Biscuits and Gravy

My husband lives for foods that are heavy, full of rich flavors and fake meats if possible. This morning, when asked what he would like for breakfast; blueberry pancakes? smoothie? tofu scramble? He asked for biscuits and gravy. So I made a compromising biscuits and gravy that turned out full of fresh herbs and lighter on the stomach.

For the biscuits, I whipped up a recipe for "buttah-milk biscuits" from Jae Steele. They were less dense than biscuits I've made in the past.

For the gravy I started with the typical gravy slurry using margarine instead of oil. Added rehydrated TVP, water, mushrooms, spices and fresh herbs.

-3-4 tablespoons margarine

-chopped onion and garlic (enough to meet your needs; I like a lot of garlic and only some onion)

-flour (enough to absorb all the margarine in the pan)

In a hot, frying pan heat the butter until it melts adding the onions and garlic. Once the onions and garlic start to turn translucent add the flour and mix it up. You want to form a thick paste in the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds to cook off the floury taste. Next add water.

-1 to 1 1/2 cups water (I add veggie broth paste next; so if you don't have that use some veggie broth halved by the water)

Whisk it up! You want the flour paste to dissolve in the water/broth mixture. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil. The sauce will start to thicken. Here's the trick; you don't want it to thicken too fast. If it does, add more water because that will be lame gravy if you don't.

At this point, add whatever other ingredients and spices you would like in your gravy. Today I added.....

-1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I really chop them up. The smaller pieces work better in gravy)

-Ground pepper

-Thyme

-Veggie broth paste (if you didn't use the broth earlier)

-1/2 cup rehydrated TVP

-Fresh oregano, chopped

-Fresh basil, cut into ribbons

Turn down the heat a bit and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes. During this time you should be stirring your gravy to keep it from burning to the bottom.

Viola! Serve on top of biscuits.