VeganMoFo: Odds and Ends October 26, 2009
Posted by a-k in ani phyo, baking, burgers and patties, chocolate, cookbooks, dessert, raw, reviews, sammiches and wraps, test recipes, veganmofo, zine.13 comments
Last night my ladyfriend came into the kitchen and said, “I wish we had brownies.” I said, “I can make some!” and I did. Of course I reached for Sweet Freedom and discovered that I had all the ingredients for a half-batch of the Ultra Fudgy Brownies… even half an avocado! which makes up some of the delightful fat in this relatively low-fat brownie. Umm, I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never been a big chocolate fan, and therefore have little to no idea what a brownie should taste or feel like, but this really satisfied me and my lady (who claimed it was “like a really delicious low-fat brownie”)! And really, could it get much sexier than that rich and decadent chocolate yumminess up there, with hardly any guilt? For reals. It’s inspiring me to use avocado more in baked goods.
I’ve also been perusing Ani Phyo’s new dessert book more in preparation for a review I’m working on for Domestic Affair. Although most of the recipes don’t require a dehydrator (as in her first book), I wanted to try out this Breakfast Toast recipe, which does. I’ve just finished the last piece today, having eaten it plain or as a raw “PB&J” with almond butter and fresh berries. Does making a PB&J raw really require a recipe? Probably not, but then I would never had tried out this tasty buckwheat, flax, sesame, raisin “bread”! Here with some organic blueberries I got for free:
And my personal favorite, with organic raspberries (also free!):
I’ve also slowly been materializing some recipes for the next zine, including one for Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Porridge. It’s in need of a little tweaking, but super filling and tasty all the same. I brought some leftovers to work the other day:
I’ve got another post with a recipe coming up later tonight, or perhaps tomorrow afternoon (I feel like a slacker compared to some of you daily mofo-ers!) for some Vegan Haggis Loaf I made today, topped with a sauce I made from Farmer’s Market ground cherries, red wine, and peppercorns. I’d do it in this post, but I’m running out of time before I must dash off to my evening class about native tree species in Minnesota. Therefore I leave you with a picture of Jes’s delicious Tempeh Tube Sausage patties which I made for brunch yesterday, along with steamed broccoli and roasted sunchokes… these are awesome and inspire me to concoct all sorts of tasty vegan burgers, including one which I will be bringing along on our camping trip up north this weekend (yes, I said up north, and yes, we are probably insane):
some mexican flavor July 3, 2008
Posted by a-k in beans and legumes, cookbooks, grains and flours, herbs, mexican food, protein alternatives, sammiches and wraps, seitan, vegetables.11 comments
seitan fajitas with red, yellow, and poblano peppers, red onions, and guacamole on homemade corn tortillas
this week i made a plank of seitan, and i mean a plank. my experiences with making seitan have often resulted in firm interiors and spongier outsides. so, inspired by tofu666’s recent seitan excursions and less recent photo essay, plus a conglomeration of recipes, i first failed at making seitan from regular wheat flour. it disintegrated in the second batch of water, which makes me wonder whether i either didn’t knead the dough long enough at the beginning or my canister of “whole wheat flour” was actually something else. so i went to the old standby of vital wheat gluten, and rolled the resulting dough into a giant pancake of sorts. i put it into cold broth, simmered it for an hour, then let it cool all day in the pot while i was at work. it worked deliciously! so firm, pleasantly chewy, and it even makes a tasty nibble on its own.
today, however, it had a different calling:
i went off the real food daily recipe for seitan fajitas, though i made it for four mini servings, replaced some of the tamari with water, and added coriander and marmite. while the seitan pieces marinated, i made a small batch of corn tortillas. yum. i don’t think i can ever buy storebought corn tortillas again, though i will definitely have to try making flour ones as well sometime. this was only the second time i’ve made them, but really, they’re quite easy. (while my girlfriend was on tour, her band was treated to a homemade mexican-themed vegan breakfast feast cooked by chloe from montreal-based aids wolf. she made homemade everything, including tortillas!) then i browned the seitan in the cast iron pan, threw in some onions and peppers and sauteed them a couple of minutes. i poured the remaining marinade over everything and turned the heat off while they sizzled. topped with some guacamole, they made for a very tasty lunch.
i haven’t done a ton of cooking yet, because it’s been pretty hot out, and we’ve been really busy looking for a new place to live. i did, however, get a chance to try out the popular quinoa salad with black beans and sweet potatoes posted awhile back on the ppk. i made it spicier and added avocado, and it was quick and easy!
my stomach hasn’t been very happy with some of my food choices lately. i think the raw really had cleaned me out even after just a week, and i have been feeling the effects of my poorer choices (like pizza luce and malaysian golden tofu). so i’ve got to stop being lazy and put my foot down in this house about more fresh food! there’s a good-looking recipe for a raw creamy carrot soup that’s been calling my name. and more juice. definitely more juice.
summertime colors June 9, 2008
Posted by a-k in cookies, dessert, fruit, herbs, nuts, raw, sammiches and wraps, sauces and spices, smoothie, vegetables.9 comments
it’s been awhile, due to tweakings on zine tester recipes and the loaning out of my camera’s memory card. luckily, the recipes have been sent to the testers, and the memory card came back today! so i set to work making something tasty.
i’ve mentioned before that i’m planning to do about a week-long raw fast at the end of the month. i’ve been doing lots of research and a few experiments (some of those should pop up around here soon). the early summer weather has got me craving raw foods from ecopolitan a lot, but i often push that aside to preserve my pocketbook and being able to eat “acceptable” meals with my partner and my friends. i’m trying to make more food at home instead of running across the street (though ecopolitan’s desserts are heavenly. HEAVENLY. last week i had a slice of purple heart pie and i don’t know everything that was in it but i almost fell off my chair it was SO good!), especially since i don’t want to end up broke after a week! i’ve heard of people who did a raw cleanse and spent 500$ on groceries for five days’ worth! i can only imagine that they’re making recipes from raw food real world or the like, and relying far too heavily on nuts. at any rate, that’s not the plan i have in mind.
after a trip to the store, i scored huge in the freebies-for-employees produce (including a cherimoya that’s nearly the size of my head and looks to be just about perfectly ripe!) as well as some other things i needed around the kitchen. i made a smoothie based on this recipe, only i juiced the rhubarb and a cucumber together to use in place of water, and i only had about 5 nuts sitting in my fridge. there was some leftover juice which i added water and lemon juice to as a “summer cooler” that i plan to drink while gardening this afternoon.
strawberry-rhubarb-cucumber smoothie for breakfast
for lunch, i’ve been having visions of raw spring rolls, with colorful fillings bursting out of them. originally i’d thought of using daikon as the wrapper, but got some daikon sprouts instead. i’m the first to admit i only thought until i started looking into raw food that only alfalfa and mung bean sprouts were in existence. and if you go by most supermarkets, you might think so too. i’ve never been a fan of alfalfa sprouts – to me, they’ve always tasted like dirt and got in the way of other sandwich fillings. but when i heard about radish sprouts, i knew i had to try them. they’re spicy, and their little leaves are generally a bit larger than alfalfa sprouts. i also went with carrots, a ripe champagne mango, zucchini, cilantro, and fresh basil as fillings.
i don’t have a recipe, per se, for these rolls. but i do have some tips about making raw spring rolls.
1) if using a leafy green that is pale on the underside, remember to place your fillings on the pale side. this way when you roll it up, the color will be on the outside (and it will probably roll more easily that way too). if there is a thick stem or rib at the base of the leaf, cut it out and overlap the two sections to keep the fillings from spilling out.
2) pick a nice variety of textures, flavors, and colors. having crunchy carrots and sprouts with soft mango and zucchini was a nice mix for the delicate butter lettuce. in the flavor department, fresh herbs are your best friend! regardless of the zestiness of the daikon sprouts and the creaminess of the mango, for example, the cilantro and basil really would have been missed. likewise, pairing whatever your fillings end up being with a good dipping sauce will really help expand the flavors, as well as moisten everything. lastly, having a lot of colors not only makes it look pretty, but also means you’re getting a wider variety of nutrients.
3) don’t overstuff. like their rice paper wrapper cousins, using too much filling will make them difficult to roll and hard to keep closed. however, you can combat this by using toothpicks to hold them together. and regardless of how careful and exacting you are, these can get pretty messy to eat. napkin recommended!
i also made my first raw cookies today. a really great benefit to making your own nut and seed milks is that you can use the leftover pulp as a base for cookies or cheeses. in this case, i had some pumpkin seed pulp that i added dates, ginger, cardamom, carob, and almonds to. we don’t have the world’s greatest food processor, so i ended up adding too much water to try and get the dough to stick together. but dehydrated for a few hours and they weren’t half bad for a recipe-less first attempt, although they tasted an awful lot like the topping for the apple crisp i made (i think it was the ginger). next time i’m going to add more carob powder and maybe some cinnamon!
pre-trip food assortment March 27, 2008
Posted by a-k in breakfast, cookbooks, my sweet vegan, sammiches and wraps, tempeh.8 comments
tempeh reuben on artisan pumpernickle bread with spring mix salad
we’re working on getting ready for a weeklong trip to texas early next week, so my internet existence has been intermittent and will cease to exist after tuesday (but only temporarily!). and hence, no recipes and few presentable items.
my sweet vegan’s bananas foster cupcakes (pardon the lack of lighting and lack of familiarity with another camera)
i finally broke down and got my sweet vegan, though i hardly need to make any more sweets. still, it makes for wonderful companion baking! my friend amber and i whipped these up last weekend, making a single layer cake (not pictured) and twelve cupcakes… seriously, it makes that much cake! they also convinced amber that vegan baking exists and is flavorful and delicious. a slight rum flavor, creamy banana, and caramel frosting.
vegan swedish pancakes with strawberry-orange-date syrup
one day i spent battling the vegan crepe/swedish pancake. though i got a few good ones, and they tasted pretty good, i feel i need to work on them a little more. unfortunately it seemed that the best ones were also the ones cooked in the most earth balance, so i feel pretty guilty about devouring crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (no, i’m so not kidding… i shudder to think about it). once i feel enough time has passed to justify making these again, i’m going to hold or partake in a brunch party, and make a swedish pancake torte!! it’s going to be amazing and full of berries.
stack of vegan crepes, all sizes and textures…
tempeh reuben crepe… weird, but not as weird as you might think. it’s no reuben, but makes good use of leftovers if you can survive without the toasty rye bread.
savory portobella and caramelized onion crepe torte, sans cream gravy
savory portobella and caramelized onion with thyme cream sauce… i can’t believe i ate half of this at the end of the day. i should be dead, shouldn’t i? maybe not, but i can tell you the salad i had with this was a really welcome contrast. nom nom.
so i’m not sure if i’ll have another post before i leave (i hope to), but hopefully i will have some pleasantly-surprising documentation about vegan eating in south texas, which sounds scary and unrealistic right now. but you never know!
sandwich: vegan shawarma March 14, 2008
Posted by a-k in protein alternatives, sammiches and wraps, tvp, vegetables.2 comments
a tangy, spicy mix of “meat” with fresh vegetables in pocket bread, this comes to you direct from minneapolis via childhood summers in sweden via my aunt and uncle who were living in the netherlands at the time. although back then it was real beef, and i didn’t use vegetables, and i put ketchup on it. i know, i know. but i was young. i know.
traditional shawarma, which hails from the middle east, usually uses meat from one of those creepy orange-heat lamp vertical rotating beef logs that they shave pieces off of (i’m feeling some anxiety about the grammar at the end of that sentence, but i’m just going to leave it). however, i distinctly remember having ground beef and not sliced meat in my first experience with it, which is possibly a dutch thing. i mean of course, beyond the fact that my grandparents didn’t have the rotating beef log contraption.
you could conceivably use most any kind of protein alternative here (i used textured vegetable protein), but for more “authenticity” i’d go for thinly sliced seitan. add whatever vegetables you want…onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce are fairly typical (though if you fear the onion, you may not enjoy this recipe). stuff into pocket bread or wrap in pita, and serve it with tahini dressing (or goddess dressing, like i did here). following is the spice/marinade mixture that i used with 2 cups (before rehydrating) tvp. this makes well more than you’d probably need for a couple of sandwiches, unless you’re really hungry or don’t want to fit a lot of veggies in your sandwich. feel free to halve it.
also, this made a rather “wet” tvp consistency that didn’t brown very well in the pan (if you’re into looks in addition to just heating something up). you might want to reduce the amount of rehydrating liquid, or just use another protein source altogether.
vegan shawarma (makes about 3 c filling if using tvp):
2 c tvp
2 tsp marmite dissolved in 2 c boiling water
or
2-3 c seitan, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mace* (or nutmeg)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 onion, minced
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c red wine vinegar
if using tvp, pour the marmite-water mixture over the tvp in a bowl and mix well. let sit a few minutes to soak up the liquid. combine all the ingredients, mixing well to distribute the flavors.
let sit at least 15 minutes, or marinate in the fridge for a few hours. heat some olive oil in a skillet and cook, stirring to keep it from sticking to the pan, until heated through (and browned if desired).
serve in pita pockets with fresh vegetables and a tahini-based sauce or dressing.
*note: mace and nutmeg actually come from the same plant, the nutmeg being the somewhat large inner seed (which you can grate fresh), and the mace the aril (the thin, red skin) of the nutmeg seed. though quite similar in taste, mace is considered to be stronger and slightly sweeter than nutmeg. feel free to use either – mace will be a little harder to find, and a little more expensive, but if you can find it in bulk, you’d only need a little bit.
sandwich: vegan banh mi March 5, 2008
Posted by a-k in protein alternatives, sammiches and wraps, tofu, vegetables.6 comments
asian-marinated tofu, kimchi, cilantro-jalapeno vegenaise, and a mini baguette
as promised, my weekly sandwich post, although i fear this one might be a bit delayed. i promise i’ll do better!
banh mi is a traditional vietnamese sandwich influenced, as the baguette would suggest, by french country sandwiches. there are many incarnations, but they all generally consist of a baguette, pickled vegetables, and a protein (usually tofu or seitan when you speak vegan). i’ve only ever had it with seitan, but since i had some tofu i needed to use up, that’s what i used.
i didn’t use a recipe either, so this is pretty informal, but a brief photo essay follows. and you’re gonna need a napkin for this party; here’s me (in my pasty winter glory) and mine:
first off, you’ll want to start with a nice crusty piece of bread. i used half of a mini baguette, but i’m sure any crispy, chewy bread will do. cut it in half.
then spread, minimally, some vegenaise or earth balance on each half. i added a few tablespoons of chopped cilantro and minced jalapenos to my vegenaise for an extra kick. i didn’t measure anything too exactly, just starting with a little and adding more to suit my taste. sometimes i find vegenaise a little too powerful on its own, so any excuse to mix it together with something else is pretty much the only way you’ll see me eating it.
next, spoon some kimchi on the bottom half of your baguette. one day i hope to make my own, but for now i’m using some i got from work. kimchi is a deliciously spicy pickled mix of vegetables, usually with carrots, daikon, and cabbage, and sometimes additions or subtractions to that. try to strain off some liquid if you can, or it may become a leaky sandwich! (hence the napkin warning)
finally, pile some seitan or tofu on top of the kimchi, preferably with some asian-style flavoring. i baked off some vwav asian-marinated tofu, which is gingery and delicious, but some mock duck aka seitan is also a good way to get your protein serving!
then place the other piece of bread on top, press it down a little, open your mouth, and insert. use your plate to catch escapee ingredients, a fork on hand for what falls onto your plate, and your last piece of bread to soak up any kimchi-vegenaise sauce . delicious!
jackie party and saturday night dinner December 11, 2007
Posted by a-k in baking, cake, dessert, dips and spreads, nuts, parties and happenings, sammiches and wraps.2 comments
jackie, a most lovely person i used to work with flew in from seattle (where she now lives) and we had a gathering of former coworkers at my place. her husband brought freshly made vegan donuts from mighty-o’s, where he works! maria brought vegan mint chocolate chip cupcakes. i got all domestic and made fun-time appetizers. i also wore my scandinavian chairman mao outfit.
here are some pretty vintage cocktail forks that anne gave me. there weren’t really any appetizers we could use them with, but i put them in a bowl on the table anyway:
i bought some chestnuts and roasted them. never had them before! they were pretty tasty. clothed and naked:
then i pureed them with agave, chardonnay (because i didn’t have sherry), and soymilk. chestnut pudding!
i made risotto with cremini mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and basil the night before:
then i mixed leftover risotto with fresh parsley and made butter lettuce cups!
i recently discovered that pepperidge farm makes vegan puff pastry. here is some wrapped around olive oil-, garlic-, salt- and pepper-marinated asparagus, before going into the oven:
and a baked closeup (they were delicious!):
i was going to make lussekatter/swedish saffron rolls, but i tried to cheat the baking gods and they punished me. so i made a saffron cake instead, and dusted it with some powdered sugar. sweet saffron delights!
the gathering was a great success! hardly a bit of food left.
the next night i made this out of some random things in the fridge… hummus wraps with tomato, avocado, spinach and roasted red peppers inside a chili tortilla; sesame grilled tofu; and more asparagus!
next up… glögg mastery! (hopefully)
