Veggie Pâté

I often joke that I was a flower child baby, because by the time I came into the world, my mom had already embraced many aspects of the hippy lifestyle of late 1970s Montreal. One of the areas where this was most evident was in her approach to food and cooking. A cherished cookbook in our household, published the year after I was born, is Le Bonheur du végétarisme (The joy of vegetarianism) by Québec author Danièle Starenkyj. Danièle's book turned végépâté into a Québec classic. If you go to just about any grocery store in Québec today, you will find an assortment of different brands of végépâté, so tasty they are enjoyed by meat eaters as much as by vegetarians. But veggie pâté is also incredibly easy to make at home.

Veggie pâté is handy to have around at this time of year. After Christmas, theres often still a fair amount of entertaining and socializing going on but people sometimes feel weighed down by all the rich foods theyve feasted on. Veggie pâté is a nice counterpoint to what I affectionately refer to as the post-Christmas food coma.

You can serve it up with crackers and pickles as a nice alternative for those who want to take a little break from meat and pies and cookies. Also, the vegetarians in the group will love you for it. And if youre looking for something new and unique to bring to someones house as a gift, this is guaranteed to get a few surprised ooh and ahhs, especially if you package it with some homemade crackers or bread.

Over the years, Ive brought my own tweaks to the recipe. I like to add carrots to my version and use Bragg's liquid soy seasoning to add a bit of umami to the loaf.

Once you have the basic recipe down, its fun to experiment with different variations: sundried tomatoes are delicious, as are mushrooms and fresh herbs.

But here, Ive stuck to my own basic recipe which is quite close to Danièle Starenkyjs original and deliciously flavorful as is.

I love this recipe because it contains ingredients that I almost always on hand in my kitchen. But I should say a few important words about the one ingredient some of you may not be familiar with. If youve never heard of nutritional yeast, dont fret, its not as gross as it sounds and it lends incredible flavor and nutrients to this pâté so resist the urge to skip it. Its worth seeking out (also because it happens to make the best all-time popcorn sprinkle-on topping). Nutritional yeast can be hard to come by but most health food stores carry it. There are several different types of nutritional yeasts. Do not use brewers yeast or bread yeast, you would get very different and probably alarming results! Do not use the powdered version either. Be sure to use only the light flaky kind. Here is a photo of what it should look like.

I grew up with veggie pâté so to me its a wonderful and versatile comfort food. Im always curious to hear feedback from people who are new to it, so I would love to read your comments below if you do make it. Enjoy!

Aube is a passionate organic gardener and home cook who likes to share the stories of how food gets to our dinner plates. Her work has been shown on television and at international film festivals. Her web series has been nominated for multiple James Beard Awards for Best Video Webcast (On Location). In 2012, she was the recipient of Saveur Magazine's Best Food Blog award in the video category.