Vegan Mofo 2012: 10 Minute Soup

Some days you just don't want to spend an hour cooking. This is one of my answers to those days.

It's not really a recipe, since it depends on what I have on hand.

1. Put about 2 cups of water or stock in a saucepan, and heat over medium high.

2. Decide on your seasoning base. You can use bouillon or season later with miso, I usually add a few dashes of shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce), a smashed clove of garlic, sometimes ginger, herbs, or red pepper flakes, and a few drops of  sesame oil. If you used stock, you can skip this step.

3. Add your veggies. I always keep frozen spinach and peas on hand, so they're usually in this soup, along with fresh onions and carrots. Mushrooms, roasted red pepper, broccoli, leafy greens, green beans and sugar snap peas have also found their way into my pot. Hearty veggies go in first, more delicate veggies go in last.

4. Add protein if you want. This is a perfect place to use leftover seasoned tofu, tempeh, cooked beans, or premade meat analogs. I used Morningstar Farms chick'n strips in this bowl.

5. Add your noodles. The cooking time actually depends on how long your noodles will take to cook. These noodle take less than 5 minutes, but something like penne or fettuccine would take a lot longer. You can also use orzo, leftover pasta, or leftover grains like rice or quinoa. 

6. Garnish! Toasted sesame seeds, shredded nori, and greens onions all make great garnishes, but it depends on what's in your soup and what you have on hand. If your soup is more Italian, fresh basil might be better.

Vegan MoFo: Agave Beer Pizza Crust

On Tuesday, I wrote about our and pizza, beer and wings night, but I didn't show the pizza.  Here it is! We often make our own pizza, and about half the time, we use this crust. I love the soft, bready-like texture, the quick, easy recipe, and the slightly sweet, yeasty flavor. We love making our own pizza, because it's economical, fun and each get make it just the way we like it.

For this pizza, I doused the crust in sauce, then I chopped up a few handfuls of spinach very thinly, topped that with some chopped Morningstar Farms/Gardein chick'n strips, finely sliced frozen artichoke hearts, thinly sliced kalamata olives and tons of Monterrey Jack flavored Follow Your Heart.

Before I covered it in FYH.

          Agave Wheat Pizza Crust
        Christina Terriquez

 In my hometown, there’s a local pizza chain that’s famous for their crusts. The standard crusts are wheat, semi-thick, bready and lightly sweetened with honey. Each pizza even comes with a small side of honey so that you can dip your crust and eat it for dessert. We didn’t go to that pizza chain often, but the crusts left a huge impression on me. This recipe is my answer to that crust. It’s soft, bready, and very flavorful. 

 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour    

1 1/2 cups organic unbleached flour    

         1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt   

3 teaspoons baking powder     

1 tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil,     

1 tablespoon organic agave nectar     

11 ounces your favorite beer, pale ale, hefewizen or light  lagers work well  

Directions   

Preheat oven to 350° F.      

Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl.  

In a small bowl, whisk together oil and agave nectar, then add beer and gently mix. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently mix to incorporate. Batter will be slightly wet and sticky. Knead until dough comes together, adding more flour as needed.  

Cover two baking sheets with unbleached parchment. Divide dough in two, and lightly flour. Using flour as needed, roll dough out into a round approximately 10–12 inches in diameter.  

Bake crusts for 10–15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and done in the center. Top as desired and bake.  

Variations 

Try dividing dough into thirds or fourths for personal pizzas.  

Use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup unbleached white for a heartier wheat flavor.              

Brush crust with olive oil prior to baking.  

Notes 

The beer will flavor your crust quite a bit, so use a beer you enjoy drinking. Light to medium beers with heavy wheat or honey flavors work especially well here.  

         This crust is very bready, the texture is like a quick bread, not stretchy like regular pizza dough.

Finished product, covered in FYH.

What's your favorite pizza? Do you ever make your own crust?

Vegan MoFo Wordless Wednesday: Chocolate Raspberry Silk Pie

Vegan MoFo Review: Gardein Buffalo Wings

 

I've never had buffalo wings. I became a vegetarian before I started enjoying spicy foods. So, I sort of understood the dynamic of buffalo wings, celery and blue cheese dressing, while still not really getting it. I  mean, rich creamy dressing; hot, tangy wings; crisp, crunchy, but sort of bland celery sticks? I get the concept of all the disparate parts coming together in glorious harmony, but I'm not a huge fan barbeque sauce or Worcestershire, or A1 or siracha, so didn't think I'd be a fan of buffalo sauce and I never liked blue cheese.

When JD and I saw the new line of Gardein products our local Target was carrying, I got excited for two reasons, first, Gardein is awesome, and I like the crispy tenders, which had not previously been available anywhere in my neighborhood, and second, specifically vegan foods items being readily available and easily accessible? THIS IS THE VEGAN REVOLUTION, PEOPLE. My Target also has two kinds of tofu, multiple brands and styles of non dairy milks including Silk's refrigerated soy, almond AND coconut milks, and Earth Balance, which they sell for about a dollar less than any of the health food stores in my area.

So, when I pointed them out to JD, he immediately went for buffalo wings, to my dismay. When I expressed my misgivings, he suggested I get the BBQ wings. Does he even know me?  I explained I wanted the crispy tenders, and, based on his past experience with Gardein, suggested we get all three. We didn't really have that much space in our freezer, and I didn't want to have that much processed (and BBQy) stuff taking up what little space we did have, so we settled for the buffalo and crispy tenders styles.

A few weeks ago we went to Wimberly and found a brewery that had some amazing hefeweizen, of which we promptly bought a growler. We had decided to have a beer and pizza night, so I suggested we add these wings to the menu.

I cooked them up according to the stove top directions, and like most of Gardein's products, they were very simple to prepare. I was a little worried, because the package said to saute and brown each side until crispy, but also warned against burning and mine didn't really seem to get crispy, since they didn't have any breading and weren't coated like the Mandarin Chick'n. I let some of them get crispy, but this made very dark, and I feared they were burnt and therefore ruined. With the heat turned off, and the sauce "setting" on the wings, I cut up some celery into sticks. I took a nibble of one celery stick and wondered if I wouldn't end up liking them more than the wings.

I told JD they were ready, and he replied, "You know the best thing about vegan wings?"

"What?" I asked, thinking to myself, no mechanically separated chicken? No battery cages full of hens?

" No bones or ligaments!" he said. I can get behind that answer, though I remember my first few vegetarian months, when I actually sort of missed the structure bones gave food.

So, onto the most important thing, how did they taste? I liked them! The texture was maybe a little too soft or not chewy enough for me, but I liked the sauce more than I thought I would. The sauce was a bit hot, but with the crisp, fresh, cook celery, and the bright, bubbly beer, it worked. And even though it seemed like there was not enough sauce included, and the wings didn't seem coated enough, I actually preferred, and found myself seeking out the wings that had less sauce. I also found myself looking for the crispiest wings. I still remember Morningstar Farms' Spicy Chick'n wings, which contain egg, and I used to love in my ovo lacto days, but these are good for fun, easy, fast finger food. If I watched football, these would be perfect football food.

JD liked them, and would eat them again, but said he'd doctor the sauce, since, while it had heat, it was not tangy or Tabasco-y enough to really compare to buffalo sauce. "It was more like spicy barbecue sauce."

Vegan MoFo: Sushi Bowl

I love sushi. There are endless combinations, flavors and textures to try, but sometimes, I just can't wait to for the rice to cool to make rolls, or the rice is leftover and not sticky, or I'm just feeling too lazy. In these cases, a sushi bowl is perfect. It's great for day the day after you make sushi, too, since you'll already have all of the ingredients prepared. 

Just place a bed of cooked rice (it can be hot, room temperature, or even cold, if that's your thing) in the bottom of large bowl, and top it with bite sized pieces of your favorite sushi additions. 

Some things I like:

steamed or blanched carrots, green beans, or asparagus

pan friend, baked, or marinated tofu or tempeh

fresh cucumber, green onion, and avocado

roasted red pepper

sauteed portobello or shiitake mushrooms

Don't forget to add strips of nori, toasted sesame seeds, and season with soy sauce to take this from "rice salad" to "sushi bowl".

Jeremy thinks it's gross, but I also sometimes add mustard to my sushi bowls (he insisted I not take a picture). If you aren't using vinegared rice and want more flavor, you could add wasabi, toasted sesame oil, a miso sauce, or whatever you like in your sushi.

Vegan MoFo: Zombie Cakes

I posted about these last year when I took them to the VRA Halloween potluck. But I wanted to talk about them again since Halloween  is coming up. I will definitely make these again, since they were fun, tasty, and really cool looking. Last year, I made a raspberry cocoa custard for the brains, but I think it's be fun to experiment with different flavors. I'd like to try using fall flavors, like pumpkin cupcakes with vanilla bourbon icing, pumpkin custard "brains" and cranberry syrup "blood". Another combo that sounds delicious to me is vanilla cupcakes, peanut butter or almond butter custard "brains" and strawberry or raspberry "blood".

As far as making the brains stable on the icing, I found it important to make a concave dip in the icing for the "brains" and "blood" to sit in, so they didn't slide off and make a big, sticky mess. If you're going to be transporting them, I would also recommend adding the syrup at the last minute, after arriving at your destination. Don't worry about making sure it all stays in the divot, it looks better when it's running over the sides just a little bit.

Vegan Mofo: Tempeh Sticks

I've written about tempeh  before. I love it. Sometimes I feel like I could eat it everyday and never tire of it.  These tempeh sticks are a great, fun way to prepare it. They're sort of like a vegan, whole foods version of chicken fingers.  You can even cut them into smaller sizes for tempeh nuggets.

One of my bosses taught me how to make tempeh sticks, which are really so simple and delicious you'll wonder why you never thought of them before. My former boss used a few different ingredients, though,my biggest change is that she used corn meal instead of masa harina. I enjoy the texture of masa harina better than that of cornmeal for this recipe, and I love that this simple change gives you huge boost in the b vitamin niacin, plus calcium and iron, among other nutrients.

Like I said, these remind me of chicken fingers, but I usually make them as a comfort food, with mashed potatoes or millet mash, and greens. They're equally great with agave mustard or gravy.

Tempeh Sticks
by Christina Terriquez

Ingredients
1 package tempeh
soy sauce or tamari
fresh grated ginger or garlic, if desired
masa harina flour
sea salt
seasonings like paprika or garlic powder, if desired
safflower or sunflower oil

Directions
Cut tempeh into slices or nuggets as desired. I think they are best when they are sliced 1/4"-1/3" thick.

Steam or blanch the tempeh for at least 15 minutes.

In a heat proof bowl, make your marinade using 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/4 cup water and ginger juice, crushed garlic, or your favorite seasoning and add tempeh. I often skip this step in favor of the lazy person's method: just sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce over the steamed tempeh.

Put 1/2 cup masa harina flour in a pie plate or wide bottomed bowl. Season it with salt and your favorite breading seasonings. I usually use paprika and garlic powder.

Dredge each piece of tempeh through the masa and lightly tap to remove excess flour.

Heat oil over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add tempeh and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Notes

Always cook tempeh for at least 20 minutes total. I often steam or blanch it to get rid of the bitter/sour flavor, and opens it's pores so it absorbs flavor better, but the cooking time is also important since the soybean use in tempeh production are only partially cooked. If tempeh is not properly prepared, it can be hard to digest and create upset stomach. 

Vegan MoFo Wordless Wednesday: Vegan Kentucky Bourbon Pie

Vegan MoFo: Chickpea Frittata

Last week, when I was shopping, I noticed a new line of Italian convenience foods, Lucini Italia. I had never heard or the brand, but one item that caught my eye was their Tuscan Chickpea Frittata mix. It sounded delicious, but I vaguely recalled reading something by Mark Bittman about socca and chickpea fries last year, and thinking how simple those recipes seemed, since they were basically just chickpea flour, salt, water and olive oil.

Sure enough, I read the ingredients and the only thing the package contained was chickpea flour. I decided to simply buy chickpea flour instead of the Tuscan Chickpea Frittata mix, and hope I could find a suitable recipe, thinking that on the very small chance we didn't like the frittata, I could always find other ways to use the chickpea flour, and that the chickpea flour was more economical*.

I was already dreaming things to top the frittata with, or bake into it, before I had even paid for my groceries. Once I got home, I found a perfect recipe (though when I made it, I used a lower temperature).

The frittata baked up wonderfully and looked like the most gorgeous, perfect cornbread. While it was baking, it doubled in size, although it did sink back down as it cooled. When it cooled enough to cut, it sliced beautifully and looked like polenta. The first night we ate it, I had some fresh, gorgeous, super-flavorful vine ripened tomatoes, decided serve the frittata with tomatoes two ways; first, a raw tomato, basil, and garlic relish, as a topping and second as Lebanese-style green beans.

With the leftovers, I reheated the frittata in the toaster over, and topped with seared crimini mushrooms and spinach in a garlic white wine sauce.

The frittata was a little dry on the second day, so I would cook it a little bit less next time (I didn't time it, just watched it and cooked it until it seemed done, since I cooked it at a lower temperature). The hard, dry texture seemed perfect for frying, and since JD hate mushrooms and spinach, I pan fried his portion. He loved it, and it was much easier to fry than polenta, which always splatters for me.


*All the reviews of Lucini Italia's food that I've seen have been very positive, so I'm sure they're very good, and they apparently grind their chickpeas much finer than anyone else. I used Bob's Red Mill chickpea flour, which is stone ground and was about the same price for twice as much product. As I haven't tried both, I can't say how they compare, in terms or flavor or texture.

Vegan MoFo 2011: It's the Most Wonderful Vegan Time of the Year

Vegan MoFo 2011 has begun! Last year was great, and I'm so excited for this year's edition.

Since it's Sunday, I wanted to share one of my favorite lazy Sunday brunch dishes, Cheesy Spinach Grits. Grits are super easy to make, very comforting, you can do tons of things with them, and this dish is especially great because it can be made from your freezer/pantry.  This isn't really a recipe, more like a general guideline, since I make this when I'm a) sleepy or b) lazy, I never measure the ingredients.

Unfortunately, it's not very photogenic.

Cheesy Spinach Grits

by Christina Terriquez

If it's your first time making grits, follow the directions for serving sizes. I usually just eyeball it. I used white grits in these pictures, but yellow would also work, and might give more of a cheesy color.

You'll need:

water

white or yellow grits

salt

fresh or frozen spinach

nutritional yeast

garlic powder

1. Make grits according to package directions. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to medium low so grits don't splatter on you or burn as they thicken.

2. Add chopped fresh or frozen spinach to taste (keep in mind that fresh spinach will wilt and cook down). I usually add about 1 cup fresh, half a cup frozen per person.

3. Add nutritional yeast and garlic powder to taste. I usually add around  1 1/2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast per person and about 1 1/2-2 teaspoons garlic powder per person. Mix well and taste. Reseason if neccessary.

Enjoy!

Optional additions:

Tempeh bacon or tempeh sausage

Red pepper flakes

Black pepper

Green onions

A pat of Earth Balance or a drizzle of olive oil

I haven't tried it yet, but I think this would also be a great side dish for dinner, baked like a casserole, maybe with a bit of gooey cheese like Daiya or FYH either on top, or mixed in and melty.

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!

Product Review: Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n

I went to the store after work, hungry, and worried about what I'd make for dinner, when I happened upon this, which I'd never seen before. It looked good, sounded better, and I knew I had to try it that night with some jasmine rice and a broccoli, yellow bell pepper, carrot and onion stir fry.

It was great! This was a perfect, 20 minute meal, that tasted great and left us feeling happy, satisfied, and healthy. I pan fried the chick'n pieces in a small amount of oil until the inside was warm and tender and the outside was crispy, then added the sauce. Preparing this alone would have taken less than 10 minutes, so if you had leftover grains, you could easily make a whole meal in about 12 minutes.


I was worried that the sauce would be way too sweet, and it was just a bit sweet, but with 4 or so drops of shoyu, it was perfect. You could add some ginger juice or chili pepper flakes if you wanted a little heat. The chick'n had a buttery flavor and tender texture, with the perfect amount of crispness.


We've tried it a few more times, and loved it each time. The last time I made it, I added some stir fried carrots, ginger juice, red pepper flakes and the juice of one small tangerine (because I was adding so many carrots, and needed to stretch the sauce) to the glaze while it cooked, then served on a bed of jasmine rice, topped it with white and black sesame seeds and scallions, along with a side of blanched asparagus.


JD says it's as good as, or better than some of the poultry versions of Mandarin Chicken he's had. He also thinks most omnis wouldn't miss anything if they tried it this way.

I have already bought it again, for those times when I don't have time to make anything from scratch. I could definitely see us enjoying this once a month or so. It's so buttery and delicious, not to mention easy! It about as fast as Chinese takeout would be, too. Maybe even faster, and much healthier. We highly recommend Gardein's Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n.

Vegan Vanguard's Austin, Texas Top Ten

Okay, I'm cheating a little bit because this isn't a list of top ten dishes, but these are the top places in Austin where I enjoy eating on a regular basis, and the items I typically order.

This has an addtional, unintentional bonus: I think all of these places are good places to go with omnis, so omnis can take their vegan friends, or vegans can take their omni friends, and you'll still be friends afterwards! Since JD is omni, I tend to go to omni places that have vegan options. Most of these are places that we both enjoy and we can each get exactly what we want, without making the other compromise.

1) Conan's - Don't Choke Art! Vegan Deep Dish on Wheat, with Daiya.

2) Get Sum Dim Sum - GetSum Veggie Combo (with any of the vegan options), the rice soup, spinach dumplings, vegetable bao, sesame balls, and Law Mai Gai.

3) Kerbey Lane - Spinach, Mushroom and Artichoke Heart Omelet,with homefries and vegan blueberry pancake, veganized (so, tofu subbed for eggs and no green chile cream or cheese), the vegan pancake of the day, vegan soup of the day, sweet potato fries, mocha "cheesecake".

4) Sugar Mama's Bakeshop - I like every vegan cupcake I've tried here. I've even heard that the vegan chocolate cake is better than the non-vegan. The chocolate mint (Peppermint Patty) is the one I've had most, and I love it, but I think it might become my second favorite when I try the Chocolate Covered Cherry.

5) Dog Almighty - I get the veggie Pfluger Dog, add yellow mustard to it, then share a side of tots or rings with JD. Sometimes they have vegan beer brats. I wish they offered vegan corndogs. I haven't tried the chili, but have heard it's awesome, but I'm not much of a fan of chili; if they offered Daiya, I'd try a vegan frito pie or vegan chili cheese dog. I also wish the chocolate covered grahams were actually vegan, because I used to get them and enjoyed the thick chocolate coating.

6) Veggie Heaven - Protein 2000. Seriously, It's the only thing I enjoy here, but it's so damn addictive/delicious.

7) Mr. Natural's on Cesar Chavez - Gluten-Free Chocolate Muffin, Lunch Combo, or Breakfast Burritos.

8) Wheatsville Co-op - Popcorn Tofu (as a snack, or in a sandwich, but not as a po boy--way too big bread-to-fu ratio with hoagie bread), cookies, frozen treats, and hot bar items, like tempeh chili. Bonus, it's a grocery, so you can pick up your Daiya, Dandies, a Go Max Go bar, beer and wine, or some fresh (and often local) vegetables.

9) Claypit - This is the place I first tried vegetable samosas. It was love at first bite. I like the channa masala, too.

10) Lulu B's - Lemongrass Tofu Vermicelli Bowl.

I dearly miss Dhaba Joy and the former incarnation of Java Noodles. Java Noodles is still around, but the last few times we ordered from them, the food was just....lacking something.

You'll notice there's only one food trailer on this list. Unfortunately, I haven't been to many. A few I did enjoy are now sadly, closed. Mostly, they are just too far north for me, and/or not open when I have time to get to them.

Survey Says

I'm still feeling under the weather, and now I've lost my voice. Argh. I didn't cook at all, and am a bit lacking for inspiration, so I'm going to do the MoFo survey that everyone's been posting.

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

Dairy products like ice cream and cheese, but not milk itself. I never liked milk, it was always too thick and overwhelming, or, if it was skim, too thin and watery.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

A lot of small things like condiments and pickled items. Mustard made me gag, cauliflower was too sharp, and I couldn't stand dill cucumber pickles. I never liked olives as a kid, but I think I had only ever tried black olives, and I think part of my dislike stemmed from my irrational fear--when they're whole or sliced they look like eyeballs to me. Squishy, salty eyeballs on pizza freaked me out.

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

Kombucha isn't just vegan, but lots of vegans love it, and I think it's super gross.

The super-noochy tofu scrambles from Bouldin Creek Cafe are very beloved, and I've heard vegans talk of traveling to Austin just to eat them. I think they're icky and feels like they're covered in sawdust.

I only had the seitan buffalo wings from Watercourse Foods in Denver once, so it may have been an off day, but they were so heavy on the vinegar, my tongue felt pickled, and none of us could eat more than 2. Again, I've heard many vegans talk about how great these are.

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

Water! I can't get enough.

What dish are your “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

I never thought about it, but it seems like I tend to make food based on the type of event. I take my Perfect Pecan Pie to macro gatherings, seitan-based dishes or desserts to VRA/vegan events, and sushi or dessert to Austin Food Blogger meetups.

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

Not really. Though I prefer my foods stay separate in general. Sometimes I like picking out the vegetables by type or color, like with stir fries, curries, or fried rice, I'll pick out all of the peas, then the carrots, then eat the rest.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Dessert. I used to be really bad about nut butters, though.

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Sweets. I can make exactly what I want, exactly how I want it. I also feel really guilty spending $3 on one cupcake, when I know I can make a whole batch for less by volume.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

Chocolate. Dark chocolate is amazing and if it's good, a little goes a long way. It also makes you feel better, just ask Madame Pomfrey.

Alcohol. Life is too short for cheap booze.

Oil. The quality of oil can very greatly, and a lot of cheap, poor quality oils have been heated too high as part of the refining process, which makes them rancid, then they are clarified and flavorings are added.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

Not generally, though I do love hummus and chips/pita with olives, or guacamole with chips.

My latest favorite snack is freshly popped popcorn with a little melted EB and Old Bay. Sometimes I like it with a cinnamon, rice syrup and pecan glaze.

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Monterrey Jack style FYH, artichoke hearts, greens like spinach, arugala, or broccoli, olives and sautéed mushrooms in pretty much any combination. Sometimes I'll get in a mood for seitan or vegan sausage, roasted red peppers, and green olives.

I used to order pizzas with no cheese, and mushrooms and onions before commercial vegan cheeses were worth a damn (or offered for delivery). Now my favorite thing to order is the Don't Choke Art! on wheat deep dish, with Daiya.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

I have to pick just one? Broccoli, though I use onions in EVERYTHING. In the fall I love pomegranates and in the spring and summer, peaches.

What is the best salad dressing?

I make a creamy green goddess with avocado, ume vinegar and tons of herbs that's awesome on romaine with plenty of cucumber and it's super cooling on sweltering days. For everyday salads, I like something light and simple, like lime vinaigrette, with lime juice, white wine vinegar, sea salt, and a touch of coconut oil.

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

I huge fan of toast (YEAH toast!). And I like it anyway you'll give it to me. With a little EB, with EB and jam, with jam. With melted FYH, with avocado and sea salt mashed all over it, with hummus. Dipped in olive oil or dipping oil, as garlic bread. With strawberry or raspberry preserves and almond or cashew butter. With macadamia nut butter. With almond butter and chocolate chips, or melted chocolate. Yum.

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

Miso! Preferably with tons of wakame and green onion.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

I like chocolate chocolate or chocolate peanut butter.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Chocolate chocolate chip walnut.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

You mean super quick and easy? That would be Chick'n Parmeshaun. But I try not to eat it too often, since the patties and FYH are pretty refined. Rice with a veggie stir fry, or fried rice are more typical.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

Uh.... JD doesn't like broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms, avocado, raw tomatoes, many fermented items, quinoa, millet.....

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

Usually about 1-2 hours total, for all meals. I like to make leftovers and eat those or something simple like salads, stir fries or sandwiches for lunch. If I'm working the next day, I usually throw it together by packaging small portions together while putting away leftovers from dinner.

Edited for clarity because I probably shouldn't write when I'm tired and sick.

Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

I thought we were going to have to cancel Thanksgiving because of how awful I felt yesterday. But JD helped prep everything, we scaled back the menu a bit, and made a few things in advance, so we were able to have a delicious meal.

I made an Unturkey-esque roast. Rice pilaf stuffed inside seitan, then wrapped in yuba. This was really easy to prep before hand, and we actually made the seitan entirely the night before and let it cook all night long and and I soaked the long grain brown and wild rice overnight.

JD made the pie crusts, and we had Kentucky Bourbon (chocolate walnut) pie, and sweet potato pie. I love these pies so much! I wanted to make an ebook of pie recipes, including these, for the holidays but Vegan MoFo kicked my ass. These pies were made entirely in advance. The sweet potato pie filling had actually been made months in advance and frozen in an airtight container, then it was thawed overnight in the fridge and poured into a prepare pie crust and baked.

I've been having daydreams of potato gratin for the past week. I don't know what sparked this because I only remember having this dish once in my life, and it was a really awful version, with dehydrated potatoes. But for some reason, I kept imagining tender, creamy potatoes in a thick, luscious sauce, and how warm and comforting they would be fresh from the oven. Since we were having mashed potatoes, I decided to try making a sweet potato gratin.

Holy, holy! It was amazing. The sauce was super creamy, buttery, and extremely luscious. The sweet potatoes melted in your mouth. I will definitely be adding this to my rotation. I would change a few things, such as making thicker layers, and making the sauce a little bit thinner, but it was fantastic.

We also had walnut, cranberry and fig cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, vanilla cranberry sauce, sparkling/sugared cranberries, creamed greens, and extra rice pilaf with pecans.

Most importantly of all, if was a good day with good company. And now I'm going back to bed.