Stuffed mushrooms and Butternut squash soup (The Thanksgiving Post)

Ok you guys. I'm just going to say the thing that a blogger is never supposed to say: I've been struggling to get myself to sit down and write this post. I thought about why I was getting writer's block so consistently about this particular topic and it's obvious really; Thanksgiving was never my holiday.

Even before I swore off turkey and got involved with an industry that worships Black Friday, I never looked forward to the day. So when I only had one day off to join in the festivities, I decided to skip it. But I didn't boycott Turkey Day all together; instead, I made plans to spend the prior weekend with my mom and dad.

Just before our weekend of thanks, I scoured the internet for some new vegan recipes that would be fitting for the occasion. Knowing that mama D was going to be the one in the kitchen, I got a little ambitious and sent her some dish ideas that caught my eye. We decided to go with two recipes, (since it would only be the three of us eating and the two of us cooking) stuffed mushrooms and a butternut squash soup.

When Saturday rolled around and I finally completed my journey up north, we wasted no time and immediately proceeded to the kitchen to prepare our mini feast. We started by opening a bottle of Prosecco, naturally. From there, it quickly turned into me watching my mom cook everything while I took forever to peel the outside layer of all the mushrooms. I was so focused on gossiping and polishing off the last glass of wine, I was hardly paying attention to what my mom was doing at the stove. And because of that, I have zero tips on how to make these dishes! All I can give is the recipes we (she) followed and the links to the original websites. But I can give you insight on how much we all enjoyed them. The mushrooms were the best part but they only yielded 3 mushrooms each for the 3 of us so I would double (or triple) the recipe if making for a larger crowd. The soup was delicious and very fall appropriate. It was rich and filling so we had no problem having it for the main course.

There is one more thing you should know before I get to the ingredients... mama D doesn't use measuring utensils. That's right she falls under the stereotypical Italian cook category of "eyeing everything." Unfortunately I am still tied at the waist with my measuring cup and don't quite know the conversions of cups to handfuls.


Nonetheless, here's what we used (estimated.)

Stuffed mushrooms:

• 16 oz white button mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup homemade breadcrumbs
• 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• dash of fresh parsley and ground black pepper

Originally from homemadelevity.com, I do remember switching out and leaving out a few ingredients. The original recipes called for nutritional yeast and vegan cream cheese. But since I forgot the n.y. in NYC we left it out and swapped the cream cheese for homemade breadcrumbs to cut back on the processed ingredients. We also added flaxseed meal to help binde the filling.  

Starting by preheating the oven to 375, we got down to business and divided the tasks. As I hinted at before, I had the job of removing the stems from the mushrooms and peeling the outside layers off. We did this instead of washing them because mushrooms will retain water even when just a little wet. After setting the mushroom tops aside (fully intact), I chopped the stems and sautéed them in olive oil with the onion and garlic. Just as the garlic turned brown, we stirred in the vinegar and soy sauce, allowing them to cook another 3 minutes. Last step was to add the baby spinach and continue cooking until they were fully wilted.

Mama D then transferred the sautéed mixture to a large bowl, adding the breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper, parsley, black pepper, and flaxseed for binding. She mixed the ingreedience until fully combined. In the meantime, I got the mushroom caps ready by turning them top-side down and aligning them in a baking dish. We added a heaping spoonful of the filling into each mushroom cap (allowing it to mound slightly) and baked for 30 minutes.

While all of this was going on, my mom was also making a butternut squash soup that I did not take part in. See, I'm still an amateur and definitely can't cook two things at once! But she is a pro, and I've seen her make dinner for dozens before. I actually just got off the phone with her to refresh what was done since I was mentally absent for this recipe. Therefore, I will relay you to thesimpleveganista.blogspot.com for the inside look, but below is mama D's version after a short game of telephone:

Butternut squash soup:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 15 oz cans pureed organic butternut squash
• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 2 tsp fresh or dried sage
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 20 oz (2 1/2 cups) water
• 2 vegan bullion cube
• salt and pepper to taste 

We totally cheated with this recipe because it originally called for fresh butternut squash. But because we didn't have all day and the canned version was organic, we took the easy way out. While I didn't have the originator's version to compare it to, it turned out amazing and we don't plan on adding another 40 minutes of prep time the next time we try it. My advice is, if you can find it, go for the canned version. 

This was what she did:
In a large pot, she sautéed the onion with olive oil. Then, she added the vegetable broth, bullion cube, and spices to the pot. Immediately following, she added the red lentils and let them cook about 10 minutes. Last to be added was the butternut squash. She let the soup continue to cook another 20 minutes (about 35 all together) and let cool slightly before blending with a hand motor.

I think we will be making the soup again as part of Christmas dinner so I'll try to lay off the wine and get back to you with any details if necessary ;)

***christmas update!! If you can, use fresh sage. We used fresh sage the second time around and it came out even better!***