Pumpkin Polenta

I recently promised a vegan friend of mine I'd share a fabulous pumpkin polenta recipe with her, only to get home and discover that my recipe contained chicken broth, cream, cheese and butter! No wonder I love it so much; yikes! It took me a few tries to finesse the vegan version of this recipe, but I think the results are every bit as good as the original...

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 14oz. can of pumpkin purée

1 cup polenta

1/4 cup raw cashew butter

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

5 fresh sage leaves, julienned

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring the vegetable stock and olive oil to a boil and stir in the pumpkin. Turn heat to medium low. Slowly stir in the polenta and continue stirring just until it masses. Remove from heat and stir in cashew butter, yeast flakes, sage, and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately. Makes a hearty side dish for four.

Temptress Tart

I was flipping through the pages of the delightfully flippant cookbook, Veganomicon, when I misread the title for Tempeh Shepherdess Pie as Temptress Pie. Hmm, I wondered, how would I develop a recipe for Temptress Pie? I was thinking of some lobster-Mornay-puff pastry sort of thing when I realized that a temptress would absolutely have to be a tart... So here she is, spicy, succulent, and somewhat surprising: how can you resist her?

For the crust:

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup ground chocolate wafers

1/4 cup toasted and ground hazelnuts

Star anise, one pod, ground

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

Combine all ingredients except butter. Slowly incorporate butter. Press mixture into a 9 inch square tart pan with removable bottom. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Let cool.

For the filling:

Ingredients

I lb rhubarb, diced

1/2 cup cherry preserves

1/2 cup Creme de Cassis

1 Vanilla pod, scraped

Fresh strawberries halved

Fresh raspberries

Directions

Combine first four ingredients over medium heat and continue cooking until rhubarb breaks down completely and mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Pour cooled filling into cooled crust, top with fresh berries.

For the cream:

Ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder

1 packet vanilla sugar

1 oz. Frangelico

Directions

Dissolve espresso powder in cream and whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar, then Frangelico. Serve slices of tart topped with a voluptuous dollop of cream.

Need I say more...?