The Secret to Perfect Soy-Free Vegan Mash Potatos

Vegan Mash Potatoes

A lot of folks have told me that they find good vegan mash potatoes hard to master, but you might be surprised at how easy it is. This recipe is not only full of a blast of garlic flavor, has the perfect consistency, but is also soy free!

Ingredients

4 lbs. potatoes
5 cloves of Garlic
1/4 cup of Almond Milk
Salt and pepper to taste

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes and boil in a large covered pot until tender (Occasionally check with a fork). Drain the potatoes but save the water! The potato water is one of the secrets to making this deliciously nom! Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork.

• Peel* the garlic cloves and use a micro plain grater and grate the garlic into the potatoes. Add soy milk and a little salt and pepper and mix until creamy.
  

• The secret to getting the perfect consistency is in the saved potato water. Add a *little bit* of the warm potato water to the mixture to and mix in. When I say a little, I really mean a little! Do this until you obtain the perfect mash!
  

*To REALLY bring out the garlic flavor, and if you'd like to go that extra step you can roast the unpeeled garlic in tin foil in the oven at 450 degrees for 25 minute (or until soft). Once done, squeeze it out of it's peel into a bowl and mash it up with a fork before adding it to the potato mash.

Last Minute Vegan Veggie Burgers in 15 minutes!

I'm sitting at my new apartment after a long day working a festival here in Michigan. I haven't had much time lately to settle in so my kitchen doesn't have much in it food wise yet. I stormed the pantry to see what I had on hand and found a can of mixed veggies, a can of chick peas (or Garbanzo beans if you'd like...besides Garbanzo is much more fun to say! Say it with me... Gar-ban-zo. Roll it off the tongue. Delicious.), a left over Avocado from when I made Sushi for a potluck the other evening and some burger buns from (an impulse buy at the grocery store when I picked up some Sweet & Sara Marshmallows the other night).

Conclusion? I decided to throw together some, make-it-up-as-I-go veggie burgers.

This particular recipe is really inexpensive and super easy to throw together last minute. If you don't want to use canned veggies smashed up in a mixing bowl, use fresh veggies and grate them into the bowl before mashing everything together!

In terms of an offering at a potluck, I'd keep the recipe the same but serve with each burger cut into quarters so it could be eaten as finger food!

Ingredients
Makes 6ish!

• 15.5 Oz can of chick peas
• 15 oz can of mixed vegetables (Mine has carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, green beans, celery, lima beans, salt, and onions )
• 1 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of Cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• 3/4 of a cup of Vital Wheat Gluten
• A Splash of soy sauce
• Some Olive Oil

The Fixings and After Ingredients:

• a couple of "eating ready" avacados
• Sesame seed buns
• Fresh tomatoes for slicing and whatever other topping you enjoy.

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl mash the chic peas and can of mixed veggies with a potato masher. If you don't have a potato masher, a fork works just as well!

Grate the two cloves of garlic into the mix and then throw in the rest of the spices with a splash of soy sauce to taste (and this is also very tasty raw).

I find that I don't have to add any water to the mix as canned chic peas and veggies tend to be very moist even after being drained of their canned liquid. If you find your mix too dry, add a 1/4 cup of water in slowly until it's a good consistency that sticks together without being too watered down.

Divide the mix into 6 equal sizable pieces by rolling them into balls with your hands.


Start up a fry pan with the bottom coated lightly with olive oil over medium heat. Throw in a couple patties and flatten them out with a spatula (click it). Let cook until brown and then flip; be sure to give it a good coating of olive oil before flipping. Let the other side cook before removing it from the heat.

For the bun, and trust me on this, throw each side of a bun into the residue of olive oil left in the pan and fry it for a couple seconds before throwing the freshly cooked patty on it. It's worth it!

How to cut, de-core, and skin An Avocado!

It's simple, though a lot of people I've met have no idea how to approach it. This surely isn't the only technique and may not even be the best, but it works well for me! Take a large knife and cut around the pit of an avocado and split it in half as pictured. Then, take the half with the pit in it and chop the knife into it with one steady blow. Twist the knife left or write and lift. Voila!






To remove the skin, I cut my pieces to whatever size I wish to eat them with and gently peel the skin back in one piece with my fingers. Done right, it should remove easily and in one piece.





Put a couple pieces of avocado on your burger and Nom away!

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