There’s a really yummy comfort-food vegan restaurant in Chicago that has a version of this wrap, only it’s filled with tofu, a soy-based dressing and wrapped in wheat. It was my “junk-food” vegan fix until I finally kicked soy and gluten (almost) for good. I have missed that little wrap so much. The cooling ranch dressing paired with the spicy kickbutt Jamaican Jerk tofu. I decided that it was high-time that I come up with a nutrient-rich, soy-free version for myself, and I have to say that this recipe is better than my old flame. You can use lightly steamed (or raw) collard greens for a wrap instead of the sprouted grain tortilla that I use, and you can also dump all of the fixins in a large bowl and have yourself one of the tastiest salads around. All options are delish.

Tools:
Steamer*
2 large pots
Large plate
Large glass bowl

*If you don’t have a steamer, you can place diced sweet potato in a glass casserole dish with 2 tbsp water in the bottom and roast the potatoes about 20 minutes until soft.
Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
Sprouted grain tortillas (or collard greens raw or steamed or gluten-free tortillas to make this recipe GF)
Mixed greens
Fresh lentil sprouts (optional)
1-2 tbsp clean gluten-free jerk seasoning from a jar (not a dry rub)*
Creamy Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Ranch Dressing (homemade is best)
2 cups cooked chickpeas (try your best to soak them overnight and prepare them yourself instead of eating the aluminum-soaked ones)
1 1/2 cups cooked buckwheat (here’s how)
2 cups sweet potato, diced and steamed
3-4 large kale leaves, chopped and steamed for 2 minutes, until they wilt.

*Make sure that if you are not making your own jerk seasoning, that you buy a clean one where you recognize all of the ingredients. It really should be onion/scallions, Scotch Bonnet peppers, sea salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, thyme and maybe a smidge of sugar. That’s it. Jerk seasoning is very spicy and I am the type to put enough in to start a fire, so please start with small amounts. Stir in 1-2 tsp and taste, add more if you want more kick and remember that the ranch dressing is cooling and will be a terrific accompaniment when all wrapped together.

Let’s get started.
I prepare sprouted buckwheat and chickpeas for this recipe and then cook them. Here’s how to cook chickpeas and here’s how to cook buckwheat. Place together in a large glass bowl when done.

Take your diced sweet potato and steam for 15-20 minutes until soft—a fork should go in easily, but not so much that they are mushy. Once cooked, toss in the bowl with your buckwheat and chickpeas. Add the chopped kale to the steamer for 5 minutes, or until soft.

Add your steamed kale. Stir well.

Now, stir in the jerk seasoning. Start with less and slowly add more as you go, and remember that the ranch dressing is very cooling when paired with the spice.

Lightly steam a sprouted grain tortilla for about 2-5 minutes and lay flat on a large plate. Spoon in some of your jerk veggies and legumes. Add some lentil sprouts and mixed greens.

Top with Creamy Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Ranch Dressing and wrap it up!

You can skip the tortilla all together and make a ginormous salad. This recipe is a great one because all week you will have fixins in the fridge to play with. Make wraps, make salads…have fun.

Today is my birthday so I made a little gluten-free, dairy-free cake with my favorite spice in the wide world—Cardamom. Thought I’d share, and now I’m off for some fun. Happy Day.

You can prepare these little cakes any way you want—I used ramekins as a mold and then removed them, frosting the whole cake. For a less-fussy prep, just keep them in the ramekins and simply frost the tops or make mini cupcakes out of them. I bet you could also bake in a glass loaf pan and frost the top for bread-like slices of cake. Just have fun and share what you come up with (#YUMadeIt).

Makes: 4 servings
Time: 25 minutes

Tools:
4 4″ ramekins
Blender
Chef’s knife
Sifter or strainer
Silicone spatula
Unbleached parchment paper
Glass mixing bowls
Small pan
Kitchen scissors (optional)
Tongs to remove ramekins from oven (optional)

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
Cake
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup sucanat
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 red apple (honeycrisp, pink lady or gala are the best)

Frosting
1/4 cup toasted coconut
8 medjool dates, pitted
1 tbsp sucanat
2 tbsp cashews
1/2 cup pure water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut oil
Pinch fine ground sea salt

Let’s get started.
Preheat oven to 350F. Place little pieces of parchment (the size of the ramekin bottom) into your ramekins. Using a bit of coconut oil, grease the sides of the ramekins. Set aside.In a large bowl, sift together brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, sucanat, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and cardamom.

Place coconut oil, water, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, chia seeds and apple and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Using silicone spatula, sift together wet and dry ingredients. Spoon batter into ramekins, filling them 3/4 way.

Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Wash your blender.

After 15 minutes, carefully remove cakes and set aside to cool a bit.

Place all ingredients for the frosting in the blender and mix well until ultra creamy and smooth. Place in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Place coconut in a small pan heated over medium heat and toss for 1-2 minutes until brown. Keep an eye on this, the browning happens fast and you don’t want the coconut to burn. At this time, add a little extra if you want to sprinkle the top of your frosting with coconut, too.

Once brown, toss coconut (minus a bit for sprinkling) into frosting and fold together.

Once cakes are cooled completely (you can put them in the fridge to expedite the process), use a knife to free edges from ramekin. Place a little dish on top of the cake and flip.

Frost all sides and sprinkle with more toasted coconut if you’d like.

Enjoy!

This soy-free and dairy-free ranch dressing is part of another recipe I’ll be sharing soon, but I had to get this to you as soon as possible because it is easy to prepare and so deeelicious! I’ve been making ginormous salads with toasted walnuts, hemp seeds, lentil sprouts (if you haven’t made these yet get to it…they couldn’t be easier), chickpeas, buckwheat and steamed sweet potato or butternut squash—a little dressing goes a long way. It stores well in a glass container in the fridge so make a fresh batch and use it all week long. Fresh, homemade dressing is always better than store-bought.

Tools:
Blender
Chef’s knife
Small dish/bowl
Small pan (optional)

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
Buttermilk*
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

*A version of this recipe can be found in the popular Dairy Freedom eGuide that’s filled with 24 other helpful non-dairy recipes/replacements.

Other Ingredients
3/4 cup cashews, soaked
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh dill
1 tsp chives
1/4 cup onion, minced
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
1/2 tsp fine ground sea salt, or more to taste
Pinch fresh ground pepper

Let’s get started.
Place all buttermilk ingredients into small bowl and set aside to “curdle” for 5 minutes.

You can take this extra step, and I recommend it for rich flavor, but it’s not necessary: In small pan, add 1/4 tsp coconut oil, onion and garlic and stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes before adding to blender.

When ready, blend all ingredients, except herbs (dill, chives and parsley), until ultra creamy. Now, add herbs and pulse until they are just broken up but not too much that the dressing turns green. If you don’t mind green dressing, blend away—the taste is the same.

Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for 7-10 days. Besides salad dressing, use this recipe as a dip for Mixed Root Veggie Fries or as a spread for Lentil & Portobello Umami Sliders.

I found some kelp noodles at a raw foods store in Chicago recently and thought I’d give them a go since I’m trying to eat more sea veggies these days. And since they are the Whole Food of the Month, I know you are too. The texture of these raw noodles is pretty interesting—they are soft yet wirey and have a bit of a snap to them when you bite them, kinda like cabbage. Mixed with the pad-thai-like sauce and soft, chewy kale “noodles”, I think this could be a new favorite dish. Kelp noodles have an incredibly neutral taste and they are a fantastic source of trace minerals like iodine. Give them a try.

Makes: 2-4 servings
Time: 15 minutes

Tools:
Blender
Chef’s knife
Large glass bowl
Small pan

Ingredients:
2 large handfuls of kelp noodles*
3 large leaves kale, ribs removed, cut into ribbons (chiffonade) and steamed for 5 minutes
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro leaves (more if you like, I know I do)
1-2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (just toss in a pan warmed over medium heat for 5 mins)
1 tbsp sliced green onion

Almond Butter Sauce
2 tbsp almond butter
Juice of 1/2 a fresh lime
2 tsp lime zest
2 tsp miso (make this dish soy-free by choosing 100% brown rice, chickpea or adzuki bean miso)
2 tsp sucanat
2 tbsp nama shoyu (use coconut aminos for a soy-free/gluten-free recipe)
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Pinch cayenne

*If you want the noodles to be softer versus crunchy, just boil them in pure water with a pinch of sea salt for about 10 minutes, then strain and rinse.

Let’s get started.
Wash and chop cilantro and set aside.

Prepare your lime zest. Prepare your kale. Toast your sesame seeds and slice your green onion.

Place miso, lime juice, lime zest, almond butter, sucanat, nama shoyu, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and cayenne into the blender and blend well.

Place kelp noodles and kale into a large glass bowl. Add sauce and toss.

Top with green onion, chopped cilantro and sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to one week. Serve cold or warmed up over the stove/wok.

Substitutions:
If you can’t track down kelp noodles, use buckwheat noodles (make sure they are 100% buckwheat if you have a gluten sensitivity), rice noodles, mung bean or sweet potato noodles. It’s all about the sauce, so really, have fun experimenting. Just share what you create with us. And if you don’t use the kelp noodles, definitely get your sea veggies in by sprinkling the dish with some dulse flakes at least!

 
Have you tried our other recipes that use sea veggies?

Lemony Powerhouse Dulse Spread

Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Vegetable Lasagna

Brendan Brazier’s Lemon Lime Workout Recovery Drink

Raw Carrot Almond Crunch Maki

Also, when cooking grains, legumes or seeds, put a piece of kombu in the cooking water. It will not only expedite the cooking process, but will improve the digestibility, without adding any sea flavor to your dish. I keep a pack of kombu in my pantry at all times.

I had to make a pie on the fly recently and luckily found a 2-pack of gluten-free pie crusts at the store—there was no time to make one from scratch. It all worked out great, but I had almost forgotten about that second crust until dinnertime came after a long day last week. I was craving something substantial, yet easy and after gathering up some ingredients from my kitchen, this quiche recipe was born. I encourage you to keep pie crusts in the freezer from now on. Whether they are homemade or store-bought, you can fill them with veggies, legumes and grains and have an easy nutrient-dense meal that will last you all week long.

Tools:
Blender
Chef’s knife
Medium pan

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
1 9″ frozen pie crust*
3 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup red pepper, seeds and ribs removed, diced
1 cup cooked red quinoa, cooked (here’s how)**
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
2 cups pure water
3/4 cup cashews, soaked for 1 hour
3 tsp agar powder (or 3 tbsp agar flakes)
1 tsp fine ground sea salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Fresh ground pepper to taste

*Look for sprouted grain or gluten-free if you have a sensitivity. You can also make your own GF crust. Just use one of these recipes and leave out the sucanat.

**Feel free to use gold quinoa for a more traditional “egg-looking” quiche.

Let’s get started.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove pie shell from freezer if you are using a store-bought one.

Prepare quinoa if you haven’t already.

In a pan over medium-high heat, add coconut oil and brown onion, garlic and pepper for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.

Wash, cut and place broccoli florets in the pie shell. Top with cooked quinoa, then the cooked onion, pepper and garlic.

Blend together cashews, agar, salt, lemon juice and water until ultra creamy and smooth. Pour over broccoli, onions, etc. If you need to, use a fork to carefully move the filling around, allowing cashew mixture to fill up shell.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until top starts to brown.

Remove and allow to cool fully—at least 30 minutes. For the prettiest quiche, once baked, chill in the fridge overnight so the agar sets firmly. Slice, reheat in the oven at a low temp or enjoy cold.

Store in the fridge for up to one week.

If you are a regular on YumUniverse then you know that this month we are sharing recipes that use the nutritional powerhouse—Sea Veggies. This dulse-based recipe is one that I am trying to eat more often these days to support my electrolyte balance, and to help keep my cortisol levels in check. It’s super easy to make and you can spread it on Manna bread (my fave above), enjoy it with fresh veggies, or spread it on crackers. Sometimes, if it’s already made and in the fridge, I’ll just eat a spoonful or three to satisfy hunger—seaweed is truly one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world.

I like to make the lemon sauce and keep it in a glass jar in the fridge. The dulse is then stored in my pantry. I always mix the two together fresh when I’m ready to eat (or pack for lunch), although you can mix the two together and store the spread in the fridge. The sea flavor is enhanced when it has time to sit with the lemon sauce, so if you don’t mind that flavor, go ahead and prep it all ahead of time. I like just a hint of sea flavor, so I usually make mine fresh every time.

Read more about the benefits of sea veggies and why you should start making this recipe on the reg.

Makes: enough for many servings through the week. The step-by-step instructions below reflect a 1-2 serving size.

Tools:
Bowl
Spoon
Blender
Chef’s knife

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
Dulse flakes*

Creamy Lemon Sauce
1/4 cup organic lemon zest
3/4 cup soaked cashews (you can also try 1/2 cup cashews, 1/4 cup soaked sunflower seeds)
1/3 cup pure water
3 tbsp fresh, organic lemon juice
PInch fine ground sea salt

*It’s important to note that sea vegetables are known for their ability to absorb minerals from the water. Often, these are healthy minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium and iodine. However, when sea vegetables are located in polluted waters, they may also absorb heavy metals such as arsenic and lead. So, whenever you can, it’s best to purchase organic sea vegetables.

Let’s get started.
Place all Creamy Lemon Sauce ingredients in the blender and mix until ultra super smooth.

Spoon 2 tbsp dulse flakes in a bowl. Add 3 tbsp of creamy lemon sauce and mix well.

Spread onto a slice or two of manna bread, homemade Raw Sprouted White Bread, veggies or crackers. Enjoy!

Psst: If the sea taste is still too strong for you, add more zest and lemon juice to your sauce. You can also add dulse flakes to soups, salads and one pot dinners like Peppered Lentils with Butternut Squash—just sprinkle in to taste, like salt. Experiment and share with us what works best for you.
Have you tried our other recipes that use sea veggies?

Almond Butter Kelp & Kale Noodles

Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Vegetable Lasagna

Brendan Brazier’s Lemon Lime Workout Recovery Drink

Raw Carrot Almond Crunch Maki

Also, when cooking grains, legumes or seeds, put a piece of kombu in the cooking water. It will not only expedite the cooking process, but will improve the digestibility, without adding any sea flavor to your dish. I keep a pack of kombu in my pantry at all times.

This gravy recipe prompted one of my most recent dinner guests to ask “is this beef gravy”? Well, I take that as a pretty nice compliment since, from what I remember, beef gravy is rich, savory and undeniably beautiful (if done right). This version is definitely rich, savory and purty, but it’s also gluten-free, dairy-free and 100% plant-based. Did I mention it’s incredibly easy to make as well—using only a handful of ingredients? Try it out this holiday season on recipes like Mushroom and Thyme Mashed Potatoes and wow the omnivores in your life.

Tools:
Blender or
Food Processor or
You can leave the gravy unprocessed, just chop veggies super small
Saucepan
Spoon or whisk

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
3/4 cup yellow onion, chopped (here’s a tip)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp brown rice miso
2 cups veggie broth (make your own, or I recommend low sodium Imagine brand)
Slurry made with 1 tsp arrowroot powder and 2 tsp pure water (just mix well)
1/4 tsp fine ground sea salt plus any more you’d like to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tsp cold-pressed coconut oil

Let‘s get started.
In a saucepan, place coconut oil and chopped onion. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onion become translucent and start to brown—about 7 minutes. Add garlic, stir and cook another 2 minutes.

Add veggie broth and slurry and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Stir in miso and salt. Once boiling, reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool down for about 5 minutes. If you like the thickness of the gravy, go ahead and blend in the blender or food processor until smooth (don’t blend if you like a chunky gravy, just go ahead and serve). If you want more thickness, add another round of arrowroot slurry and return to a rolling boil for one minute—stir constantly. Season with pepper and salt to taste. Serve warm.

Try out this gravy on Rea’s Mushroom and Thyme Mashed Potatoes, Easy Herb Roasted Veggies or Canadian-style on Mixed Root Veggie Fries. And stay tuned for more holiday recipes coming soon that would also be tasty with Easy & Amazing Gravy.

Enjoy!

If you want more energy, stronger and more efficient elimination/digestion, reduced cravings for bad foods, a stronger immune system (’tis the season for colds and flu), healthy skin and hair and a bunch of other goodness, it’s time to bring the power of the green smoothie into your life with this simple recipe. A green smoothie would do you right after all the holiday feasting this past weekend.

For those of you who want to try a green smoothie but may be intimidated or turned off by the color, give this one a try. It is only three ingredients, takes a few minutes to make and if you closed your eyes while you sip, you’d have no idea that you were basically drinking a ginormous fiber-rich salad.

You can also use this recipe as a base for improvisation—adding strawberries, blueberries, some ground flax, hemp seeds, pineapple, fresh almond milk…

TIP: For a frostier smoothie, use a frozen banana. It’s super important to peel before you freeze (just go ahead and try to peel a frozen banana). I tend to keep a bunch already peeled in an airtight glass container in the freezer, so when I want to make a smoothie, I just reach in the freezer and toss it in the blender. This goes for all fruit. If I have some fresh fruit that is a day away from going bad, and I won’t be able to get to it in time, I toss it in the freezer to save for smoothies. I love going in there to find figs, peaches and other goodies that are out of season.

Tools:
Blender

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
3 large handfuls spinach (you can easily use mixed greens, romaine or boston lettuce instead)
2 cups pure water (add extra flavor/natural sweetness with coconut water)
1 ripe banana
(optional) 2 medjool dates (or any kind of date—here’s how to remove pits)
(optional) 1 tsp cold-pressed coconut oil

Let’s get started.
Wash you spinach well.

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix until well blended. If you want a thinner smoothie, add more water.

Enjoy!

Store any extra in the fridge in an airtight glass container. Just shake up before you drink and remember that the fresher it is, the better.

If you want to really impress your Thanksgiving Day guests, serve these gluten-free, yeast-free crunchy breadsticks with Cashew Cheese Spread and Golden Raisin & Onion Honey Jam. They also make tasty, hearty drop biscuit if you’d like try that preparation instead. Make sure that you use gluten-free oats or gluten-free oat flour for an allergy-free recipe.

Tools:
Large glass bowl
Unbleached parchment paper
Cookie sheet
Large glass bowl
Whisk or fork
Blender

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
1 cup almond flour (use Benefit Your Life brand, no guarantees if you use Bob‘s Red Mill)*
1 1/2 cup oat flour (be sure to use gluten-free if you have a sensitivity or Celiac disease)**
1/4 cup potato starch (not flour)
3/4 cup pure water
1/4 cup cashews, soaked 4 hours
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp fine ground sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp cold-pressed coconut oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (here’s a tip)
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp fresh sage, chopped

* You can make your own almond flour by grinding almonds in the food processor until “dusty.” Take it one step further by then grinding in a coffee grinder if you want very fine flour.

** You can make your own oat flour by grinding oats in the food processor until “dusty.” Take it one step further by then grinding in a coffee grinder if you want very fine flour.

Let‘s get started.
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Prepare your herbs and set aside.

In a large glass bowl, whisk together flours, starch, salt, baking powder, baking soda and herbs.

Blend together apple cider vinegar, water, cashews and coconut oil.

Then, mix together wet and dry mixtures until a sticky dough forms.

Pinch off some dough— golf ball-sized— and roll into a ball. Then on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, roll dough out to a breadstick. Repeat until you use up all dough. Bake for 15 minutes.

Serve warm or let them sit on the counter overnight for extra crunch.

If you want a hearty, dense “biscuit”, just drop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

These little beauties are a perfect way to make your guests feel special this Thanksgiving. Each ramekin is carefully layered and seasoned to perfection and it shows in appearance and flavor. If you don’t have ramekins, just layer all ingredients in a medium glass casserole dish and slice once baked. Top either preparation with dairy-free Macadamia Cashew Cream Sauce and toast to the infinite possibilities for a plant-based Thanksgiving.

Makes: 8 servings
Time: 60 minutes

Tools:
4, 4″ Ramekins (or a medium glass casserole dish)
Mandoline slicer (or you can carefully, thinly slice by hand)
High-powered blender
Pastry brush (or small spoon to drizzle)
Cookie sheet

Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
Gratins
5-6 golden beets
4 granny smith apples
1 butternut squash
1 red onion
1 tbsp sucanat (optional)
1/4 cup fresh thyme, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cold-pressed coconut oil, warmed to liquid
Fresh ground black pepper
Fine ground sea salt

Cream Sauce
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, not soaked
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 4 hours
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt

Let’s get started.

Slice your onion on the mandoline and add it, 1 tsp of coconut oil and sucanat, to a pan and brown over medium-high heat 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. While onions brown…

…peel and slice your beets on the mandoline and set aside. Slice your apples (do not peel, the green is pretty) on the mandoline, and cut out the core/seeds on the slices where you find it. You want nice round slices of the beets, apples and squash to fill your ramekins.

Peel your butternut squash and slice as well. If your rounds are too big, use kitchen scissors, or a knife to trim off any extra diameter. Chop up and use your scraps/extra for a delicious batch of Peppered Lentils with Kale & Butternut Squash.

Using a pastry brush, or your fingers, grease your ramekins (or baking dish).

Place a beet round on the ramekin. Paint with coconut oil. With a very light hand, sprinkle—SPRINKLE!—a touch of sea salt and pepper on your round. It’s important to season all layers, so be sure to be delicate with your amounts. A tiny pinch will do. Imagine, if you had to (or could) count, you’d make it so only 20 little grains of salt/pepper are on each round. I like the kick of fresh pepper, but if you are not a fan, use pepper every third layer instead of on each one like I do.

Sprinkle beet with fresh thyme. Now place an apple slice on top of your beet. Then place a few onions on top.

Paint with oil. Add a pinch of salt/pepper. Now place a butternut squash round on the apple/onions. Season with pepper/salt. Repeat this order until you are able to exceed the height of your ramekin about 1/2″. They will bake down.

Again, use this order and repeat until ramekin is full:
Beet: coconut oil, fresh thyme, tiny pinch salt/pepper
Apple: coconut oil, tiny pinch salt/pepper
Onion
Butternut squash: Coconut oil, tiny pinch salt/pepper

No matter what layer you finish on, make sure you top it with fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

If you are using a casserole dish, follow the order and steps above. Just fill the dish.

Place your ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.

While they are baking, place cream ingredients in the blender and mix until ultra smooth. Drizzle over warm gratins and serve!

You can prepare gratins a day in advance. Just make sure they are covered well and you reheat them in the oven, never a microwave. Always use fresh cream sauce to drizzle, too.

If you want to keep this recipe/prep simpler, I bet you can make it without the butternut squash and it is still delish. Let us know.