tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67104061035987618622024-03-28T12:21:49.067-04:00vegetalionVegan food. Vegan Living. Nightshade-free.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-48161709363440853832017-02-17T08:00:00.000-05:002017-02-17T08:00:12.167-05:00tofu en croûteLongtime readers of this blog might remember my <a href="http://vegetalion.blogspot.com/2010/05/fast-easy-homemade-vegan-puff-pastry.html">fast and easy puff pastry recipe</a>. I have a confession: I've only made it a couple times since I published that recipe. It's faster and easier than most puff pastry, but it's still not that fast. Instead, if I find a recipe that calls for puff pastry, I often cheat and buy vegan crescent roll dough, then pinch the seams together. It doesn't have quite the rise of puff pastry, but it's a lot easier than making it myself... and the two companies whose crescent rolls I use are <a href="http://www.annies.com/products/baking/crescent-rolls">Annie's</a> and <a href="https://www.immaculatebaking.com/">Immaculate Baking Company</a>, both of which have much better ingredients than the vegan puff pastry I could otherwise find.<br />
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I don't actually like crescent rolls, is the funny thing. But the dough is so versatile as cheater puff pastry! Just last week I used a tube to make this <b>Tofu en croûte</b>, inspired by a French salmon dish but much kinder to animals. This dish looks really fancy and complicated, but is very simple and comes together quickly. It's also filling! I'm still breastfeeding so I eat a lot, and a 1-inch slice was a big enough serving.<br />
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If you're looking for sides, this dish works well with a side of roasted squash, potatoes, or sweet potatoes in my case. I could also see this being great with asparagus or green beans. The <b>Dill and Lemon Sauce</b> (which follows the recipe) is optional but tasty.<br />
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<b>Tofu en croûte</b><br />
<i>serves 4-6, depending on how filling your sides are</i><br />
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1 block of tofu (pressed or at least squished a few times over the sink to get extra water out)<br />
2-3 Tbsp Dijon mustard<br />
1 Tbsp olive oil<br />
2-3 cups cooking greens, chopped roughly (spinach, kale, collards, etc)<br />
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional, but recommended)<br />
1 9x9 sheet puff pastry, or 1 package crescent rolls<br />
1 Tbsp soy milk or aquafaba (optional)<br />
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Preheat your oven to 425.<br />
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Cut the tofu through the middle horizontally to make two layers. Coat all sides of the tofu with mustard, and let it sit for a bit to absorb some of the flavor.<br />
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In the meantime, put a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the greens, stir to coat, then sprinkle over the balsamic vinegar, if using. Cook until fully wilted (but not brown), 5-10 minutes depending on the green. The vinegar should have evaporated; if it hasn't, drain the greens as much as you can; we don't want extra liquid in this recipe!<br />
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Lay out your puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you are using crescent dough, pinch the seams together so that you have a large square, or as close to a square as you can get.<br />
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Place the first layer of mustard-coated tofu in the middle of the dough, then the wilted greens as a middle layer, and finally the top tofu layer.<br />
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Seal the puff pastry up over the top, pinching the edges together in a cute little seam if you can manage. You want the tofu wrapped tightly but not tight enough to rip the pastry. I did the ends up a little like wrapping a present, but however you can close it will be great, I know it. Brush the whole thing with the Tbsp of soy milk or aquafaba to help it turn a golden brown. (If you skip this step it will be pale but taste the same.)<br />
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Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a deep golden brown. The bottom should also be browned; if the bottom is too pale, give it another 5-10 minutes to finish cooking. (This will vary based on how much water you were able to get out of your tofu; the wetter the tofu, the more likely you are to have a soggy bottom!)<br />
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Cut into slices and serve! Leftovers will only keep for a day or two in the fridge before the pastry starts to get waterlogged.<br />
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<b>Dill and Lemon Sauce:</b><br />
1/2 Cup vegan mayo<br />
2 Tbsp lemon juice<br />
2-3 Tbsp fresh dill or 1-2 tsp dried<br />
1 tsp Dijon mustard<br />
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Stir all the ingredients together; taste to see if you want to add more lemon juice or dill to taste. (I used like a whole cup of fresh dill for the sauce above and it was delicious.) Let it sit for a little while to really let the dill flavor seep in. This is also really good on potatoes and/or as a salad dressing!<br />
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Okay, so now that the recipes are over... want to see two other times I've used crescent roll dough in place of puff pastry? This first one is a vegan version of baked brie--it's the Kite Hill Soft Ripened (almond cheese) wrapped in dough, sprinkled with herbs. Kevin hates fruit in his entrees so I didn't spread jam on the inside like I wanted to, but I served it with cranberry sauce. We each ate half (and a light salad) for a decadent dinner. Not picturesque but SO GOOD.<br />
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Then this one is a little embarrassing but it was also delicious: a CHEESEBURGER RING. This is a real thing, you guys! But veganized. I cooked a bunch of Gimme Lean grounds with onions, parsley, Daiya cheese, and finely chopped pickles, wrapped it in dough, and topped with sesame seeds like a sesame-seed bun. This was really good warm but kind of gross cold out of the fridge the next day--the grounds and the cheese are both better warm than cold!<br />
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Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-83906223264895978462017-02-12T14:33:00.002-05:002017-02-12T14:33:49.571-05:00Chilled zucchini soupI signed in to maybe write a new blog post and discovered a partial draft from AUGUST, oops. So while it's totally off season to post about a chilled soup, it's also cold and snowy here right now and I like remembering that it was once too hot rather than too wintery.<br />
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It was above 90 degrees several days in a row this summer and we don't have air conditioning, so the baby and I mostly sat in front of fans on those days, and when it came time for dinner I wanted something cool. This <b>Chilled Zucchini Soup</b> from <a href="http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chilled-zucchini-soup-purslane">Food and Wine</a> was perfect on those days.<br />
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We had it with pita bread and these <a href="http://hodosoy.com/products/grab-and-go/">sesame yuba noodles</a> (so much protein!). It does require heat, but that part is short and totally worth it for the flavor it adds, even on a disgustingly hot day. And if you don't have purslane or arugula, don't fret--the greens are just a garnish. I did have purslane (it grows as a weed around here and overtook two of my pots of dill in the garden), but next time I make this soup I'm just going to have it (or a different green) on the side.</div>
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Side note: the baby LOVED this soup!</div>
Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-76723479711183604692016-07-07T21:49:00.001-04:002016-07-07T21:49:32.738-04:00the great vegan protein bookJust as I thought I could get away with more posts here, Ezra outgrew the sleepy newborn stage and went right into teething, which is why there hasn't been much going on around here. But I've been cooking! I felt stuck in a "throw together anything I can" rut for a while this spring, so I started checking out some cookbooks from our local library.<br />
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<i>The Great Vegan Protein Book </i>was a nice discovery. I've made three recipes from there and bookmarked a few more.</div>
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The <b>Tempeh Noodle Soup</b> was delicious, and (in a good way) tasted like something you'd buy in a can. I didn't get any pictures but it didn't look as good as it tasted anyway. I have a weird thing about soup where I DO NOT like soup as leftovers, but this was a rare exception: it tasted even better the next day.</div>
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The <b>Sesame Berry Bars</b> were my favorite find and are definitely something I'd make again. They don't actually pack a ton of protein per serving but are full of great ingredients: hemp seeds, whole wheat flour, maple syrup instead of sugar, chia seeds, and any jam you'd like (so you can go for an all-fruit one). They also look and taste deceptively less healthy than they are.</div>
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Finally, the <b>Split Pea Patties</b>, while not particularly photogenic, were a nice new way to use split peas. Seasoned with Indian spices, they came together easily and held together very well. I had worried my batter was too liquidy, but no, they turned out fine!</div>
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Each recipe in the book tells you how much protein per serving you're getting, which seems useful. If you can't eat nightshades, like me, many of the entree recipes are out: they frequently call for sundried tomatoes or entire cans of tomatoes, which are too much to replace. Because of this, I got it from the library rather than bought it, but the recipes I tried were great. I still want to try the Almond Butter Biscuits and a couple other recipes from this book.</div>
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And because I can't stop myself, here is a picture of my baby "eating" (he's 8 months old so he mostly just tastes and then smooshes his food) tofu, spinach, and sautéed fennel and onions:<br />
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Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-39457084686011870142016-01-09T15:43:00.000-05:002016-01-26T16:17:11.889-05:00holiday mealsNormally my family uses tofu turkeys for their holiday entree, which are simple: you just take them out of the box and bake them. If you haven't tried <a href="http://www.freshtofu.com/product-turkey.php">tofu turkeys</a>, they're simple marinated/seasoned tofu shaped like a happy turkey. They're gluten free and come with an easy-to-make gravy. And they're just so cute!<br />
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However, my sister-in-law is sensitive to soy, and I wanted something we could all have. Many vegan entree options have gluten, but half the people at our meal were gluten-free, so I was pretty much left with one option: THE VEGDUCKEN. <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegducken">This recipe</a> (and similar ones) was circulating around the internet for a while, just calling to be veganized. First, I have to tell you, this recipe is good, but poorly written. Or, at least, poorly organized--the list of ingredients isn't in any particular order. I ended up rewriting the whole thing in a Word doc just to make it make more sense.<br />
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Here's what I changed: I used vegan butter (<a href="http://www.forkandbeans.com/2015/07/11/vegan-butter-substitute/">homemade</a>, but Earth Balance would work) and halved the butter for the layering/sauce, and never used any mint. This turned out just fine, and we had plenty. I used two flax "eggs" (2 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 6 Tbsp water) to replace the eggs, and to replace the parmesan cheese, I just used 2-3 Tbsp light miso. (Because of the miso, this means the recipe wasn't completely soy free, but you could use a soy-free vegan cheese like Daiya to make it so.) I used gluten-free breadcrumbs--the Hannaford store brand is just corn, sugar, and salt. Oh and my mushrooms were reconstituted dried. Finally, because I am allergic to nightshades, I replaced the eggplant layer with lightly steamed sliced celery root.<br />
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And here's the thing: even with all these (in some cases rather dramatic) substitutions, <i>it tasted great. </i>And went together really easily.<br />
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Here it is before putting the sides together and baking:<br />
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And here it is, baked and with some slices taken off.<br />
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I recommend carving it at the table and serving it one piece at a time; when we tried to cut several slices in advance they fell apart and were not as pretty to serve.<br />
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It serves a lot! I actually made two because there were 11 of us eating and my family are big eaters, but we never ended up finishing the first, let alone cutting into the second. And everyone really liked it!<br />
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We hosted Thanksgiving so we wouldn't have to travel with the baby, but our dining room is small so half of us ate in the dining room and half of us ate in the makeshift second dining room (the living room).<br />
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My side of the family! My brother is holding the baby in the back.</div>
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Christmas dinner was a much smaller affair, with just us and Kevin's mother, so we cooked the meal together. Our entree was <a href="http://elizaveganpage.blogspot.com/2013/12/tourtiere-la-vegetalien.html?m=1">Elizavegan's vegan tourtiere</a>, made with sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, and phyllo dough instead of pastry crust--which was a delicious substitution! The crisp of the phyllo went well with the sweet potato and made up for the lack of starch the white potatoes would have provided.<br />
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For Christmas dessert, I wanted to make something special. Inspired by The Great British Baking Show, which I watched in less than two days during my first week home with the baby, I decided to try my hand at a Swiss roll (also known as a jelly roll). And it went GREAT!<br />
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The cake is the chocolate cupcake recipe from <i>Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, </i>spread out on a baking sheet and baked for only 10-15 minutes. I cooled it just enough to handle, then rolled it in a tea towel and let it cool completely.<br />
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After that I unrolled it, spread it with strawberry jam and Coco Whip (I didn't have time to make frosting), rolled it back up and decorated it. It was huuuuge, so I only used half of it to decorate and serve (halved, with edges trimmed off for neatness, it served 5 people). I couldn't believe how simple and yet elegant it was! I'll definitely make Swiss rolls in the future, hopefully with yellow cake that I can decorate with batter like they do on the show.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I also dressed my baby as a reindeer.</td></tr>
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Finally, New Year's brunch is a big meal in my parents' house, with loads of food and plenty of relatives to eat it all. With a baby in the house we were lucky to make it till midnight, and were not up for making a huge brunch the next morning, but we did something a little special: Kevin made a delicious fruit and nut coffee cake (from <i>Angelica Kitchen) </i>and I made tofu florentine with a hollandaise sauce from <i>Vegan Diner.</i> I usually make the one from <i>Vegan Brunch, </i>but I don't find it too flavorful. The <i>Vegan Diner </i>one has a lot of flavor, but I think the wine comes through a little too strong. Still a delicious New Year's brunch!<br />
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Now the holidays are over, we're back to simpler meals... more on those later!Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-14673916303523611382015-12-07T12:12:00.000-05:002016-01-01T17:27:46.892-05:00vegan doughnuts and a baby!First, I'd like to present you with the best thing I ever made:<br />
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A baby! His name is Ezra and he is exactly one month old today. My work schedule leading up to the end of pregnancy picked up more than I thought it would, so blogging didn't really happen much during my pregnancy, but it was an easy pregnancy overall. We've had no problems or pushback regarding our veganism from any of our healthcare professionals. And this baby is awesome!<br />
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He loves to eat, just like his mother, and has many strong opinions. (We don't know what the opinions are, since they all come out as wailing, but still.)<br />
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I am ambitiously hoping I will actually update more often now that I have a baby, in part because we spend a lot of time sitting down to nurse and/or nap, but also because I am done working! While I loved my job (teaching English at <a href="http://www.bfit.edu/">BFIT</a>, a local college), I've always known that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mother, and (with years of saving and planning, mind you) I am able to realize that dream!<br />
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But let's talk about doughnuts. I love doughnuts! Growing up in Cooperstown NY, my favorite doughnuts were from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Schneiders-Bakery-209661905718916/">Schneider's bakery</a>. They make old fashioned doughnuts there: they're cake doughnuts, but still fried (as they should be) and have a dense inside with a crispy, barely sweet outside. You can get them glazed but then you don't get the same crispy outside. To me, these will always be the world's most perfect doughnuts. But they're not vegan.<br />
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It has, until recent years, been really hard to find vegan doughnuts... especially if you can't have potato starch (which is in most powdered egg replacers and is used in many vegan doughnuts, like DunWell doughnuts in NYC). I've been hoarding doughnut recipes to veganize for when I have the time and ambition to deep fry. But in the last year or so, Boston has kicked up its vegan doughnut scene!<br />
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For those who like cake doughnuts, <a href="http://sabertoothbakery.storenvy.com/">Sabertooth Vegan Bakery</a>, which operates out of <a href="http://www.tacopartytruck.com/">Taco Party</a>'s (also vegan and delicious) restaurant location, has a staggering number of options. The flavor combinations are always on point--tasty and interesting: Matcha and Macadamia, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Cookies and Cream, etc. There are often at least a couple gluten-free (and I think soy free?) varieties as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The doughnuts are better than the picture quality would suggest.</td></tr>
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For me, there are a few down sides. First, they're baked, not fried. Which yes, is healthier, but I like traditional (fried) doughnuts. Second--this is minor--the base is the same to every doughnut. The flavors are all in the icing. It's a good, simple base, but if you get a sampling (like we did above) it is easy to get tired of it, Finally, for my taste, they're too sweet. The base is sweet, and the icing is almost entirely sugar. But I think most people go for that sort of thing when they want dessert anyway!<br />
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If I can't have vegan old fashioned doughnuts, I'll still happily eat yeasted (i.e., the Dunkin/Krispy Kreme type) doughnuts. <a href="http://unionsquaredonuts.com/">Union Square Donuts</a> has the best in town.<br />
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They used to only have vegan doughnuts on weekends, but now you can get them any day of the week. There are usually two kinds: cinnamon sugar and a seasonal flavor. Above, a coworker happened to hit the on a day when there were two seasonal flavors. They also have vegan doughnut holes!!! I hadn't realized I missed these until I was able to eat them again.</div>
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Obviously Union Square Donuts' doughnuts are heavy (because they are fried), but other than that, I have no complaints. They are delicious!<br />
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I don't have pictures, but <a href="http://www.veggiegalaxy.com/">Veggie Galaxy</a> also has vegan doughnuts on Saturday (possibly also Sundays soon). They're the yeasted kind, with basic or chocolate icing. They sometimes do jelly-filled, too!<br />
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Have any of you tried making your own doughnuts at home? How did it go? What recipe(s) did you use?Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-89912190464366595922015-05-28T10:58:00.000-04:002015-05-28T10:58:32.487-04:00vegan deviled eggs from Lagusta's LusciousWe'll get to the deviled eggs in a moment, but first a small announcement: I'm pregnant! I'm at 17 weeks (4 months). I am, of course, vegan, and my doctors are totally fine with every aspect of my pregnancy. There have been many great vegan bloggers who openly blogged about their pregnancies well, so I am not interested in doing that myself at the moment, but I am happy to answer any questions people have.<div>
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The biggest change for me since being pregnant is how much more often I get hungry! I fill up easier, which means my meals are often smaller, but my body still needs more calories per day, which means I'm snacking about every hour or two. Women should up their protein intake during pregnancy, so I try to make sure that at least some of my frequent snacks are protein-rich. But after 4 months, all my usual snacks are starting to bore me. So when I found <a href="https://lagustasluscious.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/maresas-vegan-deviled-eggs-vegan-deviled-eggs-that-taste-and-look-like-eggs/">Lagusta's Luscious recipe for vegan deviled eggs</a>, I had to try them!</div>
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I had all the ingredients on hand, but I do not have egg-shaped molds. I have these though!</div>
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And I don't mind if my "eggs" are shell or dome shaped.</div>
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The "egg white" recipe calls for soy milk, though Lagusta and the comments on the blog entry all say that almond milk makes for a firmer and whiter white. I went with soy to make sure the eggs were higher in protein, but I did notice a little of the graininess she mentions. </div>
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They hold up well, but next time I might use a little more agar (2.5 tsps?) to make them even firmer.<br />
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And then I filled them! Before you judge how they look, remember that my eggs are upside-down shells. I also spooned in the filling instead of piping it in because I am lazy.<br />
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The filling is pretty good, but it is WAY TOO SALTY for me. My mother's deviled eggs always had a lot of mayo, so I did up the amount of vegenaise, which could contribute to the over saltiness, but when I make this next I'm going to skip the whole 1 1/4 tsp salt and just salt to taste after all the other ingredients are in. <span style="text-align: center;"> It's okay in combination with the whites since the whites are a little bland, but the whole deviled egg is still a little saltier than I'd like.</span><br />
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And holy cow, look how much filling is left! I mixed some of it with the scooped-out parts of the whites for an egg salad that I'll have on bread for lunch. Lagusta says that it makes a good dip, but like I said, it is WAY too salty on its own, so I'll probably blend in some cashews before I can use it straight.</div>
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Despite the saltiness, I liked this recipe a lot, and will definitely make it again!</div>
Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-43367899381895080422015-03-30T21:14:00.000-04:002015-03-30T21:14:16.578-04:00uzbek dinner! plov and tashkent saladA while back, a friend linked to one of those buzzfeed posts--you know the ones, "the top 20 things you have to eat in [city name]" or "30 signs you're [insert age]." But the one my friend linked to was about food. And I often click the food ones. I don't even remember what the list was, but at the side, another recommended article was "<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dianabruk/delicious-uzbek-dishes-you-need-to-try-immediately#.hxy2L5E1m">16 Delicious Uzbek Dishes You Need to Try Immediately</a>." I love delicious food, and knew NOTHING about Uzbek cuisine, so I clicked--and discovered a whole list of very non-vegan things. (There is actually one vegan thing: a tomato salad, which, since I'm allergic, was sad.)<div>
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For some reason, rather than deciding Uzbek cuisine was not my thing, all this started me on a quest to try to make some vegan Uzbek food at home.</div>
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Vegan Tashkent salad, "roasted" garlic (I'll explain later), and Plov!</div>
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The most obvious dish to start with: <b>Plov</b>, which is essentially a rice pilaf. After a long internet-rabbit-hole search, I decided to mainly stick with <a href="http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/main-course/plov/">this recipe from Olga's Flavor Factory</a> (ironically, the blog is Russian, not Uzbek, but I swear, this was the most promising recipe to start with). Traditionally, plov is made with lamb or beef, for which I substituted chickpeas. (Chunks of seitan would probably be better if you wanted it to be really authentic, but since I'm vegan and nightshade-free, I never really bother with authentic, and chickpeas are what I had on hand.) Her recipe is also enormous, so I halved it. So here are the ingredients I ended up with:</div>
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<b>Chickpea Plov</b></div>
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<i>Serves 3-4, depending on how hungry you are!</i></div>
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2 Cups (or 1 can, which is a little scant but fine) Chickpeas</div>
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2-3 Tbsp olive oil</div>
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1 red onion, chopped</div>
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2 carrots, shredded</div>
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salt</div>
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1/2 tsp pepper</div>
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2 bay leaves</div>
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1.5 tsp cumin</div>
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1/2 tsp turmeric (this was to substitute in color for the paprika she uses)</div>
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A generous shake of ground allspice</div>
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1.5 Cups rice (I used brown basmati for extra flavor)</div>
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3 Cups water</div>
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1 head garlic, most of the papery skin peeled away (as much as you can with just rubbing it)</div>
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I sautéed all the veggies and spices together first, until the chickpeas started to brown, to give everything lots of flavor:</div>
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From there I followed the directions from the original recipe: add the rice, stir to mix it all together, then add the water, lower the heat, and cover.<br />
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And here's the coolest part, the "roasted" garlic. In the last 10-15 minutes of cooking (so if you're using white rice, pretty much as soon as you cover it--if you're using brown rice, after about 15-20 minutes), you put an entire head of garlic right in the center of the pilaf, so it steams and gets soft and creamy on the inside--just like roasted garlic from the oven, but less messy and in way less time! I could not believe how cool this was, and have done it with other dishes now.<br />
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There it is! Hidden in the center of the plov! At the time I was really worried about the garlic burning or sloughing off its skin into the rice, but it all worked out just fine.</div>
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The tashkent salad (or is it supposed to be salad tashkent? I do not speak Uzbek so I have no idea) was a veganized version of <a href="http://arbuz.com/recipes/salad-tashkent/">this recipe from Tasty Arbuz</a>. Tashkent salad is basically a creamy slaw made of radishes and tongue, which, you know, super not vegan. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Have any of you read Hugo Hamilton's memoir <i>The Speckled People? </i>There is a tongue-as-food-related scene in it that is incredibly well written... and it describes how gross the whole family found it. If I were still doing my "food from books" series, this would be such a good one!)</span> But I had some leftover baked tofu from a previous dinner, which, thinly sliced, was a perfect tongue substitute. And I used vegenaise instead of mayo, and everything was fine! </div>
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Verdict: I would definitely make plov again, and am so excited about this "roasted" garlic technique. As for the tashkent salad, it was fine, but essentially a radish slaw, for which I don't really need a specific recipe in the future.</div>
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Have you ever had Uzbek food? Is there any dish from that buzzfeed list you'd like to make/veganize? Keep me posted!</div>
Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-14237324938239408872015-01-15T10:47:00.000-05:002015-01-15T10:47:59.444-05:00aburaage, inari, and kitsune udonI have decided to admit to myself that I am not good at blogging regularly. Admit it, get over it, and try to update at least more than one month a year. So hello again!<br />
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When I go out for sushi, my FAVORITE thing to order, hands down, is Inari. For those of you who haven't had it, it's fried tofu that has ben simmered in soy sauce, sugar, and mirin, then turned into thin pouches that are then stuffed with rice. It's sweet, salty, and filled with rice, so it has pretty much everything I love.<br />
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At various Asian markets, I have seen canned and refrigerated prepared aburaage that is just ready for stuffing with rice, but the ingredients are awful. Many have fish flakes, high fructose corn syrup, and/or MSG, all of which I avoid. (For the record, many restaurants make their own, so you can ask if you're concerned about these ingredients.) So I decided to try to make it on my own.<br />
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To prepare inari-style tofu, you "start" with aburaage, I say "start" because aburaage is deep fried, thinly-sliced tofu cutlets. You can make these yourself, but who wants to spend a bunch of time deep frying thinly sliced tofu? Not me. I bought it.<br />
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I harbored secret hopes that the interiors would be pre-split, like pitas are, so that the "pouch" effect would be really easy to attain. This was not true. But also not something I had to worry about yet. I followed <a href="http://justhungry.com/inarizushi-sushi-bean-bag-redux-cooking-your-own-inarizushi-skins">Just Hungry's methods for preparing inari</a>, which first involves blanching the tofu, then patting it down with towels, to help get rid of some of the extra oil.<br />
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The next step was to slice them in half, then simmer them for a little while in a broth made of dashi (mine is always made from boiling kombu and wakame for a few minutes), tamari, mirin, and sugar. I don't have sake, so I just doubled down on the mirin. The thing I liked best about making this myself was being able to cut back on the sugar; I like it a little sweet, but some inari is too sugary for my taste.<br />
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After they simmered and cooled in their own broth, I separated the insides (using the method recommended by Just Hungry--poking around in it with a chopstick) and stuffed several of them with rice. (Another thing I liked about being able to make it at home: brown rice!)<br />
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I served the inari with <a href="http://justhungry.com/handbook/cooking-courses/japanese-cooking-101-lesson-3-nimono-simmered-dish-basics">nimono</a> made primarily from butternut squash, more rice, and some sesame-garlic collards. This is Kevin's bowl; mine had a heck of a lot more inari pouches, but his looks daintier so we're going with that.<br />
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BUT I didn't use ALL the prepared aburaage for inari sushi. I saved some of it to make kitsune udon! "Kitsune" means fox, because in Japanese folklore, the trickster fox loves fried tofu. I agree with the fox. I followed <a href="http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/kitsune-udon/">this recipe from Just One Cookbook</a> almost exactly, except no fish cake, obviously. And, as usual, gluten-free tamari instead of soy sauce.<br />
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I know the cropping is a little weird, but I wanted you to be able to see how our cat Molly creeped into the corner of the picture, lurker that she is. This udon was AMAZING, and we both went back for more.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-14704398835864073422014-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:002014-09-19T22:38:16.333-04:00dessert friday: apple cider jelliesA while back, I read and bookmarked a <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-spiced-a-1-158881">recipe on the kitchn</a> for "spiced apple jellies." This is a classier way of saying make-your-own apple juice jello (with agar). I loved jello-esque things, but I don't like apple juice, so I decided to try the recipe with apple cider once when I had family coming to visit.<br />
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It was a success!<br />
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I topped it with whipped coconut cream. Because I used apple cider, it was tart, but in a good way. It was also so light that I had the leftover cups for breakfast the next couple of days.<br />
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I always find agar to be firmer than I want it to be; next time I might try less (so a scant teaspoon). Also next time, I'm going to take a tip from them and serve it in cute little mugs; I just didn't own cute little mugs at the time of making these.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-48409713765547555842014-09-18T21:45:00.000-04:002016-01-09T15:59:06.767-05:00Restaurant Thursday: Root (Now closed)<i>Edit: Root has closed since the writing of this post. <a href="http://www.wholeheartprovisions.com/">Another vegan restaurant</a> has opened in its place, but I have not yet been there.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.rootboston.com/">Root</a> is an all-vegan restaurant in Allston, a Boston neighborhood that is very close to my heart (and used to be close to my home, when I first moved out to Boston). It had big shoes to fill when it opened: its location was previously home to Peace o'Pie and before that, to TJ Scallywaggles, both vegan pizza places that almost all of us Boston vegans were sorry to see go.<br />
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Root has healthy, surprisingly inexpensive meals with a cafe feel. Kevin and I have been for dinner twice and brunch once. Dinner there was great!<br />
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Kevin got the sweet corn and jalapeno hush puppies with the Thai peanut salad (in the back), and I went with the sweet potato quesadillas and warm kale salad. The employees were transparent and accommodating when it came to my unusual food allergies.<br />
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While we were underwhelmed by the brunch (not a lot of flavor in the tofu scramble or the breakfast burrito), we'd be willing to try again, considering how good (and enormous) the pancakes looked.<br />
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A couple notes: for lunches/dinners, you order at the counter and choose your own seat, but brunch is a be-seated-and-waited-on affair. Also, Root doesn't offer desserts, but is conveniently located two doors down from Fomu, Boston's vegan ice cream shop. (The two businesses even share a bathroom.) If you don't want something as upscale as True Bistro, but want something a little less dingy than Grasshopper, I strongly recommend Root.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-74625917212673142052014-09-16T22:25:00.001-04:002014-09-16T22:25:58.594-04:00Isa Does It pesto risottoI have made several recipes from <i>Isa Does It, </i>and I have liked them all. The tastiest so far is actually what I would have thought of as one of the simplest: the <b>Pesto Risotto with Roasted Zucchini. </b>(<a href="http://www.theppk.com/2012/03/pesto-risotto-with-roasted-zucchini/">Recipe available here</a>.)<br />
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I have roasted a lot of zucchini in my time, but there is something about the proportions called for in this recipe that make it THE BEST ROASTED ZUCCHINI EVER. I almost always use brown rice to make risotto, and it always turns out just fine (it just takes a little longer).<br />
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(PS do you like my red depression glass dishware? I don't have a lot, but what I do have, I have achieved through constant monitoring of ebay sales for reasonably priced dishes. I love it.)Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-24655181906932126072014-09-14T21:50:00.000-04:002014-09-14T21:50:12.637-04:00sunday brunch: chicken-fried tofu and wafflesI don't really understand why "chicken and waffles" became a thing in the Boston area recently, but it did--lots of friends on facebook were posting about how this or that new restaurant was offering chicken and waffles. I think it's a Southern thing that only recently made its way up north? ANYWAY, this inspired brunch a while back:<br />
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<b>Chicken-fried tofu and waffles </b>(with gravy and spinach). The waffles are a strange purplish color because I used blue corn meal (and the <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/cornbread-waffles-412273">cornmeal waffle recipe</a> from <i>Vegan Brunch)</i>. It tastes the same as yellow/white corn meal, but doesn't sell as well at my parents' <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooperstown-Natural-Foods/113374468680376">natural food store</a>, so when it goes past date, I sometimes end up with an abundance. ;) I couldn't quite bring myself to deep fry in the morning, so the tofu isn't too heavy, either.<br />
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So final thoughts on the chicken-and-waffles thing? It was a lot of work for a morning brunch, so I see why people get excited about it being available at restaurants rather than making it at home... but the flavors together are delicious. I'd do it again!Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-60469230468985295632014-09-13T09:02:00.000-04:002014-09-13T09:02:00.162-04:00agedashi tofu!I've always wanted to order agedashi tofu in Japanese restaurants, but I know that bonito (fish flakes) is a large part of the dish. It is usually sprinkled on top, so it may be possible just to leave it off, but notice the word <i>dashi </i>in the name of the dish--a word for a fish-based broth. It's possible the restaurants could make a completely vegan agedashi tofu, but it's usually easier to just safely order veggie sushi.<br />
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HOWEVER. Who would pass up deep-fried tofu if they got the chance? NOT THIS GIRL. So I decided to make my own!<br />
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I looked up a lot of different recipes online, but it turns out I didn't need a recipe, just a method. Cube silken tofu (I used the boxed kind, but I recommend using the water-packed kind, because the boxed kind is really slippery to work with--hence the broken one on the bottom of the pile). Lightly coat each side of each piece with cornstarch. Deep fry. Done!<br />
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The broth that you pour over is a mixture of dashi (for a vegan version, seaweed simmered in water for a little while), soy/tamari, and mirin. I looked up various recipes for it, but just settled on a to-taste version: salty, savory, and a tiny bit tangy. Topped with chopped scallion and kelp flakes. Served with (in the back) brown sushi rice and teriyaki-flavored chard.<br />
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In general, I find deep frying tedious; it's hot, it's messy, it requires a lot of oil, and I sometimes end up burning myself (as I did while making this). I'm not likely to make this dish often, but I will definitely make it again, and I am really happy I got to try it!Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-82360002564781717302014-09-12T21:59:00.000-04:002014-09-12T21:59:09.276-04:00cookies and cream cake!"Cookies and cream" is one of my favorite flavors, so when I feel like splurging on Newman Os, I return again and again to the cookies and cream cupcake variation in <i>Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.</i><br />
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When friends and I got together to watch <i>The Room </i>(often hailed as the worst move ever made) a while back, I decided to make some food to go along with the theme: since there is a birthday party, with cake, in the movie, a cake would do! (We also had pizza--some of which was vegan, of course--to fit with the theme.)<br />
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I doubled the recipe to make a two-layer cake, with more frosting in the middle. I should have taken a picture of cutting into the cake, so you could see that middle part, but we were running late to the movie.<br />
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Have any of you seen <i>The Room?</i> My friends and I still quote it to each other from time to time.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-28103441683672510442014-09-11T21:17:00.002-04:002014-09-11T21:17:24.647-04:00what to do with dukkah?Dukkah is a Middle Eastern seasoning, made of spices, seeds, and nuts. My mother and I once saw it used as a spice rub on a cooking show, and I copied the recipe.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is like 1/4 cup of dukkah.</td></tr>
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It's made mostly of coriander seeds, sesame seeds, and hazelnuts, with cumin seeds, black pepper, and salt to finish out the flavor. The seeds and nuts are toasted, and it all gets ground together, resulting in a blend with a delicious aroma.<br />
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But now I have a lot of it, and few ideas. I know I can use it as a spice rub for tofu/tempeh, etc. I originally made the recipe to use as a dry dip for roasted radishes. You can also use it as a dip for bread (after dipping the bread in oil). But that's all I've got; I need your help, internet! How would you use dukkah?Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-25077695178687614942014-09-09T20:05:00.000-04:002014-09-09T20:05:05.952-04:00chocolate-covered katie's protein barsBefore you look at the pictures of the "3-minute" high protein granola bars that <i>I </i>made from <a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/08/11/protein-granola-bars/">Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe</a>, you should look at hers. They are sweet and cute and pretty, and if you follow the recipe closely, yours will be too.<br />
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The recipe is also delicious. However, readers of this blog will know that I am almost incapable of making a recipe without somehow making changes, so naturally I changed a bunch of things. My version of her granola bars is NOT pretty. In fact, my granola bars turned out really ugly.<br />
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But I am not ashamed! They are still delicious, and a little more nutritious.<br />
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They're green-brown because I used hemp protein powder and added some spirulina, because I used almond butter instead of peanut butter, AND because I added cocoa powder. They are still delicious, and take less than 3 minutes to make. (A little longer to freeze, which makes them cuttable.)<br />
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In case anyone is wondering whether they have to be kept frozen (as Katie suggests), the answer is no! I only froze them to slice them. I've carried one around in my bag all day and it was still solid enough to be held at one end (similar to a Larabar in texture). We are storing them in the fridge just so they keep longer.<br />
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LONG LIVE THE UGLY GRANOLA BARS.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-77654706524648287442014-09-08T20:43:00.000-04:002014-09-08T20:43:09.943-04:00pasta tossed with cashew ricottaThe <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/cashew-ricotta-284547">Cashew Ricotta</a> recipe is probably my favorite recipe from <i>Veganomicon. </i>At the very least, it's the one I make the most often. I use it for lasagnas and baked ziti, and, at my mother's suggestion, a vegetable dip for parties. It is always a huge hit, and no omnivore (even my most meat-obsessed friends) has ever balked at it being made from tofu.<br />
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It also makes a simple meal tossed with pasta (and, if you think of it, extra garlic and basil!<br />
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Above, tossed with extra basil and avocado, served with salad. Below, tossed with shredded yellow zucchini and carrots, served with grilled portobellos and crispy sage leaves.<br />
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It's a little blurry because I moved while I was taking the picture... and didn't notice until after I ate the whole thing. Oops!<br />
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My first day of fall semester teaching is tomorrow. Wish me (and my students) luck!Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-10880031107316612792014-09-07T14:53:00.001-04:002014-09-07T14:53:55.550-04:00sunday brunch: savory waffles and coconut baconThis morning's brunch consisted of pancakes so full of yellow zucchini and corn that they were essentially veggie fritters. For savory pancakes like these, I use the <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1017127">Perfect Pancake recipe</a> from <i>Vegan Brunch</i>, leaving out all the sweet stuff (cinnamon, syrup, vanilla). I added generous sprinkles of black pepper and cumin, and more salt... and 1 ear's worth of corn and an entire grated yellow zucchini.<br />
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Served with gravy made with a chickpea flour roux, and <a href="http://comesconewithme.com/2014/06/23/sunday-farmers-markets-coconut-balsamic-bacon/">Jess Scone's Coconut-Balsamic Bacon</a>.<br />
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The flour I've been using lately is Einkorn flour. Have any of you used this? It's a variety of wheat, supposedly one of the oldest known strains, and while the bag tells me it has a slightly nuttier taste than normal white flour, I don't taste that at all. It's something like 80% whole grain and acts (and tastes) like white flour in the recipes I've used it for, so I am a fan.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-40654866288635718002014-09-06T22:00:00.000-04:002014-09-06T22:00:01.794-04:00nimono from just bentoI've used recipes from Just Bento in this blog before (like <a href="http://vegetalion.blogspot.com/2013/09/peanut-curry-furikake-from-just-bento.html" target="_blank">my post</a> about the peanut-curry furikake recipe), and I also love the sister site (run by the same person, Makiko Itoh), <a href="http://justhungry.com/" target="_blank">Just Hungry</a>. Itoh always marks when a recipe is vegan, and many of the non-vegan recipes on the site can be adapted easily.<br />
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This week I used <a href="http://justhungry.com/handbook/cooking-courses/japanese-cooking-101-lesson-3-nimono-simmered-dish-basics" target="_blank">her guide on how to make Nimono</a> (Japanese "simmered dish"), and to go with it, used her <a href="http://justhungry.com/handbook/cooking-courses/japanese-cooking-101-awasezu-sunomono-part-1" target="_blank">guide on pickling sauces</a> for quick-pickled veggies to pickle some radish and cucumbers on the side.<br />
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The nimono contains basically what I veggies I had to use up: sweet potatoes, black soy beans, radish greens, some celery, and the last of last year's yield of butternut squash. It was not very traditional (I pretty much think that being vegan means you go off-book when it comes to traditional Japanese food anyway), but was delicious! And, for the record, I chose the ama-zu sauce for the pickled veggies, which was ama-zing!<br />
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I just groaned out loud at my own pun, which is probably a bad sign.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-380686993239048042014-09-05T17:50:00.001-04:002014-09-05T17:50:47.101-04:00dessert friday: gluten-free mini tartsI am fortunate enough to be able to eat gluten, but there are many people in my life (my mother and 2 brothers, my sister-in-law, friends, etc) who are gluten intolerant. So around holidays and family events, the food almost always needs to be gluten free.<br />
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For my sister-in-law's bridal shower, I was in charge of making a dish that was dessert-y but easily eaten as finger food. I used <i>Vegan Pie in the Sky</i>'s gluten-free variation of the <a href="http://www.theppk.com/2009/09/press-in-almond-crust/" target="_blank">press-in almond crust</a> to make mini tarts! (<b>Note:</b> in the cookbook, though not on the site, Isa recommends using 2/3 cup oat flour and 1/3 cup rice flour as the flour substitute.)<br />
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I pressed the crust into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. Since it was a fall shower, the fillings (also from <i>Vegan Pie in the Sky</i>) were <a href="http://vegandiscoholocaust.tumblr.com/post/16717882444/cappuccino-mousse-pie" target="_blank">cappuccino mousse</a> and <a href="http://www.theppk.com/2011/09/pear-frangipane-tart/" target="_blank">pear frangipane</a>.<br />
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They were a little crumbly, but VERY well received and VERY delicious. So I decided to make some variations on the theme for my family's Thanksgiving dinner!<br />
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I winged these fillings on my own; a straight chocolate mousse (made of tofu, melted chocolate, and cocoa powder), and an apple-pie-type filling. They were both great but the chocolate mousse ones were my favorite of all 4 options!<br />
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If you plan on trying this at home, one note of caution: the individual tarts don't keep very well, because the crusts get soggy after not too long, and start to lose their structural integrity. They still taste delicious, though!Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-19124822991543362972014-09-04T22:01:00.001-04:002014-09-04T22:01:18.161-04:00Restaurant Thursday: The Dining Car food truckI'm trying to give myself a few theme days of the week, just to help me come up with some ideas for posts. Thursdays this month will be posts about restaurants!<br />
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...but this first Restaurant Thursday post is kind of sneaky, because it's about a food truck. Like most major cities these days, Boston has a great food truck scene, for vegans too! I've already written about <a href="http://vegetalion.blogspot.com/2013/09/taco-party-taco-truck.html" target="_blank">the Taco Party vegan taco truck</a>, and I've had some things from <a href="http://www.cloverfoodlab.com/" target="_blank">Clover Food Lab</a> (vegetarian, trucks and storefronts); there are certainly many more options around the Boston area.<br />
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Kevin is a beer guy. Like the way there are people who are really into wines, Kevin is into beers. One way I try to get this across to people is to explain what I call his "Beer CSAs." There are a lot of great small craft breweries in the greater Boston area, and a few of them do series where they try an experimental style of beer, which "members" can pay for up front, and then only the "members" get to try the beer. It's a cool way to fund small breweries' new ventures, and, for a beer <strike>snob</strike> guy like Kevin, it's also a way to be able to try beers that will never be released to the greater public--and may never exist outside of that one limited bottling. Among the breweries we love that do this in the area are <a href="http://www.nightshiftbrewing.com/?" target="_blank">Night Shift brewing</a>, <a href="http://www.mystic-brewery.com/" target="_blank">Mystic brewing</a>, and <a href="http://www.idlehandscraftales.com/" target="_blank">Idle Hands brewing</a>.<br />
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Night Shift doesn't serve food, but they encourage people to bring food to their bar/pouring room so you can stick around a while. To that end, they have a food truck there many nights of the week. When we've been in the past, it was usually a grilled cheese truck (sigh), but the last time we were there, it was the <a href="http://diningcar.net/" target="_blank">Dining Car</a>! They don't have vegan meal options, but their signature side dish is Crispy Cauliflower, which is gluten free and vegan without the aioli.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crispy Cauliflower and Kevin's "beer CSA" pickup</td></tr>
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IT WAS DELICIOUS. We split this one little tray but could easily have each had one (or two) to ourselves. The cauliflower is breaded with corn flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried to the perfect level of crispy-but-not-greasy-ness. I didn't miss the aioli at all.<br />
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Oh, and for those interested: Night Shift, Mystic, and Idle Hands are all vegan friendly. Sometimes Night Shift will make beers with honey (or oyster shells?!) in them, but they is always clearly labeled as a special beer, so it's easy to tell. Their process itself is vegan.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-45244360915090005472014-09-03T07:00:00.000-04:002014-09-03T07:00:10.638-04:00"what to do with..." wednesdayWhen I have an ingredient I don't know how to use (or am tired of the ways I normally do), my first solution is to check my cookbooks. But I'm already pretty familiar with most of my cookbooks, so they usually host the recipes I'm tired of in the first place. My next step is to google "____ recipes" or "what to do with ____." This works pretty well for me, and I've found some cool new recipes that I wouldn't have found otherwise.<br />
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But one nice thing about VeganMoFo is that there are so many more people reading up on vegan blogs, so, dear readers, on Wednesdays of this month I'd like to hear what YOU like to do with certain ingredients. Because I am out of ideas!<br />
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So my first question of the month... <b>What To Do With Cranberry Maple Syrup</b>?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4jUw8tfjWd3JJpBTvJ9vJqIQTeCmCjUwV9om8Kmp3zKezcHO7apPWsFqExUw4EIB9QD9uT-D_DR5GP3JjlXXRUOIsdnTzoW8aU44XBSi7jPXdTc3fHVnV9YSeuZKFlr6ja3qsSzlpjsq/s1600/veganmofo3a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4jUw8tfjWd3JJpBTvJ9vJqIQTeCmCjUwV9om8Kmp3zKezcHO7apPWsFqExUw4EIB9QD9uT-D_DR5GP3JjlXXRUOIsdnTzoW8aU44XBSi7jPXdTc3fHVnV9YSeuZKFlr6ja3qsSzlpjsq/s1600/veganmofo3a.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
We got a lovely bottle of cranberry-infused maple syrup from the farmer's market a while back, and so far the only things I can think to do with it are to use it as pancake topping and as a drizzle for squash. I don't really eat enough pancakes/waffles/squash to use up the bottle this way, and I'm afraid baking with it will take away the cranberry flavor. <b>What would you do with it?</b>Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-78589008300640078882014-09-02T17:51:00.004-04:002014-09-02T17:51:54.440-04:00Red Currant Jelly!One of the venders at the farmer's market had fresh-picked red currants, and I couldn't resist grabbing a pint. The currants were so small and plump and bright that they were basically calling to me. I got them home and tried one... and discovered that fresh currants are NO WHERE NEAR as sweet as dried. They're as tart as cranberries! So I quickly dug through my old cookbooks to find a recipe.<br />
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The thing about old cookbooks (I have a few from the 1930s-50s; I love them) is that they assume you already know your way around making jellies. They also all seem to assume that you are a farmer who has bushels of the kind of produce you want to prepare. So I had some translating to do, and the following recipe is the fruit of my labor. (HA! Literally.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glowing because the window is right behind it.<br /></td></tr>
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<b>Red Currant Jelly</b><br />
<i>(For 1 pint of currants, which makes a little over 1 cup of jelly. Can be scaled up!)</i><br />
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1 pint red currants<br />
Water<br />
1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar<br />
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First, we're going to turn the currants into currant juice. Wash them well, pick out any bruised/moldy ones, but you don't have to separate them from the stem. Place in a pan with just enough water that they don't burn. (Water up to 1/4 the amount of currants is the max). Cook them over medium heat until the berries start to lose their color, 10-15 minutes.<br />
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Line a strainer with fine cheesecloth. Pour the berry slurry into it. If you want perfectly clear jelly, don't squeeze the cloth, but if you want maximum use out of your berries, squeeze all the extra juice out of them, through the cheesecloth. (You'll have to let them cool to do this.)<br />
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Measure the juice. It should be about 1 cup, but it's okay if it's scant! Basically, for each cup of juice you want a scant 3/4 cup of sugar (technically 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp). So if you don't quite have a cup, just use a couple tablespoons less sugar. We're not going to can this jelly, so honestly, getting the proportions exactly right is not that big a deal. So anyway, put the juice and sugar into a pan over medium heat.<br />
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Stir this jelly mixture constantly until it reaches the jelly stage: 220 F. (If you don't have a cooking thermometer, you can figure out when it's reached the jelly stage by using a metal spoon to take a spoonful. Let it cool for a moment, then pour it back into the pan. If two separate drops form at the same time on the side of the spoon, so that it's dripping back from 2 parts of the spoon, not 1, it has hit the jelly stage. Start checking after 5 minutes of boiling.) This took me 15-20 minutes of simmering, but I think this depends on your cookware and on your stove's definition of "medium."<br />
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Remove from heat, and voila! You have made red currant jelly!<br />
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Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-34584551608221911702014-09-01T21:06:00.005-04:002014-09-01T21:06:48.907-04:00Vegan MoFo 2014! Labor Day BBQ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's Vegan MoFo, the Vegan Month of Food! And what a good time to bring this blog back to life, since it was during Vegan MoFo last year that I fizzled out. I have a good excuse (working two jobs, one of them full time and totally new to me), but now that I have more time (quit the part-time one), I have less of an excuse and would like to get back to blogging!<br />
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As I am a college instructor and live on an academic schedule, Labor Day means back to school, so I never look forward to it, but the weather was hot and summery here in Boston and Kevin and I had a lazy day, complete with a nice dinner from the grill: <b>tofu burgers with grilled onions and corn on the cob</b>. Having everything (even the buns) on the grill made it feel like a real Labor Day Barbecue, which made the approaching autumn seem acceptable.<br />
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For the tofu, Kevin made a marinade of vinegar, tamari, mustard powder, and olive oil. I used the marinade to baste the tofu and the onion slices as they were grilling.<br />
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Also pictured : loads of homemade pickles. It was my first time grilling corn on the cob! Which, of course, means I studied up on the best method. I read <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/07/the-food-lab-three-ways-to-grill-corn.html">this article</a> on the difference between the 3 most-used methods and opted for the third (shucking and cooking, simple!).<br />
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And that's it for now! This year, I don't have a theme for VeganMoFo or anything, except: GET BLOGGING AGAIN. I always feel a little apologetic about this, since there are so many great bloggers with cool themes, but maybe next year I, too, will be able to have a cool theme. In the meantime, it's nice to be back! And I'll work hard to have a post each day.Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6710406103598761862.post-71842095435792784602013-09-23T08:32:00.000-04:002013-09-23T08:32:00.044-04:00beets!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Recently, we'e been getting beets fairly often in our CSA share. At first, this was awesome! I love beets! And their greens! So healthy! And then around week 4 or 5 I got tired of beets. I just don't know enough different dishes for beets, I thought.</div>
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And then I started looking through photos I've taken of past meals. It turns out I have used beets in a lot of different ways. Here, for my future benefit and yours, are some of the ways I like beets the best:</div>
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Roasting is far and away my favorite way to cook beets. You wrap them in foil and back for about 40 minutes, and then the skin slides right off and they have all this amazing flavor. So here are some sliced roasted beets, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, with a raw kale salad.</div>
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...and of course Bac'Uns, because Kevin loves imitation bacon bits.<br />
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I've also made a really simple beet gratin by slicing beets and cooking them with herbs and lots of daiya cheese.<br />
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But where it's really at for me with slicing and roasting beets: making free-form beet "ravioli." A lot of raw foods restaurants use thinly-sliced raw beets as the material between which to sandwich some tasty herbed nut cheese, but I like it best with roasted sliced beets.<br />
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Above, nut-cheese-stuffed beets with an almond cream sauce; below, a very similar dish but totally smothered in a garlicky cashew cream.<br />
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Cooking beets in stovetop dishes takes about the same amount of time, but usually doesn't lock in as much flavor as roasting, so I tend not to do that as much unless the other flavors are very strong. Here is a dish Kevin made, with the beets cooked in a mustard tahini sauce.<br />
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And below, a beets with curried lentils.<br />
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I've also really enjoyed a recipe from Mark Bittman's <i>How to Cook Everything Vegetarian </i>that involves cooking beets with black beens (and greens, but I think I added those myself).<br />
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After the ingredients cook, you add cilantro and chopped oranges. The flavors worked really well with the beets; I didn't expect it!<br />
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And finally, a beet risotto-type dish, with chickpeas and tahini sauce.<br />
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I am such a fan of including beets in dishes! Hopefully with this compilation to refer back to, I won't ever again think "I don't know what to do with beets."Sarah Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10108438381298177862noreply@blogger.com8