Sometimes I like to make this vegan mushroom gravy because you can dump it all over all kinds of stuff and it makes everything taste amazing. Savory and meaty and delicious. (Sausage gravy will achieve the same purpose, but this is cheaper than buying nice sausage from the farmers market, and mushrooms are really tasty anyway). 
Today I put it on a baked sweet potato for lunch. Last night I put it on spaghetti squash and collard greens. This is my go-to gravy for making vegan/vegetarian soul food dinners; I usually make mashed sweet potatoes with some brown sugar and bourbon, whip up a batch of this gravy, stew some greens, maybe fry a couple green tomatoes or bake some biscuits…. good to go. No meat needed. 
(I feel like I need to acknowledge that this sweet potato is bright purple. I bought it at the co-op the other day, not realizing how vivid the color would be. Hooray for purple vegetables, right?)
VEGAN MUSHROOM GRAVY
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tbs. vegan margarine, butter or olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 c. diced onions
- 3 c. sliced mushrooms*
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/4 c. nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. of soy sauce (or, if you don’t eat soy, balsamic vinegar is good)
- 3/4 c. water or vegetable stock
- 2 tbs. chopped parsley
- salt and black pepper to taste
Heat the butter in a sauté pan on medium. Add the garlic, onions and bay leaf and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are cooked through. Add 1/4 c. of water to the mushrooms while they’re cooking to make sure they don’t stick and burn. Add the whole wheat flour and nutritional yeast and stir to coat the mushrooms mixture. Let it start to brown on the pan a little bit, add the soy sauce and let it cook for another minute. The pan should be getting a little brown and crusty, but not actually burned. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 c. of water or vegetable stock. Keep stirring and the gravy should come together and thicken within a few minutes. If it’s too thick, add a little more water. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
*I used a mixture of shiitakes and button mushrooms, but it really doesn’t matter what varieties you choose.
grow it cook it can it 