Vegan Beef Stroganoff

This delicious dish will be sure to impress crowds from all dietary walks of life!

You will need:

12 ounces (1 box) of Yves Meatless ground "beef"
4-5 tablespoons of Earth Balance
1 1/2 - 2 cups Eden Blend Rice & Soy Milk
1/3 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
3 small purple Onions
4-6 cloves of Garlic
1 box (12 ounces) Pasta
4 ounces of Spinach
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Cooking items used:

garlic peeler & press
medium-sized knife
large saucepan
pasta pot
wooden or plastic slotted spoon

NOTES:
A lot of these measurements are estimated -- this means they can/should be altered by the cook as the cook sees fit. If you want more sauce, use more rice & soy milk. If you want it creamer, add more Better Than Soy Cream. If you want more veggies, add more veggies.

I used Yves brand because it wasn't already flavored and it is a good base in general. You could probably also use Gimme Lean that comes in a tube if it's more accessible.

For the margarine, I'm a big fan of EB made with Olive Oil for its light flavor. Any other variation of EB would do just fine.

The first time I cooked this dish, I used celery as my veggie weapon of choice. This time I had a bunch of spinach that needed to be eaten. I definitely encourage you to get experimental with this instructable -- add your own veggies, delete some, tell me what you think!

Depending on how quickly you can cut and peel garlic & onions, I began with boiling the pasta. I used penne pasta, which took about ten minutes to cook, all the while peeling garlic and slicing onions for sauteeing in a large saucepan.

You want the saucepan to heat up but not to burn the garlic and onions (unless a smoky flavor is part of your objective). I recommend heating the saucepan on high for a few minutes and testing the heat by hovering your hand over the center of the saucepan. If it is too hot, reduce heat to medium or medium-low to not burn anything.

This is where the magic happens! Once your pasta is finished cooking ("al dente" if you please -- the pasta will continue to cook once it is placed in the saucepan with other ingredients), add the Earth Balance, Eden Blend Rice & Soy milk, nutritional yeast, meatless ground, and Better Than Sour Cream.

The sour cream is really what makes it a stroganoff dish and not Hamburger Helper-like. It also makes the sauce creamier with a subtle taste that compliments the pasta really well.

Stir all ingredients together with a slotted spoon over medium heat. Be sure all the meatless ground breaks down and nutritional yeast is well-incorporated in your dish.

Add your veggie of choice. As someone who grew up watching "Great Chefs of the World" I love incorporating color into everything I create. Spinach not only adds great color and interest to the final product but is a great source of iron.

The basic idea is to have cooked pasta, cooked "beef" but the spinach should remain steamed at most.

If the spinach is cooked to long it may lose its flavor. So cover it up and let it sit for 5-7 minutes. I don't have a proper cover for this particular saucepan but a wok cover did just fine (I've used cookie sheets before and they do the trick as well).

The most gratifying part of cooking is tasting the result. I toasted up some vegan rye bread to accompany this delicious and cruelty-free dish. Add salt & pepper to taste if that's your thing.

This dish is perfect for big dinners with lots of friends -- make it to take it to a potluck, a house dinner with house/dorm mates. It's also a great leftover dish for days afterward.