So Long, and Thanks for All the Laverfish

This is the last post of Vegan MoFo 2010. Sad day, but I feel very accomplished. This is the third MoFo I've signed up for, but only the first I've actually completed. October and November have always been busy months for me, but this year I planned had a few back up posts, which really helped on days when I didn't have time to cook, or felt lacking in inspiration. I wish MoFo was in March or even February.

Not only did I post every weekday, as was my goal, but I managed to post every day of the month, except the first Saturday. I actually surpassed my goal by 32%! I also participated in all but the last Iron Chef challenge. After the horror of working on Black Friday, and being sick, I just wasn't up for it. But I think the Iron Chef challenges are what I'll miss most about Vegan MoFo.

I am really glad I participated this year, and I would like to participate next year, but I did notice a few things I wasn't particularly pleased with this month. All I did in my spare time, was think about food, make food, take pictures of food, or write about food. Spending a lot of time on food is not that unusual for a foodie or a vegan (especially during the month of November...), but I did let other things fall by the wayside this month.

I posted a lot of pictures I wasn't super thrilled with, because I had to post something. I also published many posts without pictures at all, which I don't like to do. The first week was great, I had tons of ideas and was very excited about my upcoming posts, and I was baking like a mofo. i was also finding tons of new blogs to read, and catching on old favorites I hadn't read in a while. But then week one ended, and I started getting bogged down with life, work, dishes, and a huge backlog of unread posts. For the rest of the month, I only skimmed a few posts a day, usually the ones highlighted on the Vegan MoFo homepage. It seemed like Thanksgiving just pushed everyone over the edge; many MoFo-ers stopped posting due to burn out or illness.

On the other hand, Vegan MoFo enabled me to stop second guessing myself and just post the damn thing already. I usually get excited about something, and start to write, but then get too wordy, start digressing, and then never finish the post. Or I think I need to have a picture before I can post about the awesome thing I just ate/place I just visited/person I just met. VeganMoFo doesn't stop for you, so you have to just publish the post already. Another great thing is that even though I wasn't able to read much this month, I will have, literally, tons of wonderful vegan posts to read for months to come!

On that note, my final 2010 MoFo post:

Tofu McVegan, sautéed greens with shiitakes and sesame seeds, and garlic scalloped sweet potatoes.

Tofu McVegan? Egg McVegan? Veg McTofu? I don't know what to call my vegan version of an Egg McMuffin.

JD doesn't like these, so I don't make them very often. He says they're too egg-like; he never liked Egg McMuffins, preferring instead the sausage version.

I used to love getting breakfast at Mickey D's. It was a rare treat, and usually only reserved for some kind of unusal occasion, like going to see a doctor, or being on vacation. It also combined some of favorite parts of meals--bread products, potatoes, and fried foods--into one supermeal. Of course, it wasn't healthy, and it didn't include anything fresh.

Almost two years ago, while lurking on the old PPK boards, I saw some people talking about vegan eggs, and more specifically, vegan egg mcmuffin eggs. One person in particular inspired me, Ate Bit Vegan.

With his image of a tofu egg in mind, I set about trying to recreate the texture. One thing came to mind immediately: chickpea flour. I salted a few pieces of tofu, cut them into large, thick rounds, then fried them over medium heat until both sides were just slightly browned around the edges.

Then I experimented with different seasonings for the "yolk". I liked a cominbation of a small amount of sea salt, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and turmeric for color. I though about trying blac salt, but I really don't want my tofu eggs to smell like sulfur. I added just enough water to make a very thick, dry paste. It already looked sort of egg yolk-like. I cut off center holes out of the tofu "egg white" rounds, then filled each hole with the chickpea "egg yolk" and pan fried once more. This produced a nearly perfect vegan egg muffin-style egg! But, for some reason I never posted about it. I guess because I didn't have an exact recipe.

Vegan "Egg McMuffiin-style" Tofu Eggs
by Christina Terriquez

Ingredients
1 lb firm tofu
sea salt

2--4 tablespoons chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
garlic powder
nutritional yeast
turmeric
water
optional: black salt

extra virgin olive or safflower oil


Directions
Cut tofu block into a large square. Carefully slice tofu into 2 or 3 thick, square slices. Round off edges of tofu slices, if you wish, or make square Tofu McVegan "eggs". Tofu slices should be about 3--4 inches in diameter, and 1/2"--3/4" thick. Salt both sides of each slice well and set aside for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons chickpea flour, 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder and nutritional yeast, and a big pinch of sea salt or black salt, if using. Add 1 tablespoon water and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste, and add more chickpea flour for texture if needed.

Heat a small amount of oil over medium heat. Pat tofu dry and lightly pan fry tofu until both sides are golden brown. Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly.

Cut a small, 1" diameter, off-center hole in each slice. Fill each hole with chickpea "yolk" mixture. This should take about 1 tablespoon. Pan fry on both sides to heat through and gently cook the "yolk".


These are especially useful for eggs benedict or mcmuffin-style sandwiches. For a sandwich, toast vegan Englich Muffin, heat up a slice of vegan Canadian bacon or ham, add the tofu "egg" and a slice of your favorite American-style vegan cheese slice. Serve with tons of greens and veggies!

Notes
I always found egg white to be pretty bland, so I don't add any seasoning but salt to my tofu egg whites. If you prefer a more flavorful tofu egg, garlic powder, smoked paprika, or chipotle powder might be nice additions.

If desired, mash 1--2 tablespoons of tofu scraps and mix into chickpea yolk mixture.

For this recipe, I usually cut off both hard outside edges of tofu.

I hope you had a great Vegan MoFo, and that you have time to catch up on all of your reading!

Zesty Lemon Asparagus

Vegan MoFo is almost upon us and I'm going to give it another go, so I thought I'd post to get back into the swing of things.

A lot of times, I make dishes but don't post about them because they don't really seem like recipes. This is pretty simple, and is almost more of a series of small techniques. Which I guess is what recipes are, hence, here's a recipe!

I love asparagus, it tastes kind of like a delicate, more tender version of broccoli stalks to me. Recently, Newflower has been having it on sale, and I've been eating a ton of it. I love it sautéed, blanched, after it's been dipped in tempura and wrapped in rice and nori, as sushi, and a hundred other ways, but my favorite way to prepare it is like this:

Looks pretty good, right? It tastes even better!

Zesty Lemon Asparagus
by Christina Terriquez

Ingredients
1 organic lemon
2 tablespoons whole almonds or hazelnuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cups asparagus
sea salt to taste

Directions
Prep your asparagus by breaking the ends. Take the tip in one hand and bottom end in the other, and gently bend, until asparagus stalk breaks. Discard the hard, white end. I like to cut my asparagus into 3 inch pieces for this dish, but you can leave it whole, or cut it into 2 inch pieces if you wish.

Zest the organic lemon, then juice it. Set both the juice and zest aside for now.

Carefully slice the almonds or hazelnuts into thin slivers.

Heat a medium sized cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and slivered nuts to pan and lightly toast. Once nuts have browned just a bit, add the asparagus and a pinch of salt to the pan and sauté until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add a big pinch of zest and taste. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and sea salt to your taste.

Notes
You can buy almonds already slivered instead of slicing them yourself, but they usually cost more.

I think the hazelnuts taste a little bit better, but I don't always have them on hand.

I usually use 1--1 1/2 cups of asparagus, and the juice and zest of 1/2 a medium sized lemon, but depending on the rest of your meal, and your tastes, you can adjust it accordingly.

I hope that got you in the mood for some stellar vegan posts from tons of new and old vegans. There are already over 430 people signed up for Vegan MoFo 2010, from at least 15 countries.

Saturday Sustenance for September 26, 2009

After an unseasonably cold and wet week, forecasts are saying we'll have a warm and sunny weekend, which will be perfect for the Texas-sized potluck with Melisser of The Urban Housewife. It's been good weather for baking or roasting, and the produce at this time of year is delicious slow roasted or baked into sweet or savory goods.

In a semi-related vein, much of our garden was eaten by bugs and others pests long ago, and most of what wasn't eaten withered and died during the long, hot drought, but our trees and a few herbs are still alive and I'm excited to say that the lemons on our Meyer lemon tree are finally starting to to turn yellow. I wish I knew how to tell when limes were ripe, as I imagine the Mexican limes should be ready to eat soon as well. I've been eagerly anticipating the time when we could harvest some fruit from any of our trees, as we've had kaffir lime trees since 2005, and fig trees since 2006--we also have a banana tree, but it's really young, and I don't think it will fruit until 2010 or 2011, if at all in this climate. The kaffir trees have yet to flower, though we have been able to use the leaves in some dishes. The fig trees have produced figs for two years, but late rains last year made the fruit unsalvagable and this year the fruit was eaten by bugs or rodents before it had ripened enough to pick.

In grocery news, this week Central Market has extra large pomegranates, 2 for $4.00, and organic Honeycrisp apples $2.99 per lb.

Newflower has:
conventional asparagus, $1.47 per lb.
20 oz. packages of super cherry tomatoes, 2 for $3.00
conventional jumbo cauliflower, $0.99 each
organic Hass avocado, $0.99 each
Tofutti Cuties, $2.49 for an 8 pack
Pacific Foods non dairy milks, $1.59 for 32 oz.
Pacific Foods organic broth, $0.99 for 32 oz.
conventional raw walnut halves, $2.99 per lb.
Newflower brand artichoke bottoms, $1.99 for 14 oz.

Sprouts has:
hot house tomatoes, $0.49 per lb.
conventional red, orange or yellow bell peppers, $0.77 each
conventional Bosc or Barlett pears, $0.77 per lb
conventional Red delicious, Gala, Jonathan, Granny Smith or Fuji apples, $0.49 per lb.
conventional Sno-White cauliflower, $0.99 each
conventional raw almonds, $2.99 per lb.
conventional Brazil nuts, $3.99 per lb
15 oz. Westbrae organic canned beans, 5 for $5.00
Cascadian Farms organic frozen vegetables, $1.69 for 16 oz.
Tofutti Cuties 8 packs, 2 for $5.00

Sun Harvest has:
conventional cantaloupes 10 for $10.00
conventional large navel oranges, $0.77 per lb.
conventional strawberries, 1 lb. packages, 2 for $3.00
conventional Bartlett or red D'Anjou pears, $0.97 per lb
organic Bosc pears, $0.97 per lb.
organic Fuji apples, 4 lbs for $5.00

Have a great weekend!

A Change is Gonna Come

Considering I've had this blog since 2006, I haven't made very many posts at all. Part of the reason is that I've had trouble maintaining a constant level of inspiration; usually I was either cooking so much I didn't have time to blog about food, or so lacking in time, inspiration, or other resources that I wasn't cooking anything fun.

The vibrant local blogging community has been having tons of meetups, potlucks and other get-togethers, and while I haven't been able to attend them all, I have met some beautiful, enthusiastic, and generous people, which has lead me look internally to see how I could better contribute. I've been thinking a lot about how I can make a blog that's a great resource, and I've come up with a few ideas. If you've been reading Vegan Vanguard for any length of time, you've probably noticed one big change already, but I plan to implement more in the coming weeks, and I would love to get your feedback.

While I haven't updated this blog regularly, I have had a continuous online presence, updating my flickr account, interacting on twitter, and participating on the VRA forums. These networks and formats, along with my personal experience--teaching, doing lots of trial and error, and grocery shopping, a whole hell of a lot of grocery shopping--have given me some ideas for new features.

In the coming month, I will be adding these features, and based on feedback, tweaking them. The first new feature is a weekly summary of the best local grocery deals. It doesn't sound like a groundbreaking idea, but I've never heard of anyone else doing it before now. Additionally, during this recession, people are looking for ways to save both time and money, and it's a rare occasion that I teach a class without at least one person asking where I bought a given ingredient. I'll be focusing on produce, and items of particular interest to vegans. The biggest piece of feedback I need is which day to post this. Wednesday is the day when new sales start, and some grocery stores do double ad Wednesdays, but I feel like most people do their shopping on the weekends, especially during the summer when the farmer's markets are overflowing. Since I'm posting on Saturday this week, I'm calling this feature Saturday Sustenance. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Saturday Sustenance

This week, Central Market has their Old Tyme varieties of heirloom tomatoes on sale for $2.99/lb. They also have small, regular and jumbo conventionally grown asparagus for $2.99/lb.

Sun Harvest has some of the best organic produce deals:
fresh organic white corn, $0.77 each
organic black plums, 2 lbs. for $3
organic cucumbers, 2lbs. for $3
organic red cherries, $2.97/lb.
conventional red cherries are $1.47/lb.
conventional brocolli crowns, $0.77/lb
conventional young zucchini or yellow squash, $0.77/lb.
conventional red or black plums, $0.77/lb.
conventional white onions, 3 lbs for $1
conventional radishes, cilantro or scallions 3 for $1
bulk long grain brown rice $0.69/lb.
and much of their body care products are 25% off this week.

Newflower has some exceptional deals in their frozen and refridgerated section:
So Delicious organic coconut-based ice creams, $2.99/pint
Nate's Meatless Meatballs, $2.49/12 oz bag
Good Karma organic rice milk, $1.49/32 oz container
organic kombucha, $1.99/16 oz jar
conventional bulk almonds, $2.99/lb.
two different brands of 32. oz organic lemonade, 4 for $5
organic red or yellow onions, $2.99/per 3 lb bag
organic zucchini 2 lbs for $3
conventional fresh green beans, $0.99/lb.
Texas-grown seedless watermelon, 2 melons for $4

Make sure to get out early and visit the farmer's market, as it's currently fig season! In addition to fresh figs, sweet corn, blackberries, peaches, tomatoes, peppers, okra, salad greens, melons, fresh creamer beans, fresh black eyed peas, green beans, radishes, beets, and eggplant are all in season in Austin. If you're lucky you might even find candy cane beets, edible flowers, or fresh young dates.

November Updates

Okay, okay, okay. I fail Vegan MoFo to a ridiculous degree. I'm sorry. It's not for lack of news, food, or inspiration.

In October, I was in Colorado with my family. My 8 year old nephew, N, was scheduled to have some intense surgery. Basically, he has cerebral palsy, and his hamstrings are extremely tight. He's already undergone a few procedures to help him walk better, including botox and casting, and tendon lengthening. Up until now, he's used a wheel chair, a walker, AFOs, and molded-plastic and velco braces to get around, and he's done well for himself, but he has the bad habit of W sitting. W sitting is basically sitting on his knees with his feet and calves splayed out to either side of his body--which above, looks like a W. Sitting in this position has turned his hips out, and his knees in, so his doctors decided that this needed to be corrected immediately. When I first heard about the surgery, I was told he would undergo three separate procedures at once, his hips would be broken, they would realign his knees, and they would take the muscle from the back of one of his calves and move it to the front. Yikes! It all sounded like too much, and I know my mother, N's legal guardian, was overwhelmed. As luck would have it, I wasn't scheduled to teach in October, and so I would be able to spend nearly the whole month with my family, be there for the surgery, and also for Halloween and my father's birthday, while still making it back to Austin for the presidential election. Unfortunately, I did not really have the time, energy, or means to blog most of the time I was in Colorado, but I think this is a pretty damn good excuse.

The hospital stay was intense, but overall, the trip was great, and I feel so fortunate that I could take it. N ended up only requiring one surgery for the time being, but that--breaking his hips--necessitated an almost-full body cast, starting below his pecs and going all the way down to his ankles. His recovery time was also increased, although his hospital stay was cut down by a few days. N is still in his cast, but we be getting out of it just before Thanksgiving. He's uncomfortable, and grumpy to be so immobile, but as rascally as ever.

While in Denver, I managed to make it to my favorite restaurant a few times, as well as try some vegan ice creams that aren't available in Austin, and I'll review those in a later post. I also got a chance to hang out with H, and see her new house, and to catch up with a former roommate.

Just before my trip, I had been in contact with Addie Broyles, the food editor for our local newspaper. I ended up winning a small contest by talking about my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes, and she mentioned that she'd be interested in posting the recipe. Last week, she held a photo shoot for the food and the chefs, and I got to meet the creative and sweet Diann, who is also having a recipe published. I was ecstatic when I realized that Addie had picked two vegans for the feature, especially when I returned to Austin and found out she had interviewed my friends, students and coworkers at NE/ Casa de Luz for a feature about macrobiotics. I feel so grateful to live in a city where the major paper acknowledges vegans, and doesn't compartmentalize us. If you're an Austinite, pick up a copy of the Austin American Statesman on Monday, November 24 to see all the Thanksgiving side dishes. Also, if you're on Twitter, you can follow Addie, or join the Austin Food Bloggers group on Facebook (assuming you're in Austina and a blogger).

Last week I also notice that someone had scraped my entire blog and was using the posts for their gaming site to try and sell illegal WoW gold. They had also scraped a severely right wing racist blog, and I think the most offensive aspect of all was having my name (my posts were stolen word for word, with my name intact on the recipes) associated with that kind of vitriol. Thankfully, JD notified the fake blog's admin that they had violated copyright, and within minutes, all of my content was down.

It's been a crazy month, and things probably aren't going to slow down until after the new year.

Almond Ricotta-Stuffed Shells and Vegan MoFo

You may have felt an inexplicable buzz of excitement, heard the unmistakable sound of food bloggers taking pictures, uploading and typing, or maybe you've just noticed vegan and vegetarian bloggers coming out in droves lately, and wondered why. Well, it's because today is the first day of Vegan MoFo, the magical time of the year when we all band together and update our blogs at least once every weekday for a whole month.

Last year my computer crashed a mere four posts in, but, given that my computer has already crashed once this year, that I'll be out of town and away from computer for about 2/5 of the month (more on that later), and that I have a back up plan, I'm ready for Vegan MoFo 2008. For an ever-expanding list of Vegan MoFo Bloggers, check out Isa's Blog. Hopefully, this will introduce new bloggers to a different audience, widen and reinforce the vegan support network, inspire people, and show how gorgeous, tasty and fun vegan food can be!

I also have an update about a new blog that I've joined, Lone Star Plate, which is a group blog comprised of vegans from all over Texas! I'm aiming to post a combination of new content and cross-posted content from Vegan Vanguard.

Now, onto the food!

Almond Ricotta-Stuffed Shells with Blanched Broccoli and Seitan Sausage

Summer in Austin can be unbearably hot, and on most days, the last thing you want to do is spend an hour in front of a hot stove, which is what made this one of our favorite easy summer meals. If you blanch your greens in the water before you cook the pasta, then you'll only end up using one pan, too, which makes clean up super easy! I came up with this simple dish when JD's mother was in town and I wanted something that was semi-familiar, like pasta and marinara, but also simple, elegant and tofu-free. I know that a lot of people use and love tofu ricotta, and while I think it's great in lasagna, I don't think it's quite right in dishes where it's the main ingredient, and I like to show people who haven't had much exposure to vegans that we really do eat more than just tofu and salad.

This recipe does require a long soak, which you can either start in the morning before you go to work, or in the evening, for the next day. If you start this a day ahead and you don't want the almonds to ferment, place the soaking almonds in the fridge. To make a fermented almond cheese, after soaking the almonds for 8 hours, drain the water and allow them to ferment for a more complex flavor and additional healing benefits.

Soaking nuts makes their protein and fat more digestible and accessible.

Almond Ricotta Stuffed Shells up close

Almond Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells
by Christina Terriquez

1 cup raw almonds
1--2 cloves fresh garlic
ume vinegar
sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced

8-12 jumbo pasta shells, boiled until al dente and drained
2 cups of your favorite marinara, red sauce, or Mama Mia sauce

Directions
Either blanch and skin the almonds, or soak the almond until the skin inflates and skin the almonds. Soak skinned almonds for 8 hours.

Blend soaked almonds and garlic, in a blender or food processor, slowly adding water as needed to achieve a homogeneous, but slightly textured ricotta consistency. Season to taste with ume and sea salt, then add parsley.

Heat marinara.

Gently spoon almond ricotta into each shell. Pour a little marinara on each plate, then arrange shells over marinara, and finish with more marinara. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve with blanched or sautéed greens.

Variations
-Use fermented almond cheese, but dilute with a little water and season with garlic, ume and sea salt.

-Use basil and oregano in place of or in addition to Italian Parsley.

-Add freshly ground black pepper.

-Use with almond ricotta with manicotti instead of jumbo shells.

Almond Ricotta-Stuffed Manicotti with Red Kale

Seitan Asada, and Wheat Flour Tortillas

My computer has apparently died. Last week, I installed the new microsoft update and firefox 3.0, one of which, I guess caused my firewall to disengage, which let in a virus, which killed my comp. Thankfully, JD's computer is across the room, and I can use it, although I can't access many of my recipes, pictures, movies, and music.

I promised to post about the seitan asada tacos and homemade flour tortillas, so here they are.

Carne asada was traditionally made with the cheap, tough cuts of meat, which were marinated in a citrus or vinegar based sauce or rubbed with spices, and then grilled or roasted to produced an easier to chew and more flavorful, dish. When I was growing up, my dad would buy carna asada tacos from roadside taco stands and taquierias, which consisted of carne asada served in a small tortilla with a wedge of lime, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro, occassionally grilled onions or scallions, and your choice of salsa.

I don't really measure ingredients for my seitan asada, so this is a broad recipe.

Seitan Asada Tacos
by Christina Terriquez

1 batch of Quick and Easy Seitan, homemade seitan, storebought seitan, or beef-style strips like Morningstar Farms Veggie Steak Meal Starters
cold-pressed unrefined safflower oil
garlic powder
onion powder, optional
chipotle powder
Mexican oregano, optional
sea salt
6-10 tortillas
1 medium onion, sliced into thin half moons
cilantro
lime wedges
salsa

Directions
If using seitan, cut seitan into thin strips, approximately 1/4"x 1/4" and 2" in length.

In a cast iron skillet, heat a small amount of oil. Add seitan strips, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, a shake of chipotle powder, and a shake of oregano. Sauté for a few minutes, and taste. Season with spices and salt to your tastes and sauté for a few more minutes. Remove seitan from pan, but do not wash pan.

Heat the same skillet over medium high, with fond and bits of seitan intact. Add onion and two pinches of salt. Allow onion to brown before turning, and cook about 2-3 minutes on each side. Alternately, sauté onions until translucent or grill.

Heat tortillas in a clean, dry skillet.

To serve, place about 2-3 tablespoons of seitan in each tortilla, garnish with a few pieces of onion, and a sprig or two of cilantro. Plate with a lime wedge and salsa.

Variations
-Steam tortillas.

-Add lettuce, and tomatoes.

-Add avocados.

-Add Quick-Pickled Pepper Onions instead of cooked onions.

And since almost everything is better when it's homemade, why not try your hand at making tortillas from scratch? They're much easier than they seem, and don't require special equipment, although the resting time is mandatory.

Flour Tortillas

2 cups wheat flour (white, whole or a combination)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup cold pressed unrefined safflower oil
1/2-3/4 cup water

Directions
In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients. Add oil and mix well. Add 1/2 cup water slowly and knead until dough is soft and consistent in texture, adding more water if needed.

Cover dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 equal balls. Flatten balls intos discs and let rest 30 more minutes.

Roll each disc into a 7--8 inch tortilla, but do NOT stack. Heat griddle or large cast iron skillet. Heat tortillas, separately, about 45 seconds on each side. They should puff up with air, turn opaque, and become speckled with brown.

Wrap in a dry towel to keep warm.

Both recipes are pretty simple. They are tasty together, but that's an awful lot of flour, so I would serve corn tortillas with the seitan asada, and use the flour tortillas for something else. Sorry about the lack of pictures, I can't access the stuff on my computer, so back logged photos might be lost, but I CAN upload directly to JD's computer, so I'll still be able to post new photos.

VeganMoFo and Vegan Meatballs

I just heard about Vegan Mo(nth of) Fo(od) from Katie at Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk, and I think it's an awesome idea! I'm a few days late, and this is my busiest season (which is saying a lot), but I've been neglecting my blog so much, I want to try this.

Many things have happened since my last post, including R moving out. Over the summer, she fell in love with an old friend who lives in Seattle, and she decided to move there to be closer to him. They're very happy and in love, and I'm ecstatic for her, but I must say, I miss her an awful lot. In addition to not having our friend close by anymore, JD and I have been looking for a new roommate. It's such a process. We find a person who seems like a good fit, but they have a cat (JD's allergic), or a particular person loves the house, but they're....not so ideal. For example, one potential roommate said, "I know you said no hard drugs, but how do you feel about LSD, MDMA (ecstasy), Ketamine, shrooms or ______ (something I had never heard of)?" So...... we're still looking.

I finally met up with some of the VRA members, and it's true! They do rock! First, a few of the members came to the Persian Feast at Casa, which was extremely cool of them, then, there was a potluck/house show featuring Captain Number 1 and seamonster at the house of one of the members. Please check out these one-man bands and buy some music! Both guys were very nice and extremely cool. seamonster reminded me a lot of Colin Maloy of The Decemberists as far as nautical themes, vocals and song writing, with just enough Jeff Magnum to make me long for Neutral Milk Hotel. Captain Number 1 was a little more poppy. Also, Captain Number 1 incorporated a Light Bright into his show, and they used a toy piano and melodica, and I'm a sucker for those kinds of touches.

I had been planning on going to the potluck/house show for a while, but didn't know what to take, although I was planning on something with seitan. A friend came over for lunch that day, during which we made a big batch of nightshade-free red sauce (made with onions, carrots, celery, winter squash, herbs and beets) and she mentioned how the sauce smelled like her grandmother's marinara, in which her grandmother would cook meatballs for the grandchildren. Meatballs! That sounded like a great idea to me. I started thinking of ways to make both meatballs in marinara and Swedish meatballs.

I decided to use my basic seitan recipe, but to add less water, since I really wanted the balls to retain their shape and not get...blurry? edges. Adding less water did help, and they tasted amazing in my opinion, although they did NOT retain their perfect beautiful round shape. C'est la vie. While the meatballs came out great, the red sauce would not play nice with them, no matter how much tweaking I did. I mean, the sauce was perfectly serviceable, and I'm sure many people would have enjoyed the meatballs in the red sauce, but they looked like meatballs in a tomato marinara, and that's the flavor most people would expect, so the nightshade-free sauce seemed slightly off. I ended up serving them in a tomato marinara, to a great reception.

By the way, I couldn't think of a better name for these, and JD, who usually has a problem with people using misnomers like "cheesecake" for vegan desserts, which by definition have no cheese, however tasty they might be, only suggested "gluten balls" or "protein balls", both of which sound dirty to me, while my example of a fancier name, "neatballs", sounded dirty to him, so I welcome any suggestions (I apologize to this horribly long sentence!).

I made a HUGE batch, and had to pull out my giant skillet. Can you tell how massive this thing is?

Even in the massive skillet, I had to pan fry in two batches.

Wheat Gluten Meatballs
by Christina Terriquez

1/4 cup organic whole wheat or whole spelt flour
1 cup organic vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons organic tahini
2 tablespoons organic, unpasteurized shoyu
3/4 cup spring or filtered water or less

—brine—
3 cups spring or filtered water
2 inches dry kombu, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 teapoons organic, unpasteurized shoyu
1/4 small white or yellow onion, cut into big wedges
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised but whole (optional)
3-4 button or crimini mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (optional)

extra virgin sesame oil (or toasted sesame oil or olive oil)
alderwood smoked sea salt

Directions
In a medium sized bowl, mix both vital wheat gluten and flour.

In a small bowl, mix tahini and shoyu. Add tahini shoyu mixture to flour and mix well to incorporate. You should have a grainy texture. When thoroughly mixed, add 1/2 cup of water and knead well. If needed, add water, but add as little as possible, using no more than 3/4 cup total. Dough should be spongy, and elastic.

Divide dough into balls about the size of a quarter, as balls will expand while cooking.

In a medium saucepan, mix all ingredients for the brine. Gently place gluten in saucepan and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, adding water if needed.

When meatballs are cooked through, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, with a generous amount of virgin sesame oil and a shake of smoked sea salt. Pan fry balls, making sure to brown all sides. This is the step that really puts these over the top, and gives them the slightly oily mouth-feel of real meatballs.

Notes
Add meatballs and 1/4 cup brine to 1 cup of marinara or red sauce and simmer for at least 15 minutes. If desired, add 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder for a smoky kick.

Finished product: salty, savory, slightly crispy outside and tender inside.

Swedish meatballs to come later this month!

August Updates

The Art of Vegan Sushi

I've had a busy summer, with two out-of-town guests (H, of course, and M, JD's sister), taking classes and teaching them, creating a class worth of raw desserts, painting and decorating the house, a new Harry Potter movie AND the final Harry Potter book, the National Poetry Slam, hosting two potlucks, a broken radiator and transmission hose, unusual monsoon-like conditions, trying to keep a garden alive despite outrageous bugs due to said monsoon-like conditions, plus fighting off a bout of food poisoning, AND a cold....but I have been cooking. And I will be posting some recipes.

Upcoming recipes/posts to look forward to:

Simple Crepes with Asparagus and Shiitake Bechemal

Raw Lime Tart

Raw Raspberry Cashew Creme Tart with Chocolate Mousse

Raw Peaches and Creme Tart

Fusion Tempeh with Triple Sesame Rice

Strawberry Limeade

Spiced Cauliflower, Paratha, Red Lentils, and Curried Sweet Potatoes over Basmati

Roasted Vegatable and Polenta Napoleons

Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Creme Crepes

Raw Black Forest Cheesecake

May Updates

Platter of deliciousness.

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I'm sorry about the lack of posts. It's not from a lack of cooking. I've been taking tons of pictures, and creating many, many dishes. These pictures give you a glimpse of some of the dishes and recipes I'll be writing about in the coming weeks.

Strawberry Sorbet with Lime Zest

Raw TuNut Wrap
Quick Wonton Ravioli
Vegan Ceviche

During the winter and first half of spring, I was taking inspiration from Indian food, although lately Persian food has been my muse, so expect to see some recipes with Indian and Persian flavors.

I have also been very busy with our garden. In January, R and I moved into a lovely house. In March, JD joined us. JD and I have built three raised bed gardens, one full of vegetables including roots like carrots, onions, radishes and turnips, plus some tomatoes, fennel, broccoli, cabbage and jalapenos, one that has cucumbers and zucchini, and, once we make it a bit longer, will have cantaloupes, and my favorite bed, the herb garden, which features a bust that we've been calling The Lady.

The Lady watches over our herbs from her perch in the backyard.

The herb garden currently has dill, cilantro, thyme, lemon thyme, lemongrass (to go with our two kaffir lime trees), sage and basil. We have about 5 or 6 spots open for more herbs, in the herb bed, and a couple of container herbs, like chives and oregano. I recently bought some Asian seeds, including two amaranths (for the greens), Chinese cabbages, two daikons, shiso, Chinese leeks, bunching onions and burdock. I want to built three more raised beds; a tall bed for the burdock (you harvest it when it's 3 to 4 feet long, and it will grow through rock and around other roots, so with all the tree roots in our yard, planting it straight in the ground would make a harvesting nightmare), a large bed for all the other Asian vegetables, and a small bed like the herb garden for edible flowers.

Late Bloomers: I had all but given up on these pansy seedlings

We're also growing a few other things in the garden, outside of beds, like English peas, sweet potatoes, a fig tree, raspberries, blackberries, hibiscus, and of course the avocado trees and pineapples.

This is kind of a teaser, as I plan to write more on the topic later, but, at the school, it's home processing time, which means I get to teach some of my favorite classes. To view info about all the upcoming events, see more recipes and pictures, and see what else I'm up to, you can check out the blog I moderate for work here, I write the posts for NaturalEpicurean.

In more personal news, JD and I will be going to the ACL festival again this year. I'm especially excited to see DeVotchka, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Bjork, Regina Spektor, and Bob Dylan (Did you hear about this? The story made me giggle.) It will be great to see Wilco, Ben Kweller, The Del McCoury Band, Spoon, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party again, although I'm not a huge fan of the latter four artists, I've seen them live, and they all put on great shows. I saw Jack White play with the Raconteurs last year, which made me wish I was watching The White Stripes, even though I stopped following them after Elephant, so this year I'll get my wish. I haven't decided if I'll check out Muse. I caught some of their show last year, but JD wasn't into them, so we left after two songs. I think their debut, Showbiz was my personal favorite, and honestly, I haven't kept up with them too much recently. Anyone on the lineup you consider to be must-see? I was disappointed that Interpol and Of Montreal weren't tapped since they (will) have both released albums (by the time of the festival).

Last, but certainly not least, my best friend, H will be visiting me this week! I have many potential ideas, including:
Zilker Botanical Gardens - the Oriental garden and koi ponds are gorgeous.
Happy Hour(or dinner) at the Clay Pit - appetizers are half price during happy hour, and although I always enjoy the food, it's the pashwari naan that I really want H to try.
Lunch at Aster's Ethiopian - plenty of injera, and many delicious vegetarian dishes.
Uchi - everyone in my social circle raves about Uchi, but I've never been since I can get decent vegan sushi anywhere, and I can make AWESOME vegan sushi at home, it always seemed as pointless for me to go to an expensive sushi place as it would be for me to go to an expensive steakhouse. H loves the sushi, though, so this is a good time to check it out.
AMoA
Cocktail party! - I think the South Austin Spec's just opened....
Threadgill's - I've never been, but one of my favorite locals band is having a show there.
The Draughthouse Pub and Brewery and/or The Gingerman - both have an vast & varied selection of exquisite beers, and the Draughthouse (obviously) brews their own. If we go to The Gingerman(which I've been known to drunkenly call "The GingerBREAD Man"), we'll probably check out Halcyon, because, though they are not vegan, H would love the idea of their indoor S'mores.
The Alamo Drafthouse - hopefully we can check out Terror Thursday at the original before they close.
The Whole Foods flagship location - it's kind of a huge yuppie amusement park, yes, but good Lord, do they have a lot of beautiful, tasty stuff, plus, they give out tons of samples.
Waterloo Records/Waterloo Video - 'nuff said.
Book People - Ditto.
Kerbey Lane - I'm sure we'll be out really, really late at least one night, in need of nourishment, and what's better for that than KL's Mushroom Artichoke Spinach Omelet, veganized? Nothing, that's what.
I'm also taking recommendations, so if you have suggestions for quintessentially Austin things, or know of any fun events occurring between May 31 and June 6, let me know.