The Best Creamy Vegan Dinner - Comfort Food

Do you crave warm, creamy food during the cold months? 

Best Creamy Vegan Dinner

Most creamy, comfort-food types of dishes involve large amounts of dairy which many people have trouble digesting these days.

Here's a dish that will leave your comfort-food cravings totally satisfied and is very nourishing as well.

These measurements are approximate but should be close enough to create a fine dish the first time. Please leave your comments on the dish below including how well you liked it, tweaks to the measurements or instructions and personal touches you added!

Enjoy!


Prepare rice. I like delicate Brown Jasmine or Basmati for this dish. Pre-prepare by soaking overnight in water and a splash of lemon or lime juice or vinegar. Rinse and cook the next day. Cook in water and add salt at the end of the cooking process.

Preparation time:  30 minutes    Cook time:  45 minutes

Serves 4 large portions

Cook rice while washing and preparing vegetables.

Once vegetable are washed and cut, warm *1/4 cup oil in a large heavy-bottom pan or wok on medium heat.

*Some good, healthy, vegan options for oil are: coconut oil, grape seed oil and walnut oil.


Ingredients:

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Prepared rice - approximately 6 cups

1/4 cup oil *see suggestions above

5 cups of vegetables

Here is what I used:
onion - yellow for a stronger flavor, white or red for a milder onion flavor
carrots
broccoli or broccolini (cook stems first add flowerets later)
zucchini cut lengthwise then cut into half-moons
swiss chard stems diced

mild-medium curry powder. I used Frontier-coop brand for my dish.

Himalayan crystal salt (This has a milder flavor and is a healthier salt compared to white and iodized salt.)

coconut milk, unsweetened, full fat

pureed squash - I used butternut squash, baked and then pureed. Canned pumpkin should work just fine.

Pinch of cayenne or ghost chili salt.


This recipe made the cut! 

It is now one of many delicious and healthy recipes in my Weight Free Wellness Cookbook. Download your FREE copy!


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Saute veggies as listed, or if using your own combination, sauté from the firmest to least dense. Leave veggies fairly crunchy - do not cook until mushy. A good gauge is to sauté the onions for 1 minute, add the carrots and sauté for another 2 minutes, adding each additional vegetable 2 minutes after one another. I add the onion first as I prefer a less onion-y taste.

Once veggies are cooked remove them from heat. Add curry powder and salt and stir into veggies. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. This allows the flavors to absorb into the veggies.

Add coconut milk and squash puree. Return veggies to low heat.

Add at first a pinch of cayenne or ghost chili salt if you like some heat in your curry dishes. Be careful to not add too much during the cold-weather seasons. Heating spices like cayenne and other hot peppers open up the channels of the body, bringing internal heat to the surface, causing sweating which then causes cooling. During the cold months it is best to keep this reaction to a minimum. Creating warm is fine, but causing sweating and cooling (particularly for those who are naturally cool and damp in constitution) can initiate a cascade of non-health-supporting effects.*

*More about this in my Body-typing posts and book, You-niversal Self-care

Cook the veggies on low until ready to serve. Serve over rice.

This evening I served this in glass bowls (the recently touted turmeric in curry (and prepared mustard) will stain white tableware) along with stems of fresh baby bok choy and green onions.




Body-type Insight

This is a balanced dish for all body-types.

It has warm-stimulating herbs for the Earth-type. Earth-types will love this comfort-food dish. This body-type should eat more veggies than the carb-y rice for best balance. The non-dairy creaminess of this yummy dish is more balancing than dairy, which exacerbates the damp condition so common of Earthy people.

Fire-types will enjoy the spice and heartiness of this dish. Fire-types love large portions, and even the most avid meat-and-potatoes Fiery person can be impressed by this unctuous vegan meal. The creamy nature of this dish also helps to calm any over-active Fire.

Air-types are benefited by the warm, moist nature of this dish. Be careful to not add too much spice and cause the cooling channels to open as mentioned above. The exception would be if this dish is prepared on a warm autumn day that is arid and heating. The creamy nature of this dish will help to balance the dryness of the environment and Air-type and just the right amount of heat can healthily open up the heating and cooling channels for balance. This meal is also easier to digest for the often delicate digestive tract of the Air-type.

Water-types will benefit from the heartiness of this dish. If a Water-type is experiencing over-dampness with signs showing in clammy skin or congestion, they should add more spice to open up channels and break up mucous.



If you are new to vegan fare this is a great way to start! Surprise your friends with this deliciously health dish!



Dia-blog with me!  Share your experiences and questions with this dish!