Vegan Recipes for Your Next Cookout
Celebrating Juneteenth with Charity Morgan’s Unbelievably Vegan
Join me in celebrating Juneteenth with 18 other Black culinary creators. This year, we are honoring 19 Black American cookbook authors by recreating their recipes, amplifying their work, and sharing our connections to Freedom Day. Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day, the final emancipation of those enslaved in the US announced in 1865. Share these recipes with your family and help us continue the legacy of celebrating progress. Additionally, you can easily follow each participant by using the hashtag #JuneteenthCookout2022 on Instagram.
Summer is here and cookout season has begun. While Memorial Day may be the first cookout of the year, Juneteenth kicks off the first week of summer. Juneteenth, sometimes called Jubilee or Black Independence Day, is the combination of June and Nineteenth. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring freedom for over three million slaves. However, this declaration did not immediately free all slaves. Slaves in Texas did not receive the news about their freedom until June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas. When Texas slaves finally learned about their freedom they rejoiced, sang, danced, and ate.
Today Juneteenth is recognized as a federal holiday. African Americans across the country continue to celebrate Juneteenth with community and educational events, music, and cookouts. We take time to enjoy family and reflect on the past and look to the future.
Gathering for Juneteenth means all the cookout favorites plus the appearance of red specialties. Red food has become traditional celebration food for Juneteenth. Galveston, Texas was the point of arrival for many slaves. The incorporation of the color red is said to have come from Texas slaves descending from tribes where the color red symbolized sacrifice, transition, and power. Accompanying those red foods would be prosperity foods like corn, cornbread, collard greens, cabbage, black-eyed peas, pork, potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes.
Charity Morgan’s new cookbook “Unbelievably Vegan: 100+ Life-Changing, Plant-Based Recipes” puts a creative spin on classic dishes and introduces us to some new ones. I have been flexing a lot as I try to find a more balanced diet — “diet” as in the food I put in my body— as I work on improving and maintaining my health. While I’m still a meat-eater, “Unbelievably Vegan” helps me to incorporate more plant-based meals, thus more vegetables, and fewer animal products.
Collaborating with Eat the Culture to highlight Black cookbook authors, I knew I needed to reach for Charity’s book. I remember hearing her story on the Netflix documentary The Game Changers, and I remember how good that vegan food looked.
Being of Puerto Rican and Creole descent, Charity’s recipes are layered with flavor. Every cookout I like to try something new. For the Juneteenth cookout I went with incorporating a southern staple with a creative twist. Buffalo Cheezy Fries, sounded like a winner to me. With a base of sweet potatoes and covered with creamy sauces I knew the recipe would be a winner for adults and children alike. My recipe is inspired by Charity’s Buffalo Cheezy Fries, “inspired” because I made a swap for the hand-cut sweet potatoes and went with store-bought. For a cookout or just a larger event, this simple swap can be a time saver. The creamy sauces though, I made them from scratch according to the recipe.
Starting with the Herby Ranch Dressing, the foundation is vegan mayonnaise, incorporating fresh garlic, spices, and a bit of vinegar, topped with fresh herbs. I have never made ranch dressing from scratch and this recipe is a gamechanger, pun intended. Something that stands out in Unbelievably Vegan is the ability to use foundational sauces and seasoning blends in a variety of ways. For the cheeze in the cheezy fries, I used the sauce from Charity’s Buffalo Mac & Cheezy. The buffalo cheeze sauce is also the same base as the sauce for her Truffle Mac & Cheezy with minor alterations.
On to the cheeze sauce. I have heard so much about vegan cheese, I have even tried some store-bought vegan cheeses. However, vegan cheese sauce, and from scratch, was a first for me. You start with cashews! Cashews are one of my favorite nuts and they do have lots of oils making them blend up smoothly. Charity actually shares a great method in her book to assist with quickly softening the cashews if you are not able to soak them for hours. I added some spices and a bit of hot sauce right into my blender and I was done.
Frying my sweet potatoes to a nice little crisp and then drizzling on the Classic Herby Ranch Dressing and Buffalo cheeze sauce was reminiscent of loaded fries. I sprinkled on some chopped fresh herbs, celery, and carrots. I could not stop shoveling those fries in my mouth. The way the sauces played so well together was satiating.
When cooking some of the recipes and just reading through the book, you can tell Charity is intentional about the way she pairs flavors, pulling from her time in culinary school and down-home meals from her grandmother. As I did my first flip-through of Unbelievably Vegan I saw recipes like Butta Biscuits, Mac & Cheezy Three Ways, and Pecan Sticky Buns.
Charity gives us permission to try something new while still making all the foods we love. The recipes are full of flavor yet easy to follow. Making staples from scratch makes me feel a sense of accomplishment, and I know all the ingredients in my food. If you are vegan or just looking to add a new dish to the table for your Juneteenth cookout, Charity’s cookbook “Unbelievably Vegan” is a great place to start.
Eat the Culture is a catalyst for Black creatives in the food and beverage space to support each other in our efforts to uplift our culture. Be sure to comment below, pin, and share this recipe with your friends and family. Also don’t forget to take a look at some of my friends’ great recipes below:
Purple and White Potato Salad prepared by Big Delicious Life from the book Sweet Potato Soul
Jam Cake prepared by Britney Breaks Bread from the book Jubilee
Mini Red Velvet Cake by Chenée Today from the book Life Is What You Bake
Soy Lime Beef Stir Fry by Coined Cuisine from the book Cooking Solo
Pinto Beans with Smoked Neck Bones by Cooks with Soul from the book Bludso’s Bbq Cookbook
Black Pepper Strawberry Slab Pie by Dash of Jazz from the book Watermelon and Red Birds
Grilled Pork Porterhouse Steaks by Food Fidelity from the book Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day
Barbecue Baked Beans with Red Spice by Geo’s Table from the book Son of a Southern Chef
Jamaican Beef Patty by Her Mise En Place from the book My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef
Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Spicy Vegetable Relish by Kenneth Temple from the book In Bibi’s Kitchen
Red Velvet Cake with Blackberry Frosting by Lenox Bakery from the book Grandbaby Cakes
Very Strawberry Shortcake by Mekio And The Dish from the book The New Orleans Cook Book
Pig-Pickin’ Cake by My Sweet Precision from the book Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking
Blackberry Peach Crumble Pie by Peaches2Peaches from the book Carla Hall’s Soul Food
African Soul Rice Salad with Crispy Collards by Savor & Sage from the book The Cooking Gene
Grape-Tarragon Spritzer by Sense and Edibility from the book Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora
All-Green Everything Salad w/ Creamy Sage Dressing by That Green Lyfe from the book Vegetable Kingdom
Rum Rum Punch by This Worthey Life from the book The Red Rooster Cookbook
Buffalo Cheezy Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
Method
- To make the buffalo sauce, combine the butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan. Heat over medium until the butter melts, whisking to combine.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a high-speed blender combine drained cashews, milk, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, pepper, hot sauce, paprika, celery seed, and dry mustard.
- Blend on high until completely smooth and the exterior of the blender is warm, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Spoon the mayonnaise into a medium bowl. Using a Microplane, grate the garlic into a bowl (make sure to give the Microplane a good whack to release all of the garlic).
- Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Stir in the herbs.
- If you like a thinner dressing add a few tablespoons of plant-based milk.
- Follow the cooking instructions on the back of your bags of sweet potato fries. I cooked mine in a deep fryer at 325 degrees for 4-6 minutes.
- The cook time will depend upon how crispy you prefer your fries.
- Ladle 1/2 a cup Buffalo cheeze sauce onto a serving dish. Place the fries on top of the sauce.
- Spoon some of the Buffalo sauce over the fries.
- Drizzle on some of your Herby Ranch Dressing.
- Drizzle on the Buffalo cheeze sauce.
- Garnish with celery, carrots, and parsley.
- Serve and enjoy!
Discover more from Flights and Foods
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
664 Comments
Gaming Electronics
This is a really nice page. It’s very engaging and well written. I’ll come back from time to time for more posts like this one.
Deluna4d
Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m shocked at how quick your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, superb site!|
Deluna4d
I was suggested this web site by way of my cousin. I am not certain whether this publish is written by means of him as no one else recognise such special approximately my difficulty. You’re amazing! Thank you!|
Deluna4d
What i do not realize is in reality how you are no longer actually a lot more neatly-liked than you may be now. You are so intelligent. You know therefore significantly relating to this matter, made me individually believe it from so many varied angles. Its like women and men don’t seem to be fascinated except it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs outstanding. Always deal with it up!|
Protogel
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your web site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you?ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the information I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What an ideal web site.
Bk8
Hey, you used to write excellent, but the last several posts have been kinda boring? I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
UFABET656
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re incredible! Thanks!|
poker88
Interesting article. It’s very unfortunate that over the last years, the travel industry has already been able to to tackle terrorism, SARS, tsunamis, bird flu, swine flu, along with the first ever real global economic collapse. Through it the industry has really proven to be robust, resilient as well as dynamic, discovering new approaches to deal with difficulty. There are usually fresh issues and chance to which the market must once again adapt and respond.
UFAC4
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.|
Inatogel
excellent issues altogether, you just won a brand new reader. What might you suggest about your submit that you simply made some days ago? Any positive?
UFABETWIN
I read this paragraph completely concerning the comparison of most up-to-date and preceding technologies, it’s awesome article.|
ufa789
Good post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Bless you!|
ufa789
Aw, this was a very good post. Spending some time and actual effort to make a great article… but what can I say… I put things off a lot and never seem to get anything done.|
Firework Novelties
Now this is quality content. You can tell that plenty of thought when into this post. Nice work.
kids wall art
http://www.arttree.com.au is Australia Popular Online Art Store. We sell Canvas Prints, Handmade Canvas Oil Paintings, Customer Artwork, Handmade Canvas Portraits. We Offer Year Round Sale and Get Up-to 70 Percent OFF Discount. We give FREE Delivery Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and all regional areas. We ship Worldwide at many international locations.
dingdongtogel
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it grow over time.
atm4d
I will immediately grab your rss feed as I can not in finding your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
atm4d
Hmm it seems like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any points for rookie blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
dewalive
Thanks for the suggestions you have discussed here. Something else I would like to say is that pc memory requirements generally rise along with other advancements in the technologies. For instance, whenever new generations of processor chips are made in the market, there’s usually a matching increase in the scale preferences of all laptop memory as well as hard drive space. This is because software program operated through these processors will inevitably increase in power to benefit from the new engineering.
gengtoto
Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while people think about worries that they just don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks