This Vegan House

CSA Cooking: Acorn Sqush Mac-n-Cheez

2011-10-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

I confess: I was checking my Twitter feed in the middle of Biostatistics class today. Thanks to my short in-class attention span, I discovered a great recipe via Oh She Glows for squash mac-n-cheez. I'd roasted up a bunch of our CSA veggies last night, including some acorn squash. After scooping out the roasted squash flesh, this recipe came together quite quickly. Because we're always looking for healthier versions of favorite dishes, this delicious and nutritious pasta was a winner.

I followed the original recipe, only deviating by adding a little red miso to the sauce and some petite peas.

of course that's broccoli in the background.

CSA Cooking: Red Pepper Upside Down Cake

2011-10-01T22:29:00.001-04:00

Vegan MoFo, we meet again! My theme for this year's MoFo is going to be cooking with the local, organic produce from my Maryland CSA. Today's post is brought to you by yesterday's cake. I was attending a "pepper" themed potluck and wanted to bring a dish that departed from your typical savory pepper fare. Enter: upside down cake. I can't take credit for the idea, but I'm the one who made it vegan. This recipe is sure to impress.

The original recipe is from, ironically, No Recipes. Instead of making a corn-based cake of masa harina like No Recipes, I used cornbread. The very best cornbread I've found is Trader Joe's corn bread mix, subbing nut milk and flax instead of the milk/eggs. Use any cornbread recipe you like, just add extra sugar and a bit of vanilla.

Vegan Pepper Upside-Down Cake

2 large red bell peppers
1/2 tsp saffron
1 T water
4 T Earth Balance
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Your favorite corn bread recipe + 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tsp vanilla extract

Remove the tops of the peppers and slice into quarters lengthwise after removing seeds and white membranes. Place on a baking sheet with skin side up. Broil on high until charred and almost completely black. Remove from oven and place in sealed plastic bag. The steam will help loosen the skins as they cool. Once cool, peel the skins from the pepper strips.

Preheat oven according to your cornbread recipe. Place water and saffron in a small bowl; let rest.

Slice pepper strips into thin triangles. Grease the bottom of a 9" pan and arrange the strips in a radial pattern.

Warm Earth Balance on stove at medium heat until melted. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, stir until sugar is completely melted. Pour caramel mixture over the pepper strips.

For the cornbread: make per your recipe's instructions. Remember to add your extra sugar, vanilla, AND the saffron/water mixture. The saffron supplies a very unique and lovely flavor. Pour the cornbread batter over the peppers/caramel, and smooth the top.

Bake per cornbread instructions. After removing from oven, allow to cool enough to touch, then flip onto a plate. Voila!

CSA Cooking: Roasted Tomato Chickie Pea Soup

2011-08-19T17:20:00.000-04:00

My CSA has been generous with the tomatoes lately. I have more than I need for TLT's and salads. Growing up in a home of surplus tomatoes (my mom runs a seed company: Tomato Growers,) I learned some creative ways to deal with the abundance. I figured I'd roast some with other good stuff: onions, garlic, and herbs from the CSA. What could be bad? I also soaked and slow cooked some chickpeas until quite soft. The result of all these endeavors is this savory soup with some added protein, thanks to the chickie peas.

Roasted Tomato Chickie Pea Soup

About 4 large tomatoes, roughly diced
Medium onion, sliced into half moons
A few cloves garlic, minced
Herbs of your choice, fresh is best (oregano, basil, rosemary, etc.)
Sprinkle of kosher salt
Olive oil
1 cup soft-cooked chickpeas, or just canned peas drained and rinsed
1 cup broth

Preheat oven to 425. Line a roasting pan with foil, and layer in the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Roast at 425 until the tomatoes have released their juice and onions are very soft.

Let cool a bit, and then place roasted mixture in blender with chickpeas and broth. Blend until well combined and at your desired texture.

Warm on stove in a saucepan, and serve with cracked black pepper.

Serves 4. Nutritional info: 113 calories, 23 g carbs, 4.5 g fiber, 0.5 g sugar, 4.5 g protein.

CSA Cooking: Eggplant Tomato Casserole Remix

2011-08-07T13:05:00.000-04:00

I have a soft spot for those yellow-paged old 1970's vegetarian cookbooks. One of my favorites is The Vegetarian Epicure, given to me by my wonderful Aunt Susan (with the inscription "Bon Appetit! -Susan.") The book includes a recipe for Eggplant Tomato Casserole that was always good for using up the summer surplus. The original version keeps the eggplant fluffy with eggs and tops it off with cheese. My mom and I have talked about veganizing this recipe but never got around to it. Here's my go at it.

1 large eggplant
1.5 tsp salt
3/4 block firm silken tofu
1 T Ener-G (flax would probably work too) + 2 T water, combined
1/3 cup finely diced onion
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2-3 large tomatoes, sliced thinly
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
* smoked salt
* nutritional yeast
*= Optional but worth it. Trader Joe's just released a very affordable grinder of smoked salt that is quite good.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Peel and dice the eggplant into 1" cubes. Dice tofu into chunks about the same size. Place in a sauce pan, add 1" water, sprinkle with salt, cover tightly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 10 mins.

Drain the tofu and eggplant. In a bowl, mash with a fork or potato masher. Stir in bread crumbs, onion, "egg replacer" mix, oregano, smoked salt to taste.

Prepare a deep dish pie plate or 8x8 baking dish by giving a quick coat of spray oil. Lay half the tomatoes in a single layer in the bottom of the dish. Spread eggplant mixture over tomatoes, then top with the remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle some smoked salt and nutritional yeast over the top. Bake for 45 mins. Allow to set at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

Your friendly nutritional breakdown for 4 servings: 76 calories, Carbs = 8.3 g, Protein = 7.3 g, Fat = 2.2 g

CSA Cooking: Fava Bean Piccata

2011-07-10T14:50:00.000-04:00

Fava beans, made famous by a very non-vegan movie quote: "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." I've never eaten fava beans but always enjoy the big-beaned meatiness of butter beans, another sizeable legume. I recently bought some dry fava beans in hopes of making The PPK's Lemon Garlic Fava Beans This week the CSA brought some gorgeous red onions, and I had zucchini and garlic scapes still around from last week. I'm a big fan of the PPK chickpea piccata, and this recipe is quite similar.

The only substitutions were a large zucchini diced into half moons instead of the mushrooms and sliced scapes instead of green onions for garnish. We ate this with some crusty farmers' market bread after a long day of tubing on the Gunpowder River. I think the leftovers are even better today.

Lazy River, Maryland.

General Tso's Got a Brand New Bag

2011-05-11T20:29:00.000-04:00

I don't know who General Tso was, but I'm a fan of his tofu. The spicier, the better. What I don't like is when my beloved spicy-sweet dish comes with these grease-logged sponges of tofu. Here's my version, using a method of oil-free, dry frying the tofu that I learned from Vegan YumYum. The sauce recipe is from VegWeb and is one of the top recipes on their sites. I served this over quinoa that had been cooked with a touch of tamari and lots of steamed broccoli.

General Tso's Non-Greasy Tofu
serves 4

1 block firm or extra firm tofu
several scallions, diced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 table spoons minced garlic
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup tamari
scant 1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sherry, optional
1 to 2 tsp crushed red pepper, depending on your thermostat
2 tablespoons corn starch + 1/4 cup water, combined

Geometry time: Cut the block of tofu into 8 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle into two squares. Cut the squares into two triangles.

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Needs to be at least ten inches across to fit all the tofu. Lay the tofu on the hot skillet, and depress with a strong spatula. Water will be released and will "dry fry" your tofu. When side one is golden, flip to side two. Repeat.

When tofu is done, set aside on a plate. In the same skillet, reduce heat to low and add scallions, ginger, and garlic with 1 tablespoon of water. Stir so that nothing burns and let cook for 2-3 mins. In the mean time, combine the remaining ingredients in a measuring cup (except for the cornstarch mixture.) Add liquid to the skillet, increase heat to high. Add the tofu and allow to slightly reduce.

Add cornstarch/water mixture, stir to combine. It should begin to thicken and look glossy. Turn off heat, let set for a moment. Serve tofu and sauce over your grain and broccoli.

...and thanks to Kevin for--once again--helping me get the shot. You may be a nursing whiz kid now, but you're photo skillz aren't forgotten. ❤

Where do you get your protein?

2011-05-05T11:57:00.000-04:00

From my muffins, of course!

If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked this, I'd still want to pull my hair out. Since becoming vegan, I've become much more focused on nutrition and have done a lot of research on clean eating. Even experts disagree on how much protein you need. Some say you should calculate your weight in kilograms (2.2 lbs per kg) and eat 1 gram protein for each kilogram of body weight. I'm of a slightly different camp. Having completed a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition through Cornell via Dr. Campbell's program, I really don't think we need so much protein. If you divide your body weight in pounds by three, you should eat that many grams of protein.

For example, if you weight 150 lbs, you should eat 50 grams of protein daily.

I spent a couple weeks tracking my protein intake with a handy iPhone app. Despite avoiding animal products I'm somehow (shockingly!) getting more than enough protein. (Also of note: we don't eat processed, protein-heavy, "mock meat" products.) These scrumptious little muffins are one of my favorite protein-friendly baked goods. I have adapted my own recipe from Bittersweet Vegan. My version is a bit lower fat, since I'm also of the opinion that we really don't need so many lipids in our lives. This is a good breakfast recipe, very nutritionally dense and not overly sweet.

Quinoa Spice Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Dry:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tablespoon ground flax

Wet:

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup soy/almond milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, optional (if you like sweeter muffins)
1 cup berries (blueberries, or rehydrated dried fruit like cherries or cranberries)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease muffin pan or 12 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
In a separate smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients and stir to well combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. I recommend tasting before adding the brown sugar to assess whether you want this recipe sweeter or not.
Scoop into prepared muffin vessels.
Bake for 20 minutes. They're done when a toothpick inserted to the center is dry.

Notes: You can certainly add other nuts, like 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

Bonus! I plugged this in for a nutritional breakdown of each muffin: 167 calories, 5 grams protein, 35 grams carbohydrate, 4.3 grams fiber

Veggie Burger of My Dreams

2011-05-05T11:13:00.000-04:00

Truth be told: sometimes you just want a sloppy burger. I grew up on Gardenburgers. My dad would throw them on the grill with the family fare and place them on their own little separate plate when finished, secluded from the meat juice. On a bun with all the fixin's, they were divine.

I'm not a fan of all the store-bought varieties these days. They're either full of "textured soy protein," which I try to avoid. Or they're a pretty penny. I've been known to make some homemade veggie burgers. They're pretty good, but they always make me think of this Eddie Murphy sketch about the "welfare green pepper burger"...

A friend tipped me off that the famous Chicago Diner burgers are incredibly simple to make and use all whole-food ingredients. Plus, the recipe is readily available online! Though Vegetarian Times states that this serves eight, it makes exactly EIGHTEEN burgers for me. I bake them, freeze them on cookie sheets, store them in a freezer bag, and grill them as needed.

While store-bought burgers generally run about $3.99 for four, these are about five dollars of ingredients for eighteen burgers!

Full Disclosure: Prize Winning Chili

2011-04-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

ChiliBrew strikes again! Though it was a smaller crowd than last October's beer week event, it was awesome. ChiliBrew is a semi-annual chili cook-off and homebrew competition. Chili and beer? Umm, yes please.

Last October I brought my espresso-chocolate chili. It was a little spicy. OK, it was a lot spicy. So this time I made it a little more family-friendly and seasonally appropriate with a thai-inspired chili.

I promised that I'd post the recipe to the blog. Problem is, I have no idea what exactly I did when I was making a triple-batch of chili at 2 AM after I'd worked an 18 hr shift at Labor and Delivery. All I can say is: I was strongly influenced by the following recipe from the PPK. If you follow these directions, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Celery Soup: adventures in CSA abundance!

2011-04-07T16:01:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I escaped from the cold, rainy north to visit my mom in Florida, where they're already nearing the end of their peak growing season. My mom's fridge was packed to the gills with gorgeous organic CSA produce. We spent a lot of time cooking greens, turnips, beets, squash, tomatoes. It was pretty heavenly.

Her bounty included a few MASSIVE stalks of celery. Celery's one of the "dirty dozen," meaning the conventional stuff is high in nasty chemicals. Not good. This local, organic celery from the farm was tender and sweet. After seeking advice from the internet, we settled on making some Cream of Celery soup. The result was creamy, smooth, and a gajillion times better than the nasty Campbell's crap that was only fit for mixing into some preservative-laden casserole recipe.

(This recipe is re-posted from the IVU website and is from Nava Atlas's book Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons.) An immersion blender works wonders on this!

Cream of Celery Soup!

10 large celery ribs
2 T margarine or oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 T unbleached white flour
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
water or broth
2 tsp salt-free herb-and-spice seasoning mix (Mrs. Dash, i.e.)
1/4 c mixed chopped fresh parsley and dill
1/4 c celery leaves
1 to 1-1/2 cups soymilk, as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Chopped fresh dill or parsley for garnish

Trim 10 stalks of celery and cut into 1/2-inch dice.
Heat a tablespoon of the margarine in a large soup pot.
Add the onion and garlic and saute over moderate heat until the onion is lightly golden.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir it in until it disappears.
Add the celery, the potatoes, and just enough water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then add the seasoning mix, fresh herbs, and celery leaves.
Simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the solid ingredients to the container of a food processor or blender and puree, in batches if necessary, until very smooth.
Stir back into the soup pot.
Return to very low heat and add enough soymilk to achieve a slightly thick consistency.

Supper Club!

2011-03-09T19:36:00.000-05:00

Our first ever Baltimore Vegan Supper Club took place Sunday night. Kevin and I spent the weekend planning and getting the menu together. We're pretty happy with how it turned out. The food came together without any major catastrophes, and it was shared with great company.

The menu included:

Peanutty Yam Soup
Baby greens salad
Cornmeal-crusted mustard seitan (Bryant Terry's recipe)
BBQ Mango Baked Beans (AFR, Isa)
Mac & Shews (PPK)
cornbread
Kevin's gravy
Braised kale

Dessert:

Recipe Adultry

2011-03-02T13:22:00.000-05:00

Remember when there was MySpace, and you've have a heading or a one-line 'About Me?' Mine used to read, "my banana bread brings all the boys to the yard." I have a tried and true vegan recipe that I've been making for almost 10 years now. And! I'm really humble when I talk about it.

After 10 years of loyalty to my 'nana bread recipe, I've decided that I really have a thing for oat bran. It adds grain diversity, and is lower cal and higher protein than rolled oats. Hello, handsome! In order to accommodate my new romance, I again veganized a banana bread recipe that my mom gave me years ago. It's full of health-store-chicy goodness without tasting too granola.

Oat Bran 'Nana Bread

1 T flax meal
2 T water
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup nut milk
1/2 cup dates

Dry:
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 heaping tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat to 350

In a food processor, whir the flax and water. Add the sugar and oil. Whir again.
Add bananas and nut milk. Whir until bananas are pureed.
Add dates and pulse until roughly chopped
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and add to food processor, then gingerly pulse until JUST combined.
Stir in the vinegar.
Spoon into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 45 mins, or until a poker comes out clean.
Invert to remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Baltimore Vegan Supper Club

2011-02-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of supper clubs? The idea is that people gather at a rotating location for an underground dining experience. You're served a top quality meal for a donation. In conjunction with Baltimore Supper Club and Baltimore Vegan Drinks, we're excited to have the first Baltimore Vegan Supper Club meal next Sunday.

Sunday, March 6, at 6:30 PM

Four course meal (theme will be soul/southern) and will include drinks
Suggested donation of $20 to cover cost of ingredients and materials.

RSVP here.

Location will be announced a day or two before the event, but it's in Baltimore City.

Happy Valentines!

2011-02-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

After spending the day providing prenatal care for Baltimore's pregnant teen population (yay, young love,) I came home to my Kev who presented me with a gorgeous bunch of red roses. They smell so pretty.

Here's what I made for him. They're red velvet cupcakes. Most red food coloring isn't vegan, and I'm not really into food dye anyway. These are dyed with beets and are the careful work of Hannah Kaminsky. Her process involved a fair amount of food chemistry, which is fun.

Yay for us making it to Valentines Day #3. Look forward to more!

Biscuits n Gravy!

2011-01-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

We made biscuits & gravy this morning for the monthly Baltimore Foodmakers potluck. The theme today was home-roasting coffee, and the potluck was timed for brunch. I used this recipe, from the Chicago Diner, for the biscuits. They reminded me of KFC's buttermilk biscuits. You don't get much more southern than that!

I'll let Kevin write up his gravy making. Take it away, Kevin:

I cooked up a double batch of mushroom sage gravy and a single batch of tempeh "sausage" crumbles and combined them. Easy peasy!

The tempeh sausage crumbles are from Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The recipe is straightforward, and I followed it exactly. However, I got the gravy going first because I wanted to make sure not to burn the tempeh.

Now, the "I Can't Believe It's Vegan" Gravy recipe from vegweb is really amazing, but I've modified it some. As I said, I made a double batch to accommodate all the tempeh.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
1/2 cup flour (you can use white or w. wheat, but wheat is "grainier"

8 oz cremini mushrooms

Canola oil

2 tsp Better Than Bouillion Vegetable Base (expensive but fantastic, saves lots of time)
2 tbsp Earth Balance
4 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp onion salt
a few good dashes of soy sauce or tamari, to taste
a few dashes of garlic powder
ground black pepper to taste
ground dried sage
Gravy Master!

This is my secret weapon.

*If the result is too thick, you can dilute it with some more broth or stock or whatever you'd like. I used mushroom broth because I had some on hand.

1. Slice and chop the mushrooms. Saute mushrooms gently with oil, and keep them on the side for now.
2. In a saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients except for the sage and the gravy master. Simmer, stirring often.
3. Taste. Add some gravy master, whisk, and taste again. Be careful, a little bit goes a long way.
4. Add sage. I'm liberal with my sage usage. This is the other secret ingredient. Taste again.
5. If you're happy with your gravy, add the mushrooms and the tempeh sausage.
6. Adjust the viscosity by adding broth.
7. Find something to douse in delicious gravy!

Holiday Foodz

2010-12-29T13:08:00.000-05:00

I think I speak for both Kev and myself when I say: we love being vegan. Love it. We love it so much that we're willing to both (a) bring our own food to the myriad holiday family events, and (b), "inconvenience" our families into cooking vegan dishes for us. Our families have taken some time to catch on and learn some vegan cooking techniques, but now that years have passed and they realize this veganism thing isn't going away, they've been wonderfully accommodating. I'm grateful for their kindness and support of our choices. I'm also grateful for my mama, my fellow family vegan!

Holiday dining highlights include:

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole on Xmas morning, a hybrid of this recipe and the recipe from Vegan Brunch. Kevin recently replaced my broken breadmaker with a Goodwill score, so I made two homemade loaves of French bread, cubed it, and allowed it to go stale on the counter. It broke my heart to let all that wonderful, fresh, crusty bread go dry, but the results were worth it. Even the picky teenage boys liked it. I baked it with pecan pralines on top and served with maple syrup.

Christmas dinner was at Kev's aunt ML and uncle Jim's gorgeous waterfront home on the Eastern Shore. ML made all vegan sides: mashed sweet/russet potatoes, braised shredded brussel sprouts, and a huge salad. We wanted to bring an entrée to contribute, so we made the Cauliflower and Mushroom Pot Pie from V-con in pie shells instead of the black olive biscuit dough. Kev has also become quite the little seitan-maker, so he made and dry fried some to go in the pie too. Here's a photo before we topped it:

We brought coconut milk vanilla bean ice cream and made floats with a Belgium lambic as dessert for everyone. Idea stolen from the Kitchn

photo from the Kitchn.

Happy Birthday, old boy!

2010-11-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

Back from Florida and ready to rumble!

I flew back in time for Mr. Kev's 28th Bday. A lovely birthday brunch was had by all at Great Sage, an all-vegan cafe in Clarksville, Maryland.

Breakfast of champions... Vegan Bloodies.

Kevin only eats tomatoes if the taste is masked with vodka and hot sauce. I found more gray hairs while he was sipping away.

"Huevos" Rancheros with sour cream and guac.

Birthday Boy Breakfast Burrito, with collard greens so that he'll grow up strong.

Vegan MoFo: Collapse from Cooking

2010-11-24T19:28:00.000-05:00

It's all made. Cooked. In the fridge.

Two cooked chickpea cutlet roasts, stuffed with apple-cranberry dressing. Also, surplus pumpkin pie that has fallen prey to my quality-control measures. The house smells divine.

Time for a glass of wine.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Vegan MoFo: It's Beginning to Smell a lot like Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

Grandma's antique Native American napkins with happy birds, probably made by Florida Seminole Indians.

Commence preparation! I have my work cut out for me. Our menu is set to include:

Stuffed chickpea cutlet loaves
Green Bean Casserole
Cornbread stuffing
Spiced sweet potatoes
Gravy
Dinner Rolls
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Guest contribution: swamp cabbage! More on this later...

My mom had to go to work yesterday, so I was home alone with nothing to do but cook! Woe is me. I've done a good amount of the prep work, including making the cornbread for the stuffing.

Whole Grain Cornbread (adapted from VegWeb)

1 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T cornstarch or arrowroot + 1 T water, whisked to combine

3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup cornmeal, medium grind
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the wet ingredients, whisking to combine well.
Assemble the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix.
Add dry to wet, stir only until combined. Prolonged stirring makes for flat, stiff bread.

This bird guards the clean napkins year-round.

Papayas! Ah, Florida in November.

Papaya blossoms

Vegan MoFo: It was only a matter of time...

2010-11-23T13:00:00.001-05:00

...before I was another vegan gone gaga for Vita-Mix. You may remember my former post: SOS, Send Vita-Mix. Well, the Vita-Mix didn't come to me, so I went to the Vita-Mix. In addition to awesome photo props, my mom also has fabulous cooking appliances. I guess some people come to Florida for the sunshine and beaches, but I come to rave about the awesome food blogging opportunities. Nerd alert.

After an hour of pilating, this was my healthy, wealthy, and wise lunch. It's a result of asking myself "what in this house can I Vita-Mix (v.) that isn't for Thanksgiving?" The result:

Low-Fat Cauliflower Alfreda Sauce

1 lb frozen cauliflower
1/2 cup almond milk, or other non-dairy "milk"
1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt
1 scant tsp onion powder
1 scant tsp garlic powder
1 T. white miso
2 T. nutritional yeast
Cracked black pepper

Cook your cauliflower per package. I quickly blanched mine. Don't boil the hell out of it, or you'll destroy it's nutritiony goodness. Drain when done.
Place milk,cauliflowers, and remaining ingredients in Vita-Mix.
Turn that baby on, and oh my god it's amazing.

You can eat as soup, but I had some leftover soba and ate it as an alfreda sauce, sprinkled (in my case, sloppily) with paprika. A twist of lemon might be nice too.

Vegan MoFo: Where the heart is...

2010-11-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

In celebration of my "inter-employment" break, I've flown to Florida to enjoy the warm weather and family holiday. My mama and I are off to a good start: a visit to her community garden, a nice long walk, shoe shopping, and lovely dinner. We've been setting the menu for Thanksgiving, and the master shopping list is ready for our pilgrimage to Whole Foods tomorrow. All that food-talk got me in the mood for something sweet, and luckily my mom had bought these treats from the farmers' market. They're made by local celebrity, Chef Brooke. She has a cozy little cafe that focuses on clean eatin' called... (are you ready?)... Chef Brooke's Natural Cafe.

Pumpkin Muffin with Marshmallow Raisin Topping

My mom's house has better photo props, like this cute little pumpkin guy that our Japanese friend Kazuko glazed and fired for us. Ah, memories.

Vegan MoFo: Long live the turkeys!

2010-11-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

Kevin and I are both taste testing a few Thanksgiving recipes. We did vegan T*giving together at my mama's house last year, but this year he'll be staying in Maryland and showing his family how amazing cruelty-free "Turkey Day" can be. Mom and I are making Thanksgiving for a few omnivores, so we're all aiming to please and impress. I was inspired by Vegan Yum Yum's seitan roulades. Here's our attempt at a stuffed chickpea loaf that goes great with gravy. You could consider this your homemade version of Field Roast of Tofurkey, cause who really wants to bring packaged food to Thanksgiving?

First you have to make a double batch of chickpea cutlet dough and a batch of stuffing. Roll the cutlet dough out to an 8x11 inch rectangle-oval. Place string underneath, fill with stuffing (not too much or you'll have that same "too full burrito" type dilema.) Roll it up, overlapping the edges slightly and sealing with a little water. Tie it off. Brush the top with olive oil.

(Next time, I may try cooking seam-side down for a cleaner appearance.)

In an oven heated to 350F, cook your chickpea loaf and additional stuffing for about 30 mins. Chickpea loaf should, like cutlets, be firm to the touch and slightly golden brown.

On their way to the oven.

Cremini mushrooms make stuffing yummy and moist.

VegWeb 'I Can't Believe It's Vegan' Gravy.

I love this stuff.

Heed my warning, friends: let your loaf COOL for at least an hour or so before you slice it. This would work well to be made the night before, then wrapped in foil and reheated in the oven on Happy-Turkey Day.

Vegan MoFo: A day in the park

2010-11-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

Since resigning from my job, I have time on my hands to do fun things like picnic with my friends in the park. Today's blog post is brought to you by yesterday's lovely lunch.

My dear friend Kimber and her four year-old daughter Harper are my closest vegan friends here in Maryland. Kimber was an inspiration when I first transitioned to veganism. She's one of the birth center nurses, and we would stay up late nights with laboring moms, talking about veganism or looking through whatever wonderful cookbook she'd brought. She also seemed to never come to work without some sort of delicious homemade vegan treat. There were a lot of long nights made better by vegan cookies. She was a great support when I decided to give up my sinful ways and come over to the lighter side.

She made the tempeh pecan salad from I Eat Trees, and I contributed a bottle of sake. We packed it all up and headed to the park for a lovely lunch in the crisp fall air.

(Thanks so much to my amazing and inspiring friend Kimber for sharing lunch with me and taking these photos! Check out her blog: Vegan Hippie Mama.)

Vegan MoFo: Upside-down Chili Bowl

2010-11-15T20:40:00.000-05:00

Why has it taken me so long to realize that the freezer is awesome? It's the key to maximizing leftovers' potential. Freeze that shit before everyone you know gets tired of eating it. Wait six weeks, thaw it out, and smile because you'll have an awesome dinner without the kitchen mess.

During my chili cook-off recipe testing, I froze a lot of chili. This was some black bean pumpkin chili. In my book, chili just ain't chili without cornbread. It's usually served over cornbread, but this time I decided to see how things tasted on the flip side. Here's what came of it:

Corn muffin batter spooned over hot chili, cooked in an oven-safe bowl for 15 mins at 400F.

Today was my last day seeing patients in my office. I'm on call tomorrow, and a few hopefully women have told me that they're determined to go into labor before I leave the birth center. As of 7 AM on Wednesday morning, I am unemployed and can't freaking wait!

Me with some sweet ladies and babes I've helped get born.

Vegan MoFo: SOS! Send VitaMix!

2010-11-14T14:41:00.000-05:00

Don't those pregnant women know I have MoFo to keep up with? Sheesh. I've had so little time to cook, and even less time to blog because there's a baby-birthin' bonanza on my hands. Do you remember the blizzards of Winter 2009/2010 that covered the mid-Atlantic in snow? Because people were home from work and couldn't drive anywhere, they spent their quality time getting pregnant. We're now knee-deep in the resulting "blizzard baby" births. It's great. After hanging up my catcher's mitt this morning, I had some time to make a proper brunch.

This Potato and Tempeh Casserole is gooey and savory and noochy and downright nummy. It's a snap to whip up. The sauce comes together really nicely in even a brokedown blender like mine. She's a family heirloom. After all the buttons broke from over-use injury, my brother "Mister Mechanic" (nickname given to the four year-old who could fix your TV) made this lovely all-purpose, after-market RED button. Yeah, this is how I roll. And blend.

Easy peasy... just slice the tempeh and make the marinade. Microwave for like 10 mins:

Layer the nuked tempeh and sliced potatoes in pretty dishes given to you by friends:

Whip up the cheezy sauce in your ghetto-rigged and possibly dangerous appliance, and pour over the layers:

Bake, but then resist the urge to devour until almost room temperature. Please, please. Head my warning; it's so much better once slightly cooled and more congealed.

Project for the rest of the day: attempt to veganize the Libby's Pumpkin pie recipe. My mama and I are making vegan Thanksgiving for our wonderful--but very not vegan-- relatives and want to impress.

Question: Have you ever attempted to veganize a classic pumpkin pie recipe? How'd it go?

Also, what's your favorite pumpkin pie recipe? I need to know!

Vegan MoFo: Thanksgiving Beta 1.0

2010-11-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

Few things are as good as coming home to a warm, home-cooked meal after a long day at work. There's a reason he's earned the blog nickname "Kitchen Kevin." After some gentle arm twisting, Kevin agreed to guest-post about the awesome stuffing he made a few nights ago. Without further adieu, Kitchen Kevin presents...

Chopped and seasoned.

Thanksgiving can be a challenging time for a vegan. I don't know about yours, but my family tends to give me a hard time about not eating the same things as they do. I try to be diplomatic, even when they don't... that's the hard part.

So this year, I've decided to show them how I do (rather than meekly eating double servings of side dishes). I'm going to whip up some kind of chickpea cutlet roast with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy, but these are posts for another day.

My favorite part of the traditional meal has and always shall be the stuffing (with gravy, of course). I had a look at the ingredients list of the old faithful (Stovetop) box and I was appalled, though not surprised. There's a lot of stuff in there! Obviously I needed to learn how to make it from scratch... but there are few things in this world that aren't better made from scratch. So, I put that box of crap back on the shelf, bought a loaf of seeded Jewish rye, and scurried home to give this recipe a try.

Yeah! Put me in the oven!

It was great! It didn't take very long to make, and it tasted just like I think it should! I used Megan's veggie broth, and I added some sauted mushrooms to the mix and extra sage. Generous application of sage is critical, IMHO, to this as well as the requisite gravy.

I also added extra veggie broth and made sure the stuffing was on the moist side, so it wouldn't dry out when I put in in the oven at 325 for 15 minutes.

The only thing I'll do differently next time is let the bread air dry for longer (more than 45 minutes, which is as long as it took me to make the stuffing and gravy). Megan suggested that throwing the bread in the oven briefly will speed up the processe when you're pressed for time.

Vegan MoFo: Special Delivery!

2010-11-11T19:47:00.001-05:00

I try to remember to say that I "catch" babies, since I don't deliver the babies. Mom's deliver their babies. And Johnny Rads delivers some awesome pizza. (How's that for a segue? After a day of "catching," I've got babies on the brain.)

MoFo's had me cooking up a storm lately, but I was sick of the cooking-cleaning routine last night. The weather was unseasonably warm, and a the combination of bike ride/beer/pizza was too much to resist. Time to try some place new. Johnny Rad's was voted Baltimore City Paper's 2010 "Best New Bar." It's a pizza tavern with vegan goodies on the menu. Isn't their logo super cute and Black Flag-esque?

After a brisk four mile bike ride, pretty much everything on the menu sounded awesome. They have Teese available for veganizing any meat-free pizza, but there's also a vegan cheese-free pizza called the Templeton. Isn't that a great name? It makes me want to have a veritable smorgasbord. We put Teese on a pizza with mushrooms, black olives, arugula, marinara, salt, and olive oil. The crust was killer and neared perfection. Unlike my former favorite vegan pizza place here in Bmore, they actually got the Teese melty. So good. So, so good.

If ever you're in Baltimore, definitely check this place out.

(Logo and Natty Boh photos are property of Johnny Rad's, FYIz.)

Vegan MoFo: Enchilada Pie

2010-11-10T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to make this for weeks now. It's Susan V's Mexican Lasagna. I had a bottle of Trader Joe's enchilada sauce and a can of their authentic refried beans (both vegan) just burning a hole in my pantry!

Susan's recipes are great. They're usually pretty simple, quick, use basic ingredients, and are fairly healthy. I don't think I've ever had one of her recipes flop on me, which is sayin' something for low-fat, vegan cooking!

In the interest of not having a surplus, I halved the recipe and made in a pie pan instead of a 9x13. After all, can't have too many leftovers when there's so much more food-creation and blogging to do!

Other alterations include: used a can of diced tomatoes (drained) since tomato season is d-o-n-e. Used whole onion, whole green bell pepper, and whole jalapeño for the halved recipe.

Vegan MoFo: Bubbie Baby's Mandel Bread Recipe

2010-11-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about veganizing my Grammy's mandel bread, I'm finally organized enough to share the recipe. Like biscotti, mandel bread can accommodate many different additions. Family favorites include candied ginger, dried cherries, cranberries, almonds, and pecans. The main difference between mandel bread and biscotti is vanilla vs. almond, respectively. Grammy's recipe used a dash of orange juice too, but I subbed with a couple drops (literally, drops) of orange extract. It's optional.

What makes these really tasty is their toastiness. If you can read the last 2 lines of the handwritten recipe, Grammy says to "Toast with fire for 10 min." I like that part.

Bubbie Baby's Vegan Mandel Bread
(adapted from family recipe and V-Con Biscotti)

1/3 cup soy milk
2 T ground flaxseed
1/2 cup sugar, heaping
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
drop or two of orange extract, or a tablespoon of orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour + 2/3 cup WW pastry flour (or all AP if you prefer)
2 T arrowroot powder or cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Cinnamon and sugar from dredging

PREHEAT TO 350F

In a large bowl, combine flaxseeds and soy milk. Whisk briskly for 30 seconds.
Add sugar, oil, vanilla, orange juice/extract and stir to combine.
Sift in the dry ingredients and stir just until the dough is formed.
Fold in your fruit and nuts.

Briefly knead the dough.
Line the baking sheet with a piece of foil or parchment (this makes things easier later.)
Form the dough into a long loaf, roughly 12x4 inches.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.
Remove from oven and transfer the loaf onto a cutting board. This is where the foil/parchment comes in handy.
Let cool for about 30-40 mins, until firm. During this time, heat oven to 375.
Very carefully slice the cooled, firmed loaf into 1/2-3/4 inch thick slices. A sharp knife helps is essential. Use firm, confident slices. Don't be tentative or try to saw the loaf-- this causes crumbles!
The slices are fragile! Carefully dredge the cut sides in cinnamon/sugar and place them, crust side down, on the baking sheet.
Toast with fire for 10 min!
(This means bake at 375 until slightly browned.)
Let cool on the baking sheet, then store in a sealed container to retain crispiness.

Blog faux pas, reusing yesterday's photo. Sorry!

Vegan MoFo: Hey, Good Lookin'!

2010-11-08T21:41:00.001-05:00

What ya got cookin'?

Southgate Publix. Lakeland, Florida.

I'm a third generation down-home cook. My Grammy made some dang good food. She used to move around the kitchen, preparing local produce from the "curb market" and crooning Hank Williams songs. She was a Southerner and a Jew, so all that fresh produce wasn't weighed down with bacon and ham-hocks like so many traditional southern veggie dishes.

Grammy had her own arsenal of special recipes that she'd perfected over the years. They weren't from a book. Maybe some were shared from relatives on handwritten scraps of paper. Most existed in her mind and were enjoyed on the occasion that you came to visit. For me, her classic is Mandel Bread. It's a traditional Jewish cookie, similar to biscotti and very adaptable. When she passed away, her legacy was distributed via photocopies of some handwritten recipes that someone had coerced her into recording. Her Mandel Bread is part of the collection.

I haven't made the non-vegan version of her mandel bread. After a consultation call was placed to my mom, I attempted veganizing the recipe. I loosely used Isa's V-Con Biscotti recipe for veganization purposes. It seemed an appropriate source, since Isa is my go-to for vegan Jewish cooking.

Bubbie Baby's Mandel Bread

I don't know what my Grammy would say about vegan mandel bread. I won't say mine is as good as hers, but they share an important quality: I can't stop eating them!

Vegan MoFo: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Broth

2010-11-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

I've been fortunate to catch two "butter babies" in the last couple days. I just learned this term from a midwife friend who uses it to describe those babies that just slip out like soft butter (or Earth Balance, as the case may be.) After last night's 4 AM butter baby birth, I was pretty wired when I got home in the wee hours. Tack on the circadian confusion of Daylight Savings Time, and there was no way I was going to sleep.

What's a sleepy midwife to do? The only reasonable solution is to start messing around in the kitchen.

Time to make some freezer bag veggie broth. Anyone who cooks with me knows that my savory scraps don't go down the disposal; they go in a freezer bag. See, composting's hard when you live in Baltimore City. There are rats that tamper and rowhouse neighbors' noses to offend. My solution is to save up my broth-worthy scraps (onion peels, carrot tops and peels, odds n ends of herbs, celery bits, and any other parsnip/leek/garlic-type ends.) I collect all of this in a gallon freezer bag, and when the bag's full I make broth! Just empty the bag into a stock pot of water and simmer for a long time. I add a little salt, but I usually do most of my salting when cooking with the broth.

Once the broth has cooked down, I use a mesh strainer to pour it into a bowl and divide it amongst plastic storage containers or jars. Warning about freezing broth in jars: refrigerate first, then freeze with the lid off for a few hours. Physics tells us that liquids expand when frozen. I was never good at physics and have had a glass jar of broth crack in the freezer. That sucked. Oh well...

Vegan MoFo:

2010-11-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

Since stumbling upon the world's best vegan gravy in a little Asheville cafe (Rosetta's Kitchen,) we've been searching high and low for a recipe that would recreate the divinity. I think we may have found it. This is the I Can't Believe It's Vegan Gravy recipe from VegWeb. Kevin made breaded-n-baked chickpea cutlets. We served these with smashed red taters and collards greens, all smothered in our heavenly gravy.

Note: the gravy was just so-so until we made a mid-prep grocery run for some sage. Don't bother making this gravy unless you have some ground sage to sprinkle in.

Vegan MoFo: Secret's in the sauce!

2010-11-05T17:57:00.000-04:00

On MoFo Day 1, I posted a picture of the pie I brought to my friends' Halloween Potluck Wedding. (I know. Cool, right?) We also brought a load of Vietnamese summer rolls. The secret to a making a good summer roll is serving them with some really awesome sauce. I've tried quite a few sauce recipes, and this one's money. Not only is it delicious; it's also insultingly simple. The hardest part is reading the label on the hoisin sauce at the grocery store to make sure it's vegan.

Freaking Awesome Peanut Sauce for Summer Rolls

1/4 cup vegan hoisin
3 T creamy peanut butter
3 T water

Mix, mix, mix. Top with chopped peanuts if you're feeling ambitious and aren't also making a pie and two Halloween costumes the way I was that day!

This is my photo of Kevin taking the photo of the summer rolls. Oh what big pixel count you have!

Vegan MoFo: All-Carb Diet

2010-11-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

My parents used to say I never met a carb I didn't like. To this day, I don't count any carbs as enemies.

A while back a patient gave my friend (a fellow midwife) and me both copies of Vegan Planet as a thank-you gift for helping her have her baby. This has been the gift that keeps on giving, especially because Melissa and I can compare notes on recipes we've tried. She recently gave accolades to the pizza dough in VP, so I figured I'd better check it out.

A double batch yielded this braided bread, which ended up tasting more like a pretzel since I put kosher salt on top. I also made the Tuscan White Bean Pizza in my NEW BRICK OVEN. Bryanna Clark Grogan was raving about hers, so I bought one for myself. Thanks for the tip, BCG.

Kevin made Susan V's veggeroni to go on top. We're loyal fans of the spicy PPK veggie sausage recipe, so this brought some unfamiliar flavors. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but once I got used to the flavor I kind of couldn't stop eating it. Good thing it's 'Fat Free Vegan' sausage.

Note to self: wake up early, do Pilates, work off bread and veggeroni.

Vegan MoFo: An Apple a Day

2010-11-03T17:15:00.001-04:00

...won't keep the midwife away.

Today's MoFo post is brought to you by: APPLES.

I made a scrumptious lunch of apple-tempeh sammys. I'd like to share the recipe with you!

Apple Tempeh Sandwiches

Tempeh - 1 block cut in half lengthwise, cross-sectioned to make thin squares

2 apples, sliced thin (gala, red delicious, pink lady)

1/2 cup apple juice

2 T apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 T soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp cumin

To serve: 4 pieces bread, lettuce, dijon mustard, Veganaise

Preheat to 350 F.
Arrange the tempeh and apple slices in a 8-9 inch square or round baking pan.
Whisk together the remaining ingredients, pour over the top, and bake for 45 minutes.
Serve on toast with lettuce and dijon/mayo.
(modified from a Whole Foods recipe)

Also, here's why an apple a day won't keep the midwife away: we're turning apples into something very special!

Vegan MoFo: Broccoli Sloth

2010-11-02T23:51:00.000-04:00

I mean, broccoli SLAW.

1 bag Trader Joe's broccoli slaw + half diced red onion + 1 cup dried cranberries + handful slivered almonds
Add:
1/2 cup vegan mayo
2 T lemon juice
2 T rice vinegar
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
cracked pepper

Mix mix mix!

(modified from The Kitchn)

Vegan MoFo: Pie Love

2010-11-01T08:29:00.000-04:00

November 1 = first day of Vegan MOFO!

Yeah, I went to a Halloween wedding. And it was a potluck. Basically all of my favorite things: Halloween, potluck, party, happy people in love. I honored their joyous union by stenciling their initials in cinnimon on a pie.

I made a zillion Vietnamese summer rolls. I would have made a gajillion, but I got tired of filling and rolling fragile rice paper. I also made apple pie. The crust is my Great Aunt Irma's oil pie crust recipe. Aunt Irma wasn't down with the saturated fats, so she used this vegan crust recipe for many years. It is the pie crust of my childhood. Mom, this isn't a secret family recipe, is it? I am literally copy-and-pasting my mom's emailed version of the recipe.

Aunt Irma's Pie Crust

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. oil and enough mile to make 1/2 c. liquid (pour the oil in first in a cup measure and add non-dairy milk)

Mix with a fork and roll between waxed paper. Bake at 425 degrees (if you are not baking the filled pie in the oven.) You can double this recipe to make 2 crusts. We have found in the past that it helps to refrigerate the dough until cold before rolling out because the dough is very tender and tends to break apart upon rolling. If it does, I just patch it in the pie pan.

ps- Hi, Billy.

Double Header

2010-10-10T20:03:00.000-04:00

Wowie Zowie. What a weekend! Two very foodie events went down: Friday's ChiliBrew competition at 2640 and Saturday's monthly Food Makers potluck. Thanks to the cleaning fairy, my kitchen eventually recovered.

The ChiliBrew was awesome! I brought my espresso chili and some Trader Joe's frito scooper thingies. After a long call shift, I was too tired to bake the corn bread I'd planned to bring. The chili was pretty spicy but fairly well received. It got second place, which was fun. I had a blast meeting people, sharing my food, and sampling all the delicious homebrew!

Here's my empty chili pot and chip bowl. Like my improvised sign?

Kevin ended up manning ChiliBrew organizer Ian's kegs. Someone told him he was a "soldier" with serving thirst folks all that beer.

Saturday's Food Makers potluck in the sunshine was divine. We pressed apples on Brian's homemade cider press. Good weather, good food, good booze, good people.

Brian and his cider press-- this is the mashing stage, where a wheel with hundred of spikey screws revolve to decimate your apples.

These strange little terra cotta nesting doll-looking things lived in the garden bed. No one knows what they are. Anyone have any idea?

Let's eat stuff wrapped in things

2010-10-07T11:01:00.000-04:00

I really love making stromboli. I love the whole wheat, feel-good-about-yourself crust. The veggie fillings. The delicious tofu-cashew ricotta recipe. Braiding it up at the end. Love it. Here are his-n-hers person strombolis.

Sushi with lots of wasabi is also high on the favorites list these days. It's delicious and nutritious, and the wasabi opens up your sinuses like no body's business. Sushi with wasabi and miso soup are getting me through the season change and allergies right now. On the night of the most recent torrential downpour, I made a shitload of veggie and tofu sushi.

Tomorrow's the ChiliBrew. Looking forward to chili, beer, and good folks at 2640!

2640 St Paul St

Friday, Oct 8 from 6:30 to 10:30 PM

Smokin' bowls

2010-10-02T09:07:00.000-04:00

I'm in chili boot camp, prepping to flex my chili muscles at next Friday's Charitably Charmin' ChiliBrew!

Homebrew + chili = nothing better.

This is the second ChiliBrew, held at the gorgeous 2640 space and benefiting Velocipede Bike Project and Red Emma's FreeSchool. Come eat chili, drink beer, and be merry!

I missed my kitchen!

2010-09-21T22:40:00.001-04:00

Kevin and I just got back from a four day backpacking adventure in Shenandoah National Park. I didn't have much time to plan because I worked 60 hours in the three days before our departure (yes, it's legal.. though midwifery borders on human rights violation, if ya ask me. I digress.) I did, however, get the food planned pretty well. We feasted on vacuum packs of Indian food and seasoned soybeans/chickpeas from TJ's, along with lots of fresh apples, avocados, and a big ol' bladder full of wine. 'Cause when you take the 'box' out of 'box wine,' you're left with wine in a bladder.

After some post-hiking indulgence at my favorite Korean home-away-from-home, Spa World, and more kimchi than you can shake a chopstick at... I returned home to my cozy kitchen and started cooking up a storm.

Brunch was Gingerbread Waffles from Vegan Brunch. Apples baked with cinnamon were yummy as topping.

Between brunch and dinner, I made more zucchini spelt muffins, roasted a massive butternut squash, cooked a spaghetti squash, and made homemade veggie broth. I keep a freezer baggie of all of my veggie scraps that are good broth makin's (peels from onion, leeks, carrots, pieces of celery, scraps of herbs) and eventually cook it all down once the bag gets full. One gallon freezer bag made about 4 quarts of veggie stock!

Because Kev and I are both fighting off the allergy-induced, post-nasal, almost-sick-but-not-quite nasties-- soup was in order! I reworked an old Gourmet magazine favorite. This soup really warms your soul. I added a little Sriracha at the dinner table, just to clear my sinuses! You could skip the potato step; it just thickens the broth.*

White Bean and Arugula Soup

1 small to medium potato, finely diced*

1 cup water or broth*

1 large onion, finely diced

2 medium carrots, finely diced

3 cloved garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 T water

1 T tomato paste

2 cups veggie broth (I used my homemade freeze scrap stock)

2 cups water

2 cups cannelli beans or chickpeas

salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

7 oz of arugula (TJ's sells in this size bag, less or more is OK too)

In small but heavy saucepan, boil the potato in the water or broth until tender and set aside.*

In a heavy pot (about 5 qt capacity,) heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and water. Cook until veggies are tender, stirring often.

Add tomato paste, stir to combine, and let cook for about a minute.

Add beans and broth. Simmer briskly until everything is tender, about 15 minutes.

In blender, combine the contents of the potato pot with 1 cup of the bean soup. Blend to puree, then transfer back to pot, stirring to combine. Careful with hot liquids in the blender!

Stir in arugula, partially cover the soup pot, and let cook until the leaves are wilted, about 1 minute.

Enjoy with crusty bread!

Camping kitchen: good in a pinch but not ideal for vegan gourmet.

Bittman's Beets-n-Lentils: my way

2010-09-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

I've made this really fabulous beet and lentil recipe twice from Mark Bittman's blog on the New York Times site. It's actually his posting of a recipe from blogger Emily Nunn. The flavors are great, but the original recipe is a bit complicated.

Here's how I do it: simplified and half the amount.

Ingredients:

3-4 medium beets, washed and unpeeled
1 1/2 cup green lentils (I've also used yellow split peas with good success)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 veggie bouillon cube (I like Not-Chicken) dissolved in 2 cups water, or two cups of veg stock
10-15 basil leaves, chopped
1-2 T olive oil
Dijon vinaigrette (recipe below)

To cook the beets:
You can steam them stove-top or roast them in foil in the oven. Just be sure they're nice and tender when they're done cooking. Slough off the skin under cool water and dice.

Lentils:
In a heavy pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent.
Add the stock and lentils, cover and cook on low until tender.

When the lentil are done, add the beets, stir, and let cool to room temp.
Once cooled, add the basil and vinaigrette (see below)

I make my vinaigrette with less oil than the original. In a jar, combine:
2 T olive oil
1/3 cup water
3 T red wine vinegar
Heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
cracked pepper

Place lid on jar. Shake, shake, shake until emulsified. Pour over the lentils, stir to combine. Serve room temp or cold.

Baking Bonanza

2010-09-07T09:09:00.000-04:00

When I was in nursing school, they told us that the only healthy coping mechanism is altruism. Helping others. I think I found another healthy mechanism for coping through stress: baking. (Nothing is terribly wrong, just life changes.) I'm a baking machine these days, and with the only fully functional oven still being down in the basement, it's not as bad to do some summer baking.

Above are zucchinni spelt muffins from Vegan Brunch and carrot cake muffin/cupcakies from VegWeb.

I haven't worked with spelt before and enjoyed working with it-- less gluten so less risk of over mixing. Isa warns of a "health-foody" taste, but I didn't have that problem.

Other recent forays in the baking department include Fat Free Vegan's Can't Be Beet Chocolate Cake (nuuuumm) and her Berries and Spice Muffins.

All this baking is more than I can eat, so if you're local here: look out. Baked goods coming your way.

(Photos by Kev. Thanks, Kev. Eat up!)

Vegan Lady House

2010-09-03T16:10:00.000-04:00

I am tardy in blogging about so many things. I've been busy living life away from the internet.

Last month my mama and I took a much-needed vacay to Maine. She flew in to Bmore, and we drove north from here.

First night was spent in NYC, where we ate so much delicious vegan food at Red Bamboo.
Night number two was in Portland, ME. Mom helped me polish off the sampler at Gritty McDuff's brewery.
Night three was in Searsport, just outside of Belfast. We stayed in Elm Cottages, a veg'n B&B. If you ever make it to Maine, you MUST stop in and see Janet. The B&B is set in a charming coastal Maine town in a 1800s cottage. She has a massive garden outside. The beds were cozy, but the breakfast was truly phenomenal. Tofu scramble, homemade bread and homemade jams/preserves, granola with soy milk, and good company. Janet was so warm and hospitable. She shares her home with several rescued animals, all of whom were very sweet. Can you tell I liked this place?
Subsequent Maine nights were spent in Bar Harbor. Would you have ever in a million years though that touristy Bar Harbor would be a vegan mecca? Almost every restaurant has vegan options or a vegan menu. Even the homemade ice cream shop in town square had two soy ice cream flavors!

Maple Pecan and Cappuccino vegan ice cream!

The time away gave an opportunity to have work done in the casa while I was away. This Vegan House is now This Vegan (Single Lady's) House. Ch-ch-ch-changes were in order. High on the light of priorities was ridding myself of the cat piss soaked carpet (Kitty decided litter boxes were for sissies and that the carpet was preferable.) There were original pine floors under the nasty-rug. However, they were covered in grey lead paint. Grrreat. So, I got some pros (same guys who did the concrete counters I so adore) to come re-do the floors.

Narsty grey lead paint in the sewing room.

Sanding the bedroom.

Bedroom now!

fuzzy Droid photo of the sewing room now!

This is how I roll

2010-07-31T11:39:00.000-04:00

New favorite use for my jar of filé powder? Robin Robertson's Tempeh and Red Bean Jambalaya with Chipotle Chiles. I've made this recipe twice in the last week: once for me, and once for a potluck. The second time around I made it the night before, so the flavors could really get to know each other.

Jambalaya!

Homegrown squash roasted in the broiler-from-hell

Dinner and a movie, homestyle.

I had a "meeting" in DC on Wednesday (cannot disclose details at this time.) Although there were a lot of tempting places on the VegDC restaurant listing, we chose to stick with our old faithful: Sticky Fingers! We'd both been craving a daiya sandwich dipped in tomato soup. We also ordered an eggless salad sammy, which was perfect.

Eggless salad

stretchy daiya sammich and tomater soup!

I was sooo full.

We went on a goose chase for kombucha after hearing a rumor that there was one last place in DC that was able to sell GT Dave's. Alas, they were out, but in the process of finding the shop we stumbled upon this cool urban garden that uses vintage tubs as planters. We also stopped and had coffee at Busboys and Poets, a three-store chain of bookshop/cafes. They have a lot of well-labeled vegan options on the menu.

Next week I'll be traveling to Maine, and while I'm gone the upstairs cat urine-soaked carpet is being ripped out. There are original hardwoods under the carpet, but they're covered with (probably) lead paint. I've heard that refinishing floors is a real pain in the tuchas, so I'm going to let the professionals handle this one. I look forward to not being here for the process and just coming home to gorgeous floors. Can't wait!

Monkey Burritos

2010-07-14T08:48:00.000-04:00

My mom used to make me Monkey Sandwiches, which were peanut butter and sliced bananas on whole wheat bread. I loved them. It wasn't until I got older that I heard references to Elvis eating PB and banana, so they will forever be Monkey Sandwiches in my mind.

Due to a yogurt deficit, I haven't been making as many smoothies in the morning. Instead, I've made these Monkey Burritos a couple times. PB, Banana, cinnamon, on a TJ's low carb (all that was in stock) WW tortilla. Heated on hot cast iron, and yum!

2010-06-26T18:57:00.000-04:00

I feel like blogging, but I really have nothing to blog about. I've been sick and haven't been cooking lately. I did, however, make (for the second time) the most delicious, easiest black beans ever. It's a Whole Foods recipe. Their website actually has a lot of great recipes and a good search engine that lets you search for "vegan" recipes only. The beans are full of flavor: smoky chipotles and tangy, sweet OJ. The recipe called for zest, but I'm lazy. I just used a splash of OJ. -- WF's Chipotle-Orange Black Beans. We had them with a head of kale and some home-grown swiss chard.

It's been a hot summer so far, nearing 100 most days. I just want to stay inside, drink white wine spritzers and eat cold leftovers. Luckily I'll soon have some indoor educational activities to occupy my time. I'm starting the Plant-Based Nutrition course through Cornell University. It was developed by the man responsible for my veganism: T. Collin Campbell. I couldn't do the program without a scholarship, but luckily Cornell thinks a midwife is a worthy cause. My online courses will start July 7th. I'm very excited to begin. As part of this quest for more nutrition knowledge, my mom has sent me her copy of Becoming Vegan. I've also ordered Your Vegetarian Pregnancy to peruse.

So that's the vegan stuff. As far as the house goes, here's a better photo of my beloved countertops. You can better see the recycled glass. They are swoon-worthy.

Roadtripping South and More Things on Buns

2010-06-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

It's the calm after the storm, a lazy Sunday morning. I'm the only one up and am monopolizing the hell out of the coffee. Kevin and Kittie are asleep upstairs. Sterling and Larry, who came up from AA County last night, are asleep in the cave downstairs. We're home from our romp down south, where we basked in the patchouli-scented glory of Asheville and tapped our feet to the twangy tunes of Nashville.

My bro was in Asheville for work/play (he follows the Nascar circuit and makes bank on hauling drunk rednecks around in a bicycle rickshaw.) We met up with him and all went to dinner at Rosetta's Kitchen. Evidently my tired, hungry brother was pretty skeptical that the veg fare would fill his belly, but in the end he could barely finish his meal. Score.

My vegan cornbread, local kale, and the most aaaaamazing Grandma's Golden Gravy

Kevin conquering The Mountain

OK, I confess. We went back for breakfast the next day. It was that good.

On to Nashville for the wedding, which was gorgeous. My cousin was married in the spring rain at Cheekwood. We checked out some of Nashville's vegan offerings, like the new vegetarian joint The Wild Cow. It was so-so compared to Rosetta's. I think the beans-and-three at Calypso Cafe take the vegan cake for Nashville vegan grub.

It was good to travel, but it's also good to be home. I may not have shared this, but we finally got the countertops! They're a slate gray concrete, with green and blue flecks of recycled glass. We love love love them. People talk a lot of shit about concrete counters, but I think they're full of it. We love them. You can see some in the photos below. Here's a little photo recap of some Seintan O Greatness sausages Kevin's been making lately. The recipe is lifted from the PPK forums.

Meatwad!

Rolled up Tootsie Roll style

Not poop.

Kitchen Kevin koncentration.

Enjoying my dogs!

Also, FYI. We have sleep-space now. The Cave. We cleaned up the kitchen and bought a futon on Craigslist. It's cool and dark and cozy. Kittie's a fan. It's where she spends all of her time now.

Fire up the grill and throw on those... carrots?

2010-05-11T12:13:00.000-04:00

Word has it that 30ish years ago, there was a vegetarian restaurant in downtown Gainesville that served carrot hot dogs. The dish has gone down in Gainesville history. Some thought it divine. Some mocked it as ridiculous. A friend's mom used to wait tables there in the 1970s, and he turned me on to this pre-TofuPup treat from days gone by when veg*ns had to be a bit more creative for their meat replacement options.

Of course it doesn't taste just like a hot dog. Mainly the texture is off-- but the taste comes pretty dang close. Plus, you smother this baby with plenty of mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish... and you won't even miss the wheat gluten, TSP, or whatever else your usual go-to not-dog contains. This is as close as you can come to a dog without processed ingredients!

Using standard sized carrots, slice the ends and boil until tender (leave a bit of bite.) When done, drain and rinse with cold water. (I reserved some of the carrot cooking water for the marinade.)

Marinade:

1.5 cups water

~3 T red wine vinegar

~half tsp liquid smoke

1 T salt

squirt of soy sauce/tamari/Braggs

1 tsp garlic salt

2 cloves crushed/minced garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

Put carrots in a jar, pour in marinade, refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 1 week. Longer is obviously better.

Brush with oil and grill it up. (We use stovetop cast iron grill. Any skillet would be OK too.)

Naked dog shown above. After this shot, it got dressed up in fixin's. I made this for myself, gave Kevin a bite, and then headed out to the library. Evidently he was pretty impressed, because while I was gone he made more and spoiled his dinner. I'll take that as a compliment.

ps- The concrete counters will be installed in T minus 48 hours. OMG OMG OMG. No more fiberboard covered in red wine stains!

My laminated house

2010-05-08T00:40:00.000-04:00

During the kitchen reno, we discovered the house was "laminated," meaning renovaters of the past have just slapped new walls over old tile/wall panels/etc. Weird, isn't it? I'm really intrigued by the history of my 130-year-old house, and seeing the layers of owners past is like opening a time capsule.

Today Kevin did some of this:

Which led us to this:

Note: base layer of green tile (maybe 1950's?) then layer of yellow/orange flowered wallpaper (1970s?)

In the office: my robin's egg walls, wood paneling, and some former paneled ceiling with gross water damage.

Found a roof hatch-- suspected culprit of aforementioned water damage. How awesome are these wooden ceilings?!

The robin's egg room in its present state, where you'll frequently spot these two troublemakers.

Flexing my buns

2010-05-07T14:36:00.000-04:00

Something about the hot weather has us wanting to eat things on buns. Can't you just see how elated Kevin is to be devouring those lil' baby sloppy joes? (Vegan Dad's Red Lentil Sloppy Joe's on homemade burger buns from Adventures in Beanland.) I was taking the KitchenAid for a spin that night, so the buns were kneaded in the 'Aid, though the thickness of the WW dough basically derailed the bowl a couple times. Runaway Train! I also made the garlic whipped red taters in the KA.

Having had success with these buns, I attempted to re-create a Wisconsin Oktoberfest favorite: beer brats on German dark rye rolls with saurkraut. I'd never seen mass produced dark rye hot dog buns until I lived through an October in Wisconsin. We'd picked up some Tofurkey beer brats, so naturally they HAD to be on rye buns. My attempt crashed and burned. The dough, which never rose, tasted delicious: WW flour, blackstrap molasses, agave, cocoa powder. Yum! Too bad it didn't work out. I was waiting for a rematch with the recipe, but alas... after a morning of eating saurkraut from the jar before breakfast, I decided it was high time I just bought some rolls and did it up! We cooked the brats in foil with beer and red onions (onions soaked in beer- try it.) The result were alright. I think I'm just not a tofurkey girl. Most meat analogs just don't quite feel right. I think I'll take red lentils over fake meat any day.

Here in the Vegan Kitchen, we've had a major development. The drawer pulls are on, which might sound minor but after months of having to leave the drawers open because they were too hard to open otherwise, pulls are a big freakin' deal. And they match the fridge and dee-dubya.

Also, let there be light!

Because we're either:
a. gluttons for punishment
b. clinically insane
c. fond of being strapped for cash
....we are considering more renovation. This project would be Kevin's baby. Not sure if it'll come to fruition, as we're waiting on bids from a few contractors to see if it's plausible. But, for fun, I went to Second Chance today to poke around. It's the series of salvage warehouses where I bought my stove. They have so much cool shit. Today's treasures included some new vintage stoves, set pieces from The Wire, plethora of clawfoot tubs. I snapped a few photos before my pager went off, causing me to abort to puruse-and-photo mission.

Two little Fire Kings sitting in a tree. I think the blue one wants to come home with me. (Wouldn't it make a cute little accept piece?)

On the Island of Stromboli

2010-04-29T14:27:00.001-04:00

Any time I think of making stromboli, I end up singing Wilco/Billy Bragg lyrics to the song "Ingrid Bergman"... "Let's go make a picture. On the Island of Stromboli. Ingrid Bergman." (To give credit, I hear the song was written by Woody Guthrie, but never performed until Wilco/Billy B came along.)

Making stromboli is easy and forgiving like making pizza, but more fun because you get to braid dough. Aren't you glad you practiced braiding on all your Barbies years ago? Or were you the type who preferred to cut off all their hair as a budding Sinead O'Connor fan? The idea of making stromboli was inspired by a bag of TJ's whole wheat pizza dough and Amanda's Domestic, who altered a vegan ricotta recipe from Nonna's Italian Kitchen. She found the recipe here for Ricotta di Soya and added a lil' nooch, a lil' garlic salt, and some dried basil. Delish!

Here's what you do:

Start with one batch pizza dough, or one bag from TJ's... stretch into a large rectangle .

Lay some good tomato sauce down the middle, then spread some of the ricotta down the middle. Careful not to get the sauce too close to the edges, or it'll be harder to seal.

Top with your choice veggies/toppings. We've liked sauteing some onions, bell peppers, and garlic--and topping with artichokes and sliced olives.

Braid it up per this website (ignore the gross meat... I'll try to make my own tutorial soon.)

Brush with a little soy milk, and pop in a 400 degree oven until golden brown on top

Serve with some marinara on the side

**The ricotta could be optional

***You might want to do this either on a cookie sheet, since it's hard to transfer, or on some parchment paper which could be lifted onto a baking pan. You might also benefit from something to make it not stick, like oil or a generous amount of flour/cornmeal.

****This is really good leftover and cold after you've been up all night. Highly recommended.

My next project with stromboli is to attempt making little mini personal strombolis and having a stromboli party. I've shared this idea with my friends who I call my "play group" (Kimber and Melissa,) and I think they're down as long as we've got enough red wine to wash it down.

I ♥ Broccoli!

2010-04-22T19:49:00.000-04:00

I was never the type of kid who didn't like vegetables. I loved spinach, green beans, salads, squash, peas. Sure, it took me a while to warm up to tomatoes and mushrooms, but no one's perfect. One of my favorite veggies has always been broccoli. When I was back in Gainesville, we had access to the most delicious, local, cheap broccoli at Ward's Supermarket. Even though there's no place in Baltimore quite as fabulous as Wards, broccoli-mania has continued post-vacation. I'm mainly eating lots of frozen organic brocs from Trader Joe's, since it's not really in season here. And let's be honest, frozen food can be easier, stays fresh, and therefor is more accessible and more likely to be eaten.

Here are two recipes I whipped up today that both feature my good friend, Big B.

I ♥ Broccoli! Asian Slaw
Sometimes you just don't want all that Veganaise gooping up your coleslaw. Here's an alternative-- a little bit tangy, little bit sweet, little bit spicy, with a nutty undertone from the sesame oil and sunflower seeds. It'd be good with some chopped peanuts, and I could see using it inside a summer roll or lettuce wrap.

1 bag Trader Joe's broccoli slaw, or 12 ounces of any broccoli/carrot slaw mix
1 package ramen (oriental flavor is vegan)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3 T. Rice vinegar
1 T. Agave nectar
4 T. Lemon or lime juice
1-2 T. tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
1-2 T. Toasted Sesame oil
1 tsp. Sriracha
2 T. minced ginger

For the salad:
1. Warm a tablespoon of canola in a skillet on low-medium heat.
2. Place ramen noodles in a plastic bag, and pulverize the hell out them.
3. Add ramen bits and sunflower seeds to the skillet and toast them up a bit.
4. Let cool for a moment, then place slaw in a bowl and top with browned bits.

For the dressing:
Combine everything in a bowl or mug, and whisk. Adjust to taste. I made mine a tad spicy with the Sriracha.

Pour the dressing over the slaw and bits, toss together, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The longer it sits, the more the flavors will combine. The acids will break down the slaw and make it a bit easier to digest, too.

I ♥ Broccoli! and Rice Cheesy Casserole
Whenever I make vegan mac-n-cheese with broccoli in it, I end up picking the cheesy broccoli bits out to munch on. They're my favorite part of the casserole. This is an attempt to feature broccoli in cheesy sauce, with some rice to hold it all together. The sauce is a variation of VegWeb's "Best Ever Vegan Mac and Cheese in the Entire World... seriously."

1.5 lbs frozen broccoli--thawed (bag and a half of TJ's organic) or two heads of broccoli , diced
1 cup brown rice
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 T. oil

Sauce:
3/4 block firm tofu
2.5 cups plain soymilk
half cup water
1.5 cups nutritional yeast
1/4 cup oil (canola, olive, your choice.)
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 T. paprika
1 T. good garlic salt
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Cook 1 cup of rice. I used a rice cooker.

2. Warm 1 T. of oil in a skillet, then add diced onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and translucent.

3. Very briefly steam the broccoli. Be careful to not overcook. Just cook until it's barely soft enough to be considered "cooked." Drain when done.

4. For the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl until it's all smooth and creamy and delicious.

5. In a casserole dish (roughly 9x13,) lay out the rice, then the broccoli, then those wonderful-smelling onions. Pour most of the sauce over the top (you might have a tiny bit leftover-- it's great on greens.)

6. Stir it up good, and sprinkle with some paprika if you fancy.

7. Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the top is browned. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving to let it "set."

Cheeze and Chick*n

2010-04-11T13:40:00.002-04:00

It's been a pretty gorgeous week here in Baltimore. Sure, it was hot as hell for a couple days, but now it's mellowed to a more tolerable warm, sunny, breezy spring. We've had the windows open and are basking in the pre-summer glory. Kitty is marking the season by shedding her winter coat all over the house. Thanks, Kitty.

The season makes me want to get my garden started. I found some self-watering pots at IKEA for dirt cheap. My mom sent me some seeds and gardening books, including a book specifically about gardening in self-watering containers. The plan for this year is to do most of the veggie gardening in front of the house. Mind you, I live in Baltimore city. In a rowhouse. Across the street from two pretty high traffic dining/drinking establishments. I'm hoping I can get away with the more public planting without anyone destroying my little planties. Last year's garden did well out back on the slab, but it just didn't get much sunlight.

Last year's garden

We're hoping to grow some good veggies this year. I think I'll start with lettuce, swiss chard, and some herbs. Also, I'm genetically obligated to grow some tomatoes. My parents have a seed company that specializes in heirloom tomato seeds, which they started the year I was born. I used to hate tomatoes, but now I've seen the light. Kevin's still not a big tomato lover, but we're slowly winning him over. He likes tomato products, just not straight-up 'maters.

He requested grilled cheeze sandwiches and soup the other night. I'd splurged on some cheddar Daiya. Of course, grilled cheeze sandwiches have to be paired with tomato soup, so I made Vegan Yum Yum's Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup. Super easy to make, and pureeing chickpeas along with the tomatoes makes it proteinaceous. (Like my new term?)

I whipped up some quick stuffed potatoes, which I topped with Daiya. The recipe was inspired by the Veganomicon samosa-stuffed potatoes that Annie made for us a while back. I wasn't crazy about these. Annie's were definitely better. These had mushed potato, broccoli, and tempeh for a "cheddar/broccoli/bacon" theme. Oh well.

Then we had even MORE fun with Daiya in some burritos. I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos from Donna Klein's Supermarket Vegan. Kevin ordered the book on a whim when placing a recent Amazon order. It's full of recipes that require only easily accessible, mainstream vegan ingredients. No Ener-g or Gardein or Teese. Good for when we don't feel like driving around the Inner Harbor to get to Whole Foods.

Not a pretty shot. I slightly modified it to include fresh white sweet potatoes (instead of canned,) refried black beans from TJ's instead of mashed whole ones, and frozen corn for some texture. Please don't mind my bite marks. I was hungry!

And now for the grand finale... Let me tell you what Mr. Kitchen Kevin has been up to. He's been showing me up, making ridiculously yummy food and having friends over while I'm stuck at the hospital. (We knew I might be at the hospital, and I told him to proceed as planned regardless.) One thing we miss most is Indian food. It usually contains ghee, which is dairy. This is particularly crappy because we have an awesome Indian/Nepalese cafe just a couple blocks from us. It's owned by a very friendly man who's a folk music star in Nepal. He's, like, super famous there, but here in Locust Point he's just happy to make you some authentic Nepalese food. We need to get up the chutzpah to inquire about ghee-free preparation.

Anyways, I digress. So, Kevin and I love love love tikka masala. He had the fancy pants idea that he could make it from scratch with Gardein. If you haven't tried Gardein, it's pretty awesome. It's almost identical chicken, and it's not full of processed crap. It's some gluten, some soy, and "ancient grains." He used this recipe to marinade the Gardein, then cook it up on skewers in our Broiler from Hell.

Marinade

Sauce!

Gardein Tikka Masala

Our vegan buddies Annie and Wiley were going to bring me leftovers to the hospital since vegan food is scarce at good ol' AAMC, but luckily the tardy baby decided to finally make an appearance so that I could stumble home at an almost reasonable hour. Nearly 24 hours and two babies later, there's not much better than eating a really great meal, watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and crawling into bed.

Finland

2010-04-07T10:40:00.000-04:00

I had a dream that my south Baltimore neighborhood was collectively recognizing Passover (fat chance in hell in this Irish/Polish Catholic community.) Everyone was marking their doors but not with sheep's blood, as the original story goes. Instead, they were wrapping their door in the flag of their favorite soccer team. My flag was Finland. Random. Some Wikipedia research during waking hours reveals that Finland does not, in fact, have a very good soccer team. Oh well.

This dream came the evening after making Passover dinner for some neighbors and friends. I'm not dogmatic or ambitious enough to do a full seder, just a few dishes to mark the holiday. Before making vegan Passover, one has to make a decision about a controversial kosher subject: legumes. Are legumes kosher for Passover? My vegan-Jew guru, Isa Chandra Moskowitz--a true Brooklyn Jew--says they're A-OK. Other Jewish vegans of the internet claim their rabbis gave them special dispensation. Evidently the concern is that some grain may get gotten into your legumes when you weren't looking. In the age of 'gluten free' labeling and stricter standards, I'm not too worried about that. To compromise, I soaked and cooked my own legumes and bought tofu with a 'gluten-free' claim. Good enough for me.

Here's some of what I made:

Chickpea and Artichoke Salad, from Vegan Yum Yum

Matzoh ball soup with homemade stock, ala Isa.

Sweet potato-apple-carrot kugel, from Thinkatheist.com

(oh Google, the things you find!)

My friend Kimber brought some bodacious dessert: matzoh with chocolate on one side and toffee on the other!! and fudgey-gooey brownies with walnuts!!! I think the matzoh recipe came from My Sweet Vegan, and it was absolutely out of this world!

On the home front, we're at a stand-still. Counters still need to be put in. Odds and ends still need fixing, but at least the kitchen is operational! My next home project will be spring planting. I say 'spring' because it's April, but really it's pushing 90 degrees here in Baltimore. Funny; there are still piles of snow on the ground in some areas of town.

2010-04-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Long time no blog. I'm full of good excuses though! Kevin and I are back from our our road trip, which was awesome. We kept it simple: just a little drive down south with some stops along the way. Our time was mostly spent enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. On the south-bound journey we stayed at a truly unique and inspiring eco-village called The Hostel in the Forest. It's about a hundred miles south of Savannah. These kids got it goin' on: tree houses for sleeping, geodesic domes, composting toilets, cob ovens, a huge organic garden, fire circles, and lots of good vegan cooking. Check out their website (and their Flikr page to learn more.)

From Georgia, we drove south into my old stomping grounds: Gainesville. Oh, 352, how I'd missed you! I hadn't paid a visit in a couple years, and a lot has changed. The best new development is a strong vegan culture. It's like restaurants are competing for the vegan market. A couple local tempeh makers (Jose and Artie) have worked hard to promote tempeh, and you can now find tons of vegan options and lots of tempeh on almost any menu in Gville. I can't tell you how well we ate while we were there.

Satchels - great pizza, Teese available, killer salad, locally brewed beer

8th Ave Bike and Coffee House - vegan mini chocolate cakes!!

These are a few of my favorite things.

Favorite Gainesville places to eat vegan, old and new:

Satchels, duh.
Boca Fiesta - the tempeh burrito is awesome. Get it with vegan queso and a margarita!
Chopstix - best vegan pad thai, and they know what it means to not put fish sauce in your vegetarian food.
El Indio - good, cheap Mexican. Great quac.
Reggae Shack Cafe - Jamaican. Tofu. Seitan. Vegan plates/utensils separate from omni.
The Jones - vegan breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Homebrewed kombucha.

Our days mostly consisted of making cappuccinos in my brother's espresso machine with the amazine, frothable So Delicious coconut milk, rallying the troops on bikes, and riding around town to eat, drink, and be merry. I'd do it again sometime.

Now that we're back, Kitchen Kevin has been striking again. I've been slammed at work; delivered nine babies in the last 10 days or so. So Kev's been helping me out by doing a lot of the cooking. This is a pizza we made last night, inspired by Hawaiian pizza. We marinated some crumbled tempeh in tamari and liquid smoke to give it that salty-sweet, ham-reminiscent flavor, then broiled it with red onions in my awesome new Chambers broiler. It's like you've summoned the fire of hell to cook your dinner.

WW crust, roasted red peppers, tempeh, red onions, garlic, green and black olives, pineapple. Yum.

And these tofu "fish sticks," with Veganaise tartar sauce:

Kitchen Kevin

2010-03-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

Kevin gets way more air time in my blog than I do in his. That's probably because he talks about real things like politics and international affairs, whereas I just talk about what I like to cook and where I cook it.

Little known fact: Kevin's becoming a cooking wiz. Not only does he have the skills, but he's actually using them regularly. My favorite thing is calling on my way home from work (usually to start making a plan for dinner, since I'm usually starving,) and he'll give me some vague indication that he's cooking like, "I threw out all the food" or "I thought we could eat rice tonight."

So, at risk of terribly embarrassing Kevin, I have to brag about the things he's been cooking.

Tempeh Bacon

Doesn't it look pretty sitting on the Chambers?

Which is usually made into fakin' sammiches with my favorite purple-lidded condiment, Veganaise!

(don't you like my new dishes?)

During my long commute the other night, I had an intense craving for BBQ tofu. What do you think was waiting for me when I got home? Kevin not only cooks, he also reads minds.

BBQ Tofu and Succotash, on more of the new dishes.

How did he do it? Cubed tofu, sauteed in canola oil, then smothered in sauce and reduced over heat.

OK, I actually made this. I just wanted to show off my new Anthropologie dishes. The yellow bowls were part of a huge set that I bought for a song at some antique store in Hampden.

Moving on... In a post Julie and Julia world, more and more "cook-through"-themed blogs are popping up. I've found a few cool vegan ones recently.

Vegan Dad is baking through Peter Reinhart's The Bread Bakers Apprentice.

Pink Vegan is bravely tackling both The Vegan Table and The Conscious Cook!

We Just Like Vegetables was cooking through Veganomicon! but appears to be on hiatus.

We'll soon be leaving for "OMG! Spring Break 2010 OMG!" And like every other schmuck on Spring Break, we'll be going to Florida. Highlights include staying at a winery, sleeping in treehouses in Georgia, eating Satchel's Pizza and riding bikes around Gainesville with my bro, seeing my mama in Fort Myers, then stopping to see Kev's grandparents in Myrtle Beach. Action packed!

I'm off to fold laundry and continue packing...

Another pyrotechnics post

2010-03-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

I wish I'd taken photos of the Chambers sitting in the dirty, dank, dark depths of the Second Chance warehouse. Kevin and I (...OK, mainly Kevin) disassembled it on a hot day. Kevin was covered in grime, grease, and fiberglass by the end. I bought him drinks at the Dog Bar in attempts to express gratitude. There were promises made of how awesome it would someday be.

I had to pay movers to bring the Beluga home. They thought I was nuts and pointed out that I had a fully functional stove already. My neighbors, old Baltimore machine workers, echoed the same sentiment. Didn't I have a perfectly good stove already? What did I want with that big, old thing?

Oh, Ye of little faith!

The new pilot light arrived from stove restoration pro, Don Mattera, and after a little liquid courage thanks to our friends over at Banners, it was time to make some spaghetti! No, not in that dungeon of a basement...in the real kitchen. On the real stove. With the fire extinguisher close at hand, no doubt.

And with the knowledge that there were four fire fighters hanging out across the street, we lit the stove.

Isn't that a beautiful sight?

After dreaming of Chambers stoves through the night, I'm now up and fiddling with my newly operational toy. There are still some kinks to work out, like figuring out why the griddle won't fire yet.

Besides geeking out about the Chambers, I'm also trying my hand at making soy yogurt. We've been on a smoothie kick lately, and that means out yogurt demand has spiked. I used to make dairy yogurt all the time, but soy just seemed too complicated. I'm trying out Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe, but subbing Ener-G for her tapioca starch. We shall see!

(Found my old cheater yogurt-making spoon.)

Incubating the inoculated in the trusty Crockpot

I'm curious for the results. If all goes well, a portion of this will be used to make Palak "Paneer" later tonight.

Progress.

2010-02-27T17:59:00.000-05:00

Nothing says 'celebration' like chocolate beet cake with a purple Hanukkah candle.

What's so special that I'd make beet cake and break out the pyro? The kitchen is basically operational! I came home the other night, and there was running water. Running water. Have I ever been so excited about running water? The next morning I chucked a half-full glass of stale water out the back door, and Kevin had to remind me that we have a sink now. So now I don't have to do rude things like throw water on my neighbor's air conditioning handler.

So, those are fiberboard make-shift counters. They keep me happy because I can use my kitchen. And what makes me happy, makes Keith the contractor happy. He's smart that way. He and Kevin made me extra happy Friday evening by moving the Beluga of a stove into place. This is something I never believed would actually happen: the Chambers in the kitchen. You've come a long way, baby!

To go with this new fabulous AlmostKitchen, there are two new things that have made me very excited.

1. Tofu Egg Salad. This may sound gross, but I'll admit that when I look in the Midwife/Doctor lounge on Labor and Delivery at 3AM and see one of the free, freshly prepared Egg Salad on Whole Wheat sandwiches, I'm tempted for a split second. I love egg salad. What I don't love is how the chickens are cruelly mistreated and all that cholesterol. It's been a process of trial and error, but I finally created a vegan version that hits the spot. I didn't measure anything, so I can't tell you a recipe. Just add ingredients until it tastes right. I had to make sure it wasn't poisoned before taking the photo.

(firm tofu, mashed with Veganaise, yellow mustard, tumeric, dill pickle relish, garlic powder, black salt!, minced parsley, and a scallion.)

2. This bombastic camera. It's Kevin's. Obviously. And I'm pretty sure the glass is worth more than his car. I have to stand across the room to try to take photos of food with the bicep-building beast of a lens, but how cool! Thanks, Kev. I promise I won't drop it!

Coming soon: I was gifted two new cookbooks for Valentines Day, Vegan Comfort Food and The Conscious Cook. There will be lots of new recipe experimentation, including cultured cashew cheese! Oh boy...

What do we want? Kitchen! When do we want it? Now!

2010-02-21T14:12:00.000-05:00

These are things that have happened lately:

1. Breakfast bar made of reclaimed wood from 100 year-old Ball-mer rowhouses. I believe these are joists and flooring pieces.

2. Haven't seen the contractor in about 10 days. He's supposed to be making the molds for pouring the concrete counters with the template he created. We made an agreement: I want concrete counters, and he wants to learn how to make concrete counters. I pay for the supplies/tools, and he gets to "learn" on my kitchen. So, he's not charging me for the labor, but come on now! It's time to get this thing dooooone. It's been since October. And while the table saw does make for good cocktail conversation when friends are over, I'd rather be cooking in the kitchen.

3. We had a dinner shindig last night. A few noteworthy tidbits:

Bam! I veganized this bourbon-braised sausage recipe from Emeril. The recipe calls for both beer and bourbon. Oh yeah, baby. I used Field Roast smoked apple sausages. Num Num. We had them on some really fresh French bread from Roots Market.

I made crash hot potatoes. They really crashed hard. This event may or may not have been followed by a little temper tantrum (aka temper tangerine) that may or may not have involved throwing things. Did I mention that I'm ready for the kitchen to be done?

I made Vegan Yum Yum's "blueberry grunt" for dessert. Evidently a grunt is kind of like a cobbler. It's cooked-down blueberries with a biscuit topping. Cobblers need to be a la mode, right? Right. Good excuse to execute some kitchen wizardry. I made ice cream! From one ingredient! It's seriously magical. Step-by-step instructions are here at The Kitchn. It involves slicing and briefly freezing bananas, then food-processing them. What's great is that it seems like a complete flop for the first few minutes until, suddenly, a transformation takes place and your gritty banana substance instantly becomes creamy and fluffy. It's actually very similar to gelato consistency, but made of bananas and much kinder to the waistline.

4. Sunday morning after a long night of "fraternizing" requires strong coffee and good breakfast. I've been wanting to make the omelettes from Vegan Brunch but just never gathered the necessary supplies. Today was the day! These little cuties were whipped up with some slices of rice cheese and veggies. The rice cheese really didn't contribute much. In the future, I'd probably go Daiya or nothing at all cheese-wise. The recipe claimed to make 4 omelettes but made more like seven for me.

I can haz kitchen?

2010-01-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

The cabinets are here, and this hole in my house finally looks like a kitchen! Keith, the contractor, had to drive to the sticks of Amish country in Pennsylvania to pick them up. He reports that the cabinet maker is "for real Amish," all except for the fax machine and the high tech cabinet-making equipment.

As part of my financial holy hemorrhage, I've also purchased some matching stainless steel appliances to cozy up with my new cabinets. Today I also ordered the garbage disposal and a 900 CFM exhaust hood for over the Chambers. They're both coming from Overstock. Thanks to the Internet, I found a promo code that's saving me twenty big ones. That'll pay for Ethiopian dinner tonight!

Now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm getting anxious for the end. The basement kitchen was cool at first, but now I'm getting tired of having to wash paint brushes and rollers in the same sink as I wash my dishes, which also happens to be the same sink my dirty laundry water drains into. Yuck.

I'm still cooking, despite the hardships. (Ha!) After January Foodmakers, which was awesome-- (check out Aliza's blog for photographic evidence,) I had leftover chickpea cutlet "dough" from making a double batch, so I whipped up some buffalo'ed chickpea nuggets, along with sprouts and Kevin's favorite carb, Crash Hot Potatoes.

Fieldtrip and Broken Pipes

2010-01-09T11:35:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting down by the fire with a cuppa' this morning after an action-packed couple of days. Thursday night was spent with our friends in Annapolis at Annie and Wiley's house. They've gone vegan after reading Eating Animals, so we're trying to help nurture their nutrition. I made Tex-Mex Lasagna in my basement from 1,000 Vegan Recipes and brought it to their casa.

I envy these dishes.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, this cast iron pipe had reached its expiration date. It's the main drain pipe for the house and sits in the corner of the kitchen. The house is 130 years old, and who knows how old this iron pipe may have been. If it were to burst, the countertops, the cabinets, and the ceiling would have to be removed to access it. It was too big of a risk. It had to go.

This jerk pipe had been CRACKED and PATCHED.

Who does that?

Megan:1. Pipe: zero.

Because the pipe removal had most operations on hold at the house, we decided it was time for a field trip to DC to check two things off the "to do" list: visit Robert Bergman's exhibit at the National Gallery and stuff my face at Sticky Fingers. After all the Daiya cheese hype, I thought I'd just have to try one of SF's famous grilled cheese samiches. In my mind, grilled cheese should be eaten with tomato soup, which they happened to be serving that night.

Food before photography. I had to eat it hot before snapping the shot.

Kevin and his chick'n kay-sa-dila.

He had to ride in the trunk to the restaurant, but it was worth it.

All said and done, we stuffed our pie holes with fake cheese-product. Upon exiting we were presented with the opportunity to purchase said fake cheese and bring it home for our eating enjoyment. We all decided it was a good treat, but not really something we could get into on a regular basis.

Asthma and pancakes

2010-01-02T17:33:00.005-05:00

The kitchen has (mostly) been moved downstairs. It's actually a fairly functional, cozy set-up. It also happens to be one sacred area of the house that is not covered in a thick layer of dust. This place is feeling like Pompeii after Vesuvius from all the mortar dust.

Kevin's taken on the project of repointing the brick and has been grinding away in the dust-storm of our sealed-off kitchen. He's gotten wise and is now using a respirator, which makes him look like a Storm Trooper but sound like Darth Vader.

We bought muriatic acid and safety equipment at Ace today. On a less windy day, he'll open the house up for ventilation and be acid-washing the brick. The nice man at Ace was pretty into the safety aspect, and didn't hesitate to tell us that muriatic acid was "a lot like Napalm," citing his personal experience with both as a Vietnam vet and handy-person.

The new window and door have been ordered. I really need to order the cork flooring, but my credit card is feeling a bit exhausted right now. I have to work up the chutzpah to put another big purchase on my plastic.

After a big day of construction, I tested out my newest cookbook (1,000 Vegan Recipes, given to me by Kevin's mom for xmas.) I made a savory chickpea flour pancake with rosemary and kalamata olives. It was pretty good with some olive oil drizzled on top. Next time I'll be adding double the kalamatas though. Regardless, pancake made of pea flour kinda blows my mind.

In the meantime, the Chambers is still waiting patiently to continue the restoration. I believe all I need to do is locate a compression valve, replace the rockwool in the door, and put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

January Foodmakers Potluck

2010-01-01T20:32:00.001-05:00

This month's Baltimore Foodmakers potluck will be featuring meat and vegan meat alternatives. Fellow foodmaker Brian will be prep'ing salt-cured, local, pasture-raised meats from folks like Polyface Farms. I'll be coordinating the vegan side of things. I'm actually pretty excited for this event. Brian, former vegan, and I had a lengthy conversation about the ethics of eating only local, truly free-range meat on rare occasions. I can respect this perspective, but I'm also stoked to present the alternative: tasty protein-rich foods that are plant-based.

I'm planning to put some time, effort, and love into creating some (hopefully) impressive non-meat dishes. The top contenders for preparation are:

Buffalo tempeh
Chickpea cutlets and gravy
Bean-based meatloaf

I might try ordering these vegan drumsticks. I'm pretty sure they're what Yabba Pot is serving up. They're a little creepy, since they have a dowel in the center that's a bit startling and bone-like when you unsuspectingly bite or cut into it.

Anyways, here's Brian's description. If anyone who happens to be reading wants to attend, visit the group online and RSVP!

'Nana Bread

2009-12-24T14:15:00.002-05:00

You know how everyone thinks their mom's banana bread is the best? Well, my mom's banana bread recipe really IS the best. I started veganizing the recipe in college, in my vegetarian-but-poor-so-eating-mostly-vegan days.

We're attending a few Xmas Eve parties tonight, so I made these to bring. We also made a massive green bean casserole to bring to Kevin's mom's tomorrow. We liked it so much at Thanksgiving that it was worth repeating back home in Maryland.

This banana bread is easy as pie if you have a food processor; just throw in all the ingredients, processing intermittently. Without further adieu, my Christmas gift to anyone who happens to be reading this... my mom's banana bread recipe:

Banana Bread

3-4 very ripe Bananas (3 if large, 4 if small)
1 cup sugar, less if you desire
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G, but flax has worked fine in the past)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 cups flour (WW pastry works too, just double the baking soda)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Preheat well ahead of time to 325F.
Grease a loaf pan.
Demolish the bananas using your chosen method.
Mix in each of the following ingredients in order listed.
Scoops batter into loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hr. If top becomes too dark during baking, cover with aluminum foil tent.
Check for done-ness with a sharp object, like a skewer. Done when comes out clean.

Hint: I find that quick breads bake better in metal pans. They conduct heat better than materials like glass, so you get a more even distribution of heat. The Kitchn recently published a post with other quick bread tips. Sound advice.

Bare bones

2009-12-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

Every time I leave town, they destroy my house just a little bit more. The plaster came off the wall while I was in Fort Myers. The contractor claims to still be sore from all the hard work, which makes me glad I paid him to do it instead of attempting it myself!

In the mean time, Baltimore had the biggest snowfall since 1966. Friday night was spent at the birth center, just in case. It was a good thing, too, since I had two moms come in. I left Saturday morning in the intermission of the snowfall. The rest of the weekend was mainly spent by the fireplace (we finally got it working!) and playing in the snow.

Thanksgiving+Vacation

2009-12-06T18:30:00.001-05:00

It's been 3 or 4 years since I've traveled home to Fort Myers, Florida, for Thanksgiving. This year, I booked a week off from work so I could fly home and spend time with my mom. Kevin came too, and we celebrated his birthday while we were there.

Because all three of us (Mom, Kevin, me) are vegan, we did a totally Vegan Thanksgiving. (OK, my brother did make a turkey for himself, but we was totally down with all-vegan sides and dessert.)

Here's the menu:

Green Bean Casserole from PPK, per K's request.
Cornbread dressing, made with PPK cornbread and and my Grammy's recipe.
Homemade cranberry-orange relish
Sweet potato casserole
Mushroom gravy, from V'con.
Pumpkin pie, hybrid recipe from VegWeb and the Libby's can.
Apple Crisp, PPK again.
So Delicious Coconut Milk Vanilla ice cream to top it all off!

It was just the four of us for dinner, but several of my mom's neighbors joined us for dessert and coffee. Everyone seemed to enjoy the vegan desserts, which made me happy!

For Kevin's birthday we went to Pizza Fusion, which has vegan pizza options. I was skeptical of the soy cheese, since the much-applauded vegan pizza at Brick Oven Pizza here in Bmore doesn't really float my boat. Pizza Fusion's soy cheese (which I think is Follow Your Heart mozzarella, after internet researching,) is SO yummy. It behaved more like cheese, and I actually liked it. I made some vegan brownies from scratch since I didn't think PF would have vegan desserts, but to my surprise they actually DID have vegan brownies on the menu. I'll be damned! But I think my brownies, made with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder, were probably better. Plus, we had Mint Chocolate chip coconut milk ice cream to go on top!

On K's birthday, he was kind enough to shoot some photos of the fam, per Mom's request. They turned out well, and now she'll finally have some non-high school era photos framed in the house.

After Kevin flew back, Mom and I had some time to putz around, shop, drink wine on the porch, etc. On my last night in town I made YumYum's vegan alfredo and we dined on the porch. I tried to enjoy my last moments of warm Florida weather before flying back to Baltimore! Now that I'm back, it's frigid and even snowed yesterday. Oh well. Florida will always be there to revisit, whenever I manage to get time off again.

Hard Day's Night...

2009-11-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

...brings a late morning breakfast.

In the baby business, it's feast or famine. I don't think I've had any labor patients at the hospital in 2+ weeks, then I get three in one day! My 24 hr shift yesterday both started and ended with breakfast cooking in the trusty cast iron skillet.

I made my favorite scramble yesterday morning. It helps me to have some protein on board and some leftovers in the fridge during a potentially long day. All I had was frozen-then-thawed tofu for the scramble. Toss in some onions, bell peppers, spices, and make the special sauce. Top with sriracha (hot sauce) and yum. The sauce is important here; it gives it the cohesive, slippery texture of scrambled eggs.

This morning, after a long nap, I made Vegan Yum Yum's Slow Rise Pancakes. I'd started the batter last night, so it's easy to cook them up in the morning. These are so unique. Instead of a fluffy, cakey texture, they're more silky and light. I heated up some Trader Joe's pumpkin butter and Maple-Agave syrup to top things off. And now I need a bike ride!

(Like my snazzy backdrop? I need a tripod and an intact kitchen!)

Death by Prixe Fixe

2009-11-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

I was introduced to Great Sage about six months ago. It's an all-veg (and mostly vegan) cafe in Clarksville. Unfortunately, Clarksville really isn't convenient to anything worthwhile for me, but the 45 minute drive is so worth it. The first time, I had brunch with the ladies, a collective of college professor friends, and it was pretty damn delish.

Last night we gathered again for the Pre-Thanksgiving Prixe Fixe: all vegan and with proceeds benefiting Farm Sanctuary. The four-course meal was creative, fun, and yeah... pretty fantastic tasting.

One: butternut squash soup with sage and dried chillies. It was so creamy and savory, that I was bold enough to inquire about the origin of the creaminess. Evidently it contained butternut squash, sage, chiles, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and vegan cream cheese! Aha!

Two: Sweet Inca corn flan with pea shoots and balsamic reduction. Without the reduction the flan wouldn't have worked, but with it it harmonized well.

Three: Field Roast rosemary cutlets with gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, and roasted cubes of B-nut squash. (My pal Julie and I also felt compelled to order the whipped garlic mashed potatoes and gravy.) I'm really not a huge fan of most seitan, and the Field Roast didn't overly exceed my expectations, but it was "toothsome" and definitely worth trying. And with enough gravy and cranberries, anything is tasty!

Four: Oh, dessert. I was so full, but what sane vegan could resist homemade vegan maple-pecan ice cream with chocolate fudge and whipped cream?!

We were all catatonic by the end. My friend's final request for the evening was a wheel barrow to get to the parking lot.

Also, Roots Market is next door and has an amazing amount of vegan food! More selection and cheaper than Whole Foods. The combo of Great Sage and Roots Market makes it even more worth the drive.

The Great Pumpkin pot pie

2009-11-16T07:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's quest for Emily's Cafe was unsuccessful. Unfortunately Google Maps can't quite figure out accurate directions, so after searching for too long on empty bellies, we waved the white flag and headed for Liquid Earth to indulge in reubens. This also led to indulging in Bloody Marys and sunshine in Fells Point.

After a weekend of eating out (we celebrated Kevin's grad school acceptance at Yabba Pot the previous night-- so good!), it was high time for some home cooking. Enter: pot pie.

Susan of Fat Free Vegan posted an amazing looking recipe last week for Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust. As lover of all things pumpkin, I had to make it. Plus I wanted a a huge recipe that would yield leftovers for the week and some stash for the freezer. I'm trying to squirrel some food away in prep for the complete kitchen destruction.

Anyways, the pot pie was great. Fairly labor intensive, but worthwhile. Susan's recipe called for seitan, but since I'm not a huge fan and didn't think I needed to spend the time on seitan creation, I subbed a large can of cannelli beans instead. The stew of the pie is homey-tasting and hearty, and the biscuits have a subtle warm, nutty flavor from the pumpkin. And, as expected, I have a huge amount-- three pans worth!

Making Celebration pot pie while drinking Celebration Ale

Spreading the good word...

2009-11-13T09:19:00.000-05:00

After being blown away by the amazing food at Millenium in San Francisco, I've been wondering why Baltimore doesn't have more vegan restaurants and cafes. There seem to be a reasonable number of vegan folks here in Charm City. Well, Emily to the rescue!

On November 1st, Baltimore celebrated the opening of the second all-vegan cafe and only all-vegan bakery-cafe, Emily's Cafe and Desserts. The Baltimore Sun gave recognition to the new spot, and described the space: "The new cafe has a six-foot fireplace and a porch for outdoor service when spring gets here." I'm thinking I'll hit up the farmers market on Sunday then swing over to Emily's for brunch. Baltimore's heading in the right direction, it seems.

Crash Buffalos

2009-11-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

The pager was quiet last night (until 2 AM) so I was able to cook a big ol' Sunday dinner. I'm starting to acclimate to the kitchen-of-destruction, and all of the change put me in the spirit for testing some new recipes.

There's no photographic proof (we were too busy eating,) but here was the lineup:

Tempeh Buffalo Wings (from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk) - I've never made buffalo'd anything, so this was uncharted territory. I put way more hot stuff in the sauce than the recipe called for. I also didn't read it closely enough and made about half of the batch with the sauce under the panko instead of spreading the sauce on the already-baked and breaded tempeh. Either way, these were totally worth the work (and mess.)

Crash Hot Potatoes (Vegan Yum Yum) - your standard potato, salt, rosemary, olive oil combo meets a creative spin. Kevin ate three of these.

Pumpkin Pie in Whole Wheat Crust (Bryanna Clark Grogan) - I've made a lot of pumpkin pies in my day. In fact, I've been the family's resident pumpkin pie pro for at least 10 years now. That said, I've never made a vegan pumpkin pie. This pie was... OK. The crust was pretty good, considering I rolled it out with a can of Pam since I couldn't find my rolling pie. The pie reminds me of southern sweet potato pie, not as fluffy and kind of sticky compared to pumpkin pie. I want fluff! I want creaminess! I use ground cashew to make my quiche more fluffy, maybe ground pecans for the pie? ...Alas, back to the drawing board.

Two outta three ain't bad.

(Natalie Dee)

Nashville goes vegan!

2009-11-01T21:53:00.000-05:00

Five journalists from Nashville's newspaper, Tennesean, went vegan for a month and detailed it in this blog: Vegan for a Month.

After being vegetarian and mostly vegan for a number of years, I moved to Nashville and stopped being vegetarian because it was almost impossible for me to make the effort in a "meat and three" town while in grad school. In hindsight, it wouldn't have been so impossible. It sounds like things have improved for veggie-vores in Nashvegas. The blog is pretty poignant; a lot of the writers have thoughtful things to say about the pros and cons of transitioning to eating vegan. One of my favorite entries is about always apologizing to waitstaff at the start of the month ("sorry, I don't normally eat vegan") but eventually realized there wasn't any cause for apology.

Anyways, worth a read.

Demolition!

2009-11-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

After ten great days of traveling in California, I came home last night to my newly-demolished home! Here's photographic proof:

Original tin ceiling exposed by cutting away the crappy, cramped bulkhead.

Massive feeling kitchen, sans wall cabinets.

Operations supervisor on the stairs.

VeganMOFO and Kitchen Plans

2009-10-19T09:46:00.003-04:00

Things are developing with the kitchen reno. I didn't think I'd give into the temptation of letting my reno expand beyond my original plans to just replace some cabinets and countertop. Now I'm look at:

Tearing out the ceiling and bulkhead to expose vintage tin ceiling
Ripping up the floor to expose original pine floors
Moving the door to the basement
Shifting the basement stairs by about 2 feet
Eliminating the current peninsula
Moving almost all major appliances
Expanding the kitchen into the livingroom/stairwell by 23"
Cutting out the wall that separates the upper stairs from the dining room
Custom cabinets
And I still have to get the Chambers up and running!

Kitchen taped off to test drive new designs. Kitty accommodates.

The wall that's coming out. Once again, Kitty inserts herself in the shot.

In foodie news, I haven't been cooking quite as much lately. I was sitting on the committee to write the Nurse-Midwifery certification exam last week, and they feed me so I didn't have much reason to cook. To their credit, they were kind and careful to make sure I had vegan options.

However, I had been craving vegan kimchi. I had some time to kill in Catonsville while they prepped my new car, so I swung over to H-Mart, a huge international market. I bought the necessaries for making Julie Hasson's vegan kimchi.

MOFO day 9: Spaghetti Squash in Spicy Cream Sauce

2009-10-10T11:39:00.003-04:00

The farmers' market is a good inidicator of how the seasons are changing. A couple weeks ago hard squash were just making their debut, but last Sunday a lot of the tables were covered in autumnal colors of "winter" squash. I'm a big fan of anything butternut, and acorn squash have won me over recently as well. Spaghetti squash have always intrigued me: noodles made of vegetable. But what to do with it? I like this recipe a lot from Sunset. However, last time I made it the jalapeño flavor was mostly lost. A reviewer suggested green chilies instead. Here's my veganized, updated version of the Sunset's recipe. It bakes in the oven and is reminiscent of a baked mac-n-cheese.

Spaghetti Squash with Chile Cream Sauce

1 medium sized spaghetti squash (3 lbs-ish)

2 cups non-dairy milk, whatever you prefer

2 long green chiles, roughly diced

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus some to grease the pot

3 tablespoons flour (I used white whole wheat)

1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

1 tsp salt

1 cup shredded white vegan cheese (I used Veganrella) - optional but so good

Paprika to sprinkle on top - optional

Preheat oven to 375. Cook the squash in the microwave for about 10 minutes or slice in half and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Either way, cook that thing until it's tender when pierced with a fork. Let it cool before you handle it.
Meanwhile, slice the chiles and places them in a saucepan with the non-dairy milk. Simmer until just almost boiling, then let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Strain off the peppers and reserve the infused cream.
When the squash cools enough to handle, scrape out the stringy innards and place in your baking dish.
In a saucepan, slowly heat the olive oil to medium heat and gradually whisk in the flour and salt. Continue whisking until it smell cooked (like pie crust,) about 3 minutes. Then slowly add the cream, whisking it constantly for about 3 more minutes. I had to add some cornstarch to get this thick enough, but if yours is thick enough-- skip it.
Pour the cream over the squash innards and mix. Taste for salt.
Sprinkle cheese over the top, and hit it with the paprika.
Place in pre-heated oven and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Great White Stove

2009-10-06T10:04:00.009-04:00

I'm in the process of renovating my kitchen. The appliances have started retaliating against me since I decided to take on this endeavor. The range can't hold a steady flame, so things start boiling over that had been set on low. The light above the stove won't stay on unless you bang on it. I'm pretty sure there's a gas issue in the oven. It's a mess. The kitchen reno was instigated by my (perhaps eccentric) purchase of a 1960's Chambers 90C gas stove. Unless I re-do my cabinets, the Chambers won't fit in the kitchen.

She had to be taken apart to fit through the front door.

I'm trying to do this the right way: clean it up, restore rusted areas and coat with rust inhibiting sealant, order new rock wool, replace old screws and bolts with newer ones (that took about 2 hours at the hardware store.) Of course, this is all very easy considering nothing on the stove is standard these days. To top it all off, she weights almost 800 lbs.

Cataloging hardware

Rust-colored rust sealant.

Cleaning the gas cones.

Why bother with this behemoth? There's a great article on Slate that sums it up:
"This Old Stove. Why going vintage is better than modern." My favorite part is this quote: "Fred Carl started Viking around that time after his wife could not find the range of her dreams. (Ironically, it was a vintage Chambers.)"

Hopefully the finished product will look something like this. My stove actually looked much better before we dissected her to reduce the girth (and weight!) The photo below is a real person's actual restored Chambers from the Chambers Rangers discussion board, my go-to place for advice.

Soup and Mad Max

2009-10-06T08:49:00.002-04:00

It's just started feeling like autumn here in Baltimore, which means it's officially soup season. We buy beautiful kale from the downtown farmer's market, but sometimes it doesn't get used up quickly enough. I also happened to have a bit of black-eyed peas in the freezer from a large-scale crock pot bean cooking/storing venture. A southern version of traditional Portuguese kale soup (it's almost like southern New Years in a bowl) hit the spot.

Kevin's been on a bread making kick, and he whipped up a really gorgeous baguette to go with dinner. I'd read this article on ways to add steam during bread baking and gave it a try by throwing a couple ice cubes on a heated baking dish. The results were delish. I think we ate more soup just so we could dip bread in it. Kevin also caught me eating disks of bread at the kitchen sink with olive oil drizzled on them. Needless to say, there was no leftover bread. Oh well.

We don't have TV, but sometimes we'll watch newscasts or the Daily Show during dinner. Tonight we had a treat: Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome. Cinema at its finest.

Anyways, here's the soup recipe. It's easy to make and you could definitely add any other veggies that suit your fancy.

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

1 medium sized onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 heaping tablespoons tomato paste

2 small potatoes, diced (or one if large)

1 quart vegetable broth, divided into halves

1 ½ cups black eyed peas (or one can. Cannellini or Garbanzo would be fine too.)

Thyme, to taste

Oregano, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Kale, de-veined and cut into bite-sized ribbons

In a heavy soup pot, warm olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions for 5 mins. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
Add tomato paste and salt, stirring to coat the onions.
Add half of the veggie broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.
Using a slotted spoon, place most of the potatoes/onions in a blender with a little broth and blend until velvety.
Replace blended potatoes in soup pot, add the rest of the broth and the peas/beans.
Season to taste with salt, thyme and oregano (fresh or dried,) and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.
Add kale and simmer, stirring occaisionally, until kale is tender.
Add more broth or water if too thick.

Serves 4 as a meal or 6 as a side