Vegan MoFo! Day Four: Coconut Kale Alfredo Sauce

So let's be honest here... there's nothing quite like a good helping of pasta. And as vegans, we typically get pretty lucky when it comes to pasta dishes.

When you get stuck at a non veg-friendly Italian joint with omnivorous friends or family members it's pretty much guaranteed that you are going to end up munching on bread and a bowl of pasta with some sort of red sauce and veggies. (Hopefully veggies!)

It's wonderful that most marinara sauces, whether they be jarred, restaurant, or homemade are typically vegan. But, not to knock red sauce here, it would be nice from time to time to have a little variety. Like alfredo sauce for instance.

When's the last time you had a nice creamy garlic -egg and diary free- alfredo sauce to go with that pasta from the farmer's market you like so much? We know, it had been ages for us too! So we had to do something about it!

Now, we have posted about this recipe before. It's a little creation we came up with in the early days of the Two Vegan Ladies blog and we have since perfected!  You can read the original post here but we'll admit it has a few extra steps than are necessary.

This has really become one of our most requested dishes and after making it several dozen times at various potlucks and social gatherings we have changed our method a bit. What used to take almost an hour and a half to make can now be whipped up in 20 minutes!

So let's get started on this revamped recipe- shall we?

*Note: This is A LOT of sauce. If you are making this for a small family dinner you may want to cut recipe in half.

You will need:
4 tablespoons of Earth Balance (we like soy-free)
4-6 chopped cloves of garlic or 2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 chopped shallots
1 bunch of kale
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (leave some finely chopped pieces for garnish as well!)
3 cans of coconut milk
3 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
4 tablespoons sundried tomato paste (totally optional)
4 tablespoons corn starch
and 1 mighty whisk

What to do:
First, get out a large pot. We used to make this in a sauce pan but have found it easier to mix everything together in something with higher sides.

Put on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance, and in this order, add: garlic, shallots, kale, and mushrooms. Let cook, stirring well, for a few minutes.

Next shake coconut milk cans and add to pot. Stir well and add chopped basil along with 2 more tablespoons of Earth Balance. Let cook for a few minutes.

Add 3 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast along with a few pinches of salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, and oregano (if desired) and continue to cook for a few more minutes.

Now, you may have noticed the picture above has a more redish-orange tint to it than our usual off-white alfredo sauce creation. This is because we decided to go for a sun dried tomato flavor in our alfredo sauce this time around.

If you would like to alter the flavor to some sun dried tomato goodness it's easy enough. You can certainly use actual sun dried tomatoes, or go the lazy way like we did. Most grocery stores carry a sun dried tomato paste or spread like this one. Just pop open the jar and stir about 4 tablespoons of the spread into your sauce pot.

This stuff is also great on sandwiches with hummus and fresh veggies!

So now remove your sauce from the heat and get ready, because it is time for... THE MIGHTY WHISK....

Grab your corn starch and your mighty whisk of choice because we're about to turn this concoction into a thick and creamy sauce.

Add the corn starch 1 tablespoon at a time into the pot and whisk, whisk, whisk those clumps away! You may need more than 4 tablespoons, you may need less... just keep whisking till you feel like it's working.

Also, keep in mind that the sauce will thicken as it cools so take it easy there vegan tiger as you add tablespoon after tablespoon of starchiness. You don't want to end up with a solid block of alfredo sauce.

You can use this sauce as a dip with bread or, of course, put in on top of your favorite noodles. In version 1.0 of this recipe we layered the sauce with our noodles and mixed it together. This seems to be the preferred method for potluck style dining because the sauce and kale are more evenly spread amongst the noodles. 

For social gatherings this is probably enough sauce to cover 2-3 boxes of pasta- depending on how saucy your guests like to be. ;-)

Top with freshly chopped basil and enjoy!

This has certainly become one of our signature dishes and we would love to see everyone's results and variations. If you would like, please post a picture on our facebook page here when you prepare it.

With peace, love, and compassion,

The Two Vegan Ladies

Vegans at Disney! The Magic Kingdom Review

A few Saturdays ago was the unofficial Gay Day at The Magic Kingdom. We had never been before and a friend who works for the park took us for free! It was a great day. It's always wonderful to be at a Disney park with someone who knows them inside and out. Lucky for us our friend is a fantastic guide and we were able to ride and see just about everything before the end of the day. We're telling you- FAST PASSES- use them... strategically.

So for those of you who have never heard of Gays Days it is a series of events that go on the first weekend of June in Orlando. Unofficially, one day for each park is selected and everyone shows up in red shirts to identify each other and just enjoy the park. Really it was just like any other day aside from a good amount of same-sex parents and lots of adorable bear groups.

Like these guys! If you can't see it in the picture their shirts all say "Bear 1", Bear 2" and so on. I think they had almost a dozen guys with the numbered shirts on. Totally cute.

As most vegans know, often the most difficult part about having a nice day out is knowing what food options may await you in your desired location. Good news for us is that when you're talking about animal-free options at the Disney parks The Magic Kingdom is actually the most friendly. It has a whopping TWO options! Which honestly is a spectacular number compared to most places.

If you visit the park you will find both your options at Cosmic Rays in Tomorrow Land. There will be three 'bays' to choose from. The veggie burger is on bay 2 and you will find the other option, the veggie sandwich, in bay 3.

On the menu below it's listed as a 'veggie wrap' but we assure you it comes on a multi-grain loaf and is a sandwich now.

The last time we were at The Magic Kingdom we asked a lot of extensive questions about their veggie burger and found that the burger itself is vegan. The bun it comes on is not. However, the wheat bun they put the meat burgers on is vegan... go figure. So to get yourself a vegan burger just order the veggie burger with the wheat bun. There are also tons of fixings like grilled mushrooms, onions, pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce over at the side bar. We double-checked about the grilled mushrooms and onions and they are indeed vegan and grilled in oil, not butter.

There is also several condiments available. The spout ketchup, mustard, and also barbecue sauce packets are vegan.

Jenna definitely took advantage of the fixings bar this trip. Th taste of the veggie burger is pretty good, but very heavy. Not the best but certainly not the worst veggie burger we have ever had. 

So let's talk about this veggie sandwich. This trip was the first time either of us gave it a whirl and ordering it proved to be a difficult task. After looking at the ingredient list (which they will provide for you at the cash register if you ask) Brandy ordered the sandwich without the chipotle mayo. Now here's where things get tricky. In the ingredient listing they call the sauce a chipotle mayo- in the kitchen they call it an aioli sauce. So although the cashier put in my order correctly in her system we still ended up getting a sandwich covered in mayonnaise. 

Not ones to make a huge fuss we waited another 10 minutes and received a new sandwich, but the stares we got in the meantime for holding up the line from both cast members and guests felt a little harsh. In either case, if you want to order this sandwich, we suggest just mentioning the sauce by both names and hoping for the best.

We managed to snap a picture of the ingredient listing for this item. Of course, as the Disney cast member made clear to us as we took the picture, these ingredients are subject to change.

The taste of the veggie burger is always pretty consistent, but this veggie sandwich is still something were on the fence about. 

Firstly, be aware, it's cold. The bread is not toasted and all the veggies are served chilled. I'm not sure why we expected it to be a warm sandwich like the veggie burger but it just sort of seemed like it was marketed in such a way. Just be advised, it is literally cucumbers, pickles, onions, and what seemed to be squash and zucchini on a thick multigrain ciabatta roll. Nothing more, nothing less. 

We suggest taking advantage of the fixings bar again and covering it in some warm mushrooms and onions... and maybe a little barbecue sauce. Overall, we were not impressed. But props to Disney for giving it a go and offering something more than just a veggie burger. 

Alright, so let's talk sides. Your options at Cosmic Rays for sides are sliced apples, a cucumber salad, and the classic theme park staple- french fries.

If you order the apples expect to get about half a flavorless red apple cut into slices. The cucumber salad comes in a small cup no bigger than a side of ketchup would come in and was originally verified as vegan and then taken back by a cast member. He said it may now contain dairy. He was going to double check for us, but got really busy. If you want the cucumber salad it would probably be wise to ask for an updated ingredient list first. It didn't look like it contained diary (it just looked like cucumbers soaked in oil and vinegar to us) but you never know! They love to sneak that stuff into anything.

Now, sad news. On our way out after lunch we stopped back by the cashier to get a photo of the veggie sandwich ingredient list and she informed us that as she was looking for more info about what was animal product free a chef made her aware that, although it is not currently available in the information book at the counter, they have changed their frying method and their french fries are now fried in the same fryer as the breaded chicken. To some vegans this is a big deal, to others it's not. That is entirely up to you. But that is something they have recently changed at Cosmic Rays and we wanted to make you aware. 

So where do we stand on our Gays Days Magic Kingdom trip food-wise? Eh, it was okay. When you're paying over $20 as a couple for your lunch it's sort of difficult to be impressed. The problem we found was an hour later we were both feeling very sluggish from the greasy food and more than anything just wanted to rest or call it a day and go home. That's fine for us, we're local. But for families that are from further away and only have a day to spend, you don't want to spend it dragging yourself around, or worse- in the bathroom. 

Bottom line: if you are inclined to eat at the park these options will be animal-free, regardless of their nutritional value.

There are also a few vegan options at the stands for quick snacks you may not want to pass up like soft pretzels, candied nuts, and popsicles on a hot day.  

However, after this experience we're thinking The Two Vegan Ladies may still indulge in the snacks, but pack their own lunch the next time they visit The Magic Kingdom. 

With peace, love, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies

Vegan Garlic Mushroom Alfredo Recipe

When we were vegetarian we often talked about going vegan. We knew it would eventually happen but we prolonged it because we didn't want to let go of certain foods. We both assumed that with committing to an entirely plant based diet came the fact that there were food items and certain meals we were committing to never eating again. What we have found however, since going vegan six months ago, is that those fluffy textures and savory flavors we thought we were going to miss out on- cheese, cream, egg- are all available to us in different non-animal derived forms. We just needed to figure out how to put them together.

Last night we had a little thrift store expedition with a few friends followed by a small dinner party. Don't get the wrong idea here. This was nothing too fancy. We didn't break out the fine dishes and dress in ball gowns. In reality, our dining room table remains covered in craft supplies, as usual, and we sat in the living room with our food watching reruns of Rupauls' Drag Race together. Yeah, we're that kind of glamorous. Looking back we probably should have worn ball gowns.


We've made this meal before for just ourselves and made a lighter version with slightly different ingredients, but tonight since we were making it for 5 people we changed it up a bit and made a full flavor version. Let me tell you we got some great reviews! This is the sort of meal you serve your non-veg friends so you can see their carnivorous eyes light up and watch them speak the words "THIS is VEGAN?"

 So without further ado we present to you another original recipe.

 The Two Vegan Ladies:

Vegan Garlic Mushroom Alfredo

Time to cook: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate (it only looks hard, we promise)

Calories Per Serving: About 200 (excluding noodles) less than 100 if you're doing the lite version

Serves: 6-8

You will need:

4 tablespoons Earth Balace (we use soy-free, it seems to have the most natural "butteryish" flavor)

6 cloves of fresh garlic

3/4 cup of fresh basil

2 shallots

1 large package of white or baby bella mushrooms
1 cup fresh kale (optional)

2 cans of coconut milk (lite coconut milk if you're going for the lite version of this recipe- you may want to up your corn starch and nutritional yeast if you are using the lite coconut milk or else your sauce will come out on the thin side. *Note: If you sampled this dish at the potluck we made the full-flavor version with the regular coconut milk.)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast 

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 packages of noodles (we went with Barilla Penne noodles for this meal)

The way to make this sauce come out thick and smooth is to add everything together slowly and give the flavors time to meld. It will be a process but it will be worth it!

1. Heat a large sauce pan/skillet to medium heat. 

2. Add 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance to pan.

3. Chop all your garlic and shallots then add to pan. 

4. Chop half of your basil into medium pieces and add to pan.

5. Stir everything and let simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Then chop all mushrooms and add to pan.

7. If you are adding in kale (not shown in pictures but highly suggested for flavor!) chop and add in now. You want them to be bite sized when they cook.

8. When the mushrooms and kale are coated in the Earth Balance, shake the coconut milk cans. Especially on the full flavor coconut milk it can get very thick and chunky. It may even need to be stirred once opened. Add both cans into the pan. This is going to seem very runny. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

9. Now add the another 1/4 of chopped basil along with your nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can go a little liberal with the spices here. I like mine a little more peppery so I probably end up adding a lot more. Just do it to you personal taste.

10. Add the remainder of your Earth Balance and let melt in while stirring. 

11. Time to start thickening your sauce! Grab a whisk and add in the corn starch. (Add more if you're using the lite coconut milk and you feel like it needs to be thicker.) With this ingredient you really need to make sure to mix it well or you could end up with little chunks of raw corn starch in the final product... and no one wants that.

12. You should have half of your basil left now. Add 1/4 of it in and leave the rest chopped to the side.

*Super secret ingredient tip: taste your sauce. If at this point you feel that the mix needs a little something to even out the zip of the garlic add a pinch or two of raw cane sugar. That will do it!

At this point your alfredo sauce should look something like this:

Yeah, it's sort of a gray. Don't worry that's natural coloring from the mushrooms. (Note: If you added in the kale it will a lot more green and leafy!)

13. Turn heat down to low and let simmer while you boil the water for your noodles. Keep stirring the sauce every so often for a few minutes then remove from heat. It's ready to use!

14. Once cooked, drain your noodles then set to the side. 

15. In a large bowl layer your sauce and noodles so that every bit is well coated. 

16. Mix pasta and sauce well then garnish with your remaining fresh chopped basil.

As Rupaul would say:


"It's an eleganza extravaganza!"


But really it's more of a basil alfredo garlic and mushroom (and kale!) extravaganza.






Serve with a big scoopy spoon or tongs and don't be surprised when your friends go for seconds.

With love, peace, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies