We decided it would be a good idea to do some videos to spice up the site. So, here’s the quick and dirty for Green’s Tripel Blonde Ale!
As discussed in the video, Barnivore is a great resource to check if what you’re drinking is vegan.
From Brent and Christie, peace out, my vegans.
My Mom made an eggplant salad of sorts and I thought it would go really well with some korean bbq.
I previously posted a recipe for vegan korean bbq or kalbi. The original recipe works fine, but I made a few modifications:
1/2 cup soy curls
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2-3 cloves garlic, coarsely minced (you can use garlic powder if you’re in a hurry)
sesame seeds
1 tbsp maple syrup
I set the soy curls in water to rehydrate. Then, I mixed the rest of the ingredients together. Once the soy curls were rehydrated and drained, I mixed everything together and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then, I cooked the soy curls in a frying pan.
To make the eggplant salad, Mom started with eggplant that was already roasted and cooked it with garlic, onion, chili paste, sesame oil, and salt.
Enjoy with white or brown rice! –Melissa
A recent comment reminded me about my major issue with farming animals. This is a system-wide problem and applies to meat, dairy, eggs as well as animals grown for fur or leather. The vast majority of animal products come from large factory farms where antibiotics (among other things) are routinely mixed into feed.
Naturally these drugs end up in meat, milk and eggs but more importantly they end up in manure. Not a lot reaches your body (though some research suggests otherwise) and our sanitary sewer systems have the potential to sterilize it in the case that it does. The manure that the animals depicted below are ankle deep in (or like the lagoon in the photo below, common at pork and poultry operations, is loaded with both microbes and everything that animals have excreted via their manure.
Microbes are great at adapting. They don’t have a lot of genetic baggage to lug around and can make a baby (for them it’s called fission) in as little as 30 minutes given lots of nutrients. What little genetic material they have can mutate rapidly. For creatures with as much genetic material and specific molecular processes and expansive tissue differentiation as humans, we think of mutation as being a bad thing but for bacteria it means being able to adapt quickly to harsh conditions. In this case, harsh conditions is the presence of huge quantities of several kinds of antibiotics.
Because bacteria can reproduce rapidly and mutate rapidly in the presence of copious nutrients (manure), the chance of making a mutant able to withstand all of those antibiotics is very high. The most famous resistant bacteria is methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA which has caused mayhem in hundreds of hospitals, schools, nursing homes and prisons around the world. This particular microbe is resistant to all antibiotics that are related to penicillin (called beta-lactam antibiotics) and those related to Keflex (called cephalospirins). Big agribusiness was quick to point the finger at hospitals where the resistant strains first appeared as the source of the resistant bacteria. Doctors who prescribed antibiotics were blamed for not being judicious about dispensing the life-saving drugs but the reality is that these deadly bacteria came from the hands of farm workers and evolved in the presence of agricultural antibiotics.
What makes this particular strain so dangerous is something called “horizontal gene transfer”. You and I pass our genes vertically, from parent to child. This is one of the drawbacks of having so many cells. Bacteria only have one cell and can actually exchange genes between members of their own species but also between other species, like if I lent you a book that teaches us both how to avoid bear traps. Now you know how to avoid bear traps too! Now imagine that this book can also be read by bears, cats, dogs and elephants. Bear traps would be useless on all these animals too. This is why antibiotic resistance is a big deal; microbes can share these genes so that antibiotics become universally useless.
So whether or not you’re vegan or vegetarian, the next time you think about buying leather or meat or anything that came from an animal, consider whether or not you’ll be able to enjoy it knowing you or someone you care about could die or be seriously injured by a drug resistant infection. Have no illusions about it, new threats arise every day from these practices.
The farm bill is up for discussion this year. It dictates whether or not these practices are acceptable. Big agribusiness lobbyists say animal products can’t be grown ‘efficiently’ without antibiotics, so let your representatives know how you feel about using antibiotics instead of practicing proper animal husbandry.
This is Christie, signing off!
I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight when I spotted this:
Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick is a pretty damn good spice blend. “Hmm,” I thought. “This seasoning makes steaks so delicious. It’s too bad that I don’t eat steak anymore. But I can still use the seasoning!” Then I spotted some red potatoes and decided that I wanted steak and mashed potatoes for dinner, dammit.
I used soy curls for my ‘steak’ and I mashed my potatoes in the laziest way possible.
Soy Curl ‘Steak’ Ingredients
1 cup soy curls
1-2 tbsp McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
a sprinkle of Butler Chik-Style Seasoning (optional)
Lazy Mashed Potato Ingredients
um… potato(s)
Earth balance
salt
pepper
First, I put my soy curls in a bowl with water to rehydrate. Then, I washed my potatoes, covered them in a wet paper towel, stuck them in the microwave, and pushed the “baked potato” button.
These are the post-microwave potatoes.
Once the soy curls were rehydrated, I mixed them together with the other ingredients. I set it aside while I prepared the potatoes. Okay, stand back while I amaze you with my dazzling mashed potato method: quarter the ‘baked’ potatoes, throw them in a bowl, plop some Earth Balance on them, and then mash. Once they’re mashed, add salt and pepper to taste. I would have added some almond or soy milk, but I didn’t have any. Crazy, right?
Next, I heated the soy curls in a frying pan. Baking is good, too. Do whatever floats your boat.
Holy crap, you guys! I didn’t expect this to taste so good and be so satisfying. This was super easy to make and didn’t take a ton of time.
I will never crave real steak again! Okay, that’s probably not true… but I have a great vegan alternative and that makes me happy. –Melissa
I got these guys on impulse because they’ve got my dog whistle on them: gluten-free, vegan, organic. I can’t ignore those words. Five Star Foodies artichoke burgers are made primarily from rice, cashews and artichoke and have a great flavor all by themselves.
They keep indefinitely (barring the recommendation on the label) in the freezer and for weeks in the refrigerator. They cook quickly and easily and go well with fries or a tofu scramble. They cost me about $1.75 per burger and 4 come in a bag for a total of $7. Each burger contains 16 grams of fat, more sugar than fiber and 330 milligrams of sodium so those of you who are watching your weight or your salt might want to steer free of these babies in favor of something home-made. All in all it was one of the better gluten-free veggie burgers I’ve ever had. The texture was nice: they melted in my mouth without falling apart during cooking. Still, these haven’t converted me; I’ll probably stick to home-made burgers and trying new ones.
We served them up with a tofu scramble as though they were a breakfast sausage. This is probably not what these burgers were intended for but it allowed us to really taste the burger and not the bun and condiments. If you get to try them, let us know what you think!
This is Brent and Christie, signing off!
I would say that this is a classic lazy vegan post but it does require some effort, like opening a package and slaving over a hot stove for 5 minutes. I wanted a tasty dinner with minimal effort, so I decided to finally try the Tofurky Chorizo Style product that has been sitting in my fridge. It was perfect because I already had tortillas and only had to stop at the store for some pepperjack Daiya.
The product definitely looks meaty and once you open the pack, you can smell all the scrumptious spices. “That smells SPICY!” said my niece as it cooked.
I heated up the ‘chorizo’ in a mini frying pan for 5 minutes.
I served them on tortillas with some Daiya pepperjeck and a side of tomatoes. The product smelled spicy and it is tasty, but it could use more embellishment. I plan to add some garlic and/or onion powder and to serve it with hot sauce or fresh salsa. But it is good as-is and met my needs this evening.
I love Tofurky products! –Melissa
I made a spinach artichoke dip a while ago that’s based on soy which is my favorite source of creaminess. In this particular recipe I’m using white beans for the people that I love who cannot eat soy. The nutritional profile is similar: iron, fiber, no cholesterol, low fat, rich in protein, vitamins and minerals and the flavor is just as awesome. We started with the following:
1 tin of white beans, drained OR 1 cup of white beans, soaked and [pressure] cooked
1 tin or jar of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach
1 small onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced (more if you love garlic as much as I do)
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp vegan parmesan (optional)
1 cube of veggie bouillon (we used Rapunzel)
1 tsp of flaked red pepper
1 dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp of paprika
juice from 1/4 of a lemon
2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
1/4 cup of Daiya (optional)
Okay, so that seems like a lot of ingredients. It was really simple to make. Preheat your oven to 350F/175C… this won’t take long.
I put all of the ingredients into a bowl while my expert moosher went to work mooshing everything into oblivion. If you’re interested in something that’s creamier, I’d recommend putting the white beans into your blender or food processer first and blending until smooth but I like a little texture and Brent’s muscles are a sight to see mooshing those beans. We had to microwave it a few times to thaw the spinach.
Once it was all mixed I put everything into a loaf shaped baking tin and put it into my oven for 25 minutes. It came out smelling divine and tasting even better. I burned my mouth being so enthused about getting some of our creation into our mouths.
The Daiya and parmesan do make this richer but it wasn’t missing anything when we made it with one or the other or neither. It was still creamy, rich, delightful spinach artichoke dip, perfect for parties or snacking.
This is Brent and Christie, signing off.
Here at Turning Veganese, Brent, Melissa and I can agree that cheese is the hardest habit to kick when transitioning from a carnist to vegan lifestyle. We’ve made 3 previous posts about cheeses we’ve tried and whether or not we liked them, were useful, thought the ingredients and nutritional profile were an improvement and if we thought they were a good value. We’ve managed to track down a few more vegan cheeses and wanted to share them with you.
Better than Ricotta by Tofutti was stunningly similar to ricotta. The ingredients include soy but it’s free of nuts, dairy and gluten so it’s suitable for people with those sensitivities. It’s pretty high in calories, equal to that of regular cheeses so I’ll probably stick with home-made tofu ricotta which is also considerably cheaper compared to the $5.49 or about 30 cents per ounce.
Better than Sour Cream, also by Tofutti is another product that we liked the flavor but found the nutrition lacking and the ingredients highly processed. It also contains soy but is free of nuts and gluten making it suitable for some common food allergies but not others. Making you own at home is probably more budget friendly but this makes a great taco topping in a pinch. Making your own will be a better bet in terms of nutrition and price. It’s priced at $3.49 for 12 ounces.
We Can’t Say it’s Sour Cream by Wayfare Foods had a great calorie profile at 35 calories per ounce and is free from soy, gluten or nuts (except for coconut). The taste and texture were a little confusing. It tasted kind of like sour cream but more like Tofutti’s Better than Cream cheese. The texture was also more like cream cheese than sour cream, even after we mixed the top layer of liquid into the bulk of the product. It cost us $3.99 for 16 ounces making it a better value than Tofutti but I suspect that a lot of people wouldn’t be convinced by the flavor and texture to really enjoy it.
Free & Easy Cheese Sauce mix is more of a flavoring than a cheese substitute but can help make things that are supposed to be cheesy taste like something approaching white cheddar. The ingredients are pretty processed but mostly inoffensive and are suitable for someone with nut, soy or wheat allergies. The container says there are 12 servings in the can but I don’t think you need as much as they say to get the flavor they’re advertising. You can add this to sauces, nut or lentil pate, soy-curl “chicken” salad and anything else that you’d want to have a cheesy kick. With this product, a little goes a long way so it’s a pretty good deal at $6.95 for a 130 gram container.
Nacheez This particular cheese was low in calories (20 per ounce) and the ingredients were relatively unprocessed and inoffensive, though it does contain nuts. It’s a great source of B vitamins, iron and Vitamin C. The flavor is pretty good, though we had to add cayenne to make the ‘spicy’ version spicy enough for our taste. It microwaved well in its glass container turning into a molten pot of awesomesauce that’s great for dip at a party or pouring over your favorite taco recipe. It was a little pricey at $6.99 or 82 cents per ounce.
Mozzarisella is something I’ve been excited about because I’ve been seeing rave reviews. It comes packaged like Teese and has a softer texture. The ingredients are not particularly objectionable but the cheese has no particular nutritional value. When we actually got to tasting it, I found it had an oddly chemical flavor and Brent’s remark was that it was “like sucking on a garden hose”. We might have gotten a bad batch but I don’t think I’ll be buying it again. Even at a sale price of $7.95 ($2 less than retail) it wasn’t worth it for 7 ounces.
Parmela has a standout list of ingredients and a nutritional profile and flavor to match. I think the packaging is a great addition because it’ll look nice on your table at a fancy party when you’re serving pasta but I think it’s a little pricey at $3.99 or $1.60 per ounce. I’ll probably stick to Parma by Eat in the Raw. Parma also contains nuts so neither is suitable for those with nut allergies.
Vegan Queso by Food for Lovers does not contain nuts like Nacheez but does contain gluten so this is suitable for people with nut allergies but not for those who are sensitive to gluten. It’s very close in flavor, ingredients and nutrition to Nacheez and is similarly great for use as a dip or a topping for enchiladas or your favorite TexMex cuisine. A little cayenne and a microwave is all it needs! It’s sold at $5.99 or 50 cents per ounce which is a better deal as long as you’re not sensitive to gluten.
So we’ve shown you some more of the cheeses we’ve managed to get our hands on and hope you’ll get to try and decide for yourself. Also let us know your favorites and if we haven’t tried them, we’ll give it a spin.
This is Brent and Christie, signing off!
I was browsing at ‘rhymes with Schmole Broods’ today and came across SaviSeeds by Vega. There were small packages, perfect for tasting, so I grabbed the Oh Natural and Cocoa Kissed pouches. I ended up staying late at work and was highly caffeinated, very much needing a snack as I waited to meet up with my sister for dinner. So I grabbed the Oh Natural bag and decided there was no better time than right then to try them out.
I have never heard of sacha inchi seeds before. They mostly remind me of peanuts, but the more I ate, the more I found them to be a giant, hearty seed — which is exactly what they are. The Oh Natural version is seasoned only with sea salt. These seeds were delicious and easily tied me over.
These guys are gluten-free and have 6 grams of Omega-3 (according to the package, they are the richest plant-based source of Omega-3) and 9 grams of protein per serving. AMAZING!
Here is a photo of the sacha inchi. Totally rad, right? I think I have found my perfect on-the-go snack! –Melissa
Brent’s birthday was last month and he wanted pizza. We do periodically make our own crust but I wanted something special so I went to a bakery that knows it’s stuff for a pre-made crust. The Zen Cat Bakery has been a favorite for years with delectable vegan treats that are also reliably gluten-free. I wanted to give them a shout-out for making my early days as a vegan bearable.
I’ve been a big fan of their Super Chunk food bars and Oh Snap! Triple Ginger cookies (above is a picture of what happens to them whenever they arrive) but I digress: this post is about pizza. I ordered 4 pizza crusts from the owner, Angie Kenny via email. I told her when I needed them and they arrived on time and intact.
Before long I also knew they were as delicious and as durable as a wheat crust but without the gastrointestinal distress. We followed Angie’s instructions and created a pizza with vegan gluten-free sausage, mushrooms and pepperoncini peppers.It’s hard to go wrong with all that deliciousness going on.
We covered it with Daiya shreds in cheddar and baked it to toasty perfection.
We found the crusts flavorful but not overpowering and the texture was lightly chewy and airy but substantial. The only thing missing is nutrition data for my daily calorie counting (watching my girlish figure…) but there were no complaints.
Brent was a happy birthday boy and was really psyched to know that we can get awesome pizza crusts! Let me know which companies get your business when you go vegan by mail or if you’ve been by the Zen Cat bakery.
This is Christie, signing off!
Turning Veganese 