vegetarian poutine

Oh, dear. This picture does not do this justice at all. In fact it looks pretty unappetizing...but it's poutine! and it's vegetarian! Fries. Cheese. Gravy. Goodness. You can't really go wrong. The vegetarian answer to the original. Quick, easy, and the perfect comfort food for a snowy cold day in January.

Mushroom Gravy:

It all started over Christmas when I decided to try a vegetarian gravy for the first time. I'm not sure what took me so long, because it's just as good, I would even go so far as to say better than regular fatty animal gravy. I started with this recipe here and modified it a bit.

3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 portabella mushroom, roughly chopped into bite-size pieces
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 - 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on desired thickness)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pot and add onions and garlic on med-high heat. Sauté for a couple minutes, then add mushrooms and sauté until softened and browned slightly. Reduce heat to medium. Slowly add flour, continuing to stir onion and mushroom mixture for one minute. Add soy sauce and half of vegetable stock, and continue adding stock until you have the desired gravy consistency. Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Season to taste.

Poutine:

1. Throw some french fries in a bowl. If you're feeling ambitious they could be homemade, or if you just want the cheesy goodness stat, go for frozen like I did.
2. Top with grated mozzarella (traditionally it would be cheese curds, but we had mozzarella and it melted well).
3. Top cheese and fries with gravy and green onions.
4. Devour.

XO