vegan girl's guide to life signing, plus some food

Last night, Melisser came to Peace o' Pie and signed copies of her new book, The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life. Of course I snagged a copy. Not only does it have a bunch of awesome recipes (including the jackfruit "carnitas" tacos, which are so delicious), but it's also a great resource guide for all things vegan, from the ethical hows and whys of veganism to substitutions in cooking/living to vegan knitting. There are also dozens of interviews with female vegans in a wide range of successful business or writing endeavors. It's a good read and a great resource, especially for new or aspiring vegans. (Ooo, I should get another copy to give to my newly-vegan sister for Christmas.) It really drives home how accessible and easy veganism can be. Melisser will be signing books in Brooklyn on the 20th, and Montclair, NJ on the 21st before heading over to Europe. You should go see her and get a copy!

Also at the signing: Jaymoh, who's keeping Melisser company on her travels, and other PPKers there, including Desdemona and her partner; DarthCupcake; Lixa" Fupupack' and B.Vicious. There were others, but I didn't catch their names. Almost all of us ate too much pizza.

So I didn't cook yesterday. But I have some food to share with you that I made a while ago and never made it into the blog:

Tamarind Lentils from Veganomicon. Since Veganomicon is such a large book, and we have so many cookbooks, I haven't made many of the recipes more than once, but I've made this recipe about a dozen times. (Here's the recipe, care of Google books.)

Vegan Crispy Rice Squares from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. These were really tasty, and are the closest thing I've had so far to my mom's rice krispie treats from my childhood. (Vegan Newbie posts the recipe here.)

Finally, less picturesque but just as tasty, the Zucchini Carrot Crumb Casserole from one of the Dreena Burton cookbooks. I think Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, but now I'm not sure. We ate a lot of this per serving; it's pretty low fat and has lots of veggies, so we didn't feel bad. Actually, I almost never feel bad for eating large servings.

Except last night after eating an entire Peace o' Pie calzone. I was so full I felt like I was waddling everywhere afterwards.

heidi swanson = the new rachael ray?

alternatively titled, someone else I love to hate.

As some of you may remember, I dislike Rachael Ray and everything she stands for (ie, dunkin donuts). AND YET she has some great recipes that I can't resist making/veganizing.

Rachael Ray has been replaced in my life, with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. For those of you too lazy to click on the link, 101 Cookbooks is a vegetarian food blog whose conceit is that the creator, Heidi Swanson, has 101 cookbooks and realized one day she had to start cooking from them before she could allow herself to accumulate more. Heidi Swanson posts gorgeous pictures with cute little stories and fairly healthy recipes.

Other than her loose definition of being a vegetarian (oh, you had soup made from chicken but wouldn't eat beef cheeks? that's okay then), I have no reason to hate Heidi Swanson. And yet every time gmail links to one of her recipes above my inbox, I groan. Stupid Heidi Swanson and her soothing white and beige blog and her so-pretty-they're-practically-pornographic pictures of food. I refused to try any of her recipes for months.

But then! I got home late one night to find a note from my roommate: she had made a tofu scramble, I could help myself if I was hungry. So I did. It was THE GREATEST TOFU SCRAMBLE I HAVE EVER HAD. I'm not exaggerating. The next day I told my roommate how amazing it had been... and she told me where she got the recipe.

I still irrationally dislike Heidi Swanson. But yeah, okay, now I sometimes check out her blog. And dangit, I pretty much always like the recipes.
Broccoli Pesto from 101Cookbooks.com

For the first time in a while, I too, have been turning to my cookbooks. Here are some of the results:
Smores Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Vegan with a Vengeance and Vive le Vegan, respectively.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, from pamela's blog - but slightly healthier, I swear! I halfed the amount of chocolate chips and sugar, and instead put in a little extra tofu and some cocoa powder, and if you look closely, you'll see I used sliced bananas instead of a cookie crust:
I mean, it's practically health food, right?

And finally, Paradise Casserole from the Candle Cafe cookbook.
When I had this at the Candle Cafe, there were waaaaay more sweet potatoes on top. The recipe called for 4. Next time, I say at least 6! I made it for my mother when I was back in upstate NY. ALSO in upstate NY, I got to meet and enjoy delicious vegan milkshakes with bazu of where's the revolution?!

Dia de los Muertos!

Mexico's dia de los muertos is my perfect holiday. Lots of eating, particularly sugary foods; lots of skeletons decorating everything; lots of time with your family (living and dead); lots of hanging out in cemeteries. Um... IDEAL. It's also a nice way to extend the general joy I associate with halloween.

It's traditional to have tamales on the dia de los muertos, but I did not want to deal with corn husks, so I made:

Sweet Bean Tamale Casserole
Layers:
This bean recipe, with but with refried black beans, 1/2 cup kidney beans, and a generous sprinkle of cumin and garlic powder.
a thin layer of chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
1/2 cups each chopped green onions and sliced olives
1 cup cornmeal mixed with 2-3 cups water, boiled and stirred until it forms a thick paste. Mix in chili powdwer and salt to taste.
Serve with vegan sour cream and - if you're not allergic - salsa.

It does not come out of the pan very prettily. but it's muy delicioso.

After that, the traditional Pan de Muerto! Most translations call it "bread of the dead," but how much better is it to say Deadbread? So hardcore. Deadbread usually consists of one large loaf, with two strips in an X and a round ball on top. Somehow, this represents bones and a skull. It's FASTER to make rolls, though, so:

Deadbread Rolls

1/4 cup soymilk
1/4 cup earth balance spread (or other vegan butter)
1/4 cup sweetener
replacement for 2 eggs - see note
1 tbsp anise seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp) yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2-4 tbsp maple syrup, to glaze

Scald (but don't boil) soymilk in a pan on the stove. Stir in butter, sweetener (I used agave nectar), egg replacement (see note), salt, anise seeds. Set aside.

Stir yeast into warm water until dissolved. Let sit 5 minutes, then mix into soymilk/seed mixture.

Gradually add the flour, mixing well until you have a stiff dough. Knead on a floured surface until it is uniform throughout. Roll into a ball, put in a floured or greased bowl under a dishcloth in a warm place for 60-90 minutes.

After that time is up, the dough will have almost doubled in size. Push it down (it makes a satisfying "poof" noise), knead it a bit, then shape into balls slightly smaller than a fist. Use dough to make long, thin snakey bits of dough that you can cross over each roll - these are the "bones" - and crown each one with a little ball - the skull.

Put on a greased baking sheet, then leave them alone again to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Just before baking, glaze each one with a bit of maple syrup. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Mine were a little too golden because "the Office" was on.

Makes 8 rolls.

***NOTE: my favorite vegan replacement for eggs is a flax seed/water mixture. It works really well for binding and rising and is very simple: boil 1 tbsp flax seeds and 3 tbsp water (this is the equivalent of 1 egg) over medium-high heat until the mixture is the consistency of eggs (or boogers). Voila! The only problem with this is that there will be whole flax seeds in your final product - something I like but my father HATES. I hear you can also do this with flaxMEAL with the same proportions - and you don't even have to heat it up.

Here are our rolls, some marzipan skulls I made while waiting for the bread to rise, and brown-rice Horchata:


















Dia de los muertos: SUCCESS!