The healthful, plant based diet is awesome and those wonderful veggies can really sing when you learn cook them right. That means coming up with new and inventive ways to make the humble vegetable the STAR of the show on your plate and not just cast as a side dish, and here we will show you how.
This wonderful, comforting braised vegetables in creamy gravy with cheesy mash is the perfect dish for winter or autumn and comprises of some nutritious winter veggies that will help keep you fighting fit until the summer months return.
How To Make Braised Vegetables
The term ‘braising’ simply means to half cover your vegetables with liquid (in this case the delicious gravy) and cooking completely covered in your oven until tender. This method of cooking really brings out the flavour of the food, keeps it moist, and gives it different textures due to the fact that some of the food is submerged and some is being steamed.
You can use this method for meat dishes also, but we are all about the veggies here and find braising is a great way to get the most flavour from them, all whilst holding in lots of nutrition.
What To Serve With Braised Vegetables
Braised veggies can be served as a side dish, but they also work great as the star of the show.
But, the very best way to serve them is with some creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes. This works so well because the potatoes are perfect for soaking up that gravy, taking you to comfort food heaven.
You can also serve your braised vegetables with some steamed greens such as broccoli or kale if you really want to be good. In fact, the gravy that accompanies this dish will actually make your greens more palatable and even delicious, so don’t be afraid to load up with them.
How To Make Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
Obviously we are not going to use real ‘cheese’ here as this dish is going to be 100% all plants. But, there is a great way you can creamify and cheese up those potatoes without the use of any dairy products.
For our creamy mash we like to keep it all whole foods plant based (however, you can use plant based butter if you prefer). To do this you can use a homemade milk made from hemp seeds or oats; or organic, sugar free soy or almond milk from the supermarket. It’s important that the milk isn’t sweet as that will ruin your mash, so be sure to read labels carefully for sugars or fruit juices(both commonly added to shop-bought plant milks).
For the cheesiness of the potatoes we use lots of nutritional yeast, which has a naturally cheesy, savoury flavour and is perfect for mashed potatoes.
To keep the mash fully whole foods plant based compliant there’s no need to take the skins off your potatoes before boiling. You may think this won’t work when it comes to the mashing, but it really makes no difference. Those skins will mash in no problem, so do not be concerned about this.
Best Veggies To Use For Braising
We have used red and white onions, carrots, celery, and bell peppers in our braising mix with this comforting vegetables in gravy recipe. This combination has been tried and tested and they really work well together. You have a little sweetness from the peppers and onions, and more savoury notes from the carrots and celery.
However, feel free to explore other options, for example:
- Green peas
- Legumes
- Swede
- Parsnips
- Celeriac
- Turnips
- Squash
- Pumpkin
- Green beans
Reasons To Eat Braised Vegetables!
There’s lots of reasons to take the time to make these delicious and comforting braised vegetables with cheesy mashed potatoes. There include:
- They’re LOW CALORIE and are a perfect addition to a weight loss diet, along with these other fat burning foods.
- They are inexpensive vegetables to buy and will help you SAVE money on your food bill.
- Veggies are nutritious and have high amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
- No oil is required to make this delicious dish, therefore it is completely whole foods plant based and heart friendly.
- They are so simple to make and no cookery skills are required!
- You will find these braised vegetables to be super family friendly and liked by non plant based eaters just as much as you.
- You won’t miss meat when you make this dish with cheesy mashed potatoes.
- Braised veggies are versatile and you can pick and choose the vegetables you want to use, or eat with the seasons.
Comforting Braised Vegetables In Gravy With Cheesy Mash
Equipment
- Oven proof braising pot or Dutch oven with lid
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
- Large saucepan
Ingredients
For your braised vegetables
- 8 whole carrots Skinned
- 1 large red onion
- 2 large white onions
- 6-8 celery sticks
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- ¾ pint hot veggie stock
- 1 heaped tbsp corn flour or chickpea flour
- 1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
For your mashed potatoes
- 6 fist sized fluffy potatoes with skins on Try to use potatoes that are specific for mashing for best results. Use organic where possible.
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 150 ml plant milk You can make your own hemp or oat milk by blending with 1 part hemp seeds or oats to 5 parts water. Or, supermarket organic soy or almond milk work too so long as there are no added sugars or sweeteners.
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
For the braised vegetables
- Put your oven on a high heat at roughly 220C (428F).
- Now get your vegetables ready by chopping into very large pieces. For instance, peel and chop our onions into about 6 chunks per onion. For your carrots, peel the skins off but keep them whole if they're not too thick. If they are super thick, cut them in half lengthways. For your peppers, chop in half, remove middle and seeds, then slice into around 6 thick pieces each. The celery can be washed kept whole, but also sliced up smaller if you prefer. Some people don't like big hunks of celery in their food, so cut it to your liking.
- Add all your vegetables to a large braising pot with a lid. You will need to use the heavy, oven proof type dishes. It doesn't matter if your vegetables stick up higher than your pot, so long as you can get the lid fully on to create heat and steam.
- Next, mix your chickpea or corn flour with a dash of water into a paste. Be sure to use a big receptacle as you will also need to add your stock. Once your thickening agent has been mixed to a smooth paste, add your hot stock to it stirring continuously to prevent clumping. Also add your nutritional yeast at this point and stir.
- Pour your creamy gravy mix over your veggies. The liquid should come around half way up or so and this is what you want.
- Cover and cook on a high shelf in oven for around 1 - 1hr 15 minutes or until the vegetables are fully cooked and soft.
For the mashed potatoes
- Meanwhile, cut your potatoes with skins on into smallish, even chunks and bring to a simmer on the hob. Allow to cook fully before taking off the heat and draining as thoroughly as possible. It's important to get as much water out as possible if you want them to be creamy. Another trick to evaporate water is to turn the heat off, drain thoroughly, then add potatoes back to the saucepan, put the lid on and leave for a couple of minutes for the remainder of the water to steam off. When you remove the lid it may be very watery on the underside, so try not to let it drip back onto the potatoes.
- Now you are ready to mash. Add your plant milk of choice, nutritional yeast, garlic powder (optional) and salt and pepper to taste. Mash until as smooth as you like them and serve with your braised veggies on top.
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