One Pot Meals Are The Way To Go
ONE POT THIS OR ONE POT THAT
Outrageous vegan crafty one-pot meals…..mac & cheese plus made in minutes pizza cups on #LunchBreakLIVE with The Vegan Roadie, Dustin Harder, celebrity vegan chef, media content impactor, and multi-cookbook author. We have quite a handful of delicious plant-based one-pot recipes for you today thanks to Chef Dustin!
WHO IS THIS MAGNIFICENT CHEF?
Dustin Harder is the host and creator of the original vegan travel culinary series The Vegan Roadie and weekly podcast Keep On Cookin’. Dustin is a vegan chef, cooking instructor, and culinary director for Arden’s Garden in Atlanta. He is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Dustin has been featured in such publications as Eating Well, VegNews, Vegan Lifestyle Magazine, Chowhound, Vegetarian Times, and Paste Magazine. Dustin is the author of three cookbooks, Epic Vegan Quick and Easy, Epic Vegan, and The Simply Vegan Cookbook. The Simply Vegan Cookbook has been added to the Forbes list of “Best Vegan Cookbooks”. Dustin competed in Food Networks Girl Scout Cookie Championship showcasing vegan baking paired with girl scout cookies in February of 2020. His new book “Epic Vegan: Quick and Easy” is available for pre-order everywhere books are sold and will be released June 1.
BACK TO OUR ONE-POT MEALS EXTRAVAGANZA
Let’s start with the crafty one-pot mac and cheese. Going vegan means no more boxes with powdered pouches of cheese for easy macaroni and cheese. Or does it? Fortunately, there are a couple of vegan brands on the market these days. But if knowing every ingredient that goes into your system is your thing, then this is the mac for you! It’s got a healthy dose of miso for gut health, and creamy vegan butter and nutritional yeast bring out the nostalgic cheesy flavors we crave in a mac and cheese.
CRAFTY ONE-POT MAC AND CHEESE
Ingredients
- 1 cup 230 g elbow macaroni or gluten-free elbow macaroni pasta, uncooked
- 2 tablespoons 28 g vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon 16 g white miso
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup 80 ml unsweetened almond or soymilk
- ¼ cup 20 g nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and leave the pasta in the colander.
- Add the butter, miso, and Dijon mustard to the same saucepan. Melt the butter over medium-low and stir with a spatula to work out the lumps of the miso. When the butter has melted completely, add the milk and continue to work out the miso lumps with the heat on low. Once the lumps are worked out, turn off the heat. Add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, and turmeric. Stir until well combined and a smooth sauce forms.
- Add the pasta and toss with the sauce until the macaroni is coated.
- Divide into 2 bowls and serve.
Notes
Add your favorite mix-ins to spruce up this easy one-pot dish. I like to add the Quinoa Bacon Bits from the first Epic Vegan book. Consider adding vegan hot dogs or broccoli florets for a little boost to satiate as a meal. If you are into spicy food, this is the perfect bowl to drizzle with sriracha. Of course, a pesto mac never hurt anybody. Top it with Presto Pesto (page 50) and Instant Almond Cheese Crumble (page 33) for a deluxe mac.
Next comes the presto pesto, which is so easy to make and can be used in a ton of different ways and combined with many different foods.
Presto Pesto
Ingredients
- For Pesto:
- 1 cup 40 g packed fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup 60 g walnuts
- 1/3 cup 79 ml olive oil or vegetable broth for oil-free
- 2 tablespoons 28 ml water
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons 10 g nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon 16 g white miso
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- To make the pesto: Add all the ingredients to a blender. Blend until there are still some specks of basil visible. Some people like the specks; others like smooth and creamy. Go whichever route you prefer, blending a little longer to make it smooth and creamy, if you desire.
Who wouldn’t love instant almond cheese crumble? This vegan cheese makes any dish pop from tostadas to pasta, and it is super easy to make. If you don’t have a food processor, use your blender and pulse it until desired consistency is reached. You will need to scrape the sides down often in a blender to make sure you get all the bits. It will take a little extra time, but you will get to the parmesan-crumble consistency eventually—and it will be well worth it.
INSTANT ALMOND CHEESE CRUMBLE
Ingredients
- 1 cup 145 g blanched almonds
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Add the almonds, lemon juice, and salt to a food processor. Process until fine and crumbly.
- This will keep for 1 month in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Reuse a nutritional yeast shaker with a lid (just like a traditional Parmesan cheese shaker). Keep on hand as a staple in the refrigerator to use for soups, salads, and entrees when needed. Blanched almonds are almonds with the dark skins removed. You can buy them blanched already or boil them for 60 seconds and then run under cool water. The skins will be loose and you can pop the almonds out of the skin yourself. I personally loathe blanching almonds and buy them already blanched.
Made in minutes mini pizza cups. If you don’t like pizza, I just can’t relate. Dustin has crafted his love of cheese pizza and has shared it with us. How lucky are we? For this version, he offers options to make it deluxe, or feel free to stay as basic as you wish to get it done in minutes. It’s your call. Either way, you will be left with some crunchy thin-crust mini bites of cheese pizza goodness for your guests, or just yourself if you’re not one to share your pizza.
MADE IN MINUTES MINI PIZZA CUPS
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 2 large flour tortillas (10 inches)
- ¾ cup 183 g canned or jarred pizza sauce
- ¾ cups 86 g vegan mozzarella shreds
- Italian seasoning optional
- Toppings of choice optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C, or gas mark 7). Lightly spray a 12-cavity muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Use a 3-inch (7.5-cm) biscuit cutter or the top of the can of pizza sauce to cut 6 rounds from each tortilla. If using the can, empty the sauce into a bowl and wash the can before using it to cut the rounds. Save the tortilla scraps to make tortilla crisps (see tip).
- Gently push each tortilla round into a cavity in the muffin tin creating a shallow bowl. Lightly spray the rounds with cooking spray. Place 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sauce on each round and top with 1 tablespoon (7 g) of cheese. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and toppings of choice (if using).
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the sides of the tortilla rounds have started to brown. Pop the pizzas out of the cavities with a fork and serve warm.
- Yield 12 pizza cups
Notes
I'm a saucy guy, so I put 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sauce on each round. If you aren't the saucy type, adjust to your liking and start with 1 to 2 teaspoons of sauce. To use the tortilla scraps, heat 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of canola or neutral oil in a medium skillet and add the tortilla scraps. Quickly sprinkle them with sea salt and gently toss to fry all sides. Remove and place on a paper towel to soak up the oil. Eat as a snack or use as a salad topper.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
Our lesson in one-pot meals has come to an end, but boy was it fun. So many great simple meal ideas. If you are looking for more simple vegan recipes to try, visit the #LunchBreakLIVE page where we have a ton to choose from. Until next time…keep cookin’!
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