A Saucy Sunday Supper (and recipes!)

I love minimally prepared foods. I love the sweetness of homemade beans, broccoli with a splash of lemon and a dash of garlic, lightly seasoned grilled or roasted veggies, and of course, fresh fruits. My son, however, has always been a believer in “the sauce makes the meal.” I think sauce mainly adds unnecessary calories, but occasionally, including a good sauce (or 3 or 4) can be quite a nice enhancement for any dish. So for this meal, and especially for Chase, all food is saucy!

First, you must have toast for all the sauce! (Is this the first picture of plain ol’ toast on a blog?)





Baked Tofu with Pineapple Chipotle Sauce

I sliced a pound of thawed frozen tofu into 4 steaks. After draining I marinated them in the sauce overnight.

Pineapple Chipotle Sauce:
adapted from “The Complete Vegan Kitchen”

Saute half a medium onion and 1 clove minced garlic in 2 teaspoons canola oil. When soft, add in:

1 cup pineapple juice
juice of a lime
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 T. sugar
dash S&P

Bring to a boil, then add in:
1 chopped chipotle pepper
2 t. chipotle paste
slurry of 1 t. arrowroot in 1 T. water

Cook and stir until thickened. Add in ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro if desired.

Pour into a baking dish, add the tofu and marinate. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, turning halfway through baking time.

This sauce is fabulous! I could eat it by the spoonfuls. Sweet and spicy is always so nice. I couldn’t decide which picture I liked best.

Lentils in Onion Gravy

Since I don’t do tofu, I made myself some tasty lentils. This is from Vegan Fire & Spice, although I did not use Indian spices, and I added in a small bag of fresh spinach. This was also very, very good.


New Potato Salad in Creamy Dill & Green Onion Sauce

I served this as a cold salad. I boiled a pound of quartered new potatoes for about 9 minutes. When they were done and still slightly warm, I stirred in the sauce.

Creamy Dill & Green Onion Sauce

3 T. cream cheese, warmed
2 T. milk
2 chopped green onions, white and green parts
1 T. chopped fresh dill
S&P to taste

We have always preferred a mustard type potato salad and are not big fans of cream cheese, so this version seemed rather decadent and we had trouble eating more than a couple of bites. Potatoes with green onions and fresh dill sprinkled on top would have been just fine for us. But for those who are cream cheese fans, this is a perfect sauce and would win over any omni.

Steamed Veggies Mornay

Okay, “Mornay” is probably a stretch. But I did start with a roux. I adapted a recipe from “The Complete Vegan Kitchen,” which, if you haven’t noticed by now, is a cookbook I have come to love. This sauce is soooo good. I always thought folks who covered their veggies with cheese didn’t really like veggies, but Chase and I both really really loved this sauce. Really really.

Vegan Mornay Sauce

2 T. nutritional yeast
4 T. chickpea flour
1 cup warm almond milk
2 T. ground raw cashews
½ t. garlic powder
½ t. salt
½ t. black pepper
½ t. paprika
2 T. Earth Balance
1 t. Dijon mustard

Put the yeast and flour in a small sauce pan and toast lightly over low heat. Slowly whisk in the milk to form a smooth mixture. Whisk in the cashews and spices, then the EB and mustard.

Makes 1 cup


We put our veggies on toast, then topped with sauce.

My lovely plate:

Chase’s beautiful plate:

Chase was so happy with all the saucy foods, but went completely over the top when I showed him dessert.

Mango Cream Pie with Toasted Coconut Topping and Strawberry Sauce

I have more mangoes than I can eat, so I thought I should put them in a dessert. Again turning to “The Complete Vegan Kitchen,” I found a recipe for Mango Cream Pie, so I used the mango cream portion (which is basically 3 pureed mangoes, a box of silken tofu, and sugar) for my pie. Since this pie is for Chase (again, no tofu for me) and he loves graham cracker crusts, it’s hard not to buy a premade “to go” crust, so that’s what the mango cream is in. It was actually not quite sturdy enough for the filling.

The strawberry sauce is your basic fresh strawberries cooked with sugar and water, then thickened with an arrowroot slurry. It’s such a beautiful color.

Mangoes and strawberries are one of our favorite flavor combinations and this pie with the sauce was perfectly delicious. Strawberry pie with mango sauce may have to be the next dessert I make!

And finally, I had to make Anna’s Vegan Chocolate Pepper Cookies. Anna has a fabulous cookie blog and quite often posts vegan, vegan option, and/or healthy cookie recipes. (Remember Oreo Cookie Cookies?!?!) Of course spicy chocolates are all the rage now, but these cookies are not made with chili peppers; these are made with your basic black pepper. The cookies are wonderful! Chase stopped himself after eating 4. They are super chocolatey, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and have just a hint of heat. If you’ve been curious but tentative about baking with heat, these cookies would be the perfect starter for you. I highly recommend you put these cookies on your “must make” list. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks, Anna, for another outstanding cookie recipe!

I’ve been away from the computer all weekend and it’s late now. Tomorrow evening I see my trainer, so after my workout I will be ready to come home and just sit at my desk and visit as many of your blogs as I can.