We like to practice for Thanksgiving at our house.
And what better excuse. The Tofurky just hit the market, the red potatoes are out in full force, so why not?
So we steamed up a big pot of organic red potatoes. Like buttah. A beautiful mountain of steamed broccoli and kale on the side.
My yummers fat-free ‘Forks Over Knives’ Mushroom Gravy creation
The only items missing were the cranberries and the pie, though we did toast with champagne just to be sure. Practice, practice!
Plus I was inspired to make myself a gravy that is:
- easy to make
- not full of fat, or
- come out of a packet
Keep in mind I do not like to spend much time in kitchen prep. I’m working on that.
But I do love to eat healthy, and eat well. That’s why I’m working on cultivating some good kitchen attitude. So in the interests of Thanksgiving practice, I pulled on my big-girl chef pants and got down to business.
And I couldn’t wait to share the results with you.
Before I go any further, don’t go all Euell Gibbons on me and tell me that Tofurky is processed. I know it is. And you certainly don’t need a Tofurky to go with this gravy. As a matter of fact, I’m tinkering with a veggie loaf recipe to share with you, when I get it together to make it. I told you, I’m working on it. Remember, drive-through anything and I’m there. It just doesn’t work out so well when it comes to eating healthy. The drive-through part.
Now that we’ve got that clear, here’s the gravy recipe. Oh, I call it ‘Forks Over Knives’ mushroom gravy as it covers all the bases: Plant-based, low fat, no animal products…I just sexed it up a bit by calling it “F.O.K.” gravy instead of “plant-based low fat no animal products mushroom gravy“. Does that work for you?
Fat-free ‘Forks Over Knives’ Mushroom Gravy
-
Shiitake-ya Gourmet Dried Mushroom Blend
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups dried mushroom blend, soaked
- 5 cloves minced or pressed garlic
- 2 cups water (I used the water from the soaked mushrooms as part of this; you could also use veggie broth)
- 1 Tablespoon vegetarian bouillon concentrate (exclude if using veggie broth)
- 1 teaspoon Bragg’s organic sprinkle herbs & spices seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 Tablespoon cooking wine (option)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (oat, rice, soy)
- 2 T. flour
1) Put the dried mushrooms ( used Shiitake-ya gourmet blend, from Costco, pictured) in a container and cover with hot water. Let it sit at least an hour – I just let it sit all day. Drain just before using
2) Steam-fry chopped onions and garlic until golden. Add the mushrooms – chopped* if you like – and cook a few more minutes.
A new tasty find: All organic, salt-free!
3) Add 2 cups water, taking whatever came off the mushroom soak and adding either plain water or vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, herbs, and cooking wine. If using vegetable broth, you can eliminate the bouillon and vice versa.
4) Stir the flour and rice, oat, or soy milk to a smooth paste, then add to the pan with the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring over low heat as it thickens.
5) Option to season with fresh ground pepper to serve
*chopped: with the dried mushrooms, it is easy to break them up into bits before soaking, sparing you the chopping later.
More about mushrooms…
You could also switch out fresh mushrooms for the dried, but something about the dried blend is particularly savory. Just be sure that you cook your mushrooms. To find out why – and to get a rich arsenal of all the goodies that mushrooms bring to your body and table, jump over to this excellent article on The Science of Mushrooms: Nutritional Value and Health Benefits. There you’ll discover some interesting research, readable graphs, and even insights from our own plant-based Michael Greger, M.D.
Serve over potatoes, sweet potatoes, riced potatoes, whole grains, vegetable loaf, vegetables…somebody stop me! Take a batch to the Thanksgiving table to share this year. After all, the other one on the table (warning, graphic in nature) is just blood and fat. Sorry kids. It’s true.
F.O.K. Mushroom Gravy will leave you satisfied and feeling light without a monster calorie load.
If you like this article, please share it with your friends. And have you a suggestion for my gravy recipe? Please tell me about it in comments below.
Beautiful! I can’t wait to try this. I haven’t seen the Bragg’s seasoning before, just have the Bragg’s aminos. Did you special order it?
Thanks for putting this up in advance of Thanksgiving so I can try it out in advance.
Jennifer
Hey Jennifer! I just discovered the Bragg’s herb seasoning while browsing the natty foods store about a month ago. I can’t believe it had probably been there all along! I now always shake it on potatoes before I steam a big bowl, and it was an automatic go-to for me when getting the gravy in gear.
Let me know how your batch comes out and how you served it, And thanks for stopping in to comment!
Lani
Hi Lani, Thanks for sharing your gravy recipe!! I’ve been thinking about mashed potatoes lately. I really enjoy foods that people typically think about at Thanksgiving time…
I don’t have the Bragg’s seasoning on hand, and wondering, what substitutions would be possible? As I have a full range of individual spices on hand, I may already have them all already.
Tammy
Tammy, you could use ANY mix of herb seasonings you like! Common in gravy is sage and thyme. Not because I’m so in the know, but because I looked it up!
On Thanksgiving, I’ll make the gravy to go over either mashed or riced potatoes. Have you ever riced them? My Mom used to make them all the time and it’s yummy amazing!
Hi Lani,
I linked your great recipe along with my vegan stuffing recipe:
http://minimalistmum.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-vegan-thanksgiving-frugal-vegan.html
Happy healthy vegan Thanksgiving!
Very cool Jess – thanks, and what a great blog you’ve put together!
I just wanted to mention I found your recipe a few days before Thanksgiving. My husband and I have been on a plant based diet for 3 months now and feel fantastic. We made some Acorn Squash with Wild Rice and a Raw Broccoli Salad to bring to Thanksgiving with the rest of my husbands family, who of course aren’t following the diet.
Anywho on a random whim I decided to try your gravy since it sounded fantastic, without telling anyone I put it right next to the regular turkey gravy and there wasn’t a single drop left at the end of the meal! The turkey gravy was barely touched. Just thought I’d mention how well it went over at our families thanksgiving. We’ll be making more for ourselves next week since we didn’t get any left overs.
Gabrielle, I love this! Not a drop left? You are one smart cookie just to slip it onto the table. I’m impressed!
Now, please share your raw broccoli salad recipe. And that wild rice doesn’t sound too bad, either!
Thanks so much for posting this Gabrielle. And how did you find my recipe, were you searching for one?
Lani
I only told people what kind of gravy it was if they asked. But out of 20 people only 2 asked, who are both on a healthy diet. They were just happy to have some gravy! At the end I placed it in the blender to pulse to break up the mushrooms, but I kept some chunks in it. Many thought it was giblets in the gravy not mushrooms.
I was searching for plant based recipes one night at work and found your recipe. It was just kinda a spur of the moment kinda thing. Forks over Knives was the documentary that got my husband motivated to eat more plant based foods, so I often search using that keyword.
Anywho the Acorn Squash and Wild Rice is actually in the Forks over Knives recipe book. But they have something similar on their website (http://www.forksoverknives.com/vegan-thanksgiving-recipes-2/). The only difference is I split an acorn squash so one feeds two people as a side dish. And I use leeks instead of onion, it gives it a better flavor.
The Raw Broccoli Salad is actually an adaptation of Alton Brown’s recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/fresh-broccoli-salad-recipe/index.html). You cut the raw broccoli on a mandolin so it’s really thin and easy to eat. And instead of 1/4 cup of olive oil I used a few tablespoons of flax seed oil. With the mustard you couldn’t tell the difference in flavor and it’s much healthier. I made a large plate of the stuff and had nothing left. It’s a very strong flavor so more of a party dish then a side dish at home. I’m thinking about try it with a different sauce next time.
Thanks for the replies Gabrielle! I’ll check out your links. BTW, I made this gravy again for dinner last night. This time I had some rubbed sage to add to it, and I used the water from soaking the mushrooms as well as some water left from boiling potatoes. It can come out a little different each time!
Are my eyes tricking me at this late hour, or is their a print button? I would love to keep this one for the Holidays coming! 🙂 This looks delightful!
Stephanie – I just installed a plugin so you can do just that – just for you!
You’ll see it at the end of the post, a green button that says “print friendly”. Let me know if she works for you!
The Print Button is Awesome I love it…. THanks.
Hi Anne! Thanks for your note – I’m so glad it’s working out for you!