THE BEST SOY AND DAIRY FREE STUFFING EVER!

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe.  I'm blaming the baby who refuses to take a nap and the game of Thanksgiving leftover tetris I've been playing for the last four days.  The pies are gone, but I still have a few more days until I have to come up with something for dinner that doesn't involve turkey.

My Thanksgiving was a success.  Other than the macaroni & cheese, the pumpkin pie, and the whipped cream, everything was completely soy and dairy free.  To be honest, I couldn't tell the difference!  My favorite dish was the stuffing.  I'm not a huge stuffing fan usually, but this was amazing.  My husband said it was probably the best he's ever had (if you take Stove Top out of the running).  I'll probably make it like this from now on...

THE BEST SOY AND DAIRY FREE STUFFING EVER!

1 - 1 1/2 pounds bread, cut into small cubes  (I used 1.5 loaves of french bread)
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups broth (I used chicken broth)
1 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
2 T dairy & soy free butter, cut into small pieces (I used Earth Balance)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil (medium heat) and add the onion, celery, and garlic.  Cook until the onion is clear; then remove from heat.

Mix the eggs, broth, and seasonings with the bread cubes in a large bowl until mixture is moist.  (Add additional broth or water if necessary, but mixture should not be mushy.)  Add the veggie mixture until evenly distributed.

Press into a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Dot the top of the stuffing with the small pieces of butter.  Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 30-40 minutes, or until browned. 

Yum! 

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, TAKE 2

Back in October, I attempted a green bean casserole recipe that didn't thrill me enough to want to put it on the Thanksgiving table.  Last night's attempt was MUCH better.  I found this recipe for non-dairy cream of mushroom soup and then followed the regular ol' recipe for the casserole on the back of French's fried onions.  I used soy-free Earth Balance for the butter and substituted in coconut milk where the recipe called for soy milk.  This dish definitely made the cut!  Let's see if the in-laws will be able to tell that it's soy-free and dairy-free...

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP (soy-free dairy-free)

4 T Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread, divided
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1 T minced onion
3 T flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cups coconut milk, heated

Saute mushrooms in 1 T Earth Balance.  Remove from pan.

Melt 3 T Earth Balance, and whisk in flour, salt, and pepper.  Cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Slowly add in warm milk, continuously stirring to prevent lumps.  Add in sauteed mushrooms, and cook until desired thickness. 

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Once you have the soup made, all you have to do is...

Mix soup, green beans*, and 2/3 cup fried onions into a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Top with 2/3 cup fried onions, and bake an additional 5 minutes or until onions are golden brown.

*18 oz of frozen green beans, thawed -OR- 2 cans green beans, drained
 

YEAST ROLLS

Before I had to change my diet to exclude soy and dairy, those fantastic Pillsbury crescent rolls always made an appearance at Thanksgiving.  YUM.  They remind me of both my mom (who burns the bottoms of them every year - it's a tradition now) and my sister (who love love loves them).  Too bad they don't make the dairy-free list.  What does my sister like more than crescent rolls?  Yeast rolls.

Oh, yeast rolls.  Why are you are so delicious?  

Let's see if we can make 'em just as good but without all of that illegal butter.  Here we go!

YEAST ROLLS (soy-free dairy-free)

*adapted from this recipe

1 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup Earth Balance dairy-free soy-free, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp sea salt
4 1/4 cups flour

Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

Stir in butter, sugar, eggs, and salt.  (Original recipe suggests using a wooden spoon; I used a rubber spatula.)  Add flour 1 cup at a time; beat as much as you can.  (Use your dough hook attachments.  It gets pretty crazy with regular beaters!)

Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.  It can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Grease a 13x9 baking dish.  

Turn dough out onto floured surface.  Divide into equal pieces - I ended up making 16 rolls, but the original recipe suggests 24.  Roll each piece into a smooth round ball, and place into baking dish.

This was after about 20 minutes of rising.

After 1 hour... nice and stuck together!

Cover dish and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.  Bake at 375 degrees for 17 minutes.

Yum!

NOTES:  

• When I made 16 rolls, there were several spots that were still doughy after I took them out of the oven.  I would suggest following the original recipe that calls for 24 rolls. 
• To make sure they rose properly, I set the baking dish on top of a warm oven.  If you're making these for the holidays, it's a guaranteed hot spot.  If not, you could always whip up some tollhouse pie.  Then you're left with a warm spot for the rolls AND a delicious dessert.  :)  Another tip I've seen:  put the baking dish on the middle rack of a cold oven.  On the rack below, place a dish filled with a couple inches of boiling hot water.  Then shut the oven door.
• I baked mine for only 15 minutes rather than the suggested 17.  Check them early, and take them out when they've reached a nice golden brown.
• You're going to want at least 3 rolls.  Maybe 4.  It may sound like they'll feed a lot of people, but I wouldn't be so sure about that...

HOT CHOCOLATE

'Tis the season for wrapping presents, watching that classic Hershey kisses commercial yet one more time, and drinking yummy hot chocolate in a festive holiday mug... like these!

That's right, folks.  Dairy and soy-free hot chocolate.  While I do enjoy a little Swiss Miss (love those mini marshmallows!) from time to time, it's not exactly on the dairy-free list.

This hot chocolate turned out exceptionally yummy.  I may try to change it up a little the next time I make it to see if I can get it even closer to the real deal.  Oh, and for the record, those are pretty big mugs pictured above.  My cup always floweth over when it comes to hot chocolate.  :)

HOT CHOCOLATE (dairy and soy free!)

1 cup coconut milk 
1 T cocoa powder
1 T sugar

Mix ingredients together.  Heat in microwave for approximately 2 minutes or until desired temperature.  

I like to heat mine on the stove top - I feel like the cocoa powder gets incorporated better, and you're not left with cocoa particles at the bottom of your mug.  Also, it's easier to make a double-batch if you're feeling like sharing!


COMING SOON... dairy-free soy-free whipped cream recipe to top off your delicious hot chocolate! 

 

FOCACCIA BREAD

Since garlic bread is out of the picture (let's be honest: soy-free dairy-free butter does NOT make the best garlic bread), I decided to try my hand at focaccia bread.  I served it with spaghetti and meatballs last night for dinner, and holy smacks it was amazing.  Who needs butter when you can have your very own loaf of focaccia bread?!

I am pretty sure that this is the first bread I've ever made sans bread machine.  Don't be scared of the yeast.  This is super duper easy.  I promise.

FOCACCIA BREAD (soy & dairy-free!)

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp (one package) active dry yeast
4-5 T olive oil, divided
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 T dried rosemary
1/2 tsp kosher salt

In a liquid measuring cup:  whisk water, yeast, and 3 T olive oil. 

In a medium-sized bowl:  whisk flour and salt.  Slowly stir in the water mixture with a rubber spatula until well-incorporated.  Then mix an additional 2 minutes.  Cover with cling wrap, and let rise for 1 hour in a warm place.  It should double in size.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spread 1 T olive oil on your pan if you don't have any parchment paper).  Transfer the dough onto the baking sheet, and spread it out.  Cover the dough with cling wrap coated with baking spray/oil.  Let it rise 30-45 more minutes until it doubles in size again.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Using your fingers, poke holes into the surface of your dough.  Drizzle/rub the remaining 1T olive oil evenly over the top, and sprinkle with tomatoes, rosemary, and kosher salt.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  

Cut it into pieces and serve it up!  Delish!

HALLOWEEN CHILI PIE

While searching for something fun to make for dinner on Halloween, I stumbled upon this recipe for Jack-o'-Lantern Sloppy Joe Pie.  The recipe is completely free of dairy and soy protein as is - what could be better?  Rather than using the turkey sausage that the recipe calls for, I decided to add in Publix's GreenWise Market chicken sausage.  Delicious!

The "pumpkin pie" ended up being really tasty.  I've never had a sloppy joe before (gasp!), but this recipe reminded me of chili.  It was a perfect combination of sweet and make-your-nose-run spicy.    I definitely plan on making this again in the future.

HALLOWEEN CHILI PIE

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
1.5 lb bulk sausage (I used chicken)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chunky salsa (I used Publix mild thick&chunky)
1/2 cup chili sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

To make chili:
In a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium-high heat until sausage is no longer pink and onions are clear.  Stir in corn, salsa, chili sauce, brown sugar, and green chiles. ** Simmer uncovered on medium-low heat until sauce reaches desired consistency (about 10 minutes). 

To make pumpkin pie crust topper:
Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Let pie crust sit for 15 minutes unrefrigerated; then unroll crust onto a foiled cookie sheet.  Cut your pumpkin face using a sharp knife.  To add a stem to the pumpkin, secure crust piece with a small amount of water.

**Once you add all of your ingredients to the skillet, pop the crust into the oven.  Bake for 9-11 minutes until the crust is light golden brown.  Remove from the oven, and place onto chili mixture into skillet.  Serve!