A Spring Roast

It might be spring somewhere, but it's still pretty chilly in Minnesota.  I think still being able to turn on the oven is the only advantage of the cool weather.  I indulged my gluten-loving self this past week by heating up the house with a seitan roast.  I try not to tempt Mike with too many glutinous foods in the house, but I was craving this! 

A "before" photo

I didn't use a recipe for this one, but there was lots of poultry seasoning, Bragg's aminos and nutritional yeast in here- I remember that much.  And, of course, the obligatory roasting veggies along with the seitan.  The onion melted into the most divine texture!

Aside from eating the seitan and veggies straight-up, cold out of the fridge, I've used it in some stir fries.  All it takes is a crazy hot cast iron skillet, a little oil and tons of vegetables to make a successful stir fry!

I was going to serve this one over quinoa or rice, but opted to just enjoy the veggies and seitan on their own.  This dish included broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, green onions, tons of ginger and seitan.  I finished the stir fry with a little sauce of lime juice and Bragg's aminos mixed with a bit of cornstarch so it thickened up to coat the veggies as soon as I added it.  I think I ate about 3 cups of vegetables in one sitting!

Bean and Sausage Stew

It's March and I'm not really excited that it was -2 this morning and that we're getting snow tomorrow.  Basically the only exciting part about cold weather right now is soup.  Yes, soup is exciting.  Don't laugh.

I'm especially excited about this soup because it's pretty different from my staples: Indian-style rasams and brothy Asian noodle soups.  This soup deserves to be called a stew and it's a "meat and potatoes" type meal!

I used the Tofurky kielbasa in this recipe, but if I had to do it over, I'd use the Field Roast sausages because I generally just like those better.  And they just went on sale at the co-op today!!!

Bean and Sausage Stew

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 medium gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 vegan sausages (I used Tofurky Kielbasa), sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. fennel seed, ground
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. celery seed, ground
1 16 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
1 Tbsp. mustard
Salt and pepper to taste



In a heavy soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and saute until onions begin to become transparent.  Add the potato and sausages.  Stir and cook just a couple minutes, lightly browning the sausages.  Add the garlic and all the spices and beans. (I ground the fennel and celery seeds in a mortar).  Stir and immediately add enough water just to cover.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender and broth has thickened.  Add mustard and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a big hunk of bread and a bright, fresh green salad!

Moroccan Seitan Sandwich

Oh, my.  Now this is a satisfying sandwich.  It's only kind of a sandwich because it's basically sourdough French bread with this highly seasoned simmered seitan over top.  I didn't know what else to call it besides an open-faced sandwich.  You could serve the simmered seitan over millet, couscous, quinoa or rice, though.  This is definitely NOT a gluten free recipe.  It's pretty much gluten over gluten.

It takes all of about 5 minutes to make this dish, provided you have already prepared and refrigerated or frozen some roasted cherry tomatoes and preserved some limes.  And, of course, you have.

Open-Faced Moroccan Seitan Sandwich

1 Tbsp. olive oil
One package Westsoy Seitan, in bitesized pieces
1/2 cup roasted cherry tomatoes
1 large fresh tomato, chopped
1 tsp. whole coriander, crushed
1 tsp. whole cumin seed
1 pinch cinnamon
Salt to taste
Crusty sourdough bread, sliced thickly
Earth Balance
Preserved limes or lemons, optional

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet.  Add the seitan and cook over medium high heat until browned on all sizes.  Add the roasted tomatoes, fresh tomato, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and salt.  Lower heat and simmer until the fresh tomatoes have melted into the roasted tomatoes.

Serve seitan over warmed sourdough slathered in Earth Balance.  The preserved limes or lemons go on the side.  Just a thin sliver of lime on eat bite is heavenly.  Serve with a knife and fork.

Curry Mushroom Soup

I was talking to my work buddy Nick (as I do pretty frequently most days) when he told me about a creamy mushroom soup he made last night. My ears misheard him, though, and the idea for my dinner was born. I heard "Curry Mushroom Soup".

This soup is extremely flavorful with ginger, curry paste, and cilantro. The texture is slightly creamy and, wow, is it filling. If you're gluten free, you could definitely sub some baked or fried tofu for the seitan- or just leave it out for a less filling soup. And you could serve this over rice to extend it further.

I know this is a lot of ingredients- But you really just throw it all in a pot and simmer a few minutes- it's not too complicated!

Curried Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 small onion, sliced

1 8 oz. package seitan (or homemade), in bite-sized pieces

2 inches ginger root, finely grated

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium carrots, sliced on the bias

2 medium potatoes, diced

About 10 large button mushrooms, sliced

4 green onions, sliced

1 tsp. cumin seed

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. sea salt

1-2 Tbsp. Patak's mild curry paste

Water

Unsweetened almond milk

1 cup coconut milk

Cilantro, for garnish

Heat a large soup pot over med-high heat. Add the onions and seitan and saute until both are beginning to brown. Then add the ginger, garlic, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, green onions, cumin, coriander, salt, and curry paste. Stir to combine. Add enough water and almond milk to cover the vegetables and seitan- Equal parts almond milk and water is what I used, but you could use all almond milk for a creamier soup. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender. Then stir in the coconut milk and garnish with cilantro. Adjust to taste with salt and curry paste. Enjoy!

Overnight Seitan

Does anyone else have the "Cooking with PETA" cookbook on their bookshelf? I forget about it from time to time, but it really does have some rockin' recipes... Like Bryanna Clarke Grogan's Beefy Seitan Roast!

This seitan is so ridiculously easy and it's also some of the best tasting seitan I've had. My favorite part about the recipe is that it gives instructions for the oven or for a slow cooker. I LOVE mixing up the seitan dough at night, covering it in the flavorful broth, throwing in some onion and carrot and then waking up to the amazing smells of a seitan roast in the morning!

Before (Those are big onion chunks, in case you're wondering)

After- A big hunka seitan love

Sliced up and just begging to be put on a sandwich

I ate some of the roast this morning and sopped up the broth with hot buttered toast. Yum! I also made some broth yesterday, so there might be some seitan and dumplings coming up this week- We'll see!

Gallery of meals

Shameful! No blog post in a week!

Here are my excuses, in no particular order:

• My stepsons are back in school, with all that entails.
• I taught 3 canning classes last week
• I haven't done much cooking really

So here's a few of the things I have eaten in the last week or two... I'll blog about salsa canning tomorrow!

Blackberries and borage flowers from the garden. The blackberries have been fat this year!

Tonight: polenta cakes with a quick ratatouille and baked tofu on top. Gotta use up that basil!

Tomato "au jous". I'm calling it that because I dipped my sandwich in it and it was freakin' amazing. Fake ham sandwich with lots of Veganaise on baguette, soaked in tomato/basil/garlic juices.

Baked seitan in the style of SusanV's "ribz" and smothered in a thrown together barbecue sauce. Served over a finely chopped garden kale salad with cherry tomatoes and homemade ranch. Hell yes.

Apple, kale, parsley, mint, ginger, lemon juice. Yum! So green and refreshing!

Oh my, Oh mi. I love Banh Mi!

I had my first Banh Mi sandwich only a few weeks ago.  How I've lived my whole life without this amazing Vietnamese sandwich topped with pickled daikon, carrot, cilantro, jalapeno, & mayo is beyond me.

Traditional Banh Mi sandwiches are filled with anything from pork to liver pate to tofu.  And with all those amazing toppings, I'm not too picky about the protein...as long as it's vegan.

My first Banh Mi was at The Hard Times.  It was filled greasy fried seitan- in true Hard Times style.  The cilantro-jalapeno mayo was so good I wished for more to dip my tortilla chips in!

The first Banh Mi I ate today was at work.  Our juice bar has monthly specials on panini sandwiches and this month's vegetarian sandwich is a vegan Banh Mi!  The tofu is slathered in peanut sauce and topped with shredded carrot and cilantro.  The whole sandwich is smashed in the panini grill until the bread is hot and crusty.  I was super impressed at how spicy the sandwich was- we usually err on the side of mild.  My only complaint about the sandwich is that it was missing the mayo/Veganaise that I so enjoy.

So after a crazy busy day at work filled with point of sale system failures, inventory report difficulties, and new-month-updates that had to get done...I needed ANOTHER Banh Mi.  This time, though, I wanted to make one myself.  

I couldn't decide if I wanted to use seitan or portobello mushrooms in my sandwich, so I used both!  

First step: Marinate the "meat" of the sandwich

2 portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

OR 1 lb. seitan, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 Tbsp. tamari

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 jalapeno, minced

Second Step: Prepare the veggies

1 carrot, julienned

1 daikon radish (carrot-sized), julienned

1/4 cup very thinly sliced cabbage

1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

2-3 green onions, sliced

4-5 mint leaves, minced

3-4 Tbsp. rice vinegar 

Third Step: Prepare the mayo

1/4 cup Veganaise

1/2 jalapeno, minced

2 Tbsp. cilantro, minced

Fourth Step: Cook 

Heat about 2-3 Tbsp canola oil in a skillet.  Strain off the marinade and add the seitan or portabellos to the pan and fry until browned.  

Fifth Step: Assemble

Slice a 1/2 of a baguette lengthwise

Toast baguette

Slather the inside of the baguette with mayo

Top with seitan or mushrooms

Top with veggies

Smash the sandwich together

Wrap in waxed paper so it doesn't spill all over you while you eat

Seitan Banh Mi

Portabello Banh Mi

While both the seitan and mushroom versions were great, I thought the portabellos held the marinade flavor better.  Next time I'll increase the spice a bit and rig up a panini press with some bricks.  

Need a gluten-free option?  

Just skip the bread and make a Portabello Banh Mi Salad!  

Thinly slice 1 cup of cabbage along with the veggies described above.  Serve veggies and fried portabellos over the cabbage.  Thin the Cilantro-Jalapeno Mayo with a bit of wheat-free tamari marinade left over from the portabellos.  This is your dressing.  

While the sandwich version is really awesome, this is a super way to get a lot of antioxidant rich raw cabbage in your diet.  So even if you're not gluten-free, you might want to give it a go!

Grilling Time!

Tonight we celebrated Memorial day like most Americans- around the grill. I love grilling outside. Ever since I was a little girl, my dad has trained me to cook food properly on the grill. I remember feeling both terrified and thrilled when my dad would douse the charcoal in gasoline and throw in a match. WHoooosh! We would sit and talk or I would play until the flames died down. Then he'd grill some steaks (always marinated in teriyaki sauce) or maybe some red snapper.

Today I was kinda bummed out because we decided not to get the bright and shiny nice new (used) car that I LOVED. I know it was the right (read: frugal) decision, but I still stayed in my pajamas until noon and wallowed in my own pity. So the point of this is that I needed a good cooking assignment to cheer me up. Mike called to say he wanted to grill out and that was all the inspiration I needed.

Let's start with the veggies. I stuffed some button mushrooms with leftover Cashew Ricotta (from Veganomicon) and marinated some locally grown, organic asparagus in lemon juice, olive oil, coarsely ground salt and black pepper. These cooked up really fast on the grill and the mushrooms were the best. This is one case where I was thankful that the kids won't touch any type of fungus. More for us!


I wanted hotdogs, but didn't want to go to the store (although I ended up going anyways to get a great vacuum cleaner that Mike dumpstered at the Co-op), so I made some. These are loosely based on the Spicy Italian Sausages, but I cut the recipe in 1/4 and added a cup of mashed lima beans, omitted anything spicy, and added liquid smoke. They turned out a bit more moist and less dense- just what I was looking for! Since these have wheat, I marinated some tempeh in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tamari, and maple syrup for Mike.

I also baked some Southern Style GF Cornbread to go with my meal and with everyone else's desserts. You see, the great rift between myself and Mike & the boys is how we like our cornbread. I like mine savory- preferably with jalapeños, but I'll settle for green chilies. They like theirs as dessert with maple syrup.

The real star of the dinner was the Rhubarb Lemonade- thanks to my awesome friend Sarah.
She sent me this recipe from Food Network Canada (along with a SIGNED copy of Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan) last year, but I had just used the last of my rhubarb when I got the recipe. Now that the rhubarb is back, this was first on my list! It's really as simple as 6 1/2 cups water, 3/4 cup sugar, and 4 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb boiled until the rhubarb is soft, then strained. Then you add the juice of 1 lemon and chill. The super cute idea that I didn't get a chance to do tonight is to skewer some blueberries and freeze them to use as a garnish/stir stick for the lemonade!

This drink has a really unique flavor that only rhubarb lemonade could have- it's delicious! I also made some plain rhubarb sugar syrup at the same time, so look for that coming up soon.

Great Beginnings

When Mike asked yesterday, "What time does Pizza Luce open for brunch?", I immediately started craving their Portabello Florentine. Nevermind that Mike was on the phone with a friend at the time and clearly was not asking ME to go to brunch. I still let my taste buds get the best of me.

So this morning, while he is out with his friend eating a tofu scramble, I'm at home with the kids eating this wheat-tastic breakfast of my dreams. What we have here is a light and fluffy biscuit (I say "light" because they rose so well. Not low in fat by any stretch of the imagination) with pan-fried sausage and kale, topped off with a homemade gruyere sauce. While none of these ingredients is from my own recipe, and therefore not technically original, I think that this dish is more than the sum of its parts. And it's a great way to begin a weekend.



The biscuits are from Vegan with a Vengeance, the Sausage is from Everyday Dish, and the Gruyere is from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

I'm always doubtful when trying out a "cheese" recipe that attempts to mimic a fine cheese I enjoyed in my pre-gan days. But this time I was truly impressed with the likeness to a nutty, aged gruyere. It complemented the spiciness of the sausage and melted into the soft biscuits like you wouldn't believe. I ate two plates full. So did each of the kids.

The next new beginning of today is the baby lettuce sprouts that popped up in my basement "greenhouse". I wasn't sure the temperature was getting high enough for the seeds to germinate, but here they are! I think I'll go ahead and seed some other plants now that I know


Look close. You can kinda see them.

True Love

Let this post serve as evidence of my undying love for macaroons. And Third Street Bakery in Duluth. Their wheat-free vegan *Edited because these are "BEEgan", not Vegan* macaroons are the best I've ever had. They aren't a classic macaroon- they are way more rich and dense. They are like a meal.I'd like to also declare my love for those Spicy Italian Sausages I last posted about. I mixed them up with my leftover pasta and ratatouille and added some home-cured olives, balsamic vinegar, umeboshi plum vineger. AMAZING!

Everyday Foods

I have few random food pictures from the last week...I tried to think of a theme for them all, but I don't think there is one. Except maybe everyday foods for us. Okay. That will work.
So here they are:

This was a snack plate I put together for the kids and I last week. It includes carrots, celery, apples, blood oranges (amazing right now!), and pecans. The dip was just a mix of tahini, garlic red pepper miso, soy yogurt, and tamari. It's amazing how a great dip can make a couple of 8 year olds devour a plate of veggies!
This is just one reason why I love my sweetie so much. It takes a lot of love and an amazing amount of restraint to save the last one of these to bring home to me. Mike made these for his coworkers last week- Hot and toasty Lifestream gluten free waffles with melted peanut butter, melted chocolate chips, and a scoop of Rice Divine vanilla ice cream on top! Wow! It was hot and cold and chocolatey and so peanut buttery that my whole mouth stuck together.

This stir-fry broke all expectations with its deliciousness. I don't aim high when cooking on Monday and Tuesday nights. These are our busiest night when the kids have extra homework. So I didn't expect much and was pleasantly surprised. I marinated some tofu with tamari, garlic, and sesame oil and baked it for about 20 minutes. Then I stir fried broccoli, carrots, and green beans and mixed up a sauce of all the leftover marinade, orange juice, ginger and cornstarch. This one is a keeper.

This was my dinner tonight. I made a ratatouille out of some zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes that were about to go bad. This really hit the spot served over top of some pasta with some Parma- and it only took about 20 minutes.
Now the ratatouille would have been delicious with some Spicy Italian Sausage added to it. But I figure that if I've already eaten 2 entire sausages dipped in dijon mustard for lunch, I should probably not eat any more today! I tried taking about 6 pictures of this sausage and Trouble kept jumping up and getting in all the pictures. So they are all blurry and serve as evidence that kittens like vegan sausage almost as much as I do.

Tonight was my "Shopping Co-op on a Budget" class at the co-op. It went really well- we had a full house and some folks even stayed afterward to say how much they appreciated it. I think this one is a keeper (plus, it's free and you can't argue with that). With prices of grains and soy going up, I'm starting to think about expanding my garden this year. (As if I needed an excuse to do that).

Leftover Enchiladas

Well, the kids seem to be over their illness...But now I have it!
Luckily I didn't post about my dinner last night yet, so here it is:
This is certainly not much to look at, but it was really tasty. I wasn't going to take a picture, but after Mike tasted it he said, "This is the best meal ever and you're not even going to take a picture?!" So I figured I should document it.

I shredded my easy seitan "chicken" from last night and mixed it with onions, green pepper, kale, and a nooch cheeze sauce that was leftover. I rolled that inside of expired corn tortillas, topped with a quick tomatillo salsa, and baked it for really easy leftover enchiladas.

I'm trying to do a better job of using up leftovers and taking the free produce from work. I spent over $500 on groceries last month, and that's not counting the food that Mike bought. It's time to reel in the spending! It's hard, though, when I work at a grocery store (co-op). Everytime I leave work I'm tempted to check out the sales or get a quick snack or go on a huge grocery shopping spree. And we eat like fiends, so at any given time I have about 5 things that we absolutely NEED. Like today when I woke up to find we were out of toilet paper and bread...

Seitan & Dumplings

The kids are home sick from school today, and that fits in perfectly with my plan to make seitan and dumplings for dinner. I swear I didn't get them sick on purpose, though! It just so happens that I was craving this awesome meal that reminds me so much of my Meemaw.

I remember the first time I watched Meemaw make these (of course, she was using real chicken and real butter/eggs...) I was so surprised that you could MAKE chicken & dumplings. I had only had the kind from a can, which I thought was so delicious. But that didn't even compare to her homemade dumplings and rich broth!

Last year I called her to get the recipe and it's been a favorite in our house since then.

For seitan, I use my super simple lazy seitan chicken recipe:

Dry Mixture:
1 1/2 cups wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tsp "chicken" broth powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Mixture:
1 cup water
2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix the dry and the wet. Then grab a chunk and squash it until it's kinda flat. Put it on an oiled or parchment papered baking sheet and bake 20 minutes. Flip over and bake another 15-20 minutes.

And the dumplings:

Mix 1/2 cup of Earth Balance, softened, with 2-3 cups of flour until pea-sized bits form. (Like making pie dough or biscuits). Then stir in 1 tsp salt, 2 egg replacer eggs, and enough water to form a dough. I've never measured this, but just add a little at a time until the dough will hold together. You can also add roasted garlic, herbs, or black pepper to the dumplings and it's awesome!

Just roll out the dough until about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to slice it up into big fat noodles/dumplings. Let the dough rest for about an hour. (I've cheated and only waited 1/2 hour and it didn't ruin anything. But Meemaw says you should wait an hour, so you probably should.)
Bring about 8 cups of water (I didn't measure, but it was a really big pot of water) with veg. bouillon cubes or broth to boil. Throw in some garlic, diced carrots or celery if you'd like. Then add about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, 1 tsp poultry seasoning, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, and tons of salt and pepper to taste. This should make a really rich, "chickeny" broth.

Then drop in the seitan (chopped into big cubes) and the dumplings a couple at a time so they don't stick together. Boil for about 10 minutes.
If it needs more seasoning, adjust salt, pepper, lemon juice, etc. to taste. It comes out different every time!

This is basically the only soup that the boys will eat!

Seitan Stew, Curry Squash with Zucchini Pancakes, and Orange Scones

I must have seen a Dinty Moore commercial or something, because I was craving stew for several days before I got to make this Seitan Stew with Chanterelle Mushrooms. I made seitan with "beefy" type seasonings (miso, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and onion) and flattened it out on a baking sheet and baked for 30 minutes at 350F. I've been using this method for all my seitan lately. It turns out crispy and browned on the outside and still tender on the inside. Someday I'll post a real recipe. Then I made a stew with the seitan, carrots, potatoes, and onion. Thick and hearty!
I had no idea what I was making for dinner tonight until it just happened.

Curried Squash, Chickpeas, and kale
5 heirloom tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
2 cups mashed butternut squash (or pumpkin or anything like that)
1 cup chopped kale or greens of any sort
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

Fry up the onion in the oil and when almost transluscent, add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, throw in everything else and simmer about 15 minutes or longer, depending on if you remembered to start the brown rice yet.





The zucchini pancakes are from James Peterson's book called "Vegetables". They absorbed too much oil, I thought, but had good flavor with tons of garlic and sage.

***Do not rest freshly fried foods on recycled paper napkins if you don't have any paper towels. They are paper thin and will stick to your food. Trust me. You're better off just eating the extra oil or ruining a cuptowel.

Orange Glazed Scones from Vegan with a Vengeance are my favorite scones ever. I "accidentally" made too much glaze and had to eat it with a spoon.

Breakfasts and an Easy Dinner

I don't usually make fancy breakfasts because I generally prefer leftover stir-fries, pizza, or bagels for breakfast. But when I have time I like to make a nice breakfast for the family. The last two really good breakfasts I've made were using new recipes. The first is Susan's Vegan Omelet for One, only quadrupled. I filled it with sauteed onions and kale from the garden and the Gee Whiz cheese from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. I love that "cheese" by itself, but it was so similar to some of the ingredients in the "omelet", that it made the texture of the omelet seem too undercooked (it was a bit undercooked anyways because I had the flame too high and it browned too fast). But really, this is so close to a real omelet that it's almost scary. Very versatile and the kids loved it! I'll definitely try it again.

I baked some thin slices of locally grown yams and sprinkled them with coriander, cumin, and salt to serve with the omelets. They were crispy and really tasty!


My next good breakfast is these cornmeal pancakes. I just substituted Earth Balance for the butter, rice milk with vinegar for the buttermilk, and Egg Replacer for the eggs. They look just like regular pancakes, I guess. But they are corny! The kids enjoyed them with Earth Balance and maple syrup, but I was excited to try them with a savory topping. So I melted some Earth Balance and mixed it with the South River Miso Company's Garlic and Red Pepper Miso. WOW! It was great- Now I'm mixing that miso with my Tofutti cream cheese on my bagels, too. (But I just noticed that I don't see that variety of miso on their website anymore...But the Dandelion Leek Miso looks good as well. And in another 9 months I'll have more homemade miso than I know what to do with.)


Tonight I got home from a long day of work at around 5:30pm. Mike and the boys were out exploring, so I quickly put some dinner together for when they got home. This looks complicated, but only took about 30 minutes. I made my favorite secret recipe for fake chicken breasts made from wheat gluten that is ready (mixing and baking) in 20 minutes and I chopped up potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and one lonely garden eggplant with salt, pepper, fresh parsley, sage, and oregano. I sealed the veggies in a baking dish with foil and baked them at 450 for about 30 minutes. While those were baking I mixed up an Apple Buckle. I know the recipe calls for blueberries, but this is my favorite buckle recipe and I have tried it with peaches, mulberries, and cherries (separately) with great results. I also mixed up some gravy that was so good I later stood in front of the stove for a good 15 minutes, breaking off little pieces of "chicken" and scooping up the last of the gravy.
We washed this all down with Hoch Orchard's local apple cider. The best!

The picture of the buckle to really bad. But I think you get the idea: Cakey on the bottom, apple slices in the middle, and crumbley on the top. Like apple crisp on top of cake! You can't beat that!