Veggie Pâté Recipe

The first time I had veggie pâté, I was still at University, visiting one of my aunts. Come to think of it, that's almost 20 years ago... Man, time does fly, doesn't it?! Anywho, my aunt was on a health kick at the time and she was experimenting with all sorts of vegetarian dishes such as seitan pie, quinoa soup, all sorts of millet recipes and of course, veggie pâté. She didn't make the pâté herself though, she bought a brand that originated in the restaurants Commensal. I mention this because, it is the only brand I actually like but it is quite expensive. At the time, I didn't even think making veggie pâté at home was possible, so I just kept buying the pre-made kind. But once I found recipes for it, I decided to try making some myself. Of course, my recently acquired food processor made the experience a whole lot easier.

The recipe I'm posting here today, is the one that comes closest to the Commensal recipe, in my opinion. The texture, when blended in the food processor, is almost as smooth and the taste is very similar. I think that's because of the sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast. The other recipes I tried didn't contain those ingredients and I always felt like they were missing something. This one... This one is perfect! It's even better than the store bought kind because, really, it's fresher and endlessly adaptable. You can use whatever blend of spices you like, add more or less nutritional yeast, try different veggie combinations, etc. My kids love it with crackers or even in sandwiches. Seriously, my oldest daughter and my son love the stuff! And, I know this makes a large amount of pâté but it keeps in the refrigerator for a week or so and you can freeze some for those times when you just don't feel like taking out the food processor.

Veggie Pâté
Adapted from Végétariens... mais pas légumes!

This recipe is a lot quicker to make if you have a food processor, all that grating and grinding, but you can still make it if you don't have one. The texture of the pâté will be a bit chunkier but the taste will be pretty much the same.

1 large onion, grated*
2 potatoes, grated*
1 large carrot, grated*
1 branch of celery, grated*
2 garlic cloves, grated*
1/2 cup (70g) unsalted sunflower seeds, ground
3/4 cup (100g) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (25g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp of olive or canola oil (I used avocado oil)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup tamari
1 tsp herbes de Provence (you can also use a blend of your favorite herbs - such as basil, oregano, celery seeds, sage, thyme, etc)
Salt and pepper, to taste

*Once grated, you should have about 560g of veggies, total. A little bit more or less won't matter though.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 x 11.5 inch baking dish and set aside.

At this point, you can just mix all the ingredients together and you will get a chunky pâté, which is fine. But I like it to have a smoother texture, so what I do is, once I've grated all my veggies in the food processor, I place the veggies in a bowl, remove the grating disc and put the all-purpose blade in its place. Then, I put all the ingredients back into the food processor and I let it whir for a good 5 minutes. I like the texture better and I think the flavors all meld together perfectly. It's a question of taste, really.

Once your mixture is ready, pour it into the prepared dish and bake in the center of the oven for about 1 hour. The pâté will be golden and completely set in the middle. Let the pâté cool in the dish before unmolding it; it will be fragile while still warm.

The pâté is best served at room temperature, with crackers and veggies or used as a sandwich base with lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, etc.

Craving Cinnamon (Recipe: Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Muffins)

I have been on a huge cinnamon kick lately and I don't usually over think these things, but I wonder if this craving means anything in particular. Is my diet lacking in some way? Perhaps I'm just missing the warmth of the holiday season and the tastes that go with it? Or maybe I'm feeling cold because of all this snow we've been getting and cinnamon is just my way of getting a little warmth and comfort?

Cassia Sticks

In any case, I decided to give in to the craving because cinnamon, it seems, has many health benefits. There is of course all this debate of true cinnamon vs Cassia. Having never tried true cinnamon (also called Ceylon cinnamon) before a few weeks ago, I had never given it much thought. But after a trip to my local health food store, I came back home with a small packet of true cinnamon and I was really surprised at how much different it was from the cinnamon I had always used.

Ground Cassia on the left, true cinnamon on the right

True cinnamon has a lighter color and is much more subtle in flavor than Cassia. Less spicy, I would say. I've found though that I have to use more of it in baked goods to get that expected cinnamon-y kick. I think true cinnamon would be better for sprinkling over oatmeal after cooking or in a recipe where a subdued spiciness is preferable. I'm thinking rice pudding or maybe warmed milk. I guess I am craving comfort!

What are you craving lately?

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Makes 18 small-ish muffins

I used true cinnamon in this recipe so I used 2 teaspoons of it. If you use Cassia and you're not a cinnamon fanatic, reduce it to 1 teaspoon. You can also adapt this recipe by incorporating dried cranberries instead of raisins, adding nuts or other seeds, even chocolate chips if you feel like it!

1 1/2 cups of regular or old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk*
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
3 tbsp of ground flax seeds
2 tsp of true cinnamon (or 1 to 2 tsp of Cassia cinnamon, to taste)
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups.

In a bowl, soak oats in buttermilk for 15 minutes. Stir in eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine flours, ground flax seeds, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into oat mixture just until moistened. Fold in raisins. Fill prepared muffin tin three-fourths full. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

* Sometimes, when I don't have buttermilk, I use 1/2 cup of milk mixed with 1 cup of low-fat sour cream or yogurt. Other times, when I don't have buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt, I mix in 1 tbsp of lemon juice with 1 1/2 cups of milk and let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the recipe.

Things, they are a-changing…

This post has been a long time coming and I feel bad for not having taken the time to write it before but I just hadn’t found the words yet. I’m not even sure I have the right words right now but I’ll give it a try.

How cliché of me to do this in January, right? The month of resolutions, of New Year! New You! The month of being bombarded with phrases like: This Year I Will Do It! I Will Be Good! I Will Reach My Goals! I Will Give Up Sweets! Sugar Be Damned! But really, I started this blog in January - 4 years ago -and I guess it is just the best time to reflect, the best time to get things out in the open. Clean slate and all.

I could give you tons of excuses for my lack of presence in this little web space I call mine. But we all have those: kids, homework, holidays, family… Life in general gets in the way. So I won’t bore you with that. I will say however that I really do have a very short attention span and too many things at once, I cannot do. So the blog went on the backburner and I want to apologize for not at least giving you guys a heads up. I am very sorry about that. 

I haven’t been around the blogging world because I’ve just been trying to take care of myself. Cheesy? Maybe so, but it’s true. And I know it is said that to be accountable and reach your goals more easily, it is better to share said goals with others, to talk about them openly. But I’m not that kind of person. I like to keep things to myself. Things like how much I weigh. Or what I ate for breakfast. Or how long I exercised today, yesterday or the day before. Which is not to say that I don’t like to read blogs about health and fitness and other people’s goals because, I do. And I have been inspired by them. And I love to get feedback, comments and suggestions, who doesn’t? But I wasn’t about to turn this cooking/baking/all about food blog into a health blog because I’m not an expert at any of that stuff! I’m certainly not an expert at baking either but that just comes a bit easier, you know? And I just felt silly telling anyone about it. I mean, I was just trying to eat a little better, exercise a bit more, no biggie, right? But this lifestyle change/diet/regimen, call it what you will, kept getting a little more serious every day and I kept telling myself I would post something soon, I would take the time to “shoot” this healthy recipe I was making. But I just never found the time. I never made the time. I kept thinking “no one is going to want to read about this, it’s just silly”. But, almost 2 years into this silly lifestyle change, I’ve lost 60 pounds and that is nowhere near silly. That is big. And, although I still have a ways to go, I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished.

A few months ago, I read this post from Kristen of Dine & Dish and she really got me thinking. (I think I have a blog crush on Kristen, she is just so inspiring!) I have evolved in the last 4 years, I’ve changed, but my blog hasn’t. Why should I keep writing the same way when I am not the same? Change is scary, that’s why. Would you guys keep clicking on over here if I changed my style? Would the posts without recipes attract as much people as the ones with a pic of a luscious [insert name of decadent dessert here]. I know you guys don’t come here to read about how I’m feeling today or what I did this past weekend. And I’m not sure I even want to write about that. I don’t know what I want to write about. But I know I want to write. I miss it. Writing. Sharing my thoughts, my images. I also miss talking about how delicious and sweet and over the top the last recipe I made was! Because, no, I’m not all about healthy and low-fat, I am definitely not going to post only healthy, low-calorie, “diet” foods. I’ve been pinning sweets like crazy over on Pinterest and I sure as heck am going to try a few of ‘em. This recipe is especially driving me nuts. I think what I want to go for is balance. A mix of healthy and decadent. More of a these-things-make-me-happy blog than just a food blog.

Wow. I think this is the longest post I’ve written. Ever. If you’ve made it this long, thank you. I hope I haven’t scared all of you into just unliking this blog on Facebook and running the other way. I would love it if you stick around. There will be recipes, stories and photos, just mixed in with some other stuff. Fun stuff I hope. Life.