I Eat Veg

New blog, new site!

2010-02-25T19:46:00.001-08:00

I'm moving the blog! I decided I needed a new look and wanted to purchase a real domain name for I Eat Veg.

From here on out, head on over to IEatVeg.net for lots of new recipes, much better photos and even the ability to search!

From the Categories drop down menu on the right, you can go right to what you're looking for too -- a specific type of recipe (dessert, soup, appetizer, etc.) and I've even got restaurant reviews grouped into general areas.

I already love it and I hope you will to. Come on over and comment to let me know what you think! (And remember to change your RSS feeds to the new address!)

Kirsten

Creamy Cheesecake from Magnolia Bakery in NY

2010-02-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from S.Y. who signed up for dessert for Season 1, Episode 1 of the cooking club recently. This cheesecake was SO good and was a little different from any cheesecake I've ever had. If you're a cheesecake fan definitely try it!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie with Graham Cracker Crust (from "More from Magnolia")

CRUST
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans (to toast, place on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned and fragrant...recipe says 15 min, but that was too long, started to burn...i'd say 10)
1/4 c. unpacked light brown sugar

FILLING
1 lb (2 8 oz packages) cream cheese, softened
1 c. confectioners sugar
1/4 c. sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING
1 pint strawberries, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
CRUST: In a medium size bowl, combine the butter with the graham cracker crumbs, pecans, and sugar. Press firmly into lightly buttered 9 inch glass pie dish. Place an a baking rack and back for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
FILLING: In a large bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream and vanilla, and continue to beat on low speed until well combined.

Refrigerate the filling while the crust is cooling. When the crust is completely cooled, spread the filling evenly in the crust with a rubber spatula. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top in a decorative manner.

Refrigerate the pie for at least 8 hours or overnight to ensure that the filling sets.

and that's it..easy as pie :)

Vegan baked ziti and sweet potato hummus!

2010-02-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping

Ziti:
3/4 pound uncooked ziti or penne (just realized I used the whole pound! Seemed to work out fine!)
2 onions thinly sliced (one of mine was huge, so I used 1 1/2)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 recipe Cashew Ricotta (see below)
1 Tbsp. browns sugar
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
White pepper and cayenne (I probably used about 1/2 tsp each)
2 c. purred pumpkin or 1 15-oz can pumpkin
1/4 c. veg broth

Sage Bread Crumbs
2 1/2 c. bread crumbs (I threw about 5 slices of double protein wheat bread into the food processor.
Homemade bread crumbs are lighter and crispier! I threw in the walnuts to grind up at the same time)
1/3 c. walnut pieces (I put the whole 1/2 c. bag in there)
1/4 c. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground paprika
salt and pepper

Cashew Ricotta:
1/2 c. raw cashew pieces (about 4 oz)
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves fresh or roasted garlic
1 pound firm tofu, drained and crumbled (I squeeze it in my hands over a strainer. Works great!)
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp salt

I realize now Cashew Ricotta could totally be made ahead of time and refrigerated, if you want to cut down your preparation time on one day. Put cashews, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic into food processor. Once creamy, add tofu, then basil and salt. I ended up adding another half lemon of juice to help get all the tofu blended in. But that shouldn't be a problem when you're not using the tiniest food processor on the planet. I think this filling would be great in lasagna too, or even on sandwiches, etc.

The rest:
Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 pan with pam, etc.
1. Boil water for ziti, cook according to directions.
2. While water is boiling/ziti is cooking, thinly slice onions and cook until some of them are getting a little brown and caramelized. I used a great cast iron pot for this -- highly recommend if you have one. This will take about 15 min.
3. Put cashew ricotta in a bowl and fold in pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg, white pepper, cayenne and veg broth -- mix. Add cooked ziti and onions, stirring to coat pasta and evenly mix in onions.
4. Poor into 9x13 pan and spread out with spatula.

Bread crumb topping:
1. Melt margarine in a heavy-bottomed skillet (I used a saucepan...) over medium heat
2. Stir in bread crumbs, walnuts, dried herbs, paprika, salt and pepper.
3. Stir constantly until mixture is lightly coated, 3-4 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and sprinkle over ziti.

Bake for 28-30 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes, then dig in. Really easier than I thought it would be and really good. I love it even more the second day.

Sweet Potato Hummus
Makes 4 cups

* 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1 can (19.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
* 1/4 cup tahini
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 garlic clove, chopped
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* Whole-wheat pita and crudites such as red pepper and broccoli (Note: It was really good with Wheat Thins -- but what isn't?)

Directions

1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a food processor.
2. Combine chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, oil, cumin, and garlic in the food processor. Puree, about 1 minute; thin with water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper and let cool; refrigerate, in an airtight container, up to 1 week. Serve with pita and crudites.

Butternut Squash, Ginger and Shallot Soup and Crusty No-Knead Bread

2010-02-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

This also from Season 1, Episode one of the cooking club, made by the lovely G.P. I love ginger stuff, so it was especially delicious. We ate it alongside her no-knead bread - a recipe originally printed in the NY Times. Both were amazing!

Butternut Squash, Ginger, Shallot Soup
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup soup and 1 teaspoon chives)
Ingredients

4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large shallots, peeled and halved
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. (1-inch) slices fresh chives
Cracked black pepper (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Place half of squash mixture and half of broth in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with chives and pepper, if desired.

*I used a food processor instead which was easier and worked well
*I doubled the entire recipe, using 1 large 3 lb squash and added extra ginger.

No-Knead Bread
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 c. all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ tsp. instant yeast
1¼ tsp. salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Cooking Club Season 1, Episode 1

2010-02-06T06:49:00.001-08:00

Some ladies and I have decided to get together roughly once a month, each of us bringing a different course, sharing the recipes, learning some new things. Among the group are people who eat meat, don't eat meat, don't do dairy -- lots of diets to take into account. I'm not sure how they all will pan out, but Episode 1 was all vegan and vegetarian, which works for me!

I tackled the vegan entree of Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Cashew Ricotta and Sage Crumb Topping, straight from the Veganomicon cookbook. Other deliciousness was squash/ginger/shallot soup, homemade bread, cheesecake, sweet potato hummus and the first recipe I'll share:

Kale with Peanut Dressing, with instructions by A.A.

1 head of kale
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
A few dashes hot sauce or sriracha, depending on how spicy you like it
water
Ginger, fresh or powder (optional)
Garlic, fresh or powder (optional)
Agave or honey (optional)
Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Red onions to garnish (optional)

I put on a pot of boiling water, and while I wait for it to boil I
make my peanut sauce. You may already have a peanut sauce recipe you
love, so feel free to run with that. Mine is a mix of peanut butter,
soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, and water. I don't really measure,
so the measurements above are really general. I usually heat a blob of
peanut butter in the microwave for 20 seconds. Then pour a little soy
sauce and stir. Then add the rice vinegar and hot sauce, stir again,
taste, adjust, then add a little water to thin it all out. (Sometimes
I'll add those optional ingredients above, but when I'm doing it
quickly, I leave them out.)

Now your water's boiling. Remove all the leaves from the kale stems
and then blanch the leaves in the boiling water for about 1.5-2
minutes, until soft.

Next, put it in an ice bath or run it quickly
under cold water to stop it from cooking further, and to keep it
green. Now you want to get the water out of it so it will soak up the
dressing. You can squeeze it with your hands (this will bunch it up,
but you can separate it again) or dab it with a clean kitchen towel.
Then mix it with the peanut dressing you've made. You can eat it right
away, but I actually like to refrigerate mine a little first.

The kale cooks down a lot, so a whole head of kale really makes about
2 portions.

This was delicious! AA confessed she put a ton of sriracha in it, but that's just fine with me. So good! I can't wait to try this on things other than kale too, as I've been on the hunt for the perfect peanut sauce.

Mushroom Tarts

2010-01-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

I found myself with a few random ingredients and decided to make something out of them a couple of weeks ago when some friends were coming over to watch the Golden Globes. You won't see any specific amounts here, since I was just winging it. I'm sure all kinds of stuff would be good added to these, but this is a good starting off point for variations...

I used almost 2 pkgs of crescent roll sheets -- basically the ones without the perforations. I sprayed muffin pans with Pam, then cut squares of the dough and pushed them into the cups. Some covered the whole cup, some didn't -- it didn't really matter in the end.

Ingredients:
1 pkg sliced baby bella mushrooms,
onion and/or shallot
minced garlic
fresh herbs: thyme, sage
Italian bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese (you could easily substitute veggie cheese(s) here!)
salt and pepper

1. First, I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, then added the chopped sage and thyme, salt and pepper.

2. Chopped and sauteed almost the whole package of mushrooms -- in the end I could have used more filling, so I should have used the whole thing.

3. After they were all soft and sauteed, I added just a little bit of shredded Parmesan cheese, and a sprinkling of bread crumbs to bind everything together.

4. I divided the filling into the cups, remembering that the dough would puff up a bit upon cooking. I sprinkled extra cheese on top of about half of them, knowing half of the people eating them don't love a lot of cheese.

5. I baked them according to a recipe on the side of the roll canister -- about 10 minutes at 350 degrees or so. I just kept an eye on them until the dough started to brown a little.

I realize this is all a little vague, but that's what's good about cooking sometimes -- it doesn't have to be exact. Everyone loved them, so I guess winging it sometimes works!

See the happy faces!!

I think if Scott was alone, he would have rolled around in them. He smacked my hand away when I tried to enjoy one of my own creations.

Pumpkin Soup!

2010-01-18T16:17:00.002-08:00

I decided this weekend that I needed to make soup. Maybe because I was fighting a cold yet again, but it's cold, soup is hot -- and there you have it.

I stole my sister's soup cookbook and saw MANY that I will definitely try (um... ginger leek soup, anyone?). Then I remembered that I have three cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry from Thanksgiving. Since I first started going to my squeeze's family Thanksgiving in Champaign, Ill., three years ago, I have been the designated pumpkin-pie-maker.

Due to work and some unforeseen circumstances, our trip was axed the morning we were supposed to leave, and the pies never got made (by me, anyway). I didn't know if pumpkin soup existed, but certainly there is butternut squash soup, and it's practically the same thing, right?

A quick Google search and I was happy with one of the first I found. A good friend just got out of the hospital after a wicked Penicillin reaction during dental surgery (talk about kicking someone while they're down), so I decided to double the batch. Holy hell did it make a lot of soup. Around 20 cups to be exact. That had to be pureed one at a time. That is how said squeeze, me, our two guests, recently-sprung-from-the-hospital-friend (and likely her husband) and yet another sick friend got dinner last night. Buyza Soup Kitchen was born.

Without further ado, here is the recipe (a single batch version, which has 7-10 servings). I'll list the recipe as I found it, then tell you what I added to it at the end. My guess is, you could throw about anything in this soup and it would be delicious.

Ingredients:
6 c. vegetable stock
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 c. pumpkin puree
chopped fresh parsley
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 c. whipping cream
5 whole peppercorns

1. Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic and peppercorns in a pot. (I think next time I will probably saute the onions and garlic in a bit of oil and then add everything else...).

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

3. Puree the soup (I went with a blender) in small batches - 1 cup at a time (toward then end of my 4,000 cups, I was doing 2 or 3 at a time, but I do think some chunks got through). Some of the people who reviewed the recipe online said they did it right in the pot with a hand mixer too.

4. Return to pan and bring to a boil again.Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes uncovered.

5. Stir in heavy cream. After I made the soup, I realized coconut milk would probably be DELICIOUS in this - and make it vegan. I think I'll try it next time just to see.

6. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

NOW for the additions, I made....

I put in extra salt and pepper -- my guess is, if you don't have the peppercorns, obviously you can just use ground pepper.

I also added touches of garlic powder, cinnamon and ginger powder. I think next time I might add some curry too and see how that goes!

The thyme I bought also came with sage, so I put a bunch of that in, not to mention far more thyme than the recipe asked for.

I served it with some French bread -- a good crusty baguette would actually be great with this though.

I just ate it for dinner AGAIN and, after a day to hang out, it's definitely a little spicier than it was last night, but still really good.

For some reason, the idea of making the effort to puree a soup always turned me off from doing it. I am no longer afraid (even 20 cups later). I'm so glad my laziness didn't stop me from discovering this soup!

Martha goes veg!

2010-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart made a list of her 50 best vegetarian recipes. Definitely some repeats from the last time she sent out a list like this, but worth the repeats all the same I say.

You can check it out HERE.

WOOL AND WATER: Mmmmm Lentils.....

2010-01-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a delicious looking lentil dish, posted by another fellow Michigan crafter. Check it out!

WOOL AND WATER: Mmmmm Lentils.....

Best kale dish and super easy too!

2010-01-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from my crafting partner in crime Jay (pictured* with me at our 2009 Detroit Urban Craft Fair booth). I was kind of a kale freak this summer, but never really found the perfect recipe. This one sounded sooooo good when Jay told me about it, I asked her to pass it on. Here it is!

Ingredients:
Kale (I like the dark purple kind best, with the stems removed and chopped coarsely)
sliced almonds
dried tart cherries
shallot
red wine vinegar or lemon juice
salt and pepper
olive oil

• Saute shallot, almonds and cherries in a little olive oil until shallots are soft.
• Add kale and toss around until wilted. sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice or vinegar.
• Serve over a bed of couscous (for extra flavor, use broth instead of water when cooking the couscous)

* Photo by Tafari

The return of the blog: Italian Eggplant Ragout

2009-12-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

Four months without an entry? Does that even constitute a blog? Among my New Year's Resolutions (there will be some this year, for a change), is to get back to blogging. I've done a poor job of late, especially with my half-hearted attempts at a daily "Michigan Etsy Shop of the Day" over on Monkita Knits.

Not without good reason, I suppose. I've been nannying and knitting myself ragged. I see the light at the end of the Christmas-rush-order tunnel and I'm going to start with a few blogs in the next week or so (hopefully). For months I've been taking pictures of the delicious things I've been cooking (though few and far between), so now it's time to go back through iPhoto and catch up.

Up first is something I made last week, actually: Italian Eggplant Ragout, a vegan dish from the May 2008 Vegetarian Times

Eggplant can be a good hearty meat substitute and it's full of antioxidants. It's very good for people looking to lower their cholesterol too.

Serves 6

2 medium eggplants (I used one large and it was quite a bit)
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 c.)
2 cloves garlic minced (about 2 tsp)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp. capers
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1. Half and seed eggplants. Cut into 3/4-inch chunks and toss with salt in a bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes, then drain, rinse and pat dry. This draws out the bitter juices of some eggplants and helps it hold its shape and not get mushy while cooking.

2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute about 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.

3. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas and eggplant. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes or until eggplant is tender but not mushy. I stirred mine often to make sure everything cooked as evenly as possible.

4. Stir in capers and sugar, and cook about 2 minutes more. Fold in parsley and season with black pepper.

Enjoy!

On the side that night, I made some crispy rosemary potatoes, so I figured I'd take a picture of those too!

Cut up any combination of potatoes you like -- I used a few sweet potatoes and a couple of large redskin potatoes.

Preheat oven to 425

1. Peel potatoes (I left the skin on my reds) and cut into about 1-inch chunks.

2. Put in pot and fill with water until potatoes are just covered. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes.

3. Drain and return to pan. Toss in 2-3 Tbsp. of butter and a drizzle (about 1 Tbsp.) of olive oil and coat potatoes.

4. Chop fresh rosemary (how much is up to you -- I used quite a bit and it still didn't seem like very much!), add to potatoes, along with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Spray a couple of cookie sheets/cake pans with PAM if you have it, then spread potatoes in a single layer. Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing at least once, until your desired crispiness is reached.

They are flavorful and delicious!

Cass Cafe: Go now!

2009-08-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for new restaurants and last Saturday, D continued the "making Kirsten's dreams come true" birthday tour by taking me to Cass Cafe for the first time, before we hit up Awesome Fest at the Magic Stick.

My stomach was feeling a little off so I didn't want much to eat, but what I had was GOOD.

D and I split the hummus plate appetizer, which came with some tapenade that I think involved sun-dried tomatoes, olives and some other stuff. D stayed away from it, but I loved it.

I DID feel well enough to enjoy their $3 margarita special. It was great! So often margaritas are too much mix and you can't taste any tequila. It was reminiscent of the margaritas at El Azteco in Lansing, which is a HUGE compliment.

D got the lentil burger with honey mustard and loved it. I used some of his fries to test out the honey mustard, which led to a conversation about why restaurant honey mustard is SO much better than you ever could buy at the store.

I even dipped my vegetarian egg rolls in it, even though they didn't need anything -- it was just that good. The egg rolls were super good. Shouldn't have gotten something fried, since my stomach already was upset, but they were really good.

Even though it's not a veg-only restaurant, it was great to eat somewhere that had more vegetarian and vegan items than meat items on the menu! Everything sounded so good -- I can't wait to go back and try the following from the menu:

• Roasted Curry Lentil Soup
• Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta Salad
• "Love Basket" -- fries and onion rings!
• Black bean and cheese quesadilla
• Open-Faced Artichoke-Pesto Melt
• Campus Vegetarian Wrap
• The lentil burger -- it looked so good
• Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Cheese Tortellini
• Vegetarian Lasagna (Although I make a mean one myself, I have to say)
• DESSERTS!

There are all kinds of good beers available in pitchers even, and a full bar. Great place to take meat-eaters, too, as there's a variety of fresh seafood items, salads with steak, seafood or chicken, burgers -- you name it!

To top it all off there's great art on the walls, a cool NY-loft-like industrial feel, and the waitstaff couldn't have been nicer.

I can't wait to go back!

Vegan pancakes

2009-08-04T05:38:00.001-07:00

I just made the most amazing vegan pancakes for my nephews, one of whom was just found to have an egg white allergy.

Feel free to use regular milk if you're not vegan -- just as yummy!

These took about 3 minutes to make too -- great if you're in a hurry and just want something simple.

Mix together (I find a whisk works great):

1 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 (or a good pinch) of salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. milk (soy/regular/rice, etc.)

Mix up and cook on a griddle heated at medium for a couple of minutes a side. Enjoy!

Cheesy Garlicky Biscuits (a la Red Lobster)

2009-07-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

These are the easiest, most delicious biscuits ever! I haven't been to Red Lobster in over a decade, but who can forget these biscuits. Now I never have to go back. :)

Ingredients:

1/2 c. shredded cheese*
2 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. milk*
1/2 c (or less) melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix, by hand, the Bisquick, milk and cheese (I used a little extra cheese. Couldn't help it).

Drop spoonfuls of the sticky batter onto a cookie sheet (I sprayed with Pam, but I think it was unnecessary). For me, it made about 10 good-sized biscuits. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

While they are baking, melt butter and mix in the garlic salt (I, of course, added extra garlic powder and would probably try fresh garlic next time -- this was an impulse bake, so I was unprepared!)

As soon as you take them out of the oven, brush biscuits with melted garlic butter. I put it on pretty generously and still had some leftover, so I'll probably melt less butter next time.

They melt in your mouth and I'm pretty sure they go right to your hips, but who cares. Enjoy!

* I'm going to go ahead and guess that these would work out just as well with soy cheese and soy or rice milk. Worth a shot!

Eat Your Greens

2009-07-06T16:28:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of my new little man, Nolis, the handsome son of L & C, just begging me to come back to Chicago to meet him.

He's sporting the onesie I sent him as a "welcome to the world" gift. Just thought I would share!

Sweet and Sour Tofu

2009-07-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

For three years I've heard from D, "I don't like Chinese food."

In fact, the only thing I've ever made that D didn't even try (when I attempted and failed my friend's chutney) was because it smelled like Chinese food.

ANYWAY, I'm a nanny, which also includes cooking for the family. A family favorite of theirs is mother-in-law's sweet and sour pork/chicken. I've made it several times, eventually perfecting it for the family after about five tries. Each time dying to snatch a taste because it smells so, so good.

SO, casually the other day, I said, "How does sweet and sour tofu sound for tonight," and got no argument. ("Maybe he doesn't realize it's Chinese food," I thought.)

I slightly changed the recipe, since there was no need to boil the tofu like you do the meat, but I still needed the leftover clove-infused water. For some reason, taking the meat out of the equation, made the recipe that much easier to prepare.

I managed to whip it up in about a half hour, got it on the table with chopsticks and even fortune cookies. Then came the moment of truth...

"This is delicious. Every time you make something it's my new favorite thing."

Score!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
6-8 whole cloves
2 c. water
5 T. cornstarch (separated)
1 stick butter/margarine/similar
Olive oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce + 2 T.
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. ginger
2 peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)
1 medium onion
1 pkg. tofu
1 small can pineapple chunks

1. Boil the water with the cloves. Just boil for a couple of minutes to infuse the water with the cloves.*

2. Drain pineapple juice into some type of measuring cup (hopefully a 2 c. one). Fill up to 1 1/2 c. line with the clove water. (Remove cloves!)

3. Drain tofu and cut into cubes. Whisk together 2 T. each of cornstarch and soy sauce, then toss with tofu.

4. Fry in some of the butter and oil (it's not a science here -- whatever works, add more if you need more so your tofu gets all nice and crispy and doesn't stick to the pan).

5. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook chunked up peppers, onions and the pineapple in a bit of the butter and/or oil.

6. Once all that's cooking and on its way (remember to keep tossing the tofu so it gets crispy all over!) it's time to make the sauce!

In small saucepan:

• Melt 1/4 c. butter
• Whisk in 3 T cornstarch

Add

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• the 1 1/2 c. liquid (clove water/pineapple juice)

Stir constantly until thick.

7. Add the crispy tofu to the peppers, onion and pineapple.

8. Pour sauce into the pan and mix it all up.

9. Serve over brown rice (or your preferred rice).

10. Enjoy!

* If you're cooking with meat, boil cubes of chosen meat in the clove water, remove cloves, drain (and reserve per recipe) and let meat cool before tossing in soy-cornstarch mixture and frying. Set aside, cook veggies in same pan, add tofu back to pan to heat through before adding sauce.

New favorite dressing!

2009-07-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a new dressing I've fallen in love with! It's supposed to be good on cooked veggies (warm or cooled) and I've had 3 salads in the last 24 hours with it.

Below are the amounts for a single serving (or for 1-2 lbs. cooked veggies) and if you want some to keep in the refrigerator for multiple uses (those amounts in parentheses).

I'll have to test out some variations, but I would guess this would be really good with some lemon in it, garlic (maybe even whole cloves for flavor), or even a little honey. Seems like it would be a really good mayo alternative for some potato salad and would probably be really good with some fresh herbs.

Enjoy!

2 T. (1/2 c.) olive oil

1T (1/4 c.) white wine vinegar

1 tsp. (4 tsp.) Dijon mustard

dash or two each (1/2 tsp. each) salt and pepper

Patel's Indian Cuisine

2009-06-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Always on the lookout for something good to eat in a pinch, the other day I picked up a couple of packages Patel's Cuisine meals.

First up today was Aloo Mutter -- a spicy bowl of potato and green peas in a red curry sauce. Two minutes in the microwave and it was ready to go -- hot and spicy, spicy. Slightly TOO spicy, for my taste, but still with great flavor. I just wish I had some jasmine rice to pour it over.

Besides the obvious drawback of the pile of sodium that always accompanies these types of meals, this is one of the best like it that I've had. All natural, no preservatives, only a handful of ingredients and, of course, vegetarian.

Crispy Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

2009-06-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

New recipe time! It's been a long time, I know. I've got a backlog of things I've made in the last few months. The pictures are taken, the food is eaten. I just have to find the time to share them!

But I'll start with last night's victory. I was setting out to the grocery store to buy things to make dinner for some friends I decided could use a good, home-cooked meal. Then I realized, 'Hey, we could use a good home-cooked meal."

I was in a hurry though, and when I get in these moods, I like to try something new. With my keys and purse already in hand, I grabbed a few back issues from my pile of Vegetarian Times stacked next to my cookbooks and started flipping through. I wasn't sure what I was looking for -- few ingredients, easy and fast -- since it would be late by the time I got back from dropping off the meal to Chris and Jess and my chief taste-tester, Dan, would be famished.

Although it was the picture of the Artichoke and Green Olive Souffle that caught my attention on page 32 of the February 2009 issue, I scanned down the page to find a recipe for Crispy Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms. I had no clue whether Dan liked Brussels sprouts or gnocchi, but I decided I didn't care and I would go for it anyway.

Turns out, he didn't know whether he liked either. And he didn't know what he was about to eat. But the first bite brought out the best reaction I've ever gotten from any food I've ever made. Ever.

"OH. MY. GOD. Oh, my god! This is the best thing I've ever eaten!"

SO, here it is:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter (real or vegan, etc.)
1 16-oz. pkg frozen gnocchi (I used some that wasn't frozen, and wasn't traditional -- I bought Gia Russa whole wheat gnocchi with sweet potato. Vegan. Delicious. I popped it in the freezer for a couple of hours before I cooked it.)
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
1 lb. cremini mushrooms, quartered -- about 4 cups (Holiday Market didn't have creminis, so I went with baby bellas. They were great, but I think I'll try shitakes next time for the hell of it.)
8 oz. Brussels sprouts (I ended up using about 10 fresh sprouts, sliced the long way)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. shaved Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional (I used regular grated because it's what I had)

1. Heat butter in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add gnocchi and cook 4 to 5 minutes, turning often, until both sides are browned. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Pour 1 tsp. oil into pan and add mushrooms. Cook 7 minutes or until mushrooms have cooked down and all liquid is cooked off. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and transfer to bowl with gnocchi.

3. Pour remaining oil into pan and add Brussels sprouts. Saute 5 to 7 minutes, until crisp-tender. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Return mushrooms and gnocchi to pan and saute a couple of more minutes to heat through.

4. Transfer to plates or a platter and garnish with cheese. Enjoy!

Sugar Kisses is back!

2009-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Sugar Kisses Bakery, which offers all kinds of delicious vegan treats (and much, much more) is back in business after relocating to Berkley.

Get all the gooey details on their Web site, and be sure to stop by soon!

Below are some of the delicious offerings at Sugar Kisses!

Best Vegetarian: Inn Season Cafe

2009-05-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Real Detroit Weekly has just come out with its "Best of Detroit" list and one of my favorite area restaurants made the cut!

Here's what they had to say about Inn Season Cafe:

Best Vegetarian Restaurant: Inn Season
Even if you enjoy a good old steak now and again, the Inn Season vegetarian restaurant will make you forget that your meal is lacking in the animal department. All of their food is made from organic, locally grown ingredients and the menu options vary depending on what’s in season, so you know your guaranteed freshness. From salads to pizza to pasta, you’ll find something to satisfy your hunger whether you’re a herbivore, carnivore or anything in between.

I agree with all of the above. Due to a very generous Christmas gift certificate, Daniel and I ate there about two or three times over the course of a week or two.

I fell in love with this:

Enchiladas Coloradito
Corn tortillas wrapped around black beans and your choice of cheese
or soy cheese. Garnished with house-made ancho chile salsa, sautéed onions, tomatoes, green pepper,black olives and organic brown rice.

D fell in love with this:

Portabella Walnut Pizza
Portabella mushroom, garlic roasted walnuts, capers, fresh basil, tomato
sauce and cheese or soy cheese.

They've also got great stir-fries, four different types of burgers, gorgeous salads (love their house dressing), and a Sunday brunch menu that includes house granola, multigrain pancakes and all kinds of vegan and veggie goodness.

There are so many things on their menu I hope to try for brunch, lunch, dinner, desserts everything. Even if you're a meat eater, you will love this place. Everything tastes so flavorful and the place just has a good vibe (yes, I sound like a hippie, but it's true).

Trader Joe's Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas

2009-05-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

Delicious. Cheap. Vegan. Three things that are very good when it comes to looking for things I can take to work for lunch.

I decided to give a couple of things from Trader Jose's (Get it? Jose?) frozen goods and went with the black bean and corn enchiladas and I'm in love.

For about $2 you get two enchiladas that are dairy and wheat free.

Here's what's in them, some items in the sauce and some in the actual enchiladas (all items organic):

• White corn tortilla cooked in water with a hint of lime
• Tomatoes
• Soybeans
• Black beans
• Zucchini
• Yellow corn
• Onions
• Bell peppers
• Black olives (don't let this stop you if you don't like them -- I had no clue they were in there)
• Garlic, green chiles spices, etc.

If you eat both (I mean, who doesn't?) It has 8 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein and small amounts of vitamins A&C and 10 percent of the RDA of calcium and iron.

So, the next time you're at Trader Joe's, give them a shot. You won't be sorry!

Guest Post: "Meat"Loaf

2009-05-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

One of my BFF's Sally made this for a friend who requested comfort food for her birthday. From Sal:

So i kinda last minute invented this meatloaf recipe and to my surprise it was awesome - everyone including the meat eaters loved it and asked for the recipe!
I kinda was making it up as i went along, but it was pretty simple. Let me know what you think!

Meatloaf!

1 package Morning Star faux beef crumbles
----- I thawed in microwave for 1 min to make it easier to work with
mix with 2 eggs in medium bowl
chop up 3-4 slices of bread and add to "meat"/egg mixture
add about a 1/4 cup milk more or less - little at a time to a meatloafy consistancy
----saute about
1/2c diced yellow onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 stick of celery and about a 1/4 of a red pepper
just until soft
add this to the "meaty" mix and stir it up good
oh yeah- and i added some onion salt, paprika, a little black and red pepper
i sprayed the bread pan with a little spray on oil
then just smoosh it in there and throw some ketchup on top!

bake at 350 for 40min
yum!

Martha does vegetarian

2009-04-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have stolen at least one of these recipes in recent months.

Check out Martha Stewart's Everyday Food vegetarian recipes.

Judging on the one I've made, you won't be sorry.

Leave my food alone!

2009-04-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

There is an online petition that has been started to stop HR 875 -- I've signed it and so should you!

In its current form, the bill could prevent small local organic farms and community gardeners from growing and selling you nutritious, truly fresh, organic produce. It would crush our small local food producers by imposing heavy government regulation that only large corporations could adhere to. Imagine:

* No more farmers markets.
* No more garden fresh, seasonal ingredients from the local farmer at your favorite restaurant.
* No more roadside stands with fresh picked sweet corn, juicy ripe tomatoes, or refreshing
watermelons in the summer.

Americans would essentially be forced to only eat corporately manufactured, chemically treated, hermetically sealed, irradiated fruits and vegetables. Stop this abomination now.

To prevent this bill, act now by signing the petition!

My partner in crime

2009-02-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

I thought I should introduce one of my kitchen partners in crime -- Claire. She's a great help in the kitchen and even got for Christmas from some of our friends an apron/towel/oven mitt set.

She was asking me for a couple of days last week if we could make a dessert. I didn't have much on hand to make anything special, but I knew I had a random can of pumpkin in the cupboard. This kid LOVES pumpkin things. So we settled for pumpkin muffins.

Betty Crocker's classic cookbook had a recipe for pumpkin bread, so I did a variation of that (minus the nuts and raisins of course -- kids!). Anyway, I just though I would share some photos of Claire from that night. I think she looks right at home in the kitchen.

Mexican pizza

2009-01-28T20:59:00.001-08:00

Actually, I'm not sure if that's what this four-layered goodness is supposed to be called, but that's what I'm going to call it. Last week my sister handed me a stack of recipes she ripped out of magazines in previous months and said, "Pick five of these to make next week."

This was number one on the list. I made it for her family, then made the same exact thing (but with soy cheese and a different kind of beer) at my home 2 hours later.

I'm PRETTY sure I remembered the recipe correctly from earlier in the evening.
Here it is!

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans
1 med onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat)
1 oz. pkg frozen corn
4-6 green onions
1 12 oz. beer (I think whatever will do. I went with a PBR leftover from our last party)
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper
4 10-inch tortillas (I went with whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. oil (recipe asked for canola, but I used olive)
2 1/2 c. shredded cheese of choice (I went with 2 different kinds of Veggie Shreds)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin and some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until onions are softened.

2. Add rinsed and drained black beans and beer. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then lower to med and cook for 8-10 minutes until liquid is reduced and there is almost none left.

3. Remove from heat, add frozen corn and most of diced green onion (set aside some for garnish at the end)

4. Get ready to layer in a 9" springform pan. Using the bottom of the pan as a guide, trim tortillas.

5. Place one tortilla in bottom of pan. Put 1/4 of bean mixture 1/2 c. of cheese. Repeat 3 times.

6. On top of fourth tortilla, place rest of bean mixture and 1 c. of cheese.

7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Top with remaining green onions for garnish.

8. Remove ring from springform pan. Cut wedge slices.

(Ignore the bowl of goodness -- that's just leftover salad
bar toppings with some salad dressing as a side dish)

I ate sour cream with some of mine. My squeeze chose without. You could probably top with all kinds of stuff like salsa, guacamole, black olives or whatever you like!

Amazing food... at a sports bar?

2009-01-07T09:07:00.001-08:00

Here are some excerpts from a blog i just posted about my afternoon in Downtown Berkley, when I discovered really good food at a sports bar! it's true:

I decided to go to the sports bar 24 Seconds. Originally, I had planned to go to my favorite pizza joint, Amici's (More about them later. There's so much I want to write about them, I haven't had the time to give them the focus they deserve), but they weren't open yet. So, I took Carrie's word for it that a sports bar would have plenty of vegetarian options.

When I walked inside, my ears immediately were assaulted by cranked up speakers blasting various sporting events. A bowl game here, a basketball game there. I don't think I ever truly adjusted to it, and still don't understand why it had to be THAT loud. But the other, sports-loving patrons seemed to be find with it, not to mention the 20 or so TVs that were plastered throughout the place.

BUT, Carrie was right -- lots of food to choose from. I ended up going with a side of the cucumber, onion, dill salad and a giant grilled vegetable salad for lunch. It had greens, pine nuts, Gorgonzola cheese, tons of grilled veggies including asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes, and had a great citrus balsamic vinaigrette with it, and was served over toasted ciabatta bread points.

Who knew -- at a sports bar! I'd go back again for sure. Just maybe not during bowl game season...

Check out the full blog HERE.

I enjoyed turkey for Thanskgiving!

2008-12-01T19:44:00.001-08:00

OK, not turkey. Turk'y. I have a vegan co-worker who bought the Quorn turkey roast from the "vegan" section of the grocery store, only to find out it has egg whites in it.

SO, she handed it off to me, a non-vegan, to test it out.
Quorn products aren't made of soy, or even vegetable protein. They're made of mycoprotein, a protein-packed fungi.

Nobody can explain it as well as the company can, so if you're interested in learning more, check out this info page of its Web site.

I pierced the wrapping, as instructed and baked it in a toaster oven for 30 minutes. After letting it cool for a few minutes, I unwrapped it and sliced it and found the most meat-like non-meat I have ever seen, tasted or been able to convince meat eaters to try.

I don't necessarily love eating "fake" meat, but I really couldn't believe it. It had a similar texture and was even dry like white turkey meat. While I think it would be amazing in sandwiches and other dishes, I sliced it up, got out the mustard and went to town.

I'm officially a convert -- now I just have to find a store that sells it, which shouldn't be too hard, because you can search by zip code on the Web site, which also has recipes and more.

Thanks, Mary!

Help Sugar Kisses!

2008-11-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

Vegan-friendly Royal Oak bakery Sugar Kisses learned a few weeks ago that their building has been sold and they must move by the end of the year or close up shop, after 5 1/2 years at their Washington Avenue location.

In general, this would be a challenge, not to mention that bakeries often make the most profit at holiday time, so this makes the move especially hard to complete while hoping to keep the doors open.

And, they need some help! There are three ways we can help them:

1. Give them your business! They have a packed menu full of breakfast stuff (Scones, coffee cakes, etc.), cookies and cupcakes, candy, granola bars and much more. They have vegan and gluten free items. They also have a light lunch menu of soups and more and serve fair trade organic coffee.

2. Buy gift certificates -- you can purchase gift certificates to give as holiday gifts. Them getting the money up front will help them with the move.

3. Donate! They have PayPal set up on their Web site if you just want to give them a few bucks to help.

You can check out their menu, buy gift certificates or donate by going to their About section on their Web site.

And pass it on!

Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake!

2008-11-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this post is just for fun. Gooey, (not vegan) chocolate cake fun. A friend e-mailed this recipe to me and I knew it was something Claire would love.

Even though I told her Sally e-mailed me the directions, she said, "You should get a job cooking. You love cooking, right?" After she finally tasted the gooey mess, she said, "Now you really should get a job cooking."

Step 1. Get a large mug and spray it with cooking spray.

Step 2. Measure 4 Tbsp. flour and 9 Tbsp. hot cocoa mix into mug

Step 3. Crack an egg into the mug and mix as best you can.

Step 4. Add 3 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly until all dry ingredients are wet. Be sure to scrape the bottom to get all the flour and cocoa!

(Here we added some marshmallows and mini chocolate chips, but they all melted during the "baking." But, they were still melty and good.)

Step 5. Microwave on high for 3 minutes*. During microwaving, the cylinder of cake will rise out of the mug. As soon as the microwave stops, it will slink back into the cup.

* I looked at it and the top looked all sticky and wet so I thought it wasn't done and put it in for another minute. Four minutes was fine/didn't overcook it, but it still was wet looking after 4 minutes but was thoroughly cooked. I think 3 would have been fine.

Step 6. Turn over cup and tap until the cake falls out onto the plate. It will be extremely hot -- look at the steam! (And the bits of flour I didn't get quite mixed in.)

Step 7. Add any toppings, frosting, etc. you might like. We went for more marshmallows, chocolate chips and some chocolate sauce.

Step 8. Enjoy! Claire (and dad) tell me it was delicious.

Since I don't like chocolate, I decided to make one out of my Ghiradelli white chocolate hot chocolate. Having never had white chocolate cake, I have nothing too compare it to, but it was a pretty good little treat!

Indian Pot Pie and Mango Chutney

2008-10-23T10:42:00.001-07:00

My co-worker Christa is a wealth of information about and creator of delicious, amazing food. The problem? She's so talented she often "wings it" and doesn't have an exact recipe. This always works out well for my taste buds but proves a bit more challenging when it comes to replicating one of her creations.

Here's a "recipe" for her mango chutney, along with a "recipe" of my own for my new "Indian Pot Pie" -- which I made up after craving samosas when Christa brought a similar tasting dish to work, along with her amazing chutney.

Christa's Mango Chutney

Ingredients:
garlic
onion
green pepper
red pepper
scotch bonnet hot peppers
jalapeno pepper
1 whole pineapple
2 whole mangoes
Looza pineapple juice
1-2 lemons or limes + the zest of 1 lemon or lime
honey
hot sauce
curry
salt
pepper
chili powder

1. Finely, finely, finely dice garlic, onions, sweet and hot peppers and saute while chopping up pineapples and mangoes.

2. Add fruit and any juice you've got on your chopping board, then add some of your Looza pineapple juice (she likes that brand because it's pulpy and good).

3. Add lemon/lime juice and zest and add pineapple juice as you go along as needed.

4. Add honey and hot sauce. She likes to use jerk hot sauce for its spices. If you are using regular hot sauce, you may want to add some cinnamon, nutmeg and/or coriander to the pot.

5. Add some salt, pepper, curry powder and chili powder to taste.

All of these ingredients are to taste, so sample your chutney as you go along and add what you think it needs. Cook it down until the fruit is broken down and its somewhat gelatinous.

Indian Pot Pie
3-4 redskin potatoes, peeled and diced (small!)
1/2 lg. white onion, finely diced
1/2 packet of yellow curry paste (comes in plastic packet in a box in the Thai section of the store)
frozen peas
15 oz. can of coconut milk
2 pie crusts (if using store bought, use the kind that are rolled up in a box so you can use in a bigger dish than a pie plate)

1. Saute potatoes in a bit of oil, then add onion. When it's sticking too much and annoying, add coconut milk (remember to shake the can before you open it!)

2. Add about half the packet of yellow curry paste, which I imagine is 1-2 Tbsp. (Notice my freezer bag in the background to collect all my scraps for my next pot of veggie stock!)

(And yes, that's a monkey veggie peeler. You should be jealous)

3. After this cooks down for a while and is pretty thick and the potatoes and onions are soft, add frozen peas. Eyeball it. I put in 1/2-3/4 of a small box of frozen peas.

4. Use your own homemade dough or biscuits, OR store bought cannister biscuits or pie crust at this point. The first time I made these, I used Pillsbury Grand's biscuits and made individual pockets that baked up all puffy and delicious.

In the interest of time, the second time I made this, I took a 2-back of rolled up pie crusts, put one in the bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 9 square glass pan, poured in the filling, the put the other crust on top and crimped the sides together.

5. Bake until the crust looks golden brown.

6. Serve with mango chutney (don't have any pics of the chutney!).

7. Enjoy!

October is Vegetarian Awarness Month

2008-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

October 1 is World Vegetarian Day and kicks off Vegetarian Awareness Month.

In honor of that, a local hospital has offer Five Tips for a Vegetarian Diet, which, if nothing else, can give you a little insight into what eating more of a plant-based diet can do for you and your body, even if you're not vegetarian or vegan.

A good resources is a Web site called GoVeg.com, where you can get a free vegetarian start kit.

I, personally, subscribe to Vegetarian Times, where I have learned a lot and have dozens of amazing recipes at my fingertips..

(I recently tested VT's African Chickpea and Spinach Soup and it was AMAZING.

And, if I haven't mentioned it before, check out VegMichigan.

I volunteer as editor of VegMichigan's monthly newsletter and monthly news updates. It's a great resource for information and vegetarian or vegan events, potlucks, information and more, including the annual MeatOut which, at the local level anyway, has been renamed VegFest and is scheduled to be at Ferndale High School in April.

OK, I think I've inundated you with far too many links, so I'll leave it at that. If you ever know of any vegetarian-friendly news or events, feel free to post here or let me know!

Kirsten

What's a vegan to do?

2008-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

My co-worker and regular recipe tester Mary T. recently found herself at a wedding where she had requested a vegan meal. She couldn't believe it when they showed up with a pile of cantaloupe and a pile of tabbouleh.

Per the waiter's instruction, she mixed it together and dove in. Sound crazy? I agree.

But Mary swears that it's now a favorite of her and her husband, Matt, who's not even vegetarian, let alone vegan.

On a recently night they filled a giant pasta bowl of the mixture and killed it, with the help of some pita bread.

I've never been much of a picky eater so I'm willing to give it a try! I mean, I've grown to love strawberry jelly on grilled cheese, so why not give this a shot, right?

If you try it, let me know what you think! On that note, if you try any of the recipes I post here, I would love to hear your comments on what you think of them.

Oh, no!

2008-09-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Eating veggies shrinks the brain

African Chickpea and Spinach Soup

2008-08-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

I have been subscribing to Vegetarian Times for almost two years now and, sadly, have yet to make a single recipe from any issue.

That is, until tonight. I've been saving my soon-to-spoil herbs, stalks, peels and more for a few weeks and decided it was time to make some veggie broth -- if for no other reason than the refrigerator at the new house is teeny so it was fighting veggie burgers and ice cube trays for space.

I filled a pot with my two gallon-sized Ziploc bags full of vegetable scraps and let it simmer for about five hours, then let it cool for another hour or so. It made almost 20 cups of broth! Most of it is in plastic bags in the freezer...

Out of three contenders I was deciding between, I realized I had 95 percent of the ingredients for the African Chickpea and Spinach Soup from the March 2007 issue so that's what won. That and the fact that it sounded goooood.

I just finished making it and -- holy cow -- did I choose wisely. A brief taste test is all I have experienced, but it's really good. In a way that's a little unexpected. One of those recipes that just works, but you can't figure out what your favorite part is. It almost doesn't make sense, but that's OK -- it's delicious nonsense.

Here it is:

Ingredients:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped (about 1 c.)
1 clove minced garlic -- about 1 tsp (I used 2 because I love garlic)
1/4 c. smooth natural peanut butter (I only had Jiff, which seems to have worked fine)
2 c. low sodium vegetable broth (or no sodium, if you make your own)
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I added a touch more for extra kick)
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz. an of diced tomatoes
2 oz. spinach chopped (about 2 c.)

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute 5 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more, or until garlic is lightly browned.

2. Blend peanut butter and 1/2 c. broth in food processor to make smooth paste. (Note: I don't see how this could be a paste. Maybe with natural peanut butter? It made peanut butter liquid for me, which seems to have turned out fine. Maybe it's because I just used a whisk instead of putting it in a food processor.) Blend in remaining 1 1/2 c. of broth.

3. Add paprika, coriander and cayenne into onion mixture and saute about 1 minute, until fragrant. Stir in peanut butter mixture, chickpeas and tomatoes.

4. Simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in spinach just before serving. (Although I don't intend to eat it until tomorrow, I chopped up about 1/2 a bag of spinach and added it. I'm guessing it will hold up just fine until tomorrow).

According to Veg Times, per serving:
257 calories
11 grams protein
13 grams total fat (2 g. saturated fat)
28 grams carbohydrates
581 milligrams sodium
9 grams fiber
9 grams sugar

Guest Post: Chilaquiles

2008-08-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

We've got a guest post from former Royal Oakian and new Torontan Tara Dziurman, who made chilaquiles (or a version of them she came across) last weekend and has morphed it into brunches and other meals she's continued to eat daily since.

Thanks for Tara for sharing! I can't wait to make it.

So I think there are a variety of different kinds of chilaquiles, but the one I made is like a Mexican lasagna. I made some improvisations to the recipe I found (some because I wanted to, some because Canadian grocery stores aren't quite up to par with what's available in Detroit).

This is what I ended up doing:

Half of a large onion (diced)

1 Large zucchini (diced)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 can sliced jalapenos (then chopped)

2 cans enchilada sauce (regular sized - 10 oz??)

Shredded cheddar cheese (I used a cheddar / mozzarella mix because it was cheaper)

12 Corn tortillas - quartered (Canadian grocery stores don't carry corn tortillas so I used multi-grain tortillas meant for wraps. I figured the texture was closer than flour tortillas. Also the package had 8 so I used 8 and it was fine)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown onion in a pan, once browned add zucchini, tomatoes, beans, cumin and jalapenos. (recipe actually called for corn and I substituted it with jalapenos because I like spice, the fresh corn was crap, and I didn't feel like dealing with the frozen stuff). Cook for about 3 minutes.

Take a baking dish (I used 8 x 8, but the recipe called for 13 x 9. My chilaquiles just came out really deep) and line it with some (half?) of the quartered tortillas.

Spoon in half the veggie mixture, pour on half the enchilada sauce and sprinkle as much cheese (cheese substitute?) as you want.

Then layer with the rest of the tortillas, then the veggie mixture, then the rest of the sauce. I made my two tortilla layers rather thin so I added a layer at the top with what was left of the tortillas.

Then sprinkled cheese on top of that. I think this made it sit better, so when you cut squares they were more apt to stay in tact.

Pop into oven covered in foil for 15 min. Then remove the foil and cook for another 10 min so the cheese can get bubbly.

I cutup avocado slices to have on the side, which was yum-o!

Next day scrambled some eggs, and made it into brunch.

It was so easy to make this and I love how you can use whatever veggies you want but provides a Mexican craving fix. There really aren't any Mexican restaurants in Toronto, can you believe that?!

- Tara

I promise...

2008-08-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Not to post something every time I notice something new growing. But overnight, five new tomatoes cropped up as well as my first pepper! It's very exciting. You have to admit.

Isn't it exciting?!?!?!

2008-07-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

I planted my tomato, onion and green pepper plants just a few weeks ago and am not supposed to see any fruits of my labor until about Labor Day.

Look what just arrived -- my first ever tomato! I can't help it. I'm excited. Oh, it will be delicious. Delicious, tomato-growing victory.

Give my regards to Broadway

2008-07-20T18:12:00.001-07:00

For weeks I've noticed this small, gray-brick, square building, on Woodward Heights near 9 Mile. It always seemed closed or empty, so I've never stopped. But with the only thing nearby being a boarded up gas station, it's simple yet modern feel jumps at you from the street.

One day, on a quest for an extremely late brunch during our Stay-cation we saw a chalk board outside, proclaiming that Pete's Place: The Broadway Cafe "Now open at 9:00."

I decided to stop and pick up a to-go menu and ultimately we decided this was our destination for the afternoon.

With Broadway tunes blaring and play posters lining the walls, there's no question where Pete's gets its name. The clean lines, white and silver decor and fresh flowers reminded me of a place where I once ate in Hell's Kitchen in NYC, although it was about 1/5 of the size.

Since I had breakfast on the brain, I went to that section of the large, one-page menu. There are egg platters and omelets galore, including one with broccoli, portabello mushrooms and Gruyere cheese.

But then... I found the real prize -- asparagus Benedict. Daniel can attest to the fact that I love, love, love, love Hollandaise sauce. Just about every time we have asparagus for dinner, it's drenched in the thick, lemony, buttery sauce that's oh-so-bad-for-you, but tastes oh-so-good.

Now that I'm not a meat-eater, I miss the good ol' days of ordering Eggs Benedict, complete with a slathering of sauce (although I never much cared for ham even when I ate meat).

To find asparagus Benedict -- it just made sense. Why had I never thought of it before? I ordered it, and waited. I tried to determine which play each song was from to pass the time. (Although I've seen several Broadway plays, I did poorly at this exercise).

Then the waitress rounded the corner from the open kitchen window and set down..... an omelet. An asparagus and brie omelet. Don't get me wrong -- this would have been what I ordered next time. The waitress mumbled something about the cook hearing her wrong and said, "Let me know if it's not OK." And walked away. It was kind of an odd exchange, but I love asparagus and I love Brie, so I went to town.

About half-way through, the cook (who is possibly owner Peter Mel) stopped out to apologize and I said it was fine. The omelet was very rich, even though I do love Brie. It was good.

They were out of parsley potatoes, but I hope to try those next time too.

"Act I" selections range from about $5 to $8 depending on what you're getting.

The "Auditions" portion of the menu -- appetizers -- includes everything from soups and salads, to sauteed artichokes over spinach, a Brie and fruit plate and guacamole and chips.

Dan got his meal from the lunch portion of the menu -- "Act II" -- considering he doesn't eat eggs and there weren't any options other than French toast that don't have eggs as a main ingredient. (Note: French toast can come plain, with blueberry compote or a caramelized pecan sauce. Sounds like dessert, but it still might be worth sampling).

This section of the menu includes sandwiches, a burger and several paninis, only two of which don't involve meet. He opted for the portabella one, which comes with arugula, tomato, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette (he went sans cheese). The other veg option basically omits the mushroom.

Act II prices are all in the $6 to $7 range.

Pete's also an interesting mix of items available for dinner -- "Act III." There are several different types of pasta, including one with broccoli and pine nuts, another with fresh vegetables and pesto and ravioli. Wheat and gluten free pastas are available.

Other options, for the meat eaters in your life, including prime rib, salmon, classic chicken picatta (an old favorite from my meat-eating days), fish and chips, lemon garlic shrimp linguini and chicken Marsala. The most expensive thing is the salmon, which is $12.95.

They have several non-alcoholic drink options under the "Take Five" section, including Starbucks bottled Frappuccino, fresh lemonade and sun tea when available and your regular sodas and the like. Bring along your own bottle of wine -- but there's a $5 uncorking fee.

And, what Broadway show wouldn't be complete without the finale? Desserts include molten volcanic chocolate cake, Bloomfield Canopy Cheese Cake with blueberry compote, slices of fresh baked pie, and fresh grilled pineapple with ice cream and hot rum sauce (um...I need to go back there stat). Desserts are about $3 to $5. Add a scoop of ice cream for an additional $1.25.

Pete's Place, 1225 Woodward Heights in Ferndale, seems to have just launched its Web site, which didn't exist yet when we visited. You can check everything Pete's has to offer HERE.

Herbs and veggies

2008-07-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

While I, personally, am tired of the rain, my pot of herbs are soaking it up and loving it. A few weeks back I bought rosemary, garlic chives, sweet basil and cilantro at the Rochester Farmer's Market and Dan picked me up a giant pot to plant them in. I threw in a couple of leftover purple pansies for color too.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't help but swing into Home Depot when I was driving past its Garden Center. We don't really have a place to have a vegetable garden at our rental house, so I decided I wanted to crowd our front stoop a little more with some vegetable pots. In the interest of space, I decided to go with only two though I was tempted to buy one of every kind of veggie Home Depot had. I got a "hearty cherry tomato" plant and a green pepper plant.

The nice man inside told me how much space each plant needs, so that helped to confirm my choice to buy only two. One thing I never would have done on my own (I've never before grown vegetables) was to plant the majority of the tomato plant under the dirt -- leaves and stem included. Apparently, if you do that, any leaves/branches that are planted underground turn into roots and it all leads to bigger fruit/vegetables. So, that's just what I did.

A couple of days after that, I stopped my the rickety old fruit and veg stand by my sister's place in Milford and they had onion starters. I really, really like onions. So, I had to go for it. The only problem was, I didn't have any large pots left. So I planted a couple of the miniature onions on the outskirts of both the green pepper pot (the one on the left) and the tomato pot, and a couple in the small pot to the right of the big ones. I think that will stunt the onions' growth and probably leave them looking more like shallots, but oh, well. At 99 cents a pound, I'd say the 13 cents i paid for about 2 dozen starters was worth taking a shot at it.

So far I've used some of the rosemary in some dish I made, I used the cilantro in our black bean tacos last night, and I've made a couple of Caprese salads with the basil. The other night I made asparagus with hollandaise sauce and just to try something new, I chopped up a little of the garlic chives and a little of the rosemary, and sprinkled half of my plate of asparagus with each. I thought there would be a clear winner, but both were delicious and didn't take away from the sauce itself, which I was concerned about because I love it (I could drink it. It's sad, really).

I keep meaning to cut up the herbs to throw on a salad or on toasted buttered bread for dinner, but haven't remembered once. We're having a salad bar at work this week, so maybe I'll remember for that.

And even though I won't have tomatoes or peppers or onions until, oh, Labor Day, (if I'm successful at all) it's exciting to try my hand at this. Some day I hope to have a giant garden in the backyard of a future home, so I guess until then I'll just keep trying stuff and practicing.

Mediterranean heaven

2008-06-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, Daniel and I have a new favorite place to eat. It's called Anita's Kitchen and it's got the best falafel we've had in the area, not to mention being walking distance from our house -- at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Saratoga Street.

Dan feeds his falafel craving there regularly (to say daily at times would not be a stretch) and the lemon lentil soup is like nothing we've ever had.

Tonight we went and decided to try something new. Instead of the vegetarian mezza -- a plate of samples of vegetarian grape leaves, hummus, babaganoush, tabbouli, falafel, spinach pie and all kinds of other things, we made our own little veggie smorgasbord.

We went for the lemon lentil soup, because we can't not get it; the chickpea salad, which is a little like tabbouli, , but without the tomatoes and with chickpeas; the Arabian pizza, a pita pizza with hummus, red peppers and artichokes (it's supposed to come with lamb too, but we went sans lamb, obviously); and the falafel platter, which comes with six pieces baked or fried falafel (we prefer baked), tabbouli, hummus, tahini and wild rice.

Needless to say, it was a bit too much food, but if I hadn't gorged myself at Chris and Jessica's wedding earlier in the day, we probably could have made it happen.

Though I didn't have one tonight, they have a great Lebanese beer -- Alamazza, I believe it's called. I think it's a lager. They even have a gluten free beer, but I haven't tried that yet. Besides that, they've got a big selection of beer and wine, including one of my favorites on tap, Bell's Oberon.

If you go and happen to have room for dessert, we had the lemon tart when it was on special once and it was good. Be sure to get some of Anita's Turkish coffee to go with it.

Here's a link to the Anita's Kitchen Web site. As you'll see, they have a huge menu for vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. They also have a few items for kids -- we found the other day the whole family could go out to dinner for 20 bucks. You can't beat that.

Instead of the cheesy posters from Beirut and unused hookahs you might find in most Mediterranean joints, Anita's is actually cool, warm and comforting. The walls are painted in warm tones of earthy green and terracotta, large roots or vines wind through the open ceiling and along the wall and any adornments or "kitsch" is actually tasteful and interesting. Used water and beer bottles hold fresh Gerber daises, which is a nice touch. And, in case someone's worried about missing the big game, there are a couple of flat screens hoisted behind the bar.

All that being said, the restaurant has a great outdoor patio on the side of the building that probably seats 30 to 40 people, so that's clearly a draw for the summer. Better yet, there's always a parking spot or two nearby.

So, check it out when you get the chance. You won't regret it.

Mr. MacDougall's Vegan Instant Soups

2008-05-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have found my way to nearly the 20th day of May -- can you tell I just finished a Seuss-filled story time? -- and I've not posted anything in two weeks. It's a sad state of affairs...

In reality, I should be working on the baby blanket I've been hired to make, so I'll keep this one short.

For a few weeks now, a staple at my desk come lunchtime has been Dr. McDougall's vegan instant soups. I first saw them at Holiday Market in Royal Oak and then saw them at Meijer for about $2.29 a pop. I wasn't necessarily looking for vegan soups in particular, but just something healthier than the sodium-laden instant soups of yore. I tried a couple and really liked them.

After I bumped into my co-worker, Mary, at the Meatout and learned she was vegan, I told her about the soups.

Many of them you can buy for about $18 for a 12-pack on Amazon, so Mary and I went in on a few cases. It's true -- cases -- but a $1.50 lunch is hard to come by so we went for it.

Here's the link to the whole lot that's available on Amazon. They even are eligible for free shipping if you get 2 12-packs (or anything totaling $25 that's eligible).

Mary's currently addicted to the Split Pea with Barley soup, and spends her time outside of work finding new and interesting ways to hide her vegan soups from her carnivore husband, Matt.

My favorites are the Curry Brown and Wild Rice Fruited Pilaf (trust me -- it just became available today and I can't wait for my case to arrive because it's hard to find in stores) and the Pad Thai Soup. So far, I can't find one I don't like at all though.

It turns out Dr. McDougall's also makes some breakfast type options, including oatmeal and barley featuring various fruits. If I can get past my morning peanut butter protein bar addiction, perhaps I'll give them a shot.

You can find out more about who this San Francisco vegan doctor and his philosophies
HERE.

You can check out his "Right Foods" online shop, which has slightly more expensive, but expanded options, including health and sampler packs, family-sized meals and more
HERE.

Dig in. A cheap lunch just got healthier.

Cakes and more cakes.

2008-05-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Vegans, I'm sorry. This blog just isn't for you. It involves all the deliciousness that dairy can be.

This weekend I made desserts for my
mom's birthday.

The first -- the easy one, recipe wise -- was a cigarette cake.

Weird? Yeah, I guess so. But my mom smoked for a really long time. And she finally put down her Marlboro's on her 59th birthday in 2007. So I thought making it a year without smokes, deserved a little recognition.

I took a box of Betty Crocker Funfetti (or wait -- is that Pillsbury?) anyway, funfetti cake mix, and made it according to directions in a 9x13 pan. Once it was cooled, I got it out of the pan the best I could (I had greased and floured the pan, which helped), and I used the entire length and about 2/3 of the width of the cake.

For the majority of the cake, I used plain vanilla Betty Crocker frosting. For the filter, I mixed in a ton of yellow, a bit of red and exactly one drop of green food coloring.

For the burning end, I used red food coloring to make a bright red frosting, then covered it in crushed Oreos to make the ashes.

And that's about it! I could have done better, but I think for my first shot out of the gate, it's not bad!

The "real" dessert I decided to make was a Key lime cheesecake. I've only made it once before and it was well received. So, when I learned my brother-in-law likes Key lime, I was in.

Even though I learned a new recipe for Key lime cheesecake with tropical fruit chutney while covering The Longacre House Cooking Show the other day that had coconut in the crust and was topped with this chutney of dried mango and raisins and cooked in sherry and all kinds of craziness, I decided to go with the old tried and true recipe I had used before. I have a hard time presenting a recipe to people when I've never tried it before...

Before I wrapped it up, I copied a handful of recipes from a cheesecake cookbook I bought my cousin, Leigh, a few years ago for Christmas and this was one of them. It's really simple. This is how you make it:

Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
2 Tbsp. sugar

Mix and press into the bottom of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Filling:
2 XL eggs, separated
2 Tbsp sugar
1 lb. (2 pkgs) cream cheese
1/4 c. Key lime juice
1 c. sugar

1. Beat egg whites until stiff, add 2 Tbsp sugar and beat for another few seconds
2. In a separate (your bigger) bow, beat yolks and cream cheese together until smooth
3. Add 1 c. sugar and lime juice to the cream cheese mixture
4. Fold whites into cream cheese mixture and fold by hand so it stays fluffy
5. Pour batter into crust and bake for 40-45 minutes. Be sure not to open the oven door at least for the first 35 minutes.
6. Once it passes the toothpick test (you prick it with a toothpick and it comes out clean) then you're good to go.
7. Ideally, you'll be able to let it cool completely and then refrigerate at least four hours before serving. But if not -- who cares. It's still going to taste freakin' GOOD.

Putting my almost perfect peanut sauce to use...

2008-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure my search still is on for the perfect peanut sauce, but in the meantime, I'm going to keep fudging with the recipe I've been tossing around for a couple of months. Now I have a couple of pictures at least to go with it.

The peanut sauce listed in my previous post begins with some red curry paste, coconut milk, soy sauce, peanut butter and the like (go to the post for measurements and specific whatnot).

In the meantime, you take some veggies, clean and cut them up. Our preferred assortment includes green pepper, onions, mushrooms and broccoli.

We steam them in a regular old on the stove steamer, along with some drained and cubed tofu (but now they sell it pre-cubed and I'm hoping that will stay together a bit better!)

Meanwhile, make some rice -- we prefer brown, as its much better for you.
The process that produces brown rice removes only the outermost layer of the rice kernel and is the least damaging to its nutritional value.

(The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese (my favorite of all of them), half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.

SO, take your nutritionally superior brown rice, place steamed veggies on top and douse with a ladle full of your semi-perfect peanut sauce. Enjoy.

Showing meat the door.

2008-04-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Daniel, Claire and I went to Metro Detroit's Great American Meatout.

While looking up the Detroit Evolution Laboratory (I plan to blog about them separately) I followed a link to an organization called VegMichigan. Sorry for all the links, but that's how I got to them!

Anyway, that's how I found my way to the Great American Meatout 2008, an annual event that takes place in various cities throughout the world, with the parent organization Meatout, established in 1985, which calls itself "The World's Largest Diet Education Campaign."

The Meatout seems to aim, at least in part, to educate those in attendance about vegetarianism and veganism, teach how eating meat harms the environment, host experts and speakers, and offer vegetarian food samples and recipes from area restaurants.

Unfortunately, the night before Dan and I went out with Bad Influence #1 and Bad Influence #2, Meg and Zozzy, so we were a bit "under the weather." Though Dan tried his best to stay at home with, "I have an idea -- why don't you and Claire go and I'll stay here and work on music" -- the three of us set off in our own hazes.

We tried our best to pick up information that struck us the most, tried to find food samples laden with chocolate or other things that might briefly entertain Claire, who displayed the most incredible child patience of all time in this boring adult event. Not surprisingly she loves vegan chocolate cupcakes.

As a new resident to the Greater Detroit area, is was wonderful for me not only to sample the food but to learn about some of the vegetarian restaurants in the area. Though I love, love, love Thai Cafe and Beirut Palace, etc., I want some variety in my life.

Now I know to stop by Udipi Indian restaurant when I'm out working in Farmington Hills, learned Taste of Ethiopia is the place to go in Southfield, and learned one way to get Claire eat more fruit is to make strawberry, banana and soy milk smoothies with just a hint of maple syrup, thanks to Atoms Java and Juice in Grosse Pointe Park.

Another cool thing we learned about was the Good Neighbors Garden, a community garden where residents of certain cities can help garden crops and flowers if they enjoy that kind of thing or they can rent a plot and garden their own flowers, fruits and vegetables. We immediately decided it was a great idea and grabbed the information, but I'm doubtful we'll actually go through with our rash, "We should do it!" Either way, I'm glad to know one exists and maybe at some point we'll take part.

The idea is that the annual Meatouts -- no matter where they are in the world -- are to take place on or about the first day of spring. If you missed it this year, keep an eye out for one in your town next year. Even meat eaters can find something worthwhile and interesting at the Meatout. Don't be afraid. We won't bite.

Now you can see the best soup in the whole wide world.

2008-04-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

A while back I posted a blog and recipe about
The best soup in the whole wide world.

More recently, I poached a blog and recipe from my friend Megan about The best GD salad you ever will eat.

I finally have pictures of both!

OK, the pictures of the soup were taken with the exact purpose of posting on this blog, so they were taken with more care.

The salad, on the other hand, I happened to make while having dinner at my sister's when my dad was in town. I happened to get a shot of it in the foreground of a photo of he and my little brother, so I suppose I should happen to post it for all the curious salad eaters.

Mrs. Schwitter's Mashed Potato Tower

2008-04-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

This blog comes from my good friend Karyn, who soon will be marrying her tall drink of vegan water, Kevin. So happy to have her contribute a recipe to I Eat Veg!

Mashed Potato Tower

When I fell in love with a vegan, I thought cooking would be difficult. I'd been vegetarian for years, but it was hard to imagine eliminating cheese. We are less than 30 miles from Wisconsin for god's sake.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that cooking vegan isn't as difficult as I had imagined, and in fact, it forces me to be quite creative, which I find to be more fun. However, most of my recipes to date have been of Asian or Mexican flair, and I haven't actually cooked much American food, unless of course you count veggie burgers.

Years ago I used to order this item called "Mashed Potato Pile" from a local restaurant. The name is admittedly not too enticing but the dish itself was the perfect cure for a comfort food craving. I have changed the name slightly and recreated this meal, and it was damn tasty-- very filling too!!

Ingredients for the tower:
4-6 Yukon gold potatoes
Pole green beans (a good handful)
3-4 medium to large carrots cut into quarter to half inch round slices
Whatever other veggies you desire -- I added asparagus too.
Margarine (I prefer Earth Balance)

For the Mushroom Gravy:
1-2 shallots
Olive Oil
4 c. of your favorite mushrooms (crimini, portabella, shitake)
3 cloves of garlic
4 c. of vegetable broth
1 c. white or red wine ( I used a little of both because I'm a lush)
2 Tbsp. sage
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 c. regular soy milk
4 tsp. flour dissolved in 1/2 c. cold water
(You can also dissolve corn starch in cold water to thicken)

1.Start the gravy first because it needs time to cook down. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet.
2.Add sliced mushrooms and shallots. Sautee for 10 minutes.
3.Add minced garlic, salt, pepper and sage. Saute 5 minutes more. Add wine and sautee.
4.Add vegetable broth. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until liquid is reduced by about half.
5.Add flour mixture and combine well until sauce is thickened. Add soy milk and cook only 1 or 2 more minutes.

While the gravy is doing it's thing, boil the potatoes and wash your other veggies to steam. Put your carrots in the steamer ( I put them in a little before the other veggies, since they take a little longer to cook), along with your other veggies until soft, but not mushy.

When the potatoes are soft, drain and place in a large mixing bowl with margarine, one clove of garlic, a dash of salt and pepper, and a half a cup or so of soy or rice milk. Mash using a mixer and add margarine and soy/rice milk as necessary to gain the desired consistency.

When everything is done, place a large scoop of mashed potatoes on a plate and cover with the steamed veggies. Then pour some mushroom gravy over all of this and dig in.

Thank you Kirsten for letting me be a guest blogger!!

Karyn

Makeup Casserole -- vegan goodness

2008-04-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Now that I've made my way to my new home, I actually will be making and photographing the food that I talk about making. First up is Makeup Casserole. The name comes from the fact that it's basically a really amazing marriage between Breakup Soup and Pockets Full of Gold.

In short: Breakup Soup is crushed tortilla chips and salsa. Pockets of Gold will be referred to as tofu and black bean tacos, as that's just what they are.

So, this is a recipe I adapted from one I cooked for my sister, Sarah. She's on bed rest for her second pregnancy, so I'm going to be showing up at her doorstep ready to cook whatever she tells me too (meat eaters, check out the note at the bottom of the post).

After I got home from making this for her on Saturday, I took a stab at vegan-izing it and it went great, but made WAY too much. So, I would use less tofu or less beans or something. Or you can do it just like I did and have a new-and-improved version of the tofu tacos to make with the leftover filling...

Here goes...

Ingredients
2 pkgs. tofu (any firmness, you're going to be demolishing it)
2 pkgs. soy cheese (or regular if you're not vegan)
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 16 oz jar hot salsa
1 bag of your choice of tortilla chips (I went with blue corn)
1 small red onion
1 hothouse or beefsteak tomato
1 pepper (color of your choice)
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
cilantro
green onions
sour cream (if you're not vegan)

1. Crush chips (eyeball the amount) into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

2. After draining all the water you possibly can from the tofu* smash it up with a fork or your hands or let the cat go at it -- whatever gets the job done -- and place it in a separate bowl. Drain and rinse beans and add to the bowl, along with the drained corn.

* This time, I simply squeezed the tofu in my hands over a strainer to drain it. If you're just not as barbaric as I am, you could place it between towels, between two pans/bowls/plates and put something heavy on top of it for a while.

3. Dice the onion and green pepper and add to mixture. Now's a good time to add the cumin, salt and salsa. You can throw some chopped cilantro in there too, or just save that to use as a topping at the end.

4. Put half (or less if you made a crapton of it like I did) on top of the chips and then put half of the cheese on top of that. (In the non-vegan version, the recipe suggests a mixture of Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses. I, personally, think pepper jack would be awesome too).

Repeat. So it goes: chips/filling/cheese/filling/cheese.

5. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 35 minutes.

When I took it out, the top was kind of a crunchy cheese crust but the inside layer of cheese was melty. I wonder if this would have been different, if I had used my favorite soy cheese.

6. After you remove it from the oven, take a big ol' slab of it, top it with a slice of tomato, chopped cilantro and chopped green onion. Add a dollop (yes, a dollop) of sour cream if you're not vegan. I also served it with corn muffins. Yum.

7. Eat your face off. Impress your loved ones.

I made this Saturday, had it for leftovers on Sunday and leftovers right this very moment on Tuesday. I think it's better and more flavory after hanging out for awhile, so make a ton and eat it for a few days.

FOR THE MEAT EATERS: Replace tofu with 3-4 cooked and shredded or cubed or otherwise cut up chicken breasts.

Breakup Soup

2008-03-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

The following guest blog comes from Daniel Johnson over at Wingstroke. Music -- he knows. Culture -- his finger's on the pulse. How to talk his child into eating one more bite -- he can do. Cook a damn thing -- he cannot.

Nonetheless, we here at the I Eat Veg test kitchens have very fluid policies when it comes to guest blogging. You need not "cook" at all to create your dish, nor does it have to constitute an actual meal. So, here's Dan's recipe for Breakup Soup. Maybe you can find comfort in a big bowl of it someday too.

I've never been much in the kitchen. It's just not my gift and I'm jealous of the people with the cooking skills. They make it seem so easy, throwing spices, adding dashes and turning oven knobs with a taunting confidence.

But today I'm making my contribution to the culinary arts; a recipe I created last summer called Breakup Soup. It's cheap, delicious, and single-person friendly. And it takes, like, a minute and a half to make. I literally lived off this for months. Of course I also lost about ten pounds during that time, so maybe it should be more of a treat than the entirety of your diet.

Ingredients:

Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Salsa

STEP 1 - Have a debilitating breakup

STEP 2 - Pour chips onto a plate or bowl and try not to think about debilitating breakup

STEP 3 - Crush the chips in a million little pieces, just like she did to your heart

STEP 4 - Add salsa, red like the color of valentines, roses and your pain-poisoned blood

STEP 5 - Mix.

STEP 6 - Eat.

STEP 7 - Go where it takes you.

The best GD salad you will ever eat

2008-03-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

That's according to our friend Megan over at the now defunct blog, The Realist. She posted this recipe back in February and it sounds so good, I decided to poach it for I Eat Veg. Enjoy!

Avocado, Mozzarella & Tomato Salad

Ingredients (for two people):
2 - 3 super delicious huge Haas avocados, sliced length-wise
1 1/2 cups fresh cherry or grape tomatoes
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella (not the shredded bagged stuff, look in the "fancy cheese" section and buy the balls of fresh plain mozzarella.)
2 cups mixed baby greens or microgreens
12-year aged balsamic vinegar

To assemble:
Splitting all ingredients in half onto two separate plates, pile the tomatoes, mozzarella and avocado slices atop a bed of greens. Drizzle with balsamic. Enjoy!

Sweet potato and black bean quesadillas

2008-03-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last year, I got Daniel a student's vegetarian cookbook with the theory that he was going to learn how to cook some things. All of the recipes have only a handful of ingredients, are on the easy side and many of them involve beer (I guess that's what makes it a student cookbook).

The first thing I made from it were these sweet potato and black bean quesadillas. Dan would pop into the kitchen and say, "OK, what are you doing now? Got it...." then would go back to painting Claire's room. So, more than a year later.... I made it for us for dinner last night. It has remained a favorite and is really easy to make.

There are specific amounts for everything, but I mostly wing it. Here's my best guess...

2 Tbsp. oil (veg is fine)
1 c. grated sweet potato
1 can black beans
1 med. onion, diced
2 tsp. garlic minced
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
tortillas
shredded cheese -- soy if you like

Heat the oil in a skillet, then add onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes until onion is soft.

Add sweet potatoes, black beans and spices and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until potatoes are soft but not mushy.

In another skillet or on a griddle, layer mixture with shredded soy cheese (see previous post for insight on that!)

If you attempt to turn the quesadilla over, you likely will make a huge mess, though I still do it every time. I'm not sure how to prevent this.... Less filling? Cheese on both sides of the filling to melt and hold it together better? Good luck.

Cut the rounds into fours and serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole or whatever your little heart desires.

It's a simple recipe that somehow always turns out really flavorful, even if you find that you've almost run out of cumin when you go to make it, like I did last night...

A cheese(like) sensation

2008-03-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've already mentioned my love for all things taco- and nacho-like. And there's no question these things are deliciously accompanied by cheese. While I'm not vegan, I've found I feel better, lighter, less sludge-like by eating less and less dairy. Because of this, I've turned to more and more soy products.

Veggie Shreds and Tofutti are fine, but I found one cheese I like better. I can't find a picture of it, but it's called Soy-Sations and I've only ever found it at Trader Joe's. I don't know if this means it's a Trader Joe's product or if it just hasn't yet hit the major retailers, but it looks, tastes and even melts like real cheese. This is important to me, especially in the nacho department. Who can eat nachos with big ol' pieces of cheese just sitting there?

And don't get me wrong, I was as skeptical of soy cheese as the next guy, but this stuff actually tastes so good I can grab a pinch of it and eat it. Yes, it's that good. I can't find a picture of it to show you, but look for it at Trader Joe's, in the purple bag. You won't be sorry!

Making life easier

2008-03-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

I'm in the middle of getting ready for a move. A whopper of a move across statelines. Packing my 2-bedroom apartment into boxes that hopefully will fit snugly in Daniel's basement, until we get a bigger place.

What does this have to do with food? Well, in the remaining two weeks I have in Chicago, my schedule is pretty full and time is tight. I stopped at the store a few days ago to stock up on things that are easy and quick. Which, in this case, meant frozen. Fortunately, these days frozen doesn't have to mean cheese pizza. Not only does Amy's offer cheeseless pizza, but there are a lot of other things out there too.

I've fallen in love with Amy's vegan pot pies. They taste just like the Banquet chicken pot pies of yore, except with out the dairy, fat and half the sodium. So you get all of the warm and fuzzy nostalgia without the pseudo-chicken chunks.

Another new thing that I've discovered are these bags of frozen vegetables that you can throw in the microwave and they steam the veggies. Not a new concept entirely, I realize, but I found these Birds Eye Steamfresh individual pouches. You pop the little pouch in the microwave for about a minute and -- voila -- fresh vegetables, steaming hot and ready to eat.

The "individual" portions are a bit small, for someone such as mysef who loves to devour vegetables. All that means is that I'll do two at once or just forget the individual pouches and keep buying the whole bags. The vegetables taste fresh and are a vibrant green -- unlike some frozen veggies that take on this odd, brownish-green-grey appearance.

Either way, these things have helped keep me alive this week, so I just thought I would share!

Pockets full of gold. I mean, "oro"...

2008-02-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Mexican food. One can't be sure when it started or how, being inundated with meat and potatoes or Italian food as a child, but now it's tough to see me go more than a week without some form of tacos or nachos.

This is easy enough when it comes to being vegetarian -- use black beans, right? Which I often do. But one day, I decided to take it a step further, and now it's something Dan and I enjoy reguarly -- last night even.

Here's what you need:
1 can of black beans
1 pkg of tofu
1 pkg of taco seasoning
and anything else you might want for tacos

Basically, I take a package of tofu (any kind really) and drain it as much as my time, patience and hunger will allow. Smash it up with a fork, your hands or whatever other kitchen implement you have on hand.

Rinse and drain a can of black beans and throw these together in a small sauce pan on the stove. Then mix in a package of taco seasoning -- using some water, just like you would with meat (only probably not as much water as you would for meat, especially since there's so much water in tofu). What's cool, too, is that Ortega now makes bulk shakers of it, similar to a large container of Lawry's seasoning salt, for example. So, instead of making sure you have a little packet of seasoning, you always know you have that on hand. It should last a long, long time, using only a couple of tablespoons at a time.

Sometimes I include onions or fresh jalapenos at this point too.

Cook it up and then make it into burritos or tacos or use as a dip for chips.

It's really, really good. And a good way to get some protein in there. I think this is something even meat-eaters would like, but maybe that's just me!

A love letter to my dearest La Croix

2008-02-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

Feb. 15, 2008

Dear Makers of the Best Drink on Earth:

You may think this is a joke, but it's not. I love La Croix. Love's not even the right word. I look forward to drinking it every day. I drink it like it's the Fountain of Youth. I need it like I need air.

In my circle of friends, the word is out and La Croix is in! I'm shouting it from the rooftops and it's gotten great reception. While I enjoy my La Croix all day everyday, my boyfriend and I have taken it to the next level. We've created the cocktail that will be sweeping the nation before too long: the La Crunk. It consists of the La Croix flavor of your choice (we prefer lemon) and your favorite vodka. You should make that stuff into candy because it is GOOD.

I often joke that you should pay me for all the PR I do for you. But the truth is, maybe you should. I have an extensive background in media relations and if you're ever looking for someone to do public relations, sales, you name it – I'm your woman.

First stop: Trader Joe's – why doesn't that store carry you? I would shop there more if it did. Second stop: television placement. Every reality show bumpkin on weight loss and modeling shows should be drowning themselves in deliciously zero calorie La Croix-ness.

But really, I just wanted to tell you how much I love La Croix. I hope to be drinking it for the next four or five decades, so keep it up!

Sincerely,

Kirsten Buys

The perfect peanut sauce...

2008-02-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

I want it!

D and I go to Thai Cafe on Washington Street in Royal Oak. If you live in the area and haven't yet tried it, do so immediately. You see, D has long had them create his custom-built dinner: the V4 Pad Prik with peanut sauce instead of brown sauce.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with this dish too, and now it's MY obsession and he still enjoys it. I fantasize about getting to Michigan so A) I can get back in his lovin' arms (of course), and B) we can immediately depart for Thai Cafe.

V4 Pad Prik consist of tofu, green peppers, mushrooms, onions and sometimes red peppers in a sea of the perfectly spiced peanut sauce. Now that Thai Cafe offers brown rice, it's downright perfection on every level.

Sure, it has its ups and downs. Sometimes the onions are a little underdone. Sometimes the sauce is just a little off... but nothing can dissuade me from returning for it again and again. (And if peanut sauce isn't your thing, I like their green curry too).

There are DOZENS and dozens of peanut sauce recipes out there. The first I tried involved vanilla yogurt. D liked it for what it was. I didn't like it, for what it wasn't. It just tasted totally different than Thai Cafe. Too sweet. Not sassy enough.

Our trusty watiress Kane finally let us in on a secret -- there's red curry in the sauce!

I started incorporating red curry paste when I would give it a shot (you know, since I have a little jar of it in the refrigerator for when I make the Best Soup in the Whole Wide World). With each attempt I liked it better, but still it was never close enough.

I put the detective work on hold for awhile and we went back to patronizing Thai Cafe reguarly. I mean, maybe I should just give up. Why do I need to know how to make it when I can drive 10 minutes and taste perfection for $9? (Or $11.50 with the brown rice).

But I took another stab at it last week, based on a recipe I found on the Food Network site. It went a little something like this:

2 Tbsp. peanut oil
2 Tbsp. red curry paste
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 c. Coconut milk
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
lime juice
salt and pepper

I must say, it was the closest yet. Though I liked the spice, I think next time I'll use a little less red curry paste and a little less soy sauce. But overall, I'd say it was a success!

If anyone else has a great peanut sauce recipe, I'd love to see them.

The best soup in the whole wide world.

2008-01-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

First, I'll let you in on a little secret: The Post Punk Kitchen. It's a Website I came across for this vegan public access show out of Brooklyn. They have cookbooks and a great Website full of recipes. So, I won't begin to even attempt to take credit for any recipes I post from their site.

They have recipes sorted by main ingredient or course/dish, so it's easy to find something you like. My boyfriend loves sweet potatoes. So I went there first. Among the sweet potato recipes was "Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup." What it should have read was "The Best Soup in the Whole Wide World."

We can't get enough of it. I've tried variations -- I added peas once, etc. -- but it needs no altering. Do exactly as it says -- right down to the sesame oil and cilantro finishing touches. It includes ginger and garlic and coconut milk and red chili paste. It's so delicious. You won't be sorry.

Oh, and though it has "spicy" in the title, I don't think it is at all. You could probably add more red chili paste to heat it up a bit.

You can find the site here: The Post Punk Kitchen

If you are vegetarian or vegan, you must check out this site. It hasn't let me down yet.

OK, and here's the recipe for The Best Soup in the Whole Wide World

Give it a shot! You won't be sorry.

And there you have it.

2008-01-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

My name is Kirsten. I've been cooking, or trying to since I was...well -- look at my profile photo.

The first thing I ever cooked on my own was macaroni and cheese. I was doing fine until I poured the milk, butter and flourescent orange cheese powder into the noodles. I did so in the strainer, which doesn't really work.

Fortunately, things have looked up since then. Ever joined to my mom Toni Ann's hip in the kitchen, it seems I picked up a thing or two.

While I love more than anything to make our family favorite -- manicotti -- as I've grown to be one of 2 vegetarians in the family, I've had to go outside the family repertoire to find other foods that make me feel good and make me happy. That, and a girl can only eat so much pasta.

But, it's not always easy to find good recipes for a variety of vegetarian foods. I've found a couple of great Websites and have gotten a few good cookbooks, but I want more. And maybe some people out in cyberland do too.

Perhaps this blog can be a source where people can turn for ideas, variations and recipe successes and failures. If nothing else, I hope it will lead to other sharing their recipes with me. I'm here for selfish reasons, mostly, you see...