pasta tossed with cashew ricotta

The Cashew Ricotta recipe is probably my favorite recipe from Veganomicon. 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.

It also makes a simple meal tossed with pasta (and, if you think of it, extra garlic and basil!

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.

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!

My first day of fall semester teaching is tomorrow. Wish me (and my students) luck!

quick snack: cashew ricotta on crackers

I was recently lucky enough to find myself with leftover cashew ricotta. It's one of my favorite and probably most-used recipes from Veganomicon. It's good in lasagna or pasta dishes, lumped on pizza, or just dipped into with a crusty piece of bread. But it is also, as I discovered, really delicious on crackers with a little jam.

Discovering this use makes me want to make the recipe all over again, just so I can have it for snacks...

a preponderance of parsnips

As you may remember from this entry way back in 2008, I love parsnips. Parsnips, like turnips, are underappreciated and vastly underused by most people. Recently I made Susan B's (The Fat Free Vegan) Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup, and was surprised to see in her write-up about it that even she does not often use parsnips! People. Use more parsnips. Especially since right now we are at the end of root-vegetable season, and you're probably sick of the same old root vegetables; mix it up a little and add parsnips to your diet.

If you're a scaredy cat and don't want to try anything exotic, the simplest way to cook them is to slice 2-4 parsnips thinly, then saute with 1-2 tablespoons of margarine (or olive oil and salt, if you prefer) until soft and lightly browned, like so:

They are also delicious roasted, and, if you're not sure you'll like the flavor, blended into delicious soups! The Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup I linked to above was divine, even without any mushrooms (I didn't have any at the time). Another favorite of mine is the Gluttonous Vegan's Spiced Parsnip and Coconut Milk Soup, which I wrote about in this August entry.

This soup is absolutely delicious. AND if you have any leftovers, it makes a great sauce in which to marinate and then bake slabs of tofu!

Pictured here with my beloved dduk.

A new delicious thing I discovered that you can make with parsnips is the Beet and Parsnip Salad from the Veganomicon. (A badly-spelled version of it is online here.) It's in the back here, pictured with open-faced tofu sandwiches with a pink "cream" sauce that gets its color from extra vinaigrette from the salad.

It has a VERY generous amount of vinaigrette, which I ended up reserving for other things even after the salad was gone. For example, I used it for the pink "cream" sauce above. AND THEN I decided to use it as a tofu marinade for a stir-fry:

I sauteed the tofu and some vegetables, then combined the leftover vinaigrette/marinade with some soy sauce and cornstarch to be the sauce for my stir fry.

I present to you the pinkest stir-fry you've ever seen.

While we wait for spring (I don't care what the calendar says; it's snowing as I write this, so it's not "spring" yet in my book), try to make the most of what's left of the winter produce, and enjoy yourself some parsnips!

you deserve a cookie

I make cookies almost every week. I don't like making them as much as I like making cakes and cupcakes, because I find scooping cookie-sized amounts onto baking sheets more tedious, and also I find that the line between underdone/perfect/slightly burned cookies is basically nonexistent; for me, it's mostly luck. But cookies are the best thing when you've got guests coming or a party to go to or officemates to make happy and you want to make a lot of something quickly. And they're tasty, of course. However I feel about making them, I very much like eating cookies. I don't photograph them much, though, as cookies tend not to be super photogenic. They're basically all little brown and/or beige disks; my cookie pictures all sort of resemble one another, and never convey the tasty cookie experience. That's why while I make them often, I seldom display them here.

I recently noticed that "You [I/We] deserve a cookie" is a thing. A meme, if you will. Lots of people say it, and I don't think we can name any one particular source. It's an interesting meme--it's not flashy, it doesn't appear accompanied by cats or videos or songs; it's just something people say. Unlike some internet humor, it's not poking fun--it's nice. It's universally understandable; no mystery, no wondering if something went over your head: you did a good job, you deserve a cookie.

Well, guys, today I deserve a cookie. Yesterday I sent in my final payment on my student loans. Less than a year out of grad school, I am done paying student loans!!! There is no number of exclamation points that can convey how happy I am about this. So I present you with some cookies.

First, the prettiest cookie picture I have ever taken (due entirely to the light, not to my photography or baking skills):

Ginger Molasses Cookies with Lemon Icing and Basic Peanut Butter Cookies. I am not sure where I got these recipes, as the picture was taken before I owned Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, but that cookbook has recipes for both kinds of cookie. Anyway, these particular molasses cookies were a not sweet enough; hence the icing.

Martha Stewart's Hazelnut Cookies. I found a recipe for hazelnut cookies on Martha Stewart's website. (I think. Sometimes I just find recipes online, make them once, then I don't love them and don't intend to make them again, I don't save the link.) They are shortbready, so the only veganizing that needed to be done was substituting earth balance for butter.

These too were not as sweet as I'd anticipated, so I covered them with chocolate, and they became "nutella cookies," which my coworkers gobbled up quickly.

A BETTER hazelnut cookie was the recipe I made out of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I liked the sound of the Hazelnut Fudge Dreamies, but I'm lazy and didn't want to turn them into cookie sandwiches. (Nor, I think, did I have all the fudge ingredients on hand.) So instead I made them like normal cookies, then dipped them into melted chocolate.

I think they're cute this way! And less work.

I usually cut down frosting/ganache recipes in order to avoid having leftoves, but if you find yourself with some extra ganache, chilling then rolling it with various ingredients and shaping them into truffles always feels/looks impressive:

Left to right: Plain, orange zest, coconut, peanut butter, and coconut-orange truffles.

Also chocolaty: These are chocolate-chocolate chip cookies! The recipe is possibly from the Veganomicon but sans walnuts, I dunno.

They're blurry because I REALLY wanted to show you the ones on the left; I used up all my baking sheets while I was making these, so I put a few of the cookies into a little shell cake mold I have. They were so cute! But blurry.

Back to Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I've already admitted my predilection for citrusy baked goods, so it's probably not surprising that I loved the Citrus Glitters!

I added a little turmeric to the sugar I rolled it in, for extra lemony color.

If you don't own Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, I strongly recommend it. I find that veganizing non-vegan cookie recipes can be really tricky, and requires a lot of troubleshooting. The cookies in this book range from basic, which you can adapt to fit your own cookie needs, to complex and cool. And there are some great veganizations of cookies you probably missed since going vegan. (Like the Girl Scouts' Caramel Delites! [Samoas for you non upstate-NYers]) Like I said, I don't tend to take pictures of cookies, but I've made a lot from this cookbook. Here's a list of what I made and what I thought. You can find most of these recipes transcribed from the book on other people's blogs just by searching, but I'm too busy celebrating my newfound financial freedom to dig them all up myself.

• Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies-These taste amazing and are the easiest and quickest recipe I've tried from the book.
• Chocolaty Crinkle Cookies-These are my fallback cookies for when I'm baking for other people. Everyone loves them, and they take a lot less work than they look/taste. The dough is a lot more like a batter at first; I find that I have to chill it, in the fridge for 30mins or more, or in the freezer for 10-15, to make it a good texture for rolling.
• City Girl Snickerdoodles-Uses a lot of margarine. Taste amazing.
• Tahini Lime Cookies-An interesting tasting cookie. They have a complex flavor that is hard to identify if you don't already know what kind of cookie they are. They make you seem like a foodie.
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, Peanut Butter Crisscrosses, Peanut Butter Agave Cookies, Peanut Butter Blondies-I'm grouping all the peanut butter cookies together, because I'm not a huge peanut butter cookie fan and I am therefore not the best judge of them. But I made them all, mostly for other people. All kinds were well received! The blondies were really dense, almost more like peanut butter fudge, but a little drier. I love that the cookbook has an option for agave-based peanut butter cookies, since they are hard to adapt on your own.
• Citrus Glitters-Picture above. Simple and sweet!
• Rocky Roads-When I had stale vegan marshmallows in my fridge, I chopped them up to use in this recipe in place of white chocolate chips. I've made this recipe quite a few times, but I have very little self control and ended up eating a lot more cookies than necessary, so we are on a break.
• Sweet Wine Biscuits with Sesame-Another foodie cookie. I wrote about them here.
• Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Brownies-I dropped the pan when I was taking these out of the oven, so they never set right, but they still tasted great.
• Pumpkin Pie Brownies-Tasty, and so cool-looking! I wrote about them in this entry.
• Big Fat Crispy Rice Squares-Rice crispy treats, but without the need for marshmallows. I wrote about them here.
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows-These were tasty and it was cool to have a cookie with a surprise inside, but I didn’t think they were quite worth the work.
• Lazy Samoas-THE REASON TO BUY THIS BOOK. I missed Caramel Delites/Samoas SO MUCH, and though these are quite a few steps, the taste is spot-on and so amazingly good. I made them into heart shapes for Valentine's day for the boyfriend last year, and I think I managed to eat more of them than he did. (Oops.)
• Hazelnut Fudge Dreamies-I wrote about these above. Tasty and can be made simpler if you're lazy.
• No-Bake Pecan Chocolates-Really decadent, really delicious.
• Cookie Dough Scoops-I dipped these in chocolate after I made them. Best. Idea. Ever.

food from around the world (ie, internet)

I eat my lunch at my desk at work. Everyone does on my team, but even at my last job, when people would eat their lunches in the little kitchen area, I preferred to eat at my desk. When I eat my lunch, I take a little "break" by reading blogs; mostly food blogs, some design blogs. My lunchtime blog cruising has led to a stockpile or recipes I've built up; vegan ones I want to try, non-vegan ones I want to veganize, etc. Often the recipes I read about during lunch become the recipes I make for dinner.

As with the following recipes! All came from various food blogs, with the exception of the cabbage and the cheesecake, which came from recipe sites. But all came from my lunchtime internet cruising.

For the record, if you like the kinds of recipes I link to here, and if you like what's on my blog in general, you should check out my links page, which I update with my favorite blogs/websites more often than I update my blogroll to the right.
First, Okonomiyaki, large savory Japanese pancakes! Trina of Your Vegan Mom posted a recipe for okonomiyaki and some tasty sauce to put on them, and it looked so delicious (and I love Japanese food so much) I had to try it all.

Because Trina recommended okonomiyaki as a snack, I figured they might be too light for a meal, so I served them with miso soup and roasted squash. Turns out they aren’t too light; even just having one each along with the sides, the boyfriend and I were overstuffed when we finished. But in a good way.

For the record, this recipe is pretty darn foolproof. Not only did I cut my vegetables much larger than I was apparently supposed to, but I’m also one of those people who always burns the first pancake to a crisp when making breakfast—and look! My first attempt was a little brown but looked totally passable.

You can see Trina’s "inauthentic" but addicting sauce in the background. I had to put a cover on it because I was “taste testing” it entirely too much while making the okonomiyaki.

In a similar vein, a couple months ago, I tried the Korean version of okonomiyaki: Savory Tofu Pancakes from Alien’s Day Out. I had to add a couple tablespoons of water to the recipe to get the batter into a workable texture, but I may have just drained my tofu more thoroughly beforehand.

We had them with some seaweed salad and stir-fried rice noodles.

They packed up adorably for lunch the next day, too; they would make for perfect bento lunches.

For those more in favor of continental cuisine, I’ve also been crushing on the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking: the Vegan Version" blog, where Affectioknit is veganizing Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe by recipe. She has some ingenious versions of some very not-vegan food. The boyfriend really likes her omelette recipe and has made it for me twice. The results are tasty. The first time he tried it, he overcooked the first omelette a little, so it’s browner than intended, but I’m posting the picture because it really gives you an idea of how eggy the finished version can look:

After the first omelette, he hit his stride. Here’s mine with fillings (note that I’d already started eating it. I have very little willpower):

Omelette filled with pesto and mixed veggies. Oh and in related non-egg news, I just bought some black salt! Normally when recipes call for it, I improvise by adding a touch of asafetida, which does lend a light sulphury (and therefore eggy) flavor to things, but I’m looking forward to trying the black salt.

What’s that to the left of my omelette, you ask? Why, it is a PANCAKE BAR.

Pancake bars are like granola bars, but made out of pancakes. I encountered the idea for pancake bars on the Kitchn website, where in turn they’d adapted it from a Martha Stewart recipe. I didn’t actually follow that recipe, but I did steal the idea. I made a double batch of “perfect pancakes” from Vegan with a Vengeance. I doubled because the recipe on that site calls for almost twice the amount of flour, so I figured I was making the amount of batter about even this way. I didn’t want to make apple ones, so I opted for cranberries; I added a cup of dried cranberries to the batter. You can't opt out of the streusel, though! If you want to eat these pancake bars on the go, or serve them at a large gathering, you can’t top them with maple syrup; this gives them a sweet topping without the mess. I ended up pouring my batter into a 9x13 baking pan AND into a loaf pan, because the total amount of vegan batter was a little more than the called-for non-vegan batter. Maybe that was still too much, as my baking time was also 10-15 minutes longer than the Kitchn website recommends. Anyway, for a single batch of VwaV pancakes, maybe try a 7x11 pan, or a 9x13 but shorten the baking time a little.

Not only are pancake bars novel and cool, but they’re also tasty and practical. I made them for a large brunch the boyfriend and I hosted, because I wanted to have pancakes but couldn’t serve normal ones because 1.) I hate standing over the stove forever making pancakes, 2.) I didn’t have time to do so with all of the other things I was busy making, and 3.) I didn’t want to have to worry about keeping pancakes warm on our buffet table. They were a giant hit.

Another interesting recipe I found on the Kitchn was for "butter dip biscuits." You know how it can be annoying to make biscuits because you have to cut in all the butter/fat? Not so with these; you melt the butter in your baking pan first, then make a butter-free dough, cut it into strips, and lay them in the butter. As they cook, they soak up the butter. It’s a very straightforward recipe to make and to veganize; substitute butter with earth balance or other vegan margarine, and the liquid milk with water or nondairy milk. They’re cute, and they taste pretty much like normal biscuits. The bottoms were a little too firm, but maybe I overcooked them a bit? The boyfriend called them "biscuit cookies" because he thought they were closer to cookie texture.

I served them as part of a tasty German meal; I made the Veganomicon beanballs with seasonings that were more German than Italian (onions, garlic, caraway seed), and included some sweet-and-sour red cabbage over pasta.

Not to be too dramatic, but I have had a lot of cabbage in my time, and guys, THIS WAS THE BEST CABBAGE RECIPE I HAVE EVER HAD. It’s incredibly simple; the recipe calls only for butter, cabbage, sugar, and balsamic vinegar (with salt and pepper to taste). but the flavors work beautifully together.

The last picture I have for you is of a recipe I made a while ago (I think last summer?), but it’s really relevant right now, since it would be a fantastic Valentine’s Day recipe:

Individual Raw Strawberry Cheesecakes from this recipe at the PPK. The recipe is for a whole cake, but you can divide it up into muffin cups. The components (cashews, coconut oil, strawberries [organic, guys! you should always stick with organic strawberries]) are a little expensive, but if ever there was a reason to splurge, this cheesecake is it. You can see I decided against the strawberry coulis, and no one missed it.

That brings me to the end of my cooking-around-the-internet post! I still owe you guys a "food from literature" post this month; I’ll do that early next week. I’ve read a book for it (Wide Sargasso Sea); now I’m deciding on the recipe. I was also thinking of posting a little house tour sometime this month, or at least a kitchen tour, so you can see where the vegetalion magic happens. What do you think?

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.

snacks

I am a snacker. I've always been a snacker; some of my earliest memories involve three-year-old me procuring and discussing snacks. My mother calls me a "grazer," because I tend to eat food throughout the day. On a normal day, I eat breakfast around 8, need snack #1 around 10:30, eat lunch at noon, need snack #2 at 3pm, have a smaller snack at 5:30 or 6ish, and then dinner around 8pm. Except for dinner, all of these snacks/meals are pretty light. If I were to eat a large breakfast or lunch, I might be able to delay the need for each snack by an hour or two, but my metabolism is such that snacking is essential.

My usual go-to snacks are fruit, soy yogurt, pretzels, roasted nuts, rice cakes, or chocolate. But sometimes I feel like something different. So here are some of my recent snacks!

This is not a great picture (because I took it with my phone at my desk at work), but it is my hands-down favorite snack ever. Mashed avocado on toast. With salt. I discovered this by accident once (I started to make a sandwich but realized I was out of my other components) and thought I was a genius, only to be informed by my South African roommate that that is a traditional breakfast in South Africa. Avocado on toast is my perfect trifecta for snacking: carbs, protein, some fat; all of these take a while to digest, allowing you to feel fuller longer. I use about 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado per piece of toast.

In keeping with the carbs-protein-fat trifecta, I present to you last week's emergency snack. I don't normally snack after dinner. Last Thursday, however, I was out all day, and my dinner--on-the-go-falafel from my favorite place--had an accidental tomato in the wrap that I discovered well after I'd left the place, so I had to abort dinner after only eating half a wrap. When I get hungry, I get first light headed, then really tired, and then REALLY CRANKY, so I was in a downward spiral by the time I finally got home at 10ish.

Toast with arugula pesto to the rescue! It's a clove of garlic, some walnuts, a large handful of arugula, olive oil, salt and lemon juice. Look how adorable our mini food chopper (on the right) is! I call it a mini food processor, but the boyfriend pointed out it's actually a "chopper." I've broken this thing so many times I've permenantly set off the safety shut-off and have to jam electrical tape into a slot in the base to override it and get the chopper to do anything.

I try not to have too much sugar in my snacks, because I like to pretend I'm healthy and because I tend to crash faster after sugary foods. But sometimes you just want sweet snacks.

Sweet Wine Biscuits with Sesame from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. A friend of mine recently visited Jewell Towne Vineyards in New Hampshire, and upon finding out that their fining agents are vegan (clay), she brought us back some port. Which meant I could finally make these cookies! First of all, they are very good. A little unusual--I don't think I'd've recognized that they were made with wine if I didn't know the recipe. Second, even though the picture in the book makes them look all pink and rosy, they came out purple!

Purple! I made these when we had some friends over. I like to feed my guests, mostly because I'm a good hostess, but also in part because I won't feel bad snacking if my guests are snacking. Plus if any of them are like me and need food like all the time, they don't have to worry about getting hungry when they come over!

Speaking of friends coming over, Melisser, the Urban Housewife is coming to promote, sign, and talk about her book The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life TONIGHT at 7pm at Peace o' Pie. She's staying with me, so in anticipation of her arrival, I have made:

Low(er) Fat Banana Nut Muffins! I used the recipe for Low(er) Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon, but added a cup of walnuts, a splash of nondairy milk, and put them into muffin cups. (And halved the baking time, of course.) I haven't tasted them yet, but they smelled amazing cooking. I imagine they'll be denser than muffins normally are, but hopefully not drier--that's why I added the splash of milk. I will eat one as my 3pm snack and let you know!

Rebecca: Vegan Cordon Bleu

I love food and I love to read. As a result, the first week of each month, I'll combine these two interests in a post about food from literature. I'll mostly be sticking with books from classic literature, so you're likely to know the storylines anyway, but just in case you don't: warning: there may be spoilers ahead.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------



It took me a long time to read this book. Not actually to get through it; it is a riveting book that you won't want to put down once you pick it up. But picking it up was the hard part for me. The cover didn't help. As you can see, the cover of my copy looked like a romance novel. Other editions' covers are boring: plain text, plain colors; they make it look like an "important" (but not particularly interesting) book.

Plus, the first chapter is rough! The famous opening line "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" leads into an evasive, depressing, and somewhat confusing first chapter set well after the rest of the events in the book. This put me off at first. BUT when I actually finished the book, I quickly flipped back to the beginning to look through this chapter.

Even though I have a little disclaimer at the top saying there might be spoilers, and the academic in me laughs in the face of spoilers, I hesitate to ruin anything about this book for you. The joy, the craft, the genius of this novel is in Du Maurier's ability to build suspense throughout hundreds of pages. You can guess what's happening, you can think you know what's happening, and by a certain point you may be sure you know what's happening--but you're still waiting with baited breath for the big reveal at the end.

Okay, so that settles it: no spoilers. A safe plot summary: Our nameless narrator is a painfully shy young woman from a poor background who meets a dashing older widower, Maxim de Winter. Maxim marries her and takes her to his huge, lavish estate: Manderley. The young Mrs. de Winter, already feeling unworthy and out of place in her new surroundings, struggles with the duties of managing a household, one that teems with servants and rooms that still seem loyal to their dead mistress. No one wants to talk about Rebecca, the last Mrs. de Winter, except the creepy servant Mrs. Danvers, who brings up Rebecca mostly to make the narrator feel more unworthy and uncomfortable.


Mrs. Danvers being creepy in Hitchcock's film adaptation.

Over the course of the novel, the insecure little narrator begins to unravel some things that don't make sense about Rebecca's life and death, and Rebecca, though dead, becomes the most important, compelling figure in the text.

Other than the gothic tone and the compelling tension throughout Rebecca, my favorite thing was the main character, the new Mrs. de Winter. The narration is from her point of view, and we spend a lot of time in her head, going through her thought processes with her. I'm not a shy person, so our narratrice's (that's a word, right? I know I've used it before, so we'll pretend it is) inability to speak or step up at key moments frustrates me--but thanks to du Maurier's narrative, I at least understand why the narratrice acts the way she does, even if I wouldn't be that way myself.

The plot really centers around the fact that no one will be direct with anyone else. The narratrice doesn't understand the strange situation at Manderley, but is too shy and insecure to ask anyone directly. Maxim, her husband, is trying to protect her and, to an extent, himself, so he won't give her direct answers. Maxim's lawyer, his sister, and his brother in law all try to tip-toe around Maxim for fear they'll upset him by bringing up the past, and Mrs. Danvers hates everyone now that Rebecca's dead, so she won't say anything that isn't creepy and mean. If, in the first few chapters, our narratrice said "Look, Maxim, what is the story with your dead wife?" or "Mrs. Danvers, you are creepy and crazy and this is my house now, too," or "Frank/Beatrice/Giles [anyone, actually], just tell me what's going on with my husband and household," there wouldn't be any tension. But again, the best part of this book is that tension. We understand the mindset of the narratice so well that we see why she doesn't say things like that, even if she really wants to; even if we really want her to.
Despite all the actual action that takes place, for me, the turning point of the novel is a conversation between Maxim and his wife. This is the genius of Rebecca: the book builds up lack of communication so well throughout that a conversation between a husband and wife is the exciting climax. And it is exciting. Again, trying not to risk spoiling anything, after this moment, the main character begins to have more confidence and more volition. Since we, as readers, spend the entire text in her head, watching this turn is incredibly satisfying.

And here is where the food comes in. The food that the kitchen prepares for the de Winters and their guests is a point of power for creepy Mrs. Danvers. She almost bullies the shy narratrice into what they will serve for guests. After the climactic discussion, when our narratrice begins to act with a will of her own, she directs the kitchen and Mrs. Danvers what to make and how to serve it. It's a minor point in the book, but a big deal for the main character--and, because we've been sharing in her thoughts and anxieties, a big deal for us.

When I first finished Rebecca, I thought, well boo, I can't write about this for my blog, because all the food in this is not vegan, and wouldn't be fun to veganize. The characters eat baked chicken, souffle, salmon and lobster mayonnaise (what the heck is that, anyway?). Ritzy stuff consisting of several animals. Not themes I wanted to incorporate into my blog, anyway.

Until the boyfriend's birthday. He requested, for dinner, a vegan version of Chicken Cordon Bleu. I was hesitant to comply, as I'd never had a non-vegan version, but then, I don't think he had, either, so I gave it a shot. And, while making it, I realized: Chicken Cordon Bleu is exactly the decadent, fattening, multi-animal kind of dish Mrs. Danvers (the creep!) would have served.

Finding a good substitute for the chicken was tricky. I thought about seitan, but wasn't sure how to flavor it; I wanted a light flavor, and most seitan recipes are rather heavy. The texture, too, needed to be bake-able, not to dry out. I ended up going with Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets. With their lemon zest and added beans, the cutlets tasted bright and didn't dry out in baking. A great choice. Also, for the filling: I dislike buying most vegan cheeses and fake meats, mostly because they're expensive and not usually very tasty, but I only had a couple hours to put together this dinner, and I didn't want to mess anything up by making a too-thin or too-thick cheese sauce of my own... and it was really hot, so I didn't feel like using the oven to make homemade tofu bacon. I bought and used Yves Canadian bacon and Follow Your Heart cheese, but feel free to use/make your own favorite kinds of vegan bacon/cheese.

Finally, I read through dozens of recipes for Chicken Cordon Bleu, and there didn't seem to be a consensus as to whether you bake the chicken or saute it in butter. I went for baking, but I suspect that with gentle treatment, sauteing would work. I include sauteing ideas in my instructions below.
Vegan Cordon Bleu

1 recipe Chickpea Cutlets (from the Veganomicon) (Because I'm allergic to nightshades, I always leave out the paprika and just put in 1/4 tsp or more of black pepper. It still tastes awesome.)
4 thick slices of vegan cheese (or 1 cup shredded cheese or thick cheese sauce)
4 slices vegan Canadian bacon (or normal-sized veggie bacon)
Bread Crumbs--about 1 cup should do, on a plate or in a shallow bowl.

If you want to bake these, preheat the oven to 375, and generously grease an 8x8 baking dish. I strongly recommend greasing the dish by melting 2 T margarine in it by putting it in the oven as it preheats. The buttery taste is all the more decadent. If you want to fry/saute them, see below.

Make chickpea cutlet dough according to the recipe. Divide into four equal parts. Take one of the fourths, and knead and stretch it into a strip at least 4 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. If you can get it wider, all the better, but you don't want any holes in it. Because gluten is so elastic, it'll shrink if you don't keep tugging it back as you work. Once you've got it to a good size, put the Canadian bacon down along one end, put the cheese on the middle of that (one slice, or about 1/4 a cup if you're using shredded), then roll it up, starting at the bacon/cheese end. The gluten will stick to itself pretty well. Close the ends upon themselves (if you can't do so without tearing the dough, don't bother). Roll the completed rolls in the breadcrumbs, making sure to get all sides. Repeat with the other three segments of dough.

If you are baking them, put the four rolls, seam-side (where you sealed the roll) down, in the baking dish. Brush a little oil/melted butter over the top of each one. Bake for about 30minutes, until the breadcrumbs start to turn golden-brown.

If you want to fry/saute them, heat your oil/margarine in a cast iron pan over medium heat. If your rolls are holding together well and you can be very gentle in flipping them, then put them in the pan as is. If they look like they might come apart, stick a toothpick through each one, and trim the ends of the toothpick that stick out, so it'll saute on those sides. (Just remember to remove the toothpicks before you eat!) Rotate the rolls as they cook, making sure each side gets to a nice toasty golden color. This might take a while (up to 20 mins with all the rotating), and you may need to add more butter/oil if the breadcrumbs soak it all up, but it'll be very decadent and delicious.

These don't need a sauce, but if you want to, serve with a salad that has a ranch-type (that is, creamy) dressing, or pour beurre blanc over the vegan cordon bleu, which I'll feature in an entry next week!

[EDIT: GUYS, I just remembered: "Narratrice" is French. While I like English's abundance of gender-neutral words, sometimes when you're talking about a female narrator, you just want to be able to use a word that means "female narrator." Thanks, French.]

cornbread, or, I'm goin' south!

I'm flying down to Tampa, Florida this weekend to present one of my papers at a graduate conference. This couldn't come at a better time, as this happened here in Boston the other night:
And on the SAME DAY it was 80 degrees in Florida! I am excited for the conference. And nervous. Anyway, in honor of heading south, I present you with a southern meal!
Southern-fried tofu with a tomato-free barbeque sauce (no recipe yet, I'm perfecting it), collard greens, and cornbread! I love almost all things that involve cornmeal, and I'm always in search of the perfect cornbread. This time I used the cornbread recipe from Veganomicon, which is decent. I left out the corn kernels, though.

So one of the best parts about making cornbread is making more than you need, because then you can have it for multiple meals! I had it with leftovers, I had it for breakfast with agave and soymilk:

And then I still had a lot of cornbread that went stale. So what to do with it? I present:
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cornbread Croutons

2 Sweet Potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2-3 large pieces of leftover cornbread, also cubed
1 onion, quartered, then sliced
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3-4 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Combine all of the ingredients except the oil in a large bowl, then drizzle the oil over it and stir until everything's coated with oil.

Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, taking it out to stir every 10 minutes.

This makes 2 large main servings, or 4 side servings. The picture shows it served over raw celery.

So to reward myself after my presentation, while I'm in FL, I plan to check out Grass Root Organic Restaurant. Any other recommendations for good eats in Tampa?

how sweet it is

Long time, no post! But the good news is that I now have my camera back AND a bunch of delicious desserts to share!

Gingerbread cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World:
Boston Creme Cupcakes (also from VCTOtW), which I made for a dinner with my boyfriend's mother (needless to say with these babies, it went well):
Caramel Apple Cupcakes (from Veganomicon), which I brought for everyone in one of my classes last semester:
Mexican Hot Chocolate and Lemon Macadamia cupcakes (seriously, my copy of VCTOtW is near to falling apart), which I packaged up to give to a friend:
Okay, I want to do a close-up, because I love how pretty and yellow the lemon cupcakes were...
And after the cupcake overload that was my holiday season, it was only natural that my loved ones should give me cupcake-related gifts.* First off, my sister gave me this Oneida cupcake carrier! Yessss, no more squishing cupcakes into multiple tupperware containers! And my roommate gave me reusable silicone cupcake cups, so I won't go through as many cupcake wrappers!
They are really fun. And from them came my following idea for a great, not-too-sweet dessert!

Chocolate Cherry Cups

Note: Silicone cupcake cups will make cup assembly much easier, but you can also do it with paper wrappers; just put them into a muffin tin when you chill them so they maintain their cup shape.

Chocolate shell:
2 Tbsp soymilk
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped into tiny pieces
1/4 Cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp agave nectar, depending on how sweet you want it
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cherry filling:
1 bag frozen cherries
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C water
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder

Optional: buttercream frosting (I used vanilla but chocolate would be great, too) yogurt, chopped nuts or mint for topping

In a small saucepan, heat the soymilk, agave nectar, and vanilla until the mixture is near boiling (probably 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat). Remove from heat, and stir in the chocolate and the chocolate chips until they melt. Put about a tablespoon of this chocolate mixture into a silicone cupcake cup, and use a spoon to smooth the chocolate in an even layer across the bottom and about 2/3 of the way up the side of each cup. This is pretty easy, and gets easier as the chocolate starts to cool and thicken. Chill the cupcake cups for at least an hour in the freezer or longer in the fridge.

To make the cherry filling, pour the bag of cherries into a saucepan. Add the water and cook over medium until the cherries are soft, soupy and boiling; about 10 minutes. Spoon a few tablespoons' worth of the liquid into a small bowl. To this bowl, add the cornstarch or arrowroot and mix it well. Add the mixture back to the cherries and stir about 5 more minutes, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat; chill it in the fridge for at least an hour.

To assemble, remove the wrappers from the chocolate cups, then spoon the cherry mixture into the cups. Keep them chilled until you are ready to serve them, and garnish with the optional frosting, yogurt, chopped nuts or mint.

This made 10 chocolate cherry cups.

OH I almost left out THE BEST STOCKING STUFFER EVER:
Agave nectar sticks?! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY MADE THESE.

*-Actually, it was a bit of a surprise that my christmas presents this year were ENTIRELY food-related: I also received Vegan A Go Go from my parents, and a whisk, a spatula, and a waffle iron from my sensational boyfriend. Expect waffle-related entries in the future! ^_^