Halloween Meatloaf Hands

This was a fun recipe I did last year for Halloween. I got the idea from notmartha.com (great website). They used a jello hand mold to sculpt the shape, but I just did it by hand. I used my standard meatloaf recipe, which you can change to a turkey loaf, added onions for the fingernails and wrist bones and added provolone cheese to create the burnt skin look. Tip: always pull your meat out 5 degrees cooler then what you want it to be, it will continue to cook as it rests. Also, you can hide imperfections in the shape of the hand by piping mashed potatoes around it.
Meat Hands (makes 2 hands)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup whole milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium celery rib, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 sliced of bacon, diced
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 onion
4 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Soak bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl. Meanwhile, cook onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, allspice, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Add to bread-crumb mixture. Add bacon to onion mixture along with beef, pork, eggs, and parsley and mix together with your hands. Shape into 2 mittens. Compress the meatloaf to sculpt the fingers. Do not mash all of the way through just half way-you do not want your fingers to burn and the hand to still be raw. Slice onion into a fingernail shape and attach to the meatloaf. Spread ketchup on the top of the hands. Tear provolone and cover the entire meat hand, except the fingernails. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Swedish Beanballs

There are few comfort foods that can top gravy. It's just good. If I'm going to eat gravy, there needs to be plenty of it and covering everything on the plate. We recently moved to a new home and took a day trip to get new things from IKEA. I love IKEA by the way, affordable while not forsaking quality and they have everything. Not to mention, they have a bangin' cafeteria inside. Any shopping venture that requires a cafeteria before you continue shopping is serious bidness. In the past, I have always chosen the Swedish Meatballs, because hello-there's gravy. We both were tempted to get them this time, and even though we were going to go for a salad, we got them anyway. As we were eating them, he gave me a mission-make vegan Swedish Meatballs. I took Veganomicon's base recipe for beanballs, seasoned and prepared them with my traditional Swedish Meatball recipe. Since meatballs (should be) juicy and soft, we definitely did not miss the meat on this one. I made some mashed potatoes with unsweetened almondmilk, vegan butter, and nutritional yeast to go along with and sauteed up some spinach.

Swedish Beanballs (serves 4)
20 oz of cooked kidney beans

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 T. olive oil
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons steak sauce or tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. lemon zest
1/2 red onion, minced (1/4 if the onion is large)
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of allspice

Place beans in a large bowl. Using a potato masher, mash the beans. You do not want them completely smooth, just enough to be able to form the balls. Add the wheat gluten, bread crumbs, soy sauce, oil, steak sauce, onion, and lemon. Mix again with a spatula. You may need to use your hands to thoroughly combine. Season with the nutmeg and allspice and mix again. Roll into 1 1/2" balls. If the balls are too big then the consistency will be off.

Heat a large skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom over medium heat. Add the balls and cook 10 minutes. Turn and cook another 10-15 minutes or until brown and slightly crispy on both sides. Drain and set aside.

Vegan Gravy
4 Tablespoons Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 cup vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth (I use Edward & Son's Not-Chick'n Boullion Cubes)
1/4 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti)
Black pepper to taste

In a skillet, heat the butter until melted and bubbling. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Very slowly, teaspoon at a time, add the sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the beanballs to the pan and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Garbanzo Avocado Salad with Cranberries

Here is an easy lunch recipe- instead of the typical chicken salad dripping with mayo, I made a healthier, plant based version. I forgot to take a picture, and to be honest, it is not that pretty to look at. Don't judge a book by it's cover, it is very light, delicious and filling. I served mine in a pita pocket, but could certainly eat on it's own, with crackers, or in a toasted bread sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

Garbanzo Avocado Salad with Cranberries (makes about 2 cups)
1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1/2 avocado, mashed
1/2c dried cranberries
1/2c walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4c red onion, minced
1/4c fresh parsley, chopped
pinch of garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a bowl add the garbanzo beans, with a fork mash the beans slightly. You can mash more if you like a smoother salad or not at all for a chunky version. Add the avocado, cranberries, walnuts, and red onion. Stir well to coat with the avocado. Add the garlic powder and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Restaurant Review: Firebird's

We are doing well with our new vegan lifestyle. I've lost 10 pounds in the past week and a half (which wasn't the point, but I'm not complaining!), we both have more energy and feel less weighed down after eating.

Since we are primarily choosing the vegan lifestyle for health reasons, we did agree that we could have a splurge night once a month. We hadn't been on a date since getting rid of animal products, so last night we went to one of our staples- Firebird's.

Having several locations but still maintains the small chain feel, Firebird's never disappoints. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, especially during the cooler months. A beautiful bar area, roaring fireplaces, and a wooden lodge motif, you would hardly notice that you are sitting in the middle of the North Hills shopping center. Our server, William was fantastic. The kind of service you wish you could get everywhere-attentive without being bothersome and extremely knowledgeable. My husband selected a drink and I said I would need a minute to decide. He recommended a new Pinot Noir that they had, giving background on the vineyard, their recent award, and the characteristics. I took him up on his suggestion and it was perfect.

We looked over the menu, and when William returned he told us their specials for the day which my husband and I both selected from. He chose the Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip with Port Wine Mushrooms and Bleu Cheese Sauce and selected his favorite Parmesan Mashed Potatoes as his side. I chose the Panko Crusted Flounder topped with Basil and Roasted Tomatoes served with a Chardonnay Beurre Blanc, Pecan Green Beans and the same Mashed Potatoes. We, as always, split the BLT salad as an appetizer.

The BLT salad is always perfect. Ice cold romaine with chopped tomatoes, crispy bacon, candy coated pecans and a garlic ranch. They encourage splitting the salad (which is nice) and is the perfect appetizer portion for the two of us.

His steak was cooked to the perfect medium rare and we both loved the taste of the peppercorns along with the mushrooms. My flounder, which William told me I received the last one, was a perfect golden brown, seasoned to perfection, and had the perfect amount of beurre blanc to enjoy with the fish and to swish the potatoes in.



My ginormous, but delicious portion of Flounder



This was the perfect dinner. Part of me thinks we appreciate it more since we are only eating non-vegan once a month, but on the other hand the staff at Firebird's has never let us down in the past. It would be hard not to choose Firebird's for our monthly splurge. The size of the meal is in proportion to the cost, we never leave feeling it was money ill spent-not to mention service is always top notch.