Healthy Vegan - vegan Halloween Creepy Black Olive Spider Potato Gratin

We don't do Halloween in our home, but with the weather turning all miserable and cold in the last week, I have been making hearty dishes like potato gratin.  Potato gratin has been on the menu a few times and this time I just could not resist adorning this vegan Potato Gratin with some creepy black olive spiders

 I know I am childish, but there is a kid in all of us - right?! 
I was actually inspired to top the gratin with the spiders from a recipe I had seen last year  (see here) where bread is topped with flavoured cream cheese and topped of with black olive spiders, it had obviously impressed me as I had it lodged in the back of my head to try.
I am sharing this recipe with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition.

 Other Halloween Recipes to inspire you. Those that are vegan are marked with a v, otherwise everything is suitable for vegetarians.  

Bloody Massacred Beetroot Men Pies  v
Black Sesame Seed Butter v
Pumpkins are not Just for Halloween Chilli v
Beetroot Gratin
Beetroot Cauliflower 'Brain' Salad with Feta Cheese
Halloween Inspiration
Red GHOULash v
Blood Beetroot and Raspberry Jelly v 
Vampire Beetroot Scotch Eggs 
Zombie Pies v


 Halloween Creepy Black Olive Spider Potato Gratin
Serves 6
Ingredients
800grams potatoes, peeled and sliced with a mandolin. Partly cooked.  Lay the cooked sliced potato pieces in a wide gratin dish. 
For the 'Creamy Saue'
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/2 litre of unflavoured soy milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Black olives
Method
In a saucepan, melt the margarine gently, then stir in the flour and a tablespoon of the soy milk to make a roux.  Then carefully pour int he remaining milk and stir as you pour.  The sauce will magically thicken to a creamy gold lushness. turn off and remove from the heat.
Gently pour the creamy sauce into the cooked potatoes. 
Decorate with sliced olives to make spiders if you wishTransfer to a large ovenproof casserole dish and bake for 45 minutes gas mark 5/200oc or until the top is golden.. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Healthy Vegan - Dill Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Image
l have a confession to make.  I don't like mashed potatoes.  It is baby food designed for grown ups. I avoid making it, but if I have to t he only way I can eat it is if it is disguised in panko crusted  croquettes or dolloped over a good Vegetarian Shepherdess Pie,   but my dearest loves mashed potatoes, so it is for him I make them now and again.   Here the mashed potatoes are enhanced with herby dill and a good smack of horseradish powder or sauce. Once you've made it though, there is the question of presentation.    The mash was ridiculously smooth, so smooth that it almost melted in the mouth like snow - except of course it was warm.   Dill Horseradish Mashed Potatoes Serves 4 - 6 as an accompaniment Ingredients 500ml water 750grams potatoes, peeled and chopped into small bite size pieces 1 tablespoon horseradish powder or sauce 2 tablespoons dill, roughly chopped 30grams butter or vegan margarine 100ml - 150ml milk or ve...
Read more

Healthy Vegan - 13 Black Food Recipes for Halloween

Image
I have black quinoa, black rice and black garlic in my kitchen to experiment with over the weekend, but with Halloween fast becoming UKs most commercialised event after Christmas , I thought I would shamelessly  jump on the bandwagon and share some vegetarian and vegan black coloured food recipes you could easily make at home for the Halloween party (or maybe not). This is  Sweet Black Butter  (vegan)  made with black sesame seeds. Halloween Fruit Leather Bats   (vegan) Black Olive Spider Gratin   (vegan) Halloween Black Rice Risotto  (vegetarian) here it is topped with feta cheese, but you could easily make it suitable for vegans by substituting it with smoked tofu - cut into the shapes of ghosts - Boo! Halloween Black Olive Tapenade  (vegan) something different to spread onto those  crackers or pumpkin shaped bread rolls.  Not technically Halloween food, but this  Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu  ( vegan) ce...
Read more

Healthy Vegan - Three Pea Tagine with Cherry Tomatoes

Image
These days, I don't have much energy to cook from scratch when I get in from work unless its something like pasta such as  Spaghetti dish, but strangely enough I did actually make this Three Pea Tagine after work in the late evening.   I was rather surprised that I had both the energy and the inclination.  This was one of those days, when i decided to myself that I was not going to plonk myself in front of either the computer or sofa and instead use those couple of hours a little more usefully, then laze.  Other than making couscous, grub was made and it was plenty to last us two days if not more.   Its actually a relatively easy recipe, after sauteing the onions, garlic and spices, you could happily leave it for 40 - 45 minutes for the yellow split peas to cook in the vegetable stock, then stir in the remaining ingredients such as chickpeas, raisins, green peas, cherry tomatoes which happen to be home gown for 10 minutes and its pretty much done.  ...
Read more