sampled in Ireland. For the past 2 and a half years I’ve failed at every turn and I have tried so, so many recipes. Whether the recipes be vegetarian or vegan I was never able to find a good recipe, not online and not in any cook book. Every recipe I’ve tried the soup was too bland, too thick, too much potato, too much thyme. The consistency was never right, the flavor was never spot on, it was never quite rich enough or creamy enough, and for a while I thought all was lost.

Then Friday I woke up to cold weather as one so often does in Chicago at the end of November, and I found myself with a hankering for potato and leek soup! I looked through a handful of my cook books trying to find recipes for said soup that I hadn’t yet tried, but to no avail. Nothing was catching my eye. After some moments of impatient contemplation I realized I didn’t really need a recipe at all. All I needed was my own creativity and knowhow, and so I went to the kitchen and set myself to work, with nothing to guide my endeavor except countless memories of Irish pubs and magical landscapes.

After having tried so many recipes - some from very renown people in the culinary profession - I had no hope that my little effort would yield anything palatable, but I had to try, and in the end, when I tasted what I had created I knew I had come as close to the perfect Irish bowl of potato and leek soup that I ever would. This soup turned out so rich and creamy, and bursting with flavor. It is everything a good potato and leek soup should be, and it’s fairly quick and easy to prepare. If you’re a potato leek soup fan I urge you to try it, and serve it a long a nice thick slice of pumpernickel bread.

Memories of Ireland, Potato and Leek Soup

2 Tbsp Earth Balance or other Vegan non-dairy Butter
1 Very large leek, washed and sliced.
3 medium sized Yukon Gold Potatoes skin on chopped
2-3 Celery Ribs chopped
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Thyme
½ tsp Sage
½ tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
Sea salt and Black Pepper to taste
1 ½ C Vegetable Broth
1 ½ C Water + 1 Vegan ‘Chicken’ Bouillon Cube
1 Bunch Parsley Minced
2/3 C Cashews + additional 1/3 C Cashews as needed
1 C Water
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp White Miso

- Melt Earth Balance in a pot on the stove over medium heat. Add in the leek and celery. Saute for 4 minutes then add in the garlic, bay leaves, thyme and sage and saute another 4-5 minutes until leeks are tender and bright green.

- Add in the potatoes, the vegetable broth and the water with the bouillon cube. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a good simmer. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.  Around the last five minutes of simmering add in the white pepper, smoked paprika, black pepper and salt. Stir to combine.

- While the soup is simmering combine the cashews, the water, the lemon juice and the white miso in a high speed blender and process on high until completely smooth. About 1 minute. If the mixture looks a little to watery you can add in up to another 1/3 cup of cashews for a thicker cream.

- Remove the cashew cream to a measuring cup and set aside. It should have yielded roughly one and a half cups of cream.

- No need to clean the blender out, instead remove the bay leaves from the soup and discard then transfer the hot soup to the blender being careful not to spill any or burn yourself. Once all of the soup is in the blender blend on high until completely smooth and creamy. Return the soup to the pot.

- Stir in 1 cup of the cashew cream. Stir in minced parsley, and season with any additional salt and pepper.

- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with an additional swirl of the cashew cream, and a few twists of a black pepper mill. Enjoy!

PS: You can make this soup oil-free by using water to saute instead of earth balance. You can make the soup soy-free by using a chickpea or barley based miso instead of a soy one, or just leave the miso out altogether.

PPS: If you’ve never been to Ireland you really must go. It is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been! 

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!

Fusilli In Cream Sauce With Caramelized Onions, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Crushed Pink Peppercorns...

A few nights ago I was in the mood for pasta, but not just any kind of pasta. I wanted a rich and creamy white sauce, rather then olive oil, pesto, or marinara and I wanted it to be kind of cheesy. Whenever I think of cream sauce I think of Alfredo, but that’s not really what I wanted. I wanted something ‘cleaner’ if that makes sense, that was just a tad sweet, with just a touch of delicious cheesy goodness.

White Miso, Nutritional Yeast and Coconut Milk immediately sprung to mind. Now you may have done a double take on the words coconut milk, but trust me on this. The best, richest, and creamiest sauces I’ve made yet for pasta whether they be for mac and cheese, Alfredo or other have all been made with coconut milk. I don’t know what it is about coconut milk but it works so much better then any other non-dairy milk or cream that I’ve tried for that rich flavor and thick texture. I know you might be skeptical but it’s true, and you may be asking yourself ‘doesn’t it make what you’re cooking taste like coconut’ and the answer is no. I find that if you don’t add sugar into your coconut milk, and use savory seasonings there isn’t any coconut flavor at all. I know it sounds crazy right? And I get your reluctance, because I was a total skeptic too when I first happened upon this amazing culinary discovery, but then I tried my first coconut milk mac and cheese and nearly lost my mind! I really is that good, so phenomenal in fact that coconut milk has since become my ‘go-to’ for cream sauce as well as a few other things.

As for the White miso and the Nutritional Yeast, it’s only natural they sprung to mind for this recipe considering the cheesy taste they impart to dishes. People think I’m a little crazy for thinking that White Miso has a cheese like flavor, but I don’t know, that’s what I taste. Something about the fermentation I think gives it a quality similar to aged cheeses. It has that sharp, salty full-bodied flavor you -or at least I - associate with a rich aged cheddar. So whenever I want to make something cheesy White Miso is my ‘go-to.’ Darker Miso, such as red or brown doesn’t really have the same flavor or quality. It’s more salty and bitter to me rather then cheese like so I wouldn’t recommend using them for this. Stick to white miso, or perhaps yellow. As for the Nooch. Since I’m not a big fan of nutritional yeast I played it kind of conservative here, but if you like the taste of nooch then by all means feel free to add in more. I went with the 1/4 cup but think a 1/3 cup would be just as good too, but if you really want to heighten the flavor you could go up to a ½ cup.

Of course once I had the sauce all figured out there was still the matter of what else to put in the pasta. After some careful consideration I decided to go with red onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh parsley and pink peppercorns. Since the pasta is a tan color, and the sauce is so white I wanted to include ingredients that would really stand out and pop with brightness when they came together in my bowl. Red onion, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley are perfect for that, and the pink peppercorns give the dish a cute pink dusting and interesting flavor.

However Pink Peppercorns definitely have a distinct and unique flavor, they’re not hot, but rather have a delicate almost fruity flavor. For some they may be an acquired taste, so if they’re not your cup of tea so to speak, or you’re unable to find them then by all means leave them out and add in white pepper or even black pepper instead. I don’t think the dish will suffer any from their absence, and in fact I think white pepper might give it another distinctive component. The pink peppercorns do lend a hint of sophistication though, and I do really enjoy them.

Now, before we get started I do want to say that there are a couple of steps to this recipe, but if you plan it well it can all come together rather quickly, so don’t feel intimidated!

Fusilli In Cream Sauce With Caramelized Onions, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Crushed Pink Peppercorns

1 lb Whole Wheat or Gluten-Free Fusilli

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Red Onion
8 Cloves Garlic minced
½-1 C Sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed)

3/4 C Raw Cashews
½ C water
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3-5 Tbsp Mellow White Miso

1 15oz Can Coconut Milk (not light)
½ tsp Smoked Paprika (or to taste)
½ tsp rubbed Sage (or to taste)
1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg (or to taste)
1/4-1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
½ Bunch Fresh Parsley Finely Minced
*** ½-1 Tbsp Pink Peppercorns (crushed or ground with a mortar and pestle) (Optional)

- Bring a pot of water to boil and cook Fusilli as directed by the package. When cooked drain, and return to pot.

- Meanwhile, place oil in pan or pot, over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute over medium-high heat for five minutes. Lower to medium and saute another five minutes. Add in garlic and reduce heat to medium-low. Add in the sun-dried tomatoes. Cover and let saute until onions become very soft and light golden brown. Roughly another ten minutes. Make sure to stir every once in a while so the onions and garlic don’t stick. Add a little water If they do.

- When onions are caramelized to your liking transfer them to a plate or bowl and set aside.

- While onions are caramelizing you can blend the cashews, water, lemon juice, and miso in a highspeed blender on high for 30-60 seconds until super smooth and creamy. Taste for flavor and adjust miso as needed.

- Next begin your sauce. Poor coconut milk into medium pot. Add the cashew-miso mixture from your blender making sure to scrape out as much as possible, and whisk until combined. Whisk in Nutritional Yeast, smoked paprika, sage and nutmeg and taste for flavor. Adjust as needed. Let simmer on the stove for roughly ten minutes. Add in crushed pink peppercorns and minced parsley.

- Add your caramelized onion mixture into the pot with your fusilli, then pour in your cream sauce. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined and then serve garnished with a little extra parsley and crushed pink peppercorn if desired.

*** Note - Soy-Free if using Chickpea Miso*** 

Baking Powder Biscuits with White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy....

Can I confess something to you? Before I moved to the U.S. I’d had never heard of biscuits and gravy before. Well, I knew what biscuits were, and I knew what gravy was of course, but I’d never heard of the two being served together, and certainly not for breakfast. Yet it’s a dish that everyone I know here grew up with. Interestingly Biscuits and Gravy emerged as a popular regional dish after the American Revolutionary War, precisely because it was cheap, hearty and used ingredients that were readily available to the average person. As far as I know there is no Canadian equivalent, or at least not that I ever saw growing up. So it wasn’t until after I’d moved to the U.S. that I tried this dish for the first time.


Biscuits Fresh Out of the Oven




















I’d heard plenty about it by that time, lots of people raved about it, even going so far as to label it the quintessential American breakfast, so I was interested, and curious, though I have to say I was also skeptical. I was never really a meat in the morning kind of person, and for those of you who don’t know the gravy for traditional biscuits and gravy is made with ground pork sausage or ground beef, including the greasy drippings from said meat, mixed with flour, milk and a dash of this or that. I’ve also never really been a fan of milk, and honestly the idea of cooking ground beef in milk kind of put me off. The smell alone was horrendous, and then when I saw the finished product I thought it looked - advanced apologies for any former biscuits and gravy lovers - a lot like dog vomit. In any case it looked a lot more like something that should be coming out of you rather then going in, but scepticism aside I decided to give it a try. Well, I couldn’t get through more then a couple of bites before I wanted to retch - which is surprisingly exactly the reaction I had upon my first and only encounter with another popular American dish, Chicken Fried Steak. - There was absolutely nothing about it that I found appetizing aside form the biscuits and so I stared in awe as my husband continued to shovel mouthfuls of it into his mouth. Really the idea of cooking greasy ground beef in milk just gives me the shivers. Suffice to say I never ate biscuits and gravy again, nor had I any interest or intention of trying to veganize the dish.

Then last Thursday rolled around, and well you see I’ve set myself a little project. Since finishing vegan mofo I realized something. Though I own at least 20 or more cook books, I only ever use a handful of them. I’d never realized before that there are only about five or six books I consider to be me ‘go to’ cook books, while the rest I leave neglected in a pile to collect dust. After vegan mofo I decided to set myself the challenge of cooking at least 10 recipes from every one of my virtually unused cook books. I don’t have a specific time frame in mind, it’s just go at my own pace, and ever once and a while I’m sure I’ll share a recipe with you - as I’m doing today - So last Wednesday I was looking for something special to cook for my husband for breakfast on Thursday since he had that day off, and I happened upon the Baking Powder Biscuits with White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy recipe from "Vegan with a Vengeance" As already stated my experience with biscuits and gravy was so bad that I’ve never thought about them for even a second since that day, but my husband has always been a fan. Since going vegetarian/vegan he hasn’t had them obviously, nor has he had a vegan version. Thinking it might be a nice treat for him I decided to take a moment to look over the recipe, and I don’t know something about it just started calling to me. The idea of blending up a can of white beans with vegetable broth to make a thick savory gravy, seasoned with Italian spices and loads of sage just got my mouth watering. I actually really like the idea of using white beans to make sauces, gravies and soup bases because they’re rich and creamy. I also love sage but don’t use it often enough.

White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy

Now, tempeh I’m not such a fan of as I’ve mentioned before but I thought I’d give Isa the benefit of the doubt here. I liked the sound of her recipe for Tempeh Sausage Crumbles. It was relatively quick, and super easy, used ingredients I had on hand, and I’m always curious to try tempeh cooked in new ways to see if I like it any better. I think simmering it in water for twenty minutes as you do in this recipe goes a long way in cutting out that awful bitterness, while also loosening the tempeh up so that it can soak up other flavors. Once the water has been absorbed you then brown the tempeh in olive oil, and soy sauce and season it with garlic, oregano, marjoram, basil, sage, and fennel. I don’t particularly like fennel so instead of using 1 tbsp of fennel seed I used ½ tbsp and added 2 more cloves of minced garlic then required, and honestly it was fabulous!

Once your tempeh is all browned you add your blended gravy into the pan, warm it through then serve it over the biscuits, which by the way were exquisitely soft and doughy with just a slightly crisp outer edge just as I like them. I was completely blown away by this meal. I ate three biscuits and three generous scoops of gravy and I am more then willing to make this again. The tempeh sausage tasted just like what I remember Italian sausage to taste like - something else I never liked, but surprisingly don’t mind veganized - except a little milder, and not the slightest bit greasy. The fennel wasn’t overpowering and the sage was absolutely perfect, although I had to use dried sage because I didn’t have any fresh available. This breakfast couldn’t have turned out better. Although next time I think I might double the gravy recipe because I would have liked a bit more creamy liquid to soak my biscuits with.

Whether you were or weren’t a fan of biscuits and gravy I definitely recommend this recipe. If you were I imagine you’ll like this a lot, and If you weren’t you just might find yourself surprised. So if you own ‘Vegan with a Vengeance’ seriously, snap to it already!

PS: They taste good drizzled with a bit of Earth Balance then the gravy too! Yum1

Sage is The Spice of Life...

I can’t believe my last Spotlight Food post was in September, and my Last Spice of Life Post was back in July! I regret that the absence of these posts has gone on for so long and have no real explanation for it except to say that life has been very busy of late, and particularly during those months. I found myself unable to wrangle the time it took to write so expansively about vegetables, fruits and herbs. Though we are now working our way into the holiday season, and life show’s no signs of slowing down yet, I’m hoping that I can once again begin to set a little time aside for such endeavors. If not once a week like originally intended then at least once a month, because being educated about the food that we eat is the most powerful weapon in our arsenal. Understanding how the foods we eat effect, protect and harm our bodies is extremely valuable for so many reasons, and the sad truth is that so many of us are clueless when it comes to food.

With that being said I resume my Spice of Life series with a delicate herb I use mainly during the fall and winter months, sage. Sage has a sweet, savory, and slightly peppery flavor and has traditionally been used throughout the world to season and flavor fatty meats. It’s also the number one ingredient in most people’s Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe. I of course use it in my vegan stuffing recipes as well - because what stuffing is ever complete without sage? - but I also use it to season soups, stews, tomato based sauces, savory cream sauces, gravy, herb biscuits or scones, and mushrooms amongst other things. For whatever reason I rarely use sage in the Spring or Summer months, even though it pairs beautifully with light summer produce. To me sage is all about winter, and winter all about sage.

Sage is The Spice of Life

History/Cultivation

Sage (Salvia officinalls) also known as common sage or garden sage, is a small perennial evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean Region. It has a long history of both medicinal and culinary use, and in fact it has the longest medicinal history of any other medicinal herb. It’s reputation as a cure all is in fact represented in it’s scientific name Salvia derived from the Latin Salvere which means "to be saved." In ancient times it was used to ward off evil, protect against and cure snakebite, increase a woman’s fertility and more. The Ancient Greeks and Romans praised sage for it’s many healing properties, and treated it as sacred. The Romans used the herb as a diuretic, as well as a local anesthetic amongst other things. Both civilizations also used the herb as a preservative for meat, a tradition that interestingly continued until the advent of refrigeration. It’s thought that the Romans first introduced sage to Europe, from Egypt originally as a medicinal herb, from where it spread. It’s legendary status of continuing throughout the Middle ages. Arab physicians in the tenth century believed that it promoted immortality, while fourteenth century Europeans used it to ward off witchcraft. In China in the seventeenth century the herb was in such great demand that it’s said the Chinese were willing to trade three cases of tea leaves to the Dutch for one case of sage leaves. Sage was even called S. salvatrix - sage the savior - at one point and used as one of the ingredients of Four Thieves Vinegar, a blend of herbs which was supposed to ward off the plague.

Health

Though sage has been recommended at one time or another by herbalists for virtually every ailment under the sun modern science shows evidence of possible uses as an anti-sweating agent, antibiotic, antifungal, astringent, antispasmodic, estrogenic, hypoglycemic and tonic. In a double blind study sage was also found to be effective in managing mild Alzheimer’s disease. Sage leave extract may also be effective in safely treating hyperlipidemia.

The strongest active components of sage appear to be found within it’s essential oil, which contains cineole, borneol, and thujone. Sage also contains a variety of flavonoids (including apigenin, diosmetin, and luteolin) and phenolic acids, including the phenolic acid names after Rosemary - Sages sister herb in the mint family - rosmarinic acid.

Rosmarinic acid can readily be absorbed in the GI tract, where once inside the body it works to reduce inflammatory responses by altering the concentrations of inflammatory messaging molecules. The rosmarinic acid in sage and rosemary also functions as an antioxidant. The leaves and stems of the sage plant also contain antioxidant enzymes and peroxidase. When combined, these three components of sage - flavonoids, phenolic acids, and oxygen-handling enzymes - give it a unique capacity for stabilizing oxygen related metabolism, and preventing oxygen related damage to cells. The increased use of sage as a seasoning in food is recommended for people who suffer from inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis as well as for bronchial asthma and atherosclerosis.

If that weren’t enough reason to add liberal doses of sage to your soups, stews and sauces get this - sage boosts better brain function! Research published in the June 2003 issue of Pharmacological Biochemical Behavior confirms that sage is an amazing memory enhancer. In a placebo controlled double-blind crossover study two trials were conducted using a total of 45 young adults. Participants either recieved a placebo or an essencial oil extract of sage in doses ranging from 50 to 150 microls. Cognitive tests were then conducted 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, hours after administration. In both trials it was found that even the 50 microls dose of sage significantly improved the volunteer’s immediate recall.

Other research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Harrogate (September 2003) Peter Houghton from King’s College provided data showing that the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza (also known as Chinese sage) contained active compounds similar to those developed into modern drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. Four of the components isolated from the root of the Chinese Sage were found to be acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. Which is interesting because the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s is accompanied by the increase of AChE activity that leads to it’s depletion from both the cholinergic and noncholinergic neurons of the brain. Also Amyloid beta-protein, which is a major component of the amyloid plaques that form in the brain in Alzheimer’s. acts on the AChE, and AChE activity is increased around the amyloid plaques. By inhibiting this increase of AChE activity, sage has shown to provide a useful therapeutic alternative to the use of pharmaceutical AChE inhibitors.

So there you have it, whether you believe as the ancients did that Sage is a panacea, or some sort of herbal ‘new age’ magic bullet. Or you’re simply swayed by the science, sage certainly has beneficial properties, so experiment with it, and try to find some new ways to add this delicious herb into your daily meals.

Preparation

You can use sage either dried or fresh. Both are wonderful and nothing beats the smell of fresh sage. A few years ago I planted some in my garden and I absolutely loved the smell. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t go outside just to revel in the scent. As for how to use it, there are many things you can do with sage fresh or dried. I’ve listed a few ways in which it can be used and I highly recommend adding it to a pasta cream sauce recipe. Something along the lines of an Alfredo, that’s always quite nice. Use it to make vegan biscuits and gravy as I did for breakfast this morning. Use it to season olive oil to dip bread into. Mix it with your favorite vinegar and some garlic and pour it over a hearty green salad. I also find that sage goes surprisingly well with pumpkin. It sounds strange perhaps but if you make a pumpkin soup, stew or a pasta dish with baked pumpkin give it a try. I’m sure it would be equally tasty on butternut squash. It’s great mixed with toasted walnuts or pine nuts and used to sprinkle over pasta. Use it to flavor tempeh and definitely, definitely put it into your next Thanksgiving stuffing!!!

As always, Happy and Healthy eating to you!

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms...

This salad makes a nice simple meal that’s both delicious and filling. A perfect salad to enjoy during one of autumns warmer evenings. It also makes for a lovely presentation as a starter salad. The lemon juice, maple syrup, cherries, figs and mushrooms make for the perfect combination of sweet, savory and sour. Enjoy by candlelight, with soft music and a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

Salad

1 Bunch Kale
2 Carrots Julianne or grated
½ -1 large red pepper sliced thin
½ Large red onion sliced into thin half or quarter moons
Handful of dried Cherries
Handful of Sunflower Seeds
4-5 Fresh Figs Quartered
1 Batch Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

4-6 Cloves Garlic finely minced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1-2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
pinch sea salt and black pepper

Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

20-25 small to medium Cremini Mushrooms
2-3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp rubbed sage
½ tsp crushed Rosemary
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
5 garlic cloves minced fine
Dash of Agave (optional)

- First remove the stems from your mushrooms. You can keep them and use them or discard them. I kept mine. Then place mushrooms in sealable container along with minced garlic, vinegar, oil, agave and seasonings. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to marinate, turning once.

- When you’re ready to make your salad, preheat your oven to 400'F (202'C) then chop your kale into bite sized pieces and place in a large serving bowl. Add the olive oil, Lemon Juice, Maple syrup minced garlic, and pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Stir thoroughly until all kale is coated. Then set aside to marinate at room temperature.

- Lightly spray a small baking dish with non-stick spray. Dump your mushrooms along with the marinade into the dish and roast at 400'F (202'C) for roughly 20 minutes until mushrooms are nice and soft.

- While mushrooms are roasting prep your veggies but don’t add them to the kale just yet.

- When mushrooms are done remove them from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes so that they are still warm but cool enough to eat without burning yourself.

- Add Carrots, red pepper, red onion, dried cherries and sunflower seeds to the kale, mix to combine.

- Distribute salad evenly amongst two plates and add quartered figs. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooled mushrooms from the roasting pan and place them onto the salads. At this point you can either discard the mushroom marinade or reserve it to drizzle a tsp’s worth over each salad.

- Serve and Enjoy!