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Speak Up or Shut Up

2012-01-19T11:43:00.002-07:00

Members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.
You're not all like that.

We're all familiar with NALTs - you know, those religious folk who are hasty to assure us "But we're not all like that!" any time someone criticizes religious assholery. Those of us who frequent in these sorts of critiques are well conditioned to expect responses full of sputtering indignation; it's almost second nature now to add the notthatallChristians/Muslims/Jewsarelikethat disclaimer to any censure of a religious figure, for fear of offending the nice religious people by de-facto grouping them with their not-so-nice fellows.

The fact is that the number of nice religious people far outweighs the number of religious douchebags. Chances are, if you're a religious person, you're one of the NALTs - maybe you support equality for gays and women, or you're in favor of good science education, or you value the separation of church and state, or at the very least you behave with respect toward people who are different than you. This video has been circulating recently, reflecting Christians trying to express their faith without being associated with all the nasty press Christianity has been receiving lately.

But you know what? Time for you to shut up already. I'm sick of the whining that those particular religious assholes don't speak for you, that those appalling beliefs don't represent your faith. I don't care.

Why? You enjoy the same privileges of social majority, political power, and cultural irreproachability that allows those jerks to get away with booing a high-schooler speaking out for the constitutional separation of church and state.

Or threatening to expel a student for posting a cartoon of Mohammed.

Or spouting sexist and homophobic douchebaggery.

Or threatening the lives and safety of people who dare to question the legitimacy of your beliefs.

You benefit from their grasp on hegemony. Non-religious folks make up around 15% of the US population, and we have exactly no congresspeople representing non-religious interests. Zero. None. Practically speaking, we have no political power.

You do. You're the majority. You have the votes, and you have the voices. You are on the hook for the horrific behavior committed in the name of your religion - not Pat Robertson, not Mark Driscoll, you. The NALTs. Your silence is tacit approval - you allow it to continue, and you are responsible for stopping it.

So the next time a Christian community bullies a high-school kid into fleeing, and some atheist pisses you off by frothing at the mouth about how Christianity is evil, don't tell us you're not all like that. Tell the Bastrop High School board. Tell the Cranston, R.I. community. Tell Focus on the Family. Tell the fucking Pope.

You have a responsibility to speak up when these idiots misrepresent your faith by attacking and harming others. But not to those of us who speak out against those attacks - to the people perpetrating them. Why are you allowing the shouts of those few to drown you out? Where are your voices? Where's the outcry from your community at these injustices committed on your behalf?

Until you start to fight against the right people, you're complicit in their crimes. And I'm no longer going to care about throwing you into the fire right along with them.

Kathy Freston Weighs In On Faux

2011-02-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Kathy Freston lends her effervescent voice (I kind of have a crush on her, can you tell?) to the faux or no-faux debate in a piece on HuffPo today. Referring toMark Bittman‘s TED talk on “what’s wrong with what we eat,” she lauds Mark on his indictment of the practices of the meat industry and their effects on the environment, human health, and animal cruelty. But she comes to the defense of one of the newer targets of Mark’s criticism: faux meats.

Read the rest at the Plants & Animals Blog.

Friend or Faux?

2011-02-11T15:06:00.001-07:00

How do you feel about fake?

The debate about whether imitation animal products help or hurt the vegan cause is not new. It’s also no closer to being resolved. Whether we’re talking about “fake meat” or faux fur, there’s much disagreement both within and outside of the vegan community about how those products reflect on our cause.

Does it make us hypocrites to eschew animal products but embrace man-made products intended to mimic them? Are they facilitators or barriers to convincing others to consider a vegan lifestyle?

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

2011-02-07T08:41:00.003-07:00

So, I'm of the opinion that a muffin should actually be a relatively healthy thing. After all, the name "muffin" implies that you can eat it for breakfast, so it should be able to get you through the morning. These are full of hearty whole grains, juicy blueberries, and don't have very much sugar. They fill you up and keep you satisfied, without triggering a day's worth of sugar cravings.

You have your choice of making these with wheat germ or wheat bran. Both are part of the wheat kernel (the parts that get removed from white flour) and both are nutrient-dense. Wheat germ is higher in calories and is full of protein and fat-soluble vitamins. Wheat bran is lower in calories, high in insoluble fiber, and has a lot of healthy minerals. They have about the same texture, so pick the one that's right for you.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients

1 tbsp ground flax seed whisked with 2 tbsp water
1 cup white whole wheat flour (or a finely-ground regular whole wheat, like high altitude flour)
3/4 cup rolled oats (the quick-cooking kind will give you the most tender muffin)
1/4 cup wheat germ or bran
2 tbsp baking powder (yes, tablespoons - with all the hearty grains you need a little extra oomph)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp agave nectar (you may want to add more if your blueberries are unripe and not very sweet)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup unsweetened vanilla or plain almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed and drained

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Whisk flax with water in a small mixing bowl. Set it aside to let it gel.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, germ or bran, baking powder, and salt.
Add the agave nectar, applesauce, almond milk and vanilla to the flax and whisk to combine well.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and fold to combine, just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Fold in the blueberries.
Fill a lightly sprayed muffin tin (or lined with paper muffin cups) 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes, until tops are firm and a toothpick comes out clean (unless you hit a blueberry). Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack to continue cooling. They'll be quite moist at first, but will firm up as they cool.

Makes 12 muffins (only 2 WW points each!). Serve warm from the oven, or store in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days and reheat with a bit of Earth Balance.

For variations, try grating in some lemon or orange zest, or adding 1/2 tsp almond extract to the batter.

Cheezy Bean & Avocado Dip

2011-02-06T18:36:00.001-07:00

If I cared enough about football to watch the Super Bowl, this would be what I'd eat during it! It's a spicy, creamy bean dip with chunks of cool avocado throughout that combines to a perfect bite on a crispy tortilla chip.

Cheezy Bean & Avocado Dip

Ingredients

1/4 cup chickpea flour (or any type of flour, really)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp light miso
2 tbsp minced fresh or dried cilantro
1 can (or 1-1/2 cups cooked) pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup hot salsa (I recommend 505 brand)
1 ripe avocado, cut into small chunks

Directions

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, nutritional yeast, and all the spices through the cayenne pepper.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Whisk in the flour mixture, and cook until lightly toasted and fragrant.
Slowly whisk in the nondairy milk. Heat until bubbly, whisking constantly and making sure to scrape the pan with a spatula to prevent burning.
Once the cheese mixture is thick, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the mustard, miso and cilantro.
Add the beans to the pan. Using a potato masher or a fork, smash the beans into the cheese until they're relatively smooth. Scrape the pan repeatedly or they'll stick.
Stir in the salsa and avocado chunks. Serve hot!

Makes about 3 cups of dip. Serve with fresh tortilla chips.

Where's the beef-like taco filling product?

2011-02-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hey, check it out - I'm a blogger on TWO blogs now! I know, I know. Don't pretend like you're not impressed.

Plants & Animals is the Denver vegan activism group I'm involved with, and IT'S AWESOME. We do a monthly vegan community dinner called Chomp, which has been my first experience cooking for ~100 people. Professional catering business, here I come! JK, I need to work for actual money at the moment. We also do monthly carrotmobs to support local vegan-friendly businesses, coordinated protests and campaigns, and other vegan outreach and activism.

So go check out my first post, Where's the beef-like taco filling product?, on the P&A blog. It's insanely long. Future posts will emphasize brevity over my need to ramble in order to fill the vacancy of self-importance inside me. Promise!

The interwebs were all atwitter Monday with reports of a class-action lawsuit brought against Taco Bell by an Alabama law firm because “[t]he meat mixture sold by Taco Bell restaurants contains binders and extenders and does not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as ‘beef.’”

IKR? No no, go ahead and finish laughing. I’ll wait.
...
Read more at www.plantsanimals.org.

Biscuits & Tempeh Gravy

2011-02-01T13:07:00.001-07:00

Confession: Probably 9 out of the last 10 times I went to WaterCourse Foods here in Denver, I ordered the biscuits and gravy. It's not that nothing else is good there - the b and g are just so freaking good, I can't help myself.

The biscuit recipe here was inspired by the biscuits at WaterCourse, which have bits of carrot throughout that I think are just lovely. In addition, they help make the biscuits nice and moist; dry biscuits are my arch nemesis.

The gravy is a basic tempeh gravy: seasoned and fried tempeh, with a sauce that's a little more savory than your basic white gravy but not quite a brown gravy. That said, "basic" is not to be confused with "bland." I was eating this stuff with my fingers, it was so good.

Biscuits and Tempeh Gravy

For the Biscuits...
Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour*
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp Earth Balance
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 small carrot, grated fine

*NOTE: I had intended to use all whole wheat flour in these, but I ran out mid-recipe. Use whatever kind of flour your little vegan heart desires.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a measuring cup, whisk the apple cider vinegar into the almond milk. Let it sit and curdle.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt.
Using a pastry cutter, 2 butter knives held together, or your fingers, cut the EB into the flour mixture until you have pea-sized dough crumbles. Don't overmix.
Pour in the curdled almond milk and applesauce, and fold together. Again, don't overmix.
Fold in the grated carrot.
Drop by heaping quarter-cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet or two.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until firm on top and golden on bottom. Let them cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

For the Gravy...

Ingredients

8 oz tempeh
water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sriracha red chili sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
a pinch or two red pepper flakes, optional
1 cup no-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
about 1/4 cup flour whisked into about 1/3 cup water
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Crumble the tempeh into a medium saucepan. Cover 2/3 of the way up with water. Mix in soy sauce and sriracha. Simmer over medium-high heat until dry, but be careful to not burn it.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add the olive oil to the pan.
Fry the tempeh until it's lightly browned.
Add the garlic, fennel, oregano, thyme, sage, and red pepper (optional). Fry until spices are fragrant and lightly browned.
Add the vegetable broth, and allow it to deglaze any sticky bits from the pan.
Stir in the almond milk, worcestershire, nutritional yeast, and onion powder. Bring to a simmer.
Whisk the flour into water in a measuring cup, then pour it slowly into the gravy while whisking constantly, until it gets to a consistency you like. You want it thick, but pourable.
Add salt and pepper to taste - take it easy on the salt, as it's probably plenty salty already. But go nuts with the pepper.

Makes about 14 servings of one biscuit each. Enjoy!

Chipotle Chili

2011-01-31T12:33:00.001-07:00

What do you do on a snowy January day when the high is -2°F? You cook chili. Spicy, hearty, warm-you-right-up chili. Sipping hot chocolate while feeling sorry for yourself is an alternative option, but I really recommend the chili.

A nice mellow cornbread is mandatory with this recipe. Resist the urge to put jalapenos in your cornbread - the chili is spicy enough as it is.

Chipotle Chili

Adapted from Rachel Ray's Caution Flag Chili.

Ingredients

1 cup dry TVP granules
1 cup hot no-beef or vegetable broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell or anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp grill seasoning blend (a coarse mixture of salt, black pepper, red pepper, dill seed, coriander seed, and garlic)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (to taste)*
3 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp ketchup
2 cups no-beef or vegetable broth
2 28-oz cans fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
3-4 cups (2 cans) red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

Directions

Rehydrate your TVP in one cup of hot broth. Let it sit at least 5 minutes - all the liquid should be absorbed by the granules.
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and pepper, and char for a few minutes - let them sit without stirring for a minute or two, then stir to avoid burning.
Stir in the garlic and let it brown for about 30 seconds.
Add the TVP granules, grill seasoning blend, chili powder and cumin. Stir well to comine, then let it brown for a few minutes.
Stir in the chipotle peppers, worcestershire, and ketchup.
Add the remaining 2 cups of broth. Use caution when pouring broth into a hot pan: the steam can burn you. Allow the broth to deglaze any sticky bits.
Add the tomato cans, including all liquid.
Add the kidney beans.
Bring everything to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the TVP is completely tender and the chili has thickened up to a desired consistency.

*NOTE: These buggers are HOT. Unless you're a spice fiend, start with 2 chilis and taste after adding the tomato sauce. If you want it spicier, add more chipotles now.

Serve with warm cornbread and a cold beer. Laugh at old man winter from your comfy perch.

Makes about 14 1-cup servings. (3 WW points, 125 cal.)

TIP: One small can of chipotles in adobo (found in the "ethnic" aisle of my supermarket) can last me several months. They're awesome in chopped up in salsa, enchilada sauce, and refried beans, and you can use the sauce to make a killer chipotle ranch dressing for taco salads. Store the remaining can in a tightly-sealed glass container (they'll stain the crap out of plastic) in your fridge.

Ready-to-Go Guac

2010-12-29T15:16:00.001-07:00

I love me some guacamole. But I like my guacamole full of cilantro, red onion, jalapeno, salt, and lime, and as I am not what you would call a neat cook, I do not like what the involved process of mincing, squeezing and mashing does to my kitchen:

So I'm left with the choice of making a large batch and fighting against it all turning brown, or cleaning this mess up every time I get a hankering.

No more. I decided to try prepping a big batch of all the mix-ins, but keeping it separate from the avocado and just mashing a spoonful into a ripe avocado whenever I want some fresh guac. It worked surprisingly well for my first try - the proportions still need a little tweaking, but I love the idea and it seems like the mix will keep and freeze well.

You could easily do this with whatever flavors you like in your guac - tomatoes, chiles, spices, go nuts. You'll have to play with the amounts to get the proportions just right, but it's much less work than chopping everything up each time.

Ready-to-Go Guac

Ingredients

1 cup cilantro leaves, packed
1/2 cup red onion, roughly chopped
2 medium (4" long) jalapenos, seeded and roughly chopped
juice from 1 lime
3/4 tsp salt
ripe avocados, as needed

Directions

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a miniature food processor, chopper, or blender.
Pulse until everything is finely minced and combined, pushing any stray cilantro down into the mix.
To prepare, scoop the flesh out from 1 ripe avocado. Mash with 1 tablespoon of the mix with a fork until mostly smooth, leaving some bigger chunks of avocado for texture.

This makes about 1 cup of mix, enough for about 16 avocados. Will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about a week, or can also be frozen and thawed later.

Baked Mac un-Cheese

2010-12-28T10:55:00.001-07:00

Pretty much every vegan cook is convinced they make the best vegan mac and cheese - I think it's a rite of passage, sort of like buying your first pair of faux-leather stiletto boots. (Maybe that one's just me.) It's also very personal: some like theirs full of gooey Daiya or FYH cheddar, while some prefer the creamier nutritional yeast sauces.

So I'm not going to call this dish "Seriously For-Real Ultimate Best Mac & Cheeze EVER!!!" I'm also not going to claim that it tastes just like "real" mac and cheese, because let's be honest - nothing tastes like cheese except cheese. What this does taste like is a fabulously rich, creamy, cheesy mess, with all the homestylin' goodness I crave and without the icky dairy.

Oh, and mine has tempeh bacon in it. So that means it wins automatically, right?

Baked Mac un-Cheese

Ingredients

12 oz whole-grain macaroni

1/2 cup raw cashews

1 large roasted red or orange bell pepper, seeds and skin removed

1-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or soy, rice, etc.), plus an extra half cup or so reserved

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

2 cups nutritional yeast

8 oz tempeh bacon

8 oz Daiya (I used mozzarella because we prefer the flavor, but feel free to use cheddar or a different brand)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

Fry tempeh bacon strips until crispy.

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In a blender, combine cashews, roasted pepper, almond milk, cornstarch, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Blend on low at first until cashews are all broken up, then on high until it's perfectly smooth and creamy.

While the sauce is blending, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the nutritional yeast until it's evenly mixed and crumbly. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until the yeast is lightly toasted, being careful to not burn it.

Pour the sauce mixture from the blender into the pan and whisk it to mix it into the yeast. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is heated through. If it's too thick to easily pour at this point, stir in the reserved milk until the consistency is right.

Once the macaroni is cooked al dente, drain it and put it into a 9x12 glass baking dish. Add the tempeh bacon and the Daiya, and mix evenly throughout.

Pour the sauce over the macaroni and stir it in.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, until breadcrumbs are toasted and the cheese is bubbling throughout.

Serves 10. You should probably try to get a vegetable into this meal, too; I served mine with garlic green beans.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-12-13T22:34:00.001-07:00

Life outside the Campbell's can is good, people. Homemade tomato soup is pretty damn easy and so, so much better, it's well worth the extra effort. Plus, I pretty much don't believe that anything from a can is real food. This soup is made sweet and creamy with the addition of an acorn squash in lieu of any dairy-type product, which worked beautifully. Probably any sweet, creamy squash would work, such as butternut.

Know what else is super easy and makes everything way better? Roasting vegetables. It brings out sweetness and flavor, even in those not-so-super winter roma tomatoes. If you're going to make a vegetable soup of some kind, roast the vegetables beforehand to really make it out of this world.

This soup was, quote, "the best tomato soup ever." I even snuck up to have a late-night snack, cold and straight from the tupperware. 'Nuff said?

Roasted Tomato Soup

Ingredients

3 lbs tomatoes, cored and halved
8-10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 acorn squash
4 C vegetable broth
1 bunch fresh basil, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
1 T fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
agave nectar (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425° F.
Place tomatoes (cut side down), garlic, and onion on a big ol' baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 45-60 minutes, until everything is browning and delicious-smelling.
At the same time, roast the squash. I cut it in half, seeded it, and put it right on top of my veggies. You could also leave it whole and pop the whole thing in the oven. The squash is done when a fork will easily pierce the skin. Don't worry about over-cooking it; everything's getting pureed later.
Toss all the roasted veggies into a soup pot. Scoop out the flesh from the squash and toss it in, too. If bits have stuck to the pan, use the veggie broth to deglaze and/or scrape them off.
Add the broth, herbs and spices to the soup pot. Heat until boiling, then simmer covered over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or so to combine flavors.
Use an immersion blender to puree everything to a smooth and creamy texture. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if it's not as sweet as you like, a little agave nectar.

Serves about 8. Serve hot, with a yummy crusty bread.

Roasted Fennel Salad with Asparagus, Carrots and Pear

2010-12-13T21:59:00.001-07:00

This is the fanciest salad I've ever made, and probably also the best - it received rave reviews from my Dorothy-Lynch-loving family, including The Boy who likes neither asparagus nor fennel. So there you go.

Roasted vegetables are awesome. Fresh fennel bulb is awesome. Fresh green herbs are awesome. Salads comprising all of the above are triple-awesome. I challenge any naysayers to a fight to the death. I will win, because I'm all hopped up on nutrient-rich vegetables, so I recommend that you just eat the salad and shut up about it.

Roasted Fennel Salad with Asparagus, Carrots and Pear and Basil Vinaigrette

Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients

1 fennel bulb, sliced into 1/4"-thick wedges
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
8 small carrots, sliced lengthwise 1 or 2 times (you want the slices about the same width as the asparagus stalks)
3 firm pears, each cored and cut into 8 wedges
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425° F.
Toss all ingredients together in a really big bowl until everything is evenly coated.
Spread out over a low-walled baking sheet - unless your sheet is huge, you may need 2.
Bake for 20 minutes, until asparagus and carrots are crunchy-tender.
Allow to cool to just warm before topping the salad.

Basil Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 bunch basil, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 T dijon mustard
3 T white wine vinegar
1/2 C olive oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a blender or food processor. Pulse until chopped and combined.
With blade running, stream in olive oil until emulsified.

Salad

Ingredients

6 oz flavorful greens, such as mixed herbs, baby greens, arugula
fennel-roasted vegetables
basil vinaigrette
fresh lime wedges

Directions

Plate the salad by laying down a handful of greens, then stack a few asparagus and carrot spears on top. Top with a few fennel and pear wedges, and drizzle with vinaigrette.
Just before eating, squeeze a fresh lime wedge on top.

Makes about 8 servings, or fewer if your family keeps stealing the roasted vegetables out of the pan before you can plate the salads. You could also chill the vegetables before serving.

Chickpea Salsa

2010-12-10T15:29:00.001-07:00

This non-winter winter we're having here in Colorado is really messing with my taste buds. Rather than craving nice winter stews or vegetable pot pies like I usually do, I'm hankering for citrus and tang and fresh, summery salsas.

This chickpea salsa (so called because you eat it with a chip, not because it contains tomatoes - it doesn't - or is a sauce - it isn't) is so pretty and hits the spot on top of some fresh-baked pita chips. I served this at both a summer barbecue and a winter party, and it was a hit both times. Best of all, it's easy as pie - actually, no, it's way easier than pie.

Chickpea Salsa

Ingredients

2 cans (or 3 C cooked) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (or 1-1/2 C cooked) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 red or orange bell pepper (or 3-4 sweet mini peppers - I love those things!)
2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 tbsp parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
2 large limes (for juice and zest)
1/4 C olive oil
salt, to taste
1 avocado, diced

Directions

Rinse the beans and combine in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the rest of the ingredients through the herbs.
Zest one of the limes, then squeeze in juice from both. Add olive oil and salt, and mix well.
Gently fold in the avocado.
Chill at least 30 minutes for flavors to rest.

Makes 24 1/4-cup servings (90 Calories, 3 WW points). Serve chilled with toasted pita chips.

Green Chocolate Smoothie

2010-07-21T12:54:00.001-06:00

Ok, so. I've been M.I.A because my camera broke, and no one wants a recipe without pictures, and yes, that is really all it takes to shatter my resolve. Good news is I'm getting an iPhone in August, so I'll soon be able to shoot and post away once again

Anyway! I've started drinking green smoothies, and I'm officially on the wagon. Seriously, they're amazing. I drink them for breakfast and they give me tons of energy. I'm also not a huge fan of cooked greens, with the notable exceptions of braised kale and garlicky collards, so this is an awesome way for me to get super-healthy greens.

Some general green smoothie tips for beginners like me:

They're not always green. Sometimes they're red or purple or brown. This is a-ok.
The general proportion is 1 cup greens, 2 cups fruit, and enough water to make it a drinkable consistency, per serving. Generally, this makes about a 12- to 16-oz smoothie.
Rotate the greens you use. You can actually get mild poisoning from eating too many of the same specific alkaloids and other substances in each type of leafy green, so switch it up every couple of days.
If you buy a bunch of veggies and they have leafy tops that you'd normally throw away, look them up - if they're not toxic, toss 'em in a smoothie.
Unless you're going for a specific therapeutic smoothie (like a liver detox or something), don't be limited by recipes. Just toss things in a blender and go with it. I try to think about the way that fruits will complement the greens. These are some of my general experiences with different fruits & veggies:

Spinach is pretty bland, chard has a real earthy taste, kale has a distinct tartness, parsley has a strong and bright flavor, lettuces taste exactly like you'd expect. Beet greens, carrot tops and turnip greens have a stronger flavor, so I like to use stronger flavored fruits with them.
Apples and dates provide sweetness without overpowering flavor.
Pitted fruits like cherries, peaches, and mangoes are your flavor powerhouses.
Berries are wonderfully delicious, but don't go overboard on them or you'll get a mouthful of seeds at the end.
Add cucumbers, celery, canteloupe, and grapes if you need more liquid.
Avocados and bananas create a rich, creamy texture like a milkshake.

You can keep smoothies in the fridge for a day or two, and you can freeze and thaw them. The textures and flavors do change when they sit. If you can, toss them in a blender again right before drinking.

I'll post when I stumble upon a really fantastic combination, like I did with this Green Chocolate Smoothie. This is not a traditional green smoothie, and is really a special treat for me more than a daily drink.

Green Chocolate Smoothie (makes 2 servings)

2 cups spinach (de-stemmed and packed)
2 apples (cored, but don't peel 'em)
1 ripe avocado
1 banana
2-4 pitted dates (to taste)
1 tbsp cocoa powder (to taste; use raw cacao instead if you have it)
1 cup water

Blend the water and fruits together.
Toss in the spinach and puree until smooth.
Then blend in the cocoa powder.

Enjoy! This tastes like a creamy chocolate milkshake. Adjust the dates and cocoa powder as needed to get appropriate sweetness and deliciousness.

Vegan Bake Sale

2010-05-05T15:52:00.004-06:00

On April 21-22, we hosted a vegan bake sale in the Auraria Campus Spring Fling as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale week. The sale was funded by VegFund, and donations benefitted Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary for rescued farm animals. We received donated baked goods from Beet Box Bakery and WaterCourse Bakery, and about 15 volunteers donated homamade baked goodies as well. We had volunteers from the Auraria Students for the Humane Treatment of Animals, Vegan Outreach, Plants & Animals Denver, VegFund, and the Denver and Boulder vegan meetup groups.

Everyone who helped with the same deserves HUGE props and thanks. It was an enormous success - we gave out a ton of vegan baked goods and vegan literature. We talked to around 500 people over both days, including some seasoned vegans, some vegetarians turning toward veganism, some open-minded omnivores, and some people who had no idea what being vegan meant before they came to our table. We sent a lot of people on their way with vegan starter kits and food for thought. Despite the hurricane-like weather we endured Thursday (we stuck it out, because vegans are hardcore like that), the sale was a ton of fun, and hugely successful. Thanks to everyone involved! I really enjoyed meeting all of you.

Without further ado, photos of the event! All pictures are © Alexis DeCook 2010. If you're not in any of the photos, it's because you weren't there when Alexis was taking pictures. Nothing personal - we like your face, promise.

Thanks again, everyone! Let's do this again soon.

Veg*n Nutrition

2010-05-03T11:28:00.004-06:00

Really, Vitamin Cottage? Why's it gotta be like that?

I recently got some information about veg*n nutrition from a nutritionist at my local Vitamin Cottage. Yeah, I know - nutritionists aren't doctors, might not even have any medical training, don't necessarily know anything about physiology, etc. But the existing health literature surrounding veg*anism is unfortunately very enmeshed in ideological controversey, and thus extremely contradictory, so I always assume the best bet is to get information from as many different sources as possible, and take everything with a grain of salt. It is very important to me to eat a vegan diet, so I want to make sure I am able to maintain it in good health for my entire life.

Initially, I was seriously put off by the literature they distribute. The primary source of their medical information is an article called "The Myths of Vegetarianism" by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP. There are many, many problems with using Byrnes as a medical authority, the first of which being that he is not an MD. Additionally, the article is published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, which is not a peer-reviewed medical journal, meaning his claims have not been substantiated by a group of peers, unlike the published research articles he criticizes. The article was published in 2000 - it's not totally antiquated, but it's by no means the most cutting-edge information available. He does not publish references but states they're available upon request, however I discovered that the website he lists (the only contact information published) does not exists. Upon further investigation, I've discovered that Byrnes died from a stroke in 2004 (not diet-related), so I have no idea how to find these references.

And if you can't tell from the title, the letter has a pretty obvious anti-veg*n bias, illustrated right off the bat by this tragic anecdote of a woman who had a miscarriage due to... gasp! ... her vegetarian diet! (As a side note, this woman wasn't actually vegetarian: she ate milk, eggs, and for some reason, liver.) As a scientist myself, the presence of an emotional anecdote in a supposedly scientific piece of literature is a travesty: anecdotes are NOT science, folks, and their sole purpose is to detract from objective scientific inquiry by "poisoning the well" of human opinion from the start. Byrnes uses many other fallacies throughout the work, including a repeated confusion of causation and correlation (admittedly a drawback of much pro-veg literature, too), and use of the same rationale to both discredit pro-veg studies and credit anti-veg ones.

Byrnes identifies 15 "myths" about vegetarianism, including issues of health impact, environmental impact, humanity toward animals, and spirituality. Right off the bat, I can say with certainty that he is simply wrong about issues of the environment and humane treatment: he ignores the pollutive impact of livestock entirely, uses faulty reasoning and incomplete facts to conclude that raising meat is more efficient than growing plants, displays unbelievable arrogance in questioning people's spiritual beliefs, and wrongly states that no animals are killed in the process of dairy and egg production. I am not familiar enough with the biochemistry and physiology of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in the body to immediately discount his claims about the deficiencies present in a veg*n diet; however, I can say that it directly contradicts a lot of the information I've read from other scientists and doctors, and I have no reason to believe Byrnes over the others.

Lastly, the only other medical authority they cite is Dr. Joseph Mercola. Indeed, Byrnes has been often quoted and promoted on Dr. Mercola's website. I can't say for sure that we should assume that Byrnes is a crackpot of Mercola's ilk, but it's a possibility that certainly warrants consideration. These gentlemen are best described as naturopaths gone astray. They both uphold a completely unreasonable idea that the mainstream media is part of some vegetarian-controlled conspiracy to smear the image of noble meat-based agriculture, despite the fact that vegetarians make up somewhere between 2% and 10% of the population depending on who's being polled, and vegans comprise about a fourth of that - we are nowhere near a majority of anything, and if we had control of the media, you can bet your ass that we wouldn't be seeing KFC commercials any more. Besides, the vast majority of agricultural income currently comes from animal flesh farming and crops (corn and soybeans, mostly) grown for animal feed, so there really isn't a financial incentive for the media to promote vegetarianism, either.

Ok, so by this point, I'm seriously pissed off. I come to these people for health advice, and they give me propaganda - and only one side of it, mind you. (For an intelligent refutation of some of Byrnes' points in this article, see http://www.energygrid.com/health/2002/06ap-stephenbyrnes.html - it's not written by doctors, and doesn't cite very many references - so in other words, it's on even footing with Byrnes' article.) I'm definitely rethinking my loyalty to Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers.

The Actual Information, Finally

Eventually, I got to the actual information. There are a lot of important things to consider when restricting all animal products from our diets. It is a scientific fact that humans have evolved to be omnivores (though I do NOT believe that includes dairy, one of the most unnatural foods humans eat). So when we choose to exclude animal products from our diets - which, don't get me wrong, is the right thing to do for many reasons - we need to plan it well in order to be able to sustain it over time without any adverse health effects. None of us wants to be the sad case who just has to eat meat because we became anemic or something.

Like most vegans, I get plenty of vegetables (duh) and complex carbohydrates in my diet. Like most Americans, I eat way too much sugar. I need to eat a little more protein and fat. But I came up with some more specific changes I need to make to my diet, and I think they're pretty universal, at least for a lot of the veg*ns I know.

Supplement B12 and L-carnitine. It's extremely difficult to eat enough plant sources of these nutrients. L-carnitine is not found in plants at all; it can be manufactured by the body, but requires high levels of vitamins C and B6, niacin, iron, and L-lysine, and is pretty inefficient. It's good to hedge your bets with a supplement of each of these.

Supplement calcium and Vitamin D. This is not unique to veg*ns: due to depletion of nutrients in our soil, and destruction of our ozone layer which requires us to block the sun's UV-B rays so our bodies can't produce enough Vitamin D on their own, all Americans should supplement these two nutrients, in addition to consuming products fortified with them, like orange juice. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, so you should supplement both.

Increase intake of protein and low-carbohydrate vegetables. Especially in the winter, we tend to eat a lot of starchy vegetables like potatoes, yams, and squashes. Low-carb vegetables tend to have more nutrients, but can get neglected in favor of the starches. Americans don't need as much protein as most people believe, but most of us could stand to raise our intake of a balanced variety of whole grain and legume proteins a bit.

Lower consumption of grains. This is also a common pitfall of veg*n diets: it's really easy for us to eat a lot of cereal grains like wheat, rice, and corn. These are not great sources of nutrients, so our calories are better obtained from vegetables than grains. Additionally, too many grains in the diet, even whole grains, can contribute to glucose (blood sugar) swings that can mess with our hunger cycles, energy levels, and insulin responsiveness.

Increase consumption of fats, especially essential fatty acids. The low-fat diet craze has been pretty solidly debunked, and most of us veggies need more fat in our diets. We are not at the same risk for diet-related cardiovascular disease as meat-eaters, so we can afford to eat more fatty foods rich in LNAs (an essential fatty acid), like flax oil, walnuts, grains, and green veggies. I will start snacking on nuts, and adding flax to pretty much everything I bake or cook. Additionally, I am going to supplement a marine algae-derived source of DHA, a non-essential fatty acid that is made from LNAs but has an inefficient conversion from plant sources of LNA in our bodies.

Soak and/or sprout grains, legumes, and nuts before consumption. Anything that grows as a seed contains phytic acid in the hull. Phytic acid is called an anti-nutrient because it binds with nutrients - specifically, calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc - in the digestive tract, making it impossible for our bodies to absorb them. So even if we're taking in adequate calcium and iron, we can still suffer from deficiencies if we're also eating foods containing phytic acid. Luckily, it can be neutralized by soaking and sprouting grains and legumes before eating them. Sprouting also turns those little grains into tiny nutrient bombs: they are a whole food, a complete protein, and contain a wide variety of nutrients. So I'll buy only sprouted-grain breads and tortillas (Ezekiel 4:9 is the only brand available in stores that I know of), and sprout my own grains and legumes before making hummus, lentil, rice, quinoa, etc. (BTW, if you want to eat raw, sprouting is a great alternative to cooking: to make raw hummus, for example, just soak and sprout dry chickpeas before grinding the little buggers up.)

So that pretty much covers it. If anyone has any other advice or input, I'd love to hear it! Good luck staying healthy, folks.

True Protein

2010-04-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

Today, I am a happy girl. It is one of those rare occasions that I get everything I want, and moreover, it's easy to do and doesn't cost me my firstborn child.

I recently began a pretty intense workout regimen (P90X, for those of you who enjoy late-night infomercials), and as most programs like this do, it recommends drinking a recovery drink afterward - both to make the workout as effective and possible, and to prevent some of the ow ow ow the following day. Problem is, most recovery drinks have amino acids and extracts and supplements that are pretty much taken willy-nilly from whatever source they feel like, and so in no way can they be trusted to be vegan.

At first, I had sort of given up on the recovery drink idea, and was looking online for good balanced vegan protein shake mixes to use instead. I stumbled upon www.trueprotein.com, and discovered their "Build a Custom Blend" feature. I played with it for probably close to 2 hours. True Protein is a new company out of California, and they have a completely genius method for letting athletes control their own nutrition.

Not only can you choose a custom blend of vegan protein sources - they have non-GMO soy, gemma pea, rice, and hemp to choose from - you can also add in supplements, electrolytes, carbohydrates, antioxidants, etc. You can choose from an enormous variety of flavors, and you can select either to leave them unsweetened or to sweeten them with stevia, to avoid that nasty artificial sweetener taste (say NO to aspartame, people!).

But best of all, in the description of each product, it clearly states whether the product is vegan safe, and they'll even specify whether there are animal products used in the processing of the product. I called customer service to verify, and these people actually understand what it means to be vegan, recognize its importance to us, are knowledgeable about their own products, and are happy to help figure out the best options for vegans. You get none of the unhelpful judgmental-ness you encounter at most supplement stores. Plus, for my custom mix including 3 kinds of vegan proteins, creatine, dextrose, and electrolytes, I paid about half of what I have paid for a jug of plain soy protein mix at certain name-brand health stores, and that includes shipping. Yowza.

I ordered four different flavors to try: chocolate, tropical blend, fruit punch, and mixed berry. I'll let you know how well I like each one. But for now, I am one happy customer.

Butternut Squash Spinach Ravioli

2010-03-07T11:01:00.001-07:00

Just in time for St. Patrick's day, I give you green ravioli!

This turned out really, really well. My (non-vegan) mom shushed me while she tried it so that she could enjoy it in peace. The pasta dough is made with silken tofu and puréed spinach, adding some nutritional value and turning it a lovely shade of green. The filling is a lovely combination of creamy, crunchy, and nutty. The sauce, though, is la pièce de résistance, a delicious combination of leeks, mushrooms, green apples, and white wine.

This is all made by hand and from scratch, so it takes a bit of time. You could save time at any point by substituting store-bought pasta dough (good luck finding vegan ravioli dough, though), or by using a pasta roller or ravioli press. But what fun is that?

Butternut Squash Spinach Ravioli

Adapted from both Lola's Vegan Blog and Savory Seattle

Ingredients

Pasta

1 small bunch spinach, de-stemmed
4 oz. silken tofu (about a third of a package of Mori-Nu)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. all-purpose flour

Filling

1 medium-sized butternut squash
olive oil, for sautéing
1 c. onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. garlic, finely chopped
1/2 c. chopped cashews
1 tbsp. dried sage
salt and pepper, to taste

Sauce

1 c. Earth Balance
1/4 c. olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 green apple, cut into eighths and thinly sliced
1/2 c. white wine
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Wash the spinach and shake it to get most, but not all, of the water off. Steam it by cooking, covered, over medium-low heat in a nonstick pan. Stir occasionally, until all the spinach is very soft.
Lightly purée the cooked spinach in a blender or food processor. Add the tofu, olive oil, water, and salt, and blend until perfectly smooth and creamy, scraping the sides often.
Sift the flour evenly over a clean countertop. Pour the tofu-spinach mixture over the flour, and use a rubber spatula to fold it together. When it's mostly mixed, use your hands to knead a few times until you have a firm, elastic, homogenous dough. If it's sticky, add a pinch more flour; if it's too stiff, add a few drops of water. Let the dough rest at room temperature for about an hour, covered with plastic wrap or wax paper.
While the dough is resting, roast the butternut squash. Cut it in half, scrape out the seeds and pulp, and place the halves cut-side down on a lightly oiled pan. Roast the squash for 45-50 minutes, until it's very tender and easily pierced with a fork.
While the squash is roasting, chop all the veggies needed for the filling and sauce.
After the squash is done, let it cool for a few minutes, then scrape out the pulp with a spoon and mash it with a fork. Set it aside until needed.
Heat a little oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft, then add the garlic and cashews and cook a few minutes more. Add the sage, and cook until fragrant. Mix in the mashed squash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the filling from the heat, and set it aside.
After the pasta dough has rested, roll it out onto a lightly floured countertop. You want it to be no more than 1/8" thick. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut circles, about 3-4" diameter, out of the dough. Pull up the rest of the dough and ball up to roll out again later. If the dough circles have bunched up, use the rolling pin to flatten them again.
Get a small glass of water. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the center of each dough circle. Dip your finger in the water and wet the edge of half of the dough circle; then fold the dough over, and press the edges with your fingertip. You should have a nice scalloped half-moon, with a tight seal.
Roll out the rest of the dough, and repeat until you've used all the dough and all the filling.
Heat a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick pan. Briefly fry each ravioli on both sides to get a bit of texture to the dough. Set the fried ravioli aside.
Now make the sauce. In the same pan, melt the Earth Balance and olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks, and sauté until just soft. Add the mushrooms; cook until both the mushrooms and leeks are very tender, about 8 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the apple slices and the white wine, and cook for a minute or two, until the alcohol has evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Toss the ravioli in the sauce, making sure to top each ravioli in lots of yummy veggies. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Makes about 6 servings.

This is best served fresh, but it will keep in the fridge and reheat just fine.

Happy eating.

Leek and Potato Cassoulet

2010-02-14T15:41:00.001-07:00

I don't usually cook things with unfamiliar words in the name - I'm just not a confit or crudité kind of girl - but I made an exception because this cassoulet sounded so, so yummy. A cassoulet, for those not in the know, is traditionally a meat and bean stew. This one, from Veganomicon, is made with potatoes, leeks, kale, white beans, and seitan, with a homemade biscuit crust baked right on top. It's like a supercomfort food: a stew and pot pie all in one.

This is one of the very few dishes I make that really needs to be made fresh and eaten immediately. You can eat it a day or two after, but the biscuitty top does get a bit soggy and it's not quite as outrageously tasty.

I made mine in these adorable little single-serving casserole dishes from Le Creuset, but if you don't feel like dropping $20 a piece for your cookware, you can make this in an oven-safe cast iron pan or a regular casserole dish.

Also, this recipe calls for boiling the potatoes. That works fine and is probably the quickest method, but for extra flavor, try roasting them.

Leek and Potato Cassoulet

Adapted from Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits, in Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

For the stew:

2 potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
olive oil, for sautéing
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 small onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. finely chopped kale (stems removed)
1 heaping tbsp. fresh thyme (or substitute 1 tsp. dried)
6 c. vegetable broth
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1-1/2 c. chopped seitan (bite-sized pieces)
1-1/2 c. white beans
salt and pepper, to taste

For the biscuits:

3/4 c. plain nondairy milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. chilled vegetable shortening (do your body a solid and get non-hydrogenated)

Directions

Boil the diced potatoes in salted water, until just tender enough to be pierced with a fork. Don't overcook them, and drain them immediately.
While your potatoes are cooking, chop the remaining veggies. In a large soup pot (or a really big cast-iron one if you have one and want to bake the stew in that), heat some olive oil over medium-high heat, and sauté the leeks, onions, and carrots until just browned. Be careful not to burn them.
Add the garlic, kale, thyme, and a bit of salt and pepper, and sauté a minute more.
By this point, your potatoes should be done. Add them to the pot.
Mix the cornstarch into a cup or two of the vegetable broth. Pour it into the pot, along with the remaining vegetable broth.
Bring the stew to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Turn on your oven now, and preheat to 425°F.
While the stew is simmering, heat oil over high heat in a sauté pan, and sauté the chopped seitan until nice and browned. Add the browned seitan and the white beans to the stew toward the end of its simmering time.
Also while the stew is simmering, mix together your biscuits. Stir the apple cider vinegar into your nondairy milk, and set it aside to curdle for about 5 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, mix 1-1/2 c. of the flour with the baking powder and salt.
Add the chilled shortening to the flour mixture in slivers, and crumble it in with your fingers. Don't worry about getting it perfectly smooth; it should be clumpy.
Drizzle in the milk mixture, and stir the dough together with a fork. Don't overmix it. Wash your hands, then lightly flour them and knead the dough a few times in the bowl. Add more flour a little at a time until it's not quite so sticky.
The stew should definitely be done simmering by now, so transfer it into your baking dish(es) - either the big cast iron skillet, a casserole dish, or individual casseroles. Pull off palm-sized balls of dough, roll them into balls, then flatten them and place them on top of the stew. You don't need to cover the whole thing.
If the stew nearly fills your baking dish, put the dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spillover. Bake the stew at 425°F for 15 minutes or so, until the biscuit topping is cooked through and browned on top. Try not to drool as you watch this bake.

Serve hot out of the oven. Serves about 8.

If this doesn't just make your tummy ridiculously happy, there's something wrong with you.

Happy eating.

Required Reading: Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

2010-02-11T11:25:00.001-07:00

Whenever books like Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer, are released, they're always accompanied by the same carnivore vs. herbivore debates. We've heard all the arguments before: you need to eat meat to be healthy; animals exist for people to eat them; animals don't have feelings like people do; conditions for animals aren't really that bad; I buy free range cows/chickens so my meat is fine; I don't care that animals suffer because I love bacon.

Now, I've come up with my own educated opinions on the points above, as have all vegans: we've decided that none of the reasons for eating meat justify the sacrifices made by animals, the environment, and our bodies in order to make eating meat possible in today's world. However, I think I'm fairly unique in the vegan community because I have no problem with people who make an educated decision that eating meat IS worth it, despite the negative consequences. Animals are not the same as people, and you are under no obligation to care for them as such. You have every right to decide that animal suffering is okay as long as it produces food. That does not make you a bad person, it just means you place a different value on animal life than I do. And that's okay.

What I can't abide, though, is the "don't preach at me" argument, also known as the "your diet choice is your own, so leave me alone about mine" argument. Let me be clear: being vegan is NOT a diet choice. It is an ethical choice. Yes, there certainly are health components to the choice, and the primary venue through which the choice is enacted is in our diets. But it is not the same as eating gluten-free, or low-carb, or raw. It is a choice made based on moral principles, because we believe eating animals violates some non-negotiable ethical standards.

So we have a choice, as vegans. We can keep our mouths shut, be quietly vegan, and try not to cause too much inconvenience to those around us. But let's pretend that instead of animal rights, we're talking about a direct violation of human rights. If you knew for a fact that an activity everyone around you participates in every day was the direct cause of the torture, suffering, and death of thousands of human beings, wouldn't you want to do something about it? Wouldn't you want to tell your friends about this connection, because you're sure that if they knew the consequences of their actions, they wouldn't want to continue to be the cause of such suffering?

Now, walking around and screaming at everyone that they're murderers isn't respectful of your fellow humans, and more importantly, it isn't going to accomplish anything. So what would you do? You would try to educate people. You would provide information, start discussions, make suggestions, about this horrible situation. You would try to show people the face of this unpleasant reality, and you would hope that their consciences would lead them to the same decision yours has.

This is what vegans do. Almost none of us were born into veganism; we made this choice for ourselves after someone else showed us the reality to which we had previously been ignorant. Books like Foer's elucidate the truths of the meat industry, and beg you to align your actions with your conscience. They eliminate the ignorance that allows people to chomp a hamburger without a second thought, and they demand that we reconcile our personal values with our choices. If you can read or watch information about the meat industry, or even better, visit a real slaughterhouse or factory farm, and still have the stomach to eat meat, then I respect your decision to do so. All I ask is that you understand what goes in to the choices you make, and take responsibility for their consequences.

But the willful ignorance that most people cling to when it comes to issues of animal welfare is entirely unacceptable. Failing to educate yourself about the ethical choices you make in life is lazy, selfish, and downright immoral. So when we try to make it really, really easy for you to understand this choice by providing books, pamphlets, videos, and discussions about what it means to eat animals, don't you dare accuse us of preaching.

You have a responsibility as a self-aware, cognizant human being to understand the consequences of your actions, and to align your choices with your principles. Whatever decision you make is perfectly acceptable, as long as you understand it. The greatest ethical crime you can commit is to remain ignorant of the effects of your behavior, especially when that information is made so readily available to you. Educate yourself, and make your own decision. Ignorance is not an option.

Vindaloo Curry

2010-02-04T22:19:00.003-07:00

Vindaloo was my next foray into the Savory Spice curry sets I got for Christmas. It's quite spicy, tangy, a little sweet, and totally awesome. It's the kind of dish that tastes a little weird in the first bite, and then suddenly you're licking the bowl clean.

This is a really hearty curry, chock full of potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots. These sweeter winter veggies help temper the spice a bit, and make this warm you right up on these bitter cold nights. Feel free to use whatever veggies you like: I expect sweet potatoes and other types of winter squash would be delicious in this as well, and I'd even try cauliflower, garbanzo beans, or plantains if you're feeling really crazy. Mine was a little too chunky for my tastes with all those veggies, so I added more tomatoes and a little vegetable broth, shown in the recipe below. I also added a splash of almond milk (any nondairy milk or cream would work - try coconut for extra sweetness) although that's not traditional for vindaloo, as I understand it. I served this with naan (a traditional Indian bread) and spooned it over some brown rice, which adds a lovely texture and mellows out the heat a bit.

This is adapted from Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance (you need to buy this book, for reals), and she lists all the spices and seeds you need to make a vindaloo curry from scratch. I was lazy and wanted to use my vindaloo mix. I'm not a curry expert, and I have no idea how "authentic" Savory's vindaloo is, but this sure was tasty.

Vindaloo Curry with Butternut Squash, Potatoes, and Carrots

Adapted from Butternut Vindaloo in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Ingredients

olive oil, for sautéing
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp. vindaloo curry spice
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. red wine
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
1/2 c. vegetable broth
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
2 medium carrots, chopped into bite-size chunks
3 tbsp. plain nondairy milk
2 tsp. agave nectar or other sweetener
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt, to taste

Directions

Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions until soft. Add the garlic, and sauté a few minutes more.
Stir in the curry spice, and fry for a minute or so, until the spices become fragrant.
Mix in the red wine vinegar, red wine, crushed tomatoes, and veggie broth.
Add the potatoes, squash, and carrots. Stir everything really well.
Bring everything to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until veggies are tender, about 25-30 mintues, stirring frequently. Be careful to not burn the curry on the bottom of the pan.
Uncover and stir in the nondairy milk, agave nectar, and lemon juice. Taste, and add salt as needed - don't be shy with the salt. Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until the curry has your desired thickness.

Makes about 6 servings. Serve with naan or over rice.

Eat this on a cold winter night, and blow a big ol' raspberry at the stupid weather. Yum.

Happy eating.

Spanish-Style Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, with Refried Black Beans

2010-01-21T10:19:00.001-07:00

If you're anything like me, the thought of a giant ceramic plate at your local family-owned Mexican restaurant heaped with Spanish rice and refried beans makes you go into a drooling coma of tasty daydreaming. But, if you're like me, actually eating said giant plate of food usually puts you into a much less pleasant food-induced coma, the kind where you're holding your tummy and groaning, "Why did I eat that 4th serving? Why???" Plus, almost all refried beans you can order in a restaurant are not vegan. Sad face.

So this is a revamping of the classic delicious combo, using healthy quinoa instead of rice, and sneaking some actual vegetables in there, too. If you haven't yet discovered the wonders of quinoa, go eat some. Right now. It's gluten-free, high fiber, high iron, super high protein, and a complete protein (meaning it has a balanced set of all essential amino acids). It's the food that you point to when arguing with folks who say vegans can't eat enough/the right kind of protein. Plus, it's tasty as hell, fluffy and soft and just mmmm. It takes almost no time to cook, especially if you get the pre-soaked kind that you don't have to rinse. Quinoa comes in a couple different varieties, and I used the Inca Red kind from Ancient Harvest for this because the color is so pretty against the yellow peppers I got in my produce box.

This is another of those "make a bunch of individual things, then stick it all together at the very end" recipes. I made the Spanish-style quinoa, then the enchilada sauce, then the refried beans, and then finally stuffed it all in a couple yellow bell peppers and roasted the whole thing, topping with fresh avocado slices.

You'll notice that all these recipes call for chili powder. If you have or can find ancho chili powder, it will give everything a little extra oomph, so you should use it if you can. But I didn't have any, so I used regular, which still worked fine.

Spanish-Style Quinoa

Adapted from this Authentic Mexican Rice recipe on VegWeb.com

Ingredients

1 c. uncooked (pre-rinsed) Inca Red or traditional quinoa
olive oil for sautéing
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 hot pepper of your choice, chopped finely (I actually used some canned hot green chilis leftover from the enchilada sauce)
1 tsp. cumin
salt, to taste
2 c. no-chicken broth
1/4 c. ketchup

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot (with a lid) or pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Toss in chopped onion, and sauté until soft. Add the garlic, and sauté just 30 seconds more or so.
Add the dry quinoa to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the quinoa, onions, and garlic are all nicely browned. If using red quinoa, you won't be able to see when it's browned, so you're going to go by smell. The whole thing should have a lovely toasty-carmelized aroma when ready.
Mix in the chopped tomato and pepper, cumin, and a few shakes of salt. Let everything sizzle for a minute.
Deglaze the pan with 2 cups of water or vegan chicken broth. Stir in the ketchup, and bring everything to a boil.
Seal the pot or pressure cooker with a lid, and then follow the directions on the quinoa package or your pressure cooker instructions to cook the quinoa. This depends on the type of quinoa you're using, and the cooking method.
Finished quinoa should have absorbed all the water, and be fluffy, moist, soft, and delightful. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

This is a good base for a lot of meals - it's not too spicy, not too flavorful, just a great canvass to work with, if you will. I'd recommend stirring in some beans, veggie ground crumbles, tempeh chorizo, and/or fresh chopped cilantro.

Refried Black Beans

Adapted from Refried Black Beans from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

3 c. cooked black beans
olive oil, for sautéing
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can hot roasted green chilis, chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 cup vegetable broth
fresh lime juice, about 2 tbsp. or to taste
salt, to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until soft. Then add the garlic and the green chilis, and cook until lightly browned.
Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and cooked beans. Cook for a minute, just enough to get the beans all mixed in with the spices.
Turn the heat down to medium-low.
Using a good potato masher, start smooshing the beans right in the pan. Once you get them moderately mashed, add the vegetable broth. Continue mashing over medium-low heat. This way, you get the beans smoother as the liquid mixes in and then cooks off, saving time.
Once the consistency is the way you want it, remove the pan from the heat. Don't overcook the beans, or they'll get gluey. If, once they're just thick enough, they're still too chunky for your tastes, use a hand blender to break them down more, or toss the whole thing in a food processor for a few seconds.
Stir in lime juice and salt to taste, adding more cumin or chili powder if necessary. Be generous with the salt and seasonings: they're what gives this dish pop.

Serve these with or in any Mexican-style meal - burritos, tacos, fajitas, tostadas, enchiladas, or just by themselves. They're super versatile.

Enchilada Sauce

Adapted from Enchilada Chile Sauce from Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

olive oil, for sautéing
1 small onion, diced
2 small cans hot roasted green chilis
3 tsp. chili powder
1-1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. marjoram
28-oz. can diced roasted tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar
salt, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions until soft.
Mix in all the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Bring to a simmer, cook for a couple minutes, then remove from heat.
Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then toss it in a blender or food processor, and purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

This is a great, versatile enchilada sauce that's tasty and tangy, without any of that canned-enchilada-sauce bitterness we all hate. Pour it over... well, pretty much anything.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

4 large yellow or orange bell peppers, washed, halved, and seeded
one batch Spanish-style Quinoa (above)
whole black beans, veggie ground crumbles or tempeh chorizo, and/or fresh, chopped cilantro (or whatever other fillings your little heart desires)
one batch Enchilada Sauce (above)
one batch Refried Black Beans
one ripe avocado

Directions

Place the peppers cut-side down on a baking sheet. Place them under the broiler in your oven, and broil until just soft, and the skin just starts to brown. This could take anywhere from just a few minutes, to around 10, depending on your broiler. WATCH CAREFULLY to avoid burning the crap out of your peppers.
Mix the whole black beans, veggie meat, fresh chopped cilantro, or any other desired fillings into the Spanish-style quinoa.
Place the broiled pepper halves face up on a the baking sheet. Fill evenly with the quinoa mixture. Stick the quinoa-filled peppers back under the broiler, just until the quinoa starts to brown on top. Transfer the peppers to a serving plate.
Cut the avocado into slices, and layer them on top of the quinoa-filled peppers.
Pour enchilada sauce over the whole shebang.
Serve along with refried beans and a good Mexican beer.

This makes 8 servings (or 4 servings for very hungry people). It saves and reheats beautifully, too.

When I made these, I didn't do the initial pepper-broiling step, but I wish I had. I'll also kick up the spice of the whole thing next time with some Cholula. But overall, this was super tasty, and I didn't feel like a fatty fat after eating it. The fresh cilantro and cool, ripe avocado were the little extras that kicked it over the top for me. Be adventurous with your mix-ins, and use fresh herbs if you got 'em.

Happy eating.

Chipotle BBQ Seitan Nuggets

2010-01-17T15:16:00.066-07:00

When I first became vegetarian, I missed barbecue flavor more than almost anything. (And hot dogs... but that's a different story.) We love to buy those Morningstar BBQ Riblets, but they're, like, crazy expensive on a student budget. Plus, they're full of processed soy, and I'm not a big fan of that sort of thing.

These BBQ nuggets are made with my homemade seitan, which is bar none the best seitan I have ever eaten - if I do say so myself. I'll post the recipe sometime soon. You can also use storebought seitan, but frankly, it's totally bland and the texture is just blah. Making your own seitan is a little time-consuming, but totally worth it for the extra yumminess. And it's about a third the price to make your own.

The barbecue sauce is a tasty smoky-sweet sauce, based on a honey chipotle barbecue and veganized to substitute agave nectar. It's a great way to use up those extra chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Chipotle BBQ Seitan Nuggets

Adapted from Honey Chipotle Barbecue Sauce at BakingBites.com

Ingredients

about 16 oz seitan, cut into nuggets
1/2 c. flour
salt and pepper

for sauce:

1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 tbsp. agave nectar
2 tbsp. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped finely
1 tsp. adobo sauce from the peppers
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Mix ingredients for sauce together in a mixing bowl. If you desire a perfectly smooth sauce, purée with a hand blender or in a food processor, but I like the small chunks. Refrigerate the sauce to blend the flavors.
Squeeze as much of the water out of the seitan nuggets as you can get without damaging them.
Put the flour and a little salt and pepper into a medium mixing bowl. Toss the seitan in the flour to get a light coating, and shake off the excess.
Heat oil to 350° in a deep fryer, or heat an inch or so of frying oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Fry the seitan nuggets until golden brown and slightly crispy. Cook in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the oil. Drain the nuggets briefly on a paper towel.
Empty the remaining flour out of the mixing bowl. Put the cooked nuggets back in the bowl and toss with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce. You should still have sauce leftover for dipping, if desired.

For best results, serve immediately.

This is a great recipe to make when you're stuck inside on a chilly winter day. You can serve it with coleslaw and fruit salad, and pretend like it's summer.

Happy eating.

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

2010-01-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right. No, I'm not using creative license. I made sweet potato fries, and they were legitimately crispy.

Thank you, thank you... please hold your applause.

So here's the deal. The reason sweet potato fries usually get soggy in about the time it takes you to get them on your dining table is that they have a higher moisture content than regular potatoes. So this method removes some of that moisture by boiling them in very salty water. This is when your high school chemistry class comes in handy - we're putting the potatoes in a hypertonic solution, so the water molecules want to leave the potato and go into the saltwater in the pot. Boiling them also cooks them briefly, so that when we fry them later, we can cook them to perfect crispy brownness without worrying about the doneness of the potato inside.

The upside to this is that you get delicious, crispy, golden sweet potato fries. The downside is that it's a whole lot of work, and it's also quite high in fat. But seriously - they're fries. Come on.

You vegetable purists will insist that there's a difference between sweet potatoes and yams; and you're right, they are technically different plants. But, with the varieties of each that are generally available here in the US, they are completely interchangeable in any recipe. Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that most grocery stores are selling the very same crop as both "sweet potatoes" and "yams." So for most cooking purposes, sweet potato = yam and I don't want to hear about it.

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

3 medium-sized sweet potatoes or yams
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1-2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
about 1/4 c. salt for the water
dipping sauce, like sweet-chili sauce

Directions

Peel the sweet potatoes, and chop them into fry shapes. Go for 1/4" thickness on all sides, and cut them into manageable lengths if necessary.
Heat a large pot of water to boiling. Add about 1/4 cup of salt to the water. Taste it to make sure it's salty enough; it should taste like the ocean.
Start heating your cooking method. I used a deep fryer; you can also use about an inch of frying oil in a good heavy-bottomed pan. If you don't want to fry, you can try baking them at a very high temperature, like 450°, instead - if you do, let me know how it works!
Toss your fries into the boiling, salted water and cook for a few minutes, until a fork goes through them with just a little resistance. (Don't cook them so much that they get mushy.) If you have one, use a pasta strainer or even a metal mesh colander immersed in the water, and then you can just lift the fries out of the water all at once. Otherwise, you'll have to fish for 'em with a slotted spoon.
Spread the fries out over a paper towel to cool and dry briefly.
Mix the flour and spices together in a small bowl.
In a different mixing bowl, toss a handful of the partially cooked fries. Only grab as many fries as will fit in whatever you're using to cook them without overcrowding: if it's a small fryer, maybe just a small handful; if it's a large pan or baking sheet, maybe all of them at once will work. Use your judgment and don't overcrowd.
Sprinkle some of the flour-spice mixture onto the fries, enough to do just a very light coating. Again, this depends on the size of your batches, so use judgment. Toss the fries to coat evenly. The residual moisture from the fries will make the flour sort of clump up - this is a good thing.
If you're frying the fries, shake the excess flour mixture from the batch, and then toss them in the oil. It's a good idea to have a lid available in case they hiss and sputter. Fry them until they're browned and crispy.
Remove the fries from the oil and cool them on paper towels.
If you're doing multiple smaller batches, repeat steps 7-10 for the remaining fries.

This makes a large plateful of fries. Serve with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce, like a Thai sweet chili sauce, or just a kicked-up ketchup.

Try to not feel too guilty as you enjoy this fabulous snack.

Happy eating.

Banana Bread

2010-01-17T13:51:00.003-07:00

This is a variation from my grandmother's banana bread recipe, which means it can't help but be anything other than delicious. My grandma is the queen of comfort food. I've veganized the recipe and made it just a bit healthier, so this is my version.

This recipe uses agave nectar instead of white sugar. Agave nectar is the ingenue of the health food world, and we vegans use it instead of honey. (Yes, honey is an animal product, you nay-sayers out there.) But agave can also be used instead of regular white sugar, with some definite health benefits. It's sweeter than sugar per calorie, so you use much less; it also is low in the glycemic index, making it good for diabetics and people on low-carb diets. I also use half white and half whole-wheat flour, to up the fiber and general wholesomeness a bit.

The result is a banana bread you can feel a little better about eating, but it's still moist, tender, fluffy, and tastes like you're being very, very bad.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 tbsp. egg replacer (like EnerG), plus 4 tbsp. water
1/2 c. melted vegan margarine (I like Earth Balance sticks)
1/2 c. (+ a tbsp. or two) light agave nectar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 overripe bananas
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
chopped walnut (optional)

Directions

Lightly grease or spray 2 loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350° if you're using glass or light metal loaf pans, 325° for dark metal loaf pans.
Whisk the egg replacer with the water in the bottom of a large mixing bowl.
Melt the margarine by microwaving an unwrapped stick for 30-40 seconds. Whisk into the egg replacer mixture in the mixing bowl.
Add in 1/2 c. agave nectar and the vanilla and mix in completely.
Peel the bananas (they should be very squishy) and toss them into the bowl. I prefer to mix them in by hand using a potato masher and, when they're mostly mashed, using the whisk to purée them just a little. This leaves little bits of banana in the bread. If you prefer a perfectly uniform bread with no banana bits, use a hand mixer.
Add the flours and baking soda, and mix in by hand. Stir as little as possible, just until all the flour is mixed in. Overmixing will make the bread less tender.
Taste and adjust the batter. If you prefer it to be sweeter, add a tablespoon or two more agave. The consistency should be similar to a thick cake batter. If the batter is too thick to pour, add a tablespoon more water until it's thick but pourable. If the batter is too thin and watery, add more all-purpose flour a tablespoon at a time until it thickens up a bit.
Pour the batter evenly into each greased loaf pan. Spread out the batter into an even layer. If desired, sprinkle walnuts on top of the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes, then check for doneness. Loaf should be evenly brown, and toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. The bread should be soft, but not doughy.
Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Bread is delicious hot out of the oven, or it can be stored for up to a week in a sealed container. Warm up in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, and slather with EB or vegan cream cheese. Just like grandma's house.

Happy eating.

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

2010-01-12T19:37:00.002-07:00

This soup is ridiculous. So delicious, and so healthy... such a combination should be illegal. You could eat your fill of this tastiness, and not feel a bit of guilt. Except maybe that there's none left for anyone else in your family to eat.

This is also a great way to eat kale, if you're the type to be a little weary of dark, leafy greens. In case you're new to the nutrition train, dark green vegetables are some of the most nutritionally-dense foods you can consume. They have tons of vitamins A and C, lots of iron, and more calcium per serving than cow's milk (without all the nasty lactose, hormones, antibiotics, pus, and cruelty!). I think the only reason "Got Greens?" never caught on is the fact that they make a far less attractive mustache.

But I digress! My point is that kale is incredibly healthful, but can be a little bitter and tough compared to other greens like spinach, so it tends to scare people off. Soup is the solution. Not only does simmering get the kale nice and tender, and all those savory roasted veggies mellow out the flavor oh-so-nice, but since the broth is part of the meal, all the nutrients that would leach out during cooking still get eaten in the soup! It's win-win. Or win-win-win. Whatever - it's kale ftw, peeps.

Roasting the veggies is key here, folks. It caramelizes and sweetens, and is absolutely necessary for the flavor of this soup. I didn't roast the garlic because I use that already-prepared kind in a jar, and out of the peel, it would burn in the oven; but if you have a bulb of fresh garlic cloves, you should roast it by cutting off the top of the whole bulb, drizzling it in a little olive oil, and setting it upright on the pan with the rest of the veggies. Check it each time you stir the pan of vegetables, because you may need to remove it from the oven before the rest of the vegetables to avoid burning. Then you squeeze out the meaty parts, finely mince them, and use as directed.

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

Adapted from SimplyRecipes.com

Ingredients

3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise
2 large tomatoes, quartered
1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices (I have used sweet potatoes instead of the squash with good results; pretty much any sweet vegetable would work)
6 cloves of garlic
8 cups vegan chicken broth (or 4 bouillon cubes, like No-Chicken)
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
1-1/2 c. or 1 can white beans (like Great Northern or cannellini)
1 tbsp. ground thyme (or use fresh if you have it, about 3 large sprigs)
1 bay leaf
couple tbsp. olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly oil a baking sheet, and place the carrots, squash, tomatoes, and onion in a single layer on the pan, and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
Roast vegetables until they are browned and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
Chop the roasted squash and carrot strips into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
Toss the tomatoes and onions into a food processor or blender, and add the garlic. Purée until almost smooth.
If using bouillon, dissolve in 8 cups of water. Pour a little of the broth onto the roasting pan, and scrape off any caramelized brown bits. Pour all the broth into a large soup pot.
Add the kale, thyme, and bay leaf to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, until kale is tender.
Add carrots, squash, and beans to the pot. Simmer for 5-10 minutes to blend the flavors. I usually add a little more broth or water at this point if the soup is too chunky.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

Makes 6-8 servings of soup. Delicious when served right away, but tastes even better after it's been in the fridge for a day.

I love to serve this soup with a hearty bread or roll. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for up to a week.

Happy eating.

Curried Rice

2010-01-11T19:41:00.002-07:00

This was a pressure cooker project for me. I wanted to test out the pressure cooker I got for Christmas, which may very well be my new favorite appliance. You can make this dish without the pressure cooker, but you will need to cook it longer, and possibly add a little more liquid.

The rice turned out great, and was a total success in the pressure cooker. It has that spicy-sweet curry flavor TB and I love, offset by crunchy cashews, sweet raisins, and tart green apples. It's a pet peeve of mine when recipes call for "curry powder," because there are thousands of spice blends all called curries, and they're as different from one another as cinnamon and mustard powder. So for this recipe, I used a salt-free, mild yellow curry, which is an Indian curry blend with coriander, tumeric, cumin, and cinnamon, among other spices. You could definitely use a spicier blend if you wanted more kick.

I used brown rice instead of the traditional basmati, which is why this dish doesn't quite have that signature bright yellow color (which comes from the tumeric, fyi). But nearly all the nutrients in rice are found in the husks, which get removed in the process of refining the grains of white rice. So I'll sacrifice the color and pop for nutritional value in this case.

Curried Rice

Adapted from Curried Rice with Raisins and Cashews on DietEnlightened.com

Ingredients

olive oil, enough to coat the pan
1/4 c. finely minced onion
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. yellow curry powder
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 cube vegetable boullion
pepper, to taste
1 c. uncooked brown rice
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 c. water (according to directions on your rice for 1 c. rice)
1/3 c. raisins
1/3 c. cashews
1/3 c. chopped, unpeeled green apple

Directions

Heat oil in the bottom of a pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the onion, and sweat it until it's translucent.
Reduce heat to low, then stir in curry powder, garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper. Fry briefly, until the spices become fragrant.
Dissolve the boullion cube in the water. Add the boullion and water to the pressure cooker.
Add the rice to the pressure cooker and stir well.
Turn heat up to high, and seal the lid on the pressure cooker. Follow your pressure cooker's directions for cooking brown rice; mine takes 15 minutes from the time it fully pressurizes. Reduce heat as appropriate to maintain a steady pressure, again according to the pressure cooker instructions.
Once cooking time is up, remove pressure cooker from heat, and allow the pressure to neutralize. Then remove the lid, stir in cashews, raisins, and chopped apples, and put the lid back on the pot for a few minutes. The heat and moisture in the rice should help plump up the raisins, and just barely cook the apples.

Makes about 4 servings of curried rice. Serve either hot or chilled.

This curried rice is a great side dish for any vegan meal, and is also a great introduction to curries for those who might be a little fearful of spice. Go to a good spice store to get your curry blends - the quality is very much worth a little extra time and expense. If you live in Denver, I recommend Savory Spice Shop.

Happy eating.

Orange-Soy Broccoli

2010-01-11T19:11:00.002-07:00

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, I get tired of raw broccoli with hummus. Wondering what else to do with the two stalks of broccoli in my produce box this week, I stumbled across this fabulous little recipe on VegWeb.com, which is one of my go-to sources when I'm having a "What the heck do I do with this vegetable?" moment.

Normally, I'm not a fan of cooked broccoli, but this is a delicious side dish, and chock-full of the kind of texture and flavor that makes my mouth go mmmmmm. I actually had to stop myself from eating the whole thing in one sitting. Just try it... you'll see.

Orange-Soy Broccoli

Adapted from Broccoli with Orange Peel and Walnuts on VegWeb.com

Ingredients

2 c. broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 orange
1/2 c. pecans or walnuts
1/2 tbsp. finely minced ginger
1 tbsp. soy sauce, preferably low-sodium; if regular, use less
1/2 tbsp. pepper
vegetable oil for sautéing

Directions

Peel the orange in 1" strips using a vegetable peeler. Remove any white pith from the inside of the peeled strips by scraping with a spoon. Save the orange; you'll need the juice momentarily.
Heat a 12" skillet, with enough oil to coat the bottom, over medium heat.
Sauté the strips of orange peel for a couple minutes, just until the edges begin to brown. Be careful not to burn.
Add the ginger, and sauté another 30 seconds or so.
Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the broccoli and pecans, cooking until the pecans get toasted and the broccoli just begins to turn soft and bright green. Don't overcook the broccoli; you still want it nice and crunchy.
Toss in the soy sauce and pepper to taste.

Makes 3-4 servings of broccoli. Best when served right away, but can be saved and served later either hot or chilled.

Trust me, even the broccoli-haters in your family will like this crunchy, citrusy side dish. The nuts compliment the texture of the broccoli beautifully, and the crispy orange peel pieces are a delight.

Happy eating.

Taco Salad

2010-01-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of those old, easy standby recipes that I always rely on when I can't think of anything else to make. What makes this particular version extra-special is the chipotle ranch dressing. You can buy chipotles in adobo sauce (which are smoked jalapeno peppers canned in a spicy red sauce) at most grocery stores, but this is one of those tricky ingredients that you only use a little bit of at a time, so you always have some left over. Luckily, they are fairly well preserved in their natural spices, so they'll keep in your fridge for awhile. I've found several recipes that make great use of their unique, smoky flavor, like a veganized version of Rachel Ray's Caution Flag Chili, and I'm going to attempt a chipotle BBQ sauce in the near future.

My taco salads - for those of you unfamiliar with this bastardized Tex-Mex deliciousness - consist of romaine lettuce, black beans, grilled fajita vegetables, tortilla chips, and toppings like guacamole, salsa, and chipotle ranch dressing. I'll provide recipes for the guacamole and the chipotle ranch below, but everything else is pretty much up to you.

I usually do a couple different colors of bell peppers, onions, and a jalapeno pepper, and cook them briefly over very high heat to get that nice fajita char while still keeping a good crunch in the veggies. Mushrooms, zucchini, or carrots would also work nicely. I cooked the black beans in my brand-new pressure cooker, but canned would work just as well. You can use store-bought tortilla chips out of the bag, or you can fry up some strips of corn tortillas for a bolder taste. And for salsa, make your own if the season's right and you have the fixins - or, I really like 505.

Guacamole

NOTE: This recipe is made entirely "to taste," meaning the amount of cilantro, onion, and lime you add depends completely on the size of your avocados, freshness of the ingredients, and your personal preference. Start by blending in just a little of each ingredient; then taste, and add more if necessary. Raw, fresh cilantro and onion have pungent flavors, so you don't want to overdo them.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados
palmful of fresh cilantro
about 1/4 of a red onion
couple tbsp. of lime juice
salt

Directions

NOTE: If you have a food processor, it makes everything much easier. If not, you'll need lots of patience to chop the onion and cilantro very small.

Peel and pit the avocados, and toss them in your food processor.
Pull the leaves from the stems of the cilantro, and toss about half into the food processor. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides as necessary. Taste, and add more cilantro as desired, blending until smooth again.
Roughly chop about 1/4 of a red onion, and toss about half into the food processor. Blend until smooth, taste, and add more as desired.
Add about a teaspoon of salt, blend, and taste. Add more as desired.
Add about a tablespoon of lime juice, blend, and taste. Add more as desired.

By the end of this process, you should have guacamole that's so tasty, you have to stop yourself from just digging in with a spoon. Play with the flavors until you get a blend you like.

Vegan Chipotle Ranch

Adapted from Vegan Chipotle Ranch on The Palatial Palate

Ingredients

1 pkg. silken tofu
1-1/2 c. vegannaise
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, torn into pieces
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
4 chipotles in adobo sauce

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until creamy and smooth.
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, to give spices a chance to marry.

This yields a ridiculous amount of dressing, like 4 or 5 cups. It also turned out a little thick for my tastes: it's too thick to pour. Next time I make it, I will omit the tofu and cut down on the spices a little, to make a thinner dressing and less of it.

Now, just toss some romaine lettuce and black beans with a couple spoonfuls of dressing, top with fajita veggies, crunchy tortilla strips, guacamole, and salsa, and enjoy!

Happy eating.

Homemade Gnocchi with Fried Eggplant

2010-01-10T15:22:00.001-07:00

I have a thing for homemade pasta. But, I do not have a pasta maker. Gnocchi are the perfect solution: chewy little potato dumplings that can be made entirely by hand. They're a little time-consuming, but totally worth it for fresh, handmade pasta.

I paired the gnocchi with a fresh tomato sauce, and topped the whole thing off with slices of crispy fried eggplant. Gnocchi are usually served with a very light sauce, like a vinaigrette or pesto, to really let the pasta itself shine through, and this simple tomato sauce compliments them perfectly. I was originally going to roast the eggplant for this, but the boy (hereafter referred to as TB) wanted fried eggplant, and I just couldn't say no to that face. Actually, the crispy breading made a wonderful contrast to the soft gnocchi, and the whole thing turned out delightful.

Homemade Gnocchi

Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Ingredients

2 russet potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 to 1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour (if you like your gnocchi firmer, substitute bread flour or add some gluten)

Directions

Poke a bunch of holes in the skins of the potatoes with a fork. Bake them at 400° until very tender, about 45 minutes. No need to wrap them in foil; just stick 'em right on the oven rack. Potatoes are done when a fork pierces easily, and can be wiggled around a bit inside the potato.
Remove potatoes from the oven and let them cool a few minutes, until you can handle them without burning the crap out of your hands. Peel them with a paring knife, being careful to not lose too much of the flesh. Cover the peeled potatoes with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and leave them to finish cooling completely.
Place cooled potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mash them with the olive oil and salt, as smooth as you can get them by hand; do not use an electric mixer, as this will make your gnocchi sticky.
Add about 1/2 cup of flour and work it into the potatoes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and continue working in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until you get a smooth, un-sticky but not dry dough.
If you're cooking the gnocchi immediately, put a large, salted pot of water on to boil.
Divide the dough into 3 or 4 sections, and roll each one out into a long rope about 1/2" thick. Cut the ropes into small 1/2" pieces. Roll the pieces down the tines of a fork with your thumb, so that the dough curls around your thumb on one side, and has ridges from the fork on the other side. (You want the dimple from your thumb, because this is where the gnocchi catches a lot of the sauce.)
Drop the pieces one at a time into the boiling water. Cook in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding the pan; you don't want the gnocchi sticking together. They will sink to the bottom of the pan at first, then rise to the top as they cook. Once they rise, cook them for another couple of minutes, then pull them out of the water and into a colander. Rinse them briefly to remove some of the sticky starch on the surface, then place in a single layer on a plate to cool.

NOTE: If you want to freeze the gnocchi for later, you freeze the dough pieces, before they're cooked. The best way to do it is to place them separated on a cookie sheet and freeze them for a few minutes, until hard to the touch. Then you can toss them in a container or freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. To cook later, just toss the frozen gnocchi in boiling water, and follow the directions above.

Makes about 4 servings of gnocchi. These are best when served immediately after cooking, but they will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Tomato on SeriousEats.com.

Ingredients

olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped with chiffonade technique
splash of balsamic vinegar (red wine or sherry vinegars would also work)
1 c. (about 2 Romas) diced tomato
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt

Directions

Heat olive oil (just a couple turns of the pan) over medium heat in a large skillet. Sautée the onion just until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Deglaze the pan with a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Toss the diced tomato, red pepper flakes, and basil into the pan. Sautée for a few minutes, until everything is heated through and the tomatoes and basil are soft.

Makes about 4 servings of sauce. This is a light, chunky sauce, not really similar to a marinara; TB describes it as "Italian pico de gallo." Good, vine-ripened tomatoes are the key to a good flavor here.

Fried Eggplant

Ingredients

high-heat frying oil (canola, grapeseed, and safflower all work well)
1 small eggplant
kosher or pickling salt
1/2 c. nondairy milk
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. breadcrumbs
dried garlic, basil, oregano, marjoram, or other Italian seasonings
salt and pepper

Directions

Slice the eggplant into 1/4" thick slices. I like to cut them in half again into half-moon shapes, but you can leave them whole if you like. There is no need whatsoever to peel eggplant, unless it is very out of season and tough and bitter.
Place the eggplant slices in a colander, and toss them with some kosher or pickling salt. This will draw out some of the moisture and bitterness. Let them sit for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour, and then rinse them thoroughly with cold water and pat dry.
Heat a generous amount of oil over medium-high heat in a large steel or cast-iron pan. Using enough oil (but not too much) and being careful to not overcrowd the pan are key to making nice, crispy eggplant.
Get yourself 3 flat-bottomed bowls.

In the first, whisk about 1/4 cup of the flour into the nondairy milk to thicken it up.
In the second bowl, toss the rest of the flour, and season it with pepper and a little bit of salt (go easy on the salt, because purging the eggplant slices with salt makes them a little, er, salty, even after rinsing).
In the third bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the various dried herbs and spices.

Dip the eggplant slices one at a time in the soymilk, then toss them in the flour, then dip into the soymilk again, and then coat in breadcrumbs.
Toss the breaded eggplant slices onto the pan and fry for a couple of minutes per side, until they're brown and crispy.

Like the gnocchi, this should be served and eaten right away. It will get soggy if you refrigerate or reheat it.

Now all you have to do is assemble! Toss the gnocchi in the tomato sauce, then layer some fried eggplant slices on top. Sprinkle some fresh basil or parsley on top for fanciness, and enjoy!

Happy eating.

Beet and Potato Pancakes

2010-01-09T22:04:00.002-07:00

Beets! Beets! Beets! Other than Brussels sprouts, I can't think of any other vegetable that inspires so much fear and dread from cooks and eaters alike. But guess what? Beets are freaking delicious. They have a delightfully crunchy texture, and a tangy flavor with just a touch of sweetness.

These beet and potato pancakes are a perfect introduction to beets. The beet flavor is muted a bit by the potato, but you still get that tasty tang. They're crunchy and oniony, and delicious paired with a horseradish dipping sauce.

A note about beets, if you've never cooked with them before. They will stain the crap out of everything they touch, including hands, clothing, and counters. It'll wash off your hands after a day or so, but you'll need bleach to remove it from clothing or counters. So be careful when slicing these babies.

Beet and Potato Pancakes

Adapted from the Beet and Potato Pancakes recipe on VegWeb.com.

Ingredients

1 large beet
1 large russet potato
1 onion
1 c. whole wheat flour
water
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Peel the beet and potato. Grate both into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Finely chop onion, and add it to beat and potato mixture.
Stir in the flour.
Mix in enough water to make everything stick together, and salt and pepper to taste.
Heat a generous coating of oil over medium-high heat.
Form the beet/potato mixture into flat, palm-sized patties. Drop them into the hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes per side, until nice and brown and crispy.

Makes about 18 patties. Serve and eat immediately. I like to serve these with a horseradish dipping sauce, made by just mixing some prepared horseradish into vegan mayonnaise.

Don't skimp on the onion - it caramelizes on the pan and adds the most delicious flavor to these pancakes.

I like to serve them with a horseradish dipping sauce, made by just mixing some prepared horseradish into vegan mayonnaise. Vegan sour cream would be a good choice, too.

Happy eating.

Peanut Butter Crisscross Cookies

2010-01-08T09:32:00.001-07:00

Dessert is always my favorite starting place, so I figured I'd kick it off with some cookies. A quick disclaimer, though: I am not a baker. In the world of cuisine, usually there are cooks, and there are bakers. I am the former. Baking is far too sensitive to carefully-measured proportions of ingredients for my usual style of grabbing a handful of something and tossing it into a bowl. I also live at 6000 feet, which usually means that muffins burn and cookies flatten down into gooey messes.

But these beauties turned out lovely. These are light, delicate, crumbly shortbread-style peanut butter cookies, not soft and chewy peanut butter cookies. I like both styles, but the texture of these is just delightful with a cold glass of almond milk.

Peanut Butter Crisscross Cookies

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

1/2 c. vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated is best, but Crisco works)
1/2 c. natural smooth peanut butter (preferably no-stir; otherwise, stir really well first)
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp. agave nectar
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together shortening, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy, around 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl periodically. You can also do this by hand with a fork or heavy-duty whisk if you have lots of patience and massive forearm muscles.
Stir in vanilla and agave nectar.
Mix in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Use your hands to really work everything together. The dough should hold together and be able to be formed into balls. If it's too dry to stick together, add a tablespoon or two of your preferred nondairy milk, but be careful here - to get the cookie texture right, you want as little liquid in the dough as possible.
Roll the dough into 1-1/2" diameter balls (the size of the center indent of your palm). Flatten them a bit in your palm, then place on a cookie sheet and flatten them more with the bottom of a mug. (These don't spread out while baking, so you pretty much want to get them in their final shape before you stick 'em in the oven.) Use the tines of a fork to make crisscrosses on the tops of the cookies.
Bake for about 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven, and let them cool on the sheets for at least 10 minutes (if you don't, they'll crumble into oblivion). Then transfer them to wire racks to finish cooling.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy these within a couple of days for maximum deliciousness, and make sure you store them in a tightly-sealed container. I hope you love the tender, flaky texture as much as I did.

Happy eating.

The Co-Op

2010-01-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Photo by Alexis DeCook

First things first: the people responsible for delivering a cornucopia of delicious, organic, seasonal, so-fresh-you-have-to-shake-the-dirt-off-your-greens produce to my doorstep every week.

Door to Door Organics. I love them.

No, really, I'm completely in love with this company. Go to their website, and you'll see why. There's a picture of a smiley-face made out of oranges and a banana. If you could be besties with a company, we would be painting each other's toenails.

Their produce is amazing - some of the most delicious fruits and veggies you have ever tasted. Their website is super easy to use, and friendly and colorful to boot. Their service is excellent. They work with farmers in Colorado (or your local state) and just a few neighboring areas, all of whom use certifiably organic farming practices.

If you live in an area where you can receive their deliveries, you should. We get a medium-sized combo box delivered every Wednesday, and split between 4 people, it comprises the majority of our groceries. Since we were eating a plant-based diet anyway, we're actually spending less on food now than before the co-op. It will force you to eat healthier, increase your fiber and nutrient intake, and broaden your palate. It's basically good for every part of your life.

Plus, it's like getting a present every week! A gift of vegetables! Well, I get excited about it, anyway.

What the world needs now...

2010-01-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

...is another vegan food blog! In my opinion, there can never be too many vegan food blogs. Together, we make the internet more delicious every day.

A bit about me:

I am a 22-year-old almost-vegan with a handsome boyfriend, adorable fluffy dog, and 2 insane cats. I have a day job doing psychological research, an embarrassing addiction to Twilight, and a passion for improvisational cooking. I love to read and write and rant. My love of good music borders on obsession, as does my preoccupation with correct grammar. I'm loud, temperamental, and I curse like a sailor - especially in the kitchen - but lucky for you, you're reading this, so I've had a chance to calm and censor.

A bit about this:

Three things recently conspired to push me headfirst into cooking from scratch: first, my shift from vegetarianism toward veganism; second, our participation in a local produce co-op; and third, our budget constricting like a hungry snake. The result of this is that each week, I get a box of fruits and vegetables on my doorstep, and I have to figure out how to turn these seasonal and often unfamiliar (weird) plants into healthy, fast, animal-free meals that both the boy and I will eat with minimal complaining and maximum nom nom nom, for about $50 a week. I satisfy all these requirements - and hopefully, our tummies - by making almost everything from scratch.

I usually use a combination of Google, cookbooks, and questionable intuition to cobble together four or five dishes each week, using everything in the box and as little else as I can manage. I spend an afternoon or evening cooking, then package everything away to be reheated as needed during the week. Some things turn out to be culinary genius, some things turn into abominations in my trash can, but almost everything is at least edible.

I have never followed a recipe precisely in my entire life, and don't intend to start now. I love spice, salt, freshness, rich creamy deliciousness, and hummus. I follow four principles in life and cooking:

Shake 'em if you got 'em. If a recipe calls for walnuts but I have pecans in my pantry, you can bet your buns you'll find pecans in my dish. I am queen of substitutions, adaptations, and random additions. Stroke of genius? Moment of insanity? The mystery is half the fun. Also, I try to buy local and in season - use what's available to you. Many resources are wasted in growing and transporting exotic crops.
Waste not. I will use every root and fruit I get each week, no exceptions, and I will gleefully butcher any recipe to make that happen. I also try to use every part of every plant (did you know you can eat carrot greens?), and will never peel, seed or strain unless absolutely necessary. All the antioxidants are in the skins and seeds, anyway.
Mother (nature) knows best. The closer to the vine something is, the better it is for you. Preservatives are the devil. I strive to use foods in the least processed form possible, and I prefer to get all essential nutrients from food, not supplements. This is difficult to do on a budget, but I give it my best shot.
It's all in the journey. Cooking is a process of constant trying, failing, and learning. Recipes are fluid and should be adapted to your needs, not followed in goose-step. I very rarely make the same thing twice. Go where the wind blows you, dude.

So, welcome!

Each week, I'll post the recipes I make, photos and descriptions of the finished products, and analysis of the nommable-ness. I'll also probably throw in some random thoughts, observations, music, news, and other stuff to stimulate your mental and physical appetites. If you're into fresh, seasonal, adventurous veggie-based meals, stick around.

Feel free to comment, criticize, question, or whatever. I'm a feedback whore.

Happy eating.