A Corn-centric Feast!

For last night's Family Dinner, I decided on an all-corn theme! It's almost the end of fresh corn season here in Santa Cruz, and I wanted to celebrate the sweet, crunchy yumminess. I got a bajillion ears of corn, and got to work. As is usually the case, all the produce was from the farmers' market, except the tomatoes from our garden. As a year-round dedicated farmers' market shopper, these really are the good ol' days!

First up, Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad from a recent Mark Bittman article in the paper. WOW! I loved this salad so much, and it was quite easy. Instead of bacon, I made a recipe of Tempeh Bacon from "Vegan Brunch," and then used a touch of olive oil instead of bacon fat (ew!) for the rest of the recipe. I 1000% recommend this salad - a lovely combination of fresh, seasonal flavors: tomatoes, sweet corn, savory tempeh bacon, creamy avocado, and spicy peppers... mm! Lucky for me, I made a HUGE amount, and there's some waiting for me in the fridge right now.

Also, I made a huge pot of the Roasted Corn Soup from "Voluptuous Vegan." This is one of my favorite corn soup recipes ever. I love the flavors and colors, and the creaminess from the potatoes in the soup. It's got some poblano peppers in there too, for a little bit of flavor and a touch of heat.

Then, I made a big batch of "Hot Tamale Burgers," from an old recipe from Vegetarian Times (July/August 2007). I made this recipe when the magazine first came out and have never forgotten it. Here, they are ready to go on the grill...

...and all grilled up! These are SO good. Maybe my favorite homemade burger ever! They are totally non-traditional: full of corn and smoky chipotles and super tangy lime juice, but MAN! are they tasty. Check out the recipe, and let me know what you think! (Also, they are gluten free) I sprayed them with a little spritz of oil so they wouldn't stick to the grill, which seemed to help. Also, letting them rest in the fridge for a few hours really helped them firm up. The crazy-cool thing was that some corn kernels were falling off the patties to the bottom of the grill and POPPING like pop corn. It was loud and crazy!

Lastly, I got creative for dessert and made some corn sorbet with lime zest. My loving family was totally game for this crazy experiment, but let me just say that I will spare you the humiliation of having your whole family laugh at you, and NOT share my recipe. Well, actually, it wasn't a *total* disaster, and some folks managed to finish their (small) servings, but suffice it to say that nary a soul asked for seconds! Sigh! You win some and you lose some.

Next post... more delicious ways to use up late summer tomatoes!

Pickle Party!

Last weekend, my friend Sophia came over and we made PICKLES! It was super fun. It was the first time making pickles for both of us... so first we had some studying to do. We carefully read through each recipe to make sure that we knew what laid ahead.

First up, Dill Pickles (using this recipe). One tip I saw said to cut off about 1/8" from the blossom end of the cucumber, since that end might contain bacteria that prevent the pickle from staying crunchy. Luckily, our cukes still had little blossom bits, so it was easy to figure out which end was which.

Then, the adorable little blossom-free baby cukes went into a cold ice bath for about 4 hours. Apparently, all of pickle making is centered around one most critical element: CRUNCH. Everyone wants a crunchy pickle. I am no exception.

To this end, another tip told us to put a grape leaf in each bottle, which supposedly helps maintain crunch. I have no idea if this is scientific or not, but it sounds like a fun old-timey tip, so I liked it. My aunt Laura has grape vines, and she picked these for us.

Here is our station, all set up and ready to go: jars, dill, garlic, spices, grape leaves...

We folded up our leaves in the bottom of our jars (one per jar), and then added in the spices. For each quart jar we added: 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 sprig fresh dill, 1 tsp dill seed, 1/4 tsp mustard seed, 1/4 tsp celery seed, and 1/4 tsp peppercorns. Spicy!

Next up, stuff the cukes in the jars! Easier said than done.

Then we poured in the boiling hot vinegar brine. If you like canning, allow me to recommend a canning funnel. My good pal JJTWH got me this as a gift, and it has greatly enhanced the ease and joy of my canning experiences ever since.

After filling, the jars were all sealed and ready to go! Reading the comments online for the recipe, I saw that some people boiled the jars for 10-15 minutes in the water bath for proper canning technique and some skipped it altogether... We went with the middle party and did a rolling boil for 5 minutes, to help seal the jars but not risk de-crunching our pickles.

We also made Bread & Butter Pickles. For this recipe, I used my mandoline for the classic crinkle-cut slicers. Cute!

The cukes and onions were salted, and then covered with a dish towel and covered with ice... and set in the fridge for 4 hours.

We set about making our brine for the B&B pickles... isn't it crazy looking!?

After the cooling time was complete, the cukes and onions were rinsed and drained twice to get rid of the salt.

Then, the cukes and brine were combined and cooked on the stove top - totally different than the dill pickle process!

The Bread and Butter pickles went right into jars, we sealed the lids... and again, we processed them in a water bath - this time for 10 minutes.

In the end, we had 4 quart jars of dill pickles and 4 pint jars of Bread and Butter Pickles - 2 of each for each of us! It was definitely easier than I thought it would be. Even though I've done other kinds of canning before, the Fear Of The Unknown had me thinking that pickles would be complicated. Not so!

The Dill Pickles are supposed to cure for 8 weeks before opening, so I don't have any final results yet on how those beauties turned out. But the Bread and Butter pickles can be eaten right away - they are amazing! Sweet, spicy, and crunchy - perfectly pickley! Hoorah for homemade pickles!

Spice Zee Nectaplum, My True Love

Oh, sigh. Every summer, the Spice Zee Nectaplum makes its appearance at the farmers' market, and I fall in love all over again.

It's just the most wonderful summer fruit... juicy and sweet, beautiful, and enormous! The colors are so lovely and understated - pale, dusty pinks and yellows with an occasional darker blush. Spice Zee Nectaplum (out of respect, I always address it by its full name) satisfies my esthetic needs as well as my tummy needs.

Spice Zee Nectaplum is a tender fruit, easily bruised, and so you must treat it with loving care. Once perfectly ripe, you will be rewarded with a sublime experience of yumminess.

During the tragically short Spice Zee Nectaplum season, I probably eat 2-3 of these every day. I really do love them. Here, you see me gazing lovingly upon my beloved. Sadly, now Spice Zee has already left me. Until we meet again... fare thee well, my love!

Like Tomatoes from Heaven!

We have tomatoes coming out our ears, no one's complaining! By nature's good graces, our home crop is really producing a ton of tomatoes... Then, by the good graces of friends and yoga students, we have also been given many lovely tomatoes. It's like tomatoes from heaven!

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes! What a bounty!! Made pasta* with some of these, made a pizza, gave some to my parents, and am making Polenta with Fresh Corn & Cherry Tomatoes tonight. At this point, every meal MUST be tomato centric, or it's crossed off the list. These tomatoes are SO sweet, they are practically like candy... and frankly, they are better in salads than on pizzas. It's just weird to have something so sweet on a pizza.

(*My friend Fabrizio's cherry tomato pasta method: 2 cipolline, sliced thin, sauteed in olive oil. Add cherry tomatoes, saute until a few of them soften and pop open. Add the basil and cooked pasta. Enjoy!)

An early crop from about 2 weeks ago: Early Girls and Purple Cherokees...

... some of which became this big bowl of Pico de Gallo salsa. We had the salsa over some nice, easy tostadas. Perfect for lunches and quick dinners.

On top of my bountiful home grown supply, my wonderful friend Jane gave me a WHOLE crate full of her amazing organic dry-farmed tomatoes (technically, these are "seconds," but they are totally rad). She and her husband are farmers, and this is one of their great specialties. They are the best tomatoes I've ever had in my life. They tend to be on the small side, & the skin is a little tough, but inside... they are so incredible: the deepest red color, packed full with sweet tomato flavor. They are a delicious snack as is, and they are also great for cooking. I was about 2/3rds of my way through the box when I finally got around to taking a picture of all these babies.

What to do with such riches?? I gave some to my relatives, some to my friend JJTWH, made a pizza, made pasta sauce... and then got a bit more resourceful (and I still have some left!):

Dehydrated! I did two big trays. They took a long time (using a 150 watt light bulb in the oven), and were sticky to get off the sheet, but they turned out great...

I got about 4-5 cups of dried tomatoes in the end.

Also, some canning. 100% pure tomatoes. So delicious. I'll save these for the darkness of winter, when a blast of late summer tomatoes really lifts the spirit!

We were invited to a lovely little housewarming party, so I brought along two big platters of bruschetta... food of the gods. A combo of my tomatoes, Jane's tomatoes, and some that were a gift from a yoga student!

Yesterday I picked these two lovelies: a HUGE and beautiful Pineapple Tomato & a beautiful Purple Cherokee - my two favorite heirloom varieties, both of which are doing really well at home. I'm so happy!

They became: Pasta with Roasted Shiitakes and Tomatoes, from "Voluptuous Vegan." This is SUCH an incredible recipe. Wow. I've made it before, and had forgotten about it. The shiitakes are roasted with some olive oil and shoyu (soy sauce). Then there's sauteed garlic, fresh tomatoes, and tons of basil... with the shiitakes mixed in at the last minute. Also, check out the cool weirdo pasta shape! I got it on sale somewhere, and they were really great.

Along with the pasta, we had a simple side salad: tomatoes, cukes, yellow pepper, red onion, & parsley. Yummo!

We're right in the middle of this great tomato blitz... so you can definitely expect some more tomato-rich photos to come! May you also be blessed with many tasty tomatoes this summer!

Gardening Note:
This year I planted 6 varieties: Sungold Cherry Tomato, Early Girl, Pineapple Tomatoes, Purple Cherokee, Beefsteak, and Isis Candy Cherry Tomatoes. Pineapple, Sungold, and Purple Cherokee and probably my 3 favorite varieties I've ever tried, and I'm really happy that they are doing so well at home. The Beefsteak is turning out to be a dud, but I"m okay with that. I was the least attached to that one. So far, the Sungold and Early Girl have been super prolific, with Purple Cherokee just chugging along and pumping out a few good sized tomatoes each week. Luckily, the Isis Candy & Pineapple are just starting to come in... so all 6 varieties didn't ripen at once.

Art's Fruition Bars

Recently I found a little box on our doorstep... for me! Usually all the packages are for Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats, who runs his business out of our house. But lo! An unexpected package for me! How exciting.

Better yet, it contained 4 new bars from the folks at Pro Bar. They are working on a new line of FRUITION bars. First things first, I love the name! These bars are a combo of dates, fruits, chia seeds, and cashews - 160 calories per bar, 4 grams of fiber. As you probably know, chia seeds are a rich source of Omega-3 acids. So, that's the nutritional low-down on these babies.

As you can see, the packaging is not yet finished. Art's Pro Bars have some of the prettiest packaging in all the world, so I'm sure these will be beautiful as well, once they hit the stores.

I was sent 4 flavors to sample: Cran-Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Peach.

All four flavors have a similar texture - soft, chewy, and a little seedy from the chia seeds. They are a bit softer than a Lara Bar. The flavors are very natural - I really didn't have any feeling of eating a "blueberry-flavored" bar or the like. Unlike some bars, there is no vitamin-y aftertaste, just a pleasant fruity flavor that lingers.

Strawberry was my least favorite of the four. The strawberry flavor didn't really shine through, and overall the bar seemed a bit bland and only vaguely flavored.

Peach, the next one I tried, was a step forward. Chewy, seedy, and moist. This bar was sweet, but not in an overpowering way. It's very fruity and oat-y, but not distinctly peachy. Peaches can be a pretty gentle flavor, so that doesn't really surprise me.

My favorites were the Blueberry & Cran-Raspberry bars. The Blueberry bar had a very clear and natural blueberry flavor, which was a pleasant surprise. It tasted fresh and really like blueberries! The Cran-Raspberry bar was the only bar with a little bonus texture... with little bits of fruit, it seemed more like a "food-experience" than just "eating a bar." The raspberry flavor came through a bit more (fine with me!), but there was still the tang of cranberries.

I liked these bars, and I was honored to be included in the pre-market testing. However, I don't think they're my new favorite bar. They seemed a little too soft, and a little "food stuff" rather than "actual food" to my palette. I'd like it if they allowed slightly bigger chunks of nuts and fruits, rather than having it quite so blended.

I think my aunt really hit the nail on the head when she described it as "like eating a fig newton without the cookie on the outside." That's pretty much right. While perhaps not a new standard on my shopping list, I did very much like the flavor, I'm grateful for the emphasis on whole food ingredients, and I appreciate the inclusion of chia seeds, so you might catch me tossing some Blueberry and Cran-Raspberry bars in my shopping cart.

3 Years & a Turkish Feast

Yesterday was the 3rd Blog Birthday of Vegan Eats and Treats! I don't usually keep track of these things... but when I saw that Bazu (over at Where's the Revolution?) had a post about blogging for 3 years, I got to wondering how long I'd be at it. Bazu and I have been bloggy friends since way back, so I figured it'd be something similar... but I was so psyched when I went and looked and it was August 9, 2006 when I made my first post! So, Bazu and I have the same bloggiversary, which is rad.

I really love blogging, and being a part of the vegan blog universe!!
Thanks for reading, friends!

& now... for the food - this time it's all made by Guest Chef: my awesome Mom. My parents recently took a trip to Turkey, so when my parents hosted our family dinner last night, my mom decided to make a big Turkish feast. It was so incredible - and all vegan!!

This was one of my favorites: a delicious salad of white beans (on the bottom), tomato wedges, yellow bell pepper, parsely, green onions, and olives. My mom put some sort of dressing on, and it was totally delicious!!

It was a beautiful night, and there were 15 of us in all... so my mom set up a huge long table in their backyard, with votive candles and pretty tableclothes. It's not often warm enough to eat dinner outside here in Santa Cruz, so that was super special.

A delicious platter of dolmas (purchased!) with kalamata olives. mmm...

Tomatoes, cukes, red onion, green onion, parsely, salt & vinegar... perfect Mediterranean salad!

The main course was a HUGE pot of ratatouille. It was so good - a hit with everyone. All the classic flavors: zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, eggplant... cooked together into a delicious stew.

Along with the ratatouille was some yummy bulghur wheat pilaf. They were great together.

All in all, it was a really magical evening... and my parents even ended it with a special treat: authentic Turkish coffee, served in the beautiful little coffee cups that they were given in their travels. The coffee was thick and sweetened, and super yum. I only had a few sips, for fear of being up all night long, but I'm glad I got to taste it. By now, it was dark out, and we were enjoying our lovely evening by moonlight and candlelight... as you can see.

Three cheers for my mom - putting on an all-vegan mega-rad Turkish themed dinner for 15! She is the best!

Homemade Tofu!!

Last night, we FINALLY made homemade tofu! My friends Sara & Fabrizio came up with this idea a long time ago... maybe two years ago?! For many reasons, it's taken us all this time to finally get around to doing it. We had a super great time and our tofu turned out totally GREAT! We were so excited. Here's a step-by-step journey through what we did. We based our recipe from two sources: 1 and 2. (the first one is in Italian, just so you know)

First things first - I soaked 500 gr (17.7 ounces) of soybeans overnight.

Following Byanna Clark Grogan's recipe for making soymilk without a Soymilk Machine*, we made fresh, hot soymilk in the VitaMix! It worked perfectly! Since we were making tofu, we didn't bother skinning the beans, and (obviously) we didn't add the salt or sweeteners. It was pure soybeans and water. I think we made 5 batches total. Because the water is added boiling hot, we followed Bryanna's instructions and put a cloth towel over the hole in the lid of the blender.

(*Blend 4 cups boiling water with 1.5 c soaked soy beans on HIGH for 1 min. Add 1/2 c cold water, blend again to combine)

Then we poured the hot soymilk into a sieve, lined with my fancy "nutmilk bag." You could also use cheesecloth, but apparently I had the wrong kind (too loosely knit), so the nutmilk bag saved the day. In this stage, we were separating the okara (soybean solids) from the soy milk. The bowl below is catching the soymilk.

In the bag is the Okara that's left over.

Here's Sara using a spoon to get ALL the soymilk out.

(You can see that Fabrizio was working hard too! He was our official taster... wandering in from time to time to sample each step of the process.)

A big beautiful bowl of fresh soymilk! You can see one of our little balls of okara in the background.

Next, all our soymilk went on the stovetop to simmer for 10 minutes. One recipe said to boil for 30 minutes, one said DO NOT BOIL, and one said simmer for 10 minutes. We went with that one, as it seemed middle of the road.

In the end we ended up with 5 pretty balls of okara. They were so smooth and had a great texture... so we decided to make a spread with some of the okara while we waited for the soymilk to boil.

The okara was very mild, and had a really lovely thickness with a super smooth texture from the vitamix. We thought it would be good as a cheeze or a spread. So we took 1 okara ball (about 1 cup) and threw it in the food processor with 1 clove garlic, a handful of pinenuts, a spoonful of light miso, a dash of olive oil, and a mountain of fresh basil. Mmmm! We picked some cherry tomatoes from the garden, busted out some crackers, and had a great snack while we waited for the tofu process to continue...

In this stage, we added our coagulant, and waited for the curds to separate from the whey. We were using Nigari, which Sara had sent over from Italy sometime last year (of course I saved it so we could make tofu together!). First we put the pot of soymilk on the lowest possible heat, and waited for the temperature to come down to about 180 F. Then we slowly added a mixture of 1 big Tablespoon of nigari dissolved in very hot water. We gave it one very gentle stir, and waited 10 minutes. The recipe from Brenda Wiley was really helpful here. She emphasized that the liquid shouldn't be milky at all - it should be clear and amber (as seen in our picture here). So, we made another hot water-nigari slurry, and repeated. This time, after 10 minutes, it had clearly done the job. We had a big pot of soy whey and soy curds. Cool and weird and exciting! We could practically taste success!

We didn't have a proper tofu press, so we made up two make-shift presses. The first was my sieve, lined with a heavy duty cheesecloth-like fabric, over a big pot to catch the whey. Catching the whey isn't necessary, but I thought it'd be nice to water the plants with it. Here, Sara is pouring the hot curds and whey into the sieve. Pouring turned out to be hot and messy, so we quickly switched to ladeling, which was much better.

Here's our other make-shift tofu press: 3 strawberry baskets (for extra strength) lined with the nutmilk bag, and filled with tofu curds. In the sink for good drainage.

Then we had to figure out a good way to weigh down the tofu. We used a little plate here...

... and put a bowl on top, and the Joy of Cooking and Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone. For the little tofu in the strawberry baskets we used a square cobblestone that I pilfered from the streets of Italy when I was 16 years old. That old thing (literally) came in handy at last! We pressed our tofu for 15 minutes, which was plenty for the little one, but not quite enough for the big batch in the sieve. There, we ended up adding a cast iron skillet to the leaning tower of weights, and waited another 10-15 minutes. Then it was perfect.

The small tofu came out in a cute little shape, from the weight of the cobblestone and the texture of the strawberry baskets. (sorry for the crummy lighting... but it was dark out by then)

Here's our big batch... cut open. Just look at that beautiful texture!!! It was incredible. I really didn't expect it to turn out so lovely and delicious. We pressed it to a medium-firm consistency, and the texture was very smooth. The tofu had a slightly sweet flavor, which was very pleasant. I think that in the end we made about 3 lbs of tofu. How fun and amazing to make tofu from scratch!

So, what did we do with it???

... A delicious salad from "Healthy Hedonist": Glazed Tofu, greens, cashews, celery, radishes, cilantro in a soy-sesame-ginger dressing. It's a perfect summer meal that is both fresh and warm, and really allowed our fresh tofu to shine.

And, we've both got a bit leftover, so I'll do something else with the extra tofu for dinner tonight.

What fun!