There are several ways to make biscuits. Here is one...
Another super simple way is the drop biscuits from, you guessed it, Joy of Vegan Baking. Seriously, there is no reason to buy the Pillsbury kind when these biscuits literally take 15 minutes from start to finish. Unlike the biscuits you have to roll out, this method is more like making cookies. The resulting biscuits are a little rustic looking (i.e. there not the pretty perfect circles) but just as flaky and buttery as anything that comes from a cardboard tube. I made these biscuits as a treat this morning as a last hurrah before the New Year healthy eating kick!
You may know Yuma AZ from the critically acclaimed western starring Russel Crowe. However, I know it as the site of the closest Barnes & Noble to El Centro. Now I have one more reason to love Yuma- River City Grill.
We started with an order or the Vietnamese Spring Rolls as an appetizer, followed by the Roasted Tomato and Bell Pepper Bisque, which is easily veganized by ordering it without the gorganzola crouton. Yum! It was really difficult choosing an entree but I settled on the Indian curry, which was excellent, however the blackened tofu was running a close second. Next time. The only thing River City Grill did not have was a vegan dessert. But I was so full, I probably wouldn't have eaten dessert even if there was one.
I've been on a little blogging hiatus due to holiday traveling, but I'm back and rearing to go! In fact, I managed to come upon some great restaurants during my travels.
My husband is from El Centro, a town east of San Diego, and we spend every Christmas with his family. Unfortunately, we never have enough time to spend quality time in San Diego and El Centro. There are so many great veggie restaurants in San Diego and simply just not enough time to eat at them all.
But-- I did manage to experience one great restaurant, and it is an experience! Jyoti-Bihanga is a Sri Chinmoy divine enterprise, however you can call it a restaurant for short. Located on Adams Avenue in the Normal Heights part of San Diego, this restaurant serves eclectic vegetarian and vegan fare. Who is Sri Chinmoy? I'm glad you asked. According to his website "Sri Chinmoy is a spiritual teacher who dedicated his life in the service of humanity. In his 43 years in the West, he endeavoured to inspire and serve mankind with his soulful offerings - his prayers and meditations, literary, musical and artistic works." However, some think he's a sketchy cult-leader. A new memoir from a former disciple makes one a little suspicious of the sari-donned wait staff who all seem to have a serene, quaalude influenced demeanor.
However, if you don't mind the Hare Krishna vibe and imposing photos of the Guru that adorn the walls, the food was really good. I had the BBQ Mock Duck sandwich, which despite not really resembling duck at all, was delicious. Served with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, I was licking my fingers in satisfaction. Their menu is diverse including curries, "neatloaf," and nachos. Its not entirely vegan, but the menu has many vegan options. We topped off our dinner with a vegan chocolate mousse cake and left feeling very enlightened. I almost wanted to don a sari and become a Chinmoy follower. Almost!
I remember the first time I got a head of read cabbage in my vegetable box. Thinking, what the heck am I going to do with that, I starting googling and came across a great recipe for braised red cabbage that called for butter and brown sugar and vinegar. It was yummy, but the oil and brown sugar, defeated the purpose of having a vegetable in the first place.
So the next time I made braised cabbage, I just braised it with vinegar and it came out just as good. This is one of my favorite low-cal, high fiber dishes. But be ware: Cabbage has a high sulfur content, so like eggs cheese and beans, it can make you have gas that is particularly smelly. Sorry, there's really no delicate way to say that.
Step 1: Halve on head of cabbage and core. Then slice thinly.
Step 2: Place cabbage in large pot over medium heat, and add 1/4-1/2 cup vinegar. Start with a 1/4 cup and add more if it starts to dry out.
Step 3: Let cabbage braise until it reaches desire tenderness. About 30 minutes. Salt liberally.
This is the thing with holiday baking. Once you decide to give one person a package of homemade goodies, then all of the sudden your list balloons into a four foot long scroll starting with your best friends and ending with the cashier at Shoppers. My husband suggested that we give cookies to the maintenance crew of our apartment building. And they are very deserving. The have risked their lives many times by daring to confront my cat Kobe for the sake of unclogging a toilet or fixing a garbage disposal. As my friend Katie can attest, braving Kobe is no small feet. They also valiantly plowed our parking lot numerous times during last year's snowpocalypse. However, once we decided to give the maintenance crew holiday cookies, then it was "what about the concierge," "what about the dry cleaners," "what about my doctor." You see how this can get out of hand. However, holiday baking serves to remind you just how many people it takes to keep your life running smoothly. It truly takes a village to keep Rob Rob and I going. However, only the lucky few will be getting cookies this year. I'm really sorry cashier at Shoppers.
Building on yesterday's mint chocolate chip themes, I made mint chocolate chip cookies from, you guessed it, Joy of Vegan Baking. I also made chocolate mint oreo truffles. Heaven!
Naan is a traditional Indian flat bread. I love Indian food and I especially love the bread they bring you at Indian restaurants. But, truth be told, naan is just one of the many wonderful breads you get at Indian restaurants. On the pain in the ass scale, Naan ranks pretty high so I probably won't be making it all that often. But, hopefully this is the first of many Indian breads I'll make in the coming year.
Step one: Dough Make your dough following the recipe in Joy of Vegan Baking or any other vegan Naan recipe. It must rise for two hours, so plan ahead of time.
Step two: Roll out your dough After kneading your risen dough, divide into eight sections and roll into long ovals.
Step three: Bake your dough This is where the technique comes in. If you do not have a pizza stone or tandori oven like me, crank your oven up to 500 degrees and preheat you cookie sheet by leaving it in the oven. When you're ready to bake your naan, brush the bottom side of the naan with water. Then spray the cookie sheet with oil and place the naan on the hot cookie sheet. Its easier if you just open the oven, pull out the rack, and quickly throw the naan down on the baking sheet. Quickly brush the top of the dough with melted Earth Balance, sprinkle with salt and bake for about 5 minutes.
My ambivalence about cupcakes is no secret. On one hand, lets face it, they taste good. In fact, there are very few desserts I do not enjoy. I don't enjoy fruit compote, but I believe one can argue that fruit compote is not dessert at all. Its just mushy fruit. But I digress. Yes the cupcake is good. No one can argue that it is perfectly proportioned. And it is damn cute. But I find myself baffled everytime I drive through Georgetown and see a line down the block for Georgetown cupcakes. Or I walk by Crumbs and see and early morning sugar rush.
For years I have been advocating the ascent of the mighty whoopie pie, which was gaining some traction but seemed to have fizzled as of late. So why the musing on cupcakes you ask? Well my dear friend Megan was having a fundraiser for We Are Family, a great D.C.based food assistance organization, and the theme was cupcakes.
So despite my ambivalence towards this tired pastry, I made some damn good mint chocolate chip cupcakes which I must say, were very festive. The cake was your basic wacky cake recipe which uses vinegar and baking soda as a leavener. The frosting was the basic chocolate butter cream frosting from Joy of Vegan Baking, with peppermint extract, instead of vanilla. Plus I chopped up some vegan chocolate chips and folded them into the frosting, which I think gave it a great texture. Garnish with a candy cane. In the future I will be searching for a different cupcake recipe. The chocolate cake is tasty and moist, but it is very delicate and does not stand up well to the weight of the frosting. However, this go-around was a success, if I do say so myself.
This recipe must start with a disclaimer: my non vegan husband did not like this recipe. I can't fault him. Low-fat salad dressing never tastes as good as its full-fat counterpart. And my husband who is rail thin, need-not worry about his figure.
But this vegan does occasionally have to watch the calories. My favorite dressing is Annie's goddess dressing which is a tahini-based dressing.
Over at fatfreevegan.com this lighter version bulks up on silken tofu instead of tahini.
I have a book club. This book club has gone through several meeting formats. Initially we met at restaurants, which always felt rushed. Then we met for dinner at someone's house, which was great, but dinner is a lot of work. I think we've now settled on dessert at someone's apartment. So for this month's meeting I searched for a dessert that looked good but wasn't super fattening. I decided to veganize this Ellie Krieger recipe found here.
The best part is that per serving the cobbler is only 220 calories and has five grams of fiber. The recipe call for butter, which is easily swapped out with Earth Balance, and buttermilk. To make a vegan buttermilk all you need to do is mix your favorite non-dairy milk with vinegar (1 tbsp of vinegar to 1 cup of milk).
The recipe was a success. However, the real star of the evening was Erica's pumpkin cake -- her maiden voyage into vegan baking!
I went to Philadelphia over the weekend to visit my dear, and enthusiastically omnivorous, friend Emily (check out her blog) who will be moving back to California in two weeks. Despite my efforts to get her excited about discovering Philadelphia's vegan culinary hot spots, it was not meant to be. After making a very persuasive argument over facebook as to why we should try Horizon, we learned that they were booked. I wasn't successful in getting us to Govinda either. This just means that I will have to return to Philly at a later date to do some hard-core eating. The trip though did provide some food for blog in the form of a great Indian restaurant which will adapt many of their menu items to be made without ghee or dairy. Bindi says they serve modern Indian. Unfortunately, my pallet is not sophisticated enough to decipher old Indian from modern Indian. I do, however, know yummy Indian when I taste it and Bindi was just that. I had the vegetarian thali which included chana masala, spicy cauliflower, mango pickle, and they subbed these coconut lentils in for the saag paneer. It was awesome. If you are ever in Philadelphia and want some good Indian food, just go to Bindi and they will hook you up. But bring cash because they don't take credit cards.
Potatoes are taking over my fridge. It's not my fault. I subscribe to a weekly fruit and vegetable delivery service, and I normally check the website to make sure I don't get too much of one item. If I have a bunch of, lets say, potatoes from the week before that I didn't use I goon the website to make sure I don't get potatoes the next week.
Well I neglected to do that and somehow I've accumulated enough potatoes to feed Ireland. But when life gives you potatoes, and it's chanukah, make potato latkes. Right? Wrong!!!! I just couldn't get up the enthusiasm for another round of fried food. So I went with the next best thing...potato kugel.
I found this recipe online for potato carrot kugel. I'm always hesitant to use a random recipe online because, unlike cookbooks, where the recipes have been tested by the author and editors, you never know who has actually tried recipes from a website. However, I took a leap of faith and it came out pretty good. It was a chanukah miracle! Since it was thirty degrees outside I decided to make soup to go along with my kugel. I made a curried tomato and rice soup from Fatfree Vegan. It tasted great. The recipe did not call for blending the soup, but I had an idea that it might be better blended then chunky. NEVER AGAIN will I attempt to blend a soup without an immersion blender. After placing the hot soup in the blender and placing the lid on, the blender promptly exploded sending hot soup all over me and my kitchen. I now have a bra that will probably forever smell like curry tomato.
You live, you learn right. Well after I cleaned the tomatoes off of the ceiling of my kitchen my husband and I had the soup and kugel. It was a great dinner on a cold winter's night.
Vegnews must have been reading my blog because today's e-mail included the following recipe for vegan latkes. Enjoy these latkes by VN columnist Robin Robertson. Serves 6
What You Need:
1-1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and grated 1 small yellow onion, peeled and grated 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Canola oil, for frying
What You Do:
1. In a colander set over a large bowl, place potatoes. Using your hands, squeeze out the excess liquid from the potatoes. Pour off the liquid and place potatoes in the bowl. Add onion to potatoes along with parsley, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a thin layer of oil. Take a heaping tablespoon of batter and flatten it before gently placing it in the hot oil. Make three or four more potato pancakes this way, and add to skillet without crowding pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once, about 8 minutes total.
3. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding more oil as necessary. Remove the cooked potato pancakes to paper towels to drain, then transfer to an ovenproof platter and keep warm in the oven until all pancakes are cooked.
I, unfortunately will not be doing a head to head taste test this year. After Thanksgiving and my family's early chanukah party, I'm feeling a little pudgy. So the focus of this blog will be some low-fat healthy recipes-- at least for a couple weeks. Sorry Robert.
Among other great recipes, vegnews has some recipes for Jewish favorites like kugel, knishes and challah. After the first of the year I will be trying out some egg-less challah recipes. Its my resolution.
If you are scratching your heads wondering why I'm already making latkes, don't be alarmed. I realize that it is technically not chanukah just yet. But Since I technically be getting on a plane in two days and returning to Washington D.C., my family decided to have our chanukah party early.
So my mom and I had a little latke cook-off with her making the regular ones and me making the recipe for vegan Latkes from Veganomicon. What makes a latke not vegan you say? Eggs. So mine use potato starch and matzo meal as the binding ingredients. The recipe calls for 2.5 lbs of potatoes, but I didn't exactly measure. My mom and I used a 10 lb bag of potatoes and just split it. At first the batter was too stiff so I just added more potatoes until the consistency looked like the latke batter I'm used to. It should be thick but liquidy. If that makes absolutely no sense, check out this wonderful demonstration by Feed Me Bubbe:
To make the latkes you will need (approximately)
2.5 lbs grated potatoes 1 yellow onion, grated
2 cups matzo meal 1/4 cup potato starch salt and pepper
oil for frying, of course
I usually triple the amount of salt that the recipe calls for because I find the recipes in Veganomicon to be slighly under seasoned.
Something magic happens when you mix crushed Oreo/Newman-o cookies with tofutti cream cheese. I'm convinced that there is some unknown chemical reaction that produces an opiate-like effect. These Oreo cookie truffles require no measuring and are incredible. But fair warning-- they are habit forming.
You will need:
1 package sandwich cookies. Oreos, Newman-O's, Whole Foods brand are all vegan and all fine. I've never tried double stuffed, but I'm sure it can't be bad.
1 container of Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese. Brought up to room temperature so its soft.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Pulse cookies in a food processor until they are a coarse meal. Add the softened tofutti, and the vanilla, and process until it comes together like a dough.
At this point I transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. The key to making these truffles is to keep the mixture cold.
Once the dough has chilled, scoop onto a foil line cookie sheet. I make each truffle about two teaspoons, give or take. Then, with impeccably clean hands, GENTLY roll the scoops into smooth balls.
The place the formed truffles back in the freezer to chill for another hour.
Once your truffles are nice and cold you are ready to dip. Melt 1 bag of vegan chocolate chips in the microwave. The key to tempering chocolate in the microwave is to do it slowly. Place the chips in the bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then repeat until all of the chocolate is melted. I don't really worry about getting it to a certain temperature, although I'm sure it comes out better if you do. But its a bit of a hassle and I'm not going for perfection.
Once your chocolate is melted, its time to dip. I work in batches so My truffles can remain in the freezer until the moment before they get dipped. The warmed they get the harder it is to keep them together in the chocolate. Once all of your truffles are dipped and placed on a foil line cookie sheet, place them back in the fridge and chill until the chocolate is hard.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my friend Meghan Welsh who introduced me to this recipe!
PETA recently named Washington D.C. the most Veg-Friendly city. D.C. does have many amazing vegan and vegan-friendly establishments, which will be explored on this blog at a later time. For now, I must say that Los Angeles deserved a higher ranking than the eighth place ranking bestowed on them by PETA. This town definitely has some great vegan eats -- and I've only been here three days.
Yesterday, I had a very tranquil evening filled with yoga and macrobiotics. Perfect nourishment for the body, mind and soul. Liberation Yoga teaches all styles of Hatha yoga, which I find a refreshing alternative to studios that have not only focused on a single style, but turned that style into a brand. The 4pm Hatha class was excellent. I highly recommend it.
Now onto the food! M Cafe serves "contemporary macrobiotic cuisine." What is macrobiotic you say? I still don't really know, but I think you're supposed to chew your food well. Whatever, the macrobiotic philosophy, M Cafe was yummy. The atmosphere is a casual dining atmosphere. You order at the counter but they bring the food to your table. The menu is extensive. I had the chopped salad which ROCKED! My friend Tia had a combo plate with an awesome tempeh salad.
M Cafe also serves confections of two varieties. They have their regular vegan pastries and they also carry BabyCakes. To be thorough, Tia and I though it best to have a regular vegan cupcake AND a BabyCakes cupcake. They were both good. They BabyCakes cupcake was gingerbread and had more flavor and texture then the regular cupcake. However, I enjoyed the frosting on the regular vegan cupcake more. Just to make sure I give BabyCakes a fair testing, I'm going to go by the BabyCakes bakery downtown for a second tasting. Anything for the blog....
You are looking at a vegan chocolate souffle. Yes my friends you did not misread-- A. Vegan. Chocolate. Souffle. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets start with appetizers and work our way to dessert.
Shortly after landing at LAX I was picked up by my parents and demanded to be taken to Madeleine Bistro. Alright, I didn't demand, I just asked nicely and my parents happily abbliged. Madeleine's is an upscale bistro on Ventura Blvd in Tarzana. Its pricey but the food is so good it will make you cry.
We started out with the beet tartar which is served ontop of a tofu cheese crouton which you would swear was goat cheese. Its creamy and tangy and I could have eaten five of them.
Next onto the entree. Madeleine's menu is small plates which I'm usually not a huge fan of. If you ask for an entree portion of any of the main course items, they will accomodate. I had Gnocchi with sundried tomatoes, kale and "cream" sauce. My mom had lemon seitan with mashed potatoes, gravy and kale. My dad had a burger with onion rings. My brother also had the seitan. Everything was incredible.
But the star of the evening was the chocolate souffle. I am completely baffled about how they make a souffle without eggs. And if you ask, they won't tell you. Its a closely guarded secret. As far as I'm concerned the chef deserves an Nobel Prize for this. It is simply a ramekin of fluffy, chocolate heaven. Its served piping hot with vanilla ice cream. I want one NOW!
So eating in Los Angeles started off on a high note. Everyone else better step up their game, because I'm hungry and I?'m on vacation!
Last night I had a bunch of overripe bananas, so of course there was only one thing to do. Make banana muffins. This is another trusty recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Don't know if I've mentioned how great this cookbook is. One piece of advice. If you want a really good muffin top, and really this is the only time you will want a muffin top, you need to over fill your muffin tins. The recipe tells you to fill the muffin cups half way. Screw that. I fill them up all the way almost until they are overflowing. That's a nice puffy muffin top. The same also applies to cupcakes.
This brings me to another topic though. I think I need to take a brake from baking. The problem with learning how to bake is once you figure out how to do it you want to do it all the time. Its so damn fun and the results are so yummy. But I'm feeling a little muffin top myself. Plus I think I've been baking at the expense of exploring other yummy and healthful recipes, which could be equally fun and challenging. So once I get back from Los Angeles there will be more fruits and vegetable on this blog. For now, enjoy the muffins!
I once brought Biscotti to a dinner party and someone said to me, "I thought biscotti was something you buy, not something you make." But making biscotti is just like making any other cookie except there is one extra step which is of course the second baking.
I use the recipe for almond-anise biscotti from Veganomicon with a few changes. Instead of arrowroot powder I use cornstarch. I first had the idea to try this because the recipe for chocolate hazlenut biscotti on the next page uses cornstarch. I tried the substitution and it worked very well. I've also made this recipe without the anise and added chocolate chips. It works well with all sorts of variations.
Some people think baking is scary. Its true there is always a moment of cross your fingers hold your breath and hope it turns out ok when you stick raw dough in the oven. But there are a few things I've learned that are really crucial. First, make sure everything is ready to go before you mix the dry ingredients into the whet ingredients. Up until that point you can't really screw things up too much, but as soon as liquid hits the leavening agents all bets are off. Second, make sure your baking soda and baking powder are active. How do you know if there active? Click here.
Back to biscotti... Biscotti dough is weird. Its cookie dough, but you have to kneed the chips or nuts in. Then you need to shape it into a flat rectangle. Once the rectangle is baked let it cool completely. Seriously! I mean it. If you try to slice them when they're are still warm they will fall apart. Its hard enough to keep them together when they are cool. Once they are cool slice them with a sharp chef's knife. You really have to go for it when slicing the biscotti. If you hesitate you will have a crumbly mess. Biscotti can smell fear, so use one good slice and show the biscotti who's boss. The lay the cookies back on the cookie sheets and bake again. You probably should turn the biscotti half way through so they get evenly browned on both sides. But if you won't tell, I won't.
So I work at a federal agency, and lets just say I'm pretty sure there are no other vegans at my office. Tomorrow, I'm bringing in brownies for our Combined Federal Campaign bake sale. I like to call this recipe, from The Joy of Vegan Baking, old faithful because its easy and turns out awesome every time. Keeping my fingers crossed that its a crowd pleaser.
The mighty chickpea is one of the world's most versatile legumes. Also known as the garbanzo bean, chana dal, bengal gram, this versatile bean is used to make everything from falafel and hummus to gluten-free flour. One of my favorite ways to use the chickpea is in Chana Masala. Chana Masala is a traditional Indian dish which loosely translates to spicy chickpeas.
How to cook a chickpea
Cooking dried bean used to intimidate me. But cooking beans from scratch really does taste better than canned beans which always have that slightly metallic taste. Dried beans are also cheaper which is always a plus in my book. You do have to soak dried beans for about six hours. I just put 1 cup of beans in a bowl and cover them with water before I go to work in the morning and there soaked and ready by the time I get home. Then you need to drain and rinse the beans. DO NOT COOK THEM IN THE SOAKING LIQUID!!! Why you ask? When you soak the beans you're helping to dissolve some of the sugar. Many people think that gas caused by beans is from fiber but its actually from sugar which is digested by bacteria in our gut. So soak, rinse and don't worry about farting! After you've soaked and rinsed just place the chickpeas in a pot of water, bring to a boil and then leave to cook for about 40 minutes. I like to add a bay leaf for some flavor. Voila!
Once you've cooked your chickpeas you're ready to make some masala. You will need...
2 cups cooked chickpeas 1 cup diced tomatoes 1/2 onion grated 4 clove of garlic minced 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger 1 tbsp curry powder 2 tsp garam masala 2 tsp coriander 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cayenne 1 tsp salt juice of 1/2 a lemon
Heat up some canola oil in a large skillet. Traditional Indian cooking may use Ghee (NOT VEGAN) or mustard seed oil (where the heck can you buy that), but I think canola oil is perfectly fine for cooking at home on a weeknight. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and spices. It is important to fry the spices a little first because it releases more of the flavor and aroma. Once the onion and garlic start to get soft and translucent add the chickpeas, tomatoes and lemon juice. The mixture will look dry at first but the longer you let it cook, the more the tomatoes start to release their juice and everything will come together nicely. I like to simmer for about 10-15 minutes so all the flavors have time to meld together. Serve over basmati rice or with naan.
The most common reason vegetarians don't go vegan is a belief "that I could never give up cheese." I base this on absolutely no data and very sparse anecdotal evidence, but I still think its an accurate assessment. I know I definitely said "I could never live without cheese," more than once. Now, I really don't miss it. I know, I know. You're now probably saying to yourself "like hell she doesn't miss cheese, she probable had a dream of baked brie last night." Well actually I had a dream about having to take the LSATs again, but that's for another blog post. The truth is, you're tastes change. I really do enjoy pizza marinara (pizza with just sauce), and no-queso quesadillas (made with hummus and salsa), more than I used to enjoy the "real" thing.
But that's not why I'm writing this post. This post is the first in a completely unscientific taste test of vegan cheeses. An endeavor I came up with all of five minutes ago, but seemed like a good idea as I was pouring my coffee. The are quite a few non-dairy cheeses on the market. Only a few of those cheeses are vegan. How can a non-dairy cheese not be vegan you ask? Many, MANY, non-dairy cheese have added casein. Casein is a cow's milk protein. For people who are avoiding cheese because of lactose intolerance, you might not think casein is a problem. However, I highly recommend The China Study for information on how casein is the root of all evil in this world.
So bottom line, check the labels. Casein bad. Many non-dairy cheeses NOT VEGAN! On to Vegan cheeses....
Daiya The vegan world has been abuzz about Daiya cheese. First, let's discuss what Daiya has going for it. One of the biggest challenges with vegan cheese is getting it to melt. Daiya melts. Melting, though, is only have the story with cheese because cow's milk cheese not only melts, but is stretches into oozy strands. Daiya stretches. Daiya cheese is also soy free. I don't buy into the "soy is evil," movement one bit, but if you are allergic to soy or just want to change it up, Daiya is your friend. Daiya is made from pea protein, arrowroot, tapioca and various oils. Additionally, Daiya come pre-shredded so it is very easy to sprinkle on pizza, pasta or make a quick quesadilla.
However, I find that Daiya does not have much flavor. It is much better melted. In fact, that is the only way I would eat it. However, when you melt it, it takes on a waxy, rubbery mouth feel. That being said its kind of an acquired taste. Its very satisfying when you get home from yoga at 9 p.m. and want a quick dinner. However, I would NEVER feed it to my non-vegan friends. So based on my scoring system on a scale of 1 to 10, one being "I vomit in my mouth just thinking of it," and 10 being "I can't believe its not brie," I give Daiya a 6. What's you're favorite vegan cheese?
If you were reading the cranberry sauce post and saying "that looks great, but what the hell did you eat the cranberry sauce with," here's the rest of the story.
I decided to put together a Thanksgiving inspired dinner, mainly to get rid of the butternut squash that has been sitting in my fridge for two weeks, and the green beans that came in this weeks produce delivery. This dinner had all the traditional flavors of a Thanksgiving feast, but was much less rich and fattening.
Butternut Squash I normally peal butternut squash before I roast it. This time I tried slicing the squash in half and roasting it with the skin on. I read online that the skin would just peal off once it was roasted. NEVER AGAIN! Yes pealing the squash raw is a pain in the ass, but not as much of a pain in the ass and pealing it once its cooked.
Note on cutting squash: If you do are not comfortable around cutlery, have ever would up in the emergency room because of kitchen knives (Robert I'm talking to you), or are under the age of 12, do not try this at home. Cutting butternut squash can be a little trick. First cut off the top and bottom so your squash does not roll around. Then slice length-wise. If the knife gets stuck, use a heavy sauce pan to bang the knife (CAREFULLY) until it comes free.
Once the squash was cooked I mashed it with 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp agave nector, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.
Green Beans I blanched the green beans, and then lightly dressed them with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. The trick to keeping green beans bright and crunch is to blanch them by dropping them in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds and then stopping the cooking by shocking them in ice water.
Baked Tofu To make good tofu (yes there is such a thing) you have to press it and then marinate it so the flavors get fully absorbed. I drained my tofu by wrapping it in cheese cloth for about 3 hours. Then I marinated it by dissolving one vegetable bullion cube in 1/2 cup water and adding some jarred minced garlic. I find for marinades the jarred garlic works better because it has that garlic liquid. I marinated the tofu for about six hours and then baked in a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Yum!
Why is cranberry sauce relegated to a twice-yearly supporting role on the Thanksgiving and Christmas tables? It is yummy, colorful and so easy to make. We had some last night and I can't wait for my Tofurky and cranberry sauce sandwich for lunch.
I know some people have a pathological affinity for the canned jelly stuff. I don't get it and I think intensive psychoanalysis may help. I have always preferred the fresh made whole cranberry variety. This is another recipe that is so easy its almost criminal to blog about. Just follow these easy steps and you'll never want the canned stuff again.
1 8oz package of frozen cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water 2 tsp grated lemon zest 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch
Put everything in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until cranberries burst and sauce thickens (about 10 minutes).
I didn't have any fancy crystal serving bowls to serve it in, and I think cranberry sauce is too pretty to eat straight out of tupperware. So I placed about 1/2 cup in a martini glass and placed it on the table. I think its an adorable play on a cosmopolitan. Maybe next time I'll add a little vodka to the cranberry sauce!
I now understand the whole cupcake thing. Frankly, I never really understood the obsession with cupcakes. But now I've realized that its not that cupcakes are that good, but that cakes are so damn difficult to frost. And really is there a point to cake without frosting? I think not.
That being said, today I'm in the mood for cake. Not just any cake, but chocolate cake, with vanilla frosting and chocolate chips and hazelnuts.
So I started out with the simple chocolate cake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. The recipe is actually one of the sample recipes so you can go make this cake right now. Basically, the secret to the cake is using baking soda and vinegar for leavening. The cake WILL NOT taste like vinegar. But the batter will be a bit thinner than conventional cake batter. Everything will turn out fine. I promise!
I doubled the recipe so I could make a two layer cake.
Next up the vanilla buttercream: 1 cup of earth balance buttery spread, 4 cups confectioners sugar, 3 tsp vanilla, 4 tbsp almond milk
Yes, for those of you who have never made frosting before, it is basically just butter and sugar whipped into a tizzy. I was horrified when I realized that I was basically eating sugary butter. But then I took a bite and forgot about how horrified I was.
The tricky part is getting the frosting onto the cake. The cake is very delicate so unfortunately it is not the easiest cake to trim and frost. Professional chefs will actually put on two coats of frosting. First a crumb coating. Then the cake will be chilled. Then the second coat. But I only had one coat of frosting in me.
First place the bottom cake on a plate and spread the frosting in the center. This is when I put a layer of chocolate chips and hazelnuts in the middle. Then, obviously, place the second cake on top. I have no advice on how to frost the outside of the cake. I'm still figuring that out. I managed to get it on there some how though.
My usual post-work routine includes watching lots of public television cooking shows. Seriously they're way better than The Food Network, and you can reliably find Julia Child re-runs every night of the week. It brings me back to my childhood, when I used fake being sick so I could stay home in my pajamas and watch Yan Can Cookand The Amish Kitchen -- a cooking show that has sadly disappeared into The Learning Channel vault. Does anyone remember that show?
So why this tangent about how much I love public television. Well a few nights ago I was planted on my couch watching an episode ofEveryday Foodand they were making meat loaf. For anyone that was wondering it was NOT the vegan kind. But this inspired me to cup up with my own "meat" loaf and now you too can make it...
For the basic loafcombine: 2 cups cooked black beans 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten* 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (for texture) 2 cloves of garlic 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp (or more to taste) salt plus fresh cracked pepper 1/4 cup water or vegetable broth
From here you can add any flavors you want. For Italian style try 1 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp oregano and 1 tsp red pepper flakes For a spicy southwest flavor try some cumin, chili powder, cayenne and some salsa
1. Mash the beans using a fork leaving some beans whole 2. Then dumb in the rest of the dry ingredients 3. Add the water broth and mix with your hand until everything is combine 4. Kneed for 3-4 minutes until gluten starts to form strands. 5. Form into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet, to with ketchup or marinara sauce and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until it is warmed through.
I served with roasted dill potatoes. My husband loves these potatoes and there really is no secret to perfectly roasting potatoes except for lost of salt and really high heat. I spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray and liberally salt the bottom, then spread out a layer of cubed potatoes (red or yukon gold) and then spray and salt again. I roast them in a 450 degree oven for a good 30 - 40 minutes. When you think they're done, let them go another five minutes. That's when they get nice and carmelized.
*What is wheat gluten you ask? Its made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves. You're then left with the wheat protein. Bob's Red Mill makes a widely available version and I can even find it at Target sometimes.
Where I'm from in California, we don't have seasons. But living here in Washington D.C., we're experiencing this strange phenomenon called autumn. My weekly fruit and vegetable box delivery runneth over with apples and squash. I'm actually not a fan of raw apples, so I've been exploring different ways to prepare them.
Applesauce: Making applesauce from scratch is so ridiculously easy its almost pathetic to even blog about it. But there was a time when I would run out to the store to buy a jar of applesauce, not knowing that with a knife, a pot, and about 15 minutes I could make my own. Applesauce is an essential ingredient in vegan baking. It can be used in place of oil and eggs in many different recipes. One day I wanted to make German Apple cake (see below) and didn't have applesauce on hand. I did however have apples. So when life gives you apples, make applesauce! Well, you get the idea...
1. Peel, core and chop up as many apples as you want, 2. Place apples in a pot with about 1/4 cup of apple juice or water, 3. Cook until soft and then mash with a potato masher.
Yeah, I know. Super easy! Now you never have to buy the jarred stuff again. Since I'm making this applesauce to bake with, I didn't add any additional flavoring or sugar, by you could add sugar and cinnamon at the end.
So now that you have your apple sauce, you can use it in brownies, cakes and muffins. But to celebrate apples even more, I used my apple sauce in this German Apple Cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking.
In a large skillet: saute onion and curry powder in olive oil. Add tomatoes and 1 tbsp flour. Add chickpeas, coconut milk, green chiles and jalepenos. Salt and pepper.
Once coconut milk comes to a simmer transfer entire skillet into 400 degree oven and let it bake for 30 minutes, until chickpeas are tender and sauce is thick.
I served this over a baked eggplant. Basmati rice would have also been yummy.
I've been meaning to blog about my visit to Pittsburgh for two weeks now. Apologies to my three followers that this is so late.
Who knew that Pittsburgh was such a great place for vegan eating! First on my list, the Double Wide Grill. My friend Peggy says its a "bra" place. I'm still not quite sure what bra means, but I think its some Pittsburgh version of bro. All I know is if I passed the Double Wide Grill on the street I would not have stopped because usually a place advertising ribs is not the best bet on finding vegan food. Not so at the Double Wide. The restaurant has an entire vegan/vegetarian menu offering salads, burgers, nachos, tacos etc. But the Seitan "wings" are definitely something to sing about. Crusted in cornmeal, fried to perfection and drenched in barbecue sauce, these "wings" are finger-lick'n-good and no chickens had to die to enjoy them. Yum-O!
Next up the Oh Yeah! Ice Cream and Coffee Co., home to numerous varieties of soy ice cream and vegan, gluten-free waffles. Its great to walk into an ice cream shop an have so many non-dairy choices. They sell Temptation Soy ice cream. I had the mint chocolate chip. I must say, that I still think that Double Rainbow's soy ice cream is the best non-dairy ice cream out there, but considering its so hard to find, Temptation is a close second best.
For a late night snack we stopped into Kelly's Bar & Lounge. Like Doublewide, you would never think this place was vegan friendly, but for a dive bar there is a wide selection. The menu includes deep fried "buffalo" tofu which is very spicy, but quite yummy.
Lastly, we stopped in to Quiet Storm for breakfast the next morning. Quiet Storm is a great place to get vegan comfort food. Their brunch boasts grits, hangover hash, and stuffed French toast! I had the "Athena" bagel delux with hummus, which was great. I'm sure the grits and french toast were scrumptious, but I had a food hangover from all of the ice cream and fried seitan. Quiet Storm also serves lunch and dinner.
Is it possible to cook healthy, low-fat, vegan dinners that satisfy my skinny, omnivorous husband? Well I'm about to find out. I've decided to become vegan. I've thought about becoming vegan for years. I've been off land animals for almost seven years, and stopped eating fish three years ago. The truth is once you open your eyes and your mind to the atrocities involved every time you take a bite of flesh, its hard to ever eat animals again. Whats amazing to me is how long I've been able to accept this truth while numbing myself to the reality of what animals go through every time I eat an egg, have a bowl of ice cream, or a slice of cheese pizza.
Simply, all roads lead to the slaughter house. For instance, even my meat-loving husband becomes a tad squeamish when it comes to veal. He still eats veal occasionally, but he at least acknowledges that torturing a baby cow is involved. Yet the veal industry would not be possible if it were not for the dairy industry. To produce milk cows are constantly impregnated. But when they give birth, the only profitable option for a male calf is to become veal. When the adult cow can no longer keep up this brutal cycle of impregnation and lactation, she too loses her profitability and is sent to slaughter.
I love animals. But I love my husband more. I love dinner time with my husband. Its become our little ritual. For some reason dinner is not dinner if we're not sitting down together. The food may be there, but I'm just not as satisfied. I don't want to be one of those couples who has two separate meals. So if I'm going to become vegan, I'm going to have to learn to cook dinners that satisfy both of us. Tonight's menu is tamale casserole. I'll let you know how it goes.
So it turns out Robert wanted lasagna instead of tamale casserole. I just assumed he would want tamale casserole because it resembles a dish we've have before and he already knows he likes. But he chose vegan lasagna so vegan lasagna it was.
I used the recipe for spinach lasagna from Veganomicon, minus the spinach because I didn't have any. I could have substituted kale, but Robert HATES kale.
The first step was to make the tofu "ricotta" which involved smashing up tofu with olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice and garlic.
After that the assembly process is much like regular lasagna. Sauce, noodles, "cheese," repeat.
I put some Follow Your Heart vegan cheese on top and finished it off under the broiler so it got nice and melty. Robert gave it the thumbs up, so it now officially on the menu. I think next time I'm going to let the "ricotta" drain in cheese cloth before using it so it gets a little thicker. Other than that, it was very satisfying.
