Happy St. Patrick's Day

This was always my favorite holiday growing up. We never had a lot of money and for some reason my mom only bought corned beef brisket once a year. It was my favorite of all meats. I am still not sure why I loved it so much, but my obsession got so bad that I used to order it whenever I was somewhere that offered it on the menu.  It became a compulsion to try the corned beef no matter where I was. My best friend used to pick on me because it didn’t matter if it came in a sandwich, a hash or as a main course I would order it wherever we went.

Last year for St. Patrick’s Day I had my first stumble. I was about six months into being Vegan and so far I had done really well and not cheated at all. I went to Brunch with a friend from college at Biscotti’s in Avondale. I took one look at the Brunch menu and my heart sunk. There it was corned beef hash with eggs and toast. My go to menu item. I frantically started searching the menu for something else to order, the only problem was that once I saw the hash I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I did see fresh fruit on the menu, but not another item that would be vegan. Thinking I had made it six months and deserved a treat I made the decision to order the hash. To this day I am not sure if it was the eggs or the corned beef, but I got sick! Needless to say I was not ready to cheat again for quite a while.

Arriving at church today and seeing a sea of green I realized that my favorite holiday had snuck up on me this year. I of course was NOT wearing green but worst of all I didn’t have a meal planned for dinner. After returning home from church I started looking online for recipe ideas. I came across a recipe for vegan corned beef on The Peaceful Kitchen and had most of the ingredients, so I decided to modify it a bit and give it a try. The flavor was really good, but it didn’t hold together quite as nice as I would like, so I stirred some into my cooked cabbage instead of eating it on the side. I had potatoes earlier, so I didn’t see the need to have them again, but did cook some green beans to go along with my cabbage and vegan corned beef. I am excited that there is enough left over “corned beef” to make hash in the morning. I should have time too since I start my new job tomorrow, but not until 9:30 am. Here is what you need for the corned beef:

1 15 ounce can Kidney Beans

1 cup cooked brown rice

½ cup walnuts

½ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 Tablespoons of coconut flour (I put coconut into my wheat grinder, not a great idea, it got a little sticky)

1 teaspoon ground caraway seed (I threw this into the wheat grinder to try to force out the coconut, it worked but not well)

1 teaspoon of Spike brand seasoning

½ teaspoon of mustard powder

½ Tablespoon of Onion Powder

¼ teaspoon of ground cloves

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

½ Tablespoon molasses

1 Tablespoon of Bragg’s liquid amino acids

2 Tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor pulse the walnuts until broken down. Add in the rest of the ingredients and run until well combined. Form mixture into a load and place on a well-oiled cookie sheet, oil the sides and top of the loaf and bake for 40 minutes in a 350° oven. Take out and slice thinly and bake another 10 minutes. Mine kind of crumbled, so I am not sure if I needed more liquid. If you want you could add up to a half a cup of vegetable broth for a moister loaf.