Pumpkin-Nog Pie | vegan, oil-free, gluten-free

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I’m sorry for not getting this recipe up before then, but hopefully some of you are looking for just the right vegan pumpkin pie recipe for the Christmas holiday.  PumpkinPie2014I’ve been “scolded” by readers in the past for not having a pumpkin pie recipe on my blog.  Oops.  I’ve been making vegan pumpkin pies for years but have never been 100% satisfied with them.  Flavor is always yummy – pretty hard to screw that up, but the texture is where I felt improvement could be made and until I made it, I didn’t want to share a recipe.  Vegan pumpkin pies, or those not using sweetened condensed milk, often come out too soft for my liking. I like a firm pumpkin pie and this pie fits the bill.  In fact, it’s so firm that you don’t need crust at all! You can bake it directly in a pie plate! So, if you like a gooey, mushy pumpkin pie, don’t make this one!  I also ADORE non-dairy, eggless eggnog (i.e. soy nog), and have combined the yummy pumpkin with it in this pie.

For Thanksgiving this year, I created a gingerbread crust for this pie at the request of my daughter.  The crust was yummy, however, combined with this already spiced pie, it was a bit overpowering.  My suggestion for this pie filling is to use it with a mild flavored crust.  You can buy a pre-made plain wheat crust, or make your own, of course.  I really despise working with dough – makes me anxious – which is partly why I was happy to create a crust made from oats, dates, walnuts, etc.  Fatfreevegan.com has a yummy Oatmeal Cookie Crust that would work well too.

Also, if you don’t like eggnog, feel free to substitute any other type of nondairy milk.

Amazing Basil Pesto! Oil and Cheese Free, Still Rich and Creamy!

Even though I have a gazillion vegan/vegetarian cookbooks, I don’t refer to them too often.  I have this thing about feeling like I have to create the recipes myself.  Whatever.  Anyway, last night I made my minestrone (I guess I should post that recipe too), but I wanted a pesto to top it off.  Prepared pestos and recipes for them contain lots of olive oil, cheese and nuts.  Well, this recipe, created by Del Sroufe – author of the Forks Over Knives Cookbook – ROCKS!  No oil, no cheese, and fewer pine nuts than traditional recipes.  It came out so creamy, so rich, you would NEVER know it didn’t have the traditional ingredients.  I haven’t tried it but you can leave the nuts out, and use lite silken tofu, to make it even lower in fat.  I seriously licked the blade of the food processor like I’d just made cookies.  Ridiculous. If you like pesto, try this recipe!! You won’t be sorry!