Oil-Free Plant Based Mushroom Gravy–Just in Time for Thanksgiving!

There is a crisp feel to the air today and I am starting to plan for Thanksgiving. For years, although we had the traditional turkey that a family member took charge of, I have made all of the side dishes vegetarian to satisfy many family members, but this year I am going to have a lot of plant-based, vegan, oil-free dishes, to satisfy me!

At Thanksgivings past, the one dish that seemed to unify everything, and usually the only thing we ran low on for leftovers, was the gravy. I always make a vegetarian gravy and some of the family enjoys the southern-inspired red-eye gravy made with turkey broth. This year I plan to make a plant-based mushroom gravy and decided to experiment today.

I had a small basket of crimini mushrooms, some shallots and vegetable broth, so I thought that was a good start, and then I just kind of winged it.

I diced a large shallot and about 5 cloves of garlic and liquid-sauteed in about half a cup of vegetable broth. I added more broth as it evaporated.

While the shallots and garlic were cooking, I sliced the mushrooms.

Then I added the mushrooms to the pan with a little more broth and about half a cup of white wine, and about 2 Tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves, and let the mushrooms cook while I made a roux.

In a small bowl, I added 1 tablespoon of garbanzo bean flour and about the same amount of broth, stirring to make a paste, and then slowly added about half a cup more of the broth, stirring until smooth. Then I added some seasonings:

1 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon tamari,

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes(optional)

1 teaspoon salt free seasoning from Costco

1  teaspoon Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

I added the Roux mixture to the pan to thicken the gravy.

 

I watched the gravy carefully and stirred it until it reached the desired consistency. You can always add more broth as needed. I tasted it for seasoning and thought it was little spicy, but really delicious. The wine gave it some complexity that I liked and the mustard gave it flavor without tasting like mustard at all. Success!

When the gravy was done, I topped it with some fresh chopped parsley. Yum!

I would normally have this gravy on mashed potatoes, or at Thanksgiving, on everythingI!  But for my trial run today, I  made some roasted cauliflower. I sliced the head of cauliflower into thick “steaks” and brushed both sides with a little tahini. Then I roasted the cauliflower at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning it once, until just soft enough but still firm, with a little browning.

I topped this with the mushroom gravy and it was divine!

Leftover gravy for dinner on mashed potatoes–that’s something to look forward to!