hot salad & other stories: veganism

For almost a whole year now my mom and sister have been vegan. It’s been very interesting learning the alternatives and methods that work best to create what ultimately becomes almost unnoticeably different (there’s obviously just no meat, no eggs, no milk…). Thats one of the wonderful things about this era of food: theres so many companies now who are making plant-based alternatives that could fool most of us. This year we did a vegan thanksgiving–I learned a lot, ate a lot, and stored some recipes that I’ll use again and again. I had no idea that a lot of mainstream frozen puff pastry is actually already vegan–it uses oils instead of butter.
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VEGAN WELLINGTON
1 white or yellow onion
2–3 portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
2–3 cups baby bella or other mushrooms, sliced thin
a few large handfuls of spinach
soy sauce
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped fine
salt and pepper
1 package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)

- Slice the onion in half, cut off the top and bottom, and then slice it thin from end-to-end. (I called these onion ‘petals’.)
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium. When hot, add a few tablespoons of olive oil, and then add the onion and mushrooms.
- Stir occasionally until the onion has browned and the mushrooms have cooked down. Scoop aside into a large bowl.
- Add a few tablespoons to the still-warm pan, then add the spinach. Cook until wilted. Add the spinach to the bowl with mushrooms and onions.
- Add 2–3 teaspoons of soy sauce to the mixture with a few cracks of black pepper. Taste for salt (add more soy sauce or salt if needed).
- Remove about 1 cup of the mixture and chop it until its almost a paste, but still chunky. Add it back to the bowl–this helps the mixture hold together. Add the walnuts and stir together.
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Follow the instructions for thawing the puff pastry. Grab a large piece of parchment paper. Unfold one sheet of puff onto the parchment, and pile in the mushroom/spinach mixture in the middle. Carefully roll it, tucking in the ends (think: roll it like burrito). Make sure it’s seam side down. Lift the Wellington by the parchment paper and move it to a baking tray.
- Unfold the second sheet of puff on a cutting board. Cut 1 inch slits in alternating lines (see illustrations below). Carefully move your lattice onto the Wellington log, and pull gently to separate the lattice structure. Trim off excess.
- Bake the Wellington for 30–40 minutes, until the puff is golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

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Its Chick’n not Chicken: I think one of my favorite, mildly silly, plant-based alternatives is chick’n nuggets. I keep a box of them in my freezer as a lunch with little salad when I’m too busy to cook, a late night snack when I just want to dip them in BBQ sauce, or when my inner child literally just wants dinosaur shaped nuggets (which I never really ate as a kid but now I find it fun).

Cinnamon Toast Crust: Something I learned from my mom, who learned from hers, was to save the extra pie crust or puff pastry. It’s ok if they’re random shapes. Brush it with a little butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cook alongside whatever you have going on in the oven. Remove when golden brown, and enjoy a lil sweet treat.
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It’s the season for holiday baking, and I have so many plans for future cookies.