Vegan Poutine

I haven't posted in a long time! I thought I'd kick off the blog again with a good amount of food recipes. Since cutting out meat and cheese from my grocery list I have had some really amazing meals and I want to share it with all of you. 
Even cutting back twice a week on your meat/dairy intake makes a HUGE difference in sustaining our planet.  I have found alternatives that better digest in my system, that are guilt free, and that are better for our earth and saving resources. This particular one is a take on a Canadian favorite, poutine! You really just need three parts to this recipe. The sweet potato fries, the vegan cheese, and the gravy. So I've broke it down for you.
 

So what I did was soak the cashews a couple hours before making the poutine. You can soak the cashews anywhere from 3-8 hours before depending on when you remember haha. Then I start to make it all at the same time. Starting with popping the fries in the oven, then the gravy and cheese at the same time, then taking out the fries from the oven. It should all take about 30-45 minutes. 

Sweet potato fries ingredients:
-2-3 medium sweet potatoes
-Olive oil (any type of oil)
-salt/pepper (any seasoning you want!)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 385 F .
2. Slice the sweet potatoes into thin strips.
3. Lay them out evenly onto a baking sheet and drizzle oil with salt and pepper.
4. Ready in about 30-40 minutes depending on thickness of strips. Should be a light brown at edges, and crispy.
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Mushroom gravy ingredients:
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-10 to 12 sliced crimini mushrooms
-1/2 of a big red onion (chopped)
-2 cloves garlic (minced)
-2 cups vegetable broth (link is for my crock pot veggie broth)
-3-4 tablespoons of coconut amigos ( or to taste)
-herbs to taste (sage, thyme, salt, pepper)
-4 tablespoons of tapioca starch (your choice of flour to thicken)
Directions:
1. Toss the olive oil and onion in a pan on medium high. Saute til aromatic and til onions are transparent and browning.
3. Add mushrooms and herbs and turn down to medium heat. Toss til mushrooms are getting smaller and the water has evaporated from them.
4. Add in veggie stock, coconut aminos, tapioca starch and stir. Let simmer til flavors are all sweetly marinading and delicious!
5. Taste and if necessary add more aminos or herbs til you love it!


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Vegan cheese curds ingredients ( adapted from here):
-1/2 cup soaked cashews (soak 3-8 hours before starting to make meal)
-1 cup water
-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- dashes of salt to taste
-1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
-3 tablespoons of tapioca starch to thicken it (or a corn starch/flour that works for you)
Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blender, or bullet until its all blended and no cashew grains are apparent. Should be very smooth!
2. Pour it over to a pot and turn onto medium heat until it thickens up a lot! Stir occasionally. Should all take about 6-10 minutes but consistency is preference. I liked it thick like curds! 
3. Place in fridge for 10-15 minutes (if you want) so it gets even thicker like curds.

Add fries to a bowl, then pour a happy helping of gravy over your fries and top with cheese curds. Add chives on top for extra yumminess!


-Note: Once you make the vegan cheese curds and the gravy, it should be about time for the fries to be done. If not, just leave your gravy on the lowest setting until the sweet potato fries are all done.