Providing vegan alternatives to the sorts of delicious comfort foods that everyone craves, The Dirty Vegan Cookbook, Revised Edition by Catherine Gill makes it easier than ever to live the vegan lifestyle. Self-styled as “vegan junk food”–healthy vegan food that doesn’t skimp on taste–The Dirty Vegan Cookbook is a celebration of all the amazing tastes and dishes available to those on vegan diets. Just in time for the busy holiday season, we've provided two recipes from the book below.
Easy Ratatouille Stew
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 7 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 large onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 small green squash zucchini, peeled and cubed
- 5 small yellow squash zucchini, peeled and cubed
- 1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
- 1 small red sweet bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small yellow sweet bell pepper, chopped
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
In a large stockpot, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil on low heat for 5 minutes, then stir in sugar and continue to caramelize on low heat, stirring occasionally until garlic and onions are translucent. Deglaze pan with wine. Add the remaining ingredients to pan and mix thoroughly. Simmer on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until all vegetables are tender and fully cooked. Serve with crusty French bread.
Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Makes one dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 (8-ounce) container vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed mixed with 1/8 cup water
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup soy milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup pepitas (shelled, raw pumpkin seeds)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake/muffin liners or standard-sized baking cups. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, flaxseed and water mixture and soy milk. Combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt; add combined dry ingredients to the moist mixture, to make batter.
Fill muffin cups evenly with batter. With the backside of a spoon, make a small well in the center of each muffin batter. Dollop cream cheese filling in the center wells of the muffin batters. Sprinkle pepitas around the top of the muffin, on the batter portion around the filling.
Bake for about 15–20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when poked into the bread part of muffin (not the filled centers).
Recipes from author Catherine Gill