On it like chocolate on strawberries!

All dressed up and everywhere to go! Chocolate-strawberry vegan cheesecake and cupcakes make you the most popular guy or girl at the party. Cupcake recipe is just the faithful old chocolate Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World one, topped with chocolate ganach. The cheesecake recipe is here at Bakingsheet. I just reduced the lemon juice, added some vanilla and baked a double batch in a homemade chocolate cookie crust.

New Farm Macaroni

Mmmacaroni and cheese- vegan style. Recipe is from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. I added some peas to the casserole and topped it with sliced fresh tomatoes and lots of paprika. Comfort food to the max.

If you're not familiar, the New Farm cookbook is great stuff. It's the favorite recipes of an intentional community called The Farm in Tennessee circa the '70's(complete with groovy cartoon illustrations and great vintage hippie action pics) . The Farm is still around, and besides pioneering simple down-to-earth vegan home cookery, they also were the first to distribute my beloved nutritional yeast (vegan dietary supplement and "cheesy" flavoring of the gods) and also apparently they also published a lot of work about natural birthing techniques. Anyway, it's cheap as heck used on Amazon, and you won't be disappointed, unless you're like looking for low-fat recipes or something. The brownies and the oatmeal cookies are particularly yummy.

Kitty pic for a good cause!

"Simone here, Jill's adorable rescue kitty here sporting my 'treats nao bish plz' face to remind you to please adopt an animal and to never ever patronize fly-by-night puppy mills and pet shops! 4 million adoptable cats and dogs are put down each year in shelters. I'm one example of an awesome rescued cat. I was found dumped in an abandoned part of the city, and then after I was rescued, I waited a whole year in a crowded cat rescue before I got a real home. Even after I found my home, I hid for weeks from the humans in the house because I was a scaredy-kitty, but now I *love* snuggling with my people, watching wildlife documentaries (OK, sometimes I fantasize about being a cheetah or a lioness!), meeting new visitors and obvs-- TREATS."

It's almost Halloween, when, sadly, many black cats are adopted as props or pranks nationwide and soon after discarded or worse, hurt because they're no longer "needed" for "decorations." Black cats (and black dogs) are already less likely to find a permanent home (seriously!) so give them a second look when you're out looking for a furry friend. Even if you have your heart set on a particular breed, there are lots of purebred animals in shelters and there are also plenty of breed-specific rescue organizations you can contact too. Just because an animal is in a shelter doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them. This campaign from Animal Care & Control of NYC does a good job of illustrating that. All these animals are "guilty" of is wanting some love!

Adopt A Pet, Save a life!
Black dog syndrome/ black cat syndrome

Perogies

Yukon gold potato-dill perogies served on a mound of perfectly caramelized onions. These were far and away the best perogies I've ever had, and I've had a quite a few. This recipe is in Vegan Brunch, my newest favoritest cookbook of all time. Tomas made them for me, so I'm not sure exactly how time-intensive they are, but from his exhausted state when I came home to find these cute little guys, I would assume they're a good bit of work. But the recipe make a LOT and they're all you'll want to eat anyway, so I say they're well worth it!

Bento Box: Curry Noodles, Avocado-Cucumber Roll, Steamed Dumplings

The curry noodles are whole wheat noodles with curry sauce (curry powder, vegetable stock with kombu and dried shitake, earth balance, chile flakes, tamari, cornstarch), sliced shitake and diced sweet potato. The sushi is cucumber avocado, nori and rice seasoned with rice vinegar and mirin with sesame seeds, and the dumplings are steamed from frozen, taro and red bean flavors.

Nacho!

Vegan nachos are really glorious with cold beer. Really. *Pats tummy* Multi-grain tortilla chips layered with vegan cheese sauce (nutritional yeast, raw cashews, cornstarch, tomato paste, lemon juice, oregano, pepper, onion and garlic powders, salt, turmeric), vegan sour cream (silken tofu, raw cashews, salt, lemon juice, umeboshi vinegar), guacamole (avocados, cilantro, lime juice, salt), black beans, chopped bell peppers and scallions.

"OhyespleasemorenaoNOMNOMNOM!" Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Pecan-Cranberry Filling and Orange glaze

So I made a pan of these for Easter brunch, to be enjoyed with some TLT's (homemade tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and vegenaise on whole wheat), curry roasted brussels sprouts and yukon gold potatoes, various fruit, tea and juice. Despite demolishing the other offerings, over 1/2 the pan of cinnamon rolls was gleefully consumed over the course of the afternoon, by, um, four people... And Tomas I had our way with the rest inside of two days.

Much thanks (and fat pants love!) to Katie from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk. Her original recipe here. My mods = double the filling, add pecans and cranberries to filling, and add orange zest to glaze recipe.

Better than Delivery Pizza

Vegan pizza bianca (white pizza): pizza dough from this, the easiest and fastest dough recipe of all time (generously pointed out to me by the wonderful queen of comfort food at Yummy Vegan dinners ) topped with cashew-tofu ricotta from V-con, and some chopped plum tomatoes, and sprinkled with fresh basil and cracked black pepper after baking. Simple, summery and a big hit with everyone!

101 Tacos, er, posts!

Happy 101st Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen post! Enjoy this celebratory taco! (Filling: soy beef, black beans, sauteed in olive oil with onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomato paste, vegetable broth, cumin, oregano, paprika, chile powder and salt, served in a corn shell with lettuce and tomato and guacamole: avocado, cilantro, salt, and lime juice.)

Note: it is impossible not to like this. True story!

Roasted kabotcha with broccoli and peanut sauce

Roasted kabotcha squash with broccoli, peanut sauce and brown rice. I got the peanut sauce recipe from The Enlightened Kitchen: Fresh Vegetable Dishes from the Temples of Japan. The author, Mari Fujii suggests it with fried kabotcha but I roasted it instead. This book is gorgeous by the way: color photos, diagrams, simple but elegant recipes. No onions and garlic though, as this is all vegetarian (mostly vegan) Buddhist temple-style cooking.

Japanese yam dumplings and sesame lemon asparagus

Behold: your inner dumpling.








In trying to re-create a favorite guilty pleasure from Vegetarian Dim Sum called, ahem, treasure balls, I stumbled across a magical flavor combination: Japanese yam (the purple ones that are white inside), Earth Balance, tamari, fresh minced ginger, garlic and sliced scallions. Difference that the infamous deep-friend golden dim sum orbs, but when stuffed into a little flour wrapper, a glorious, new dumpling is born. Served with some asparagus briefly boiled, tossed with earth balance, lemon juice and sesame seeds.

Chocolate chocolate chip pistachio cayenne cookies!

Recipe is a modified JOVB recipe; remove the peppermint from the chocolate cookies, add pistachios and cayenne. Yum.

Birthday Post '09

I turned 24 a few weeks ago and had a party at my apartment to celebrate. As usual, I went overboard with the food, and was stressing myself out about it, but everything went over well, so I was extra happy. The snack theme started as Latin-Middle Eastern fusion, but ended up being more eclectic than that. Good music, good booze, good food, cute new dress, lots of good friends. Thanks to everyone for coming :)

The Food:







Mini pita breads, with store-bought avjar (eggplant and red pepper spread), homemade chipotle-pumpkin hummus (chickpeas, canned pumpkin, tahini, lime juice, salt, powdered chipotle, paprika, fresh parsley), baby carrots, broccoli and red pepper strips.










Guacamole (avocados, lime juice, cilantro, onions, salt), chips, some chili-lime cashews from Trader Joe's. I make awesome guacamole. It disappears like whoa.













Coconut lime cupcakes (recipe in vctotw) with pomegranate frosting (eb, spectrum shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, coconut extract, and the secret ingredient is pomegranate molasses, my new favorite thing) topped with coconut shreds and pomegranate seeds were a giant hit, and some yummy pistachio-rosewater cookies from veganomicon that my oven burned most of (TWICE!)









"Chicken" tikka masala skewers were some very fun party food (who doesn't like food on a stick?). The "chicken" is TSP (texturized soy protein) chunks rehydrated in veggie stock, tomato paste and liquid smoke, then squeezed out and marinated in plain soy yogurt with a packet of tikka masala flavorings, plus extra garlic, turmeric, paprika, cumin, lemon juice and liquid smoke. The chunks sat in the yogurt mix for a few hours and then we skewered them with pieces of white onion and green bell peppers and roasted them in the oven for a few minutes. Guests said this was very meat like. I also ate some of the unskewered leftover chunks and veggie pieces stir fried over coconut-almond brown basmati and it made an awesome morning-after-the-party brunch with tea, consumed while watching lots of DVD's.

Tempeh-tastic

Homemade tempeh bacon based somewhat on the VWaV recipe: steamed tempeh marinated in maple syrup, tamari, liquid smoke, orange juice, garlic and chile flakes fried in peanut oil. Roasted yukon gold potatoes (just with a little canola and salt,) and some mixed baby greens with maple-mustard dressing (maple syrup, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt).




If you've never cooked with tempeh before, you should definitely give it a try. Tempeh is a Indonesian-style fermented soy product. It's made with whole soybeans and has more protein an fiber than tofu. You can pick it up at a well-stocked health food store or grocery usually in long cakes. I usually steam it first, to remove some bitterness and to tenderize it. Just a few minutes will do fine. Then throw it in a stir-fry, like this one...




Tempeh stir-fry: Steamed tempeh, steamed kale, broccoli, red bell peppers, sesame oil, peanut oil, scallions, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh ginger, agave, tamari, peanuts, sesame seeds, served over brown rice.

Samosa stuffed baked potato

This might be my favorite recipe from Veganomicon so far. The samosa stuffed baked potatoes are assembled much like traditional twice-baked potatoes, but instead of adding lots of cream, butter and cheese to your mashed potato filling, you add a mix of vegetables and spices traditionally used when making samosas, the Indian appetizer of fried dough with spiced potato and vegetables. The only additions I made were adding a little extra salt and some chile flakes to the mix, and sprinkling the top with paprika for the traditional twice-baked mystique.

Mushroom, onion and red wine tarts

Mom got me cute little tart pans; I thew together these babies to put 'em to use. Ingredients: (filling) mushrooms, onions, garlic, red wine, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, red chile flakes, rosemary, oregano, thyme, (crust) whole wheat pastry flour, water, canola oil, salt. A little bit of bacon-flavored Cheezly is grated on top.

Peace and justice for people and animals...

I thought this would be a great article to post on MLK day. I didn't know prior to reading this, but Coretta Scott King was a vegan in the last decade of her life, something she learned about from her son Dexter. When you think about it, it makes complete sense than people dedicated to achieving justice for people would also be interested in extending their compassion to animals too. I know some vegans who have been told that their concern for animals is not important when there is still so much human suffering in the world, but the people pointing this out are probably not doing very much to help people or animals, at least not while they are picking on someone trying to do their best. It is entirely possible, and necessary to work on both fronts, simultaneously--and I don't think that this is any more difficult to do since going vegan is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. In fact, when you are consistent in the way you treat others (people and animals), I think it's incredibly fulfilling. So if you're thinking about going vegan, today would be a great day to start. :)

Oh, and who is the handsome guy in the picture? Why it's the very charming Dylan from Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, which I was lucky enough to visit over the summer. Dylan is rescued veal calf, a "byproduct" of the dairy industry all grown up, gorgeous and sweet as pie.

Must-have vegan cornbread recipe

If you have not seen this yet, do yourself a favor and check out this recipe for Dana Sly's Blue Ribbon Vegan Cornbread. I have made this many times, including for Thanksgiving with the family--it is always a hit. The bread is slightly sweet, and for the batch pictured here I added some chopped red bell pepper and scallions to the batter and it was great. I have also added jalapeno peppers in the past, and that was my favorite variation so far. It looks sort of speckled from the surprise ingredient--lots and lots of ground flaxseed. The flax keep the bread moist on the inside while the crust gets just a little crunchy. Flax is also incredibly healthy: lots of omega three fatty aids without the cholesterol, mercury or environmental consequences of eating fish. Keep on swimming fishies!

Vegan philly cheesesteak!

Tomas made the basic seitan from Veganomicon a few weeks ago, and when I put the leftovers into the fridge, right next to the Cheezly vegan cheeses I had given Tomas for x-mas, a cartoon light bulb brightened over my head: vegan philly cheeseteaks! Sorry the photo is a bit wonky from being taken at night/while I was starving and impatiently looking at a really delicious sandwich. We just toasted some regular sub type bread in the oven and sautéed mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions with salt, olive oil and red pepper flakes. The seitan was re-heated in a separate pan so it could get a little crunchy. For the sauce I made a roux of flour and canola oil, then added shredded nacho and white cheddar Cheezly, and added a little bit of garlic and onion powders, dijon, lemon juice and tomato paste. Totally irredeemable junk food—but totally delicious and fun dish to veganize since it seems just so improbable.

A word on Cheezly; this is the best commercial vegan cheese I have tried, but it is tricky to get in the U.S. Everyone seems to be out of it lately, I hope we can get it again soon!

All hail vegan caesar!

This is the vegan caesar salad dressing from Veganomicon with some garlic-y croutons, romaine, radicchio, endive, cannellini beans and sundried tomatoes. The dressing is satisfyingly garlic-y, omnivore approved, very easy to make and much healthier than the original version. Perfect work lunch.

Potato-beet gnocchi with garlic collards and tahini-lemon sauce

So I got a ricer for Christmas (thanks Mom!) and honestly the only time I can think of ricers coming up in conversation is when discussing gnocchi. I had tried to make gnocchi a while back and they had not come out so great, but I think I learned a few things about making this tricky pasta from scratch. For one, make sure to thoroughly mix all your flour and seasonings together thoroughly before adding your riced potatoes. Also, I found that my gnocchi cooked best when the water was at a rolling boil. Cooking them in small batches kept the water temperature up too. Ingredients: gnocchi: baked russet potatoes, white flour, white whole wheat flour, beet powder, salt. Greens: collard greens, minced garlic, olive oil, salt. Sauce: tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tamari, turmeric, water.

The Vegan's 100

How many of the following have you tried? We're talking vegan versions of all the below.

From Bittersweet:

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!"

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69.Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79.Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Hmm, I think I did pretty well. it's good to be a vegan in NYC with enough disposable income to eat out. Lucky me can get most of these dishes within a few minutes walkign distance of my apartment or my office. A few pressing concerns have been brought to my attention though-- namely, a vegan baklava (been meaning to make this forever), gazpacho (seriosuly, how could I have never eaten this?) and a meal at Candle 79. I've been to pretty much every other NYC vegan restaurant, but somehow I've missed that one. Not on the UES too often I suppose.

Chocolate-strawberry cupcakes!

Baked especially for For my little cousin's sweet sixteen: chocolate cupcakes from vctotw with vanilla buttercream frosting from jovb, filled with strawberry jam and topped with sliced strawberries and mint leaf garnishes. Jealous much?

Voulez-vous des crepes végétaliennes?

Would you like some vegan crepes? Er, maybe I should ask you in Italian since these babies are seasoned for a more Mediterranean palate. In any case, they are le kick-ass. Totally impressive looking but not too complicated. The ratio of fancy lookingness to relative ease of preparation is just right for a dinner party or a night in with your kitties if you have, as I do, very judgemental animal companions. Another plus is that the various components of the dish (crepes, fillings, sauces) can be prepared in advance and assembled and baked the day of. Bon appetit, er mangia, er, NOMZ! to you friends. Special thanks to Roomie for helping out with the prep work.

You need:
*2 batches of somewhat thicker-than average savory vegan crepes. Make this recipe if you don't already have a favorite. Omit the vanilla and double the whole thing if you're wary of you crepe-making abilities and need to practice. I also used some evoo to make them too instead of earth balance and canola.
*2 jars of your favorite marinara sauce or a similar amount of homemade for the more impressive among us
*1 recipe of tofu ricotta from Veganomicon (firm tofu, cashews, garlic, olive oil, lemon, spices)
*1 can plain pureed pumpkin
*1-2 cups sauteed greens of your choice
*Spices! I used red chile flakes, oregano, basil, nutmeg, salt and black pepper.
*9 x 13 inch glass or ceramic baking dish or 2 smaller ones (how much space you need depends on how tightly you roll your crepes)

Make them:
1.) Make your crepes! Refrain from scarfing them all down immediately. I know, it's difficult isn't it?
2.) Whip up some vegan ricotta in your food processor
3.) Spread out a generous layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of your baking dish
4.) In a mixing bowl combine ricotta, whole can of pumpkin, greens and salt and spices to taste
5.) Fill crepes with the pumpkin-ricotta mixture, roll them up and lay them into your tomato sauce filled baing dish
6.) Continue untill dish is filled
7.) Pour another layer of sauce on top of rolled crepes
8.) Cover dish with foil and bake at 375 degrees until bubbly and thoroughly hot, about 25 minutes

Local (vegan) color

Pasta Primavera D'Estate (that's Italiano for summer kids): Whole wheat macaroni with local collards, summer squash, tomatoes and garlic sauteed in earth balance with salt, pepper, red chile flakes, oregano and chopped walnuts.

Summer is coming to an end and I'm really going to miss the fresh local produce even if I havent been as diligent as I should have about getting my butt to all the Greenmarkets New Yorkers have to choose from. Recently I checked out the Red Hook Farmer's Market run by Added Value which is just a 15 minute walk from my apartment in Brooklyn. Added Value is a non-profit focused on sustainable development in Red Hook and youth-powered urgan agriculture helps supply the market with gorgeous fresh produce. When I was there I picked up onions, tomatoes, garlic, collard greens and tiny yellow sugar plums. I only wish I had started checking out the farm sooner; they are doing some amazing things over there. In addition to youth empowerment through urban agriculture (including the market and farm-to-school education programs), they also work on sustainable business development and restaurant partnerships, critical in a community where, according to the Added Value webiste:

"Twice in the past three years Red Hook's only full-service grocery store closed, forcing residents to walk three miles and cross an eight lane road or take a $10 cab if they want to shop there. If you are have limited resources or are physically unable, as much of our population is, the only options are corner stores and delis which stock few fresh fruits and vegetables, carry meat and dairy products of questionable quality and charge inflated prices. With few healthy choices available, our neighbors eat many meals at fast food restaurants; and the preferred diet among teens is chips, honey buns, and a "fruit drink".

Limited access to healthy safe and affordable food and limited understanding of proper dietary practices has contributed to a neighborhood health crisis. Red Hook residents suffer disproportionately from asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. Child hospitalization rates for diabetes are over twice that of NYC; for adults, the ratio is roughly three to two."

Lucky and priviledged person that I am, I can generally afford to pay for the more expensive organic foods and have the luxury of time, transportation and education to think about these issues both generally for my city and our planet and also specifically as they apply to my dinner table. Unfortunately many New Yorkers do not have access to these resources and as a result poverty is the largest idicator of obesity and many other diet-related illness. Currently I am doing some research at work on how to integrate food security as a social justice concern into my office's best practices. Since all of our clients are all indigent and low-income people in crisis situations, many of them could benefit from our assistance with issues of hunger and nutrition.

Speaking of lucky, lucky me and my fantastic workplace, I came into some organic produce from Norwich Meadows Farm of Norwich, NY, when a foodie enthusiast co-worker generously offered to let me pick up her weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share at the Stonehouse Olive Oil shop near our office while she was out of town. I was pretty excited to recieve baby salad greens, assorted summer squashes, tomatoes, garlic, red onions in addition to some sizeable red beets which I have previously been too intimidated to cook. That's one thing I love about the seasonable, local food available through CSA's and farmers markets: unfamiliar or uncommon vegetables inspire culinary innovation and bravery in the humble home cooks like myself. Anyway, I'll let you know what I make with the beets and also how much surface area of my kitchen has been stained hopelessly red.

I <3 sleeping late...

Lazy weekend mornings and homemade brunch. Yum.





Homemade whole wheat flatbreads (flour, water) with carob-almond spread (raw almond butter, carob powder, agave) and sliced bananas.









Black bean tofu scramble with cilantro sour cream and baked sweet potato fries: in scramble: tofu, black beans, tofu, tahini, tamari, fire roasted tomatoes, cumin, turmeric, served on a whole grain tortilla. sour cream: raw cashews, silken tofu, cilantro, olive oil, salt. sweet potato fries from bag o'frozen.

Vegan pronto

Two quick Italian dinners:







Basil-almond pesto with kale: basil, almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, brown rice pasta, kale.












Polenta with spring vegetable ragu: cornmeal, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, onion, garlic, red chile flakes, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, salt.

Curried plantains

Curried plantains: green plantains, chickpeas, grated unsweetened coconut, broccoli, tomatoes, garlic, onion, yellow curry powder, red chile flakes, allspice, oil, salt.

T-S-T

I love tomato season! Whole wheat sourdough toast with tempeh bacon, sliced tomatoes, spinach, vegenaise and mustard.

Baking with Agave Nectar

Um, hey guys, I don't know if you've er, noticed or anything, but I kinda eat a fair amount of sugar. What with all the cupcakes and the blogging and saving the animals the children and the world and such and such it all adds up... You know what I mean, right? Anyway, I have been trying to cut down on my sugar consumption but found that this pretty difficult for a hard-core dessert addict such as myself. "If only I could have my cake and eat it too," I thought. Then I realized, of course I could as long as its baked with agave nectar!

Yes, agave nectar, everyone's favorite unrefined low-glycemic vegan liquid sweetener! Agave nectar, or syrup, is harvested from the same cactus that tequila is made from and is imported from Mexico. It comes in both light and dark (raw) grades and kind of tastes like a mellowed out version of maple syrup. Many vegans know it well as a replacement for honey. Besides not being regurgitated by enslaved little bees (who are having a hard time these days after all!) agave is also safe for diabetics as it won't mess with your blood sugar and it actually has a bit of nutritional value as opposed to refined table sugar. Normally I just use a squirt in my tea or drizzle a bit on toast with almond butter and cinnamon (breakfast of cruelty-free champions), but this month I dove deeper.


Baking with Agave Nectar was my initial inspiration. This cookbook is not 100% vegan, but is still totally worth investing in. There are lots of vegan and easily veganizable recipes in here. Also, all recipes use unrefined flours and many recipes are gluten free. Indeed, several and fairly low fat! If you're looking to health-ify your dessert options this is a great place to start. I anticipate making many more recipes from this book, hopefully gettting around to treats like chocolate peanut butter mousse-filled cupcakes, dairy-free blueberry cheesecake, chocolate silk almond pie, tropical rice pudding, and gingerbread cake with lemon creme topping. NOM.






My first attempt at the recipe for blueberry pie with almond crumb topping from BwAN led to more of a berry crumble type dish, but it was the perfect end to a sweltering city night with friends. It was also a nice start to next day too as breakfast cold from the fridge ;)








Attempt number two at pie, with the same recipe as above, this time with fresh cherries and mangoes, was more successful. I added a bit extra starch and that seemed to do the trick. I think I will make an all-mango pie sometime soon as they worked out so well in this!






Speaking of mangoes, here is a mango raspberry smoothie next to a green tea and chocolate smoothie, both made with fruit sweetened Soy Delicious ice cream which I like a lot because they're not overly sugary but still have a nice texture and awesome range of flavors. Oh, and you can polish off a pint for under 500 calories. Yeah. In the mango raspberry: mango raspberry ice cream, frozen raspberries, mango nectar, agave nectar). In the green tea and chocolate: green tea ice cream, fair trade cocoa powder, soymilk, agave nectar, matcha green tea powder.




Vanilla agave cupcakes fwith not-too-sweet blueberry mousse rom the recipes in my beloved Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Indeed the mousse was not too sweet, so I added a bit more agave than was called for. With tofu-based frosting these were the healthiest cupcakes I've ever made. Jackie and Roommate agreed that the bright blue topping (which tasted a bit like yogurt actually) with a little shredded coconut on top made the cakes look very cartoonish-- sort of like Dr. Seuss food. Better than Green Eggs and Ham anyway, blech!






Vanilla snap cookie from a BwAN recipe. I added chopped dried mango and lime zest and served them with dried kiwis (an exciting new find from the magical land of Bulk Food Bins at Sahadi's), mangoes and cranberries.






Banana date bread (I also added cashews) from BwAN toasted and topped with a scoop of almond-pecan fruit-sweetened Soy Delicious and homemade caramel sauce is comfort food in multiple snuggly layers. Boy (who went vegan on our second date!) agreeded that we probably can't ever break up now that I've made this for him. I guess banana bread sundaes are just that heartwarming :)

Curry!

I don't care how hot it is out-- I could just bathe in Thai curry. Easy and yum.




Masamun curry: Tofu, carrot, kale, potatoes, peanuts, garlic, onions, coconut milk, masamun curry paste, tamari.










Green curry noodles: Brown rice noodles, red peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, onions, bamboo shoots, kale, coconut milk, green curry paste, tamari.

Baking from Veganomicon

Quinoa muffins a la Roommate. These are healthy-type muffins that I would eat for breakfast with my usual pear-berry smoothie. Often on Sundays Roommate will make muffins for the week which is lovely, but she is prone to very bran-y or dense health muffins while I am advocating for blueberry or chocolate or something. These were a nice compromise since they stay light and fluffy. Also, since we had red quinoa on hand they came out looking like "freckle space muffins." Mmm hmm.



I made "Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies" to take with me to a volunteer shift at Bluestockings where they were much appreciated. The cookies come out nice and chewy and perfectly gorgeous but I think if I make them again I will *not* use the peanut oil suggested and opt for canola and also omit the sesame oil and replace it with more almond extract. A few people thought the cookies were peanut butter cookies and while I have nothing at all against those I really do want something distinctly almond flavored.

On a broader note; sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been really busy with work, personal stuff and volunteering. I have been going to a ton of AR and food politics events and even joined a food justice bookclub so I should have plenty to blog about when I get my lazy butt around to it. I also got a free package from Pro-Bar that I will be reviewing and I was accepted to a "Food and Farm Action" advocacy training at Just Food this month. I think it will be really interesting to learn more about food policy and work on some new projects and I also think its important to hold a vegan perspective amongst food justice folks since they seem usually not to be AR type people. I will do my best to represent though really I just want to work on a project that promotes eating more vegetables-- who can argue with that, right?

More cookies for indecisive vegans...

*Open up your copy of Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which you obviously own, being a reader of this blog and all, to the recipe for chocolate chip cookies
*Prepare batter as usual
*Add 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, 2/3 cup dried cranberries, 1/3 cup flaked coconut and the zest of a small/medium orange.
*Roll 1 1/2 - 2 tbs of dough into balls, smooshed slightly
*Bake about 8 minutes
*Enjoy!

Oh, and try to use unsweetened cranberries and coconut if you can get your hands on them (your heath food store will have 'em) and if you can't, reduce your sugar a bit. Also, I used 1/2 AP flour, and 1/2 "white whole wheat" flour from King Arthur Flour which is magical stuff. It bakes like white flour, but is all whole grain goodness. If you wanted to increase the health factor further, sub 1/3 of the vegan margarine for applesauce. I've done it before with nice results, but alas, I was out of it today.

Spicy ginger peanut sesame noodle salad

Brown rice fettucine slathered in dressing (peanut butter, tahini, water, rice wine vinegar, tamari, sriracha, ginger, sesame oil, agave, lime juice), tossed with raw veggies (shredded carrot, sliced scallions and seedless cucumber), served on a bed of baby spinach and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Next time I might add some avocado slices on top too since it goes so well with peanut (try an avocado peanut butter sandwich for lunch some time. I promise I will not steer you wrong here). I was also thinking that this would make the perfect summer potluck barbeque (meat-free hopefully) dish. It doesn't need to be re-heated, it's fast and straightforward, you can customize it with whatever you like (add whatever veggies are hanging out in your fridge, maybe some corn, some snap peas or mushrooms, or some tofu or tempeh), and it doesn't scream; "OMG THIS IS VEGAN FOODZ!?!" to omnivore friends. Really, it just says, very politely "hey, I am very delicious, ask for my recipe," and then coughs; "go vegan..." Heh, talking food.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

It's not complicated at all! Just press some tofu, dust it with cornstarch, fry in some canola or peanut oil, toss with pineapple chunks, sweet and sour sauce (I found a bottled one without high fructose corn syrup). Serve with brown rice and steamed or sauteed vegetables with a little fresh garlic. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Ta-da!

Pretty, pretty food...

And lots of it. Happy spring all!






Cilantro-pignoli pesto on brown rice fettucine and steamed broccoli.












Fried plantains and citrus-cayenne-garlic black beans and corn over brown rice with avocado, salsa and cilantro-basil-pecan pesto.












Pistachio rosewater cookies from Veganomicon are fantastic, just make sure not to over bake them!










Really delicious coconut cupcakes from an everybody loves sandwiches recipe. The texture is a little more dense than the VCTOTW coconut-lime recipe, which my sister and I decided tasted somehow more traditional. Like the cupcakes you brought in for an elementary school bake sale or class birthday. Also note the ironic decorative papers-- Easter eggs on ovo-free baked goods, heh.

Palak Tofu and Sweet Potato Paratha

Here is the Palak Tofu from Mahanandi, a recipe I've had bookmarked forever, alongside some red quinoa and Sweet Potato Paratha, inspired by a post by Kamutflake Girl.

The palak tofu was made with palak (spinach) and with collard greens, so I guess it's really saag (greens) tofu. There is powdered poppy seed in the recipe, but since I was unable to powder the whole seeds in my food processor I just added them whole, and I don't think they did very much thickening, though they certainly didn't hurt the flavor. Next time I'll used ground cashews instead and save the poppy seeds for lemon bread. I also used canned tomatoes since those are no way in season in NYC, and I don't think I hurt anything. Overall, this is very tasty, and pretty low-fat (for me anyway), and didn't require any ingredients that I didn't already have so I will definitely be making this again. I will continue to tweak this recipe a bit though and also probably try some new ones. Saag paneer was always a favorite of mine and I'd love an Ultimate Vegan Version of the American-ized version I ate in the past. Plus dark, leafy greens are probably the healthiest things on the planet, like ever.

The parathas (whole wheat chapati Indian flatbreads with vegetable filling) were very yummy, and are made with unbelieveably simple dough, so I think I'll probably just make them instead of buying flatbreads from the store from now on. Seriously, just some flour, water, oil, maybe some earth balance for frying and a *little* bit of time and you're on your way to impressive, homemade, customizable breads. I couldn't figure out how to fill they correctly so they were more chapati than paratha on my first shot. Now that I've watched this helpful tutorial though, I will try again very, very soon. Also I still have all this leftover sweet potato filling in my fridge, so I kind of *have* to. Life is soo-o-oo hard!

I'm still very, very much a novice at Indian Food, but I love cooking it at home so far. I can control how much oil I use, and I can use substitutes for dairy (like tofu and margarine in the case) or vary my grains by using quinoa instead of rice if I'm in such a mood. Which I was. And of course at home you can make huge quantities to eat later. Which I will. Yum

PB&J, Ginger-Chocolate, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip with Cinnamon Icing Cupcakes

Made cupcakes for office's "Happy Designated Mid-Month Birthday Lunchbreak" party. Both of the other vegans at work were born in February, so I had to come through, plus my baking was subsidized by the petty cash box. Oh, I *have* come a long way baby, I have. Now, why do you ask?

The trio in all their glory: PB&J are the Fluffy White Cupcakes from Schmooed Food that always seem to come out perfectly topped with VCTOTW peanut butter frosting, which, if made correctly (use the mixer for the correct amount of time people) comes out super awesome. They are also filled with organic raspberry jam of course. Also pictured are the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World. I had been skeptical that these would be muffin-y, but behold, very cake-y and the extreme cinnamon goo on top was a nice compliment. Finally we have Ginger-Chocolate Cupcakes which are just the basic chocolate recipe from VCTOTW with a ginger infused ganache topped with chopped crystallized ginger. They look very classy-like but are quite simple to pull off.


Here is a shot of the PB&J cakes sliced open. Look at the cute little "v" I made by scooping cones out of the cake tops, filling the holes with jam and re-inserting the cake bit. It was um, so intentional...

Sushi, cupcakes and dip: the belated birthday post

My birthday was um, a month ago. I had an awesome party and ate awesome food. Much thanks to Roommate for help making sushi (which is usually more fun to make when you don't also have to clean your apartment the same day). Here is the spread:




Peanut avocado rolls.















And mango, cilantro and red pepper rolls. I also made butternut squash and shitake rolls and spicy chickpea rolls (chickpeas mashed with vegenaise, sriracha and tamari).










A sesame-peanut dip from The Native Foods Cookbook with rice crackers and fresh veggies.













Awesome vanilla cupcakes from the Vegan Lunchbox blog topped with berry jam and fresh sliced strawberry.

Wheeler's Black Label I-Don't-Care-What-You-Call-It-It's-Freaking-Delicious: A Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen Review

Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of test-driving some of the infamous Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream. I had talked to Wheeler on the phone myself beforehand about some generous samples that had sadly gone missing in the mail (get your own frozen non-dairy desserts FedEx carriers!) and about the then roiling mini-controversy that erupted on his blog (now cleared, and the product over there remains Very, Very Vegan of course). I found him to be such a nice and convincing guy that I left my cozy apartment and trekked into Manhattan on a day so cold I doubted the very existence of the pants on my butt... to go sample ice cream!

All this is to say that the odds were not all in favor of this scrappy little product in the face of my lazy food journalism. Yet when I finally arrived at the super packed East Village art gallery Little Cakes to wrap my icicle-hands around some of the goods, all I could muster in the way of accolades was...

"AWESOME."

I honestly don't recall exactly which flavors I sampled - I'm not sure I was ever told or ever asked. But there was some peanut butter-y-ness, some chocolate chips, some cinnamon, I think I recall some coconut and I know I definitely remember seriously surprising quantities of booze per bite. In general, the flavors were intense, the mix-ins were generous, though not overwhelming, and the various notes worked together in perfect harmony; a 1 + 1 = 3 sort of situation. One memorable"experimental" batch which included fancy tequila, black pepper and earl grey was frankly mind-blowing despite being consumed on the frigid walk back to the F train. Even if my memory has faded a bit and some details are blurry around the edges, I do know this; Wheeler's Ice Cream had far and away the best texture of all the vegan frozen desserts I have tried--which is to say, many. Since this smooth, thick, consistent texture is the most elusive quality in vegan ice creams, I feel pretty confident that you could pass this stuff off as its evil dairy counterpart. Though with such a remarkably better nutrional profile and inspired attention to flavor, who the hell needs to?

Lucky for me Wheeler's will be live and local in Brooklyn this weekend for an Oscar party with wunderkind guest star Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet and My Sweet Vegan fame. Check it out.

Also, please, please, please out Wheeler's website and blog for photos that do the ice cream more justice than my sad, sad little dixie cup snapshot above. *Drool.*

Spicy pineapple cashew stir-fry

This is one thing I'm always ordering out, but always need or want it tweaked exactly to my specifications; no egg please / no fish sauce, right? / can you make this with brown rice? / extra pineapple/ extra cashews (I wish I could get raw cashews...) / with extra veggies too! / oh, and make it spicier, and add some garlic... and some ginger! Obviously I don't subject the waitstaff at local Thai restaurants to all those demands, so ...

Finally when some leftover takeout rice (uh, yeah, the irony) presented itself, I finally made it myself, just the way I wanted it.

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this is the proper way to make a stir-fry, or Thai food, or really anything. Further tips are appreciated!

Spicy pineapple cashew stir-fry:

*About 2-3 tablespoons of safflower oil
*About 1/2 teaspoon of dark sesame oil
*1 clove garlic, minced fine
*1 inch ginger, minced fine
*1 large carrot, grated
*4-5 mushrooms, sliced
*Large andful of green beans, trimmed and cut in half
*Large handful of broccoli florets
*About 3 cups leftover cold rice (I used a combination of brown and white)
Tamari to taste
*Sriracha to taste
*Black pepper to taste
*1/2 pinapple (or one can, drained) cut into chunks
*3-4 scallions, green and white parts chopped thinly
*Large handful of cashews (roasted or raw,) crushed lightly

*Heat your oils in a large wok. Remember, the key to a good stir fry is moving quickly!
*Add garlic and ginger, as soon as they sizzle, add your carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and green beans and cook briefly until slightly, slightly softened.
*Add the rice, tamari, srirach and pepper, letting the rice get toasty by spreading it out on the wok and not stirring for a bit.
*Add pineapple onto an open well in the bottom of wok and allow it carmelize slightly, then stir it together.
*Toast cashews slightly in a well in the bottom of wok.
*Stir, make sure everything is warmed, slightly browned and veggies and just tender.
*Serve immediately, enjoy!

More yummy optional ingredients:
*Smoked or bbq baked tofu, cubed
*Chopped cilantro
* a Spoonful of curry powder

In which global warming confuses my taste buds...

The random warm days apparently now sprinkled here and there this January made me seriously crave salad. It's a nice change from all the roasted root veggies and brown rice I've been consuming lately. (Truly, has there ever been a more vegan-er-ish comment than that?)

Peanut-Sesame covered Rabbit Food:

Salad: romaine, purple cabbage, shredded carrot, cucumber, scallion, chickpeas.

Dressing: peanut butter, tahini, tamari, sesame seeds, sesame oil, tangerine juice, agave nectar, sriracha, dijon mustard, black pepper, water.

Oh, and while the title is (kind of? hopefully?) a joke, I'm linking to one of the many meat = bad for the environment articles right here.

Have it all cookies <3

Ok, I'm still working on the recipe, but I promise to post it eventually:

*coconut lime shortbread raspberry jam thumbprint cookies with dark chocolate drizzle*

(whew!)

They're pretty awesome right now, but since I've never posted an original baking recipe before, I want everything to be juuuust right.

More festive foods

I saw a recipe for something like "maple mustard glazed potatoes and green beans" in VWaV while I was planning my x-mas dinner contributions and spending time with the family. I thought it looked pretty yummy, but we ended up going with the standard amandine preparation anyway. I knew I'd make it for myself eventually, but alas, when I returned to my apartment I realized I had left the cookbooks at my parents house. Arg! Anyway, I decided to improvise my own recipe and it was *awesome.* It included: maple syrup, dijon mustard, olive oil, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, black pepper and sea salt. You whisk it up (the mustard makes the whole thing emulsify perfectly). I poured the mixture over some veggies in a casserole dish and baked until tender at 375 degrees. I've already made this again using brussels sprouts and I think the monster butternut squash on my kitchen table awaits a similar fate. Maybe also beets...or sweet potatoes. These are great on their own, but some leftover veggies/sauce + cranberries + pecans + baby spinach = best...salad...evvvver.



New Years Eve food included some store bought taro and red bean steamed dumplings and massive amounts of fried veggies (onion rings, sweet potato fries, whatever else was in the crisper...?) for no especially good reason other than perhaps a latent desire to give all of my otherwise healthy young guests some early coronary events. Anyway, my friend Momo and I created a very effective deep-fried assembly line and the best dish of the night was really his idea: champagne tempura batter! We dipped some baby bella mushrooms and some green beans in it and I have to say, the mushrooms were really the star here. I mean seriously, perfectly puffy, golden, fatty, little mushrooms. Nom. Nom. Nom. Everything was served with an impromptu aioli (roasted red pepper, vegenaise, white beans, garlic, basil, sea salt, pepper).

Champagne tempura:

*1-1 1/3 cups liquid: we used almost all cold champagne, but you can use water too. If you use champagne you'll probably need more liquid.
*1/2 cup AP flour
*1/2 cup rice flour
*2 tbs ener-g egg replacer powder
*pinch salt
*pinch sugar
*pinch red pepper powder

*mix egg replacer with liquid, whisk until frothy, add rest of ingredients.
*dip your veggies (mushrooms strongly suggested,) and roll in panko if desired.
*fry in canola or safflower oil.
*remove veggies from fryer, drain.
*finish with lots of black pepper.

Enjoy! And happy new year!

Mmm... Dinner.

X-mas dinner for The Vegan: spanikopita and ginger-roasted winter vegetables from VWAV and green beans amandine. The spanikopita was again a big hit with the entire family: from my cousins' elderly southern grandma whose jaw dropped when I finally dropped the tofu-bomb to my younger sister who is admittedly a very picky eater, especially around vegetables and tofu. Phyllo dough is truly the stuff of wonders. The roasted veggies were popular too, though next time I think I'll just make them with sweet potato and squash since they cook faster and I like them better anyhow.



Grilled zucchini and eggplant on a baguette schmeared with homemade sundried tomato and white bean spread (with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, basil).

The x-mas baking post!

It's been so much fun looking at everyone's holiday baking, sorry my post is a bit after the fact but I was still baking pretty late on Christmas Eve.



Here is the big Christmas dessert platter: pine nute & anise cookies, sugar cookies and lemon bars from Joy of Vegan Baking plus peppermint-chocolate cupcakes inspired by Vegan Dad (chocolate cupcakes recipe from VCTOTW and buttercream from JOVB with peppermint candies and peppermint extract.) Everything was yummy, though the sugar cookie dough was a little difficult to work with. Using a little bit of water did help though.








Banana chocolate chip muffins from JOVB: totally perfect and fluffy!












Pumpkin bread from JOVB again, this time with walnuts and cranberries.

Pearberry Smoothie

I'm not going to lie: this smoothie was inspired by a lotion fragrance several years ago. It's still one of my favorites though; pears are the real underdog of the smoothie world. They rival frozen bananas for their addition of interesting textural elements and their delicate flavor works well with a wide range of other ingredients: berries and vanilla are great, but chocolate non-dairy milks, ginger, apple juice, almond butter and strawberries all also work well with pears. Also champagne and pear juice makes a good (weekend) A.M. beverage with your french toast, tofu scramble and what have you...

Pearberry Smoothie:
*Chilled canned pears, preferably in their natural juice and not in syrup.
*Vanilla soymilk
*Frozen mixed berries

Whiz together and enjoy!

Maple madness!

Roomie and I made some spicy maple candied nuts (cashews, pecans and hazelnuts) inspired by Bazu's recipe on Where's the Revolution?


Mini gingerbread cupcakes with maple buttercream frosting are the perfect reward for the friends who trekked out in the sleet (!) for our housewarming party this weekend. These are insanely addictive. I used the cake recipe from VCTOTW and the JOVB buttercream using 1 tsp. of maple extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I actually made the gingerbread cuppers about a year ago with the original lemon frosting and I messed them up pretty good--how I was able to get a vegan cake to dry out or Isa's frosting to go runny I do not know, but lets all be glad my vegan baking skills have improved so very, very much. Oh, and if you can find it near you, use the Reed's brand candied ginger, and add a little extra to the batter. Also, don't even *think* about tasting the batter, because you may not actually make the cupcakes when you end up eating half the bowl...

French Toast and the Magic of Flax

So, Roommate got me the Teany Book which doesn't have a *ton* of recipes, but is very cute. I made the french toast which I think was way better than non-vegan french toast since the flaxseeds make the toast just a little nutty (and much healthier!), and there is a ton of cinnamon and vanilla in the soaking liquid. Moby and Kelly offer a yummy looking plum syrup recipe to go with it, but I just used maple. Another big plus: this recipe takes just a few minutes to make-- easy peasy and no omnivore would ever be the wiser...

Yuca tortilla

My friend Heather and I made the yuca tortillas from Veganomicon. The combination of soft mashed yuca, bell peppers, garlic and olive oil give the dish a slighty cheesy flavor and I also added spinach and mushrooms because I had them. We agreed this would be even better with cilantro if you have it.

Fancified Food

Dessert first: vanilla ice cream sundae with mango and mixed berry compotes, vanilla cookies and toasted cashews.











Roommate made the kabotcha-udon winter stew from Veganomicon. The broth is awesome, and you could totally just put whatever veggies and noodles you had on hand in this. It also tastes good with some gomaiso on top. Yum.











Roasted veggies (yukon gold potato, cauliflower, eggplant, red pepper, onion with canola and italian herbs) on brown rice pasta with earth balance, white wine, pignoli, lemon and black pepper.

Vegan MoFo Survey

Ok, I feel weird posting this... 'cause I don't know if you all really care, but it's part of the Vegan MoFo fun, so here goes!

1. Favourite non-dairy milk?

Vitasoy Organic Unsweetened Original and Blue Diamond Chocolate Almond Breeze.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?

A fancy millecrepe of yet to be determined filling/s, lasagne, pumpkin chocolate chip bars.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

I usually buy the kind with sea salt and olive oil already on it.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

Forgot baking soda in a batch of sweet potato biscuits. Eek.

5. Favourite pickled item?

Not really a fan of pickles of any kind...

6. How do you organize your recipes?

They're in book, or on scraps of paper in books or cut and pasted into a computer file, or in my brain.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?

Avocado, chickpeas, cranberries.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

Inventing my own cookies: peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip!

10. Favourite vegan ice cream?

Double Rainbow bran something or other: I had it once and now I can't find it again! Barring that, carrot cake flavored Rice Dream.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

Immersion blender, hand down.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

Red chile flakes.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

I think the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook has been around the longest.

14. Favourite flavor of jam/jelly?

Raspberry.

15. Favourite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

Green tea cupcakes from VCTOTW.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

Tofu; it's so versatile!

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?

I love baking in the afternoon, but making a fancy dinner w/ multiple dishes and dessert is the best.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

Brown rice pasta, a cookie rack, a huge comntainer of dried dates, dried pears, dried figs, bananas, a lime, a lemon, garlic, onions, a shallot, apples.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

Bah, just 3? Ok, broccoli florets, taro dumplings, flax seed... I am a freezer queen though-- there is A LOT.

20. What’s on your grocery list?

I just went today but we're always getting organic chickpeas, canned fire roasted tomatoes, vitasoy, sweet potatoes, onions, whole wheat bread, frozen berries, frozen fake chicken, pita chips, organic firm tofu, newman's own ginger o's and whatever fruit is in season.

21. Favourite grocery store?

Gorgeous indie health food store near my apt. or when I lived closer to one, Trader Joe's.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.

Millecrepe. Also those italian tri-color cookies. Nom nom.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?

Urban Vegan, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, Eat Air.

24. Favourite vegan candy/chocolate?

Terra Nostra Rice Milk Choco. Or anything chocolate + orange or raspberry.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?

Organic raw almond butter. Like $14 I think. Oy. I really wanna make this date-almond butter-banana smootie though you see...

Fried Cauliflower

Not usually a huge fan of cauliflower, but I had some to use up. This would make an awesome appetizer, though I of course ate it for dinner.

Cauliflower w/ rice flour, salt and pepper fried in safflower/peanut oil and served with some leftover marinara. Yum.

Stuff a squash not a turkey!

Mom and Jill take Thanksgiving very, very seriously:




Pomegranate champagne punch with rum and mint.












Artichoke stuffed with breadcrumbs, olive oil and garlic.












Roasted butternut squash, onion and apple soup with pecan cilantro pesto.












Roasted sweet and blue potatoes with fried shallots.











Stuffed sweet dumpling squash with wild and basmati rice, apricot, cranberry, pecan and cardamom from Compassionate Cooks.









Stuffed mushrooms from Veganomicon were a big hit.













Veggie platter with glazed baby carrots, roasted brussels sprouts and cippolinis, steamed broccoli and green beans almondine.












A very full plate with all the aforementioned plus vegan mashed potatoes (no omnivore was the wiser...), some freehanded cornbread and soy sausage stuffing and a rosemary drop biscuit from The Joy of Vegan Baking (easy, delicious). Oh and no, I couldn't finish it all, though I tried my best.












Chocolate pumpkin pie from Dreena Burton's Eat Drink and Be Vegan, and apple strudel from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Both were excellent and will be made again soon.

Weekend Food

A out-of-town guest stays for brunch, and I make snacks for a night in with the girls...




Tofu scramble with baked sweet potato home fries: local tofu, soy sausage, spinach, chickpeas, mushrooms, earth balance, onions, garlic, tahini, tamari, red chile flakes, rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme. Sweet potato, olive oil, sea salt. Obviously, this was all covered in ketchup the second after I took the photo.





Brownies from Joy of Vegan Baking were moist and fluffy-- more of the cake-y variety-- and nearly fat-free. Still looking for the elusive fudge-type brownie veganized...









Sundried Tomato Dip from Veganomicon is simple and delicious if not super photogenic.

Sometimes I don't cook...

So Roommate was inspired to cook by our lovely new kitchen and promises to make it a weekly occurance. I hope so! She made the Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Carmelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon which was awesome. It's really mellow and creamy and a crowd-pleaser I'm sure. This would be a great Thanksgiving dish as its not too complicated or time consuming, it's made with familiar ingredients and best of all it can be made in advance and baked later.

Lentil soup and curry plantain patty on bok choy

Lentil soup: red lentils, vegetable stock, spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, red chile flakes, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, black pepper, sea salt.

Plantain patty: boiled, mashed plaintain, brown rice, panko, curry, cinnamon, salt.

Bok choy: with tamari, orange juice and sesame

VeganMoFo

Ahh, I can't believe I missed November is Vegan MoFo! Well, there is still half a month left-- get ready!

VeganNOMNOMNOMicon

Veganomicon is out, and you just know I have a copy... I may have been distracted by the siren song of The Joy of Vegan Baking for a bit, but I suppose at some point I need to eat dinner before dessert. So I started testing some recipes for my very first vegan Thanksgiving and they all went over well with my little veg*n dinner party last night.


Here's the chickpea cutlet with mushroom gravy from Veganomicon served with some mashed potatoes (yukon gold, new potatoes, earth balance, vitasoy, salt, pepper) and some asparagus (with sesame, tamari, earth balance and lemon juice.) The cutlet was fun to make since I am usually too intimidated to make seitan-y fake meat-y stuff myself, and this was pretty easy. The flavorings were thyme and sage but you could always switch them up too. I think I'll make them again and use in sandwiches since they are so way better than any pre-made sliced "meat" stuff. Also, I'm realizing that I eat *a lot* of chickpeas. They're just so cute and versatile. Do all vegans do this? Am I going to turn into a chickpea? Do I sound crazy? Crazy for chickpeas?! Heh. Oh and the gravy? So good. I added a bit of chile to it which is obviously non-traditional but pretty much mandatory around here. I think next time I will add some rosemary too and maybe use earth balance instead of oil. Also, now that I've bought a big bottle of sherry you can expect that to show up more often since I don't plan on drinking that stuff, ew.



Chewy oatmeal cookies from Veganomicon. They say to use raisins, which are literally the only (vegan) food I don't much like, so I made them with chocolate chips instead. These are awesome, but make sure not to overbake them! Also note that this may be the most delicious cookie dough you will ever eat. I have half a mind to not bake the rest of the dough chillin' in the fridge and just eat it with some vanilla Soy Delicious. Yum...

Just for you...

Sorry about being such a lazy blogger lately. Can I make it up to you, please?

Here' s some spiced chickpeas, pumpkin puree, fire-roasted tomatoes and spinach (canola oil, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander powder, tamari, turmeric, red chile flakes, black pepper, fresh garlic and onions) on brown rice...




And for dessert I have truffles: three kinds! There's espresso, coconut and cinnamon-chile. (semi-sweet chocolate chips, soy milk, maple syrup, chile powder, cinnamon, ground espresso. coconut extract, sweetened coconut shreds.)



We cool now?

The Joy of The Joy of Vegan Baking

Buy this cookbook now-- there are no excuses. Observe:


Pumpkin cheesecake. Perfect for the Thanksgiving, duh! This is a more "cheesy" cheesecake, so add more brown sugar if you want to cut that tartness a bit.
















Strawberry cupcakes really do have a subtle strawberry flavor so please use organic fruit in there. Topped with vanilla buttercream (best vegan buttercream I've had so far.)















Pumpkin bread (canola oil variation with chocolate chips.) I forgot to take a picture of them, but the loaves rise beautifully. This was really popular with everyone, and I'll be making it again soon and probably adding some nuts and dried cranberries to the mix.















Chocolate peanut-butter no-bake pie...tastes like a giant truffle and is insanely easy.















Lemon bars. Perhaps my favorite of all: pretty, not too complicated, no crazy-sounding ingredients.















Cocoa spice muffins. You *must* make these with the cayenne!













I really can't say enough good things about this cookbook, or Colleen. I met her at the Boston Veg Fest and she is so sweet in person. If you haven't already you should totally check out her Vegetarian Food For Thought Podcast (link to your left) and her cooking DVD which is really well done. Everything I've made so far from JOVB has been gorgeous and delicious. You may want to add a little extra sugar to a few of the recipes (I'd say the cheesecake and muffins benefit from just a little extra) but that is subject to taste. Just test the batter before it goes it the oven.

All the cool vegans...

are posting Mac n' Yeast lately... *Warning: delicious peer pressure to follow* I served some of the good stuff here with some Italian spiced veggies: eggplant, artichokes and spinach. I usually just mix in some broccoli with the noodles and top it all with cornflakes or breadcrumbs though.

I can't believe it's not even cold out and we're already in comfort food mode. Not that I'm complaining anything ('cept maybe about the impending doom posed by global warming since c'mon, it's almost November)... This was actually one of the first dishes I veganized (before I went vegan) just to make sure I could do it-- between this stuff and the cupcakes I definitely don't miss a (pus-filled) thing. I don't have a recipe for Mac n' Yeast since I just make it up every time. Essentially it's whole wheat macaroni topped with a roux based yeast flavored sauce. (White flour, canola oil, salt, nutritional yeast, soy milk, pepper, paprika, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, red chile powder, turmeric.)

If you've never used nutritional yeast before you might want to go easy on it at first, it's a different flavoring than what you might be used to-- it seems strange, I know, but you'll grow to love that bulk-sized tub in time; I promise. Just be sure to buy the "vegetarian support formula" since I've actually seen non-vegan varieties, ew. Plus the vegetarian support kind has *tons* of vitamin B-12: the only vitamin us vegans gotta watch out for.

Check out the yummy vegan groupthink here:
*A recipe by the lovely Lolo whom I met this week-- what a cutie! Her cookbook will coming out soon, remember to pre-order from Amazon soon!
*And another one from the truly prolific Susan at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
*Lindyloo the delightfully profane has a version too of course!
*Here's Jess of Get Sconed fame with a updated New Farm Cookbook recipe
* Plus, Lori of Pleasantly Plump Vegan with a nice lookin' plate
*And I know someone posted a pic with the Mac plated with eggplant and spinach which is where I got the idea for my dinner-- but I forget who it was. Will this yummy vegan blogger please stand up?

Boston Cream Pi-- I mean Cupcakes

See, it's apt since I'm going to be here this weekend. Yay!

From VCTOTW... Sorry it's a crappy pic; there is yummy custard inside the cupcakes but the ganache on top sorta seeped in there too. A bit of extra time is required for these babies, but anything for Beloved Roommate's birthday. We also went Vegetarian Dim Sum House and had one of the best meals in recent memory: cheap, adorable and 100% delicious. Please go there and enjoy red bean, sesame paste, vegetarian char siu bao, taro and assorted other dumplings, spring rolls and such. I don't really know what's involved in the famous "treasure balls" either-- except it's like mashed potatoes but crunchy and oh geez just go there, ok? No really, now!

Vegan Lunchables

A carbtastic dinner tonight + lots of leftovers for lunches this week: roasted delicata squash with spinach, basil and artichoke pesto (with pignoli, olive oil, vegetable broth, oregano, black pepper), roasted sweet potatoes, mashed parsnips and potatoes (with olive oil, rosemary, black pepper and soy milk), brown rice and some store-bought cranberry sauce, inspired by vegan yum yum's latest post. I don't care how hot out it is outside-- I want fall food!


Peanut ginger tofu salad w/ carrot and cucumber sticks and toasted whole wheat pita triangles inspired by an Everyday Dish show with Julie Hasson, but taken in a more Thai direction by yours truly. In the salad: extra firm tofu, peanut butter, sriracha, scallions, grated carrot, cilantro, cucumber, ginger, garlic, tamari, white pepper.

More cookies!

So I went to a vegan baby shower this weekend. It was awesome; I met so many vegans and had a great time. There was a ton of dessert, so I don't know how many people ate these at the party ate cookies when there was a midblowingly cute tower of vegan cupcakes, the gold standard of vegan baked goods: the peanut butter bomb cake from Vegan Treats as well as some sort of yummy homemade chocolate pie with a cookie crust. A plethora of vegan desserts is always a-ok by me though. Anyway, here are almond apricot tea cookies from How it all Vegan, some chocolate chip cookies revamped from a Compassionate Cooks recipe and some raspberry jam thumbprints from a veg web recipe I think I'm going to work on a bit. Oh, and the food was catered by Red Bamboo in Brooklyn (including mango "chicken" salad, yum) and there was much Yeungling for all. Burp.

Congrats vegan parents; that's one very lucky baby, thanks so much for inviting me!

Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

A recipe so simple you could memorize it... And really-- you should.

Adapted from a Williams Sonoma Recipe

1 c. all purpose flour
1. c. quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c. earth balance margarine
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed lightly
1 ener-g egg replacer, prepared
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. soy milk

Preheat oven to 375.
Stir together dry ingredients (up to and including cinnamon) in a medium bowl
With a mixer on medium speed beat wet ingredients (everything else) in a large bowl until combined
Add dry ingredients into wet in two batches until combined
Roll dough into little teaspoon sized balls
bake 9-10 minutes.

AutuMMMn

Cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking (sample recipe online!) made with whole spelt and served with a schmear of homemade red onion vegan cream cheese and red pepper jelly I concocted from some gorgeous farmers market peppers and chiles.





Fall food is hands-down my favorite: kabotcha squash and green beans from the farmers market with Japanese curry roux, mushrooms, walnuts, dried cranberries, safflower oil, soymilk and black pepper.

And yet more cupcakes...

Sorry I've been lazy about posting lately, I've been busy you know, working. I know, I know, weird huh?

Aaanyway, I have TWO vegan co-workers at my new job. Yay! When I found out one of them had a birthday coming up I offered up my baking services pretty much automatically. One night o'baking and a very careful subway commute later I had forty some odd vegan cupcakes at the office. Some were skeptical at first, but these were certainly a hit. After all, who wouldn't be won over? There were green tea with almond flowers, chocolate cupcakes filled with raspberry jam and covered in ganache, peanut butter covered in ganache, and coconut lime with an agave lime glaze and shredded coconut.

I can haz bakin "egg" burger?

Another tester for Joni Marie over at Just The Food, a breakfast burger recipe I've smothered in the classiest of sauces, ketchup. This is really quite egg-like, studded with faux bacon bits and perfect with some OJ and toast. Don't you love how vegan "junk food" is still made out of tofu? You'll have to wait for the book for this one I'm afraid, but I won't, muahaha!

7th Street Fashion Show and Block Party

Ok, I'm a bit late on this mega-post, I know.



Two Sundays ago my friend Kate Goldwater of AuH20 Designs, Amarcord Vintage Fashion and some local entertainers held a fashion show and block party event. Refreshments were provided by Abraco (the cafe next to AuH20 and Amarcord) and Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen of course! I would've gotten my name on the flier above, but my contribution was the stuff of some very last minute inspiration. In any case, it was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up my summer before I started Serious Grown-Up Job the next morning. I set up shop on an ironing board (of course!) and passed out all the free vegan goodies to the way hotter-than-Fashion Week crowd.



Here are some lemon bars and peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache from VCToTW. Even though the cupcakes and cookies went faster, the lemon bars were my favorite. They're a brilliant ppk recipe thickened with agar and even though I overbaked the crust a scotch they were still ridiculously good. A must-make-again favorite. The ganache was awesome too. I saved the leftovers and some truffles rolled in espresso powder for Roommate and I.



Chocolate thumbprint cookies from VWaV with raspberry jam filling. I make them all the time because in addition to be simple delicious, they are always gorgeous.



Dan Kitrosser as Patti Lupone MCing the event with some very special, very bitchy and very er-- graphic tunes as everyone's favorite Tony winning lady entertainer. Seriously, check out Dan's Myspace and his show "Hour of Love;" it's gonna be "more famous that John Stamos" for sure kids.





Eli Maniscalco, the clever singer songwriter.












This is Ian Sciotti with some mellow acoustic Spanish guitar...











...and my lovely Kate (on the right) with some of her models. It's all recycled and handmade, and she'll customize and tailor anything in the store for you too, on the spot.









Malorie Leogrande sang some Stevie Wonder. I assure you she's even more adorable in person.









Finally here is a gorgeous outfit from Amarcord, Kate's next door neighbor. Support small businesses and local artists-- go now !

Japanese Eggplant "Parm"

Served here with sauteed mushrooms and spinach and whole wheat penne. Garnished with fresh basil and Italian flat-leaf parsley.

*3 Japanese Eggplant
*1 recipe veg web vegan tempura prepared as in my sushi post, with 1/2 AP flour and 1/2 rice flour
*1-2 cups panko breadcups, seasoned with dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, red pepper powder)
*Oil for frying (I used a peanut and safflower mix)
*1 26 oz. jar marinara sauce
*handful of shredded vegan cheese

Heat oil in a deep pot to frying temp and prepare a deep pie pan with a layer of marinara. Cup eggplant on a bias, in 3/4 inch slices. Toss slices in bowl of tempura batter. Next, roll individual slices in the seasoned panko, and fry in batches until golden (flip halfway through frying with a chopstick). Place one layer of fried eggplant in the prepared pan, season with kosher salt and black pepper, top with more marinara and another layer of eggplant, season with more salt and pepper, then cover with another layer of sauce. Top with vegan cheese and bake at 375 on the top rack of oven until bubbly, about ten minutes. If cheese doesn't melt, broil briefly. Fyh vegan cheese can be temperamental though, so don't worry too much either way, it will taste good anyway. Alternately melt the cheese in a saucepan and pour on top of baked dish before serving.

I've always made killer eggplant parm, at least according to many a well-fed roommate. This vegan variation is my favorite yet, and trust me, I've done a lot of eggplant troubleshooting. Getting rid of the dairy fat allows you to taste the eggplant and tomato much better, and the Asian-ized eggplant component fries up fluffier and crisper than the traditional Italian application. I added some follow your heart monterrey jack and cheddar I already had shredded, but it's plenty good without it. I've also made batches with silken tofu + raw cashew + nutritional yeast cheezes, and that's quite good as well, though if you do that, I suggest that you add a dollop of the cheez on each serving after you bake it. I think baking the tofu-nut mixes tends to take away from their texture in this case.

UPDATE: I think I've improved this further. I make it often enough, right? I had about a block's worth of leftover fyh cheeses, 1/3 cheddar and 2/3 mozzerella. So I melted them fully in a saucepan, whisking away al the while, and then drizzled some directly on top on each layer of fried goodness then covered each with the marinara. A bit of melted cheese was on top for prettiness. This was pretty unbelieveable. I really don't think people would know this was fake cheese. At all.

What happens when you google "vegan sweet potato biscuit"?

These magically appear.

Used rice flour instead of cake flour, added salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to the original recipe. Oh, and I used a fork as a pastry blender and an empty can as a biscuit cutter 'cause I don't know if you noticed, but it isn't exactly Williams-Sonoma around here...nope.

Avocado salad

Tomato and basil from Mom's garden, avocado, walnuts, lemon, juice, grey salt and fresh black pepper.

Margarita cupcakes

I thought the green tea cupcakes were my favorite-- until I made these. Wow.

My cousin Emily helped me make these too! She is turning out to be an awesome chef. She's helped me make appetizers, pizza and cupcakes before, and this week she made the pesto recipe from VWaV with walnuts solo. It was delicious.

Perfect summer pasta

Make it while you still can!

Ingredients:
*Whole wheat fettucine for two.
*2 medium tomatoes (or 4-6 plum tomatoes), diced
*1 can artichokes, drained, rinsed and quartered
*1/3 cup white wine
*1 tsp tomato paste
*2-3 cloves garlic, minced
*1/2 tbs olive oil
*1/2 tbs margarine
*handful of walnuts, lightly crushed or rough chopped
*two handfuls fresh spinach rough chopped
*1/2 tsp. oregano (dried, more if fresh)
*1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
*squeeze of fresh lemon
*kosher/sea salt and black pepper to taste

-Boil pasta in salted water
-In large skillet, melt margarine and olive oil together
-Toss garlic in the pan first, letting it flavor the oil just a few seconds before adding the next ingredients
-Add tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, artichokes, lemon, oregano, pinch of salt and red pepper flakes and cook until tomatoes have given up some juice and a light sauce has come together in the pan, moving vegetables around the pan gently
-Add the spinach, basil and walnuts, remove from heat when spinach is just wilted
-Grind on lots of fresh black pepper, add more salt if needed
-Toss with cooked pasta

Vegan Japanese...ish

Vegan sushi: spicy chickpea roll (mashed chickpeas, veganaise, sriracha, scallions, tamari, cucumber), mango nigiri with cilantro, and an "elephant roll" (peanuts, avocado and red pepper, black and white sesame seeds sprinkled on top). Use toasted nori sheets, keep your hands very wet when working with the sticky stuff, and don't forget to to prep that rice with rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt, it makes a BIG difference. Oh, and I just rolled these guys using a big ziplock freezer bag since I didn't have a bamboo mat-- and it worked out pretty well. Still need some help? These nice ladies explain it all. It's actually really fun and pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Will certainly be making again soon.



Perfect vegan tempura: Used this recipe from veg web except I used half AP flour and half rice flour. I battered my veggies (1 sweet potato, 1/2 bunch broccolini and 1 onion) and then dredged them in panko bread crumbs. Fried in some veg. oil (peanut might be even better next time) and served with a simple dipping sauce (tamari, mirin, scallions, sesame seeds).

Fun Fact: shojin ryori is the name of a traditional vegan Buddhist cuisine . While the above especially bastardized meal is in no way an example of it, it's interesting to read about. As Buddhism affected Japanese culture, vegetarian cooking in major cities and temples influenced Japanese cuisine. Not hard too imagine when you think about all the soy and gluten preparations made famous there. (Agedashi tofu!)

For more Japanese food check out The Vegan Ronin's blog with some seriously yummy looking pictures.

Noodles with eggplant, green beans and mushrooms

A Chinese style noodle stir fry: eggplant (Italian), baby bella mushrooms, green beans, sesame oil, peanut oil, sesame seed, almond slivers, scallions, fresh ginger, garlic, black pepper, siracha, ume plum vinegar, tamari, brown sugar and cornstarch.

Bitchin' Vegan Test Kitchen

Here is a spicy jalepeno burger I tested for Joni Marie of Just The Food . Smothering a veggie burger in nacho cheez = brilliant idea, damn. She already has one cookbook out called Cozy Inside with lots of comfort food recipes. You can buy it in print or download it at a reduced cost-- another good idea! This recipe is for a book of 101 veggie burgers. Whoa.



And here is some veggie cream cheez spread made for Melody of the beautiful Melo Meals blog. This is hands down my favorite homemade cheez recipe. Really Melody, genius, I think tofutti is gonna come after you though. I can't give it out obviously (you'll just have to wait for her book!) but if you ask really, really nicely I might make you some... if I don't eat it all first.

Lazy blogger says; "keep yer crap outta my veggies, k plz thnx?!"

Some spinach has been recalled again. I suspect coverage that is way overblown yet still fails to mention how factory farming is responsible for the spinach contamination. Vegetables don't make this shit (literally) themselves you know! Anyway, here's Friends of Animals on how it got there (ew) and also Vegan_Noodle on the media coverage.

Animal rights in the business section?

The New York Times has a story in the business section today on animal rights groups uniting around environmentalist arguments for vegetarianism-- and criticizing meat-eating environmentalists. I'm not a fan of the tactics Peta or HSUS uses, but this is certainly an issue we can all agree on. Meat = bad for environment, period. I'm not sure how I feel about going after Gore in particular though. I'm *not* saying he's beyond reproach, and certainly we need to talk about why the standard American diet wasn't mentioned in "An Inconvenient Truth," (ditto for the shop-happy consumerist green "solutions" getting so much press these days) but I think this is just another one of Peta's alienating tactics. By attacking an individual often seen as moving us in the right direction, I think Peta makes itself look negative and anti-people as usual. It's not as ridiculous as their letter to Michael Moore but similar in that they criticize a "liberal" for not incorporating vegetarianism (why can't we just start saying vegan already?) into their message and choose to make their arguments in a kinda nasty way rather than a "hey! you forgot this!" kind of way. You have the right arguments... so why use such yucky tactics ? I know, I know, nothing new there. Since most people think all vegans and animal people are automatically in line with Peta though (including the New York Times) it is frustrating.

Oh, and I also don't like their insinuating chickens aren't brave or something... don't they have it hard enough guys, hmm?

Read more:
*New York Times: Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change
*Alternet: So You're an Environmentalist; Why Are You still Eating Meat?
*Treehugger: Vegan Diets Healthier for Planet
*Go Veg: Meat and the Environment

Local Produce 101 (with Linkage!)

Gorgeous berries right? Well, they tasted as good as they looked too! Unfortunately that isn't always the case with our produce. I know one huge pet peeve of mine is spending a little extra cash on some pretty raspberries that only end up tasting like so much refrigerated water. Conventional fruits and veggies from the grocery store are now bred and selected for how they hold up on their long journeys from (industrial) farm to table and for how they aesthetically "perfect" they look on the shelves. Taste, is much less of a consideration in the U.S. unlike other countries where consumers demand produce that berries that taste like well... berries. Vitamin and mineral content (directly related to soil quality and rapidly declining, though overwhelmingly higher in organic produce) is also not a concern for the corporations that produce and distribute our fruits and vegetables and obviously neither is the fair treatment of agricultural labor or the preservation of the environment.

With tremendous efforts from farmers, health advocates and food activists, local farmers markets are experiencing a renaissance in the U.S. Along with home gardening, CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) and food co-ops, farmers Markets offer consumers alternative to industrially produced food that may be cheap in the short run but hides its "true cost" by compromising nutrition, human rights and the environment. It's also fun and delicious! Much of the produce available there is organic (talk to your farmer-- who may or may not be able to afford official organic classification) and all of it is much fresher than what you're used to. You'll certainly find new things to try, foods that grow well in your climate that you may have never heard of (I've found jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, garlic scapes and red scallions among others here in NY) and you'll definitely be inspired to cook more, experiment more, and eat better.

Links:
*Deconstructing Dinner is not a vegan podcast per se, but they do have some amazing podcasts on the realities of industrial food-- and our alternatives to it. The episodes on "Packaged Foods Exposed," "Personal vs. Corporate Responsibility" and "The End of Food - The Evolution of Nutrition and Human Health" are some of my favorites. There are also episodes on organic farming, co-ops, local food, food in public schools and more.
*Just Food is a non-profit dedicated to creating a sustainable food system in NYC.
*The Southern Fried Vegan has some yummy ideas for her local produce.
*The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter is the book that made me go vegan. It is not written at all from an animal rights perspective, but if you want a Fast Food Nation-type look all the food you buy, this book gives a good overview.
*Last weekend at the market I answered a survey for a for Farm Aid worker. Her questions reminded me of how important talking about these issues really is. She also gave me a flyer for the concert and a cute pin, see?

Italian Scallion!

It's red, white and green-- get it? An improv potato soup inspired by my Mom who taught me to cook without recipes.

New potatoes, kale and red scallions from the farmers market with garlic, Earth Balance, soy milk, thyme, rosemary, oregano, black pepper and red chile flake. Lots of leftovers of course, which will be even better when accompanied by some really, really delicious vegan "cheese" crackers.

Candle Cafe

Spoiled city vegan that I am I figure I may as well start posting about some of the bitchin' vegan meals I consume outside of my kitchen. (Not that you guys need it what with Super Vegan and their magical restaurant index). My awesome new vegan friend Melissa took me out to lunch at Candle Cafe over the weekend and she was gracious enough to let me take some food pornography before we dug in.



I had the Walnut Crusted Seitan served over french lentils, with broccolini, green and white beans. It was plated with some lovely golden sauce. I wish I had the menu description but alas, it was a daily special. I did not think the seitan tasted especially nutty and it could've been a tad crisper. That is seriously nit-picking though-- this was really very yummy.



Melissa had "Aztec Salad: Bi-color quinoa, black beans, red onions & corn topped with spiced pumpkin seeds and barbequed grilled tempeh. served over mixed field greens with a toasted cumin vinaigrette." I didn't try it, but it looks amazing, right?

Overall Candle Cafe ( Candle 79's more accessible little sibling) was great: a diverse menu, good service, classy vegan food, cute atmosphere. Check out their menu online, it's really fantastic. All this don't come cheap however, and (like Kate' Joint, Gobo and Viva Herbal Pizzeria) their soy cheese has casein in it. Maybe we can put an end to all this madness once Cheezly is finally in town. Preview: I've already pre-ordered some from Vegan Essentials; I'll let you know if that stuff lives up to its reputation.

extraVEGANza

So Jackie is moving to Philly to go to fancy lawyer school. We totally hate her for leaving New York, but figured it was a pretty good excuse for a dinner party regardless. Here's the money shot: spanakopita from VWaV, saffron risotto stuffed tomato (arborio rice, saffron, shallots, white wine, olive oil, sauteed artichoke hearts, garlic, pignoli, red chile, black pepper), asparagus with margarine, lemon and pepper and some homemade hummus with tahini and garlic a la Esme, our lovely hostess. If you own the VWaV cookbook you really should make that spanakopita. it takes some time with all the washing, chopping, squeezing, sauteeing and such, but it is so, so, so worth it.



Here are the green tea cupcakes from VCTOTW with marzipan hearts and fresh fruit. These are my favorite cupcakes out of the book so far (and I've already made quite a few!). They're really fluffy, just like real Japanese baked goods and now that I have the matcha green tea powder, I will be making these again soon for sure.

Quick pasta

Been busy cooking for an upcoming extraVEGANza, so I was not feeling like a complicated dinner. Here's a pic of what I came up with: whole wheat penne with butternut squash and spinach sauce. I just cooked the pasta, and immersion blender-ized a can of butternut squash puree, some pre-washed spinach, a clove of garlic, some pignoli nuts, tomato sauce, tomato pasate, oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper and nutmeg. Garnished with some fresh flat-leaf parsley and more pignoli.

Look out for a ton of food pics tomorrow. There won't even be any more mushy brown-orange food either :)

CARE rejects U.S. "Monetized Food Aid"

While the Farm Bill is being debated in Congress, the international repercussions of our seemingly contradictory agriculture subsidies and unabashed faith in the "free market" ('cause that part is only for poor people, k?) have lately become apparent. The international NGO CARE announced that the U.S.'s "help" does more harm than good. It's not just about dumping unhealthy food on WIC recipients and kids in the school lunch program here at home anymore. We also ship out grain to poor countries--and instead of distributing it to *hungry* people--we specify that it must be sold on the market (inevitably to those who can afford it.) While sales theoretically fund further development, you can't feed that to starving people any time soon--and CARE doesn't have much faith in the long-term vision anyhow.

Read more at Daily Kos:
CARE Rejects Millions in U.S. Food Aid (they're fed up)

Stereotypical Vegan Food Alert!

First a smoothie. It's the beloved pre-yoga beverage of us coastal, urban, bleedin' heart, health-nut types, but it should be recommend drinking for everyone! I've been having this one for breakfast almost every day now and been feeling pretty awesome. I blended up some frozen raspberries, a banana, a handful of spinach, (you can't taste the greens, don't worry) a teaspoon of flax meal, a teaspoon of cocoa powder and some plain soy milk. Sounds weird but is delicious. What are your favorite combinations guys? I have some mango in the freezer for instance...



Authenticity is sooo overrated, and so are nationalism, and arguably, my cooking skillz. Thus I present you with the India meets Japan stir-fry. I couldn't decide what I wanted, and now you don't have to either! In here we've got broccoli, "baby bella" mushrooms, brown rice, onions, cashew bits, unsweetened coconut flakes, fresh garlic and ginger, safflower oil, sesame oil, tamari, lime juice, Japanese curry powder, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.

What to do with chickpea flour?

Besan "quiche" with baby portobello, onion, walnut and chard. Dressed with red pepper aioli and basil pesto.

So I bought some chickpea (besan) flour my beloved local Indian market a few weeks ago without any immediate plan of action. I've been browsing some recipes (crepes, "omlettes," etc.) in the meantime, but when Roommate brought me hope a copy of The Voluptuous Vegan I was excited to find several recipes using this stuff. I tried out a quiche-like recipe though I changed it quite a bit. Mainly, I Italian-ized it and cooked it in a pie plate instead of a tart pan. It took much longer to firm up, and I still wanna tweak the seasonings a bit, but this was really yummy with whole grain toast, and homemade aioli (roasted red peppers, garlic, vegannaise, fresh basil, salt, pepper) and pesto (basil, olive oil, pignoli, vegetable broth, lemon, garlic parsley, pepper, nutmeg, oregano). Interestingly it reminded me less of egg than it did poultry. I might play that up next time and try a thanksgiving version with cranberries and sage. The crust is screaming for some breadcrumbs too. In any case, I'll post my exact modifications sometime when I have it down perfectly. In the meantime... someone should come over and eat the left-overs... There's a lot here!

Farmers Market Greens

It's summer and the farmer's market rocks. See how happy this little tomato is? Aww. I stole it from some other vegan bloggers.

Anyway, you eat your green leafies every day, right my Informed Reader? Of course, I know, who doesn't, right? (Nervous laugh.) Well, somehow it seems I've gone 22 years of life having never cooked chard. Jackie, my unlikely accomplice at last week's farmers' market outing (we love her... but girl can't cook to save her life) insisted I get some of the pretty, pretty rainbow chard for purely superficial reasons. Luckily I took her up on it and I've finally cooked it. I roasted the chopped stems at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes with a little canola spray and salt. I cooked the greens on the stovetop with more canola and salt as well as lemon zest, black pepper, red chile flakes and toasted pignoli. I combined the two and it couldn't have made a prettier dish.

Poor deprived vegans!

I made these brownies today. They're quite yummy though I will advise you to underbake them a few minutes and to use the glass pan suggested. I think I'll stay on the look out for something a bit fudgier though (these are slightly more cake-like) perhaps a recipe with applesauce might keep everything a bit more moist and dense. Feel free to post your favorites people!

Listen up cheeseitarians!

"Oh I could never be vegan. I'm addicted to cheese!"

Yes, indeed you are addicted; but you *can* go vegan!

Let me explain. You see, all mammalian mothers (including cows and humans) secrete a protein called casein in their milk which when consumed by their babies converts into a substance called casomorphine. Yes it's related to *that* morphine. Nature puts a little of this calming "drug" in there so that babies of all species want to go back to mom for milk and grow up strong and healthy eating what's best for them.

Now, having messed with the natural order of things, stealing milk from other species and continuing to drink it into adulthood, humans are consuming large amounts of casein every day. Unconsciously we're getting that subtle high as our bodies process casomorphines. The product that is most concentrated with the stuff is cheese. Casein is what makes cheese melt (which is why some manufacturers put it into soy cheeses-- so always read your labels!) and also what makes it addictive to us.

I know what you're saying; "hey, it's a natural high; what's wrong with that?" Well... It's not really *natural* for humans to be drinking food designed to make calves gain hundreds of pounds of weight within a few months. The authors of Skinny Bitch say that if women give up one animal product to lose weight it should be dairy. Kinda makes sense, doesn't it? There's also the fact that many, many people, especially people of African, Asian and Latino backgrounds are actually allergic to dairy in some capacity. its been linked to frequent stomach irritations, constipation and acne among other common health complaints. Furthermore The China Study singles out casein as the most dangerous animal protein we consume. Seems that what makes your butt grow too big for your jeans is also what can make a few anomalous cells grow into cancerous tumors. Scary stuff.

"But I need calcium!"

You certainly DO need calcium, but you're way better off getting that from plant foods as they generally offer more absorpable sources of calcium without all the heart-clogging saturated fats and harmful animal proteins present in dairy. The dairy industry has spent a ton of money on "Got Milk" ads and other campaigns to get you to think dairy products are the only sources of calcium but this isn't true at all. If you're eating a well-balanced, varied vegan diet then getting the calcium you need is no problem. Did you know that tofu, sesame seeds, collard greens, figs, almonds, flax seeds, arugula, white beans, kelp, kidney beans, black beans kale and LOTS of other foods actually have more calcium that cow's milk (per 100 grams)? If you're still worried about getting enough, add some fortified soy milk or orange juice or maybe some blackstrap molasses to your breakfast. Easy and yummy.

So if that doesn't get you off of the cheese, there are other points to consider too. For instance, did you know that the veal industry is a byproduct of the dairy industry? You see, cows need to have babies to give milk, and while female calves will become dairy cows themselves, the males will be turned into veal (typically after living a short, miserable life in a dark crate deprived of the nutrition they need-- to keep their flesh pale) or, if prices are low some factory farms will simple kill them straight away. In any case all calves are taken away from their moms within hours of birth since it is their milk farmers are after-- and they won't be sharing it. Something else to consider is the rennet used in cheesemaking. Traditionally rennet (used as a curdling agent) is made of baby cow stomach. Some cheaper cheeses use vegetable or microbial rennet from non-animal sources, but if you're eating fancier-type cheeses (including cheddar, parmesan and brie), or eating out in a restaurant where you can't check the labels-- you can't really be sure you're eating a product that can even be labeled vegetarian. Oh, and goat cheese often requires rennet from goat stomachs too. So you aren't off the hook there either.

Finally, I'll attempt to simply gross you out: dairy products are fulla pus. Yup, you're eating... pus. Since dairy cattle are generally kept in pretty heinous conditions (standing on dirty pavement hooked up to machines all day and never getting to see the sun or step foot on grass) they tend to get an infection of their udders called mastitus which causes the area to become inflamed, pus-filled and really painful for cows. Pretty much all milk and cheese in the U.S. contains unbelievable levels of pus.

"Ok, you got me you crafty vegan demon; what can I eat now?"

I highly recommend the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak. Her recipes are all-natural blends of healthier ingredients like tofu, nuts, sea vegetables, tomato products, tahini, vegetable oils, beans, herbs and spices. I also like some of the commercial products on the market such as Follow Your Heart brand vegan cheeses or Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (make sure to get the trans fat free version with the yellow label!) but you may want to give yourself some time away from cheese before you try some of these recipes and products. They don't taste *exactly* like cheese and you'll appreciate them more once you've conquered your post-addiction jitters (they really do go away after two weeks or so, honest!) Health and compassion will taste so much better than concentrated cow pus ever did. :)

The delicious picture up top is the "Gooey Grilled Cheez" from Ultimate Uncheese cookbook on whole grain oat bread with slices of a farmers' market tomato. The recipe is very easy and fast and probably have all of the ingredients you need to make it already. I love how it has that crazy orange Kraft Single look (fun fact: Kraft Singles cannot legally be labeled "processed cheese food" anymore as they don't even use milk, but some weird milk byproduct. Now it has to say "processed cheese product" on the package. Scary eeh?) to it even though it's colored only with nutritional yeast and tumeric! I promise it's really, really yummy too.

More information is available at:
Compassionate Cooks "Life after Cheese" Episode
from E: The Environmental Magazine, "Just like Cheese? Avoiding 'Addiction' with Dairy Free Alternatives""

Eggplants and Chickpeas in Peanut Masala

Made my very first recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen today and had to rave immediately! I used a white eggplant from the farmer's market, a whole can of chickpeas and a few handfuls of spinach I needed to use up. This recipe is really wonderful; spicy, complex and super healthy; and I sense it will make even better leftovers tommorow. I think my garnish of cilantro (hey, I know it's in everything I make lately but it's summer, so it should be!) and toasted peanuts freshened it up and added some texture since I was too lazy to make rice to accompany it.

Yummy Indian food with no added oils? Susan V. you are my vegan hero!

Eggplants and Chickpeas in Peanut Masala Recipe

He's just not that into your vegetables

'Cause you know I wanna date that guy right there. Eww.

It's sorta become part of my morning ritual: orange juice, toast, the eternal wash-hair-or-don't-wash-hair debate and a batshit crazy offensive article from the New York Times. Whether it's a piece on which outer borough neighborhood a trendy lady should gentrify (to save money for shoes, natch!) or Pulitzer Prize winner William Safire doing something straight up racist (I know the guy's gone now-- but tell me how someone who writes a column called "On Language" and doesn't think to look up the word "Womanism," which he had apparently thought he made up... for a *terrible* punchline no less) I can always count on The Paper of Record to remind me why I need to get out of bed and go yell at some people.

Anyway, today brought us "Be Yourselves, Girls, Order the Rib-Eye" which is actually not about being yourself at all (least of all us vegan girls) but instead how to trick men into thinking you are going to be the least amount of hastle for them. Oh and clogging your arteries while you do it. Sexy. Excuse me while I get all Carol Adams on you NYT but I really do think that the fact that beef (especially the $$$ steak) has been fetishized and imbued with such meaning ("eating this dead hunk of animal means i'm 'one of the guys!' dontcha know?") is indicative of just how troubled we are by eating it. Certainly there are less conflicted food choices. No one gets too worried about pasta or curry for instance. I do not think it's a coincidence that we choose to read manliness into steak either. Beef is the *one* animal food that I've never heard a "vegetarian" say they eat (we all know those pesky pesce- and pollo- people). It's just uncompromisingly dead, red, bloody animal and we know it. To justify this then there is then an ethos of; "Hey, look, I had to kill it and eat it because my raw, violent masculine energy DEMANDED it." Right. Women then, according to the NYT can borrow a bit of this manliness (an ironically homosexual tactic to bait/hunt/catch a man) since it's you know, that particularly narrow vision of masculinity is so entirely unproblemmatic and all.

Insert mandatory self-deprecating vegansexual joke here.

Be Yourselves, Girls

Tortilla Soup with Uncheese

This is the Tortilla Soup from the Real Food Daily Cookbook. Roommate and I were sweating like crazy eating hot and spicy soup in August NYC heat but it was totally , totally worth it. This is the first recipe I've tried from RFD but I'm looking forward to making more as this was so spot on: delicious, healthy and pretty simple to make. I did add some rinsed canned black beans (post puree) to the pot on Day Two of Tortilla Soup Extravaganza 2007. A generous squirt of lime juice before serving is also highly recommended. Garnished here with cilantro, avocado and homemade Monterey Jack Cheez (one of the block uncheeses from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook).

A word on the cheez: this particular batch actually reminds me more of egg than of cheese, but in any case it tastes really nice grated in soup or sliced on a veggie burger. You really do have to tweak the recipes in that book to your own specifications (I always add extra chile and garlic, much less lemon juice than she suggests and use soymilk instead of water for a creamier result) and you can't be afraid to play around. Jo Stepaniak gives you a basic plan for good texture and a basic flavor platform, but you have to trust your instincts with the variations. Definitely not for the nutritional yeast phobes either; so its suggested for your more exerienced vegans. Get your delicious B-12 you deficient weaklings! ;)

Welcome to Bitchin Vegan Kitchen!

To celebrate my inaugeral blog post I cooked up the Mango-Ginger Tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance exactly according to the recipe. To compensate for all that crazy coloring in the lines and such I free-handed some sesame greens (broccoli and baby bok choy in peanut oil, sesame oil, garlic and Chinese five-spice powder) and some coconut cashew rice (brown basmati, toasted cashews, toasted coconut flakes, coconut milk.

The meal went over well with my enthusastic taste-testers. I do wish I had thought to marinate the tofu a bit longer as the Mango-Ginger marinade had an incredible flavor--but it hadn't penetrated the (well drained and pressed, extra-firm) tofu. I also garnished with chopped fresh cilantro which added another nice layer of flavor. Very fresh and summery.



For dessert there was another Isa Chandra Moskowitz recipe-- the Low Fat Sexy Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The cupcakes are very light and almost more like muffins than cakes but when topped with jam, fresh raspberries, a confectioner sugar glaze and my inspired addition of non-dairy chocolate chips something magical happens. I'm not telling you anything you don't know though, since you already own that book... right?