Thanks to the VegCookbookClub, I've actually cooked regularly. I don't claim to do anything facy and recipe-based more than a few times a month, but I am keeping up.
The problem is that then I snap the shots of the food, post them to Instagram, and never quite make it over here to blog it.
August's cookbook is Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. And I've made three recipes:
Greek Lemon Soup:
Thoughts: I like lemon, I like artichoke hearts, I like garlic. In other words: This worked for me. I might add some tofu for some protein (although the recipe already does call for chickpeas).
Mexican Meat Loaf:
Thoughts: So easy. And pretty damn hearty. I'd make this again.
Cheezburger Pie:
Thoughts: Go light on the vegan cheese. Even if oyu like Daiya shredded cheddar, which I do, a little goes a long way.
I'll be trying a few more recipes form the book before the month is out, because I'm actually not traveling at all the next 3 weeks, so looking forward to it!
The farmer's market is always a sight for sore eyes, and I'm surprised how often I run across a fruit or vegetable I don't actually recognize.
Last weekend it was these:
I understand they're a kind of eggplant. Eggplant isn't my favorite food inthe world (I know, weird for a vegan not to like eggplant) but these were so pretty I was tempted to take them home. I didn't.
Have you ever seen these and cooked with them before?
It's interesting because their claim is that no other diet has ever ever been subjected to such a study and therefore this is the first time any diet has been proven to have such an effect.
That's interesting beacuse certainly I would have thought they'd at least give a glancing nod to the China Study, which was also large-scale and long-term.
Instead their one real mention of the vegan diet (cited by many to be heart-healthy) is this:
"Vegan diets have never been rigorously tested, and probably never will be, Dr. Lichtenstein said. “Given the high cost of conducting a long-term diet study we have to think about what is feasible for the majority of the U.S. population,” she said. “From past experience, we know it is highly unlikely people are going to make radical changes in their diet and stick with those changes long term.”
So, I have two problems with this:
1. I'm sure 50 years ago no one ever thought smoking rates would decline from about half of Americans to about 20%. But education about the risk factors, and legislative action from the municipal to federal levels made a huge difference. And, presumably, saved lives. To write off our ability to adapt and evolve so casually seems grossly flippant when we are talking about the number one killer of men and women.
2. Again, beating the drum that things like heart disease and stroke are the top killers in America, do we really not see the value in figuring out if something could reduce those diseases by a huge percentage? Let's say even 20% of Americans would act on such information...is that not worth it? If we can figure out how to live longer and healthier by simply eating regular foods, how is that something we don't want to find out? And disseminate to the masses, and at least give people the *choice* to act or not act.
It seems like the real message is "Ohh, the Mediterranean Diet sounds easy and fun, and it helps...to a degree. Great, job done, let's move on."
Our culture certainly has fallen into this trap of thinking nothing should be challenging; no sacrifices need be made; effort=impossible.
I don't think it's helping us any...and you could say the same about our economy, our politics, and now, our health.
February's #VegCookbookClub book is Colleen Patrick Goudreau's Color Me Vegan, and unlike last month where I was feeling uninspired, I've bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try in this one.
I've tried three recipes already, all of which have turned out pretty well. Of course I do my usual substitutions and omission, lazy chef that I am, but these recipes all provided ample quantities of hearty food that lasted me for days.
Here's what I made:
1. Cajun Red Beans and Rice for Super Bowl Sunday
This was a super-simple concotion of brown rice, canned kidney beans and vegan sausage. I use vegan chipotle chorizo from Field Harvest, and I also substituted one chopped poblano pepper for the green bell pepper called for. Finally, the recipe includes a mini-recipe for your own cajun seasoning, which would have made enough to save some for later. Instead I just took the ingredients I had on hand for that cajun seasoning (cayenne pepper, paprika, onion powder, black pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, chili powder, and ground mustard) and tossed a bit of each into the pot. I thought the combo came out really spicy and awesome, but all that spice, the poblano, the chipotle sausage, plus the onion and garlic that get sauteed up to kick off the recipe did result in a little too much heat for some. I did have a couple of family members that it just too spicy for.
The recipe takes almost an hour start-to-finish, but that's mostly because of the 40 minutes of simmering after you've combined all the ingredients, including the brown rice.
I'm always happy when I can use my cute little Le Creuset round casserole, and this looked pretty cute in it, but you get a picture of a hearty bowlful:
2. Peanut Pumpkin Soup
This soup is rich, but perhaps a little bland. And yes, that's likely because I only used red pepper flakes of all the spices and herbs the recipe called for. I rejected putting bay leaves, thyme and sage in it, since those are not my favorite flavors, but didn't compensate with enough curry powder, salt and garlic powder. I will say that the soup was better on days two and three.
This is also a very simple recipe. There's a bit of chopping (onion, celery and carrots) and a lengthy simmer period (30 minutes) but if you've got a leftover can of pumpkin puree in the pantry that you never used in the Fall, then you're probably able to whip this up pretty easily.
After sauteeing the aforementioned chopped vegetables, you add a can of white beans (I used cannellini), peanut butter that's been blended with hot or boiling water to create a smooth liquid (I used hot water...too lazy to even boil some up!), a can of pumpkin puree, some white wine, some cubed yellow potatoes, all those spices, and vegetable stock or water.
And then you just let it simmer.
I also have this habit of *never* using vegetable stock in the quantities called for. I always replace at least half with plain water. I don't make my own vegetable stock, and even the highest quality organic super-special store-bought stock comes with a strong flavor that turns me off. So when I say this soup was a tad blander than I would have liked, I fully acknowledge that is entirely of my own doing.
It looked beauitful, was very rich and creamy, and I shared it with a co-worker 3 days later, and it was proclaimed to be excellent soup :)
3. Finally, last night, I made Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans.
Only for me it was: Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples, Nuts, and Baked Tofu
I will try most Brussels Sprouts recipes, because I love them and try to always have some on hand. This dish was a definite hit. My S.O. gobbles up anything I make with pretty consistent fervor, but doesn't talk about the dishes much. This one elicited three separate compliments.
Left to my own devices I always start a dish by sauteeing in olive oil, sometimes avocado oil. This dish started by sauteeing in Earth Balance vegan butter, which lends it a bit of richness. After sauteeing up a bunch of shredded Sprouts and salt, you add in one tart apple (I used Granny Smith), garlic cloves and maple syrup...another key ingredient for this combo.
While you're doing all this sauteeing, you can simultaneously be toasting your nuts. I'm not a big pecan fan, and never have them on hand, so I used a combo of slivered almonds and pine nuts. Using one of the other probably would have suited just as well, but I got wild and crazy and mixed my nuts.
The recipe ends as simply as it begun...toss in the nuts, some salt and pepper, and the juice of a lemon and toss it all together. Patrick Goudreau says the lemon is option, but I think it's pretty important. She also suggests adding tofu to take this dish from a side dish to a main dish. I had some store-bought baked tofu on hand (from Costco!) and tossed that in, and it did make this a full dinner. I cna also easily see using seitan, which I'm much more likely to always have on hand.)
Speaking of Costco...I went for only the second time ever (the last time being over a decade ago) and it totally freaked me out. But they did actually have some vegan stuff there that I tried, like this baked tofu.
Given the S.O. clearly enthusiastic response, and the ease of this dish, It's going to become one of my staples!
There you have it: My week in #VegCookbookClub cooking!
It has been surprising to me for quite some time that Trader Joe's did not carry a vegan cheese...especially since they carried soy cheese. Just not *vegan* soy cheese. I mean, why bother?
Since they carry tons of white label foods, I'm guessing, per TDIV's description, that this is actually the exact same cheese as Galaxy.
Given the lack of casomorphin in non-dairy cheese, I actually rarely cook with the vegan cheese in my fridge...a true feat considering my every single meal used to have cheese melted on top. But I guess I'll whip something up soon, just to try this new product out.
The January #VegCookbookClub book is Kriss Carr's Crazy Sexy Kitchen. I actually haven't followed Carr's story too closely. I know she was sick, and now she's not, and that she credits her plant-based diet. So, that's cool. But that's about the extent of my knowledge.
I was looking for a simple recipe that would use some of what I already had in the fridge...one of my big goals is always to stop wasting so much fresh, organic produce by letting it rot in my produce drawers!
And when I get so busy that I stop making my evening green juice (which seems to be the case since the end of the holidays) it's all to often wonderful dark leafy greens that suffer most.
So this Lentil Chard Ragout recipe was perfect.
It used the following items I had on hand: Shallots, dry lentils, chard, frozen peas, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, garlic, red pepper flakes (direct from the Istanbul Spice Market!), lemons to zest, salt, pepper, and Earth Balance vegan butter.
I substituted regular red wine for sherry or marsala wine.
I did *not* have (and didn't miss): fresh parsley or fresh thyme.
And I did what I always do with recipes calling for vegetable stock...i replace at least half of the stock with just water. I find most veggie stocks to be too salty and impart too much of a sour, processed flavor for my taste.
This is a one pot dish where first you saute up the shallots and garlic, then oyu add in the lentils, wine and stock and simmer to cook the lentils, and then you pile in the other ingredients to cook some more..adding them all, over time, until you're done.
Easy peasy. Not short, particularly, since you do need to take that 20 minutes or so to get the lentils cooked. But couldn't be simpler and easy clean-up.
The lemon zest, in my opinion, is the key ingredient. It takes the earthy stew and gives it this slightly unexpected lightness and fresh flavor. I love squeezing lemon juice on greens any time I cook them, so obviously I'm a big fan of that combo: YMMV.
It's a nice big portion, but you might even think of doubling it. This was a wonderful dish two and three days later. And given the chilly weather, heating up a bowl of this is the perfect lunch to bring to work.
Here are my two pictures...in the pot, and in the bowl.
I think that the increased interest in both plant-based diets and in artisanal cooking approaches (e.g. preserving, canning, etc.) and the advent of food blogging has prompted the tradition of cooking with black eyed peas to spread beyond the South.
I now know folks from every part of the country who make a specific effort to cook something that incorporates this tradition during the New Year.
The recipe from Vegan Holiday Kitchen is a beans, rice and vegan sausage hot dish with tomatoes and spices galore.
I didn't think through the recipe carefully enough and used vegan chorizo (Soyrizo brand), instead of the actual vegan Field Harvest brand sausage I also had in the fridge. This doesn't matter much from a taste perspective...I like the spiciness of the chorizo...but it matters from a presentation perspective. The dish is designed to have browned *slices* of sausage in it (to emulate the hamhock or pork sausage that the traditional recipes may call for).
Instead, the chorizo really doesn't hold together into slices very well, even after trying to brown them on their own before mixing them into everything else. So it really resembles ground "meat" more than providing the chewy texture and mouthfeel of sausage.
I liked it and ate it for three days without complaint (as did my omnivorous S.O.) but lesson learned nonetheless.
And here's what it looked like in the skillet. You can see it would look quite different indeed if the sausage were slices, not ground up.
These are the most important ingredients I need in my fridge or pantry, no matter what. If you have these, I feel like you’re pretty much set. This list might be especially great to share with any flirts that you know to get them started!
I love Alicia Silverstone and the Kind Life, so I'm a little depressed that of her 20 items she can't live without, I only regularly have 8 on hand.
I did buy Ume plums when I first read her book. And I confess I never have tried them. They're still sitting in my fridge, I think. I'm guessing they don't last forever.
I haven't been posting about the recipes I've been cooking from this month's #VegCookbookClub book, Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas, but I've been busy.
Consider this post a bit of a catch-up. And since it sems like I totally shot my was participating in Vegan MoFo in October (and have barely blogged since). One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more.
(I'm using a new app called Lift to try to track some of my goals in a very simple way, in case you're interested.)
So, what have I cooked? I will try to recreate from my Photo Stream!
I made the Smashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy, and I confess they were so good i headed strtaight into devouring them before taking a single shot. I always forget about the technique of using a little cornstarch and water as thickener for gravies and sauces. It's so simple, but it really does improve texture and mouthfeel most of the time.
I also made the Red-Wine Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I got a little creative as I reported to the Cookbook Club:
Although as per usual, I changed it up a bit. I did include the carrots, but I’m no a huge red bell pepper fan, but I do loves me some roasted cauliflower, so i used that instead.
I also couldn’t resist tossing on some almond flour for the last 10 minutes of roasting (a trick form one of our other VegCookBooks that I use all the time now.)
Here are the before and after roasting shots:
I also made two dishes that were perfect to bring to work for lunch during the week:
Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries...a really beautiful dish with the red, yellow, black and green from both pumpkin seeds (and the recipe calls for green onion, which I didn't have on hand):
I also made a dish from our *previous* VegCookBook, Forks Over Knives (because I just can't seem to stick with one book), a Pumpkin Pinto Bean Stew. (The recipe called for Adzuki beans, I think, but said Pintos were a worthy substitute...and since I hand Pintos on hand...) It was yummy:
For Christmas I made the Hearty Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie. This was relatively easy, true-to-its-name-Hearty, and gave me a chance to use one of adorable Le Creuset casserole dishes. It requires a few simple ingredients (spinach being the main one that isn't already captured in the name of the dish itself). Here are a few shots of the process and the finished product:
The filling mixture:
You spread bread crumbs on the bottom of your baking dish and then fill with the mixture:
The top it with mashed potatoes (made pretty much like you make mashed potatoes) :)
And here's a shot of a cut slice, so you can see the layer:
Super savory and yummy.
I also made the Decadent Almond Cake with chocolate ganache for Christmas dinner. I'll confess that the cake was very moist and yummy, and that the ganached tasted really good, but the texture was definitely not right. This recipe was from Hannah Kaminsky's My Sweet Vegan, and I feel like she could have had more detailed instructions on the *technique* that should be used to make the ganache. I'm not sure just tossing chocolate, soy creamer and syrup in a pot and melting is all there is to it.
But again...very tasty. The cake part alone I would make again, just because I love almond anything:
The soup was super-simple and marks my first use of an immersion blender. Pretty slick:
Here's the before shot:
And here is after the immersion blender:
Easy peasy :)
The Fried Plantains were not bad at all for a first try. I was a little scared off by the deep drying aspect, so I can't say I was very religious about following the recipes. I didn't measure the temperature of the oil, I didn't really deep fry them, although the oil did *almost* cover the plantain slices. And yet, the slices came out crispy just as they were supposed to, so it all worked out. And really, you can't go wrong with black beans, diced chiles, poblanos (that added a lot of heat!) and avocado to cool it down.
Here are a few shots of the process and finished product:
Charred poblanos (under the broiler):
The black bean/diced Chile mash:
Frying the plantains (in my new cast iron skillet!):
And the finished product: Twice-fried plantain chip, topped with black bean/chile mash, avocado, and strips of roasted poblano. (The recipe had other stuff too, but these were the ingredeients I had right on hand, and it was *plenty* tasty and spicy just with these.)
Don't those look adorable AND decadently awesome? They were.
So, that's the round-up, Sorry for the marathon post, but I've been saving up. And we already know I'm not that good blogger who would parse it out for days, thus ensuring I actually had content for more than one day out of every month. Why have so much fore-thought?
Happy New Year everyone! I plan to make a black-eyed peas recipe I found via Leite's Culinaria...how about you?
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