Happy As A Vegan Clam

New Year’s Eve is the single most superstitious day of the year.

Even if you’re typically a logical, pragmatic person, it’s hard to resist placing some significance on the visible acceleration of time. When faced with a full 365 days of unknown fortune ahead, wouldn’t you want to stack the deck in your favor, just in case? Don’t just raise a glass to good luck; make it a guest at the party by inviting these Plant-Based Baked Clams to join the fun.

Vegan Baked Clams

What’s The Significance of Clams?

Slang for dollars, round like coins, and known to produce lucrative pearls, clams are strongly associated with property across all cultures. In fact, the indigenous peoples of the Americas used the shells themselves directly as a form of currency. Beyond symbolism, this was literal money harvested from the sea.

That said, you can enhance your luck while preserving your karma by cooking up plants, not bivalves.

Ingredients for Vegan Baked Clams

How Can You Make Vegan Baked Clams?

The key ingredient is soaked Sugimoto shiitake mushrooms. Rich with natural umami, chopped to approximate the toothsome, chewy texture of diced seafood, it’s a wholly unique creation that no other plant or animal can replace. Koshin shiitake are ideal for their wide, flat caps, but Donko shiitake would also be welcome for a meatier, heartier bite.

Finely minced shallots and garlic are sauteed in peppery extra-virgin olive oil to infuse their savory aroma into the entire kitchen. Caper brine adds a distinctive oceanic salinity, accentuated by the gentle acidity of fresh citrus. Cheesy, buttery nutritional yeast brings everything together with light panko breadcrumbs for binding, toasting to a nutty and crunchy finish.

Vegan Baked Clams

What Are Variations On Baked Clams?

Consider this formula the classic rendition, simple and elegant, that goes with every occasion. If you want more pizazz and flair, you have plenty of room for creative adaption:

Clams Casino: Swap the olive oil for melted vegan butter and add 1/4 cup meatless bacon bits.
Dynamite Clams: Stir in 2 – 3 teaspoons sriracha and 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise right before baking.
Sweet & Salty Clams: Swap the breadcrumbs for crushed pretzels and add 1 tablespoon vegan honey or maple syrup.
Clams Rosa: Swap the white wine for red and add 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Optionally, add minced fresh basil.

Vegan Baked Clams

Tips For Success

The best party has food for everyone. That means catering to a diverse range of dietary restrictions, but it’s easy to accommodate with some simple modifications:

To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs or coarse almond meal.
To make this recipe without alcohol, use more mushroom soaking liquid instead of white wine.
To make this recipe oil-free, use more mushroom soaking liquid instead of olive oil. You may need more than the 1/4 cup listed; watch it carefully and make sure it doesn’t dry out.

Don’t take your chances with other hors d’oeuvres. Shiitake baked clams are bougie on a budget, which means you’re already well on your way to greater fortunes ahead.

Continue reading “Happy As A Vegan Clam” →

December 26, 2022December 27, 2022

Hannah (BitterSweet)8 Comments

A Wealth of Flavor

New Year’s traditions are fraught with superstition. Grappling with the end of an era and beginning anew can be daunting, so it’s no surprise there are countless beliefs associated with easing the transition. If only there was a way to ensure good fortune for the next twelve months, surely that would provide a bit of comfort. Everyone has their own unique approach especially when it comes to guaranteeing good luck, though at the end of the day, it often comes back to the dinner table.

Black-eyed peas are famously linked with good luck, particularly in the southern states, sometimes causing a run on the humble staple in times of scarcity (otherwise known as supply chain disruptions in our modern day.) Native to West Africa, the dish began life as an all-purpose celebratory food without specific meaning, eaten for any joyous occasion. The peas could be seen as a charm to ward off the Evil Eye, and because they were numerous, growing in size when they cooked, they could represent growing fortunes or families.

Enslaved West Africans brought these traditions with them to the south, melding cultures to find New Year’s Day the best time for such an auspicious food. Their popularity spread just like the prolific field pea itself, spilling over into all households; good food is a universal language, after all. Some add greens into the mix to symbolize paper money, and the addition of cornbread is like gilding the bowl with gold leaf, in addition to simply being delicious. This is often known as Hoppin’ John, though the origin of the name is highly debated.

Considering such a wealth of historic flavor, I didn’t want to mess this up. I’ve made black-eyed peas before, but I never fully understood the significance. For an impoverished people that could count beans as currency, the tenacity, strength, and optimism it would take to proceed into another 365 days in good spirits is unimaginable. I have a hard enough time feeling positive about the future on a good day, and I’m aware of just how incredibly fortunate I am already.

In keeping with the spirit of the dish, I’m hoping that it will help increase my wealth this year, because I’m entering it in the Big Mountain Foods Recipe Contest! You can find out more about this dynamic meatless brand on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Taking the place of a customary ham hock or turkey wing, Lion’s Mane Mushroom Crumble adds an extra layer of umami along with a considerable protein punch. Though unconventional, I think it’s natural for the dish to continue to evolve as further cultural fusion occurs. Even before crafty cooks had access to a global palate of flavors, no two bowls of black-eyed peas would ever taste the same. Everyone has their own take on the concept, and of course, everyone’s own rendition is indisputably the best.

I need all the luck I can get heading into 2022, so I doubled up on auspicious offerings by putting cornbread right into the bowl. Rather than a fluffy square of golden corn, baked separately, I made mine as buttery dumplings that simmer right in the broth. It’s quicker, easier, and adds a satisfying heft and delightful chew, almost like fluffy cornmeal gnocchi.

No matter how you celebrate the coming New Year, I hope it’s full of pennies, dollars, and gold, literally and figuratively.

Continue reading “A Wealth of Flavor” →

December 27, 2021February 25, 2026

Hannah (BitterSweet)6 Comments

Fresh Starts

Strapped for cash, struggling to make ends meet as the year winds down, the time had come to sacrifice some of my extraneous toys. I finally bid adieu to an old friend, and sold my juicer. The behemoth had flown with me from Connecticut to California made the drive from Oakland to Austin, surviving both treacherous journeys without so much as a scratch. Don’t get me wrong; I loved the masticating monster. It just never found a stable place in my daily routine. Peering out from the cabinet periodically, it would catch my eye as the light glinted off its stainless steel facade, only to return to the darkness untouched.

It deserved better. A machine should be used, not just stored. Helping to kick-start a neighbor’s newfound fervor for juicing, it’s a relief to see the old gal find a loving new home, as hard as it is to let go. Before that fateful day, we gave it one last whirl, squeezing the last drops of joy from our time together.

Releasing a golden wave of liquid sunshine into my glass, tropical notes of pineapple spiked with the bright acidity of fresh lemon flowed freely in this last hurrah. Naturally sweet without any sugar, the blend was tart, tangy, bright and bold. It glistened with vitality, fresh and invigorating. That would be enough for a morning wake up call, but to celebrate the occasion, a splash of sparkling white wine felt like an appropriate final touch.

As I raise this glass, to friendship and new beginnings, my heart swells with hope for the future. May 2021 be better for all of us.

Cheers!

Continue reading “Fresh Starts” →

December 30, 2020February 18, 2026

Hannah (BitterSweet)7 Comments

Cheers!

Another year; Another decade; Just another day. The New Year is both an opportunity to start fresh, and still nothing more than a continuation of the same old lives we’ve always been living. Typically a holiday that is but a blip on my radar, this time around, it’s taken on much greater significance. Between the greater global issues at hand and smaller personal battles, 2009 has been a rough one, to say the least. It takes a good kick in the butt to get me going again after wallowing for so long in the everyday doldrums, and for once, the changing calendar date actually provided that much needed inspiration.

It’s not my standard modus operandi to make resolutions, and typically a ritual that I avoid like the plague, but in the spirit of starting anew and entering 2010 with an open mind, it’s as good a time as ever to give it a shot. Thus, this year I resolve to…

Stay balanced. Remain grounded but let my thoughts and ideas soar.
Have patience. Be calmer. Don’t fly off the handle at every little irritation.
Give others the benefit of the doubt. Have more compassion for my fellow man.
Live a little. Get out of the house. Leave room for both work and play.
Love more. ‘Nuff said.

That’s a start, at least. And what about your? What is/are your resolution(s)?

Of course, this isn’t a wholly solemn and serious day to meditate on… It’s truly a time to celebrate! Taking the good with the bad and everything in between, we all managed to survive 2009 one way or another, and that in itself is reason to rejoice.

Most commonly associated with New Year’s festivities, champagne is actually one of the few alcoholic beverages we always have on hand… Although that doesn’t mean we’re big on drinking it. In fact, those bottles in the back of our liquor cabinet have been there for as long as I can remember, and they’re likely to stay there for many more years to come as well. However, if there’s ever a good time to crack open a bottle of bubbly, this is it, and what ingredient would be more perfect to highlight in a New Year’s Eve dessert?

Appropriately decadent for such merriment, but still unbelievably simple, you could actually throw this recipe together at 10 pm and still have a dessert to toast with when the ball drops at midnight. Creamy and redolent with rich vanilla essence, the champagne flavor is delicate but absolutely detectable. Although you could easily stop right there with nothing more than a simple custard, I decided to dress mine up with a small dollop of unsweetened, whipped coconut creme, and a handful of crunchy chocolate pearls to mimic the bubbles that would be in the drink. A fantastic contrast to the sweet pudding base, I’d recommend substituting crispy cocoa rice cereal should such a specialty item be unavailable.

Yield: Makes 4 Servings

Champagne Custard

Creamy and redolent with rich vanilla essence, the champagne flavor is delicate but absolutely detectable. Although you could easily stop right there with nothing more than a simple custard, I decided to dress mine up with a small dollop of unsweetened, whipped coconut creme, and a handful of crunchy chocolate pearls to mimic the bubbles that would be in the drink.

Ingredients

10.5 Ounces Vegan White Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
3/4 Cup Champagne, Divided
1 (10.9-Ounce) Package Extra-Firm Silken Tofu
1 Vanilla Bean, Split and Seeds Scraped Out
Pinch Salt
Coconut Cream, Skimmed from the Top of a 14-Ounce Can of Coconut Milk and Whipped for 5 - 8 Minutes
Crispy Chocolate Pearls or Cocoa Rice Cereal

Instructions

Place the white chocolate (finely chopped if using bars) in a microwave-safe dish along with the margarine and 1/3 cup of the champagne. Microwave on high for 1 – 2 minutes, checking at 30 minute intervals and stirring thoroughly until melted. Don’t panic when it turns a translucent, yellow-ish color, as this is normal and it will re-solidify in a more off-white hue.
Meanwhile, thoroughly drain your container of tofu, and place it in a food processor or blender. Puree, periodically scraping down the sides of the bowl, until smooth and lump-free. Set aside.
Once entirely melted and smooth, add in the remaining champagne, vanilla bean seeds, and salt. Reserve the spent vanilla pod for another purpose, such as making vanilla extract or vanilla sugar. Mix well but gently to combine, to prevent the champagne from foaming up, and transfer the mixture to your food processor or blender which is full of tofu.
Blend to combine, and once fully incorporated, divide the mixture between four champagne flutes. Chill for at least two hours before serving.
Top with coconut creme and chocolate pearls of cocoa rice cereal if desired. Cheers!

Recommended Products

Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. I have experience with all of these companies and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something through my links.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 743Total Fat: 53gSaturated Fat: 35gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 121mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 1gSugar: 48gProtein: 9g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

December 29, 2009November 20, 2025

Hannah (BitterSweet)37 Comments