Thanksgiving with Chrissy, Part 2...here’s another clean and delicious side dish for Thanksgiving dinner (or for anytime!) that’s creamy and crispy at the same time. It incorporates one of my favorite ways to make CLEAN CREAM sauces and even cheesecake: CASHEWS. I use cashew cream very often at the restaurant to make healthy and vegan versions of my favorite creamy recipes. And I usually fool those who will SWEAR that there’s cream involved or that they’re eating something “bad”. My Vegan Mac & Cheese is another one of my popular recipes uses the same cashew base and clean breadcrumb topping. That’s also a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving dinner! Check that one out too! As always, enjoy and post your photos and comments!
Chef’s Notes-
You can make this dish with or without the clean bread crumbs baked on top. For those, I use homemade Ezekiel breadcrumbs. First I toast a few pieces of Ezekiel bread and then I put them in a food processor to turn them into breadcrumbs. You can also combine them with chickpea breadcrumbs. (Those are available at Whole Foods.) I’ll add the recipe to make this breadcrumb recipe at the end here. It’s the same topping that I use on my vegan Mac & Cheese. For this recipe, add the topping to the casserole dish about halfway into your cooking time so the breadcrumbs don’t burn. Remove from the oven when the topping is golden brown. Lastly, I use shaved Brussels sprouts to make this dish...mostly because it’s quicker to shred them with a mandoline than to slice them all. But you can go either way. You can pick up a mandoline slicer for about $10 at most stores that sell kitchenware...even Walmart.
Ingredients
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 lbs Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced or shaved with a mandoline or a peeler
• ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour and then drained (I like to soak them overnight)
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup clean avocado oil or olive oil mayonnaise
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp each sea salt and ground pepper
• 1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• Fresh chopped parsley, for garnishing
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a large casserole dish with clean cooking oil (spray or liquid).
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the diced onions and minced garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes (stirring frequently) until the onions are translucent. (Be careful not to let the garlic burn. It will become very bitter).
3. Add in the Brussels sprouts and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until they are tender. Set aside to cool.
4. Next, in a blender or food processor, blend the soaked cashews with the water until you get a thick cashew cream sauce.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the cashew cream, mayonnaise, nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes, eggs, and salt together until well combined.
6. Then, fold the sautéed onions, garlic and Brussels sprouts into the cream sauce mixture and stir well until the ingredients are evenly distributed and everything is combined.
7. Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole dish and bake until the top is golden brown (approximately 30 minutes).
8. Garnish with additional red pepper flakes,nutritional yeast, and fresh chopped parsley.
Breadcrumb Topping Recipe-
• 1 cup clean bread crumbs (chickpea or toasted Ezekiel bread or a combo or both)
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 bunch chives, finely chopped
• pinch of cayenne & smoked paprika
• drizzle of olive oil
* salt & pepper
Instructions for topping :
1. In a small pan, sauté the chopped shallots in 1 Tbsp of olive oil, just until they’re softened.
2. Then in a bowl, toss the breadcrumbs, sautéed shallots, chives, chopped almonds, a little more salt, cayenne, and paprika. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil into the bowl to toss with the bread crumb mixture to moisten it.
3. Then cover the Brussels sprouts in the casserole dish with the breadcrumb mixture (about halfway through the cooking time).
4. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, just until the crust starts to become golden brown. Sprinkle with additional paprika and any leftover chives after removing from oven.
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