Happy Jackson Snack Boxes #58

Vegetable terrine (recipe below), grapes, Sociables crackers, some Follow Your Heart non-dairy smoked gouda, and a little silicone cup of margarine (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter vegan spread). (This was a lot of crackers, but then I also had enough for a snack later on.)

I don't remember how or why, but I stumbled across a French vegan site a little while ago and wanted to try out the recipe for vegetable terrine. My French is not especially good, but I can figure out a recipe (mostly). The site is France Végétalienne and the original recipe is terrine de légumes. I scaled it down so it fit into one mini loaf pan and substituted ingredients available to me here. I also changed the method of cooking the mushrooms, though I'm not sure if that worked entirely as intended. My terrine turned out looking somewhat like the original, but maybe less dry. Part of this may be because I don't have an actual terrine pan.

The flavors were good, albeit kind of unfamiliar. I'm certain it does not taste like the original, because I had to substitute some ingredients. As far as I could tell, crème végétale is the vegan version of crème fraîche, and that's not something I can get here. But I thought non-dairy sour cream would probably work. I also substituted nutritional yeast for levure maltée (malted yeast). It seemed this recipe was a sort of jumping-off point anyway for many readers; in the comments, people had used all sorts of ideas, from substituting cauliflower for the mushrooms (which I think would be very pretty) to adding peas (which would add protein and color). And so here you are, an Americanized version of France Végétalienne's terrine de légumes. It is not as complicated as the directions make it seem. You boil some things and saute some others, chop them in a food processor, spread them in a mini loaf pan, bake, and cool.

Vegetable Terrine
Serves 3-4

1/4 pound fresh green beans
1/4 pound baby carrots
2 bay leaves, divided
2 teaspoons thyme, divided
5 oz. white mushrooms
1/2 small white onion
1 clove of garlic, divided
1 tablespoon non-dairy sour cream, divided
3 teaspoons nutritional yeast, divided
3 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1/2 tablespoon vegan butter
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Bring two pans of salted water to a gentle boil.

Trim green beans and add to one pan of boiling water with 1 bay leaf and 1 teaspoon thyme. Add the carrots to the other pan of salted water with the other bay leaf and teaspoon of thyme. Boil for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms and chop the onion. Melt vegan butter in a nonstick skillet and cook the mushrooms and onion, salting halfway through, until the mushrooms appear to have given up their liquid and it has boiled off.

Drain green beans and carrots separately. Discard bay leaves.

Peel and crush the garlic; cut in half.

Spray a mini loaf pan with cooking spray.

Put cooked green beans, 1/2 tablespoon of non-dairy sour cream, 1/2 clove of garlic, 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, a pinch of nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon of salt (or to taste), and a few grinds of black pepper into a food processor (I used my mini chopper attachment for my immersion blender). Pulse until the mixture comes together and the beans are chopped but not pureed. You may need to scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula every so often.

Spread the green bean mixture into the bottom of the mini loaf pan, taking care to ensure the surface is even.

It is not necessary to clean the food processor between veggies, but do try to scrape all that goodness out in between. Now put your mushrooms and onions, remaining garlic, 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 1/8 teaspoon of salt (or to taste), and a few grinds of black pepper into the food processor. Repeat process used for the beans to chop but not puree the mushrooms.

Taking care not to disturb the bottom layer, gently spread the mushrooms over the beans.

Put carrots, 1/2 tablespoon of non-dairy sour cream, 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/8 teaspoon of salt (or to taste), and a few grinds of black pepper into the food processor. Repeat process used for the beans and mushrooms to chop but not puree the carrots.

Again ensuring you do not disturb the bottom layer, gently spread the carrots over the mushrooms. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray and use it, oiled side down, to cover your pan with a tight lid.

Bake for an hour and allow to cool enough to refrigerate. Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. When ready to serve, gently run a knife or a spatula around the edges of the terrine to loosen (I use plastic knives for my nonstick loaf pan). Invert the pan over a plate or platter and allow the terrine to slide out.

Slice and serve with toast or crackers.