Green Vegan Poutine

1. Soak the cashews in a large bowl covered with hot water. Soak dried mushrooms in 3 cups of hot water. Leave to soak for thirty minutes.

Baked Fries

1. Preheat the oven to 450F/230C.
2. Wash and scrub potatoes. Remove any rough or hard bits from the potatoes.
3. Fill a large bowl with cold water.
4. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Cut each potato half into four slices. Place the sliced potatoes in the water to keep them from browning.
5. Using a clean dish towel or paper towels, dry the fries off fully before placing them on the baking sheet.
6. Arrange the fries in a single layer on a pizza stone, stone baking sheet (the stone will make sure the potatoes get extra crispy), or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure the fries are about ¼ inch (1/2 cm) apart on the baking sheet. If the fries are too close, they will steam and not get as crispy.
7. Sprinkle the fries with sea salt. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the fries are crispy and golden brown. Flip the fries halfway through to ensure even baking.
8. Toss with additional sea salt when the fries are fresh out of the oven. Repeat in batches until all the fries are baked.

Vegan Cheese Curds

1. Make the cheese sauce while the fries are baking.
2. Rinse the cashews and add to a high speed blender with the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients (tofu through to nutritional yeast). Add ¼ cup water. Blend until silky smooth (you may have to stop the blender and scrape down the sides once or twice). Add extra water by the tablespoon, if necessary. Taste test and add additional herbs, salt, or pepper to taste.

Vegan Gravy

1. After preparing the cheese sauce, prepare the vegan gravy while the fries are baking. In a small pot, saute onion over medium high heat in a splash of water until translucent for 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add red wine and and simmer until the wine has reduced to ⅓ of its original volume (if using balsamic reduction, just add to the pot). Add onion powder, thyme and garlic salt. Stir.
3. Add mushrooms with the mushroom broth water to the pot. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. To thicken the gravy, in a small bowl mix corn starch with 4 tbsp of COLD water to create a thin paste. Rapidly whisking the gravy, add the cornstarch paste to the pot.
5. Turn heat down to medium low and simmer gravy for another 10 minutes. The gravy will begin to thicken and will continue to thicken after you remove it from the heat. Taste and season with additional sea salt, pepper or garlic salt.

Sauteed Kale

1. Saute onion and garlic powder with a dash of water in a pan over medium-high heat. Add kale. Saute for 1 minute until the kale is lightly sauteed.

Assemble Poutine

1. Add a large handful of the fries to a plate. Top off with kale, a drizzle of the cheese sauce, and add a scoop of gravy. Garnish with green onions. Enjoy!