Community Plant Based Recipe Swap

 Do you ever get a craving for a childhood favorite?  Jane recently recalled her sister-in-law's crockpot full of sloppy joes that appeared for summer celebrations and went in search of a plant-based alternative.  Be sure to choose the buns of your childhood, whether pillow-soft or crusty-dense.  Can be made gluten-free if you choose a GF bun and GF condiments.

Does your home have a beet "lover" and another who thinks "all beets taste like dirt"?  This dish should delight everyone with the hint of sweetness that emerges from the slowly cooked but still firm vegetables.  The crockpot makes it an easy prep and clean up. For the Fall 2025 CUCC auction, Angelika offered a "vegan feast" which was also gluten-free.  See the menu below the recipe.

Here is another "main" from Angelika's auction Vegan Feast (see menu below).  Angelika says the next time she makes it she would reduce the amount of rice to better feature the vegetables and she would double the olive oil, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil.  The "revised ingredients list" below incorporates her suggestions so you don't have to do the math.

 The Smiths tried this new recipe on a mixed group of omnivores and vegans and all said "Make this again!"  So, if you are planning to host some friends to celebrate St. Patrick, why not make a batch of this portobello-based stew?

 Judy and Paul Kiel recommend this recipe.

Judy and Paul Kiel recommend this soup.  This recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

 Judy and Paul Kiel recommend this wintry soup.

Perfect for a chilly winter's night, this soup is tan easy  way to use up leftover roasted butternut squash. Aromatic, filling and colorful.  The recipe is easily scalable to suit however much squash you have left over... weigh your squash and reduce or increase ingredients proportionally.  I suspect it would work well with sweet potatoes.

 With the mushrooms providing protein, this fancy but easy dish makes a delicious main or side.  Jane used a mix of white and sweet potatoes because that is what we had on hand and we all decided we would make it that way on purpose in the future.

 You can't get more Thanksgiving dinner than succotash!  If you are planning to roast a turkey and want some sides that will amp up the protein for your plant-based eaters, add this side to your table.  The Smiths and their guests enjoyed it one Christmas day. Gluten-free

 You might remember the meatball version from a pre-pandemic CUCC Christmas party.  The Smiths repurposed these Thanksgiving weekend fancy burgers into meatball format to feed a crowd.  Not only are these plant-based... they are gluten free!

I increased the protein content of  www.goodforyouglutenfree.com's Carrot and Walnut Soup by adding 1 cup of dried red lentils (for the pot, 1 cup added 46 g to the 117g of the walnuts).  This soup is a surprisingly easy to make because the veggies are in big chunks and forgiving to serve.  After the blending step, we drove to the airport to pick up our guests; when I came home, I quickly (10 minutes) reheated it while I threw together the salad.  The texture and flavor were as good as when we left the house.

 Judy Kiel made this recipe which we tasted at Charging Up Hope.  Vegan butter was substituted for regular butter ! Find the recipe at Chocolate Covered Katie:  The Healthy Dessert Blog. Ingredients Cookie:  almond flour or almond meal, powdered sugar, salt, baking soda, coconut oil, vanilla extract, water Cinnamon sugar coating:  sugar, cinnamon

Jane Smith writes: We made this for Christmas Day with our daughter in chilly Boston, served with a dark green salad with oranges & balsamic vinegar and with crusty bread.