New England is a beautiful area of the USA, not far from the border of Canada in the north east. An affluent area, this is home to the beautiful autumn leaves of red and gold, and some of the prettiest white steeple churches in the land. The food here is nourishing and tasty, focused on locally-grown cranberries (used in savoury and sweet recipes) and some tasty desserts.
This Vegan Clam Chowder (Crowded Kitchen) is made with mushrooms. You won’t believe how similar this tastes, for the classic New England dish. Serve with crackers (never feed leftover crackers/dry bread to birds as it can choke or harm).
Use vegan butters with no palm oil. Use a reusable baking liner or unbleached parchment paper. Keep recipes away from pets, due to toxic ingredients.
Vegan Lobster Rolls (Crowded Kitchen) are quick and easy to make. They taste just like the real thing, made with hearts of palm (choose multi-stemmed varieties as single-stemmed varieties don’t grow back or tinned asparagus as a local alternative), along with lots of tasty ingredients like celery, onions, parsley, mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, paprika and vegan mayo. Avoid seaweed for thyroid/iodine issues.
There’s nothing wrong with a nice can of baked beans (in fact, it’s probably one of the simplest go-to recipes). But if you want something really special or an ambitious cook, why not try making these Homemade (Boston) Baked Beans (Shane & Simple)? Dark, tangy and smoky, these are nothing like canned. This recipe uses lots of fresh veggies and garlic powder with tomato paste, in a BBQ sauce made with all kind of goodies like ketchup, molasses, mustard and maple syrup. Serve with potato salad and vegan coleslaw.
The recipe does require a bit of baking, so roast in the oven at the same time as cooking other things, to save energy. If using dried beans, you can use a slow cooker (or just used canned cannelloni beans, for quickness). Once made, store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week (in an airtight container) or let them cool and freeze for individual servings to heat up in the pan (thaw in the fridge the night before).
Who needs store-bought cranberry sauce when you can make your own with this Easy Cranberry Sauce recipe from Crowded Kitchen)? Ideal to serve with your vegan turkey or stuffed squash. Cranberries are bitter berries native to this area of the world.
This recipe contains orange juice and zest for a zingy cranberry sauce, and is flavoured with cinnamon and sweetened with maple syrup (you can add a finely diced apple or pear if you like as well). Once made, it keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for around a week, and you can store leftovers in the freezer, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, before serving. As cranberries are native to North America, Europeans may wish to sub with Swedish lingonberries, for lower food miles.
These Homemade Cranberry Crumb Bars (Crowded Kitchen) are lovely alternatives to dusty-tasting store-bought energy bars. The topping uses a good vegan butter (Naturli and Miyoko’s are good brands free from palm oil) along with gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, salt, ginger and nutmeg (toxic to pets). You then make a thick maple-vanilla syrup, and mix the two together. Although cranberries are quite tart, the sweet ingredients balance them out.
Store leftovers for up to 5 days, in an airtight container, putting parchment paper between each layer, to stop them sticking. If you wish, you can make the filling beforehand, then add the topping a few days before (store in the fridge, and bring to room temperature, before baking).
Finish off with a big slice of Boston Cream Pie (The Banana Diaries). This starts with a vanilla sponge and creamy custard filling, and is topped with chocolate ganache.
