weekend brunch: "fronch" toast and the epic PPK Vegan Mofo survey

This morning I tried my hand at the "Fronch" Toast recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I'm a little surprised I hadn't tried a chickpea-flour batter, since I LOVE French toast, but I guess my go-to for French Toast is my own cashew mixture for the batter.

The chickpea flour mixture is great, though. Whereas cashew-based batter is thick and a little sweet, this was light and toasted up evenly. I only had a chickpea-fava bean flour mix on hand, but it worked fine. Maybe my bread was a lot more absorbent than Isa's, because it made enough for six delicious pieces, though the recipe says 12-15 (granted, that's probably from bread like baguettes).

I served them with a blueberry sauce and cinnamon-toasted pecans and kept me and the boyfriend full almost all day--which was good, because we then spent hours at the opening of the MFA's new Art of the Americas wing! It was awesome, and if any of you readers are Bostonians or visiting Boston, I recommend it.

Now! A bunch of us at the PPK compiled an EPIC PPK VEGAN MOFO SURVEY that we all said we'd fill out today. Here's mine!

What's your favorite spice or spice blend?
Black pepper. So handy. I go through phases sometimes, thyme having been the last one. Adobo powder is really convenient as a flavor enhancer for pretty much any recipe.

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). what do you buy?
Spinach, tofu, onions, garlic. They're all so versatile; you can use them in almost every cuisine, in any (savory) dish. Plus they're super tasty.

What's your favorite way to make tofu?
I like to cut it into slabs and bake it in oil, some vinegar, and herbs. It gets a nice firm texture, and you can alter the herbs you use and add other things like soy sauce to make it fit whatever kind of meal you're having.

Vegan guilty pleasure?
Tings. I eat so many of those at a time.

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be?
Paula Deen, maybe? Because she makes such decadent food, and it'd be cool to see what awesome Earth Balance-laden dishes she'd come up with. On a more serious note, all of the food writers who champion putting bacon in everything frm vodka to chocolte because it's so amazing and versatile and--ugh.

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be?
Such a tough call! If she updated every day, probably Your Vegan Mom, since she has a pretty wide repertoire.

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food?
It's hard to say for sure, because I went vegan in college, just before I started cooking for myself, so my learning to cook happened at the same time as my becoming vegan. I did used to like baking in high school. Anyway, I've always been interested in food thanks to my amazing mother, who sees food as both physical and psychological nourishment, so I learned pretty early on to think about how food makes you feel, and the difference that good-quality ingredients make.

Excluding analogs, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn't have as an omni?
Nutritional yeast. If you eat cheese, I don't think you ever really encounter nutritional yeast. Also, raw foods, probably.

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can't get behind?
Processed vegan cheese. Daiya's okay in small doses, but all fake cheese is so salty, and I'd just rather not eat food that doesn't look like its ingredients. Also, vegan chicken broth. I tend to use unsalted bouillon when I use it at all, so to me the vegan chicken broth just tastes like icky brown salt water.

What was your first "wow, I'm such a stereotypical vegan" moment?
I don't know, I'm not sure I am a stereotypical vegan, or that I can actually imagine what the stereotypical vegan is/does.? I guess the fact that even at fancy events like weddings, I always have granola bars and/or fruit stashed in my purse.

First recipe you veganized?
I have no idea. Probably a baked good. Possibly Rava Laddu?

What would you like to veganize, but haven't yet?
Croissants! I used to love croissants so much. I'm going to try my hand at them sometime, though. I just have to have enough money to buy the multiple tubs of Earth Balance such an endeavor would require.

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance?
I guess "a good sharp knife" is too obvious an answer, but mostly it's me and the kitchen knife, BFFs! The food processor, while dying a slow death, is also my faithful companion.

Most disastrous kitchen failure?
Waffles. Every time! I love waffles, and have a nice waffle maker that the boyfriend got me a while back, but something happens where I can't get them out of the waffle maker every time. And I know it's me, because the boyfriend has done it just fine with the same waffle maker. (Last time was a disaster for him, too, so maybe it's NOT just me?)

First vegan cookbook?
I'm pretty sure it was Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet.

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering?
"Where do you get your protein?" If you ask me this question, you are not showing your concern for my well-being. You are showing your ignorance regarding food and the human body.

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be?
Most of us eat well, and most of us eat a lot. All of us aren't undernourished and gnawing on celery all day.

Funniest vegetable?
Any veggie with greens that I can shake around like maracas. I find this hilarious, even if the boyfriend thinks it's weird.

What is a family recipe you have veganized?
Some of my favorite recipes are ones passed down through my family! A very mayonnaisey pasta salad, my great-grandmother's blueberry pie, my mother's double-fudge brownies.

Weirdest food combination ?
I like all food (that I can eat); I guess I don't consider much weird. The boyfriend says it's weird that I cut dates open and stuff them with peanut butter. I'd say probably either daifuku or sweet seaweed snacks.

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can't/couldn't?
I really want to make a cheesy soufflé some day, but I never had one before I was vegan, so I have no idea how one could ever veganize it.

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins?
Well, other than baked tofu (like I said above), I like turning seitan into sausages, and I like breading and then frying tempeh like fried fish.

Are your pets vegan?
I live with the boyfriend's three cats and two geckos. None of them are vegan (except the boyfriend).

Favorite non-dairy milk?
I don't or rarely drink non-dairy milk, so it's mostly about how it behaves in cooking. I used to love Organic Valley's soymilk, but later found out that their vitamin D comes from lanolin, so now I go back and forth between hemp milk, which is pretty decent but is rarely organic, and almond milk which is also hard to get organic at our grocery store. I only ever buy unsweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk.

I hope you all had a great weekend!