Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Another submission, this time adapted from 101 Cookbooks. In this case, only one small change was needed to make it 100% vegan: the honey in the dressing is replaced with agave nectar. This makes a BEAUTIFUL, healthy, and totally delicious salad. Check out the original here.

3 cups of pumpkin (or other winter squash), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used Trader Joe's pre-cut butternut squash)
extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt

12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled (OR 3 medium red onions peeled and quartered)
2 cups cooked wild rice*

1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375.
Toss the pumpkin in a generous splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt, and turn out onto a baking sheet. At the same time, toss the onions with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and turn out onto a separate baking sheet. Roast both for about 45 minutes, or until squash is brown and caramelized. The same goes for the onions, they should be deeply colored, caramelized, and soft throughout by the time they are done roasting. You'll need to flip both the squash and onion pieces once or twice along the way - so it's not just one side that is browning.

In the meantime, make the dressing. With a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and agave nectar until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. Taste and adjust seasonings (or flavors) to your liking - I usually need to add a touch more salt with this dressing.

In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a large dollop of the dressing. Add the onions, gently toss just once or twice. Turn the rice and onions out onto a platter and top with the roasted squash (I'll very gently toss with my hands here to disperse the pumpkin a bit). Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped cilantro.

Serves 4.

*To cook wild rice: Rinse 1 1/2 cups wild rice. In a medium sauce pan bring the rice and 4 1/2 cups salted water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes or until rice is tender and splitting open, stirring occasionally. You'll have enough for this recipe and some leftover.

First Recipe Contest Submission! Thanks, Grandmom.

Here's a recipe from my own very dear Grandmom, who lives in Portland, Texas. I think it is very appropriate that to start out assembling a collection of popular vegan recipes, we have something in the "Salads and Appetizers" category. I also like this recipe because it involves no fancy substitutions - it's vegan just because it requires no animal products. Also, it is simple to make.

Here's the recipe:

Celery and Olive Salad

Combine:
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or as long as over night.

So, it's essentially a finely chopped salad, like Israeli salad or tapenade. How to serve it? My grandmother suggested that it might go well with pasta (I thought it sounded good for a cold pasta salad), but it might also do well as an option with crackers or flatbread as an appetizer.

So, I'll include this recipe for Gluten Free Crackers, which was adapted from 101 Cookbooks by Lauren Denneson. You can see the original post here, at "Daring to Thrive", a Gluten-Free recipe blog that is quite wonderful. Don't care for Gluten-Free? Check out the Gluten-full recipe here.

Crispy Gluten-free Crackers:

½ cup sorghum flour
¼ cup tapioca flour
¼ cup almond flour
¼ cup ground flax, soaked in ¼ cup warm water for about 5-10 minutes
1 teaspoon coarsely ground sea salt (I used a mortar and pestle to crush the large granules I have on hand)
2 teaspoons grapeseed or olive oil*
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Roughly 2 tablespoons warm water

Mix together the flours and the sea salt, blending well. Add the flax mixture, apple cider vinegar, and the oil and begin mixing.

Mix until a course, pebbled mixture forms.

Add the warm water, a small bit at a time, just until the dough comes together.

Knead the dough in your hands until the dough is even textured and shape into a ball. The dough should be moist, but not sticky. If it is too sticky, add more flour.Place half of the dough on a parchment-paper covered cookie sheet. Flatten the dough with your hands a bit and place another sheet of parchment paper on top.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough so that it covers the entire sheet. Roll it out paper thin. And I mean paper thin. Carefully peel off top sheet of parchment paper. Either use a knife to cut the crackers into squares or wait until they are cooked to break them into irregular pieces.

Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes, until the crackers turn golden brown and crispy.

Autumn Recipe Contest

I've been neglecting this blog a lot lately, to such an extent that I actually totally overlooked a wonderful comment (about the Spinach Pie post) for MONTHS. Months! I am a bad blogger. Mea Culpa.

So, to rejuvenate things around here, I am starting up an Autumn/Thanksgiving RECIPE CONTEST. I expect this will end up being a pretty small contest, since, although I have many friends who cook, most of them do not type, and after I inadvertently ignored my one, solitary comment for three months, my prospects for new blog-friends submitting recipes seem pretty slim.

BUT STILL. Here are the rules:

1) Recipe must be vegan*

OK, now that we've reviewed the rules, get cooking! I would prefer original recipes, but if you have a favorite recipe from a cookbook or other blog, send it in, just provide the correct citation. If you've veganized an omnivore recipe, you get all the credit for that.

Since the theme is Autumn and/or Thanksgiving, seasonal recipes are preferred, but if you have something that transcends seasons with its awesomeness, by all means, submit it!

Obviously, if you know me, you can just e-mail me your recipe. If you don't, just paste it into the comments section. The world will be the judge. All viable recipes will be posted for everyone to try. If you submit a recipe, please know that it will posted here, where all three of my regular readers will be able to see it!

I will not be publishing a cookbook, so please do not worry about me stealing your recipe for my own profit. That is not how I roll.

*Vegan: no animal products, at all. No honey, no milk, no eggs, no meat, no dairy by-products. Even sugar can be non-vegan if it is processed with animal bone char. Keep an eye on those labels!

Vegan Mac & Not-Cheese

I've been meaning to post this one for a while. Now that the weather is getting cooler, maybe it's time to think about warm comfort food like this again.

This is the best-tasting vegan version of Mac'n Cheese I have been able to create. It isn't really like traditional Mac'n Cheese. There is only one way to create that particular combination of flavors and textures. And it involves actual cheese.

But Veggie Mac is delicious and healthy, lower in fat and sodium, cruelty-free, and flavorful! This recipe provides some of the creaminess of the original, with a subtle and complex taste, pleasant texture, and cozy comfort-food feeling. So, here it is:

Vegan Mac’n Not-Cheese

You’ll need:

Elbow Pasta
1 block of Vegan Rella (cheddar flavor)
1 c. soy creamer or soy milk
4 tbsp Earth Balance margarine
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup Rice Wine (Mirin)
2 tbsp Brewer’s Yeast

1 cup of chopped leeks
2 tbsp olive oil
½ bag of frozen broccoli, thawed

2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp soy sauce, nama shoyu, or tamari
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp mustard (Grey Poupon or other Dijon mustard)
1 tsp garlic

Bread crumbs or crushed whole wheat crackers sufficient for topping.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Thaw the frozen broccoli and boil the elbow pasta according to instructions on box. Drain excess water from both. Set aside in large bowl or pan; add 1 tbsp of margarine to keep pasta from getting sticky.

Saute the leeks in the olive oil over medium-low heat until they are soft. In a small dish, mix garlic, mustard, and soy sauce. Stir the mustard mixture into the warm leeks and remove from heat.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining margarine over low heat. Cut the Vegan Rella block into smaller cubes, and add it to the margarine. As it begins to melt, slowly pour the soy creamer into the mixture.

Whisk the melted cheese mixture until the “cheese” is mostly melted. Stir in the nutritional yeast and whisk until smooth. Add the Brewer’s yeast and the rice wine and blend until smooth. Remove from heat and add onion powder, sea salt, nutmeg and pepper.

Combine all ingredients in an 8 x 8 casserole dish, stirring until the "cheese" mixture is well-blended. Top with bread crumbs or crackers, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

My Favorite Lemon Cake

Vegan Lemon Sour Cream Cake

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup soy margarine, room temperature
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* Equivalent of 3 eggs (powdered egg substitute works well for this recipe)
* grated zest of 1 large lemon
* 1 cup vegan sour cream

* Lemon Glaze:
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 325°. Generously butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl with hand-held electric mixer, cream 1 cup soy margarine and granulated sugar; beat at high speed until mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Beat in egg substitute. Blend in lemon zest. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, adding each in 3 additions. Scrape sides of bowl frequently.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan; bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine lemon glaze ingredients in a bowl, blending until smooth. Carefully turn cake out onto a platter; drizzle evenly with glaze.

Serves 12 or more, depending on size of servings.

LisaBars

In today's troubled economic times, who can afford $2.00 bars? But who wants to eat substandard bars with 46 non-food ingredients? If you have access to a store with a bulk foods section, perhaps this simple recipe for delicious bars (like LaraBars or ClifNectar bars) can save you some bucks while maintaining your high standards for optimal nourishment.

Here are several combinations. Each recipe will yield 2 bars:

Cherry: 1/4 c. dates, 1/4 c. dried cherries, 1/3 c. whole pecans, almonds, or walnuts, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Cashew Cookie: 1/3 c. dates, 1/2 c. raw cashews

Chocolate Chip Cookie: 1/3 c. dates, 1/2 c. raw cashews, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, pinch of cinnamon, 1/2 oz. finely chopped semisweet chocolate

Blueberry: 1/4 c. dried blueberries, 1/4 c. dates, 1/3 c. almonds, 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest, 1 drop almond extract

Pulse the dried fruit in a food processor until it has a paste-like texture, and transfer to a medium bowl. Chop the nuts very finely (by hand or use the food processor). Add them to the fruit paste. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly (you might have to get in there with your hands and squish everything around).

Transfer mixture to waxed paper or plastic wrap. You can divide the mixture into two blobs and wrap each in plastic, then form into a bar shape and refridgerate to firm it up a bit, or just use a spatula to spread the entire mixture over a piece of waxed paper on a baking sheet. Refridgerate, and once it's firm, cut the resulting "megabar" into smaller pieces.

It's easy to think of other great combinations. I'm planning to try cranberry-apple, chocolate-coconut-almond, golden-raisin-pecan, and several others!

PANCAKES! Yes, pancakes.

I've been delinquent for a while, since I was in a hotel for most of the last month. I subsisted on bags of frozen vegetables and PB&J during that time, which isn't really all that interesting.

This weekend, however, I discovered a new pancake-making method which I just had to share!

I've made vegan pancakes numerous times, but probably never the exact same way twice. I'm fond of experimentation, so on the rare occasions that pancake-making is feasible, I like to satisfy my curiosity and my desire for pancakey goodness at the same time. That being said, I will probably stick to the following recipe from now on. It was that awesome.

I was up in the mountains for the last few weeks, and before I came home last week, I stopped by Catoctin Mountain Orchard, a roadside stand that has the most incredible raspberry jam, and frozen pies that you bake yourself, and truly astonishing peaches. Anyway, I was there buying all of the things I just mentioned, when I overheard a pair of ladies discussing pancakes.

One of the ladies was describing her grandmother's pancake recipe, which used no eggs, and used carbonated water to make the pancakes light and fluffy. She insisted that this was the best pancake recipe ever. I wondered if, as in the case of the Wacky Cake, an apparently boring ingredient (carbonated water in this case, or vinegar and soda in the Wacky Cake) could create deliciousness from nothing through the magic of science.

This piqued my interest, so this Sunday I got busy in my freshly-unpacked (and gigantic!) new kitchen.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup wheat bran

1/3 cup spelt flour*

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup soy milk

1/3 cup carbonated water (I used club soda)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

2 tsp vanilla or other extract

optional: walnuts, berries, or other "add-ins"

Directions:

Preheat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the soy milk, carbonated water, sugar, and oil. Combine the two and mix until JUST combined.

IMPORTANT: Overmixing leads to bad, unfluffy pancakes, so I suggest the following: take your wire whisk and give the mixture ten strokes. If there's still dry flour mixture unincorporated, try to quickly mix it in with two or three more whisks. Then, no matter how lumpy and uncombined it looks, just LEAVE IT. The batter is done.

Grease your griddle or pan with margarine or a little oil, and get cooking! I used about 1/3 cup dollops of pancake batter for each pancake. The first side always takes a little longer: I gave them about 2-3 minutes, or until bubbles had formed near the center of each pancake, before flipping.

Tip: set your oven to "warm" and stack the pancakes on a plate in the warm oven as you go along. UPDATE: I saw an episode of "Good Eats" in which Alton Brown recommended that you place the pancakes into a folded tea towel on a cookie sheet in your warm oven. This technique seems to do well at keeping pancakes perfect while you keep cooking!

These pancakes were amazingly good! They were fluffy! They tasted delicious! I'm trying them with peaches in them next time. Or maybe blueberries. Or both!

*Notes: I like everything to be bursting with healthiness. If you like, you can probably substitute 1 1/3 cups regular flour for the mixture of flour, wheat bran, and spelt flour.

Columbia Cake

I'm not sure whether or not the fine people of Smith Island, Maryland would care for my vegan version of the Maryland Official State Cake, so I have decided to call mine "Columbia Cake", while acknowledging the Smith Island pedigree of this lovely dessert.

I followed the basic guidelines set forth here, and also perused several random internet articles to check out all the possible variations. There are many, but I finally decided to try one of the recipes that seemed the most popular: yellow cake, cooked chocolate frosting, and crushed peanut butter cups between the layers.

I should also mention that I've never actually had the omnivore version of Smith Island Cake, so I was a little nervous about attempting a veganization. This cake was intended to debut at the IC's top-secret surprise birthday party. I consoled myself with the thought that if it was awful, there would be many other desserts to choose from. I thought it was pretty good, though, and I've received enough requests for the recipe that I suppose it went over just fine.

NOTE: You must have vegan peanut butter cups in the freezer overnight for the best results. You will need as many 8-inch round pans as you can rustle up. I bought some E-Z foil pans and did all six layers at once, but you can also just keep swapping out two pans until all your layers are done. But E-Z foil is...E-Zier.

WARNING: my recipe produced only SIX layers, which falls short of the standard 8-12 layers achieved by Smith Island Cake champions. I think you could modify this recipe to make more cake layers: increase everything by half. So, 3 cups soymilk, 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 3 3/4 cups flour, etc.

So...here's the recipe:

For the Cake:

2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened non-hydrogenated margarine, like Earth Balance
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of turmeric

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Set up all your 8-inch round pans. Spray or oil them lightly.

3. Put the vinegar in the soy milk and let it curdle.

4. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, then combine the lot of them in one big bowl.

5. Pour a thin layer of batter into each pan and bake for about ten minutes. This should be sufficient to bake it all the way through. The layers will be so thin that you ought to be able to tell if they're underdone.

6. Cool all the layers completely.

Part 2: the Candy Filling!

One popular version of the Smith Island Cake includes crushed peanut butter cups between the layers. I tracked down some vegan peanut butter cups at my local natural market. You can also find them online at a few specialty stores. You freeze them overnight, then pulse them, still frozen, in a food processor until they are almost completely pulverized.

Part 3: the Frosting!

You'll need: 1 bag of vegan chocolate chips, a large spoonful of coconut oil, 3 tablespoons of soy creamer.

Melt the chips and coconut oil together using your preferred method: microwave, pot on the stove, double boiler, whatever. You'll need to keep an eye on them as they melt so they don't burn. Stir them until the chocolate is silky smooth and shiny. Add the soy creamer and whisk until everything is blended completely.

Part 4: Assembly

Pop out one layer directly onto your cake plate (the layers are very delicate, so you want to move them as little as possible). Sprinkle generously with pulverized peanut butter cups. Add your next layer. Add more peanut butter cups, or you might alternate frosting and candy. Once you've topped off the whole thing with the final layer, pour frosting over the whole thing.

I let my frosting cool slightly as I constructed the layers of cake and candy, and poured it on warm. I used a spatula to get complete all-around cake coverage. It wasn't totally perfect; my layers didn't come out totally even, and it looked a bit like a giant stack of pancakes, but once the frosting cooled it really helped to disguise my mistakes and hold the whole thing together.

Good luck!

Wacky Cake!

OK, this post owes massive thanks to my friend Jackie, who brought the recipe for Wacky Cake to my attention a few months ago. She told me and told me how easy and fantastic it is, and I guess I just felt that the recipe looked a little...lackluster. You probably will, too, and there's a very good reason for that. This recipe was developed during the Depression so people could still have cake even though they didn't have eggs, butter, or dairy products. Or, it was the result of wartime rationing, during World War I. Or during World War II. Or, between the two wars.

Whatever the case, inventive cooks at some time created something marvelous with limited ingredients, and so it is simple, super-easy to prepare, and VEGAN. In today's turbulent economic waters, who wouldn't like to give this little Home Ec gem a run around the park?

Also, it has SCIENCE: The last-minute combination of vinegar and baking soda acts as leavening. The reaction between the two causes the batter to bubble vigorously, and thus, rise!

Ingredients:

1.5 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder, I used a little Dutch-processed and a little regular cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons applesauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cold coffee, or water, if you don't have any leftover coffee from this morning. If you use water, you might reduce the sugar a little. Or not. The recipe is pretty forgiving.

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 8-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in pan. Make 1 large and 2 small craters in dry ingredients. Add oil to large crater and vinegar and vanilla separately to remaining small craters. Pour water into pan, and mix briskly until just a few streaks of flour remain. Immediately put pan in oven.

3. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. When I did this today, 30 minutes was exactly right.

This was SO EASY TO MAKE. AND SO DELICIOUS. The texture is very light, even with the applesauce, but the cake was also very moist and delicate. I don't know if my pictures adequately express this wonderfulness.


I made some coffee-flavored vegan frosting (recipe below) and the combination was amazing. Even though, y'know, the frosting flies in the face of the scrimpy-savey simplicity of the cake. But it also rules, so I say go for it.

Totally Anachronistic Coffee Buttercream Frosting (small batch), adapted slightly from the fantabulous recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

1/4 cup Earth Balance
1.5 cups confectioner's sugar (vegan)
1 tablespoon soy creamer
1-2 teaspoons coffee extract (I like Frontier Naturals alcohol-free coffee extract, but any will do. Also, I think probably instant coffee crystals would work).
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stick it all in a mixing bowl and beat it (with a mixer or a whisk) until fluffy. You might need to add a little more soy creamer or a little more confectioner's sugar to get the consistency just right.

Then, it's pretty self-explanatory. You either sit down with a bowl of frosting and a pan of cake and a spoon, or you go ahead and wait until the cake cools and use some sort of kitchen utensil to spread the frosting ON the cake. I think either would be perfectly satisfactory.

Spinach Pie!

I have recently discovered these little spinach pies made by Heba's Health Foods. I. Love. Them! They're little turnovers filled with spinach and onions, no preservatives or animal products, nothing but delicious perfection. I like to toast them, top them with a little hummus and tabouleh salad, and eat them for lunch. Every day.

Heba's is apparently located in Manassas, Virginia, but they don't have a website. I have seen their delivery van on the beltway a few times, and I have considered trying to hijack it. I don't think there's a restaurant, I think they just make a few middle-eastern food items and sell them at a handful of area health food stores. And probably also in heaven.

In today's difficult economic climate, it is always worthwhile to find out if it might be more cost-efficient to learn to cook something oneself. So I Googled around for spinach pie recipes. The Heba's-style pie is evidently based on a popular middle-eastern street food called "Fatayer Sabanegh" (that means, "Spinach Pie"), and there are indeed some recipes for those which I may eventually try. But in the course of my journey, as so often happens, I discovered many other wonderful variations on my original objective, and I decided to try a vegan version of some of these.

So today, I give you, (Vegan) Spinach and Chickpea Pie! This turned out so beautifully and is so delicious. I didn't take any step-by-step photos, which I regret, because the crust is really not confidence-inspiring during the preparation phase, although it came out marvelously well. I will try to be more diligent with the camera in the future.

Ingredients

Dough
2 cups chickpea flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
3 tablespoons cold Earth Balance
2 tablespoons plain soy yogurt
3/4 cup soy milk (or rice or almond or whatever)
¼ cup toasted pine nuts (optional, but they add a little crunch and are divine)
extra flour for rolling dough

Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons Old Bay
black pepper to taste
3 bunches spinach, thoroughly washed and stemmed
1/2 cup firm tofu, crumbled
¼ cup nutritional yeast
Oil spray

Method
To make dough: Combine flours, baking powder and old bay in a large bowl. Rub in Earth Balance until flour mixture looks like peas. Add yogurt and milk and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Flour your hands and gather dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about one hour.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soften and slightly golden but not burned, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir to combine. I had some leeks, so I added a couple leeks, too.

Add chickpeas, vinegar and molasses, turn heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in salt or Old Bay, plus pepper to taste. Set aside.

Steam spinach until just wilted and drain in a colander, pressing out as much water as possible. Coarsely chop spinach, place in a bowl, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add tofu, half of nutritional yeast and toss. I used some baked & seasoned tofu from Heba's; if you have a recipe for tofu ricotta, that would work, too.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a nine-inch pie plate or spring form pan with oil spray.

Remove dough from refrigerator and dust work surface with flour. NOTE: Dough is really sticky. Keep hands floured, too. Cut dough into half and work with each half one at a time. With your hands, press dough into a 10-inch circle, then carefully lift into prepared pan. Press dough into bottom and trim off excess if necessary.

Spread spinach mixture over dough. Top with chickpea-onion mixture. Roll out remaining dough and lift onto top and pinch crusts together to make a seal. Make small steam vents on top crust with the tip of a sharp knife.

Bake until crust is brown, about 30 minutes. Do not overbake, as results will be dry. Cut into wedges and serve.

I also made tahini sauce:
a few tablespoons of sesame tahini thinned with a little water and,
a tablespoon or so of Ken's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

I served the pie with salad and rice-filled grape leaves, and the tahini was yummy on all of it.


The crust is light and and delicate, very fragile, but savory and rich-tasting. I was a little surprised, because it seemed so heavy and sticky while I was prepping it. My intrepid omnivorous companion said it was "Good!", and when asked to elaborate, added, "Flaky crust good", and after a few minutes, "Creamy sauce good" (I presume he means the tahini sauce, which really was good. Kudos to Ken's dressing, even if it does owe its existence to a steakhouse).

I also think that this recipe would lend itself well to modification. Curried lentils instead of chickpeas, or swiss chard instead of spinach? Serve it with warm tomato sauce and vegan parmesan?

Eight Belles

I read this article, which was a bit of a surprise to me...it's from a mainstream sports reporter, and yet it seems to call into question the way animals are arbitrarily commodified, particularly in horse racing, and specifically in light of the tragic death of the filly Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby. The only issue I have with the article is that he seems to think the universal condemnation of Michael Vick, after he tortured and murdered several dogs, had to do with a kind of general social need to feel superior. So...what? So people only care about animals because it offers us an opportunity to feel superior? That seems nutso to me.

That "moral superiority" question comes up a lot in discussions of veganism, and I think it's a moot point. Sure, if you're an ethical vegan, you're acting on an ethical and moral principle, and that's very admirable. Are all vegans morally perfect in every other respect of their lives? Of course not. I don't know a single vegan who was motivated to action by a need to feel superior. For the most part, it seems to be about health, because caring about animals smacks of "caring" a little too much for people of my generation. But many of us really do care about animals. Especially if we are capable of thinking. And reaching conclusions in the process.

OK, that was snotty. But I'm not sorry! See? Unrepentant snottiness! I'm not morally perfect!

I really thought people were outraged about Michael Vick because he was engaging in a totally despicable activity which hurt and killed a lot of dogs. I think people are often powerfully affected by the mere sight of a horse, and seeing them in agony from a racing-related injury legitimately affects people on an emotional level. I also think that once the initial shock of notorious incidents like Barbaro, Eight Belles, Michael Vick, or the Hallmark Meat Packing plant fades, people are confronted with some pretty uncomfortable questions. About animals, and their rights, and whether we should be doing what we're doing to them.

Anyway, I think horse racing should be stopped. Also, dog racing. Also, meat-eating, and puppy-kicking, and animal testing, and egg-stealing, and bee exploitation. And cockfighting. And all other forms of animal exploitation. *sigh*

Vegan Pasta Primavera

Tonight's dinner was delicious vegan pasta primavera. I've never tried it before and I just kind of made it up as I went along. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Noodles, 1 package of penne or linguine or whatever you like, prepared according to package

Vegetables (chopped up into bits):
1 1/2 cups baby bella mushrooms
1 onion
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red pepper
1 cup of fresh peas, or frozen peas, thawed

Other stuff:
3 cloves of garlic, minced
tarragon and basil: I used fresh but I suppose dried would do as well
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil, several tablespoons
3 tbsp Earth Balance margarine
3 tbsp of flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
About 1 1/2 cups of almond or soy milk (or rice, or whatever milk you please)

Saute the onion and mushrooms in some of the olive oil in a very large pan. This is the pan you'll be combining everything in at the end, so make sure it is capacious. As the onions become translucent, add in the rest of the vegetables and allow to cook thoroughly. Add the cooked pasta along with the tarragon and basil. Stir around so the herbs and the olive oil coat all the veggies and pasta.

In a small saucepan, heat the Earth Balance and three tablespoons of olive oil with the garlic. Whisk in the flour and create a paste. Slowly add the almond or soy milk alternately with the nutritional yeast, whisking all the while. It should thicken as it warms up. Be sure to keep whisking it so it doesn't get lumpy and sticky. You may need to add more "milk" or more flour to achieve the consistency you want. A good consistency to aim for is a thick, pourable, creamy one! Add salt and pepper to taste, then pour all of it into the vegetable and pasta mixture.

Top it off with "vegan parma", which is just a little nutritional yeast with finely chopped walnuts and parsley and salt (I think you can buy this at most hippie food stores), or maybe toasted pine nuts, or just enjoy it the way it is. The sauce is lighter and more delicate than the dairy version, but it's lovely in its own way!

Emerson

“You have dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the distance of miles, there is complicity.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

No Comeuppance!

My omnivorous but vegan-inclined sweetheart had an interesting experience today: another omnivorous person told him that eventually there would be studies showing that veganism was unhealthy, especially when it comes to levels of calcium and protein. The tone wasn't one of concern, so much as one of vindication and triumph, "Those self-righteous vegans think they're so great, but one day they'll pay the price for their compassion and careful meal-planning, and that'll teach them to try to treat their fellow Earthlings with kindness and respect! Ha!" I don't think this person actually said that, but that's the gist of it.

He was bothered both by the tone and the closed-mindedness of the remarks. Our home is awash with nutrition information and countless volumes reporting the many long-term studies that have already been done. Here's a brief rundown of some of their findings:

A study of 1600 women found that vegetarian women experienced only half as much bone loss as meat- and dairy-eating women by the time they reached the age of eighty. This is because the protein in meat and dairy products actually contributes to a calcium deficit. Which is why the two biggest dairy-consuming countries in the world, the U.S. and Sweden, have the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world. Check out the science yourself! Even a study funded by the Dairy Council had the same findings! Although, for some reason, they don't report it.

Meat and dairy products have been positively linked to every "disease of affluence" that affects people living on the standard American diet. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gallstones, cancer...all of these are tied to a diet centered on meat and dairy.

Every time I see someone offer a study that opposes this information, it turns out to be a lobbyist for the Cattlemen's Association or the Dairy Council. I know everyone thinks that vegans are terrorists with some sort of hardcore communist ideology. But all the vegans I know are really nice people who are really, truly concerned about issues of health and compassion. Yes, we want everyone to be vegan. I'm not going to lie: I want to spread veganism like a virus. But how do I benefit?

I don't own a tofu factory. I'm an archaeologist! I don't have a vested interest in anyone becoming vegan, except that I really, honestly think it's a step toward eradicating insupportable cruelty and unnecessary disease that destroys our ability to enjoy healthy, happy lives.

And the science indicates that there will be no comeuppance for my outrageous, dangerous ideas based on my need to tell you how to live your life.

I really don't want to tell other people how to live. There's a term, "vegangelizing" for that sort of activity. I don't like being evangelized. But I have a lot in common with door-to-door religious evangelists: I really, really think if I can just effectively communicate this information to you, you will benefit.

I guess the difference is that I'm talking about actual, observable phenomena that you can go and see for yourselves. I have been to a factory farm. It was a pig farm in North Carolina. It was the worst place I've ever seen, and even with no especially affectionate feelings about pigs (at the time - I have since known many excellent pigs), I knew that that place and everything that happened there was wrong, wrong, wrong. I didn't want to be part of it. I don't think anyone would.

I've had my cholesterol tested while eating meat (over 300, which is bad). My most recent test, last month, showed a total cholesterol level of 160, with good cholesterol representing 90 of the total measure. Which is absurdly, insanely good. My experience is not unusual. It occurs in measurable, statistically significant ways in every study ever done about a vegan diet.

Yes, if you are vegan you need to plan your diet carefully, but you have to plan your diet carefully ANYWAY. And since a vegan diet has been shown to reverse diabetes, stop the development of cancer, prevent heart disease and osteoporosis, and be totally nutritionally sound, I think a little planning would be a very, very small price to pay.

I feel bad for OmniMan, because he just had his first tall frosty glass of anti-vegan Haterade. And he's not even vegan (yet, mwa-ha-ha!). To counteract the poisonous experience, we enjoyed a delicious stir-fry of tofu and roasted veggies with sesame-ginger glaze. It was steamily delicious.

Soul Food Seitan

So, last night I recreated a favorite from years and years and years ago. Before I was vegetarian, I loved a "salad" with fried chicken on it. Especially if said salad was enjoyed at the Steak'N Shake, a restaurant where I would no longer eat ANYTHING. Seriously, I think there's meat or dairy in everything they serve. It's disgusting. But it has a cute name. "Tofu'n Shake" doesn't sound that good.

But, since I am a human living on the planet earth, I still like fried things. And warm fried things on crispy salad with creamy dressing is a nice combination. So, I decided to make fried chicken-style seitan (from scratch) on mixed greens with a creamy vegan dressing. The special part was making seitan from scratch! Here's the recipe, which I found at VeganYumYum:

Chicken-Style Seitan
Makes four cutlets

1 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
3/4 Cup Cold Water
1 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (low sodium)
3 Tbs Soymilk
1 Tbs Olive Oil

Braising Broth
2 Cups Water
1 Vegetable Bullion Cube

Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the wet ingredients and stir well. Add wet to dry and knead until a dough is formed. Add more liquid if needed. The gluten will develop very quickly. Knead a few times on your counter, forming a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, forming four triangular wedges. Squish/Pound/Pull the wedges into 1/2″ thick cutlets. Take your time shaping, letting them rest if needed.

Once they’re the right thickness, put a large, high-walled skillet on medium heat, adding the water and bullion cube to make a braising bath. Once it starts simmering, add cutlets and turn down the heat and cover. It’s important that you DO NOT boil the cutlets. Check several times to make sure the broth is just barely simmering. Boiling isn’t a disaster, but it will change the texture of the cutlets, making them spongier and rubbery.

Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. You can now refrigerate the cutlets in their broth for later, or fry immediately. I think cutlets that have been refrigerated over night before frying have a better texture, but you can use them right away.

Fried Seitan
For four cutlets

4 Seitan Cutlets (recipe above)
32 Oz. High Heat Oil (for frying: canola, peanut, etc)

Seasoned Dry Mix
3 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose flour
4 tsp Baking Powder

Wet Mix
1/3 Cup Seasoned Dry Mix
3 Tbs Mustard (dijon or stoneground)
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Soymilk (or more water)

Heat the oil to 350º F in a 10″ skillet, cast-iron is best. Mix together all the dry ingredients except the baking powder. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Add baking powder to the remining dry ingredients and mix well.

When oil is heated, dip a seitan cutlet in the wet mix coating well. The dredge the cutlet in the dry mix and gently slip it into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Drain well on a paper towel and slice if desired.

OK, this recipe worked PERFECTLY. If you've never made seitan before, you might be (as I was) astonished at how quickly the vital wheat gluten turns into a firm, rubbery blob when you add the wet ingredients. I didn't know how long to knead it, but I decided "not very long" would be fine, since my kneading of the blob didn't seem to be affecting it meaningfully. Seriously, I pushed at it like, three or four times and then gave up.

Second, I didn't really know what a cutlet was supposed to look like, so I just cut the blob into four pieces and it was fine.

My only other modification was to ramp up the Old Bay. I live in Maryland and Old Bay would be the official state spice blend, if such a thing existed. Also, I really, really like it. So, I added extra and it ruled.

It turned out SO DANG WELL. Omnivore sweetheart thought it looked and tasted like a cutlet, and enjoyed his salad very much. He says. Of course, he's far too sweet to tell me if it was vile, but I also liked it. I realize this is pretty subjective, but I've eaten a lot of seitan. The best I've had is at Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro, where they use a wheat gluten mock-meat in several dishes; the worst isn't bad, but it's mediocre: the overpriced packaged kind from the Natural Market. This was FANTASTIC - the texture was tender, the flavor was lovely.

I might have to add chloral hydrate to the recipe to get a truly honest opinion out of my Intrepid Companion. Pending a dose of truth serum, I declare this recipe an unqualified success.

Tofu Scramble, Part 1

I have eaten really excellent tofu scramble in restaurants and it doesn't seem complicated. I mean, tofu is just a food cube. You cut it up, stick it in the frying pan with vegetables and seasonings, and it seems like it ought to work. I have always found it pretty challenging, though, so I decided to try following an actual recipe for once. I chose this one from the Post Punk Kitchen.

Of course, I immediately made several adjustments. I had one 14-ounce package of firm tofu, which I drained thoroughly. I smooshed it up with a fork and added:

3 tablespoons Mirin rice cooking wine
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
And...

This whole can of fire-roasted Hatch chiles. I cut up about 1/4 of a large Vidalia onion and sauteed it in a little olive oil. I added about 1/4 of the tofu mixture (saving the rest for later in the fridge), and while it cooked, I thawed some frozen vegetables.

I added the veggies and a little more paprika, and it was lovely. The tofu still stuck to the bottom of the pan a little (I suspect my pan was too hot), but I have a little trick to fix that. I add a little water and rice cooking wine to the pan and it seems to loosen everything up. So I did that and it was perfect!
I had to add a teeny bit of salt but it was really lovely. Here is Afreet making a play for my delicious tofu scramble:

Vegan Ice Cream

Just a quick note - I've generated a very respectable White Russian Vegan Ice Cream (what to call vegan ice cream? I like "Nice Cream", a telescoped version of not-ice-cream). Read all about it here.

All the Things You Have in Common With Vegans

I was thinking about the vegan ice cream and the vegan beer and I realized that a lot of non-vegans probably think they don't have much in common with vegans, but actually, they do.

We all like ice cream. My omni sweetie even likes vegan ice cream, especially Soy Dream vanilla and the homemade chocolate kind I made for a vegan potluck last fall.

Many of us also like beer.

We all love pets!

Some of us like cooking, and some of us prefer convenience foods. Most of us like eating things.

I think everyone agrees that animal cruelty is wrong and evil. The big differences usually seem to be centered around what constitutes "cruelty" and whether it's OK sometimes. But I'd be willing to bet that nobody, vegan or omni, wants things like this to happen. (Warning: It's "Meet Your Meat". If you can't handle the truth, I'd advise not watching. But you should know that they don't even show the worst of it).

Puppies!

Kittens!

Baby chicks!

Shopping without having to scrutinize labels!

Vacations!

Surprisingly, pretty much everyone finds the higher-quality vegan sausages a perfectly satisfying substitute for the dead animal kind. Lightlife's "Gimme Lean", Trader Joe's Breakfast Patties, and all Field Roast products are examples of these alternatives.

Robots!

Monkeys!

Love!

I was going to add "sneezing" to the list, but my omni sweetie insists that I'm the only person who enjoys it, and that it's somehow weird. Hmph.

Presents!

Springtime!

Waking up in the morning and realizing, for whatever reason, you don't have to go to work that day!

Shoes!

Cupcakes!

Any other kind of cake!

People who make and deliver cake!

I've probably gone too far with the cake. Pies!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (both totally vegan!!)

Bright copper kettles (vegan) and warm woolen mittens (not vegan but there ARE alternatives)!

I'm sure there are many other things, but that's probably enough for now...

Vegan Ice Cream Paradise

This nice lady has a fabulous blog all about making vegan ice cream. It's very easy, if you have an ice cream maker, and if you like ice-cream, you can save a lot of money by making your own. Here's the link:

http://veganicecream.blogspot.com/

She has evidently aroused the wrath of the self-appointed vegan patrol by creating Guinness Ice Cream. Guinness is not vegan, because it contains isinglass, which is made from the swim bladders of fish. I was actually going to say I would still try the Guinness Ice Cream anyway because it sounds so good, but the idea of eating fish bladder ice cream actually...grosses me out a little. I don't think she deserves to get attacked by angry vegans, though. She's totally right - being vegan isn't hard, and making it seem all nitpicky and fiddly doesn't encourage fence-sitting vegetarians to hop over into our yard.

(More surprisingly non-vegan things here: http://www.veganconnection.com/notvegan.html)

But wait! Couldn't I just use a vegan Guinness substitute? Here's a link about vegan and non-vegan beers:

http://www.satyamag.com/nov03/beerintro.html/

I'm sure I could find something suitable.

Flexing the Right Wing

In case you are reading this (all "none" of you) and thinking, "Aren't all vegans either hippies or tattoed, 30-something post-modern hipsters? If I become vegan, will I suddenly be seized by a desire to have a full-color tattooed sleeve on one arm, take up yoga, or live in a yurt in the forests of Vermont? Will I have to vote Democratic?"

The answer is, no, of course not.

"Will I have to associate with people like that?"

You might encounter them while grocery shopping.

"Aren't there any vegans who are fourth-generation cattle farmers from someplace like Montana, who served in the military and who aren't totally removed from the issues faced by America's farmers by their PhDs and their urban sensibilities? Someone who looks more like this:

??"

Why, yes! Yes, there are! Well, there's one. At LEAST one! And he wrote a book! And it's called "Mad Cowboy", and you should totally check it out!

http://www.madcowboy.com/

I have seen vegan web resources where people insist that being vegan and politically conservative at the same time isn't possible. I have also heard people insist that in order to be REALLY vegan, you have to be engaged in veganism as a political issue, because the factory farms and other institutions that perpetrate animal abuse are politically driven. But attempts to pin veganism down to a single definition have been hotly contested. There are no vegan police. There are some general areas of agreement: if you eat fish, drink milk, eat cheese, or partake of chicken, you're not vegan. You can't be "lacto-ovo-vegan". Some wear second-hand leather, others eschew all animal-based clothing. Lots of vegan people get really upset by vegans who support PETA or HSUS, because they advocate "less cruelty" instead of total abolition of the commodification of animals. And I totally agree with abolition as a goal. But I say, every little bit helps. Baby steps are still steps.

I suppose it's true that the typical Republican (I usually envision Dick Cheney) doesn't strike me as being particularly animal-friendly. But neither does the typical Democrat (I remember John Kerry going duck hunting during his campaign, the Clintons' dog got hit by a car because he was running around off-leash, and neither Obama nor Clinton is even vegetarian). Neither does the typical American.

But even having just 7% of Americans go vegetarian has made a huge difference in the public's awareness of vegetarianism, the availability of vegetarian options in stores and restaurants, and consciousness about animal rights issues. So heck, who cares why you're doing it, as long as you do SOMETHING. I think people of all political affiliations love animals and have a sense of right and wrong. Vegans, we have a lot of outreach to do, so let's reach with both hands.

Cows

Now, on to cows.

Dairy cows are slaughtered for meat. Their calves are taken away from them and subjected to brief lives of abject misery before being slaughtered as "veal". Using dairy products supports animal cruelty, factory farming, and the use of cows' skin for leather. This came up recently during the scandal surrounding the Hallmark Meat Packing plant. The surprising thing about this whole kerfuffle is that so many people didn't know dairy cows were also used for meat and leather.

Think about those misleading "happy cow" commercials for California cheese...THOSE COMMERCIALS ARE A LIE. The Hallmark plant is IN California. Those sick, abused, crippled, abject creatures being shoved with forklifts are the so-called "happy" dairy cows of California. I know it's not easy or comfortable to think about, or to live with. That's why so many people abstain from dairy - one of the easiest things in the world to do, since there are so many very reasonable replacements - soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, oat, and hemp milks are all available at most grocery stores.

Here's a take on this issue from An Animal Friendly Life:

http://ananimalfriendlylife.com/2008/01/yes-dairy-cows-are-slaughtered-for.html

And here's the original Washington Post article about the Hallmark Meat Packing plant:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/29/AR2008012903054.html

Pigs

I don't know if you are already aware of this...but pigs are really cool animals. "Science" has decided that pigs are pretty dang smart; ranking third in intelligence after primates and dolphins. Of course, people eat primates and dolphins, too.

I have never made very much headway trying to persuade people that they shouldn't eat pigs "just because" they're intelligent, sweet and interesting. After all, all animals have their strong points and it doesn't save them from being eaten, by humans or by any other animal.

I even have one colleague who has a very specific reason to eat pigs: she claims that while visiting a farm in England, she saw a group of farm pigs attacking and harassing a solitary, smaller pig. They were being kept in a small, miserably unclean enclosure. She claims that seeing these pigs behave so violently toward one another convinced her that pigs were fit only for food.

When I pointed out that by this logic, she should eat humans, since we're violent toward other humans all the time, she said it was different because people are intelligent. I told her that pigs' intelligence was comparable to that of a three-year old child, and she went back to the first argument, that they're violent and filthy.

Pigs don't choose to be filthy. Left to their own devices, they are actually meet human-like standards for sanitation, but since we force them to live in filthy conditions, they are filthy. Isn't this starting to seem like a circular argument? A pig is naturally intelligent and clean. We don't like to think that we eat intelligent and clean animals, so we force them to live in conditions so vile, they go mad with boredom and misery. We also make them live in filth. There. Now, pigs are fit to be eaten. It's a crazed, violent, filthy animal. We're morally justified if we choose to eat them.

I have just been visiting Pigs Peace Sanctuary on the web, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough if you're interested in pigs. What an amazing labor of love. Judy, the founder/director, also discusses many pigs' personalities, their incredible learning curve, and their sweetness toward people and each other. Here's a link: http://pigspeace.org/main/index.html

Believe me, I know I am bashing my head into a brick wall here. "I would be vegetarian except I can't live without bacon" is one of the most common excuses for perpetuating factory farming any vegan hears, second only to "I would go vegan except I can't give up cheese". The Secret Society of Vegans needs to appoint a drug czar to deal with these two omnivore addictions. Poor pigs.

Anyway, here's a link to the top ten reasons not to eat pigs:

http://www.goveg.com/f-top10pigs.asp

I want YOU to become a vegan!

Yes, I have an agenda, and I'm telling you about it up front. I want you to become a vegan. Choosing veganism is a decision that makes a big impact. It's almost like waking up one morning and discovering you've somehow become a superhero - except this is a power you've always had, a power you possess RIGHT NOW. You have the power to stand up for the little guy, to help the helpless, to actually fight evil! Your daily choices affect countless lives - and with that power comes with great responsibility.

You can step up and take that power any time you want to. It could start with little things, like choosing non-leather, vegan sneakers instead of leather ones. You could google "vegetarian restaurants" in your area and try them. You could check out some vegan or vegetarian cookbooks and start sampling recipes. You could just add this blog to your "favorites" list and check in from time to time.

This blog will offer inspiration, recipes, stories, and whatever else I can think of to encourage people to consider veganism seriously. I am a committed vegan, and in my normal interactions with friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family I never push veganism. I try to set an example by being a happy and healthy vegan person, and hope that by doing so I will encourage others. But I also want to offer a positive, encouraging resource for people who are open to the idea of becoming vegan. I'm sure I'm still too "radical" for some people...but if you give me a chance, maybe I'll persuade you that it's the Standard American Diet that's extreme.