emo potato

In Praise of Noodles

2008-09-03T21:00:00.004-05:00

This post in honor of Judy Noodles, aka (to those of you who don't read this blog) Leanne from this season's Project Runway. Her designs are by far the most creative and interesting, and I have a slight girlcrush on her. I hope she produces something as equally awesome as that dress last week, though I won't be able to watch until the episode is uploaded to YouTube sometime tomorrow.

Anyway. Food. Appropriately enough--noodles!

Pasta Della California from the illustrious Veganomicon. This was delicious, and so worth quartering a recipe for. I don't have time or means to cook elaborate things these days, so pasta is re-entering my life. I'm okay with that.

Noodles #2: also from Veganomicon, Curried Udon Noodle Stir-Fry, although actually Curried Soba Noodle Stir-Fry. Other modifications included using fried tofu instead of seitan, and subbing dinosaur kale for broccoli. (The latter substitution resulting from opening up a package of Trader Joe's broccoli to find it completely infested with bugs, which despite a valiant effort proved unsalvageable >_< ). Hello Kitty chopsticks optional. I halved this recipe and just ate the leftovers for dinner tonight. Mmmm.

Farmers Market Food

2008-09-01T09:31:00.004-05:00

Colorful Kamut Salad, inspired by going to the farmer's market at Union Square. Thanks to Pandacookie, over on the PPK boards, I'm now aware of my opportunities for buying fresh, locally-grown produce all over the city. You can find out about farmer's market locations in each of the boroughs, along with their days and hours on this website, which I'm also going to link in the sidebar. I went to the one at Union Square, because it was open that day and I had some other errands to run in the area, but I look forward to checking out the Brooklyn locations.

Here's a--unfortunately blurry--photo of my haul.

What was termed "New Zealand" baby spinach (it is different than the baby spinach I'm used to), golden grape tomatoes (these were so delicious), and--a lavender bell pepper! Seriously, purple bell peppers, how cute is that? Even cuter that they were labled "lavender"--it sounds so foofy. As for prices, well some stuff was a good deal: the tomatoes (organic) were reasonable, especially since they were way better than what you'd get in a grocery (and partially make up for the fact that I'm missing all my dad's lovely homegrown tomatoes right now), and the bell pepper (also organic) was cheaper than I typically pay for bell peppers in the supermarket. The spinach, however? The spinach was oddly expensive, especially since I'm not really a fan and prefer my regular old baby spinach. It was a fun experience just to see all the varieties of produce available. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

My best buy, however, was probably a huge stalk (really plant is probably the more accurate term, because the roots were still intact) of basil for $2. It would probably cost me upwards of $5 to get this much basil in the supermarket. Which is one of the reasons I hardly ever make pesto, though I love it so.

Well, such bounty called for some pesto makin'.

I now have pretty little pesto cubes for quick pasta meals in the future when I'm busy with classes (and hopefully a job, fingers crossed!). And after making one batch of the Vegan with a Vengeance Classic Pesto, which is really good pesto by the way, I still have some left--even after using it in sandwiches, as well as chiffonaded (is there a past tense to chiffonade?) to toss in the kamut salad.

Which brings me back to the Kamut Salad (the circuitous ways my mind works). I started off by cooking 2 cups of kamut and then refridgerating overnight. I then sauteed some garlic and red pepper flakes in a pan with olive oil, to which I added a can of drained-and-rinsed-chickpeas, tossing them to coat. All that got added to the cooked kamut, along with 3 defrosted pesto cubes (putting them in the still-warm pan helped speed thawing). I then added the juice of 1/2-1 lemon, along with salt, pepper, and my vegetables: most of the container of golden grape tomatoes, halved; 1 lavender bell pepper, chopped, several handfuls of baby spinach, torn; and a handful of extra basil, chiffonaded. It turned out pretty good; I liked the the combination of different, but complimenting, flavors and textures...all except the kamut. It was okay, and really I used it because I've had it in my pantry for nearly a year, and brought it with me from PA to my new place in New York with the intent to finally use it. But it is a little too chewy to be most enjoyed as the backdrop to a salad. In the future, I'd probably make this with quinoa and enjoy it even more.

However! I still have some kamut left, so if anyone has found successful ways of using it or has ideas, I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

Good morning...from Brooklyn.

2008-08-22T09:09:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this fall has me returning to academia again; specifically, I'll be pursuing a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) in NYC. Well, classes won't start for another week or so, but--I'm now installed in the Brooklyn (actually Bed-Stuy) apartment that I'll be living in for the following year. I thought this major change was worthy of a post.

However, our stove (gas) won't be turned on until Saturday (plus, 3rd floor apartment = oppressively hot), and my food preparation/consumption hasn't been all that interesting. In fact, it has mostly consisted of some variation of the following...

However, on one of several Target runs, I did manage to pick up some frozen Amy's Non-Dairy Burritos (yay for microwaves), and the night before last I walked to Williamsburg and treated myself to a vegan sausage roll from Vinnie's.

However, since I don't have anything really interesting to post, I thought I'd take this opportunity to go through this fun Vegan's Hundred meme that Hannah posted over on the Bittersweet blog.

The Vegan's Hundred

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

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

A lot of these things--croissants, moussaka, white chocolate, fondue, samosas--I ate in my pregan days. But, since this is the Vegan 100, I'm only counting the vegan versions. It seems wierd, but there are some things I feel like I've eaten, that I haven't: i.e. gazpacho (I've had to have eaten gazpacho, right?).

My new kitchen(ette) situation is limited, but hopefully I'll have some more interesting posts for you in the future.

PDX!

2008-08-15T18:31:00.002-05:00

Okay, finally the Portland food.

Oregon blackberries from the farmer's market.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Softserve from Blossoming Lotus. I serendipitously stumbled upon Blossoming Lotus on my way to Powell's Books downtown; a good think, because when I went back the next evening for dinner they were out of softserve. Get there early!

Some more awesome food I fortuitously stumbled upon, in this case, during my ramblings around SE Portland. Delicious dinner-lunch from Papa G's: Walnut Loaf (which was reminiscent in the best possible way of meatloafs made by my mother and my late grandmother--I think it was all the celery and ketchup), a Spelt Biscuit with Mushroom Gravy, Coconut Sweet Potatoes, and some very refreshing Pineapple Ginger Cooler. Comfort food x 100.

After meeting a couple PPKers at Hungry Tiger Too for lunch (good reubens), we strolled down to the vegan mini-mall for some dessert to-go. This Chik-O-Stik Cake from Sweetpea Bakery was amazing, one of the most unique cake experiences I've had in a long time--and not nearly as bizarre a color as the photo would have you believe (sorry for the bad lighting!)

Last but not least! Junior's awesometastic tofu scramble--I wish I knew what kind of "garden sausage" they used in it--of course, it was especially good when eaten in the company of some PPKers, pre-camping.

Seattle Food

2008-08-09T21:57:00.004-05:00

I got into Seattle on a Friday afternoon and after depositing my things at the hostel walked down the street to the famed Pike Place Market to see what all the fuss is about. Although I was aware of the market being a well-known destination, I still wasn't prepared for how touristy it was. However, despite the fishy reputation, I did find a few nice surprises.

One of which was the Best Smoothie of My Life.

Made from a mystery blend of locally-grown organic fruit--I think cherries and possibly pluots were involved--it even earned its $6 price tag. A nice refreshing snack to hold me over while I purused the Seattle Public Library, possibly the most glee-inducing building I've ever been in. I mean, I probably like libraries more than the average person, but I couldn't help having a--probably rather manic-looking--smile plastered on my face whilst roaming the stacks.

Having been reduced to sighs of longing for such a beautiful marriage of library function and style, I was ready for dinner. And while nothing could really surpass such glorious library splendor, Teapot Vegetarian House in Clinton Hill didn't disappoint.

I was surprised and very excited to see vegan Thai Iced Tea on the menu, and it was really good. I order what I think was the Mandarin Tofu(?)--deep fried crispy tofu with and sweet-and-sour kind of sauce. It was delicious, and my only objection is that there was a pepper symbol next to it on the menu to denote spiciness when the actual dish was pretty mild, but quite sweet. Nevertheless delicious. And you could easily order an appetizer and split a dish like this with another person; I had trouble finishing mine (although, let's face it, I managed). Bonus: Teapot is located near a lot of cool things like record stores and vintage shops, as well as the infamous (depending on who you talk to?) Hillside Quickie's. I had fun walking back to my hostel.

The next morning I was up making the trek (or rather bus-trek) north to Mighty-O Doughnuts. 'Cause who doesn't want a sugar rush for breakfast?

I figured since I'd made the trip, I ought to get a 1/2-dozen to-go, for the optimal experience in variety of tastes and textures. And while I was at it, I might as well conveniently forget about my caffeine sensitivity and have a rare spot of coffee, which you'll notice lurking in the background.

From left to right/back to front: Pina Colada (cake), Chocolate-Peanut Butter (chocolate cake, peanut butter glaze), Chocolate-Chocolate (cake), Cherry-Filled (raised), Pink Lemonade (cake), Maple Bar (raised)

Now, I know vegans aren't exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to doughnuts or doughnut shops. And Mighty-O's doughnuts are certainly good. However--yes, here's the caveat--having had doughnuts from Vegan Treats, I have to say that while the latter definitely lack the selection of Mighty-O, they are more delicious. (It's only an added bonus that Vegan Treats is in PA).

Here's the doughnut-by-doughnut review (I wrote this on a napkin over the course the 3 days it took me to make it through that 1/2-dozen, because, yes! I am that much of a foodblog nerd). Anyway...

Pina Colada: this was a "seasonal flavor," that, quite predictably, I'd never seen before, and thus felt compelled to try. It was good, but I didn't think the pineapple came through as much as the coconut.
Chocolate Peanut Butter: good, but the cake wasn't as chocolate-y as I would have liked (in general I found the doughnuts themselves a little lacking in flavor, and thus pretty reliant on the glaze). The glaze was pretty good.
Chocolate-Chocolate: same deal with the not-as-flavorful-as-I-would-have-liked cake doughnut.
Cherry-Filled: it was here in the raised doughnut, especially, that I found the dough to be flavorless, and maybe it's just me?--it needed more powdered sugar! Even though I'm typically not one for powdered sugar. The filling was beautiful cherry tartness, though--none of that gross canned pie filling crap. So gold star for that.
Pink Lemonade: I forced myself to eschew more chocolate for once in favor of some citrus. A lemon-poppyseed cake doughnut with raspberry glaze, this raspberry-lemonade was probably the most unique flavor, and my favorite doughnut of the bunch.
Maple Bar: as favorites go, this was a close second. I liked the lightness of the raised doughnut, and here whatever blandness the actual dough might have had, the maple glaze more than compensated for. Very maple-y.

A few hours after all that sugar, I was in need of some substance.

I made my way to Georgetown for lunch at Squid & Ink.

Sorry for the blurry photo (no outside seating--at least that I saw--and the walls are black). The best thing about this place?--Strongbow in cans, definitely. Maybe I just didn't order the right thing off the menu, the sandwich I got was okay. A sort of jalapeno popper, it featured homemade vegan "curds" with the peppers wrapped in a tortilla and grilled. It was a bit too spicy for me after awhile. A slight drawback regarding location: there didn't seem to be to much nearby, except the Boeing plant (not exactly a draw for me personally) and a cool comic book store.

The morning I left, I took one last walk through Pike Place Market--and was pretty surprised to see a sign for vegan baked goods (I think the stall was called Cinnamon Works?), and decided to get one last bit of food from the market. This was some sort of gigantic peanut butter bar on a graham cracker crust with chocolate and walnuts on top. It was sugar-tastic. And consequently, I started my morning with a bit of a headache.

All in all, Seattle was pretty great. Aside from food: the Seattle Aquarium was amazing; the exhibits at the Frye Art Museum were beautiful, insightful, and provacative (+ admission was free!); and there are lots of interesting neighborhoods to roam around, and independent shops to peruse.

Next time: Portland! I was going to do both cities in one post. But I think this is more than long enough.

Vegan Wasteland OR--Summer Travels Part 1: Scavenging the West

2008-08-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

I guess I should have been prepared. The landlocked middle part of the US is pretty notorious for being less than vegan-friendly. I've had past experience maintaining vegan eating in regions of the US that are less vegan-friendly, but I don't think I realized how hard can be to find things to eat when you are driving for several days straight just to get to a destination. I was lucky enough that my family stopped the first day to stay with relations in Chicago who fed us (one of them is a chef) lovely grilled vegetables and were happy to accomodate my veganism with a veganized version of the hot vichyssoise (simply the delicious soup base minus the cream) after my mom mentioned something.

As for bringing my own food, of course I didn't go entirely unprepared; my mom had packed a bunch of celery sticks, cucumber slices, and baby carrots for everyone in our car to much on, and I had bought some hummus along with asceptic packages of soymilk and cereal. However, after awhile the vegetables and hummus were depleted, and I guess I didn't realize that eating peanut butter sandwiches two meals a day could get old so quickly. So much so that by the time we got to Minnesota I was at the nearby Taco Bell ordering a cheeseless bean burrito, which by all accounts is vegan, albeit wholly uninspiring.

Things were easier once we got to our first destination: the Grand Tetons, Custer State Park, and Yellowstone National Park, which are all relatively near each other (though we were still doing quite a bit of driving). Although I was still eating my share of peanut butter sandwiches, the grocery stores around this area weren't too shabby, and the night we stayed in Cody, WY I was even able to put together a pretty nice salad of arugula, baby tomatoes, and avocado with Annie's Goddess Dressing from the local Albertson's to eat in the motel room; I also introduced my sister's boyfriend to the wonders of mint-filled Oreos (apparently unheard of in the UK).

The Signal Mountain Lodge, a green restaurant located in Grand Teton National Park, was a place we stumbled upon after a day hiking around the park. I hadn't expected to find a real meal that day and had loaded up on Luna Bars during the hike. But surprise!--they had a vegetable lasagna with tofu ricotta that was completely vegan minus the mozzarella on top. We got the meal to go so I could eat it later. It was good, and would have been even better (and more photogenic) fresh.

We were fortunate to stay at a motel with a community kitchen in West Yellowstone, a place which also had two tiny, but decent grocery stores. A breakfast scavenged from the grocery store: avocado on toasted locally-baked wholegrain bread.

While staying with the Chicago relations, we learned about a co-op located in Bozeman, Montana. Later we figured out that, while we weren't staying in Bozeman, it was along the way the the place we were staying. So we stopped and were pleasantly overwhelmed. The Community Food Co-op actually made the co-op were I used to shop in Pittsburgh look tiny. They had a variety of delicious vegan options in both the hot bar and cold deli case. And all the omnis were happy to have a meal of wholesome healthy food--a departure from the fast food junk we found on the interstate in around the parks.

I had chili-lime sweet potato soup, baked tofu, steamed kale, a nori-rice cake with red bean filling, and Thai cucumber salad.

The second story of the co-op featured a coffee and smoothie bar and bakery case. The drink special of the day was a ginger-lime slushy that turned out to be nice and refreshing.

I also got a huge chocolate cupcake to go. When we got to our motel I shared it with my sister. The frosting was nice and fudgy, but as vegan cupcakes go, I've had much better.

Provisions for the road...

Some veggie wraps from the deli case.

That's it for now. For next time: feasting in Seattle and Portland!

Thanks!

2008-08-03T17:15:00.004-05:00

I'm back from my travels and ready to catch everyone up with posts about scouring the land (read: the Midwest) for vegan food, while spending days riding in a car, as well as eating my way through Seattle and Portland.

For now, I want to thank Liz of Kamutflake Girl for nominating me for a Brilliante Weblog Award. Glad to know someone out there appreciates allusions to Smiths' lyrics.

Taking my cue from Liz, I'll go ahead and nominate seven other blogs that I enjoy. In no particular order:

1) Possessed (by Seitan) is pretty new to the vegan blog scene. I nominate them for having a funny name, educating me about something I've never had any interest in (metal), and posting pictures of cute dogs. It's also run my PPKers.

2) Hezbollah Tofu gets my nomination for being a creative project, and for typically hilarious prose.

3) Parsnip Parsimony because vegan food science is way cooler than Alton Brown, and because Susie's nerdiness is so endearing.

4) Bjorked Off for a fun name and an obsession with all things peanut butter.

5) Get Sconed! because Jess's blog is one of the first foodblogs I ever read, and she makes beautiful food and has adorable cats. She is also super nice and fun in person <3.

6) Semicircular Vegan for sheer semicircularness.

7) Have Cake, Will Travel for Celine's beautiful photography and inspiring me to think more creatively about food.

For next time: eating vegan in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and other unlikely locals.

Finally, putting the emo in this blog...

2008-07-08T13:17:00.006-05:00

A quick post before I depart on my Epic Summer Vacation 2008 --part of which will involve camping in Portland, OR with beautiful PPKers like Isa, Walrus, Jess (of Get Sconed), and many other awesome people whose blogs I am too lazy to provide links for. So hopefully I will return with photos of awesome vegan meals in Portland and elsewhere. In the meantime, I here are some things I made quite awhile ago, but never got around to posting about.

A very satisfying summer meal: grilled Portabello "Burger" on Ezekiel sprouted grain roll, with Vegenaise, lettuce, and avocado, plus a side of this long lost Green Bean Salad that I tested for a certain cookbook that never got published.

What I did with the leftover pizza dough from my Green Goddess Pizza: Massive Calzone!

This is only about 1/2 of the whole thing. The filling is VwaV Tofu Ricotta, roasted peppers, and broccoli. Eaten with Roasted Red Pepper Marinara.

For now I'll just leave you with Emo Kids Doing Emo Things. This video brings back memories.

Not an "Unhappy Birthday"

2008-07-04T07:44:00.008-05:00

I can't help myself with The Smiths/Morrissey references. You've been duly warned.

I've been busy busy, but am finally getting around to posting. As of Wednesday, I'm another year older. Woo! 23! Or...something. I guess the seminal birthdays are over until I turn 25 and can rent a car or something.

We had a late night feast to celebrate. My mom wanted to make me a birthday cake, and in the end (and after some guidance from the PPK) it was a beautiful collaboration resulting in The Definitive Birthday Cake: Strawberry Mousse and sliced fresh strawberries sandwiched between three layers of Golden Vanilla Cake, frosted with VCTOtW Rich Chocolate Ganache Topping. My mom made the cake layers (doubling the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and dividing it between three cake pans). I made the Strawberry Mousse--a modification of the Not-Too-Sweet Blueberry Mousse, also from VCTOtW. And because, my mom feels insecure about her ganache-making abilities, I did the ganache frosting and fun decorating. We also did some chocolate-covered strawberries for pretty decorating and extra-deliciousness.

...with some Fruit-Sweetened Vanilla Soy Delicious. Do I sound like a fussy old lady if I say this was "heavenly"? Whatever, it was.

Oh, yeah...there was also real food!

Sorry for the underwhelming photo-quality. We were eating at 9 pm on our backporch in candlelight, so it was a bit tricky. However, rarely do I get to eat vegan Indian food--especially a whole spread of vegan Indian food--and this was a real treat: (from left) Onion Bhajis (Healthy South Indian Cooking), Red Lentil Dhal, Mint Chutney (Healthy South Indian Cooking), white basmati rice, Aloo Gobi, Fresh Cucumber Salad (Dakshin), Spinach Kootu (Healthy South Indian Cooking).

Ah, the last of the onion bhajis! I hadn't had a bhaji since studying in London during my lacto-ovo days (3+ years ago), and I'm glad I got over my fear of frying to make these. It was so worth it for a special occasion.

More recently, one of my dearest friends, B., who I hadn't seen in far too long took the train in from Pittsburgh to visit me this weekend, and we had a good time in and out of the kitchen. No photos were taken, but we concocted some fun meals just rummaging around my fridge and cupboards. One of which was pizza made with Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough that I'd had in the freezer, an improvised Caramelized Onion Tomato Sauce, some leftover VwaV Tofu-Ricotta, baby bella mushrooms, roasted garlic, and thin slices of the first zucchini from the garden. Another foraged meal included Chipotle Black Beans from Veganomicon, brown jasmine rice, fried zucchini (again, from the garden) seasoned with a dash of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce (in the soymilk) and breaded in panko, and a salad of fresh-picked garden mesclun, grape tomatoes, and avocado with balsamic vinaigrette. Can I say how awesome all this was splitting 6-pack of Sam Adams Summer Ale and eating on my back porch? Typically I tend to get cranky and frustrated in shared cooking endeavors, but this was definitely not the case at all, and I feel lucky to have an omni friend who is enthusiatic about vegan food and with whom it is a pleasure to coexist in the kitchen. (Then again, we did have years of practice at this as college roomies, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.) Conclusion: It was a lot of fun.

ETA: If anyone knows, can you confirm whether Sam Adams Summer Ale is vegan? We were at the li'l 6-Pack N Sub in my town and I always steer clear of Belgian beers knowing most aren't vegan, but I had a hazy recollection of Sam Adams having several suitable vegan options. Hopefully the vegan police won't come and arrest me!

Garden Goddess

2008-06-20T14:07:00.004-05:00

My dad has been working to grow all kinds of awesome in his garden this year. I've been trying to utilize it in the most interesting and delicious ways.

One of which is apparently threatening unseen enemies. En garde! In a duel our garden asparagus would trounce your average grocery store spear every time.

Asparagus season is now over; we picked our last harvest about a week and a half ago. However, since May we've been enjoying beautiful freshly-picked asparagus.

One fateful day many years ago (back in my high-school-omni-cooking days), I made roasted asparagus for the first time, and my dad has never looked back. (Or forward for that matter, I grilled some awhile ago, and he still adamantly maintains that roasted is best.) And since I have to keep my produce-supplier placated, a lot of it I've simply been roasting.

However, I have managed to find some more creative dishes incorporating our asparagus, roasted or otherwise....

Inspired by Celine's recipe, I eschewed the glazed brussel sprouts in her version, in my own take: Quinoa with Parsley Pesto and Roasted Asparagus. This was pretty tasty. And it effectively used up some parsley I have lying around as well has helped me further clear out my pantry by finishing off my stash of quinoa.

One of the most involved and labor-intensive recipes I've made in a long time, Green Goddess Garlic Pizza from Vegan with a Vengeance. I used our asparagus in the Green Garden Puree along with some frozen green beans and frozen peas we conveniently had in the fridge. I have loads of extra puree that I'm planning to experiment with, yet.

Sliced and served up with a side of...roasted asparagus (shocking, I know). This was an delicious sort-of-pre-Father's Day meal last Friday night, eaten al fresco, like it should be.

With a meal that awesome, we had to have dessert.

And Kittee's Strawberry Pie had been calling my name for quite awhile. So as soon as we got our first real harvest of strawberries, I knew I'd be making it. It's really easy to make, although the pie crust was a bit finicky to work with, albiet quite tasty--I think in the future incarnations of this pie I'll be going back to a tried-and-true recipe like a veganized version of Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee or the Oil Pie Crust in The Voluptuous Vegan. That's mere quibbling, though, 'cause this is ONE OF THE BEST PIES EVAR. Seriously. Probably not worth making when you don't have in-season homegrown strawberries. But when you do? Make it. My mom was just down in the garden picking some more of strawberries today, and I'll be making another pie tonight, for sure.

Inside shot of luscious deep-red strawberries.

And finally, penne pasta with an improvised Parsley-Mint Pesto. Spurred by the overabundance of mint in our little herb plot (seriously it has crowded every other poor herb out), I threw together this pesto. It was a successful experimentation, but no recipe for now. A nice, simple dinner though.

I'm a cooking-blogging machine these days. The truth is, I'm not only trying to effectively keep up with garden offerings, but also clearing out my pantry. I'm moving to NYC at the end of August, and, much like a department store clearance sale, everything must go. And without knowing what my kitchen situation is going to be like in the near future (not to mention resources like time and money--I'll be in grad school) I'm really savouring being in the kitchen, and having fun cooking while I can.

Giant Salads, Mini Cupcakes

2008-06-19T17:58:00.004-05:00

Starting things off with the cupcakes, of course! ^_^ Even though I'm working through the end of the month, Wednesday was my (+3 other co-workers') going-away party at work, so I baked some cupcakes to share with everyone. I got teased for bringing something to my own party (but, hey, it was for other people, too!--it's a mass exodus...maybe 'cause most of us have college degrees and the pay is minimum wage, perhaps?); however, the cupcakes were a big hit. These little Coconut-Lime Cupcakes got some oohs and aahs.

To round things out, Cookies N Cream Cupcakes. Both cupcake recipes are from the ubiquitous Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I halved each recipe and then baked them in mini-muffin tins for 10 minutes, getting between 16-18 cupcakes in each batch. I also halved the frosting recipes. And for the Cookies N Cream cupcakes I used mini classic creme sandwich cookies crushed up in the batter and frosting and to decorate for optimal cuteness factor.

Last night's dinner: Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing from Veganomicon. In the midst of stuffing our faces, my mom and I paused to rave about how great this salad is.

That's it for this post, but I'm still needing to catch up with stuff I've made over the last two weeks, so more to come shortly.

French Potato Salad with Grilled Asparagus

2008-06-13T19:53:00.003-05:00

For the past few weeks, I've been revisiting some of the more neglected volumes in my cookbook collection. One such rediscovery is the classic Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. As you might suspect, the recipes are pretty meat-egg-dairy-heavy; however, there are a few surprises. Furthermore, looking at recipes that aren't already vegan often inspires me to not only veganize the recipe, but further adapt to suit my taste and purposes. The following is one such successful experiment.

French Potato Salad with Grilled Asparagus
(adapted from Jacque's French Potato Salad, Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home)

1/2 lb. asparagus, trimmed
1/3 cup white wine
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp + a dash dried tarragon
2 tsp tarragon white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
salt, to taste (about 1 tsp)
freshly ground pepper (generous)
2 lbs. fingerling potatoes, or red potatoes, well-scrubbed
3 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic
handful fresh parsley, chopped

Whisk together 1 tbsp olive oil, white wine, tarragon vinegar, dijon mustard, dried tarragon, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over asparagus and marinate until ready to grill.

Put potatoes, whole, into a saucepan and cover with 1/2 inch water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cook potatoes gently until just tender.

While potatoes cook, use the time to grill the asparagus. Skewering the spears makes it easier to flip. Grill asparagus over high heat (I used a gas grill--you could also probably use a grill pan, but I don't have one), for about 3 minutes on each side, or until asparagus has some light grill marks and is fairly soft. Baste once or twice with marinade while grilling. When done, remove to plate and set aside.

When potatoes are done (test by piercing with a knife), drain and let cool slightly.

While waiting for potatoes to cool, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat, and saute scallions and onions for about a minute. Then add garlic and cook for just a few seconds more. Remove pan from heat.

Cut your slightly-cooled potatoes into larger bite-size pieces. Place in a large mixing bowl.

Cut grilled asparagus into approximately 2-inch pieces, and add to potatoes. Pour over olive oil-onion-scallion mixture, salt, pepper, a dash of dried tarragon, chopped parsley, and remaining marinade (yes, it will be--just a little--boozy, due to the uncooked wine. Yay?!). Toss gently to combine. And eat, warm, or no cooler than room temperature.

I have a backlog of other stuff to post, but that's it for now, 'cause I gotta wake up early tomorrow to walk with my mom to raise cancer awareness (aka Relay for Life), and I need to get my pretty period film fix before going to sleep.

Strawberries Strawberries Strawberries = Recipes Recipes Recipes

2008-06-06T07:47:00.009-05:00

With a gift certificate burning a whole in my pocket, I went to the HFS last week before my trip. I couldn't resist buying a container of lovely-looking organic strawberries. So when I got home I concocted this creamy chocolatey dipping sauce inspired by the $10+ jar of chocolate sauce that had been sitting by the strawberries at the HFS. I have no idea what was in the jarred sauce other than chocolate. But here's my take:

Chocolatey Fruit-Dipping Sauce

1 tbsp dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp agave nectar
3-5 tbsp lite coconut milk
stevia to taste

Combine all ingredients including 3 tbsp coconut milk and stir well (a fork works nicely) until very smooth and creamy. Add extra tbsp coconut milk until sauce reaches desired consistency. Use to smother fresh strawberries, or other fruit.

A pretty great dinner.

So I mentioned in my Memorial Day post that in addition what I posted about, I'd also made Strawberry-Hibiscus Arnold Palmers and Strawberry-Almond-Rosewater Muffins. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting the recipes.

Strawberry-Hibiscus Arnold Palmers (adapted from a recipe in the June 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living)

6 cups water
6 hibiscus rooibos tea bags (I used Tazo tea, you could also experiment with a hibiscus-scented other than rooibos)
36 oz. frozen sweetened strawberries, partially thawed
1/3 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1/4 cup agave nectar
ice cubes

Bring water to a low boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add tea bags; steep for 30 minutes. Then remove tea bags, pour tea into pitcher. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat strawberries over medium heat, until they are completely thawed and have released all their juices, about 5-10 minutes.

Proceed to strain strawberries through a sieve, into a separate bowl or directly into the pitcher. Do not press strawberries, to avoid juice becoming cloudy.

Reserve remaining strawberries for another use. (Say... muffins, perhaps?)

In pitcher, combine strawberry juice with cooled tea. Stir in lemon juice and agave nectar. Add ice cubes, and lemon slices, if desired. Serve.

I wanted to use up the strained strawberries, leftover from making Arnold Palmers, so I improvised a batch of muffins, by heavily modifying an old omni muffin recipe I had floating around on a sheet of notebook paper. They turned out pretty great, I think. Light but moist from the berries with the slightly-crunchy streusel topping--kind of like mini strawberry buckles.

Strawberry-Almond-Rosewater Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I acutally used 1 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
1-2 tbsp rosewater (I used 1 tbsp, but I think I'll use 2 tbsp next time)
1/4 tsp almond extract
2/3 cup almond milk or soymilk
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 - 1 1/4 cups strawberries, sliced

for almond streusel topping:
3 tbsp vegan margarine
3 tbsp evaporated cane juice (or sugar)
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin of choice with cupcake liners of choice. (I used both a 6-muffin jumbo tin, and part of a regular-sized muffin tin--and Spiderman or stripey liners, of course.)

Make the streusel topping: stir together sugar and flour. Cut in margarine, and mix with fingers until you have large-ish clumpy crumbs. Work in sliced almonds, but try not to crush them up too much. Set aside in refridgerator, until your muffins are reading to be streusel-topped.

Make the muffin batter: In a large bowl stir together ground flaxseed and almond milk. Set aside for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl sift (or whisk) together flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk canola oil, sugar, and extracts into flax-milk mixture until emulsified. Fold in dry ingredients. When just combined, fold in strawberries. Fill muffin tins almost to the top. Sprinkle generously with streusel topping. Bake at 350 F for 20 - 28 minutes, depending on size of muffin tin used--until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

When I got home Sunday evening from my weekend of travel, I got a fun surprise. The first strawberry of the year from our tiny patch in the flowerbed. It's always a revelation how much better homegrown strawberries are than even relatively good organic grocery store berries. Two different things entirely. Unfortunately, the next few ripe ones were pounced upon by a perverse chipmunk who has made it his business to take a single bite out of each ripened strawberry and leave the rest on the stem.

I've been making quite a bit of garden-inspired food these days, so more posts (and probably recipes) to come.

Weekend Away: Vegan Treats (!)

2008-06-03T08:14:00.007-05:00

I journeyed east this weekend to visit with friends in the Philly 'burbz. And I ate lots of awesome food.

Before leaving, I baked a batch of Veganomicon Almond-Quinoa Muffins (with zante currants). I sampled two for breakfast before hitting the road, and then took the rest to share with my friends, on whom I had kind of invited myself :-). They came out kind of short in stature (the muffins, that is), but we all enjoyed them and liked how healthy--I made them with all whole-wheat pastry flour--and low-sugar they are. They were especially excellent with some loose-leaf Almond Black Tea. In the future I might try baking them as mini-muffins to get a greater muffin top ratio.

I made a detour along the way to meet up with some people from the PPK boards at awe-inspiring and super-cute vegan sweets mecca, Vegan Treats in Bethlehem, PA. Oh. My. Goodness. Whoa.

There was too much in this case to even focus on. I kept badgering the guy at counter with queries of "so, what's in that? and that..?"

However, I ended up settling on what I think is called a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bomb Cake, a mini chocolate bundt cake dolloped with a generous mound of peanut butter mousse, and then covered in chocolate. Yeah, sugar shock.

Intense!

Thankfully my friends had an awesome dinner of some tasty quinoa dish and salad waiting for me when I finally (after getting lost more than once) arrived; otherwise, I think I would have gone into a sugar coma.

Saturday night they took me into Philadelphia to roam South St. and get the requisite vegan cheezesteaks from the very awesome Govinda's, where I'd eaten only once before. Oh, and they, since they also have Vegan Treats desserts, my friend and I split a piece of what I think was Turtle Cheezecake. Sorry, no photos of that, because the restaurant was so dark and I also feel dorkier than usual taking pictures of food at restaurants. However, it was the perfect precursor to getting mildly crunk'd on fancy rum drinks (mojitos!). And--so bars in Philadelphia are non-smoking?! That was something I'd never experienced, and I got to say as a non-smoker, it was kind of pleasant. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to get an assortment of Vegan Treats to-go, when I was in Bethlehem, so I had a glazed chocolate doughnut waiting for me as a nice post-drinking 2 am snack.

A lovely, and crazy huge, Triple Chocolate Cookie (my first encounter with vegan white chocolate), the last remnant of my Vegan Treats stash.

Fun times. I will be posting the Strawberry-Almond-Rosewater Muffin recipe, along with a bunch of others, shortly.

Summer Weekend

2008-05-28T20:30:00.005-05:00

I guess it's summer. I took the opportunity of my long Memorial Day weekend to use a grill and eat out on the back porch for the first time in months, and I also made a summery pitcher of Strawberry-Hibiscus Arnold Palmers. So that counts for something, right?

This was my awesome plate of food, while everyone else at hamburgers: Veganomicon Smoky Grilled Tempeh, Cheater Baked Beans, and Smoky Collards.

For some dessert to share, I made a version of the infamous Black Bean Brownies, using the ground almond variation, dutch processed cocoa instead of carob, and 1/2 cup sugar. They were good, and no one guessed they had black beans in them. However, for a brownie, they were kind of lacking for me. To put in simply, they were too banana-y. Definitely enjoyable, but not chocolate-y enough--and this was using Vahlrona cocoa. However, they got a lot of potential, and I do want to fiddle around with the concept in the near future and achieve something more brownie-satisfying.

That's it for now. I also made a pretty delicious batch of Strawberry-Almond-Rosewater Muffins, which I plan on posting the recipe for, along with the recipe for the Strawberry-Hibiscus Arnold Palmers. But for now I'm keeping it short 'n' sweet, 'cause Top Chef is coming on and I wanna make a cup of tea. Hope everyone else had a lovely, summery, relaxing long weekend.

You say it's your birthday

2008-05-25T11:09:00.004-05:00

Lemon-Macadamia Cheezecake with Blueberry Topping made last weekend, in celebration of my Dad's birthday, which was actually this Tuesday. I'd been debating posting this, because the cheezecake was my first attempt at a recipe I'd been conceptualizing for awhile, and, while it wasn't a disaster by any means, it also wasn't the success that would warrant posting a recipe.

However! Since I still had almost all the necessary ingredients lying around the kitchen to make another cheezecake, I determined to apply the tweakings I imagined would vastly improve it, and I achieved success yesterday in my second attempt. One of the reasons I'm so pleased, is that this recipe is free from the shackles of processed vegan substitutes. Despite having achieved delicious results using Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese in the Chocolate-Pumpkin Cheezecake I made in the fall, I'd been desiring for some time to create a successful cheezecake recipe that wasn't reliant on such products. And since my dad was a fan of said pumpkin cheezecake but is also fan of anything blueberry, I came up with the recipe contained at the end of this post.

I also made dinner, 'cause, hey you need a preamble to cake, I guess. I went to my old stand-by for special meals, The Voluptuous Vegan and made a Vegetable Stir-Fry containing some of the fresh asparagus from our patch along with bok choy and red pepper, and Thai Peanut Noodles, thin rice noodles coated in a creamy sauce of peanut butter and light coconut milk.

Stir-fry and noodles sprinkled with Indonesian Sambal, also from The Voluptuous Vegan. My dad really liked the stir-fry. I thought the peanut noodles were especially delicious.

Okay, cheezecake recipe!--

Lemon-Macadamia Cheezecake

makes 1 6-inch cake, serves 6-8

for crust:
1 200-g pkg. McVitie's Ginger Nuts OR 1 cup (slightly-heaped) vegan graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp vegan margine, melted

for cheezecake:
1 6.5-oz. jar macadamia nuts*
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
zest of 2 lemons
1 12.3-oz. pkg. firm silken tofu (Mori-Nu)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar or evaporated cane juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp powdered agar (don't use flakes or bars!)

for topping:
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water

Preheat oven to 350 F. Position one rack in the very bottom of oven, and a second rack above it. On the bottom rack, place a baking or casserole dish filled with water, positioning it in the center of the rack.

Prepare crust: Place Ginger Nuts (or graham crackers) in the bowl of a food processor. Process until ground into crumbs. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in melted margarine with a fork, until well-incorporated. Press mixture in the bottom and about an inch up the sides of a 6-inch springform pan. Place in refridgerator while you prepare filling.

To prepare filling: In the jar of a blender, or the cleaned bowl of your food processor, place macadamia nuts. Pulse until nuts are finely ground and starting to form a paste. If sticking too much (this tends to be a problem in the blender more than the food processor, especially if you have a regular cheap-o blender) drizzle in a bit of the lemon juice, and proces, continuing to pour in lemon juice, until you have a very smooth paste--like a nut butter.

When you have a smooth, amalgamated, butter-like mixture of macadamia nuts and lemon juice, scrape down the sides of your bowl and add the silken tofu, breaking it up with your hands as you dump it in. Process this into the nut butter-mixture until well-incorporated and completely smooth. When you have a smooth tofu mixture, you can add the rest of your cheezecake ingredients--lemon zest, sugar, vanilla extract, and agar powder--pulsing a few times to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time, and process one more time to ensure that ingredients are evenly dispersed.

Remove already-prepared crust from refridgerator and pour cheezecake mixture into pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula. Place in oven, on second rack, directly above water-filled pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Avoid opening oven until the last 15 minutes of baking. When cheezecake is set and golden on top, turn off oven and allow cheezecake to sit in oven for at least 1 hour (up to overnight).

After cheezecake has cooled, cover with cling wrap and refridgerate for a few hours. Once cheezecake is chilled, you can proceed to make the blueberry topping.

For the blueberry topping: Stir together cornstarch and cold water, until there are no lumps. Set aside.

Have cheezecake ready and nearby for topping.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook frozen blueberries until defrosted. When blueberries have started to cook down a little, lower heat to medium, and add maple syrup. Cook a little longer, until blueberries have cooked down to a kind of liquid. Then stir in cornstarch slurry, and cook about a minute longer until thickened. Pour over top of cheezecake, and refridgerate for another 15 minutes or so. Once set, proceed to spring the cake from its pan.

Consume :-)

General Tso's Makeover

2008-05-18T09:36:00.006-05:00

Red stripy chopsticks! And General Tso's Tofu, based on the acclaimed Vegweb recipe, heavily modified, as well as made slightly healthier, lower-fat/calorie. Served with steamed asparagus and shortgrain brown rice.

Here's the recipe:

Healthier General Tso's for 1-2 People

7-8 oz. extra firm tofu, pressed, and cut into bite-size pieces
3/4 tsp Ener-G powder + 3 tbsp water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 scallions
1/2 tsp ground ginger
dash 5-spice powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp water
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Take a 1/2 tbsp cornstarch from the 1/4 cup and set aside for making sauce later. Coat tofu pieces in Ener-G mixture and dredge in remaining cornstarch. Spray nonstick skillet or wok with cooking spray, add 1/2 tbsp canola oil and heat over medium-high. Add coated tofu pieces and cook on each side until lightly golden. Remove to a plate when done.

Mix the reserved 1/2 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water, set aside. Lower heat to medium and heat remaining 1/2 tbsp canola oil. Lightly fry garlic, scallions, and spices; then add sugar, 1/3 cup water, soy sauce, and vinegar. Stir in cornstarch slurry, and cook briefly until bubbly and thickened. Add back tofu pieces, coat, and remove from heat. Serve with steamed asparagus or broccoli and brown rice.

I didn't say it was healthy. I said it was healthier. Here's the nutritional breakdown...

As 1 serving, per serving: 560 calories, 25.3 g fat, 3.8 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 929 mg sodium, 64.4 g carbohydrates, 2.2 g dietary fiber, 27.2 g sugar, 21.7 g protein, 6% vitamin A, 14% vitamin C, 39% calcium, 29% iron

And a bonus meal from awhile ago...

Lima Bean Masala from Healthy South Indian Cooking. I haven't made much from this cookbook yet, but this was sure good. I've been wanting to try more of these recipes for awhile.

This is definitely not a cookbook you buy for the photos (seriously, most of the photos on this blog are better than even the cover photo, and that's saying something, I think); however, so far it seems to be a good cookbook for people beginning to experiment with cooking more Indian food--like me--but still wanting fairly traditional, authentic dishes. It's less intimidating than Dakshin, the other South Indian cookbook in my collection, which tends to use ingredients that I have a harder time finding here in The Middle of Pennsylvania. I should mention that I also like Healthy South Indian Cooking, because it conveniently includes nutritional information for each recipe.

That's it for now. I'm off to work my pathetic 3-hour Sunday shift, so I can come home and cook a birthday dinner for my dad.

In Honor of a New Name & The Bounties of Spring

2008-05-14T19:05:00.006-05:00

Vegan with a Vengeance Asparagus-Potato Soup. Appropriately coinciding with the new title of my li'l blog, as well as a the SNOW that fell on Monday. (Wtf, May?!) Made with fresh-picked asparagus from our garden. I use half as much oil called for in the recipe. This soup was so delicious. Fresh asparagus has to be one of the best parts of spring.

Although strawberries run neck and neck with asparagus to win that title....

I couldn't pass up a container of lovely-smelling organic strawberries at the grocery store last Thursday. I quite happily ate many of them straight from the container plain and then for breakfast with plain soy yogurt and cereal; however, because they were organic and so ripe they rapidly started to go bad. Of course, I had to salvage as much as I could. Enter: Strawberry-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie. (Non-)Recipe bascially as follows (approximations!): 1 frozen banana + 3/4 cup soymilk + 1 tbsp peanut butter + 4-6 strawberries; dump into blender and make smoothie.

I have a couple other things I need to post about, including the rest of the baking extraveganza that accompanied the trifle I posted about earlier and the dinner I ate tonight. So, a flurry of posts to come, I predict. Okay, time to make my monthly student loan payment...>_<

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:17:00.004-05:00

Breakfast for my mom: Veganomicon Banana-Date-Nut Scone and Yorkshire Gold tea (+ a lilac :), cut off in photo). She also got a blueberry smoothie, later. Sorry for the poor photo, it was dreary-rainy this morning.

Veganomicon Chewy Chocolate-Raspberry Cookies...

& Koala Noses! aka The Cutest Cookies Ever? aka Fig Smushed-Almond Anise Cookies, all packed up and ready to share at my granny's house. We enjoyed these with a pot of Almond Black tea recently acquired from The Tea Merchant. It paired extremely well with both cookies.

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day. I've really been blessed with some inspiring and supportive women in my life. I feel thankful to have the opportunity to share my love and appreciation for them today.