A crispy, creamy, fluffy (plant-based!) shepherd’s pie and a dinner-party-worthy cookie — add these vegan recipes to your holiday table

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For those who’re serving veg-only friends this festive season, or simply trying so as to add selection to the menu, attempt these holiday-ready concepts from two of our favorite Canadian plant-based meals consultants.

The primary: A brand new tackle traditional consolation meals

When making a plant-based dish, Calgary-based recipe developer Maria Koutsogiannis of Food by Maria goals to show vegan meals isn’t boring. Impressed by her British fiancé and the sturdy Greek flavours she grew up with (like cinnamon and clove), her model of a traditional shepherd’s pie isn’t any exception. Made with lentils and a soy-based various to floor beef, this meal is directly crispy, creamy, fluffy and warming. “It’s scrumptious. It’s healthful. It’s nostalgic. It’s actually versatile,” she says. “And it makes me joyful — there’s nothing higher than slicing right into a casserole dish and watching the steam pipe out. It’s actually the proper dish for the vacation season.”

Maria Koutsogiannis’s Finest Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

For the sauce:

2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil

1 medium candy white onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped

2 tbsp (30 mL) dried basil

1 tbsp (15 mL) dried oregano

1 tsp (5 mL) cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4 cup (185 mL) tomato puree

2 heaped tsp (10 mL) tomato paste

1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 mL) vegetable inventory paste (relying on choice and tolerance to salt)

1 1/2 cup (375 mL) cooked lentils comparable to Bob’s Pink Mill

1 packet Yves Floor Spherical

2 to three cup (500 to 750 mL) sizzling water

For the mashed potatoes:

5 giant white potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

1/4 to 1/2 cup (62.5 to 125 mL) almond milk

1 heaped tbsp (30 mL) butter

1 tsp (5 mL) contemporary thyme, plus 2 tbsp (30 mL) for garnish

Salt and pepper, to style

In a big pot, add olive oil and warmth for 30 seconds on medium-high warmth. Add onions and cook dinner for round 5 minutes, or till gentle and translucent. Add in garlic, basil, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and cloves. Stir till onion is properly coated and switch warmth to low to cook dinner and marry for round three minutes. Stir usually to keep away from burning.

Add your tomato puree, tomato paste and vegetable inventory paste into the pot. Stir properly, then improve warmth to excessive earlier than including lentils and Yves Floor Spherical. Sautée within the pan for 2 minutes earlier than including water. Stir, bringing it to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes till thick like a standard meat sauce. Put aside as soon as finished.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whereas your “meat” sauce is simmering, put together mashed potatoes by boiling water in a big stockpot. Season water and cook dinner potatoes till very tender, about quarter-hour. Pressure the potatoes, however don’t rinse or return to the pot. Add the rest of the elements and mash till wealthy and creamy. Bear in mind, when including your liquid that you could have a extra strong mash so as to add on high of the primary layer. Put aside.

Switch your “meat combination” right into a baking dish (13 x 7.75 x 2.25 inches) and lay it flat utilizing a spatula. Start dolloping your mashed potato onto the combination and flatten it out. Use a fork to carve marks vertically and horizontally throughout the pie — this provides a enjoyable texture when it cooks. Earlier than cooking, spray the mashed potatoes with an oil of your selection for that added golden color.

Cook dinner for 25 minutes. Then set the oven to broil for 5 minutes, watching intently so nothing burns.

Get pleasure from with contemporary thyme garnish and your selection of steamed greens or veg. Serves 8.　

The dessert: A light-weight, crunchy dinner-party deal with

Canadian meals character and cookbook writer Lauren Toyota loves biscotti, which she describes as an “neglected cookie.” So, going into her second e-book, “Hot for Food All Day,” she knew she needed to determine a plant-based model. The result’s a lightweight and crunchy biscuit dipped in dairy-free chocolate and flavoured with coconut and pecan. It additionally occurs to be gluten free; whereas experimenting, Toyota found that utilizing almond flour resulted in the very best texture. She additionally loves serving them at dinner events. “They appear fascinating on a platter, they usually’re not too complicated,” Toyota says. “For those who’re a biscotti skeptic, these will convert you.”

Lauren Toyota’s Coconut Pecan Biscotti

5 g golden flax meal

3 tbsp (45 mL) water

112 g high quality almond flour

130 g gluten-free all-purpose flour

1 1⁄2 tsp baking powder

1⁄2 tsp floor cinnamon

1⁄2 tsp sea salt

1 stick (113 g) vegan butter, partially softened

50 g granulated sugar

46 g packed mild brown sugar

2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract

1 bar (4 oz / 113 g) dairy-free semi-sweet baking chocolate, damaged into squares, or 113 g vegan chocolate chips

38 g finely chopped pecans

21 g unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix the flax meal and water and put aside to thicken. In a mixing bowl, mix the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt.

Utilizing a hand mixer and one other giant mixing bowl or in a stand mixer, cream collectively the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar till fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the thickened flax combination and vanilla and proceed to combine till mixed. On low velocity, steadily add the flour combination till mixed. As soon as the dough comes collectively, use a spatula to combine within the coconut and pecans till properly mixed.

Place the dough on the ready baking sheet. Utilizing your arms, type a rectangle 3⁄4 inch thick, and 9 to 10 inches by 4 inches.

Bake for 35 minutes, till the perimeters are golden brown and the cookie is barely raised. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and let the cookie cool for 35 to 40 minutes. You need to slice it whereas it’s nonetheless a bit of heat and never utterly cooled. Slice with a protracted, sharp knife on a slight diagonal each 3⁄4 inch into 10 biscotti.

Gently place the biscotti on the parchment cut-side down. Bake once more for 30 to 35 minutes, flipping gently to the opposite reduce facet midway via baking, till the cookies are agency to the contact and golden brown throughout. Take away the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the biscotti cool utterly earlier than dipping in chocolate. Makes 10 biscotti.　

Recipe excerpted from “Scorching for Meals All Day” by Lauren Toyota, reproduced by association with Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random Home Canada. Copyright © 2021 by Lauren Toyota. Images by Lauren Toyota and Eugenia Zykova. All rights reserved.