VeganMoFo: Come with me to the South Pacific!

Hoorah! Can't you just hear the waves lapping on the shore of the island? We've come to the end of our Around-The-World-in-30-Days journey, and landed in South Pacific / Polynesia for some recipe inspiration. I wanted to make sure to touch down in most parts of the world, and it would be crazy to skip this enchanting little paradise.

Most of the dinner recipes I found from Polynesian countries had to do with either raw fish or goat meat. Hmmm... hard to veganize. But! All the desserts were mostly just tropical fruit goodies... so I decided to go that route.

I made Tahitian Poe... a banana "pudding," which was dense like bread pudding and tasted like pure bananas. The texture was maybe a tad too dense, so I think I'd probably reduce the arrowroot by a touch next time... but the flavor was really gorgeous. And on top is a glob of coconut cream and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Mmmmm. Nothing personal against my poe, but I'm pretty sure that an old piece of cardboard would taste good with a dollop of coconut cream and a sprinkle of brown sugar! (ps. How funny, but Mandee also made a poe batch... they look identical!)

I was having trouble picking, so I also made a delicious watermelon drink from Tonga called Otai. Mmmmmmmmm! I will definitely make this again... once watermelon season returns to us again. It's got watermelon, crushed pineapple, coconut... man, it was good! It was refreshing and filling and healthy and hearty, somehow all those things at once!

One thing about this global eating we've done... is that I ended up buying things like bananas and canned pineapple, which I'm just not used to. I did my best to stick to local and seasonal ingredients, but it didn't always work out that way. I have really loved discovering so many new flavors and recipes, and I'm also eager to explore recipes from all the many, many countries that I couldn't squeeze in this month. I'm pretty sure that "Where in the World is Vegan Eats and Treats?" will become a regular feature on my blog... there are so many more cuisines to explore!

It's been great traveling with all of you, thanks for coming along, and thanks for reading!

Come back for one more special home-again, home-again post tomorrow!

VeganMoFo: Cakey Treats From The Land Down Under

My goodness! Just look how far we've come! Today we land our hungry tummies Down Under! We're in Australia, mate! I suppose could have just picked up a big batch of kiwi fruits and called it New Zealand, but I'm not that devious.

My first thought was to make ANZAC biscuits, because I've heard so much about them over the years, but I've never had one. I even consulted with my real-live Australian yoga student. I drove all over town unsuccessfully looking for Vegemite. But, as I did all this rooting around... I learned about Lamingtons, and that pretty much sealed the deal! Chocolate-covered cake squares rolled in coconut?? Yes please! I used this recipe here.

First I made the cake, which was pretty straightforward to veganize. It's a little on the dry side, but I think it's supposed to be that way, from what I gather. I cut off the edges, which were a tad crispy, and cut everything into squares. One of the comments on the recipe site suggested freezing the cake squares before splitting them (to cut down on the crumbles) - I did this, and I think it was helpful. Then I split each one in half and put in a little layer of strawberry jam. Evidently, you can either not split them at all, split them and fill with whipped cream, or split them and fill with strawberry jam. I went for jam!

Here is my Lamington Assembly Station.

You gotta have all your ducks in a row! This Lamington business felt a lot like my Dominosteine adventure, so I felt like I knew (a little) what I was doing. You got all your re-frozen cake squares, filled with jam; your bowl of chocolate glaze; your dish of shredded coconuts; and a wire rack to place them on (with waxed paper underneath to catch all the drips and coconut shreds).

Don't they look beautiful? You can still see the flour and coconut shreddies on my cutting board! This platter of decadent yumminess is heading off to yoga class with me this morning. My Monday morning class has been benefitting lately... seems like I have the most time for baking on Sundays, and then a whole room of people to share with on Monday morning. Perfect!

Hey! How did Yummers get in there!?

Here's a look inside. Yummmmmmmmm. These Lamingtons are really rich! The cake is a refreshingly simple vanilla cake, light and perfect with the strawberry jam. Add on the chocolate glaze and coconut shreds, and you've got yourself a super tasty, super rich, and super messy little delight. I'm so happy to have discovered the wide world of Lamingtons!

So, tell me, Aussie Readers - how'd I do??

This is exactly what Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats looked like as he was eating his lamington(s). It was pretty adorable.

VeganMoFo is almost over... but don't unpack your bags just yet! We've still got one more destination... and then our trip home!

VeganMoFo: Fancypoo Japanese Food!

Just a few days left, and today we make our meal in Japan! I haven't had much Japanese food, so I was excited to tackle something so new and unfamiliar to me. Here's what I made:

Pan-fried Tofu in Tempura Sauce from Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook*

*from the Santa Cruz Public Library

5 stars. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats went totally nuts when he tasted this... "You have ascended to the next level! You are a true chef! This is amazing!"

He also said "This tastes just like the food at the Japanese buffet, but a thousand times better!"

I think he liked it.

This dish really was amazing. The tofu is simply dabbed dry, rolled in potato starch, and then lightly pan-fried (the recipe calls for deep frying), until crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. I used medium-soft tofu, which made everything a bit more challenging to work with, but all the more tender to eat. Then the tofus are placed in a platter of tempura sauce - made with a kombu-dried shiitake dashi broth, soy sauce, mirin, and nori bits (in place of bonito flakes). The garnishes include a simple, but wonderful, finely grated bit of daikon radish and dried red pepper. It added just the right little amount of kick to this dish. This dish was so delicious, and not all that hard to make... I'll definitely make it again.

I think it would be some sort of heresy to have a vegan Japanese dinner and not have edamame. I did not break the rules.

These Greens with Black Sesame Sauce were super fancy-looking and super fancy-tasting. (recipe also

from Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook)

The recipe called for spinach, but I had some beet greens and kale, so I went with that. I made a half batch of greens and a full batch of the sauce... The sauce was very, very magical. Sweet and salty, with dashi broth, tahini, black sesame seeds, sugar, mirin, soy sauce... just an incredible combo of flavors. The sweet and salty elements of the sauce both complemented the greens perfectly. The sauce was crazy delicious, but somehow I think the dish would have been even more elegant if I had only made a half batch of the sauce to go with my half-batch of greens. The flavors of the sauce were very strong, and slightly overpowered the greens. Mr VE&T positively loved this stuff, so I know I'll get another chance to make it.

Last, but not least, I bravely conquered my sushi fears. I've only had sushi maybe 2-3 times in my life, and I didn't really like it. I find the seaweed flavor overbearing and most unappetizing. But geez, people love the stuff. And plus, you can't really have Japanese night without sushi, can you??

So, I made a Cucumber-Avocado California Roll, using Alton Brown's recipe from The Food Network. First of all, let me just say, his sushi rice recipe is so freaky delicious. I was nibbling little spoonfuls out of the rice bowl the whole time I was cooking everything else. Incredible. Just a few simple little ingredients really elevate it to something special beyond "plain rice." So, check that out. As for the roll, I followed his recipe exactly, only leaving out the crab. I even went out and bought pickled ginger and wasabi... hoping it wouldn't be a one-time thing. Well, guess what?? Even though I'm not a good sushi roller, I really enjoyed these little sushis! I think I'd even make them again! I still don't like the nori flavor... but the wasabi & ginger help me get past that in a jiffy! :)

It's very exciting! I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a sushi fan just yet... but perhaps I am on my way??

I also picked up a little bottle of sake. I was going to make one more dish, which called for sake in the ingredients, but ended up skipping that one. I'd never had sake before, and I'll admit this was the cheapest one at the store, but I took one little sip and didn't really like it. On the other hand, I've never been a drinker, so what do I know?

So, all in all, Japanese night was a big hit. Just shopping for this meal made me realize that this is a culinary world that is completely unexplored for me. There were all sorts of noodles and misos and sauces and seaweeds, all of which were a mystery to me. Clearly, I need to hunt down some more vegan Japanese recipes and start investigating.

More exciting and new kitchen fun tomorrow!

VeganMoFo: Bibimbap-a-roo-bop!

BeeBop? Little Bunny Frou-Frou? No! Bibimbap!*

I had never heard of this fun meal until just a few weeks ago, but apparently it is a common and popular meal in Korea. This was my first time ever eating or making Korean food, and it was very inspiring! I can't wait to explore more!

*(pronounced bee-beem-bap)

I used a variety of recipes for my Bibimbap experience... First I made a whole bunch of little side dishes, mostly using recipes from Fat Free Vegan (great recipes!), and also getting some tips from this Food Network recipe. I was only making 3-4 servings, so I made half-batches, or even quarter-batches in some cases.

Zucchini Stir Fry with Garlic. Well, in my book, you just can't go wrong with a simple saute with garlic. These little zukes were mighty tasty. Here's the recipe.

Korean-style Cucumber Salad. Heck yeah!! I loved this! It was cool and pickly and hot-spicy all at once. Just a tiny little crunch from the onions and cukes... This was a new flavor-texture experience for me and I loved it. It was one of my favorites of the meal. Recipe here.

These are the little mung beans - transformed into Mung Bean Sprout Salad, again a recipe from FFVegan. Like so many of these dishes, this was quick and simple and very tasty. The spouts are quickly cooked, so they maintain their crisp quality, but soften a bit too.

A few shiitake mushrooms, cooked with a little peanut oil and a pinch of salt.

Simple sauteed carrots with a dash of peanut oil and garlic.

Oshitashi, Spinach with Toasted Sesame Seeds. I used Susan's recipe, and LOVED IT. Next time I make Bibimbap, I might not make quite so many side dishes (just in the interest of time), but I won't skip this one. Very yums, and very easy!

Also, I used Susan's recipe for the special Korean hot sauce, Kochu Chang, which - according to the internet - is a critical part of the bibimbap experience. I was really grateful for this recipe, because we don't have any Korean markets here. I used my extra hot cayenne, and this stuff packed a serious spicy punch. We were all blowing our noses about halfway through dinner. Ha! There's still about half of this stuff left... which I guess means I get to make Bibimbap again soon! :) Lucky me.

Here's the whole plate, all assembled. First of all, there is a layer of white rice under all of this... Then you can see on the left there, a little section of Super Mega Tasty Soy Curls, which I didn't photograph separately. I used this same Food Network recipe, and marinated Soy Curls (instead of ribeye steak). I used about 4 big handfuls of soy curls and made a half batch of the marinade. First, I re-hydrated the soy curls with a little hot water and a not-beef bouillon cube. Then I drained them, squeezed out the liquid, and put them in the marinade for a few hours. Then I just sauteed them while I was making the rice and other goodies. Each time the pan would start to dry out, I would add a little more marinade, until it was all gone. They were officially So Freaking Good. This is most definitely a recipe I'll come back to.

All sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds for an extra touch of flavor and elegance.

Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats says: "Draw a picture of me inhaling my food like in a cyclonic action of food consumption!!!" This is the best I could do. :)

Bibimbap takes some work, but it is very convenient that so many of the elements can be served cold or at room temp. That makes advanced prep pretty easy. My friend Alana recently suggested a bibimbap potluck party, and I didn't know what she was talking about. Well, sign me up! Bibimbap is a great idea for a potluck!

Hoorah for bibimbap!

VeganMoFo: An Indonesian Feasty-Feast!

Okay! Back on the road again... After our quick flight home for Thanksgiving... it's time to get back to our Around the World in 30 Days Mofo Adventure! Onward to Indonesia!

Oh, glorious Indonesian Food!!! Indonesian food is not something I've had much of. There are a couple of very vegan-friendly spots here in town that offer Indonesian food and flavors, but it's definitely not something I've cooked before. Well, there's a first time for everything, and this definitely won't be the last time I make Indofood! Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats and I were madly, madly in love with this dinner! And, best of all, the recipes I picked out were such a great combination ... different flavors, heat levels, textures, substantial and light... it was just a perfect meal!

I used all recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian," and wasn't disappointed once! The Fried Spiced Tempeh was downright magical. Instead of deep frying, I lightly pan fried it, just like when you make tempeh bacon. In fact, it was like a wonderful, other-worldly variation of tempeh bacon. It's got this totally WOW shallot-almond-coriander marinade that is absolutely gorgeous. I am eager to put that sauce to use in 1 million other ways, because we both loved it so much. The tempehs were quite salty, so I'll probably knock the salt down a bit next time... but the other components of the meal were more mild, so when you ate it all together, the tempeh added the kick for the other dishes. Next to the tempeh is a big mound of Cabbage with Garlic & Shallots. This recipe takes about 10 minutes, but is really lovely. It's light and mild and a perfect balance to the tempeh...

... and it's especially good with a few generous spoonfuls of this red Sambal poured on top of it. This is the Sambal with Roasted Tomatoes, Shallots & Chilies. I made a half batch, and totally loved it. It's sort of an Indonesian twist on salsa. Everything is roasted under the broiler and then blended up in the blender. Quick, and full of a special depth of flavor that comes from the charred and caramelized bits all mixed together. It was so quick and easy, and added so much to the meal, definitely don't skip it!

Finally, as a special treat, I made Indonesian Boiled Peanuts. Some of you may know that I have a special affection for boiled peanuts, and when I saw this recipe, I just knew I had to make them! Plus, we actually have a vendor at the farmers market who sells raw, fresh peanuts, and I am never able to resist their allure! Unlike Southern-style boiled peanuts, this recipe calls for the peanuts to be shelled, boiled, then skinned, then boiled again. The whole thing goes rather quickly, about 1 hour, but very little of it is active time. Mostly just the peanuts boiling away... The end result, though, is a delicious, very mildly spicy, gently salted little bowl of boiled peanuts, which was gone in a flash.

Come back tomorrow, as we head further east

into our Asian leg of "Around The World in 30 Days!"

VeganMoFo: Pies! Pies! Pies!

That's right folks, we're flying all the way home for Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one my favorite holidays, and I think I've only ever been away from home for one Thanksgiving. What was I thinking!? Even when I lived far from home, I always came home for a chance to be with my family, who I love so much.

I'm sure that all my non-U.S. readers are thinking "enough with all the Thanksgiving posts!"... but I'm not gonna apologize! So, today's meal is brought to you from the United States!

First I took these cute little friends, 2 from my garden and one from my aunt's garden, and cooked them down into 7 cups of pumpkin puree. Mmmmmmm...

I took some of that pumpkin puree, and transformed it into a beautiful pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie!! Just the smells of the pumpkin puree were transporting me to a land of happiness. The recipe I use is from one of my favorite books, Voluptuous Vegan.

I also made a Apple-Pear-Quince Pie! I can't wait to taste this little bug! I used the spiced quince that I made a little while ago, and I really hope it all turns out well. Usually I am such a follow-the-recipe kinda gal, and I winged it on this one! Risky! Exciting!

This year, we are having a much smaller gathering than usual. For various reasons, many of our loved ones are doing other things or are in other places, or are no longer with us. So, instead of the usual 15-20 people... this year it'll only be 7-8 people. Plus, we usually have about6 vegans and a vegetarian, and this year we only have 2 vegans in attendance. Thus, instead of busting out a whole batch of tamales for 2 people, I picked up this Field Roast. It's easy, and very delicious, and gives me plenty of time to walk the dogs and do yoga today.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Bonus facts: Is this drawing accurate or not? True or False?

True: Stevie Wonder wags her tail while eating

False: None of our pets would ever share a pie with the others. They are all too greedy.

True: Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats is really skinny

False: I am not

True: I like to carry things on my head

False: Yummers the cat would totally swat Snoopy if they were that close together.

True: I like to dress up for Thanksgiving Dinner (I even put away my flip flops for one night!)

True: I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

bonus #2. Mr. VE&T took this picture of Snoopy sitting on my lap while I blog. He is such a great little snuggle dog! See how he rests his little Snoopy chin on the arm of the chair.

Come back tomorrow to resume our Around The World Adventures... there are some really, really great meals coming up!

VeganMoFo: Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Next stop on our culinary journey around the world... Vietnam!!

I've never been to Vietnam, but I have heard wonderful things from people who have. I also haven't had much Vietnamese food, though it too has quite a reputation. This mofo challenge is definitely getting me excited to learn more about all these amazing culinary traditions...

I felt a little lazy not doing tons of research and checking out 6 Vietnamese Cooking library books... but sometimes you gotta keep in simple. So, I turned to an untried recipe in one of my all-time favorite books: Vietnamese Noodle Soup from "Voluptuous Vegan." I hadn't ever made this soup before, despite my deep love for Voluptuous Vegan. In fact, I'm not sure I've made anything quite like this before.

It involved making a special veggie stock first, and since the broth clearly plays such an important role in the final product, I figured I'd better follow directions. Usually, for vegetable broth I just use whatever veggie scraps and peels and onion ends and such have collected in my special "broth fixins" plastic bag in the freezer. But this time I did it all just as she said, and got a lovely, gingery lemongrassy broth in the end. I have lemongrass growing in my garden, and it always thrills me to no end when I actually get to use it in my cooking. It feels so exciting to grow such an alluring and exotic ingredient right here at home! The soup has coconut milk and peanut butter added in to the broth as well, which gives it a richness and a sense of substance that is definitely more than mere broth.

As you can see, the final product is full of goodness: rice noodles, mung beans, cabbage, & hot chilies! And then there are all the fun little toppings you can sprinkle on. Of course I went for it all! Roasted peanuts, chopped scallions, chopped cilantro, and even a little dash of some chopped mint.

The final dinner was really wonderful. Although it's a pretty big bowl of soup, it's a light meal, and very warming. It was perfect on a cool autumn night. The soup most definitely has some spiciness, but not too much. I suppose you could easily modify this by monitoring how hot your chilies are. This was a pretty quick and very yummy dinner. Definitely something I'll come back to again!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a surprise destination!

In the meantime... Keep on mofoin'

*apologies to R.Crumb.

p.s. that's supposed to be a frying pan

VeganMoFo: Fresh Thai Spring Rolls

Well, we all have our preferences, and personally, I love love love Thai food. I remember the very first time I had it, soon after I moved to Seattle after college. Revelation! Thai food is full of beautiful flavors, fresh ingredients, veggies, tofu... and everything good and wonderful. It's definitely one of my most favorite world cuisines out there.

When we bought our house, there was a funky, boarded up former restaurant about 1 block from our house. It had a decrepit, hand-painted sign "Mexico Grill" on the outside. It sat vacant for months, and we spent the whole time day dreaming of what it would become ... "a vegan bakery!" "an Italian deli!" "an all-vegan chocolatier!" Well, it wasn't any of those things, but after a couple of years, it did open up as a beautiful Thai restaurant... which makes delicious food and is very vegan-friendly. As a result of having a really great Thai restaurant about 100 feet from my front door, I don't cook Thai food all that often. It's not uncommon for us to hop down there for a little take out. And when our dog was sprayed by a skunk about 4 minutes before closing, they very graciously let us run down there and eat in-house, so we could enjoy a dinner without the (unappetizing) stench of skunk.

Nonetheless, Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats was away, and here I am doing "around the world in 30 days," so I decided to try my hand at fresh spring rolls of my own. First I made the all-important peanut sauce. I used a recipe for Thai peanut sauce from "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman. The flavor was different from what I get at my favorite Thai restaurant, a little bit sweeter and spicier, but still very good and definitely quite enjoyable. Next, I cooked up some mega-delicious little tofu strips. Cut up some fresh cukes, carrots, mint, thai basil, cilantro... and gathered my mung bean sprouts. Oh, and a few chopped peanuts for good measure. Ready to assemble!

As you can see, they're not about to offer me a job in the kitchen rolling spring rolls. Ha ha! I kinda suck at it! I value lovely presentation as much as the next person, but I kinda missed the mark here. Ha ha. Well, no worries, they were still good. It was fun making my own fresh spring rolls, and I love using all fresh, local and organic ingredients. Nonetheless, these little babies were not nearly as magically delicious as the fresh spring rolls I can get within about 5 minutes from my house. Hmmm. I'm torn between working on my recipe, or just running out again for more fresh spring rolls!