Vegan Eats & Treats!

Austrian Supermarket Finds

2012-01-21T04:11:00.001-08:00

Truly, there are few things i find as delightful as perusing the aisles of a foreign grocery store. I took advantage of our two-hour lunch break to walk down to the outskirts of town (which takes a whopping ten minutes!), and there i found all sorts of amazing and intruiguing items! Vegan gummy bears, Austrian muesli (I love the muesli here!), couscous mix with dried fruits, soy milk for my morning muesli and coffee, soy yogurt, and a great little sampler pack of various dense German breads like pumpernickel and such - I love that kind of bread! I'll need to make another run soon,since I'm almost out of soy milk.... So maybe I'll pick up a few more treats to bring home - especially some good fruit teas.

This morning was one of the most beautiful mornings ever. I was up with the very earliest light, and went out with my camera to explore the world with about 6 inches of fresh snow. Here are a few shots for you to enjoy:

Wonderful Fruit Tea of Austria!

2012-01-20T08:08:00.001-08:00

One thing I've really been enjoying here in Austria are the many delicious fruit "teas" available here. I've never been a tea drinker, despite multiple attempts to appreciate it... But i am really grooving on the fruity concoctions here. Usually it's some sort of wild berry flavor, or a fruity rose hip tea. They're warm and light and I am a real fan.

Of all the fruchtetee I've had though, none can compare to this marvelous cup of tea that I had. A couple of days back, we had one afternoon off from the lessons, which was a welcome break. A friend and I walked for about an hour through the snowy valley to another nearby village. We cruised around town, which didn't take too long, checked out the beautiful little local church on top of a hill, had a great time meandering though the grocery store (more on that later!), and finished it off with a wonderful cup of tea. This fruit tea was so mind-blowing, the tea baggie was full of big strips of orange peel and other unknown fruity bits. The tea was so deliciously aromatic and equally deliciously tasty. I couldnt figure out what brand it was, so I was forced to surrender and enjoy the moment. Which I did!

Also, that soy yogurt was totally RAD. I wish we could get this one at home. Loved the flavor, loved the texture... Yums

Here are a couple of pictures from our walk back home. It was soooooo beautiful:

What's for lunch? ( Austrian style )

2012-01-19T08:10:00.001-08:00

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, the food here in this spot is not totally great. It's not terrible either, but I'm certainly not regretting that I showed up with a suitcase full of food.

I brought along a bag full of individual hummus packets, dehydrated bean flakes, dried soup mixes, a few Lara bars, roasted almonds, Tabasco sauce, and a few other odds and ends. I'm so glad I did, because I've been heavily supplementing most meals. Here are a few samples of what I've been eating:

This was actually one of our better meals. There's one other vegan here, so at least I'm not the only one! Often they don't have too much for us, but this time there was a veggie soup, and some zucchini stuffed with spinach, which were actually quite yummy!

This is a typical meal... Pretty spartan! You can see my little hummus packet in the back. Before leaving, I ordered a whole box of these little individual-serving hummus packets from Wild Garden. They're great! I've been having one a day with my lunch. Here I've got some steamed veggies, fresh tomatoes, cabbage, grated carrot, and two pieces of rye bread. Yum?

This time around, I've resorted to my dried bean flakes... With a little Tabasco sauce and some seasoning from a bean soup mix (to avoid death-by-sodium, I've been stretching out one spice packet over many meals.) These bean flakes are hardly gourmet food, but it's a great way to get something warm and hearty and full of protein. Plus the usual side dishes... Which are more functional than thrilling.

Let's end on high note! Here was another successful meal - a hearty stew type thingee with beans and veggies with some rice, and cabbage on the side. Actually, I have to say, I'm rather of fan of that little raw cabbage salad. I like cabbage! Plus you can see my vitamins, just waiting to energize me!

So, I'm not eating gorument vegan food, but I'm not dead yet either! And the beauty of the place and the beauty of the lessons definitely makes it all worthwhile!

Greetings from Austria!

2012-01-19T04:02:00.001-08:00

Hello friends!
You might be wondering what the hell happened to me! I'm here in a little spot in Austria called Piesendorf, studying yoga philosophy. The course is great, but the it's hardly a vegan paradise!

The place we're staying does offer us a very nice breakfast, though. I bought some soy milk and soy yogurt at the store near town to supplement. Atypical breakfast for me here has been some muesli with nuts and raisins, coffee, fruities, and a little yogurt. Sometimes I have a little bread and jam too. I guess it's sort of carbo-loading, but a girl's gotta eat! Plus, lunch and dinner leave much to be desired, so it feels good to fill up while I can.

It's so beautiful here... Really, really amazing. There are mountains, covered in snow! Frost and icicles and snow falls and sunny days, it's all a big experience for someone used to living in Santa Cruz! This is the view from our yoga room, where the discussions are held... Not so bad, huh?!

P.s. I'm trying out something new with this post, posting from the blogger app on my iPad. I hope it works, because if it does, I have more pics to share!

Doggie Treats for Xmas - and Cookbooklette Winners!

2011-12-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

As promised, I bring you Snoopy in his Santa outfit! He doesn't like the hat at all, but he loves wearing his little Santa jacket. (Don't worry, I only make him wear the hat for pictures.) I'm not sure why, but he is oddly crazy about wearing jackets. My only guess is that whoever had him before we adopted him made him wear lots of jackets. Whenever he has his Santa outfit on, his name officially becomes "Santa," and it is against the law to call him Snoopy again until he takes off his outfit.

In fact, I got Snoopy a new raincoat from Lands End, because he really doesn't like getting wet. It doesn't quite cover his rear end, but I hope it's better than nothing.

It even says "Snoopy" on it! Squee! You know you are in trouble when you start buying doggie jackets with their names embroidered on them. God help me.

Speaking of doggies, we have three excellent doggies and everyone knows that doggies need christmas presents too. At least, that's what "Santa" told me! So, I decided to try my hand at homemade sweet potato chews. I looked around online and found some easy guidelines:

Cut a bunch of sweet potatoes into scant 1/4" slices (excellent time to use your mandoline!). Put them in the oven straight onto the racks (not on baking sheets), preheated to 250 F, and cook for 3 hours. Easy! They are crunchy and the doggies love them so much! Merry Holidays to all our Doggie Friends.

Lastly! Santa wants to send out Holiday Cookbooklettes to all the winners of my annual cookbooklette giveaway!

Congratulations to:

Celyn, Tahinitoo, Caitlin, Kirsten, Lauren Lowe, John P, Catherine Denis, Amber Shea, Kaycee, Nichole, Emily, Rebecca, Ela, Hannah, Fanny, Hannah, Kaite, Meg, Luciana, Molly G., Becca, Lizzie Bordello, Agati, Eat Me Delicious, Jared, Kirsten, MizzBzVegan, Jolca, and Bean!

Merry Holidays to You All!

I'll email you for your address, so go check your inbox!

Gingerbread Yoga People

2011-12-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

Lotus Pose/Padmasana, Warrior III/Virabhadrasana III

Plough Pose/Halasana, Tree Pose/Vrksasana, Triangle Pose/Trikonasana

When I saw these cookie cutters online, about a month ago, I just *knew* I had to have them. Finally, a craft project that combines my love for yoga AND my love for baking.

Here is the counter full of little Gingerbread Yogis. SO CUTE. (and SO YUMZ)

I surfed around and actually found a couple of different yoga cookie cutter options. These ones looked pretty cute, but when I was shopping, they were all out. So, then I came over here... where there are two sets to choose from. After much deliberation, I chose Set #1 - but they were all out and I had to wait! Ahhh, the pain of waiting! They arrived this week, just in time for me to make a big batch for two of my classes. I love how cute and chubby they are!

ps. don't forget!

You have until noon on Monday the 19th to enter my giveaway for

this year's Vegan Eats & Treats cookzine!

Recent Advent Calendar Delights

2011-12-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Remember my post about the amazing advent calendar I won? This little treasure has been bringing me such joy! Every day I carefully hunt for the right little sock, carefully untie it, and discover a new treat. It's been so exciting!!! Seriously friends, if you need some more good karma in your life, make one of these for someone... because every time I open a little sock - heck every time I look at it or even think about it - I am filled with good thoughts for sweet Cara who sent this to me. I thought I'd share some of the very cool, and varied, German goodies I've gotten so far:

Special fun & fancy baggies of tea!

marzipan candies. LOVE!

SchokoLolly!! (chocolate lolly pop)

tea & speculoos cookies

(uhh... the cookie didn't quite last until the photo shoot!)

special German spices for potatoes!! YUMZ!

I can't wait to try these!

Adorable mini jar of Rose hip jam!

traditional Bavarian mustard! whoa!

I love mustard, so I really look forward to trying this.

a little marzipan log.

little Christmas chocolates!

SO MUCH FUN. Thank you, Thank You, a million times, Thank You, Cara!

ps. don't forget to win a prize of your own and enter my giveaway for a copy of my annual holiday cookbooklette!

Annual Holiday Cookbooklette Giveaway!

2011-12-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Friends! Romans! Veganmen!

It's that wonderful time of the year when I finally finish my annual Holiday Cookbooklette and offer a giveaway to my blog readers.

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately... Well, honestly, I also haven't been washing the dishes, folding the laundry, or responding to emails either - every spare moment I had was diverted to crafting up my annual cookbooklette. It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work! I finally finished - yesterday! This year I splurged and paid a little bit extra to have them all automatically folded and stapled for me - instead of spending hours watching the Colbert Report and stapling until my wrist is sore. Good decision! It was such a thill to open the big box and see them all sparkly and ready to go!

After the thrill wore off, I spent some serious time cleaning the house and washing the dishes (plus, the dishwasher broke, right after our big holiday potluck, and I had to empty it out and wash everything by hand. Rubbing salt in the wound!). Next up, I've got to tackle my email inbox!

This year I will randomly pick out 30 folks and send you a cookzine! Open to friendly readers All Around The World! Just leave a comment here, and please make sure I can contact you through your blogger ID or leave an email address... I'm not going to track people down! I'll pick the winners a week from today, on Dec 19th.

Bonus Picture of Adorable Snoopy Snoppy. I love this special little way that he has of sitting. You have to look closely at his back legs, and how he crosses them and then tucks them up against his front leg. MAN, I love this little guy! I'm about to bust out the holiday decor, so maybe next week you'll see him in his Santa outfit!

A Post-Thanksgiving Potluck Party!

2011-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

I know most everyone has moved on to Christmahannukwanzakkuh, but I still had a little Thanksgiving left in my social calendar last weekend. After we'd all had our various holiday celebrations with our families, some of my PPK friends & I decided to have a Thanksgiving celebration amongst ourselves.

It was SO awesome! First of all, my friends are so wonderful and kind and smart and fun and interesting, and I am really stoked to know them. Secondly, how fun to be able to eat everything on the table! And thirdly, Two Kinds of Brussel Sprouts. Need I say more? It was super yums.

I only got close-ups of a few things... Carrie from Vegan For the Win made an amazing Butternut Squash Lasagna.

I made a Stuffed Seitan Roll, based on this recipe from the PPK... except I stuffed it with kabocha squash and leeks instead of mushrooms.

Here's my dinner plate, which gives a glimpse of all the deliciousness! It was such a huge and delicious feast ... even though it was a lunch party, I only ended up eating two apples for dinner, I was barely hungry at all!

Autumn's amazing brussel sprouts and hazelnuts. Hazelnuts are so delicious and everything is better with hazelnuts!

The Famous Emperor of Cold&Sleepy's blog was in attendance - and cute as ever. It turns out that little guy really loves cranberry sauce!

We had 3 dessert options... including a beautiful pie made by Kathy, which I somehow failed to photograph. Cold&Sleepy made this amazing quince+other stuff pie, based loosely on a recipe from Voluptous Vegan. She put the recipe on her blog, and I recommend it. Plus, her pie crust was outta this world. So flaky!

I made these Pecan Pie Truffles from a Hannah Kaminsky recipe. My friend Sophia had mentioned them to me weeks ago, and I couldn't get them off my mind. Friends, YOU MUST TRY THESE! Simple, easy, gluten-free, deeeeeelicious! Also, you may have noticed that this picture is awesome, and that's because I didn't take it... Vegan For The Win did! She has a whole post about our potluck, with really beautiful pictures!

Well, I hate to end on a low note, but it simply must be mentioned that Autumn also brought along a gorgeous Pumpkin Cheesecake - with homemade cashew cream cheese and homemade chocolate graham cracker crust & with pretty little leaf patterns on it - which then slid off the roof of her car as she was preparing to bring it in, shattering the glass baking dish into One Million Pieces, and completely decimating her beautiful creation. (You can see the original beauty and find her recipe here.) We had a moment of silence at the trash can for it. Rest in Peace, beautiful cheesecake.

Baby Shower Cookies

2011-12-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went to a really special baby shower. I've known my friend Lorraine since we were really, really little. We met in kindergarten, and she came to my 5th birthday party, and we are still friends today. How cool is that? We wanted to offer a little take-home giftie for folks who came, but we didn't want to fill their lives up with more plastic crap. So I made these little baby bottle cookies and then we wrapped them in white wax paper bags, and sealed them with a really cute birdie clip. This was the first time I've ever done the fancy pipe-around-the-edges-and-fill-in-the-rest technique, and I thought they turned out super cute. I love icing cookies!

Filipino Grocery Store!

2011-12-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Recently my friend Jane and I went to a yoga workshop about an hour away, in a little town called Seaside. On our way to class I couldn't help but notice the "Filipino Indian Marketplace" sign on the other side of the road. I managed to keep my focus during class, but as soon as we got back to the car, I told Jane we needed to make a stop before heading home! Of course, she was totally up for it, and we had an awesome time inspecting just about every product in that entire store. I ended up with:

2 kindsof vegan spring roll/egg roll wrappers

Lumpia wrappers

Super enticing mixed root veggie chips

Urad dal (for more dosas and uttapams)

Chickpea flour (so Mr. VE&T can make me more french toast!)

Rice stick noodles

Some odd green rice krispy treats with pandan

and some cool looking frozen sweet rice & coconut milk thingees in banana leaves (yum!)

I already used some of my lumpia wrappers to make delicious batch of Baked Lumpia from Terry's recipe testers. I had never even heard of lumpia before, but they were really great, and I loved that I could bake them, instead of frying - which is not really my scene. Luckily, I've still got some wrappers left, so I can make these again sometime soon! Mmm!

Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats Make Me Breakfast

2011-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, it was our anniversary, so we started the day off right! Truth be told, Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats had recently lost a bet with me and I told him that if he lost he had to learn how to make me vegan french toast (my favorite!). So, mwhahahaha, I redeemed my French Toast on Anniversary Morning.

You can see that this is not the natural habitat for Mr. VE&T. hee hee.

Here he is, soaking the breads in the bowl. Even though I offered to help, he insisted on doing the whole thing by himself. And guess what? It was awesome! I didn't take a picture of the final product, I was too busy snarfing it up. But now that Mr. VE&T knows how to make me French Toast, and *I Know that He Knows*... I hope I won't have to wait another 12 years!

World's Most Awesomest Vegan Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents always got my brother & me an advent calendar before Christmas. We weren't a religious family, but somehow this became a really big part of our holiday tradition. To this day I always buy myself at least one advent calendar to help foster my festive spirits. I always look for designs with lots of glitter and lots of cute animals.

So, when I saw that Cara at think.vegan.act was giving away advent calendars during VeganMoFo, I jumped at the chance to enter. Did you see her MoFo theme? It was all about veganizing traditional German recipes, and it was really exceptional. In fact, now she has a whole new blog just on that subject called "The Vegan German Inn."

Then, lucky me, I was one of the winners!! I was expecting some cute little German advent calendar with doors that open to show pictures of pretzels or pointy-eared squirrels. And no one knows how to draw advent calendars like the Germans - little rosy-cheeked elves, snow-flocked trees, sparkly packages... they have the best drawings. So imagine my joy and delight when I opened a package to find this beautiful, heavy (!!), and handmade creation!! I've never seen anything like it! It's got little mismatched baby socks and baby gloves with ornaments and ribbons and all sorts of gifties tucked inside each one. And all the goodies are vegan!!! I've seen those advent calendars that have chocolates for each day, but of course the chocolates are always milk chocolate. I never dreamed *I* could have a goodies advent calendar! This is just the most coolest thing ever and I am totally stoked on it.

I could hardly wait for today, December 1st to open my first baby glove! I opened it to find a sparkly little bag with special chocolate covered candies in it... even a little boozy I think! Mmm.

I was feeling so generous, I even shared with Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats!

Thank you Cara, this is the coolest thing ever!

Giant Salad Night

2011-11-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

I love embarking on big projects in the kitchen... and I can really enjoy being busy for hours in there... but sometimes I just need to eat dinner. Two nights a week I get home from teaching yoga at 9 pm. For years I was always struggling to come up with ideas for quick and simple dinners I could make in 30 minutes or so, while tired and starving. Finally, about a year ago, I came up with Giant Salad Night. So, at least two nights a week, we just have a big giant bowl of salad for dinner, and a little fruit for dessert. I throw in whatever I've got on hand: lettuce, bell peppers, cucumbers, hemp seeds, beans, nuts, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, avocados, red cabbage... it's a sea of colors and fresh flavors. It's perfect.

Terry Testers!

2011-11-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you know about the glorious Ms. Terry Romero, author & co-author of so many esteemed vegan cookbooks. She's hard at work on another cookbook, and I'm one of the many folks helping out by testing her recipes. Sometimes I get jealous when I'm surfing the blogs and I read about people who are testing for cookbooks - it feels like they're in on some big exciting thing that I'm not a part of. I hope you won't feel that way! Testing is definitely fun, but it also really keeps you busy and sometimes the meals don't turn out perfectly because the recipe is still being adjusted or refined.

So, ever since VeganMoFo ended, I've been busy in the kitchen cooking up meals from Terry's tester database, and I call them "Terry Testers." As you know, I am a big fan of cooking foods from around the world, and that's just what Terry's new book will be. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Japanese Night:

Okonomiyaki - a Japanese savory veggie pancake thingee that was 5-star mega delicioso. I am in love with this tasty item!

Here it is without any of the sauce or garnishes on it... nekkid!

Along with the Okonomiyaki, we also had these delicious Japanese Greens with Sesame. So delicious, and cute too!

Moroccan Yumz:

Moroccan Butternut Squash "Salad," with jicama

I really fell in love with Moroccan food when we went to Morocco a couple of years ago, so I've made a lot of the Moroccan style dishes in Terry's tester file. I remember so many dishes like this one, and they were all called "salads." Basically, they were warm or room-temp veggie side dishes... using a vast array of veggies, spices and herbs. Moroccan food is definitely a cuisine that knows what to do with a veggie!

Moroccan Carrot "Salad" with whole-grain bread slices.

OH MAN, did we love this one.

Another Moroccan-y dish; sort of a Tempeh Tagine with Carrots and Preserved Lemons, plus delicious toasted couscous. I've always wanted to make my own Preserved Lemons, and Terry's recipe is totally easy and fool-proof. How fun! That's another thing we saw (and tasted) absolutely everywhere when we were in Morocco... so the flavor really made these dishes taste authentic (and nostalgic!) to me.

Salad with Fennel & Oranges.

We ate so many oranges in Morocco, so this salad really hit the spot. I think we were served fresh oranges at every meal we ate in Morocco... and we saw them growing on the trees everywhere. Lately the oranges at the farmers market here have been really delicious, so I was happy to have a reason to make this salad!

Other Yumz:

A Middle-Eastern style salad with quinoa and chickpeas and sprinkled with sumac. I made this one just last night and it was absolutely incredible. Everything you could want in a meal all wrapped up in one pretty dish.

Afghani Ravioli!

There used to be a really excellent Afghani restaurant here in Santa Cruz, and they had lots of vegan options on the menu. These "ravioli" were something I remembered so fondly, so I was really happy to learn how to make them. They turned out even better than the ones at the restaurant! Big Yums.

Some simple tofu (not a tester recipe) with Greek rice and greens recipes. I love simple and hearty dinners like this. The rice was so easy to make, but came out tasting so special and much fancier than it actually was to prepare. Perfect!

Bonus Furbabies!

I couldn't decide which sleepy cutie picture to share, so I'm sharing them both:

Little Snoopy spotted our guest comforter folded up on the green chair, jumped up, royally messed it up, and got himself all tucked in. So cute. I think he was there for about 2 1/2 hours!

A while back, while tidying the bedroom, I put down a red pillow in the corner (thinking it would just be there for a moment.) Yummers pounced on that pillow and spent about one month completely inseparable from his red pillow. Just the other day he discovered this pillow, and now I can put the red pillow away, but not this one.

Vintage Pyrex Super Score!

2011-11-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

I really love vintage pyrex bowls and dishes. It all started back when I lived in Seattle, and there was a huge antique/thrift barn in West Seattle with a vast selection of bright, cheery pyrex. My kitchen in Seattle was a huge room with original black & white-checkered lineoleum floors, a 1940's oven, and a view of the Olympic Mountains. I really loved that kitchen, and the Pyrex were a perfect match... so I started a little collection.

Fast forward many years, and just the other day I was out walking the dogs, and spotted these three cute little bowls in someone's front yard... next to a "FREE" sign! Excellent! Except that we have 3 dogs, so my hands are pretty full of leashes. So I had to finish my walk, get home, hop in the car and drive back... hoping they would still be there. Success!

Do you have any fun kitchen collections?

Birthday Cake for Ed!

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

You know how it's super fun to cook for people who really appreciate your food? Well, my aunt's boyfriend Ed is a really sweet guy - and I'm not just saying that because he likes my desserts so much. Whenever we have family dinners, Ed is always a little coy about inquiring into dessert... trying to suss out what I've made this time. Once, in summer, I just made a big plate of watermelon - and poor Ed was so disappointed, especially since he's allergic to watermelon! Oh no. I felt so bad.

Well, not this time. When my aunt told me Ed's birthday was coming up, and that he really loves chocolate (smart man!), I got to work scheming right away.

Little Yummers, official inspector

I made a double batch of my favorite chocolate cake - which is the Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cake from Joy of Cooking (of all places!). I sub out half the oil for applesauce, and then I usually add 2-3 extra tablespoons of cocoa powder. I also subbed out 1 tsp of vanilla for 1 tsp of chocolate extract - just to go overboard on this chocolate explosion experience.

Then, for the filling between the two layers I made the Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Friends, that stuff is CRAZY GOOD. I love it so much. Especially because it also has hazelnut liquer in it, which gives the whole thing an excellent zip-iti-doo-dah! If you haven't tried it, please address that situation.

For the ganache, I used a recipe I really love from Simple Treats - it's got instant coffee granules in it, which I love - and I also find the texture really easy to work with. The combo of the coffee-chocolate in the ganache and the hazelnut-chocolate in the filling, and the chocolate-chocolate in the cake was absolutely glorious. Our friend Janet said "I think this is the best cake I've ever had." And of course, Birthday Boy Ed was happy too.

Book Review: Vegan Holiday Kitchen

2011-11-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

Lucky me! Recently I was sent a copy of Nava Atlas' new book VEGAN Holiday Kitchen, for a chance to check it out, and blog about it. I've heard of Nava Atlas' many great cookbooks over the years, but I don't actually have any of them for some reason. So, I was happy to finally have a chance to investigate!

First impressions:
This book is crazy beautiful. I am a sucker for good aesthetics. The photos are by Susan V. of Fat Free Vegan, and they are truly gorgeous. There isn't a photo for every recipe, but there are many photos throughout the book. The layout is very nice with one page per recipe, great fonts, and plenty of space on the page for comfortable reading. Also, the cover is beautiful (don't you think?) and even the paper feels really smooth and classy. Ahhh...

The recipes:
The recipes are organized by holiday, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter... but there are also celebrations which are less often included in holiday-themed cookbooks - including a large chapter on Jewish Holidays, Potlucks, Brunches, and Summer Entertaining - which I think is really cool. Also, she doesn't just give you 4 recipes for each holiday. Au contraire! There are 38 recipes in the Thanksgiving section alone!!

First up, I made the Asian-Flavored Tofu & Cucumber Platter, from the Summer Entertaining section (even though it is totally not summer anymore). This was a really nice dinner. It's got tofu, cukes, red bell pepper, and mung bean sprouts... served over baby spinach with a sauce/dressing on top. It was a light salad and made a lot (many of the recipes in this book make 6-8 servings, which is appropriate for parties, but you may need to half them for regular home cooking). When I had the leftovers for lunch the next day - it was even better! The flavors of the sauce had really settled in more fully to the tofu and veggies.

I also picked two recipes from the Jewish Holidays section (specifically Rosh Hashanah): Moroccan-Flavored Tofu with Apricots and Olives over quinoa, and Turkish Eggplant Stew. I was really excited about the tofu dish, but I thought it was just okay. This recipe called for buying pre-made baked tofu... which isn't my favorite thing. First of all, there are so many different flavors of baked tofu - how can you guarantee what the final dish will taste like? Also, it's expensive to buy pre-baked tofu. I know many people will appreciate the ease and convenience of that step (especially at busy holiday times), but I'd rather be directed to make a delicious baked tofu just for the flavors in this recipe - or at least be given that option. I think I might try this recipe again, but I would tweak it around a little and definitely make my own tofu. On the plus side, the whole thing came together in less that 30 minutes, which is always nice.

The Turkish Eggplant, on the other hand was great. Easy, simple and delicious. I think it would be really great served with flat bread... and maybe even with a little bit of pomegranate concentrate to give it a hit of sour and pungent!

Lastly, I made a two-part meal... This is the Mixed Greens with Green Apples, Beets & Pistachios from the Christmas section of the book. Mmmm! Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats and I loved this salad. The toasted pistachios were a great combo with the roasted beets! Also there are fresh apples and dried cranberries in there - which provide a great tangy balance to the earthy beets and carrots. This was a really great combo of flavors.

To go with the salad, I also made Three Sisters Stew, from the Thanksgiving section. This is my favorite thing I've made from the book so far. So deliciously magically tasty! Roasted butternut squash, red bell peppers, corn, spices, all cooked together into a hearty and delicious dinner - which was even more delicious for leftovers the next day. Mmmm. I'm already considering making this for actual Thanksgiving.

My only complaint about this book:

The recipes have varying degrees of instruction. Some will say things like "3 cups cooked quinoa" or "cook the beets until tender," which is fine for me, but might not be enough hand holding for someone who is less experienced in the kitchen and doesn't know how to cook their quinoa. On the other hand, some recipes call for more pre-made elements than I am used to (like the baked tofu I mentioned above) which is convenient for a less-experienced cook, and feels a bit like an incomplete project to an experienced home cook.

Special diets:

Right under the title of each recipe is a really clear section saying whether the recipe is soy-free, gluten-free, or nut-free. In many cases it will say something like "Gluten-free, if you use rice flour" or whatever. I really like this feature, since we have gluten-free AND soy-free people in my family who I need to take into consideration when planning a celebration menu.

Final Wrap-up:

All in all, I really like this book and I am stoked to have it. I have already written down so many interesting looking recipes from this book that I am eager to try - including Grilled Eggplant Curry, Double Sesame-Roasted Asparagus and Cauliflower, Lentil & Tomato Salad, Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries, Sweet Potato & Poppyseed Coleslaw, and Sauerkraut, Potato & Apple Stuffing. The index is great, the layout is beautiful, and I love that so many recipes are included for each holiday/occasion - so that you are sure to find something that appeals to you. Personally, I really enjoy having a few holiday-themed books in the collection because I've found that it really does help with the brainstorming and menu planning... and this book will definitely be frequently consulted!

Happy Holiday Season and Happy Cooking!

Autumn Garden Harvest

2011-11-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Even though we're a few days into November, nobody seems to have told my garden that it's time to slow down. I've been happily harvesting all sorts of delicious bounty lately:

First thing to pick was this year's crop of Butternut Squash. I think my favorite squash is the kabocha squash, but I've never seen kabocha starts at the garden store, so I stuck with 2nd favorite Mr. Butternut. I've had good luck growing butternuts in the past, and I got a pretty good haul this year too.

Also, it was finally time to harvest my garlic! I've blogged about my very sentimental garlic strain before... and after a little scare when I was away from home for 6 weeks this summer and couldn't care for them, I'm glad to say that this year's crop looks great. In fact, I've already pilfered a few heads for culinary needs! Next up, I need to sort through and find the biggest heads of garlic, then find the biggest cloves, and get those in the soil for next year. What fun!

Doggies were investigating the garlic while I was trying to take pictures.

And - most miraculously! - I'm still harvesting amazing tomatoes. After a very cool summer, our autumn has been quite warm. So, the tomato plants just keep pumping out more and more delicious red orbs. I'm not complaining!

Last but not least, it's Apple Time! We have a great little apple tree out behind our garage and it makes the most delicious apples. I didn't plant it, so I'm not sure what variety they are. All I know is that they are super yum - great for eating fresh and great for cooking too. Two of those tubs have been peeled, de-icky-bit-ified, sliced and dehydrated. Two more of those tubs are still sitting outside awaiting action.

What does your autumn harvest look like?

Any favorite apple recipes you can suggest?

Baby Shower Fun!

2011-11-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

Our friends Jake & Alana are about to have their first little baby, and I got to host a baby shower for them. It was a wonderful party - their friends were all really great, the weather was perfect, and we got to celebrate our anticipation of our future little friend. Oh, and also the food was great!

The theme of the shower was Children's Books - so everyone gave them a book instead of a card. To go along with the theme, I printed out little mini "books" on cardstock and taped them to toothpicks to decorate the mini cupcakes. I made the Vanilla Agave cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and our awesome friend Sophia made Raspberry-Lemon Buttercream Frosting, which was magically delicious. Sophia is so good at putting on the frosting too, don't they look amazing?

Here are the name tags I made

... and these were some of the little cards to write down the descriptions of the foods. I also made garlands of little mini book covers, and also of various characters from kids books. They both turned out super cute, but I didn't get a good picture of them.

Assorted crackers from Trader Joe's along with a big bowl of the Mediterranean Cucumber & Cashew Dip from Veganomicon. That dip is so good, and everyone was loving it and asking about it... If you haven't tried it yet, I really recommend it.

It just wouldn't be a party without hummus and veggies now, would it?

Sophia made mini-chocolate chip cookies which everyone was raving about (yeah!), and I made some mini peanut butter-chocolate cookies. On the right are some toasted baguette slices with Sophia's White Bean Balsamic spread, cherry tomatoes & fresh parsley. As you can see, Sophia totally helped me out with this party big time. She is awesome.

Jake found a bunch of these delicious Afghan Bolani at Costco and we heated them up on the skillet. Half were stuffed with spinach, and the other half with pumpkin. I served them alongside a big batch of my Afghan Cilantro-Mint Sauce. They were both good, but those pumpkin bolani with the mint sauce were pretty much a match made in heaven. SO GOOD.

Alana made her favorite Mushroom Pinwheels with Puff Pastry, which were a big sensation as always. Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats was going around telling everyone that he had licked them all so that he could have them all to himself, but this still didn't stop other people from eating them! ha!

Alana definitely wanted some pie at her party (smart girl!), so I made the Double Chocolate Strawberry Pie from Vegan Diner. HELLO! This pie was so easy to make and was so crazy delicious, I will most definitely make it again, and again, and again. Yumtown.

Gratuitous Doggie Shot!

Jake was serving up some tasty mixed drinks for people, and I guess it turns out that our little Snoopy likes the mojitos. He stole someone's empty cup out from under their seat and then ran around prancing like a fool with his cup full of smooshed mint leaves. Quite a rascal, that little guy!

Day of the Dead Salad!

2011-11-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Dia de los Muertos! I know lots of people are into Halloween, and I had a great time checking out all the costumes last night, but c'mon - black and orange?? What a gross color combo. I love love love the beautiful, playful, colorful and elaborate aesthetics of Dia de los Muertos. Now, there's a holiday that really knocks it out of the park - beauty and meaning! In years past I have made fancy sweets & cookies, but this year I was looking for something not so sugary, but I didn't want to miss out on all the fun. A perfect time to celebrate the rainbow of joy to be found in veggies!

Also, one of my favorite things about Dia de los Muertos is the loving way in which people are remembered, including the idea of making food that the people you are remembering most loved. I usually think about my grandparents, who I loved so much and was very close to. Lucky me, they had really long lives and I got to know them very well. Part of why they lived so long is that they were super healthy eaters. In fact, whenever we had family dinners - from birthday parties to Thanksgiving - everyone always wanted my grandpa to make the salad. He made the best salads! So, in memory of him, I was sure to include cauliflower and avocado, two of his secret ingredients. In honor of my grandma, I ate a giant bowl of salad, and then had a few chocolate chips afterwards. :)

But, just in case you are in the mood for some sugary delights... here are links to some of my Dia de los Muertos baking escapades in years past:

skeleton cookies!

sugar skull cookies!

pan de muerto!

Happy Dia de los Muertos!

May you remember your departed ones with love.

VeganMoFo 31: World's Best Spice = Smoked Paprika

2011-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is: Smoked Paprika!!

Smoky Paprika Love

I saved the best for last, my friends!

To feature my lovely friend Smoked Paprika, I made a batch of the Great Smoky Mountains Cheeze from Vegan Diner. I made this a long time back, and I had such fond memories... I was just looking for an excuse to make it again. Plus, I get to use my cute little rectangular Pyrex dish. Isn't that orangey color beautiful? That's all from the paprika, baby!

~~Romeo & Juliet~~ Amey & Smoked Paprika, the next true love story.

I am not always a fan of "cheeze," but I really love both of the cheeze recipes in Vegan Diner (the other one is a dill cheeze). They are made with silken tofu, some nutritional yeast, agar, and other nice flavors & spices. The texture is absolutely great! As you can see, you can totally slice the cheeze, but you can also smoosh it with your knife and spread it all over if you like it better that way.

I put my Smoky Mountain Cheeze with some fresh tomatoes from the garden and made a delicious grilled cheese sandwich to go with my giant salad for dinner. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats said he didn't want one, but then he took a bite of mine and said - sheepishly - "I wish I had ordered a sandwich". Ha! So, he ended up eating half of mine and I had to get up and make another one.

...or should I say "Smoky Dreams" ?

Happy Halloween, everyone!

...and Happy End of VeganMoFo - we made it!

(now to catch up on a month's worth of posts on 650 blogs...)

VeganMoFo 30: Rose Petal & Almond Tea

2011-10-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today's "spice" is: Dried Rose Petals

Oh my, aren't they just beautiful? And they smell amazing too. I usually have some dried rose petals around, because they are used from time to time in Persian sweets. I remember hearing on NPR about some Iraqi caramels with rose petals on top... and someday I might try to recreate those. But for now, I wasn't in the mood for something sugary and naughty... just something rosy!

Fertile Crescent Aromatic Almond Tea

So, where else to turn, but the amazing book Silk Road Cooking! I usually focus on the entrees, but Silk Road also has a really amazing chapter on syrups, coffees, teas and drinks from the Silk Road. After snooping around, I settled on this lovely recipe - featuring thai basil, caraway, star anise, cinnamon, ground almonds, rose petals, nutmeg... Amazing! No actual tea in the whole thing... just an alluring mix of herbs and spices boiled and steeped together. Such a sweet and pleasant little concoction! Not at all overbearing, just light and delicate. Next time I will probably reduce the sugar a little bit, but otherwise I really loved this tasty "tea."

VeganMoFo 29: My Glorious Friend Saffron

2011-10-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is: Saffron!

Oh friends, I love saffron so much. I know, I know, it is pricey. But if you've never used saffron, let me encourage you to give it a go. And not the crappy powdered kind, please. The only reason it's so expensive is that each beautiful little red strand of saffron is a tiny piece of a crocus flower,* and they have to be carefully and delicately harvested by hand.

They are a glorious red color on their own, but when soaked in water they dye everything a deep golden yellow that is really beautiful. I mostly use saffron when I am cooking Persian food... where it is used in desserts, on rice, and generally all the time. Saffron has a subtle but distinct flavor - a little bitter, but also alluring. If you are interested, the wikipedia page on saffron is totally thorough.

*this also falls into the "who thinks of these things in the first place?" category!

To celebrate my love of saffron, I made dinner and dessert featuring this yellow beauty. For dinner I made the Saffron & Butternut Squash Risotto from the Millennium Cookbook. I even got to use a butternut squash from our own garden! The risotto also has fresh tomatoes and pureed corn in it - which made it super creamy. Just look at that gorgeous yellow color! The saffron is mostly here for color, though I'm sure its flavor is there in the overall experience. Pretty much saffron is always used in very small amounts, because a little bit goes a long way, and too much just becomes bitter & overpowering.

I liked this risotto, but I felt like it needed a bit more zing somehow... I wanted one flavor to come shining through a bit more clearly. It's generally tasty though, so I might tweak it around next time. My general rule of thumb with recipes is "follow the directions exactly the first time, then, do whatever you want the next time."

For dinner I tried the Saffron Rice Pudding from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. It was an easy recipe with rice, sugar, saffron, and rosewater... topped with toasted almonds, pistachios, and raisins. I loved the yellow color, and the mix-in toppings really sealed the deal. Plus, rosewater+saffron is pretty much a match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned. My favorite Persian New Year candies have that same combo. I think next time I make this I'll cut back the sugar a little bit... and I'll stay nearby the pot too, so that I don't burn the rice on the bottom. But it was an easy and delicious little dessert, and a great way to feature the golden glory of saffron one more time!

What are your favorite saffron recipes?

VeganMoFo 28: Za'atar Pizzas & Hummus

2011-10-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today's spice (mix) is Za'atar

I've been reading about za'atar for a few years now, and really wanting to try it. I just knew that I would love it. I remember reading about it on a blog from the middle east a long while ago, and then Terry had a recipe in Veg News for Za'atar pizzas which I had torn out and never made - but also which I had never managed to forget about.

Thanks, Tami!

So, when one of my sweet yoga students came home from a trip to Portland with various spices for me, and za'atar was among them, I was so happy! She said they had lots of different za'atar mixes, but that this one was her favorite. It's got sesame seeds, sumac, and thyme... and maybe other things I'm not sure. Isn't it beautiful?

Sorry for the yellow picture, it was dark out.

The first order of business was finally making those Za'atar Pizzas from Terry's VegNews article. At last! How satisfying to finally make a recipe I've been thinking about for so long. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treast says this is the best pizza I have ever made. Folks, it was really, really good. The crust was perfect - chewy & crispy, the seasonings were perfect, the tomatoes were crazy yums. I think there was supposed to be cheeze on it, but I'm not really that into cheeze. The only two things I'll do differently next time are 1) more tomatoes = more fun, and 2) don't make a half batch. What was I thinking?

To go along with the pizzas, I also made some hummus with za'atar and veggies. This seems to be a super common use for za'atar - just sprinkling it on already yummy things to make them still yummier. Yes we ate it all. We are piggies. Hungry hungry hippo piggies. Plus, it was really good. I still have some za'atar left, and I pretty much plan on putting it on every hummus experience from here forward. It just adds a little extra zip of fun and flavor.

I couldn't decide which doodle to include, so I included them both!

do you remember this game?

VeganMoFo 27: Porcini Powder Power!

2011-10-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is: Porcini Mushroom Powder

You probably already know how much I love Julie Hasson's book "Vegan Diner," because I talk about it all the time. It's beautiful and chock full of delicious recipes. Her seitan recipes are especially great, and in some of them she calls for Porcini Powder. I accomplished this by grinding up dried Porcini mushrooms in my spice grinder. This powdery goodness pretty much smells like straight up mushrooms. I had ground up a bunch for one of her seitan recipes a few months back, and I had some more sitting around in a spice jar...

... So I popped open Vegan Diner again and his time around I made the Smoky Seitan Roast, which I hadn't ever made before. I don't actually like mushrooms very much, but I know that they have a lot of depth and richness to offer in vegan cooking. Luckily for me, you can't taste the shroomy presence in this seitan at all, but you can taste the umami goodness of rich deep yum. This seitan came out wonderfully - tasty, sliceable, great texture, and super easy.

Here's the final product: Reuben Sandwiches! Including my new friend saeurkraut - who I am just learning to love, fresh rye bread, and some secret sauce from Vegan Diner. Mmmm. Obviously there was still a lot of the roast left over, so I've been cutting off thin slices and pan frying them as little snacks with my lunches, and soon I'll probably pop the rest away in the freezer for a day when I want a quick and delicious dinner option!

VeganMoFo 26: Sweet, Sweet Paprika

2011-10-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is: Sweet Paprika

what a pretty package!

So, I have a lot of paprika. Four varieties to be precise: Sweet (Hungarian), Bittersweet (spanish), Hot (Hungarian), and Smoked (Spanish). Smoked Paprika has really stolen my heart lately, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats is a true fan of Sweet Paprika. So, today, I bring you TWO meals featuring sweet paprika - one for Mr. VE&T and one for me.

In particular, Mr. VE&T loves the flavors of Hungarian food, and often asks me to make "Hungarian food" for dinner. I have a pretty good selection of cookbooks that feature international recipes, but very few of them offer indexing by country. For instance, I wish I could just look up "Hungarian" in the index and find all the recipes that are from Hungary in the book. But no! Instead I have to slowly fish my way through, which isn't all that bad, as long as I'm in the mood. I found this Hungarian Mushroom Stew in Olive Trees and Honey, which is a great book by the way. This dish is simple and yummy (even if it does have mushrooms in it) - and the most dominant flavor is definitely paprika. This meal = Heaven On Earth, if you are Mr. VE&T: mushrooms, paprika, tomatoes, white rice. But for me, it's just pretty good.

Lentils in a Sauce*, Tomatoes with Tomato Sauce*

(both from World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey)

*actual excellent recipe names! ha!

On the other hand, this is my kind of paprika scene. Truth be told, I've already used paprika quite a few times this MoFo, as a background spice here or there. These lentils had 1 1/2 tsp of sweet paprika, yet the end result was a lovely lentil experience without paprika taking over the whole dinner. By the way, this recipe for lentils is really great and crazy easy. You just dump everything in the pot and then a little while later you have delicious lentils. Awesome! What a great dinner. :)

VeganMoFo 25: Anardana powder: Dried Pomegrantate Fairy Dust

2011-10-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is: Anardana Powder

(powdered dry pomegranate seeds)

I've had this jar of Anardana Powder for a while now. It was either a total impulse purchase or a gift, but either way I didn't know what to do with it, and never used it. Good move, Amey! Even looking around on the internet, I didn't find too many recipes that called for it. Luckily though, all you need is one recipe, and I found a good one: Sweet Potato Kofta in Curry Sauce.

First up, I made the delicious dumplings, or kofta. I changed the recipe a bit - I used mashed up white beans instead of cheese, and I used half pumpkin - half sweet potato. Most of all, I baked my dumplings instead of deep frying them. (375 F 15 min, flip, cook 15-20 min more). Of course they were totally delicious even without frying them. I especially loved the gentle little hit of jalapeno in the dumplings.

Listen folks, I know that is not an attractive photo. But, please, believe me when I tell you that it was crazy, crazy good. The curry sauce was made with pureed fresh tomatoes, pureed cashews, pureed-onion-ginger-garlic, loads of spices, and almond milk and it was such a glorious combination. Rich, but not overwhelmingly so, and full of flavor. Between the pomegranate powder in the dumplings and the pomegranate concentrate in the curry (which I halved), the sweet-sour-astringency of the pomegranate had a definite presence. It's really a great flavor amplifier, because there was very little salt in this dish, but the meal was very vibrant. We had it over rice with a side of roasted beets and steamed beet greens. What this dish lacks in beauty, it more than makes up for in the taste department!

(*also the Chana Masala recipe that Hobby & More posted has Anardana as an optional ingredient, so I'm going to try that next!)

VeganMoFo 24: Cajun Red Beans with Red Rice

2011-10-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today's spice (mix) is: Tony Chachere's Famous Creole Seasoning (salt free)

I got my jar of Tony's when I was testing NOLA recipes for Miss Kittee, and the first time I ever heard of it was when I first met Kittee in New Orleans. So, I can't even look at my Tony's without thinking of my sweet friend Kittee. Hi Kittee!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the SF Veg Fest, and while there we got to hear Colleen Patrick-Goudreau speak. She is such a dynamic, engaging and inspirational speaker for compassionate veganism. If you've never heard her speak, check out her podcast, which is also great. I took this chance to finally pick up a copy of her book "Color Me Vegan," which I've had my eye on for a while. I love the idea of "eat the rainbow" - and having as many colors on your plate as possible.

Each chapter of the book is arranged by color, which is really fun and beautiful. So, for example, there is nutritional information about what red foods have to offer, and then a slew of recipes featuring healthy red foods. While flipping through my latest cookbook acquisition, I happened to spot a recipe featuring one of my underused spices: Creole Seasoning. Perfect! So, from the Red Chapter, I present you with Cajun Red Beans & Rice.

I mixed the recipe around a little - I only used two Tofurky sausages instead of 4 (which I think was perfect), plus I further red-ified the recipe by using red bell pepper (green bell pepper = not my fave) and red rice. Served with a bunch of tomatoes from our garden and a mountain of collard greens for a hint of semi-authenticity. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats and I both really loved this meal. It's quite filling and very full of flavor. The Creole seasonings are the dominant spice/flavor here - and they are amazing. I can't even tell you what all is in Mr. Chachere's famous seasoning, but I can tell you that it's got some serious heat, it's super good and very distinct.

VeganMoFo 23: Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves in Malaysian Curry

2011-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is: Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves

Last year my friend Jane got me a surprise subscription to Saveur Magazine, and even though it's a very meaty affair, I still enjoy it. I like that there is so much emphasis on international foods and that it's very much about the culture of "authentic" cooking - whether it's Thai street food or Down South cookin'. So, when I spotted a set of recipes from Malaysia, I started looking for things I could veganize.

I settled on Rendang Ayam - Spiced ~~Chicken~~ Soy Curl Rendang, a curry rich with spices and coconut milk. The main reason I picked it out was because it called for Kaffir Life Leaves, and I've had this one little baggie of dried kaffir lime leaves sitting around in my freezer for a while now. The baggie is open, so evidently I've used them before, but I don't remember when. This dish turned out quite well. Given that I was using Soy Curls, on a weeknight, I skipped the step where you cook the curry for 2 1/2 hours. Instead, it was a pretty easy weeknight dinner for me. I liked this dinner and its complex flavors, but Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats was right when he said it should have veggies in it. (of course, we had veggies on the side, but it's not always the same). He was coming up with all sorts of suggestions: peas! cauliflower! green beans! Even though he never cooks, he has a really good palette for things like that.

Just look at all the beautiful whole spices that went into this dinner!!

Dried Kaffir lime leaves, whole cinnamon, star anise, and cardamom pods.

VeganMoFo 22: Chinese 5-Spice for Dinner & Dessert

2011-10-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is: Chinese 5-Spice!

Most of the dishes I've made for MoFo this year have been new discoveries, but there's pretty much one reason why I bought this big jar of Chinese 5-Spice, and it's such a favorite recipe that I just decided to make it again...

Anise-glazed Tempeh with Peppers

from Vegetarian Suppers, by Deborah Madison

I love this dish so much, and I've made it quite a few times over the years. There's tempeh, bell peppers, red cabbage, mirin, tamari sauce, and just a hint of Chinese 5-Spice. It's a great one pot meal - veggies, colors, salty, a touch of sweet, spicey flavors! Chinese 5-Spice has a really strong (and lovely) flavor, so a little bit goes a long way. You can most definitely taste it in the dinner, even though there's only a 1/4 tsp in the whole recipe. According to Wikipedia the five spices in Chinese 5-spice are: star anise, cinnamon, cloves, Sichuan pepper, and fennel. What a combo!

While I was on my C5S roll, I decided to make some cookies with it for a friend. This recipe for "Chinese 5-Spice Cookies with Almonds" comes from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, by Dreena Burton. I've made them before, a long time ago, and they are really nice. Here the C5S is not at all overpowering, but a great compliment to a grown-up cookie.

Bonus Cookies

(MoFoDisclaimo: no C5S here)

I also made a batch of these Chocolate Mint Melties, -- also from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan -- for my friend. These are one of my favorite cookies of all time, and this batch turned out perfectly - beautiful, chunky, and super yum (yes, I tested one... just to be sure!).

VeganMoFo 21: Fresh Tamarind is my BFF

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is: Tamarind!

I brought home this beautiful organic tamarind from India, and it's so wonderful. I am in love with it and I am going to marry it. Before buying this bag, I had only ever used tamarind paste from a jar - but the flavor I got from using fresh tamarind has made me an eternal convert. It's really easy: the recipe might call for a "lemon-sized" ball of tamarind. First you soak it in some warm water, and then pour off the water and press the pulp through a sieve - to keep out the fibrous material and seeds. Mmm, tamarind is amazing! Sweet and sour and earthy and tangy all at once.

islands in the stream, that is what we are

With my magical tamarind goo, I made Sweet-and-Sour Tempeh with Peanuts, from World Vegetarian. Oh My Freaking Freakster! This was so good. I skipped deep frying the tempeh bits and instead just dry-fried them. Then they are cooked in a puree of shallots, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, hot peppers, and of course tamarind. The end result is extremely rich, dense with exciting flavors, and crazy delicious. Alongside a batch of Cabbage with Garlic & Shallots (also from World Vegetarian), and a big batch of rice, this was truly an exceptional dinner. One for the history books!

Grapes for dessert, which was perfect.

VeganMoFo 20: Ajwain Seed Flat Breads

2011-10-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is : Ajwain Seeds!

I've got two nice little jars of ajwain seeds in my spice collection - one that I bought on a whim (what's new?) and one that someone gave me (yay!). And yet, I've never opened either of them until now. Ajwain seeds have some serious kick to them - spicy, but not really in a hot way - just a strong intensity. Sort of like the way mint clears your sinuses - it's strong, but not hot. They are similar to a super jacked-up cumin seed, and are (apparently) used pretty often in Indian cuisine. In a lot of Indian dishes, there are so many spices added that each flavor blends into the next. I wanted to really taste the Ajwain seeds in my maiden voyage... so I finally settled on a flat bread where they are one of the main spices.

I made these Stuffed Lentil Flat Breads (Ajwain Dal Paratha). Verdict? YUM FEST! Whenever I've been to India, I usually end up eating a lot of roti and paratha because they are very often vegan. And this recipe tasted so much like "the real thing" - they definitely fell into the "I can't believe *I* made this!" category. For me, the recipe made 8 breads with a whole lot extra filling, so I froze that and will probably make another batch soon. They make a really yummy and healthy little snack during the day.

This recipe involves cooking up some chana dal, seasoning it, and then cooking it down to an almost-crumbly mix. That tasty stuff goes in the middle of a whole wheat dough (rolled out about the size of a corn tortilla)...

then you pinch it shut...

Into a little dumpling! Next you take out your rolling pin and roll it flat! It totally worked and was not hard at all. I was stoked.

The final product is cooked on a griddle until speckled with brown on both sides. And is very delicious.

VeganMoFo 19: Armenian Brioche Stuffed with Dates & Ground-up Cherry Pits

2011-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is Mahlab!

Recently, my friend Alana gave me some super cool spices as a gift, including this jar of Mahlab. Clearly, she knows the way to my heart. Mahlab (or is it mahlabs?) are the seed kernels from inside the cherry pits of one certain variety of cherry tree! Honestly, who thinks of this stuff? Apparently it has been used in Greek and Middle Eastern baked desserts and sweet breads for centuries. To use it in baking, you have to grind it up very fine - which I did with my spice grinder. I tasted it, and mostly it just seemed really, really bitter. But I had faith in centuries of bakers before me and went fearlessly ahead.

I did a lot of searching around and found this really cool and helpful article from Serious Eats. And that kind article directed me to a delicious recipe for Armemian Brioche Stuffed With Dates and Agave. This recipe was painless to veganize - agave in place of honey, EnerG egg replacer mix instead of two eggs, and it came out perfectly. For glazing the buns, I used a little soy yogurt.

Just look at how beautiful they are! I was really stoked on how pretty and delicious these came out. The stuffing inside is made of dates, walnuts and agave - and that provides pretty much all the sweetness here. They are mildly sweet, and very pleasant to eat. The dough itself is really light and yummy... and I'm not sure if I exactly taste the ground Mahlab - there's definitely no bitterness - but the dough does have a very pleasant and distinct flavor. Maybe that's from the mahlab? Either way, I really loved these sophisticated and elegant treats and I'll probably make them again - especially since they are currently my only mahlab-containing recipe! :)

VeganMoFo 18: Moroccan Tagine with Ras-el-Hanout

2011-10-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice (mix) is Ras el-Hanout

First of all, how fun is the name "Ras el-Hanout"?? Very fun.

This would be a good name for your next dog.

This picture is sort of dark, but maybe you can make out the beautiful dried rose petals in there?

I got this spice mix from a PPK swap, maybe it was GPope who sent it to me? I actually have another package of Ras el-Hanout from Whole Foods in my cupboards, but after reading the ingredients list on each package, I could see that this one was The Real Deal. It was full of spices we don't use often in the west - like galangal and rose petals - so I was intrigued. Ras el-Hanout is a spice blend from Morocco and is used in many traditional dishes.

After copious time surfing the net for R e-H recipes, I decided to make a Moroccan tagine dish with my special Ras el-Hanout. I looked at many recipes and found some different ideas... and ended up with this.

It was hearty and delicious. I loved the big chunks of veggies, especially since they are cooked until quite soft - they can be large without being difficult to eat. The spicing was just wonderful... warm, but not spicy hot. Also, sometimes with spice mixes, you just end up with an all-purpose "spices" flavor, but this mix really had a distinctive (and yummy) flavor that I loved. I could make this again and again. Plus, the whole thing was ready in under and hour, which is always nice!

Here's a loose recipe for you:

Vegan Moroccan Tagine with Ras el-Hanout

A little oil (I used about 1 1/2 tsp)

1 1/2 cups of dry Soy Curls, reconstituted in warm veg broth for 10 min, then drained

3 medium carrots in big chunks

1 large yellow onion in big chunks

1 potato in big chunks

1 Tbsp fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 can chickpeas, drained

handful of raisins (I left this out, because Mr. VE&T doesn't like raisins, but raisins are very common in tagines!)

juice of one orange

2 cups veg broth

salt & pepper to choice

1 Tbsp ras el-hanout

1 cup couscous + 1 1/2 c water

Cut up your veggies and such. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add a little bit of oil. Add in the soy curls and saute until lightly browned (+/- 10 minutes). Remove them and set them aside. Now, add the carrots, onion, potatoes, garlic and ginger with a little more oil back into that same big pot and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened a bit. Next add in the Soy Curls again, along with the chickpeas, optional raisins, orange juice, veg broth, S&P, and ras el-hanout. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes (or longer if you have the time).

While your tagine is simmering, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil in a smallish pot. Once boiling, pour in the couscous, stir well, turn off the heat, and cover. When your tagine is ready, take a fork and fluff up your couscous. Then serve with a mound of couscous on the bottom and a generous dollop of the tagine stew on top.

VeganMoFo 17: Whole Dried Limes = Actual Amazeballs

2011-10-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice: Whole Dried Persian Limes

(alias White Limes, Persian Lemons, Omani limes, Limu Omani)

Do you remember earlier in MoFo when I made some rice polow with powdered dried Persian limes? Well, I've also got two bags of whole dried limes in my spice drawer. I'm not even sure how on earth I ended up with two bags. The thing is - these guys take up some serious space. They are sort of the size of small ping pong balls. And I haven't had any idea what to do with them. Thank goodness for my MoFo theme!

We were having my parents over for dinner, and I wanted to make them something yummy... so I was scouring the depths of the internet for Dried Lime recipes. Happily I stumbled upon this really wonderful and insightful article about these dried limes and how they are made. My favorite line is when the author describes them as having a "deep layer of culinary funk."

From the same article, I made this Lentil Salad with Dried Lime, which we all absolutely loved. I made a double recipe - and used two limes in the water with the lentils - which I think I was just right for four of us. Somehow cooking the lentils with the dried limes just zaps all the boring dullness out of them. I love lentils as much as the next vegan, but you know what I'm talking about. The salad was light and simple, but very yummy.

I also made the Dried Lime Tea, which was totally great - a big hit with everyone. It's not really tea, it's just dried limes boiled in water, with some sugar added. It's limey, but somehow evocative of much more. And so easy. I even enjoyed adding it to some sparkly water. Next time I make it, I'll cut back the sugar a bit because I don't think it needed to be quite so sweet. I'm so happy I found a quick, easy, and delicious way to use up all my dried limes (though I'm sure now I will just want to buy more!)

VeganMoFo 16: It's Berbere, Baby!

2011-10-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today's spice (mix) is: Berbere

Justin Berbere

Berbere is not actually one spice, but rather a mix of spices, used in Ethiopian food. In this sweet little town where I live, one cannot find Berbere. Once I mentioned this to my friend Harold who lives in The Big City (San Francisco) - and within a day or two he called from the grocery store offering to send me some. Right on, Harold! Thanks! Of course you can make something similar, but it is always so awesome to have the real thing. I imagine that different chefs make different Berbere mixes, so I thought I'd taste this one before cooking... just to get to know my special ingredient.
Damn! This stuff is HOT. Spicy hot. Pretty much the only "flavor" I tasted was my mouth burning up for the next five minutes. Alrighty then!

Unphased, I went ahead with cooking dinner. I made the Bakela Dinich W'et (Soy Curls and Potatoes in Spicy Gravy) from Kittee's new zine "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food." I tested a ton of recipes for this zine, so I was pretty sure I'd like this one. Plus, I came home from Portland with a huge bag of soy curls, and now I'm looking for more soy-curl-opportunities in my life.

The Soy Curls and potatoes were cooked up with the berbere and loads and loads of other spices into a thick gravy. I squeezed on a big squeeze of lime juice too - which really brought out the different flavors. When I was in India, I got really into squeezing fresh lime juice on everything. And actually, Ethiopian food and Indian food have many ingredients and flavors in common, so the zap of fresh lime goes well with both cuisines. Even though my berbere powder was so spicy hot, the end result in the dish was not at all overwhelming - thank goodness!

This was a great dinner. I served it up with some sauteed collards and white rice. Kittee says it is very bad to eat your Ethiopian food with rice, and that you should make injera. I have done that before, and it's very fun, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats does not like it... so it's not really worth the effort. Plus, white rice = 20 minutes, and it was a weeknight, after all! Please forgive me.

VeganMoFo 15: Bright Red Annatto Seeds!

2011-10-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is Whole Annatto Seeds

We've had a lot of pretty wintery days recently, so I've been in the mood for soup. I made this wonderful Potato-Kale Soup with crispy pieces of Chorizo Sausages, from Viva Vegan. Once again, I must pause to recognize what a tremendous book Viva Vegan is. This was a nice hearty and wholesome soup. The soup itself was filling without being at all heavy, and the sausage bits gave you little flavor blasts of spicy seasoning! We both loved it.

These are annatto seeds. They are sort of the size of giant sumo wrestler sesame seeds on steroids. And they are bright red. I also have a package of powdered annatto, because I just can't stop buying spices. For the sausages in this recipe, the annatto seeds are cooked in warm oil, which produces a brilliant dark orange oil - and then that's the oil you use for the sausages... which gives them their color. Plus, this recipe deserves a special shout out for using even more spices from my over-crowded spice cupboards: paprika! annatto! epazote!

Bonus Spice: Epazote (aka "Mexican Oregano")

It's not hard to find epazote around here, but I don't use it all often. It always cracks me up how rough and "natural" it is in the baggie. Here it is, straight out of the bag and full of various twigs and small branches.

So, before using it, I filtered it through my sifter, and now it looks much more palatable.

VeganMoFo 14: Sichuan Stir Fry & Bonus Fun!

2011-10-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today's spice cupboard selection is Sichuan Peppercorns!

Over the years, I've read various recipes or little foodie jibber-jabbers about Sichuan Pepper, but I had never tried it. So, when I spotted some at Whole Foods, I nabbed it. As you know, friends, this is the story of my over-stuffed spice drawers. I see some exotic spice I've never had and I just have to get it. But then what? It sits in my spice drawer! Well, sit no more, I used a (very small amount) of my Sichuan pepper in tonight's dinner and it was great!

My assessment of the Sichuan pepper is that it is very, very similar to regular pepper. They do look a little different, but they didn't taste all that different to me. I'm am sure sophisticated foodies will say that one tastes more like "mossy oaks" and the other like "spicy old socks," but they are both awfully peppery. Lucky for me, I love pepper, so I am also a fan of Sichuan pepper. Even after my Black Pepper Tofu overload, I was ready to get back on good terms with some more pepper.

Sichuan Spicy Stir-Fry Tofu from Silk Road Cooking

This stir-fry recipe called for frying the tofu in 6 tbsp of oil, but instead I just dry-fried the tofu and it turned out perfectly great. Oh, also, it called for 2 tsp of salt (along with the soy sauce!) - I used low-sodium soy sauce and just a scant 1/2 tsp of salt, and it was plenty flavorful. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats and I both really enjoyed this meal - the tofu, eggplant and bok choy each added something nice to the overall dish and the seasoning in the sauce was great. This recipe only had a 1/2 tsp of ground Sichuan pepper in it, but you could definitely taste it. With pretty much every bite, I got a nice little zing of pepper - not too much, not too little! I learned my lesson after that other black pepper incident, folks!

-- VeganMoFo Hump Day Fun Time! --

Today we are (almost) half-way through our VeganMoFo madness! To celebrate, we are doing a virtual flash mob - featuring none other than illustrious awesomeness and fellow vegan Leslie Hall! Do you know about Leslie Hall? Queen of Gem Sweaters and gold stretch pants and totally awesome music videos? If not, your world is about to get ten times better. She is Way Fun. AND she has a super awesome - unreleased - song all about being vegan! So check it out and celebrate the half-way point of VeganMoFo:

click HERE to hear Leslie's song!

And read along with the awesome LYRICS:

I eat the finest cuisines, in the finest of places Stuff my mouth full and always say thank you. But if it's raised in a cage, and it can't even move, if it's hormone filled and in a bad mood. I'm gonna pass on that. Reach for something better. The only milk I'll drink comes from the nipple of a soy bean. Veggies make you live forever, and they seem to taste much better. when they're cooked and grown with love. So give a chef who knows what's up a hug. Momma just can't seem to get it, Papa he just rolls his eyes. When I tell them I'm much healthier, they just say that it's all lies. But beans, nuts, fruits and veggies can really fill the belly. Get you vitamins you need, shiny hair and extra speed. Don't take that meat-wich any further, I want a marinated, deep fried, hand-tied mushroom burger. I like it! We gotta stand strong for our feathered furry sometimes scaly animal friends and their little babies. 'Cuz I wouldn't want to live in a cage in a dark warehouse killed at an early age. Pumped full of hormones, sleeping in my feces. Never met my mother, raised by machines. Never get sunshine never get green, but that's just me. [That girl loves fruit leather.] So ask us what we're eating. Delicious and repeating, fruits and veggies are so nice. With a slice of tempeh, yes, I'll have that twice. Don't forget the legumes!

VeganMoFo 13: Chana Masala with Dry Mango Powder

2011-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is Amchoor - Dried Mango Powder

Amchoor powder is made from dried & powdered unripe mangoes... so, it kind of goes without saying that it's pretty tart. Most fruit is pretty tart before it gets ripe, right? Well, amchoor is used to add souring or tang to a lot of different Indian recipes, and it's actually a pretty common ingredient in a lot of Indian food.

I picked this Channa Masala recipe because it called for a whole tablespoon of the amchoor, and you could definitely taste its bright, fruity tang in the final dish. Still, I can't say this was my favorite chana masala experience ever. It needed quite a bit of lime juice and salt to bring out the flavors. I will continue to search for the holy grail of chana masala recipes.

Amchoor powder is very much the same color as my cutting board, but they don't taste the same!

Do you have a favorite recipe that calls for amchoor? I've still got a pretty big box to make my way through!

VeganMoFo 12: Persian Roasted Eggplant Dip with Angelica

2011-10-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today's spice: Powdered Angelica

Maybe, like me, you haven't heard of angelica before. I bought this last spring for a dish I was making for Persian New Year. It's really amazing stuff. It's got a pretty intense and distinctive flavor, just a little sweet but also quite robust. Apparently it also has many medicinal uses.

I found this Eggplant with Pomegranate Dip that called for some angelica powder, and decided it looked appealing.

Here's my quick review if you are in a hurry:
awesomesauce!

angelica!

roasted eggplant!

caramelized onions!

tomatoes!

pomegranate paste!

umami!

Full review in complete sentences & with fewer exclamation points:

Wow, what an interesting recipe. We both really loved it. The dish starts off with some slow-cooked onions, then adds in the angelica, some dried mint and some pomegranate paste, then some tomatoes, and then the cubes of roasted eggplant. Then, all this cooks down for another long while.

The end result is absolutely amazing. Sweet, rich, and complex. So many of these ingredients are recognized as bringing depth and umami (best word ever) to a dish, and the combination of them is fabulous. You can taste the sweet, sour pomegranate, the sweetness of the caramelized onions, the clearing of the mint, the complexity of the angelica... really a neat dish. We just had it spread on some leftover homemade naan, but I think it would be really great on some pressed panini, or even on a pizza with other veggies on top. There's plenty left over, so I'll do some lunchtime experiments!

VeganMoFo 11: Fennel Taralli

2011-10-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is: fennel seeds!

I used some of the super-fresh and super-pungent fennel seeds that I brought home from India.

I wanted a recipe that would really let the flavor of the fennel shine through, and I instantly thought of these excellent treats we had in Southern Italy this summer - called Taralli. I thought of them as some sort of cracker, but when I started looking for recipes online, everyone was calling them "Italian Pretzels." That's because you boil them first, then bake them... just like pretzels. You can call them whatever you want, I'll just keep calling them into my belly.

Taralli come in sweet varieties and savory varieties, but evidently this fennel flavor is a true classic. These crispy little monsters are lightly yeasted and have a little black pepper and a lot of fennel in them. Here is the recipe I used, from the Wild Yeast blog. I love the fennel hit you get with each bite... it's really a clear flavor in these crunchy snacks. Also, taralli are good because they last quite a while after you make them. So, as long as you can prevent yourself from eating the whole bag in one sitting, you'll have snacks on hand for a few weeks!

(baker's tip: hide the taralli from your boyfriend!)

VeganMoFo 10: Cardamon not-cinnamon Rolls

2011-10-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, Cardamom!

I have 3 kinds of cardamom: whole, just the seeds, and ground up.

The ground cardamom, which is the most common in these parts, was all out of stock when I took this picture.

Quite a few months ago, I made some really delicious puff pastry cookies stuffed with ground almonds, rose water, and cardamom. They were super delicious, but the real star was the filling itself. I couldn't stop eating it. So, it occured to me, "Wouldn't it be cool to put this stuff inside a cinnamon roll?!"

picture by VeganForTheWin!

Guess what? It WAS cool! For a recent Bake Sale for Farm Sanctuary, I finally did it, and made Cardamom Rolls with Almonds and Rosewater. I think these are probably one of the most delicious things I have ever baked in my whole life. I love love love them. The almonds are a little crunchy, the sweetness level is not at all overbearing, and the rose water gives an amazing hue to the flavor. So lovely. Even if you are gluten-free or just too lazy to make the rolls themselves, make the filling and snack on it by itself. It's that good.

This is almost verbatim the cinnamon bun recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and then the filling recipe is from Silk Road Cooking, and I put the two together for magical results. The hardest thing is to not keep calling them "cinnamon rolls," even though they don't have any cinnamon in them. I kept calling them Cinnamon Rolls with Cardamom, which is still wrong!

Cardamom Rolls with Almonds & Rosewater

makes 12 rolls

Dough:

1 packet active yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp

1/3 c sugar, + 1 tsp

1/2 c warm water

3/4 c milk, at room temp (I used almond milk)

1/3 c canola oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cardamom

3 1/2 - 4 cups of all-purpose flour

Filling:

(this makes a little extra, but you will need it, because you will need to snack on it)

1 1/2 c blanched almond slivers

3/4 c sugar

4 1/2 tsp cardamom

4 1/2 tsp rose water

1/4 c Earth Balance

Icing:

1 c powdered sugar

1 1/2 tbsp almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

To make the filling:

While your dough is rising, make the filling. Mix the almonds and sugar together in a medium-sized pot, and then toast over medium heat for about 10 minutes (or less), until the sugar is lightly caramelized and partially melted. Stir often so that it doesn't burn. Add the cardamom and rose water, mix well, and then remove from heat. Set aside to cool.

Once it's cool, put it in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times until you get a coarse powder with some bigger chunks still there - I made it sort of half-powdery and half-nutty, but obviously you could leave them or grind them all up.

To make the dough:

In a big bowl, combine the yeast, warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Whisk it to combine and then let it rest for 5-10 minutes to make sure your yeast is active. It should look a little foamy and frothy. Then, add in the rest of the sugar, the milk, oil, salt, cardamom, and 2 cups of flour. Stir well, and then start adding in the rest of the flour, until you've added about 3 1/3 cups total. Knead it for about 5 minutes, until it is a soft, smooth dough... adding a bit more flour as needed.

Take a big clean bowl and lightly oil the inside of it. Place your dough in there, and cover with saran wrap. Set it in a warm place for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size. While it is rising, make the filling (see below).

Once it has risen, punch it down (fun part!) and let it rest for about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 12 x 18 inches. Sprinkle the filling evenly all over the surface. You'll probably have a little left over, which is fine. Then take the Earth Balance and cut it or break it into little pieces and dot that all around.

Starting from the long edge, slowly roll up the dough into a long tube. Take care to roll slowly and keep the roll pretty tight. At the end, I use a little water to moisten the edge (like on an envelope) and then I pinch it shut a little.

Take an 11x13 baking dish and lightly spray it or oil it with some veggie oil. Using a sharp knife, take your long tube and slice it into 12 equal pieces. (cut it in half, then cut each half in half. Now you have 4 pieces. Cut each piece into 3 equal pieces. Easy! )

Place them into your baking pan sliced side down. Cover the dish with saran wrap or a towel and let it rise for about 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Bake for 18-24 minutes until they are lightly browned and very puffy! Remove from the oven. In a small bowl, mix together the icing ingredients and drizzle that over the buns.

VeganMoFo 9: Dukkah Spice Mixture

2011-10-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is whole coriander

For all these many years, I have been happily throwing ground coriander in many a meal - I love the flavor it adds, especially when paired with cumin. I use it in Indian cooking, but also in Mexican food, soups, all over the place. Still, I brought home these beautiful whole coriander seeds from India and I was totally stunned when I ground some up for the first time. The aroma! The flavor! The lemony-ness! I didn't realize what coriander was really supposed to taste like, but I was in love.

I put my coriander to good use, in a big batch of Dukkah. Have you ever tried this stuff? I have been wanting to make this recipe from "The New Book of Middle Eastern Food" since I first spotted it about a year and a half ago. Dreams realized! This is a really compelling and delicious mixture of toasted hazelnuts, toasted sesame seeds, toasted coriander seeds, and toasted cumin seeds. In abundance. Friends, I'm talking about 3/4 cup of coriander seeds... not just a little teaspoon here or a tablespoon there. Major coriander.

Then you take your fresh bread, dip it in some yummy olive oil, and then dip that in the dukkah. Then you make squealing sounds of delight. At least that's what we all did. We had my mom and dad over for dinner, and so I made 4 small bowls, one for each of us. Unanimous consent that this stuff is delish! I made a half-batch, which was still a lot... but I'm so glad I finally made this and I'll definitely make it again.

VeganMoFo 8: Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu Defeats Me

2011-10-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice: Black Pepper

It looks amazing, right?

Oh friends, I really love black pepper. It is one of my favorite flavors. I even have 4 or 5 varieties of it in my cupboards. So I was really stoked to find this awesome-looing recipe for Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu. The author did warn me that the recipe was very hot, so I only used one hot pepper... but I underestimated the heat power of 2 1/2 tablespoons of freshly cracked black pepper. Grossly underestimated. Maybe it was amplified because I left out almost all the fat, and just dry-fried the tofu? This dish smelled so wonderful, and made the whole house smell amazing... but man-oh-man, did it come out fighting! I took a few bites and my will power grew weaker and weaker with each moment. Black Pepper Tofu put some serious smack down on me. Mouth on fire, I was forced to surrender. I could not eat it.

Do you know what I did? *shame!* I took my tofus to the kitchen, washed them off in a sieve, and re-sauteed them with a little tamari. So sad, but so true. *hangs head in defeat*

Take two. I ate it like this.

At least I didn't forget to add the green onions the 2nd time around.

*is not worthy of Black Pepper Tofu girl scout badge*

VeganMoFo 7: Smack my lips for Sumac!

2011-10-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is Sumac

Sumac! Smack, smack for sumac! I love sumac, so sue me!

Many years ago, I had a nice boyfriend from Iran, and he was the person who taught me about sumac. Whenever we would go out for Iranian food, there was always sumac on the table - just like there is always salt and pepper on the table. My rice dishes and veggie dishes always came sprinkled with distinctive reddish-brown tangy flecks of sumac.

When you buy sumac, it will be ground up, and it will resemble coarsely ground coffee. It looks dark brown, but it gets much more reddish when you mix it with liquid or let it stain your white rice. The flavor of sumac is great. It's a little citrusy, earthy, tangy, and bright. Try it, you'll like it!

First up, I decided to make some Fattoush - a famous salad from the Middle East, which prominently features sumac. I more or less followed the recipe from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Man, was it great! Romaine, tomatoes, pursalane, pieces of toasted pita bread, lemon juice, sumac, bell peppers, olive oil... so delicious! PLUS...

We added in some tofu! Right as I was preparing my shopping list, my friend Alana sent me this recipe for Sumac Tofu. Perfect! I was looking for a good protein-y item to go with our salad. Plus, this recipe called for two entire tablespoons of sumac. It also called for chili powder, which made me very skeptical... but I have to say, I loved the end result.

It was Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats who had the genius idea to cut up the tofu slabs into little chunks and mix them in with the salad. Friends, this was an amazing dinner. We were both oooohing and aahhhing our way through to the last bite. Fresh, filling, flavorful, light, and robust. I cannot wait to make this again... first I just have to get through another month of other spices!

VeganMoFo 6: Chaat Masala = Wild Fruit Salad Experience

2011-10-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice (mix) is Chaat Masala

When I was in India the grocery stores we went to always had at least 4 or 5 different brands of Chaat Masala spice mixes... that stuff was everywhere! And, when I was flipping through my Indian cookbooks looking for special spices to bring home, Chaat Masala was listed all over the place. In the end, I brought home two different boxes. (I used the one in front this time).

Whoa Dudes. This one tripped me OUT!

So, I got out a few different cookbooks, and also looked at the recipe on the spice box itself... and sorta combined them all. Basically, this is a fruit salad with banana, mango, apple, pear, potato (!), and cucumber... then it has lemon juice and tamarind, fresh mint, and some chaat masala powder.

Here's my word for it: interesting. Yes, that most damning word of all. Just to give you an idea, the ingredients in my box of chaat masala include: black salt, amchoor, cumin, chilli powder, coriander, and much more.

So, you'll see what I mean. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats took one or two bites and rejected the whole situation. He is going to have to pull up his adventure pants though, because I'm making some very unfamiliar food this month! I started off enjoying mine enough... but as I got to the bottom and there were more juices and more of the seasoning, it got to be a bit (dare I say it!?) unappetizing. If fruit weren't already so delicious on its own, I might try this again, but I'm pretty darn sure I'd rather just eat plain ol' fruit salad. Mostly, all I could taste was the black salt, which as you may know is quite sulphurous and pretty heavy duty.

So, now, the question remains, what to do with two entire boxes of chaat masala spice mix?? I welcome your suggestions!

VeganMoFo 5: Homemade Naan with Kalonji Seeds!

2011-10-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is Kalonji Seeds!

I finally got to crack open my bag of kalonji seeds. I bought them about a year ago, when I read a post on someone's blog that kalonji were her #1 favorite spice. Of course I was curious! I would describe them as the offspring of a Dried Onion - Black Sesame Seed - Poppy Seed mating ritual. They are small, pungent, and flavorful, but not at all overbearing.

Plus, Kalonji seeds have the best name ever. I kept thinking that it sounded like "jumanji," which I guess the name of a game or something. I don't even know, but those two words are fun to say together over and over in your head.

It always makes me a bit sad and grumpy when the naan at Indian restaurant isn't vegan. Which is pretty much every time. So, this time, I just made my own naan! They turned out so beautifully. The naan was easy to make (though I read the recipe a little too late, and only left it to rise for 5 hours instead of 8 hours... perhaps it could have been even better??!!). I loved how quickly each naan loaf baked up in my super hot 500 F oven. I felt like a village bread baker pulling out a hot loaf of naan every 5 minutes! The bread would still be delicious without them, but adding the suggested kalonji seeds on top was definitely a great idea - they added extra flavor blasts, and a little crunchy fun. In case you don't have kalonji seeds on hand, the recipe suggests that you can also use sesame seeds, so don't let it stop you!

This recipe is from Bryanna's wonderful new book "Vegan World Feast," and you'll be seeing more recipes from this book here at VE&T. It's full of inspiring recipes from all over the world, which is pretty much right up my alley. I love a book that is not afraid to include ingredients like kalonji seeds, but then also offers sesame seeds as a totally viable alternative. That way, if I'm in the mood for an adventure, I can find it - and if I'm not, I can still make myself some naan. There are soups and salads and entrees and a totally mind-boggling dessert section that I can't wait to explore. I just got this book from Bryanna (autographed!) at the Vida Vegan Con, but I already have a long list of all the recipes I'm hoping to make from it. Keep an eye out for more deliciousness!

VeganMoFo 4: Fig Focaccia with Orange Zest & Anise Seeds

2011-10-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Today's Spice is Anise Seeds

Why yes, I did make a beautiful loaf of sweet Fig Focaccia with Orange Zest & Anise Seeds. (from Local Flavors, by Deborah Madison)

Why yes, this does sound very elegante'

Oh, and, yes dahling, this is a most delightful and amazing treat

Why yes, you simply must eat this with your pinky up, my dear

Recently I made a loaf of this amazing sweet focaccia for some nice friends, as a thank you gift. They loved it, and it was beautiful. So, what's the problem?

The Problem: That focaccia looked so damned good... and I really, really wanted to taste it... but you can't exactly give someone a thank-you loaf of bread with a big bite out of it. I kept trying to forget it, but the image of those beautiful figgy chunks peeking out of the bread would not leave me. So finally I broke down and make a loaf for us.

Thank goodness I did, because it was amazing! When I gave that first loaf to our friend Alana, she called me and said "This is the most sophisticated thing I've ever eaten!" Ha ha! It really is a wonderful and compelling combination of flavors.

Even though I accidentally added way too much orange zest, and even though there were lots of anise seeds in the batter, the end result was that the flavors all seemed to blend into one harmonious experience. No one flavor was dominant... until you bit into a big piece of soft cooked fig. Oh man, SO GOOD.

Most of you have probably already heard of and used anise seeds before, because they aren't all that uncommon. Still, it's not exactly a spice you use every day. They are little guys, maybe the size of sesame seeds, but they have a really strong flavor. They smell a little sweet, and I think they are related to licorice, which makes sense. I think they smell great, and I also really like the taste. Over the years, I think I have used anise seeds most often in recipes just like this - breads that are very mildly sweet - and they are really a wonderful addition.

VeganMoFo 3: There's a Curry Leaf in my Sambar!

2011-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today's Mofo Spice is Dried Curry Leaves

On my most recent trip to India, I really fell in love with fresh curry leaves. I mentioned a couple of days ago that I brought home loads of various spices and such... and one my most valued items was a large metal tin stuffed full with dried curry leaves. I keep them in my freezer to maintain maximum potency. Sometimes I open the bag and smell them, just for fun.

What are curry leaves, anyway?

Probably you've heard of "curry powder," but that is not actually related to curry leaves from what I can tell. There is a plant called a curry plant - the leaves are smallish, dark green, smooth and pointy. You can buy little bunches of the branches at the market in India - sort of like how we might buy bunches of sage. Curry leaves are absolutely glorious - a flavor and smell all their own. Sometimes you can find frozen curry leaves at the Indian market, and if you have never tried them, I really, really recommend it. Do yourself a favor! They will blow your mind!

I know that this soup isn't much to look at, but MAN! was it good.

As far as I'm concerned, the number one thing to make with curry leaves is Sambar. It's a thin, brothy soup with veggies and the tang of tamarind, along with some richness from coconut and dal. Sambar is a big staple of South Indian food. I found this recipe online, and chose it because it called for lots of curry leaves (which is just the way I like it) and because the reviews were great. We both absolutely loved it! I've been looking for a good sambar recipe for a while, and I need look no further. I couldn't believe I made something this delicious.

I also found a recipe for "Carrot Kari" in the latest issue of Saveur Magazine, which called for a handful of curry leaves. I really love carrots, and the ingredients made this seem like it would be a great dish. Somehow though, this recipe just managed to cook all the flavor out of my carrots and didn't have much to offer. I finished my plate, but Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats turned his focus back to the sambar. Can't say I blame him!

VeganMoFo: Persian Powdered Omani Limes

2011-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Today's spice is Dried Persian Lime Powder (aka Powdered Omani Limes). It's a dark, coursely-textured powder made from limes that are dried whole and then ground to little bits! The texture looks sort of like ground-up coffee beans. Persian food is famous for its love of complex flavor combinations, and they especially love to have a little hit of something tart in many dishes. Enter the powdered limes. The taste of the powder, all on its own, was a little bit familiar and little bit unfamiliar. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats described it as "like lemon plus tobacco," and that seemed pretty right on. Definitely lemony, but darker, a bit toasted... a little bitter. Interesting!

For my dish featuring powdered limes, I made Persian Polow with Green Beans and Tomatoes from Silk Road Cooking. This made a ton of food. Mr. VE&T and I are both pretty piggy, and this was easily 3 nights worth of food... or at least it would have been if Mr. VE&T had liked it. Personally, I liked it quite a bit. I loved the rich flavors in the rice with the crisp little pieces of green beans in there, and the powdered limes were definitely present in the final dish. The rice had a bit of a tartness, which I thought sharpened the other flavors very nicely. Mr. VE&T wasn't feeling adventurous, so he said he didn't like it. Also, though, he had just eaten an entire box of Barbara's Puffins while waiting for me to make dinner. Just straight out the box, folks. So, I suspect that might be why he wasn't that into the rice, because - really now - it was good!

VeganMoFo: Cookin' with Kokum

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Happy VeganMoFo Everyone!

I'm kicking off my theme of "31 Spices":

a different spice every day for the month of October!

Huzzah!

Today's spice* is kokum!

What the heck is kokum anyway? I didn't know either, so don't feel bad. It's a super sour, sticky, dark-as-night, citrusy, mouth-puckering and also quite tasty little affair. Also (according to Wikipedia) it's a relative of my mangosteen plant. No wonder I liked it! The first thing you notice, when you go to taste a piece of dried kokum, is the smell. It's very floral, but in a pretty unfamiliar way. The smell is so complex and flowery, that I was totally caught off guard by how super sour it was once it hit my tongue. What a combo!

(*okay, maybe it's not technically a "SPICE," but cut me some slack -

"ingredients used sparingly for intense flavor" is too long!)

When I was in India earlier this year, I picked up a bunch of really cool cookbooks (thanks Kittee for that idea!!). Before leaving, I looked through the cookbooks for any ingredients I didn't recognize, that I wouldn't be able to find easily at home. This resulted in a suitcase full of Indian spices, including a package of organic kokum.

I think kokum is probably one of the main reasons I picked this theme for MoFo - I was so curious about this stuff! It's just been sitting in my freezer waiting for me, all this time.

It took me a while to actually find the recipe that called for kokum, at which point I was afraid I had gone completely crazy. In the end, there were two recipes to pick from, so I picked Kale Vatanyachi Amti, from this cute little dal & roti book.

I loved this dish! It had dried coconut, grated fresh coconut, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, cilantro and more. Definitely something I'll make again (though I'll probably just be cheap and use all dried coconut next time). Even though there were only 4 pieces of kokum in the dal (which means I can make this recipe, many many more times, since I still have a LOT of kokum in the freezer!), I could definitely taste it in the final dish. It was subtle, but very much there, which was quite alluring.

Bonus Spice! As a bonus I also got to use some of this amazing chili powder I brought home from India. Mr Vegan Eats & Treats described this as "pure heat," and I'd have to agree. We both tasted it ahead of time (very cautiously, mind you!) and it really doesn't have much flavor... it just packs some serious heat. The recipe called for one tablespoon, but I was a wimpy-pants and used only 1 tsp, which seemed just fine!

Insane Spice Rack Situation

2011-09-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Friends, I have a small problem. First it started with this nice spice rack, which soon filled up. Then, as you can see, I spread out all over the counter with other spices.

Then, I cleaned out one of the drawers, and quickly filled that with more spices. Was that enough, you ask?

No! I needed a whole entire second drawer! Over all, I think I have 3 kinds of smoked salt, 4 varieties of paprika, 4 different types of black pepper, many obscure spices I brought home from India, all the usual spices, and the list just goes on.

What happens is that I hear about some great spice or I see some spice on the shelf at the Japanese grocery store, and I just cannot resist it. But, then I get home, and truth be told, I don't really know what to do with it. Or, I use it in that one recipe that inspired me to buy it... and now it just sits there. So! This year year, for VeganMoFo, I am going to be featuring a different spice from my collection every single day. I can't wait! Problem solved!

Put On Your MoFo Pants!

2011-09-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hoorah! VeganMoFo is almost here!

Just a few more days before we launch into the 5th annual Vegan Month of Food.

I hope you have a good pair of MoFo pants, because there's gonna be some serious action on the interwebs, with so much vegan blogging going on.

Perhaps you are more of a skinny jeans person? Or jeggings?! Either way, you'll need to get comfy, because my goal is to blog every single day for the month of October!

A Perfect Autumn Soup

2011-09-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

As far as weather goes, we haven't had much of a summer here in Santa Cruz. In theory we still have one more day of summer, but it's been feeling like fall for a while now.

To celebrate (yet another!) foggy evening, I made this Quinoa & Corn Chowder from Viva Vegan. Have I ever told you how much I love Viva Vegan?? What an amazing book. This was my first time trying this recipe, and I thought it was amazing. Somehow it was light and filling all at once, and packed with corn, lima beans, potatoes, and great seasoning. The recipe calls for aji paste - which I haven't found anywhere around here, but I looked online and found that I could use Sriracha sauce instead - perfect! As a result, the soup had a nice little kick of spicy heat - all the better to warm us up and stave off the fleece socks for one more night.

Giveaway Winner & Snoopy Spaz Video!!

2011-09-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

The winner of my Chef Snoopy Bookplates is .... Yvonne! *

(*Yvonne: send me your mailing address at ameyfm @ yahoo. com, so I can send them to you!)

In case you didn't win, here is Snoopy himself to do his very special happy dance just for you, to cheer you up!

How to Eat 1,000 lbs of Tomatoes

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe not 1,000lbs... but still... even after all that canning, we've still got a LOT of tomatoes to eat. Maybe next year I won't plant quite so many tomato plants? So, in case you are experiencing a similar dilemma, I'll show you what I've been cookin' up.

Of course there's always pasta. We don't eat pasta all that often any more, so it is a super fun treat when we do have it. To make some pasta sauce I just chop up a whole mess of tomatoes, saute some garlic in olive oil, toss in the tomatoes, cook for a while, add in a little salt & pepper, and then a big handful of fresh basil. Maybe some dried oregano if I am feeling crazy. Quick and easy and super yumz. Also, to atone for my starchy sins, I made a big batch of roasted brussel sprouts (ala Vegan With a Vengeance), and roasted sunchokes.*

(* if you have not have roasted sunchokes, this is a serious issue which must be addressed)

Next up was a big batch of Pico de Gallo salsa. I made a big pot of beans... and for a few days there I would just have a big bowl of beans with about a 1/2 cup of salsa mixed in. Mmmm. I must do this again. I love salsa, but I love love love love pico de gallo.

Pizza night! Of course! Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats requested that I chop up the tomatoes into smaller pieces (as shown), so that it would be easier to eat. That's true, it was easier to eat... but it was also not as pretty as leaving the whole huge slices of heirloom tomatoes on the pizza. Honestly, I'm not sure which one is more important to me. Next time I will have to make his and hers pizzas. He can have his ugly pizza and eat it too!

Also, Roasted Tomato Soup with Corn and with a Kick (from Vegan Soul Kitchen). I hadn't made this soup in quite a while, so I almost forgot what a great recipe it is. Technically the recipe also calls for fried okra strips, but I didn't have time or energy for that - and really, the soup is still a great experience without them. This is a perfect later summer/early fall soup... somehow light but also full-flavored all at once.

Enjoy the tomato time!

hey, p.s. I finally made Vegan Eats & Treats its very own Facebook Page... I share post updates and various other vegan musings there. Check it out!

How To Can Your Own Tomatoes

2011-09-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Canning season has officially begun! I'm not an expert canner (by any means), but I have had success over the years with canning applesauce, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, jams & jellies, pickles, and occasionally something special like apple pie filling or veggie broth.

Many folks are scared of canning, since botulism can mess you up... but it hasn't hit me yet, so I'm still feeling sassy. If I am canning something new, I do some reading online and make sure I follow a careful recipe, just to be sure.

If you are new to canning, tomatoes are a really a good place to start. The very high acid in tomatoes makes them much more safe to can than something less acidic (like green beans or something like that... then you need a special pressure canner, which would be rad and you would be very fancy). This year I canned up three different tomatoey products:

Plain ol' canned tomatoes (diced)

Tomato Sauce (for pasta!)

Roasted tomatoes with olive oil & salt (umami, baby!)

What follows are instructions on canning Diced Tomatoes:

You will need:

Two big pots -- Lots of tomatoes -- Glass jars, lids, and screw bands -- Canning tongs (optional) or regular tongs -- Canning funnel (optional) or a paper towel -- A knife -- A bowl for tomato tops, seeds, and icky bits -- Time!

1. First of all, let's be clear about this. You are going to need a lot of tomatoes. These little buggers really cook down a lot. I used all these tomatoes from my garden, plus more from my friend Jane the Farmer.

2. Wash your tomatoes off. They might be a little sticky or dirty or whatever, so give them a little tomato shower.

3. Get Chopping! Can you tell that I took this beautiful photograph at night? Also, can you see that you are in for a very messy job? Because you are!

What about the peels?

People who have more time than I do, and who are more fastidious than I am, will often take the time to peel their tomatoes (which is done by blanching them in boiling water). But seriously folks, this whole affair already takes hours... and I don't mind a little extra fiber!

To seed, or not to seed?

As for the seeds, I go back and forth. Sometimes I take the care to seed my tomatoes, and sometimes I don't. Seeding them is a benefit because the seeds provide a texture that you may not want, they can be a little bitter, and also the seedy goo adds a lot of liquid to the final product. Seeding them also takes a bit more time and (rather small amount of) effort, so if you are lazy, just skip it. Either way it's all yummy in the end.

4. Fill your giant soup pot with tomatoes as you chop - The excitement is building!

5. Prepare the jars.

You should have a bunch of glass jars with separate rims and tops (for a good vacuum seal).* Put them all in a big pot of water, covered by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil, and then boil them for 10 minutes. This sterilizes the jars, so it's important! Once the timer goes off, just leave them in the hot water until you need them, and keep a lid on the pot, because you will need to get this water boiling again soon.

As you can see in this picture, I finally splurged and got a proper canning pot - it's huge and has a special rack on the bottom, which keeps the glass off the very hot bottom of the pan. It was only $25 at the hardware store, so if you enjoy canning, I really recommend it. If you don't have such a thing, you can also just put a dish towel on the bottom of the pot. It will work just as well!

6. Cook up the tomatoes!

I bring them to a boil (covered), then remove the lid and lower the heat to a simmer, for about 30 minutes. This can be done side by side as the jars are cooking up.

When the tomatoes are done, you may have a lot of liquid in the mix. You can leave it in, or you can decant some of it. I just press the ladle down gently (pictured) and take a few ladle-fulls out. (tomato juice!). Whether or not you get this depends on how much water was in the tomatoes you started with.. you didn't do anything wrong if you didn't get any, and you didn't do anything wrong if you end up with a lot of water to scoop out. Also, like I said, it's fine to leave it in there.

7. Pour the tomatoes into the jars! (ack, no picture for this step!)

Carefully remove the jars from the hot water (pouring any hot water back into the pot). Now, use a ladel to pour the tomatoes into the jars. I use a special canning funnel, which is a big help. It lets you be a little sloppy, while still keeping the rim of the jar clean, which is important for a good seal. You want to leave about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar. If you don't have a canning funnel, pour carefully, and then when you have filled all the jars, use a damp paper towel or dishcloth to wipe the top rim on the jars completely clean.

Note: the tomatoes are hot, as are the jars, so please be careful!

Put the lid on each jar and screw on the band tightly.

8. Process the jars

First of all, double check that your lids are screwed on nice and tight! Now, carefully lower the hot jars of tomatoey goodness back into your giant pot of very hot water. (*Note: I use canning tongs, which are so rad, and a great idea if you plan on doing more canning in your life. Otherwise, you can be very careful and use regular tongs. But please remember, you are dealing with boiling water, hot tomatoes, and glass jars... so you really do need to be careful!)

Once again, have a rack or a dish towel on the bottom on the pot to keep your glass jars away from the bottom of the pot.

Bring the water to a boil, and then lower to a low boil (more than a simmer), for about 25 minutes. Once the beeper goes off, remove the jars (again, be careful!) and set them on the counter to cool off. Now you can go in the other room and listen to the world's most glorious sound: the pop-pop-pop of the vacuum seal setting in!

Once the jars have cooled, double check to make sure that the "button" on the top of the lid has been sucked down. If you can still pop it down, then your seal didn't work. But don't cry. Just put that jar in your fridge and use it sooner rather than later. See, it wasn't so bad.

9. Gloat!

Don't forget to gloat! I like to leave all my jars out on the table for a day or two to bask in the beauty of such industry and hard work. Then I put them away for the winter in the cupboards. Sometimes I give some away as christmas presents, sometimes I keep it all for myself! :)

Look What I Got!!

2011-09-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

My aunt got me an amazing, glorious, beautiful Le Creuset dutch oven for my birthday! And in my favorite color! My birthday was actually back in June, but at the time she just gave me a little card saying she would get me one. I had the enviable task of looking through all the colors and sizes available, and picking out the one I wanted. Luckily for me, there is a Le Creuset outlet about an hour from here... and each summer they have a big sale. So, while I was away in Italy, she went over and found just the one I wanted! Technically it is a "second," but I can't really tell why, and the quality is still so good that it has the regular lifetime guarantee.

I have wanted one for so long, because there are so many recipes out there that call for putting something on the stovetop and then straight into the oven, and I've never had a dish that could do that. Now I do!

To celebrate my beautiful new dish, I made the recipe that first made me long for a proper Le Creuset pot: the No-Knead Bread from the New York Times. I've made it many times with my pyrex covered dish... but I was always a little afraid that the pyrex would blow up (which apparently has happened for some people). Worry no more! Plus, the crust was even more wonderfully crispy and golden with my new enamel dish. If you are one of the 5 people who has still not made this amazing recipe, run to your kitchen and make it now!! It is SO amazing, and your mind will be absolutely blown that you made such an amazing and perfect loaf of bread on your own, at home.

What a lucky girl I am! Thanks again Auntie L!

Autographed Bookplates & a little giveaway!

2011-09-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

The night before the Vida Vegan Con, I realized that many of my favorite vegan cookbook authors would be there... and it would be fun to have them sign all my cookbooks. But I already knew I'd be coming home with a bulging suitcase full of treats, so I didn't want to lug all my books along. Instead, I whipped up some little bookplates! I did a little drawing of our dog Snoopy, wearing a chef's hat and holding a whisk (my favorite cooking utensil!)... scanned it in to the computer, and printed them out on sticky paper. Perfect!

In the end I got autographs from Byanna Clark Grogan, Terry Hope Romero, Dynise Balcavage, Julie Hasson, Joanna Vaught, & Colleen Patrick Goudreau. Somehow I still managed to miss some amazing authors, but I'm not complaining! It was so fun to come home and stick them in their respective cookbooks!

Anyhow, I had some bookplates leftover, so I thought I'd do a little giveaway. I'll send a set of 10 Snoopy-style cookbookplates to the lucky winner. You can put "From the Kitchen of {Your Name Here}", and lend your books out with faith that they will return to you, or you can save them for book signings and such, and get them autographed like I did!

This giveaway is open to people in all parts of the world! Just leave a comment! I will pull out a winner next Wednesday, Sept 14th (it's my aunt's birthday and my grandpa's birthday... so that seems like as good a day as any!).

Vida Vegan Con: The Day After!

2011-09-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

I knew Vida Vegan Con would be a whirlwind of new friends and presentations and good food and general non-stop activity, so I made sure to give myself one extra day at the end of my trip to explore Portland and visit with my friends and family there.

My sweet friend Sandy picked me up at the conference on Sunday night, and we headed over to Prasad for some dinner. I ordered the "Ganesh Bowl," with half quinoa and half brown rice. After a weekend of all-out gluttony, this healthy and delicious bowl of yumz really hit the spot! Veggies & tofu in a warm coconut milk curry, with a giant heap of fresh kale (lightly steamed). Just thinking about it makes me want to eat it all over again.

Monday morning, Sandy and I made our way over to Vita Cafe, for the first stop in a crazy vegan-errand day of fun. Even though Sandy used to live ACROSS THE STREET from Vita, she had never been here before. The decor was warm and funky, and even though Vita isn't 100% vegan, there were so many vegan options to choose from! So, we got our coffee and started to consider our options.

I ended up with the "2+2+2": two veggie sausage patties, 2 pieces of french toast, and scrambled tofu (equal to two eggs, I guess). I have a long-standing love affair of french toast, and I find it difficult to pass up French Toast any time I see in on a menu. Mmmmm.

Sandy ordered the Huevos Rancheros, vegan style. OMG. I was jealous of it! But luckily it was huge, so there was enough for me to have a little too. Definitely good. Want to go back.

We also got a Northwest Hazelnut Corn Cake, which was freaky good. Oh my gosh. Just looking at these pictures and remembering this all these good meals is making me want to go buy some more plane tickets!

dorky fan pic outside Vita Cafe

You can practically see the drool dribbling down my chin!

Two doors down from Vita Cafe is the beautiful little all-vegan bakery called Dovetail Bakery. The owner Morgan even came out from the kitchen to chat, and she was so kind and friendly. I was still full from breakfast, so I picked out a couple of treats to bring home with me.

In the end I picked out the Apricot Scone (left) & Apricot-Millet Muffin (top). Of course, I also forced Sandy to take me to Back to Eden and there I picked up a Coconut Cardamom Muffin (right) & Blueberry Scone (bottom). Now these tasty treats are all hanging out in my freezer, just waiting for me to eat them. I'll be there soon, little friends... just gotta eat some more veggies for a few days!

We stopped at the Co-op on Alberta St., where I was told you could find Soy Curls in the bulk bins. Score! Of course I had to buy a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread and one of their Peace Bomb mini baguettes too. I'm sure you understand!

Cute bike racks outside the Co-op. Even the bike racks are veg-friendly, for God's sake!!

We stopped to spend some time cruising all the cute shops on Mississippi St. I was worried that with so many vegans roaming the streets of Portland, someone might break into the car for my stash of Dave's Killer Bread and soy curls, so I made sure that Sandy locked the car. Stay away thieves! You can get this stuff in your own city! You lucky turds!

Los Gorditos! A great little taco truck with an extensive vegan menu. A perfect spot for my last meal in Portland, and a final visit with Sandy and my lovely cousin Eliza.

I ordered the veggie burrito. It's not all that exciting to look at a rolled up tortilla, is it? But I'm sure you all know, burritos are magical pockets of rainbows once you bite into them! Also you can see a few of the different salsas I sampled. They had a huge salsa bar, I love that! I love trying different salsas, but my favorites are always pico de gallo and tomatillo salsa. Mmmmmm!

Sandy ordered the enchiladas, which were amazing and also huge, requiring a take-home box.

Friends... Portland is like a vegan fairy land. You go from your vegan brunch to the vegan bakery (and in between those two is a fancy 4-course meal place which offers an all-vegan option every night). Then you get in the car and as you drive down the street you see the word "VEGAN" everywhere - outside the shoe store, on every food cart... it's absolute madness. Then someone tells you that right down the street you can get Soy Curls in the bulk bin. It's enough to make a vegan go crazy! I can't wait for my next trip to Portland... family, friends, food, fun... it's wonderful!

Vida Vegan Con: THE SWAG!

2011-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe you are like me, and the word "free" gives you heart palpitations. If so, just imagine my excitement as I was checking in at the VidaVeganCon registration desk, and looked behind the desk to see a long table with rows of huge VegNews bags filled with goodies for each person. You always read about how the actors and actresses at the Oscars get big gift bags full of special goodies... It felt like that, but just for vegans!

The bag had so much stuff in it, I had to take two pictures... First: there was a sweet little green cotton Vida Vegan Con bag (and button), a lovely bag of organic red rice from Lotus Foods, a bamboo spreader from Earth Balance, a compactable chaco bag from Coconut Bliss (and a great water bottle I got from their exhibitor booth too!), a Vega power bar, a Vida Vegan Con coffee travel cup, and even a OXO-brand pepper mill & little baggie of pepper corns. I'm super stoked to have a great pepper mill! Plus, that was a gift from the publishers of the soon-to-be-published book "Vegan Slow Cooker," which I am definitely interested in.

Plus more! Coupons for free Earth Balance products, mini bag of Dandie marshmallows!, some little So Delicious milks and coupons for free So Delicious stuff, various discounts... and as a presenter, I also received a copy of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's new book "30 Day Vegan Challenge" and the new "Peas and Thank You" cookbook. I heard Colleen speak at the conference, and I've enjoyed listening to her podcast for a while now... so I'm not at all surprised that her book looks like a totally thorough and amazing resource for anyone interested in going vegan. "Peas and Thank You," also looks like a lot of fun and the recipes look great.

Also in the swag bag was a jar of Food For Lover's vegan Queso sauce. woooot! I already had a couple jars at home, and I knew it meant I would have to check my bag, but heck, I'm no dummy! I'm not gonna walk away from free queso! FFL's queso is super spicy, and is good with tortilla chips or on a quesadilla or whatever. I wish it were a little thicker, but I love the flavor and I love that it's got some serious Texas-sized spicy kick to it!

In addition to all that, everyone also got a copy of Hannah's amazing book "My Sweet Vegan," which is a totally rad book! I already have it (of course), so I gave my new bonus copy to my cousin Eliza who has a vegan-friendly bed & breakfast in Victoria, Canada and is always interested in more vegan recipe ideas! Also at the conference I picked up a couple books from some of the other amazing people there. I got Bryanna's latest book (autographed!!!) "World Feast Kitchen," which I can't wait to explore. And of course Kittee's amazing new zine: Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food - all vegan, all gluten free and all delicious. I tested for this one, so I already KNOW it's good!

But wait! There's more! On the last day of the conference, I received a few more goodies. Each of the presenters was given a bottle of wine from Vegan Vine. I haven't opened it yet, since I'm still recovering from my special conference cold... but I look forward to it. You may have noticed that I'm really not much of an alcohol drinker, but every once in a while I enjoy a little taste. Probably twice a year or something like that! ha ha.

Also! The glorious Nicole from Upton's Naturals Seitan was at the conference and put out a great offer to bloggers. In exchange for all this amazing free seitan, I'm supposed to come up with some good recipes for them to share on their site. What a fun challenge! So, keep an eye out for that.

This is a final silly little thing... FLIP BOOKS! At the Gala event on Saturday night, there was a booth where you could get filmed for 7 seconds, and then they would turn it into a flip book. SO COOL. My dad has a special affection for flip books and he has passed this affection on to me... and I had a hard time stopping after just two. Honestly, if it weren't for common courtesy, I could have monopolized that booth all night long! Kittee and I made one together where we are dancing around like weirdos, and then I made one of just me as a gift for my dad. Apparently it was quite a hit, because he already wrote me an email saying that he is carrying it around in his pocket and flipping it all day long. :)

Here I am at the PDX airport... all loaded down with my swag! (and a few extra goodies I picked up in Portland) can you believe that I showed up at the conference with a not-full suitcase and nothing else? Ha ha! On the way home I had to unzip the expando feature on my suitcase just to cram every thing in there. Plus, you can't tell in the picture, but I even had a whole loaf of Dave's Killer Bread shoved in my purse... and all those packages of seitan in a freezer bag crammed in my VegNews bag. I wasn't sure what the airport security folks would think about a carry-on bag full of frozen seitan and Soy Curls, but I got through without a glitch!

Vida Vegan Con: The People!

2011-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Even though the food was delicious and Portland was great and the sun was out and the conferences were informative... probably the single most amazing part of Vida Vegan Con was meeting so many incredible people. Really, you should see the non-stop love fest that's happening on Facebook these days. I met people whose blogs I've been reading for years, I met friends I've been talking with on the PPK for years, I met cookbook authors whose recipes I've made and loved, and I met even more folks who I'd never met before and now I love them!

There were college students and grandmothers, all shapes and sizes, shy and extroverted, raw vegans and nacho vegans, Americans, expats and people from overseas... it was really amazing. {We had some vegan fellas and vegans of color, but we need more of you to come next time and add even more diversity to our experience. Come! We know you're out there!!} It was just so inspiring and heartwarming to be able to sit down at a table of strangers and not feel like strangers. Instantly there was a feeling of warmth and connection and camaraderie that was so beautiful. The people I met were smart and kind and compassionate and creative and engaged and interesting and interested. I am still on quite a high from it all! Perhaps there is hope for mankind after all! Well, actually, I'm a pretty positive and optimistic person... but this weekend really helped reinforce that.

Here are some photos that capture just a small handful of the many, many wonderful people I met:

picture from the PPK via Facebook

You may have caught on that I love the PPK. I've made so many most excellent friends from the PPK. In fact, all those great vegan potluck buddies I have here in Santa Cruz... we met online at the PPK! It was super fun to meet many of the familiar names from the forums at the PPK. Naturally everyone was just as fun and sweet (or snarky!) as I knew they would be.

My sweet PPK-care-package-swap-friend-turned-in-real-life-friend Gabrielle, of Vegans on the Move (check it out - she's sporting some of my special Vegan Eats & Treats buttons!)

picture by Erika!

Here I am in my spokesmodel finest with my fellow Vegan Battle Royale Game Show coordinators, Miss Kittee and Miss Mo... two of the funnest, most raddest and awesomest gals a girl could be asked to throw a gameshow with. They are great!

picture from the PPK via facebook

Here's our game show in action! PandaCookie of Team Vegan Destroyer faces off against VeganLisa of Team Vegan with a Shotgun. Meanwhile it looks like Kittee and I are busy bossing someone around. Ha!

picture by Bryanna Clark Grogan

Also, I love this picture of Julie Hasson (of "Vegan Diner" and Native Bowl) and Joanna with me. Plus, I love even more that the picture was taken by the sweet and wonderful Bryanna Clark Grogan. I've been loving Bryanna's recipes for years - I subscribed to her newsletters back in the day, I've got 3-4 of her cookbooks, and I love her blog so much... so it was a real superhero moment to meet her in person. And of course she's just absolutely wonderful: kind, smart, gentle and fun.

I love this picture of Kittee & Joanna hawking their wares. Look at Kittee's cute bags. I have one and they are amazing funs! Plus, everywhere you take it you will get wide-eyed compliments of awe and wonder from everyone and you will feel like a superstar. Get one for yourself. While you are at it, get her awesome new zine of gluten-free Ethiopian recipes. And get Joanna's book if you haven't already. Geez!

I sure loved meeting Mr. O from FatGayVegan. What a super sweet guy!

At the Gala with the smokin' hot Erika of The Cosmpolitan Hour. What? You still haven't listened to the Cosmpolitan Hour wrap up of Vida Vegan Con? Check it out here!

And with Mo and Jordan (the other cool bean behind The Cosmopolitan Hour)! Plus there is a friendly vegan man growing out of our heads.

There were so many more wonderful people I didn't snap pictures of (heck, I didn't even take half of these pictures!)... and I wish I had. Ever since I got home I've been adding friends to my Facebook page and blogs to my blogroll like a maniac - so many great new sites to follow and enjoy! Here are links to a few of the new ones I've added so far... check 'em out:

Lazy Smurf's Guide to Life

Choosing Raw

JL Goes Vegan

Vida Vegan Con: The Food!

2011-08-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... It's a food blog! It was a VEGAN blogging conference!

Show us the FoooooOOOoooD!

The folks at VidaVeganCon did such a great job of offering gluten-free, soy-free & raw options at every meal... and always tasty. If, like me, you don't need to follow any of those more specialized diets, it meant there were so many things to try that you couldn't even fit it all on your plate in one pass. Just the way I like it!!

From the Opening Night Reception: Tuxedo Cupcakes and Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes - This is the one I tried. The lemony cake was great, and that lemon curd was really, really good!

Day One Lunch: A piece of Grilled Zucchini, Steamed Kale, purple Cauliflower Hummus (purple!!!), roasted asparagus, BBQ Tempeh, Shredded Yellow Beet Salad, Orzo Salad, & Pesto Potato Salad. SO Many Yumz! And I loved how healthy it was, too.

Plus at lunch, these fancy bottles of MetroMint water were available. I tried one... orange mint flavor. Orange flavored things aren't usually my favorite, and plus flavored water isn't my favorite, but I found this unexpected pairing somewhat intriguing and compelling.

Dessert was a Coconut Bliss chocolate ice cream bar. Verdict: GOOOOOOOD! Problematically good, in fact. I will try to repress this memory and walk past the freezer aisle without stopping.

Saturday night was a big gala event and there was much delightful food to munch on. Vegan pizza (can you see that my piece is already half-eaten in this picture?? I was so impatient!), bruschetta with a spinach-artichoke spread, Gardein "chicken" nuggets, little mini veggie burgers cut in half, fresh spring rolls...

... and they even had Gluten-Free pizza for the xgfx amongst us!

All of that dinnertime glory was followed by an amazing ice cream sundae bar. They had chocolate and vanilla Coconut Bliss ice cream with SO many toppings... I chose chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, roasted peanuts, chopped walnuts, and crumbled oreo cookies (actually they were the ones from Trader Joes). Such decadence! Plus, ice cream twice in one day! OMG!

Lunch on Sunday was a taco/burrito bar.... Your choice of corn or flour tortillas, super yummy soy curls, roasted onions & bell peppers, lots of toppings, a whole salsa bar, walnut chorizo, spanish rice, guacamole... all soooo good. I love Mexi food, and I love guacamole and I love soy curls, so the whole thing was pretty much a hit with me.

For dessert, we had a whole bunch of new flavors from Coconut Bliss to chose from. Some people were excited about the ginger snap flavor, but I am all about chocolate. I had the Chocolate Walnut Brownie, which was absolutely great. I love nuts in my ice cream (controversial stance!), and it turns out I love pieces of brownies in my ice cream too. One of the classes I went to at the conference was called "Opinionated Bloggers," regarding taking a stand and sticking to it... apparently that message really sunk in! ha ha!

* Note: How did I not take pictures of breakfast either day? I guess I was too groggy from late night fun to take pictures! We had fruit, coconut yogurt, chia pudding, coffee & tea, biscuits & gravy, gluten free pancakes, tofu scramble... YUMZ!

Vida Vegan Con: The Conference!

2011-08-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

I'm just back from the 1st ever Vida Vegan Con, aka. Most-Awesomest-Fun-Time-Vegan-Paradise-Cool-People-&-Good-Times-Event-Ever. In case you were wondering, I had a kick-ass time! There's so much to say that I'm going to break up my VVC posts into 5 parts: the Conference, the Food, the People, The Swag & the Day After!

* bonus challenge: Where's Kittee?

The conference was so wonderful! There were so many great people. I met people whose blogs I've been reading for years, and people whose blogs I just heard about for the first time, and people who don't even have blogs (yet!).

I was signed up to speak at two events: a panel called Build-a-Blog, and our own self-styled all-vegan game show called Vegan Battle Royale. They were both great fun... but I have to say, that game show was just about the most fun I've had in a long time! Here I am with fellow game show planners and co-hosts, Kittee & Mo!

First place team: Team Vegan Destroyer! Glory in Victory!

Second place team: Vegan With a Shotgun! Dignity in Defeat!

Saturday night was a huge Gala event / fundraiser for Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Vegan food, music, dancing, friends, funky fun... it was great! Except that I got a cold and had to peel out around 9 pm. Sigh! Even vegans get colds sometimes!

Part of the fundraiser was a silent auction, with lots of great goodies that were donated. It was so fun to peruse all the cool offerings!

When I wasn't busy presenting or partying, I got to attend some of the other panels and talks, which was so wonderful. The people (presenters and attendees) were smart, fun, kind, compassionate, passionate, creative, energetic, interesting, and interested. It was absolutely rejuvenating to be in the company of such great people. Some of the classes/panels I attended included the Small Town Vegans (pictured), Planting Seeds of Compassion, The Marketing Panel, Publishing Panel, Opinionated Bloggers... and more. I know this photo is totally lackluster... but in fact it was really enthralling! There were so many great panels and talks and cooking demos, it was difficult to choose where to go and what to see. It was really inspiring, and I came away with so many ideas for myself, for my blog, and for activism.

Those of you who missed the conference should definitely check out Jordan and Erika's excellent fun podcast from the conference on The Cosmopolitan Hour!

Vida Vegan Con & Homemade Bloggie Buttons!

2011-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

The first ever vegan blogging conference (sold out!), Vida Vegan Con, is just around the corner and I am getting really excited! I'm so honored that I was invited to be a speaker, and I'm super looking forward to meeting everyone. There will be so many friends there whose blogs I have been reading for years, but who I've never had a chance to meet in person. I can't wait.

Lucky me, I get to be on two different panels. In the first, I'll be co-presenting with Sherri (of Vegan Nosh!) & Bianca (of Vegan Crunk!) on the "Build-A-Blog" panel - we'll be discussing all the ins & outs of hosting options, blog promotions, stat tracking and more. It should be very informative!

Also! Kittee (Cake Maker to the Stars) & Mo (Mo Betta Vegan!) & little ol' me are throwing a party with the first-ever all-vegan gameshow, Vegan Battle Royale. We have grand plans and awesome prizes, so it should be a seriously good time!

To celebrate, I wanted to have a little something to share with all the kind folks I meet, and everyone who comes to the classes I get to be a part of ... so I got out my trusty button maker and make about 150 buttons featuring my little family! What fun!

See you at the conference, and if you can't make it this time... rest assured, there are already plans for the next time around!

Snackin' Around Town in Italy

2011-08-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Italy is such a vegan-friendly place, especially Southern Italy - where they are much more likely to use olive oil than butter. It's also helpful that I speak Italian (well enough, anyway!), so I can ask and make sure that what I'm eating is vegan... Of course there are plenty of amazing looking pastries and breads and pizzas that aren't vegan, but I thought I'd show you some of the snacks I found while touristing my way across Southern Italy.

Tomatoes in Naples!

Seriously friends, those tomatoes in the south were downright glorious. I love tomatoes, I grow tomatoes, I have friends who farm organic dry-farmed tomatoes... so, it's not like I've never had a proper tomato. But the tomatoes in Southern Italy were so amazing and so full of flavor, we would often just buy a big bundle for a snack.

Stuffed focaccia in Naples

Off on some lesser-wandered, totally non-tourist back street we found this great little bakery. Mr Vegan Eats & Treats got something non-vegan (boo!), but I got one stuffed with escarole and it was great. Incidentally, according to Mr. VE&T, it was better than the one he got, so there!

Fruit Vendor in Naples

Of course, everywhere you go in Italy there are glorious vendors of fruits and veggies... where you can find delicious, hydrating, nutritious snacks! (this place is a little pricey, though!)

Open-air Market in Naples

Every once in a while you'll get extra lucky and stumble upon a bigger market... with fruits and veggies and undershirts and flea market items and notepads and other things you don't need but that are really fun to look at. The fruits and veggies are always the most beautiful though, all nicely arranged and colorful.

Antica Dolceria Bonajuto in Modica

Down in Sicily, our first destination was Modica... a beautiful little town that has a long history of making chocolate. We went to the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the most well-regarded chocolatier in town. Every single flavor but one was vegan, so I was quite delighted. It's not that often, as a world-traveller vegan, that I get to enjoy the regional specialties!

Traditionally there were only a few flavors, but now they make so many flavors it's quite amazing! My favorites were hazelnut, cardamom, and white pepper. Mmm. The chocolate in Modica is still made in the way that the ancient Mexicans used to make chocolate. It's a little bit gritty, but very rich and full of flavor. The history goes that when Modica was controlled by Spain (back in the day!), the Spaniards came back from Mexico with chocolate and the people in Modica have been making it that way ever since.

Pachino Cherry Tomatoes

Pachino is a little town in the SE of Sicily, famous for its cherry tomatoes. Boy Howdy, were they delicious! I bought some seeds, but it turns out that Pachino is very special because the soil there is very sandy, and the farmers use half-fresh water and half-sea water when they water their crops, which is what results is such special little tomatoes. At least, that's what the man at the seed store told me!

Sun-drying Tomatoes in Modica

Up in the sweet little residential streets of Modica, we met so many friendly and talkative folks. We spotted this beautiful display of cherry tomatoes drying in the sun, and the lady of the house (who did not want her picture taken!) came out and offered us some. Such a sweet lady, and such delicious tomatoes. She said it takes about 2-3 days for the tomatoes to dry out, depending on how big they are. Mmmm.

Oranges from Siracusa

Sicily is famous for its citrus and the oranges really were great. In fact, we saw SO much agriculture (and even wild fruit trees!) in Sicily. We saw fig trees, pomegranate trees, caper bushes, almond trees, stone fruit trees, olive trees (duh!), orange trees, lemon trees, and so much more. It was so beautiful!

Fennel Seed Taralli from Siracusa

Also in Siracusa we got some great little snacks - various cookies and crackers all made with olive oil (not butter!), and therefore vegan. These round crackers came in a few flavors, but we got the ones with salt and fennel seeds and they were crazy good. A perfect car snack for a car full of folks road-tripping around Italy! These taralli can be found in sweet or savory varieties, and of course we tried both. :)

"God is Vegetarian"

Somewhere on a small road in our travels through Southern Italy, we were just cruising along when my mom spied this excellent little graffiti moment! On the other side of this wall, they had also written "Animals Have Souls" - most excellent! I loved knowing that somewhere in the Sicilian countryside was a kindred spirit!

Italy! Pizza! Pasta! Gelato! Ciao!

2011-08-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering what the heck happened to this blog!? Well, I've been off in Italy for 5 1/2 weeks... pretty much without much access to the internet, and with no way to blog. So, here I am - home again, with copious jet lag, and loads of pictures to share with you!

What is the first thing you think of when you think of Italian food? PIZZA!

Followed shortly behind by PASTA! and then, of course, GELATO!

I can assure you, great quantities of Pizza, Pasta & Gelato were consumed.

I won't bore you with all the details, just a few representative pictures & highlights:

PIZZA TIME!

This isn't technically pizza, it's more like foccacia, or schiacciata... but whatever you want to call it in Italian, I call it YUMMY in Amey-language. This delicious snack was from Naples, where we had quite a lot of good pizza... most of which was gobbled down without pausing for the camera. But this was an amazingly good find, from a wonderful little bakery, covered with totally amazing flavor-bomb cherry tomatoes and just the right amount of olive oil and salt. This is the sort of thing I really miss from Italy... simple, straight-forward, super-fresh ingredients, and somehow totally magical.

Usually, at your average pizzeria, a friendly vegan is required to find something on the menu and remove the cheese. Occasionally you'll find a very simple pizza with just olive oil, garlic, & oregano or something like that... but that's not really a super great dinner now, is it? So, I usually go with a pizza "Vegetariana" and ask for it without cheese. This one here was sort of an oddball combo - artichoke hearts, peas, spinach, eggplant... honestly, not really all that delicious, but it did the job of getting me something to eat. By the way, I ate this pizza around midnight, at an outdoor pizzeria in Modica (Sicily), that was completely full with people and children and families. Ah, la bella vita!

That said, every once in a while, a hungry vegan gets really lucky. This cheeseless Pizza Vegetariana was a real highlight. It's from the amazing little town of Pizzo (!! Pizza in Pizzo!!) - and as you can see, the veggies were grilled first, and had so much flavor, and even without the cheese, this pizza was full of flavor and served with much love.

I'm not sure what kind of expression that is on my face, but it must be something having to do with "Let's get this photo over with, and start eating!" By the way, did you know that in Italy, the usual drill is to order a whole pizza per person? Pizzas in Italy don't come in sizes, it's just 1-pizza-per-person-sized, and that's that. Also, most Italians eat their pizza with a fork and knife, not in slices. Unless you're specifically getting just a slice to eat for a snack, of course.... which is sort of a different thing.

This sweet little number was my last meal in Italy, and was probably the best pizza of the whole trip... except maybe tied with the very first meal we had - which was also pizza, in Naples. This is the pizza "Pasquale" from a great place in Florence called "Pizza Man" - naturally vegan straight off the menu! - with tomato puree, black pepper, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, basil and fresh oregano. Oh MAN this was good. I'm so grateful for my awesome friend Cecilia who buzzed me around the hills of Florence on her scooter and then took me out to Pizza Man for dinner. All the ingredients on this pizza were super fresh and the end result was magically delicious. There is a little Pizza Man-shaped hole in my heart now, which can only be filled with another trip to Florence for more Pizza Man pizza.

I AM A PASTA MONSTER!

Dear friends. I ate so much pasta on this trip. Phew. I love pasta, but really now... some times a vegan just wants to eat some vegetables, you know? However, there were a few pasta highlights worth sharing:

When we were in Sicily, we spent one day at Agrigento - enjoying the amazing and beautiful ancient Greek ruins. First we went to museum, which was quite wonderful, and we decided to have lunch there at the museum. The museum cafe was a very sweet little outdoor area in the shade of the pine trees, and I ordered some totally lovely pasta for lunch. Vegan as is! This may not look very exciting, and I suppose it isn't really, but it was another example of how the freshness of the ingredients can really transform a simple dish into something surprising. This pasta was totally scrumptious - not in spite of the simplicity, but rather because of its simplicity.

I am a happy chicken.

Back in Modica, we went out for dinner at a lovely restaurant that had a few nice pasta dishes that were vegan. This was a really beautiful soup with homemade pasta (eggless! *) and fava beans. Mmmm. The favas had a great earthy flavor and the pasta was just perfect - chewy and soaking up the flavor of the broth. Also, what a great serving dish, huh?

* vegan traveller side note: If you are a mindful vegan, it's helpful to check which pastas are made with eggs, since most fresh pasta does have eggs. Apparently some shapes are not usually made with eggs, however. Also, I found that pretty much every restaurant has dry pasta in the kitchen, even if it's not mentioned on the menu... and restaurants were happy to switch out the dry pasta for fresh pasta without any hassle.

At the same restaurant we also got this lovely dish - with a tomato & eggplant sauce. I really loved this one. It had a much brighter, higher acid flavor and it was a great compliment to the earthy fava bean dish. Although I am happy to ask for dishes without cheese or track down the pasta with no eggs, it's always a special joy when traveling to be able to order something straight off the menu and feel that I am enjoying a local dish the same way the locals enjoy it.

Of special note: I bought this pasta at a little shop in Ragusa... First of all, this is one of my favorite shapes (little rings), and not an easy shape to find in the states. Second of all, this is a special pasta made in Sicily on with crops and production entirely free of mafia influence. It says on the top "from land liberated from the mafia"! Wow! Not a pasta consideration that I usually think about... but seemed like a very appropriate vegan purchase - another way to contribute to the elimination of suffering and injustice through dietary choices. This project even has quite an extensive website, if you're interested.

GELATOoooooOOO!

The gelato situation in Italy is really fantastic. Everywhere you go, there are gelato shops. And it's not just a tourist thing... it's downright legitimate. At all hours of day and night you will find people eating gelato - kids, old people, business people, tourists... everyone loves gelato. And, luckily, you will also have many vegan options. Sometimes you'll find soy-based gelatoes, which is always a treat, but pretty much always in Italy the fruit flavors will be vegan. Also, I found that very often the dark chocolate was vegan (cioccolato fondente), much to my delight. This is one of my favorite combos: dark chocolate and frutti di bosco (mixed berries). Mmmmmm.

Here I am in Pizzo, having finished my pizza, and ready for some more gelato. Looks like another dark chocolate + fruity combo. I think I got strawberry that day. And I recall that this dark chocolate was especially powerful - just the way I like it!

Here's something silly. I know I should be more excited about the fancy little glass jars of fresh artisanal-made gelato, but I was really really excited about finding these vegan ice cream cones at the Coop supermercato in San Casciano. They came in a 4-pack, and I ate those little babies up all by myself! (though I did manage to make them last for 4 days). These sorts of pre-made cones and ice cream treats are a real phenomena in Italy and I really associate them with my time in Italy over the years. So, finding a vegan version meant a lot to me.

Plus, there is the special joy of peeling away that paper wrapping and uncovering this glorious creation! Swirls of frothy ice cream! Chocolate topping! Roasted peanuts! Glory hallelujah!

And then you get to dig in with vegan-abandon! What fun! The best part of all is that the inside of the cone is coated with chocolate, and when you get down to the very bottom of the cone there is a big chunk of chocolate, which guarantees that your last bite will be wonderful and satisfying. It's probably a good thing that I was only able to buy one box of these, and that they aren't available at my local hippee store, because otherwise I would be eating them all the time. Yumzo!
Last but not least - Sicilian Granitas! We had these amazing creations in the lovely little town of Noto, which is famous for its granitas. They are pretty much like an super high class icee/slurpee. We got lemon and almond flavors - both of which were vegan, and both of which were totally glorious and delicious. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Both lemons and almonds are big crops in that part of Sicily, so these are the traditional flavors, along with coffee, which we didn't try. If you ever find yourself in Noto, looking for something to eat, don't skip the granitas, they were really fantastic.

more posts from my Italian travels coming soon,

it's great to be back!

Birthday Lasagna!!

2011-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, and even though I had a busy day with lots of yoga classes to teach, I was in the mood to celebrate! Some years I'm not really in the groove, some years I am - and this year I am. So, I decided to make myself a giant lasagna. I really, really love lasagna. It's probably one of my favorite things in the whole world, but I don't make it all that often because it's a lot of work. Which means it's a perfect birthday splurge! Also, if I do say so myself, I make a damn good vegan lasagna. So, as my birthday present to you, I'm sharing my recipe with you! Go forth and lasagna!

The day before yesterday, I made a big double batch of Tofu Ricotta, a batch of cashew creme, and the tomato sauce. That made actual birthday-day work quick and not too much. Plus, Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats helped me in the kitchen, which is quite rare, and we had so much fun goofing off together while we assembled the lasagna. Here it is, all ready to go into the oven at the right time! I even have a pretty lasagna dish that Mr VE&T gave me a few years back!

Please forgive me for this blurry picture, but when this big beauty came out of the oven, we were all eager to dig in! In addition to Mr VE&T, we celebrated my birthday with my super love friend Jane and her great husband and their little cutie pie daughter. It was really great.

Jane and her family brought along this BIG and beautiful salad, all with food fresh from their amazing organic farm. So light and fresh and deeeelicious. It was a perfect compliment to the lasagna, too!

While we were in the kitchen making our lasagna, Mr VE&T also helped me make myself a birthday cake! After MUCH deliberation, I decided to make the Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake with Meyer Lemon Sauce from the Millenium Cookbook. Their recipe in the book is actually for 6 mini cakes, so I one-and-a-halved their recipe for my full-size bundt pan. I'd never made it before - but Hot Damn! didn't it just turn out perfectly??? I was quite delighted.

Here it is all dressed up and ready to be eaten... complete with Meyer Lemon Sauce drizzled all over it. So beautiful and... more importantly ... so super delicious. Moist, lemony, light, and positively perfect. I can't wait to make this cake again!

We had the cake with some amazing strawberry compote that Jane brought (with strawberries from their farm!), and pineapple-coconut ice cream... it was a perfect, fruity-fruity combo! And also, it was a perfect little birthday dinner... special and warm and fun and peaceful. Lucky me! To extend my birthday joy, now I will share with you, my beloved blog readers, my lasagna recipe:

Amey's Amazingly Yummy Vegan Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb lasagna noodles

Tomato Sauce:

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 28-oz can tomato sauce

1-2 tsp olive oil for sauteeing

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper

Tofu Ricotta (recipe from Voluptuous Vegan):

1 lb. firm tofu

2 Tbsp good extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tsp mellow miso paste

2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Cashew Creme (adapted from Veganomicon):

1/4 c. cashews, soaked in water for at least one hour, or overnight... the longer, the creamier)

1/2 lb silken tofu

4 1/2 tsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp arrowroot powder, or cornstarch

1 small clove of garlic

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Veggies:

1 tsp olive oil

4 zucchini (not the humongous ones)

2 carrots

3 big batches of spinach

Let's Get Cookin':

You can make the tomato sauce, tofu ricotta, & cashew creme all the night before, if you want.

Also, first things first, get your cashews soaking for the cashew creme.

To prepare the tomato sauce:

In a large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until they are translucent, approx 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1-2 more minutes. Add all the spices and saute another minute or two. Now add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

To prepare the Tofu Ricotta:

Crumble the tofu into a food processor. Add in the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and miso. Process it all up until it's pretty smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Now add in the rosemary and pulse a few more times until it's all integrated. Scrape out into a bowl and set aside.

To prepare the Cashew Creme:

Add everything into the food processor (or blender) and blend it up until smooth. Scrape out the creme into a ziplock sandwich bag and set aside until you need it.

Cook your veggies:

Slice your zukes and carrots into thin little rounds (maybe 1/8"). This is an excellent opportunity to use your mandoline, if you have one. Then, heat the oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots first, and stir occasionally. After about 5 minutes, add in the zukes, and continue to saute until they are nicely softened, but not overly browned, about 10-15 more minutes. You can't really screw it up. Don't worry. Once they're ready, remove from heat and set aside.

If you can multi-task in the kitchen, you can wash your spinach while keeping an eye on the zukes and carrots. All the spinach needs to be really well washed. Then toss the leaves into a big skillet or soup and cook until truly wilted. Squeeze off any & all excess liquid, or else you will have a watery lasagna experience and you will be sad. Set aside your cooked-down spinach.

Cook your noodles! Until soft, but still firm. Basically, follow the directions on your lasagna noodle box.

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Now, you are officially ready to assemble your lasagna. I like to be very orderly about this affair and have everything laid out in one place on the counter top.

1. Put a little tomato sauce in the bottom of your dish

2. Lay down a layer of lasagna noodles

3. Take out 1/3 of the tofu ricotta and crumble/spread it all over the noodles. (I use my fingers... but wash your hands first, kiddos!)

4. Lay on half the zuke-carrot mix.

5. Lay on half the spinach.

6. Spread on some more tomato sauce.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 (noodles-ricotta, zuke-carrot, spinach, tomato sauce)

Be sure to save enough tomato sauce for the top!

8. Lay on another level of lasagna noodles.

9. Spread on the final 1/3 of the tofu ricotta

10. Spread on the rest of the tomato sauce.

11. Get your baggie of Cashew Creme and cut a smallish piece off one of the corners of the plastic baggie. Pipe the cashew creme all over the top of the lasagna.

Now, you are almost there! Pop your beautiful lasagna creation in the hot oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Personally, I like it a little crispy, so I leave it in a little closer to 1 hour. Take it out, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before you cut it open. Eat, enjoy, be a lasagna piggy.

Happy Lasagna to You!

Persian Puff Pastry Cookies

2011-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

These are the Yazdi Turnover Pastry with Cardamom (aka Sanbuseh) cookies from Silk Road Cooking. I made them a little while back and loved them! I think this is maybe only the second time I've ever bought/used puff pastry, since it's not exactly health food. But how cool that it's so easy to find vegan puff pastry at the supermarket! Don't they look beautiful and puffy?!

These cookies are stuffed with the most amazing filling EVER. I think I will have to make the filling and just eat it on its own. It's a simple but alluring combo of almonds, sugar, cardamom and rose water... somehow those few ingredients combine into a glorious hallelujah moment of tastiness. Once baked, the cookies are rolled (gently, now!) in powdered sugar and sprinkled with ground pistachios. Now I'm all jazzed up to find more excuses to make these again... they're that good!

Vegan Diner!

2011-06-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write up a review for Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson for quite a while now, but I keep making more and more things from it - and wanting to include those in my post too. In case you're in a hurry, here's my review in a nutshell: This book is amazing and I love it and you should go buy it!! Now, for the more complete review...

The first thing I made was the Smoky Spinach and Tomato Salad (with Smoky Curls). First, let's talk about those Smoky Curls. This recipe calls for Butler Soy Curls, which most of us have to get via mail order - but they are worth it. They're made of non-GMO soy protein with a totally neutral flavor that can be tweaked in countless ways, and they have a great texture. These Smoky Curls are just amazing. Soooooo good - salty and smoky with a touch of sweetness... they come together in 20 minutes and make a delicious little snack, addition to a salad, or an evening protein blast with an otherwise light dinner. I have made them many times already. In fact, Mr Vegan Eats and Treats is totally nutso for them and requests them all the time. Looks like I'll have to order some more soy curls soon!

Here's the completed Smoky Spinach and Tomato Salad - topped with the lovely Creamy Tomato Dressing. What a delicious meal! So full of flavors and textures and nutrients... rich and light all at once. Protein! Greens! Veggies! Flavor! So good!

Next up, I tried my hand at Julie's cheeze recipes. First I made the Great Smoky Mountain Cheeze, which I really, really loved, but somehow it escaped photo-documentation. Pictured here is the Garlic Dill Cheeze - also amazing! Both recipes are made with a base of silken tofu, so they're packed with protein, and then all the added spices give great flavor so that you don't at all feel like you're eating a big hunk of tofu. Also, the texture is absolutely perfect - you can slice it or spread it - and it's creamy, creamy, creamy. I made a big batch of bagels recently for a friend (Pesto Bagels from 500 Vegan Recipes - such a perfect recipe, by the way!!) - and I made a couple extra for myself. I loved the Garlic Dill Cheeze on a pesto bagel with some cucumber and tomato slices... heaven! This temptation alone has me planning another batch of Garlic Dill Cheeze for this weekend.

My friend who needed bagels also needed some muffins. So, I looked through Vegan Diner and picked out the Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins - bonanza! The whole "What's the difference between a muffin and a cupcake?" issue can be complicated and confusing sometimes, but not here. These muffins are what I would consider a True Muffin, and I was super stoked about that. They're just pleasantly sweet, but not at all overbearing - and definitely not "a sweetie." I love that Julie's recipe called for oil and applesauce, to not go overboard on the fat and calories, but to keep the moisture of the muffins. Also, I loved the overall flavor combo - cherries, almond extract, and poppyseeds! I plan on making more of these again soon. Possibly tomorrow. :)

Next up: Quinoa Burgers! One batch makes 6 burgers, which was great for me, because we each had one for dinner, and then the rest went straight to the freezer (precooked) where they were available for quick lunches or dinners. Notice my use of the past-tense... they didn't last long! I really loved these burgers a lot. They were not too crumbly, which can be an issue for some homemade burgers. Great flavor - a little smoky, rich, with a surprising depth of flavor. Also - special bonus - they are gluten free so I can make them for my GF loved ones too! You can see that I used red quinoa, since that's what I had in the fridge, which gave them a pretty look.

Here's another burger shot, just because.

Finally, just last night I made the Pastrami-Style Seitan Loaf. HOLY YUM, Batman!! Honestly, I don't think I've ever in my life tasted pastrami, so I can't vouch for that. But I have tasted YUM in my life and I can definitely vouch that this stuff is The Yumz. Big time. Plus, it took about 3 minutes of effort, and then 50 minutes of doing nothing. I love recipes like that. I've been needing some more protein in my life lately, what with all my new muscles (yeah!), and I really don't foresee that being a problem now that I've found this great recipe. I can't wait to try the other seitan recipes in Vegan Diner too. This loaf was quick, easy (almost effortless), has amazing flavor, and perfect texture. I am in love!

Lastly, but not leastly, I'd like to mention what a totally beautiful cookbook this is. I know it shouldn't matter, but we all know it does. Vegan Diner is just lovely - beautiful cover, excellent fonts (I'm nerdy like that), great layout and color scheme, high quality paper, embossed writing on the cover (fun to touch!), great pictures throughout the book, lovely little write-ups for the recipes... it's just a joy to flip through and read. I've made quite a few things now, and there are still many, many more that I can't wait to try out. Congratulations and big thanks to Miss Julie, for such a great cookbook!!

Healthy Hedonist Holidays

2011-05-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've got an awful lot of cookbooks... one entire bookshelf that's already overflowing, not to mention two or three drawers in the kitchen that are also stuffed full of cookbooks. I'm a cookbook person, I guess.

Of all of those, two of my all-time most favorites are Voluptuous Vegan and The Healthy Hedonist, both by Myra Kornfeld. I got Voluptuous Vegan as a gift from my cousin Eliza, way back when I was still reasonably new to cooking vegan food. I found it intimidating and shoved it in the cupboards. Thank god I rediscovered it eventually, because now I have made and LOVED so many recipes from that book... it's just crazy. In fact, VV is the most frequently sited cookbook on my blog. The Healthy Hedonist came along later and includes some recipes featuring fish and chicken and eggs... but also plenty of delicious vegan recipes or vegan options in non-vegan recipes. So, when I saw "The Healthy Hedonist Holidays" on sale a while back, I bought it right away. However, I didn't make anything from it for quite a while. HHH is, again, not a vegan book, but features some vegan recipes (fewer than Healthy Hedonist). The book is laid out by holiday and features a large menu with everything from appetizers to entrees to desserts for each holiday. I finally broke it open last Christmas and made a polenta casserole that was super delicious. So, in an effort to use the nice cookbooks I already have, I recently decided to sift through HHH and see what I could pull together for some regular weeknight dinners.

The first thing I picked was the Tofu Leek Tart with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs. As you can see, I decided to skip the crust... mostly just to keep the calories down. I didn't quite crumble the tofus enough for the dish to hold together perfectly, but the flavor was really great. The filling had tofu, leeks (lots!), garlic, miso, tarragon & basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and a few other things... a great combination of ingredients I generally have on hand (except the fresh tarragon, which required a special trip to the store!).

A few nights later I made the Golden Squash and Chickpea Soup with Roasted Chickpea Nuts... which was a huge success! It's actually a pretty simple recipe, but somehow the flavors came together in an elegant way. The soup is rich and velvety, and the roasted chickpeas are just about the yummiest thing EVER. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats was pretty freaked out by how delicious those chickpeas were. He suggested it should now be officially against the law to ever eat chickpeas in any other format... but I'm not ready for that sort of draconian measure against my favorite bean. I'll definitely make this soup again - it was wonderful!

That's all for now, but I plan to continue exploring HHH and seeing what other recipe treasures I can find in there!

Ethiopian Dinners & Homemade Injera

2011-05-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a little while back that I've been doing some tester cooking for Miss Kittee's upcoming xgfx zine (all gluten-free, all vegan, all delicious!). She's got a big section of the zine devoted to Ethiopian cooking, and her recipes are amazing! So many exciting and interesting flavors and spice combos. We don't have an Ethiopian restaurant here in Santa Cruz, and before trying Kittee's recipes, I had only had Ethiopian food once before. Honestly, I didn't like it all that much. But, luckily, my sense of duty as a tester drove me forward... and I'm glad it did, because Kittee's amazing recipes have definitely converted me!

First up are some Ethiopian Red Lentils, and Ethiopian Beets (at Kittee's suggestion, I used a combo of root veggies)... plus some steamed kale on the side (not necessarily Ethiopian. but yummy & healthy). The Ethiopian Red Lentils are thick, heavily stewed, and seem like an exotic first cousin of Indian food... nicely spiced and savory. The Ethiopian Beets Plus are so delicious, it's a total freak-out situation. SO GOOD. I've made them many times already.

Here's a picture of my beets and root veggies pre-roasting... just because veggies are beautiful!

AND... drumroll please... homemade injera! Kittee has a really ingenious recipe for these injeras, which makes them both gluten-free, and quite dependably delicious. Homemade injera can be quite a task, but these were easy and perfect and very, very tasty. Any injera fans out there in the world will definitely be stoked on this recipe!

Another night I made Ethiopian Lentils with Okra and Sausage Patties. As you can see, I was all out of injera batter, so I resorted to white rice this time. This was such a super great dinner. The flavors and textures of the sauce, spices, okra, and sausage chunks all combined perfectly for a major flavor fest. Mr Vegan Eats and Treats was ooohing and aaahing his way through dinner. I think we ate the whole batch in one night... like little piggies!

Here's a close up the sausage patties all on their own. In case you are wondering, they are even more delicious than they look. They are sooo good. Quite a few of these little cuties disappeared down my pie hole before they could make their way into the final stew. Mr. VE&T is particularly obsessed with these little taste bombs, and he wants me to come up with a million different recipes involving these, so that we can have them for dinner every night.

Keep your eyes out for Kittee's new zine... word on the street is that she's busy with pre-production layout! Huzzah! Soon, you too can be eating homemade sausage patties and injera!