Vegan Salt & Pepper White Gravy

Panko Crusted Seitan with Gravy and Spinach

In my fam, I'm known for bringing the vegan brown gravy to every holiday dinner we have together. Sometimes it's shiitake flavored, sometimes its base is veggie broth, others it's almond milk. Sometimes I'll caramelize onions and blend them in, other times I just reach for onion powder. Whatever ends up in it it's always rich, dark, thick, sop up every last drop good.

Even when making gravy for breakfast with biscuits and tempeh or seitan fauxsage, I'm known for whipping up a rich brown gravy to serve as the salty, tasty component to a biscuits 'n gravy dish.

Until the recent Vegan Chopped challenge, white gravy wasn't on my radar at all. It came to me while dreaming up my entry and hasn't left my brain since. So simple, no crazy ingredients, just pantry staples thrown together quickly, with ease, and yielding a rich, perfect, salty and flavorful breakfast addition. I like to season mine with a personal favorite balance of salt and pepper. Enough salt to make it tasty, and just enough pepper to make it 'peppery' without being overpowering. Granted, I love black pepper, so ease off the listed amount and add to taste if you're worried about them being too peppery.

This morning I woke up wanting protein but not tofu, hadn't remembered to precook my beloved steel cut oats, and decided on one of my favorite things: 500 Vegan Recipes' Protein Quick! Mini Seitan Bites. I've made these so many time. They're the perfect easy, fast, protein packed savory choice for breakfast. They're not a muffin, they're not the same texture as any seitan I've ever made. They're just GOOD. As is in the book they're sublime, made with sausage-y herbs (think fennel, sage, marjoram, red pepper flakes) they're sausage in a protein-packed muffin. Made with rye seeds and bits of sauteed onion they're amazing with just a pat of Earth Balance, no gravy needed. However you choose to enjoy them, they're totally worth purchasing 500 Vegan Recipes for (tho there are plenty other great recipes in there I hope to blog about later!). They lend themselves perfectly to a light drizzle of gravy. Or a whole mess of gravy. The choice is yours.

Sausage Flavored Broccoli Bites with S&P Gravy

This morning I made my Protein Bites with fennel, sage, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder and little bits of sauteed broccoli. I don't know about you, but throwing in a green veggie in the morning just reeeeally makes my breakfast. Wanting the white gravy my taste buds were craving, this was the perfect quick breakfast.

With this tasty dish I get all the flavor and texture satisfaction I want from a biscuits and gravy dish with more nutrients packed in and with less effort. The bites mix together so easily in one bowl and come out beautifully every time with very little effort.

Vegan Salt & Pepper White Gravy
makes about 2 cups

2 cups warmed almond milk
2 T Olive oil or Organic Smart Balance
3 T unbleached flour
1/2-1 tsp sea salt 
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

While your bites are baking, heat almond milk in microwave for two minutes. In a med sauce pan, melt Smart Balance over med heat and whisk in flour. Whisking continuously, add about a 1/4 cup of warmed milk at a time, whisking in completely before adding your next 1/4 cup increment. When all the almond milk has been incorporated, add spices and whisk. Whisking occasionally to avoid a layer forming on the bottom of the pan, keep on med heat until bubbly and thickened. Turn heat to low.

I find that this gravy is a bit thin if you eat it piping hot, is a bit thicker if allowed to cool a bit, and is the perfect thickness if reheated from the day before. You could always mix a bit of cold almond milk with a bit of corn starch and stir that in while bubbling. that thickens it up quickly.

If you want to use this gravy over vegan biscuits, adding tempeh or seitain fauxsage, stirring it in at the end, would be a perfect choice!