Fridays at Mealey's: Recipe Roundup!

Hard to believe it's already been more than a year since I got to Washington, DC—a COVID-prompted move that has allowed me almost-daily quality time with my sister and her family. 🥰 Elliot helped me unload the U-Haul on a Tuesday morning, I invited everybody over for dinner that Friday, and they've been coming every Friday night ever since. I've used many excellent new-to-me recipes over the past year, and will (of course) be updating this post periodically.

My New Favorite Cookbook

Every single dish I have made out of Sweet Potato Soulby Jenné Claiborne is out-of-this-world delicious:

• Coconut collard salad (page 74)

• Quick-pickled onions (page 75)

• Tender mess o' collards (page 103) — definitely double this

• Happy hearts "crab" cakes (page 129) — Elliot's favorite; I whip up a dressing with vegan mayo, Dijon mustard, and fresh dill

• Pan-fried butter beans & greens (page 118)

• Lentil loaf (page 138) — I have tried so. MANY. Lentil and nut loaf recipes over the years, and this is one of the best

• Ooooh Mama mushroom gravy (page 205) — I sometimes add a small tin of tomato paste for the sake of variety

More Main Courses

French Onion Skillet Lasagna (Vegan Richa) — I "reconstructed" this lasagna by tripling the white sauce and adding layers of roasted butternut squash. Kate's all-time favorite!

Chickpea Seitan Cutlet (Isa Chandra) — served with the mushroom gravy recipe from Sweet Potato Soul

Seitan Gyros (Lettuce Veg Out) — I used this recipe before I found Isa Chandra's chickpea cutlets, and I prefer the latter, but this recipe is good if you prefer baking to frying. I serve it with BBQ sauce from Trader Joe's.

Vegan Pot Pie with Herby Biscuits (Shanika Graham-White via Food52)

Lentil Shepherd's Pie (Rainbow Plant Life)

Penne alla vodka (Miyoko Schinner, The Homemade Vegan Pantry, page 148) — uses homemade cashew cream

A dinner plate with plant-based macaroni and cheese, collard greens, barbecue seitan, and biscuits.

Mealey's Old Reliables (ICYMI)

Tater-Tot Casserole (Vegan Stoner)

Quiche (using my vegan onion pie recipe, but mixing up the filling; Kate's favorite combination is sundried tomato, onion, artichoke, kalamata olive, and Daiya cheddar)

Scottish-inspired handpies (sign up for the mailing list to get the recipe link in your welcome email; lately I've been using the quiche pastry for these handpies—two quiche crusts = enough pastry for four handpies)

Side Dishes

Best-ever roasted potatoes (Serious Eats) — quite time- and labor-intensive, and TOTALLY worth it!

Best Damn Vegan Biscuits (Minimalist Baker)

No-Fuss Vegan Cornbread (Gena Hamshaw for Food52) — I sprinkle canned or frozen corn on top of the batter

Lemon Vinaigrette (Minimalist Baker) — I always double this and use the second half in the next salad I make, often one with massaged kale.

Macaroni and cheese — I don't use a recipe. The essential ingredients are raw cashews, broth, steamed or roasted butternut squash, lemon juice, miso, a boatload of nutritional yeast, and other seasonings to suit your preference, sauce-ified in a high-speed blender.

Air-fried French fries — highly recommend getting yourself an air fryer if you love fries and or/fried tofu enough to make them at homeon a regular basis.

Desserts

Cranberry upside-down cake (so easy and absolutely scrummy)

Oatmeal raisin cookies (Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, The Joy of Vegan Baking, page 120 in the original edition)

Chocolate peanut-butter buttons (Vicki Brett-Gach, The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook, page 212) — best eaten straight from the oven!

No-bake cookie dough bars (Rainbow Plant Life)

DIY sorbet — frozen berries or mango with fresh mint and a bit of plant milk and maple syrup in the frozen dessert setting on the Vitamix.