Comforting Vegan Autumn Bowl

A simple comforting vegan autumn bowl with mashed cauliflower and potatoes, kale and apples.

Autumn goodness in one delicious bowl: Mashed cauliflower and potato with earthy mushrooms, creamy tahini kale, crunchy apples and a simple, oil-free sun-dried tomato hummus. A big portion of this hearth-warming, budget-friendly comfort food after a long walk in the crisp, refreshing air is what I call a perfect fall dinner. Best when served warm, but also makes a great packable lunch for the next day (yay for cold mashed potatoes!). I absolutely enjoy this as a satisfying main, but feel free to serve it as a side dish alongside with stuffed veggies or roasted tofu.

I’ve just got back from Berlin, where I’ve spent 4 awesome days with the best bloggers of Germany. We had lots of fun, and some really cool programs, which I’ll tell you about probably in the next days or weeks, but right now I’m still super tired and first have to catch up with work. Plus I need some pictures of the weekend too! Otherwise things are not that interesting, right?

Until I get my thoughts together and collect all the photos of the Food Blog Award, let me talk a little bit about why I share today a recipe for basically mashed potatoes…because surprise, surprise, totally unusual, but this recipe actually has a story. Okay, not that much a story, simply the fact and reason why mashed potatoes made me smile in the last days…

10 years ago, on the day of my 18th birthday, I’ve met one of my best friends, Olivia. We became instantly friends and ever since we talk almost every day, even though we have only ever lived in the same city for very short periods of time, all together maximum a year. We used to party a lot and drank heavily, I think I can count on my fingers the days which we spent together sober. A big part of our daily conversations were either about that we have a massive hangover or planning where we will drink the next evening. We simply didn’t care a lot about the world around us, all that mattered for us was having fun. Never talked about food, but a lot about drinks, and other than a few sentences about my dogs, I don’t think we have ever talked about animals, even though she was vegetarian for a long time too. And we have definitely didn’t care about the environment or the future. I could talk about us and our relationship much longer, so you could better understand where we come from, but I think if I’d tell anybody (especially everybody) most of our stories, she would kill me.

So picture these borderline alcoholic, definitely not so concerned girls today. Crazy, but we have changed a lot. Mainly because both of us became vegan, which is the single best thing we have ever done for sure. Nowadays we are talking for hours about food, recipes, vegan products, animal rights, the environment  and how annoying our non-vegan friends are. We became kinder, calmer and more balanced in the last years, and I think a lot happier too. Little things, like a cute bird, a funny cat or a rescued pig make us happier than anything. We eat good food and care about not harming others while we do so. And we thoroughly document then send each other pictures of what we ate. And she eats a lots of mashed potatoes. Which makes me wanna eat mashed potatoes all the time too. So that’s the story. Sorry, if you’ve expected something cooler.

I’m not even sure, if this ‘story’ has a lot to do with the mashed potatoes, but it really just makes me smile when I think of how much we’ve changed. And changed for the good. So yes, I love you a lot, Olivia, and I’m so proud of you! That’s all I wanted to say today. Saying all this after a weekend of indulgence in Berlin. I guess at the end we haven’t changed that much 😉

If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎

Comforting Vegan Autumn Bowl

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5 from 1 review

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 2-3 1x

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the potatoes:

• 1,5 cup diced potatoes
• 1,5 cup cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 cup plant milk of your choice
• 1/4 cup dried mushrooms
• 1 tsp fresh or dry thyme
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• salt, pepper

For the kale:

• 5 cups of kale, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2–3 tbsp plant milk of your choice
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• salt, pepper

For the hummus:

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, preferably soaked
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1,5 tbsp tahini
• 1 lemon, juice
• salt, pepper

To serve:

• 2 apples, thinly sliced

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Instructions

Potatoes

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cauliflower, and cook until veggies are tender, for about 15 minutes, then drain.
2. Grind mushrooms finely in a coffee grinder or mortar. Add drained veggies, mushroom powder, milk, thyme, nutmeg and nutritional yeast to a pot and mash with a potato masher. Season with salt and pepper.

Kale

1. Chop kale, then sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until wilted but not soggy. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed to prevent sticking. Add tahini, milk, liquid smoke, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for another minute until everything gets warm.

Hummus

1. For the hummus add drained chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, tahini and lemon juice to a food processor and blend until creamy. Add a little bit of water if needed.

Assembly

1. Assemble the bowls. Add each mashed potatoes, creamy kale and apple slices to a bowl, then top with the hummus. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts if you want a bit more crunch. Enjoy!

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Main, Salad
• Cuisine: Vegan