Vegan MoFo: All-Carb Diet

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

...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

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

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

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

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

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!