Category Archives: Thoughts

Apr 01 2012
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Snacks, Thoughts

Adventures in Fruit: Guava!

I’ve never seen guava fruits in real life. These were grown by a lady who has managed to corner the market on weird fruit lately.

These were about the size of baseballs and smelled fragrant when they were ready to eat. Apparently the fruits from these natives of Central and South America can range in size from ping pong balls to softballs depending on the variety. The seeds are inedible though I think I swallowed a few. They were really hard, but the pulp of the fruit itself tastes lightly acid and very much like a mix of mango and papaya. The flesh was a pale pink and the skin was a rich yellow. I think the next time I find some nice sized ones I’ll spread it on toast.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Mar 23 2012
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Thoughts

Cooking Challenge: Aftermath

This particular marvel is the transportation of a Melissa-style cooking challenge into breakfast: omnivores team made corned beef and cabbage and the vegan team made corn, beans and cabbage.There wasn’t enough corn, beans and cabbage to reheat and just make leftovers so we decided to make it into a tofu scramble instead. Image

I’m a sucker for runny eggs… or silken tofu in my tofu scramble. We included all of the typical seasonings in our tofu scramble: nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, nutmeg and turmeric powder. The beans and corn were already seasoned with coriander and a few others and it ended up making the breakfast awesome.

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We also browned some potatoes, squash and mushrooms that were leftover too. There’s a real reason why I’m posting this particular brunch. There was something easy about meat: you could put it into just about anything. You could put it on sandwiches, into a soup, with eggs, whatever… I don’t want anyone to think that vegan food doesn’t have that same kind of versatility – it definitely does.

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You don’t even have to be that creative. We used to call eggs with whatever you had for dinner the night before thrown in “trash can eggs” because that was the only other logical place for the leftovers. Personally I opt for stomach in this particular case.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Mar 21 2012
1 Comment
Cooking, Thoughts

Pakbet (AKA Bitter Melon MADNESS!)

I got the recommendation for pinakbet or pakbet from a Sri Lankan colleague who has a fondness for Filipino cuisine. It’s good she’s around or I would have been at a loss for what to do with this ridiculous looking veggie. For pakbet I took some crucial advice from Melissa and my colleague on the preparation. I sliced up the melon, discarded the seeds and salted it and waited for about 20 minutes. There was a lot of liquid that came out of the flesh so I figure it worked… right?

I also assembled the following:
1 eggplant cut into bite-sized pieces
salt
10 whole okra, trimmed
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed
1 big toe sized piece of ginger, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tsp tamari
1 tbsp miso paste
olive oil
salt to taste
I browned the garlic and onion in olive oil. Then I added the tomatoes and cook until soft and then the remaining ingredients.

I cooked the bitter melon separately, sauteing lightly in olive oil with tamari because Brent is allergic to quinine and I don’t want to kill him even though the literature regarding the quinine content of bitter melon is sketchy.

I didn’t cook it long after adding the rest of the ingredients just because I like my veggies crisp and green. I’m weird like that. I added it to mine and found that the sweetness of the beans and onion along with the mellowing tomato and eggplant really complemented the bitterness of the bitter melon. Next time I’ll use white miso paste instead of red and omit the ginger, but otherwise Brent seemed happy with the bitter melon-less version and I’ll be doing this again… just don’t tell Brent.


This is Christie, singing off!

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Mar 17 2012
4 Comments
Thoughts

Adventures in Fruit: Bitter Melon

I found this weirdo at our local market and frankly I’m at a loss. After doing some preliminary reading I’m discovering that this native of Asia is basically the holy grail of bioactive compounds.

The only reason you aren’t seeing it at your vitamin store is that from my first try, it tastes not unlike earwax. Don’t worry: I’ll give it a go but bear with me, people.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Mar 08 2012
11 Comments
Dining Out, Thoughts

Being Vegan in Public

Today I will recount the painful tale of my worst experience being a vegan in public. This story is meant as a cautionary tale to vegans and non-vegans alike that there’s nothing wrong with having one eating habit or another and to emphasize the importance of being a good host and a good guest.

I went to a surprise 30th birthday party at a friend’s Mom’s house. I called the week before to RSVP and warned her mom that I’m vegan and gluten free, knowing that the cake was from Rachel’s (name changed to protect the innocent) favorite Cheesecake Factory and ice cream. Her Mom sort of hemmed and hawed until I offered, “I’ll eat beforehand and bring a snack.” She seemed enthused about this compromise so I proceeded as normal.

On the day of the party, I showed up, did the surprise and entertainment business and mingled with mutual friends. Finally it was cake time and I sat down with a plastic baggie of trail mix and a bottle of tea and began to contentedly munch away. Her mom made a bee line for me, locking onto my non-cheesecake, non-ice cream and non-soda snack and asked what I was doing and wasn’t I going to have any cake.

Me: (confused) I called you ahead and told you I’m vegan and gluten-intolerant.

Her: That’s just one of those weird fad diets. You’re not even fat. It’s okay just to cheat this once.

Me: No, I’m afraid it’s not.

Her: Don’t you know it’s bad luck if you don’t eat birthday cake?

Me: It’s bad luck for me to eat gluten, dairy, and eggs.

Her: Come on, it’s a special occasion.

Me: No, thank-you.

Her: Seriously, you’re not going to have any cheesecake.

Me: No, thank-you.

Her: Well, please put your junk food away. You’re making a scene.

The entire room was completely silent and everyone was looking at us. The birthday girl, sitting adjacent to me was bright red having heard the entire conversation. I put my snack in my bag and fought back tears. Rachel excused herself, grabbed her bag and LEFT the party. Her mother shot lightning bolts from her eyeballs at me once more, heaved and exasperated sigh, reminiscent of distant thunder and left to serve herself a generous slice of cookies n’ cream cheesecake. I started worrying that I had upset my good friend and ruined her very special day. Fellow uncomfortable party goers tried to smooth things over, asking me questions like, “Can’t you have the soda?”, “Why don’t you just eat the top part of the cheesecake?” “Ice cream isn’t dairy, is it?”  and so forth.By this time my appetite was completely gone and I had actually begun to feel sick.

About 15 minutes later, the birthday girl reappeared. She dug into the depths of her handbag and handed me a pint of Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice cream. I gave her a huge hug and thanked her and apologized for making so much trouble. She apologized for her mother who openly admonished Rachel for apologizing, leaving the party and letting her guests [me] make a scene. I felt slightly less small but knew I would never forget that day.

I suspect most vegans will have a story like mine or this one. I hope that you can use your experience to strengthen your resolve and stick by your decision. If you’re depressed after reading this, feel free to check out defensive omnivore bingo . This is a game that can make just about any party or family gathering bearable.

This is Christie, signing off.

Mar 06 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Thoughts

Squash “ribs”, green beans, and cilantro lime quinoa!

People often cite being vegan as being too difficult as a reason for continuing to eat meat, dairy and eggs. I was ruminating on this idea, this afternoon as I was thinking of what I would prepare for dinner this evening. I picked a handful of ingredients: green beans, butternut squash and cilantro. These were left over from other things I’d prepared this past week.

I sliced up the squash, leaving the skin on, sprayed it lightly with olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. I put it into the oven on a tinfoil lined baking dish and set the timer for 30 minutes at 350F/175C. I also put the seeds from my squash onto another piece of tinfoil with a light sprinkling of garlic salt and checked every few minutes or so until they were crispy and delicious. You can do this with pumpkin seeds or the seeds from spaghetti squash as well. I snacked on these while I was tending the rest of the meal.

While that was happening I washed my green beans and snapped the ends off each one. I put them in a covered steamer and waited until they were BRIGHT green. This takes 8-12 minutes, because I like mine crispy and green. As soon as they got really bright green, I took the lid off the beans and took them off the heat.

While I was waiting for that to happen I put collected the following:

1/2 cup red quinoa (any sort of quinoa will do)

1 cup of water

1 cube of bouillon

1/2 onion, chopped

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, sliced into strips (optional)

1/4 cup of cilantro leaves

juice from 1/2 lime

I put the quinoa and water into a microwave safe bowl and microwaved it for a minute. I stirred it and added the bouillon cube and microwaved for another minute. I stirred it and added the sun dried tomato and microwaved for a minute. I stirred it and added the onion and microwaved it for a minute. I microwaved for another minute and then all of the liquid was absorbed and I stirred in the cilantro. I squeezed some lime over it before serving.

I placed the green beans on the plate and sprinkled some almond slivers over them (omit these if you’ve got a nut allergy and use the baked squash seeds instead). I ended up drizzling some balsamic vinegar on them too but that’s not in the picture. I was starting to check that the squash was tender with a fork at this point and as soon as it was ready, I put the squash on the plate with everything else and because I didn’t take off the skin, I ate them like they were ribs… except there was no hunks of fat or gristle to get in the way of my eating pleasure. As I ate, I thought about how I made something really healthful, beautiful, fragrant and tasty in 40 minutes. As far as I’m concerned, the best food nourishes your mind and your body.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 29 2012
8 Comments
Snacks, Thoughts

Your Own WHAT!?

Something that’s easier to do than you think is to have your own garden. I may live in sunny Miami with a lengthy growing season but my apartment is high above the ground where the growing usually happens. This is an awesome project if you have kids or something that can improve your cooking just because you’ve got a fresh ingredient. I’ve got two 24 inch planters on my balcony each with basil (Thai and traditional) bell pepper, eggplant, and cherry tomato plants (cherry is an easier to manage size).

This is a good combo for spaces with lots of sun but there’s something for every kitchen window (plus there’s nothing wrong with a basil scented kitchen, am I right?). If you don’t have the dedication or sun to spend months growing whole plants, consider growing your own sprouts.

All you need is some screen or cheesecloth, a jar and some organic seeds. This is my adzuki beans 7 days ago (above). These babies (below) will end up on a salad I’ll eat tomorrow for lunch but they can also end up in a sandwich or in stir fry. You can’t have pad thai without mung bean sprouts as long as I’m around. This was 7 days of emptying the water from this jar (without removing the screen), rinsing 3 or 4 times with distilled water, and then devouring the freshest greens you’ll find without dirt! Be careful to keep them clean: if your hands are dirty you risk contaminating them with E. coli or worse. They should smell sweet and herbal (especially if you grow mustard greens or broccoli for spicy sprouts) as they sprout, not sour or musty.

Fun fact: you haven’t tasted a tomato until you’ve tasted one that has never been refrigerated. They lose a lot of flavor when they get cold. I hope this is an incentive for you who have never tried a really fresh tomato. Additional fun fact: sprouted seeds are rich in essential amino acids. These are the amino acids that your body can’t make itself and you have to get from your food. These are high nutrient, cholesterol free, low calorie and great to cook with or just as a snack. Good luck with that green thumb!

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 28 2012
8 Comments
Thoughts

Put Our Money Where Your Mouth Is, Uncle Sam

This post is inspired by anUnrefinedVegan’s recent post about school lunch menus, health, nutrition and public policy. I agree wholly with the sentiment that we should vote with our dollars (thanks to Citizens United, it may be all we have left) and buy products that calm our collective conscience, but we’re restrained surreptitiously by our government in the decisions we can make. While the government doesn’t control what we eat, and nor should they, they have yet to put our [tax] money where their mouth is.

You may be familiar with this graphic from the USDA campaign, prominently featuring our first lady as spokeswoman for health and nutrition. So this seems pretty straightforward but somehow the policies don’t reflect this sentiment. We place huge subsidies on animal products that we’re then convinced/lobbied/taught that we must eat for ‘health’. Sitting in my doctor’s office waiting room, a girl relates how her doctor tells her to eat red meat to help bruising caused by anemia. Huh? Anemia doesn’t cause bruising (though it can happen the other way around), but deficiency in clotting factors like vitamin K can. SPINACH!!! I digress…

Dairy, meat and eggs aren’t cheap, they just seem cheap because you’ve already paid for them at least three times: once to subsidize the corn the animals ate, again to subsidize the farming of the animals themselves, and again when you buy them at the supermarket. This doesn’t take into the cost of air and water pollution caused by farming animals or the public health costs wrought by foods contaminated with animal waste (like E. coli or Salmonella spp.), bred in factory farms (like swine flu or bird flu)) or caused by eating animal products themselves (like obesity and cardiovascular disease.)

Voting with your food choices is an empowering way to shape policies but it doesn’t have to end at your meals. You can also boycott products made from or tested on animals too: leather, wool, feathers, lanolin (sheep grease, ew), albumin, etc. I actually find it an excellent way to reduce the dizzying array of cosmetics, toiletries, shoes and clothes available on the market today to a manageable selection of options. I’m not suggesting that you toss out your leather shoes or bags, that doesn’t undo anything or serve a positive goal. Technically I’m an anti-consumerism advocate and prefer to buy only from small, independently owned local businesses but consider letting the principles of vegan living inform all of your purchases, not just food.

This is Christie, signing off… to go window-shop for some sparkly jelly shoes!

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Feb 20 2012
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Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Thoughts

Black beans + sweet potato = LOVE!

Inspired by the success of my previous experiment, I decided to make another one. I forgot to head to the supermarket since getting back from my weekend getaway so I’m using random things in my kitchen to make a meal.
1 can of black beans (drained) or 1 cup dry beans (soaked overnight)
1/2 small sweet onion
1 inch ginger, chopped (the piece is about the size of my thumb)
flesh from 1 large sweet potato, baked or steamed
1/3 cup quinoa flakes
2 heaping tbsp flax meal
2-3 tbsp lime juice
a splash of soy sauce or suitable alternative
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 small handful (1/4 cup) cilantro, chopped
salt

I  put the dry ingredients along with the cilantro, onion and ginger into a bowl and mixed them well. My cilantro was frozen but it shouldn’t affect the recipe fresh or frozen.

I then stirred in the beans, jalapeño and sweet potato with my potato masher. Usually I like to keep the skin but for this recipe it didn’t quite make sense, so I made it into chips in my dehydrator.

Originally I intended to make burgers out of this mixture by forming them into patties and baking them, but when I was tasting it to check the salt I realized I had an irresistable urge to eat tacos.

I come from the land of abundant fresh avocado so it was a cinch to make some exotic vegan tacos with guacamole and a light dusting of paprika. If I had this recipe to do over, I might saute the onions and ginger before mixing them into the rest of the ingredients but otherwise it was a good combo.

I also baked some that I made into patties and that was also pretty rad. In other words, this would make good burgers or ‘meat’balls in addition to being an awesome taco filling. Guacamole was a good topping but tomato, lime and a sprinkling of pepperjack Daiya cheese would be truly legendary. The sweet spicy sweet potato mix would be enhanced by the citrus and salty cheese and the tomato is just there to be awesome.

This is Christie, signing off.

 

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Feb 19 2012
7 Comments
Thoughts

Burgers and Brussels Sprouts and Balance

Greetings, everyone! Melissa here. I want to take a moment to thank everyone who follows Turning Veganese. You have no idea how excited I get when I see that we have a new follower or a comment. Sometimes, I even do a little running man dance move because I’m so excited. I wish I had more time to interact with all of you. Speaking of interaction, did you know that we have a Twitter? Follow us!

I started this blog four months ago. What I thought it would be: A space to whine about how much I miss meat, how being vegan is too challenging, and ways to tolerate tofu. What it has become: Motivation to be healthier and more creative in the kitchen, a way to celebrate my vegan successes, and an experience–or rather, a gift–that I have shared with two of my favorite people. I wasn’t even sure I was going to tell Christie and Brent about the blog. I am serious. And now, the best things on this blog are Christie’s posts, and I am so grateful for all the hard work she puts into Turning Veganese. I would probably be eating bacon and cheese with a side of pizza and chicken right now if not for her encouragement.

I find myself hitting a milestone of sorts in my vegan transition: I no longer feel like I am depriving myself of anything by following a vegan diet. I don’t miss meat or cheese or butter. I’m actually a little grossed out by it. My tastes are changing. I used to dread having to hit the salad bar at work because there were no vegan options. Now, I love the taste of wild greens, spinach, corn, peas, green pepper… I actually crave spinach. It’s so weird. I was craving spinach yesterday, so I made White Bean and Spinach Burgers. I saw some gargantuan Brussels sprouts when I went to buy the spinach, so I roasted some of those big boys, too (I forgot to buy hamburger buns):

For the burgers, I followed Christie’s recipe, substituting white beans for black eyed peas simply because I have 10 cans of white beans for some reason, and then adding a cup of chopped spinach. I’m not 100% thrilled with how my Brussels sprouts turned out last night, so recipe is pending.

I am starting to tell people that I am going vegan. This is huge for me. I get a lot of different responses, usually about how that person can or can’t ever go vegan, asking me if I miss meat or what tofu tastes like… but no matter what, I always get a “good for you” or “you’re so good” along with “tell me how it goes,” — all totally sincere.

Healthwise, I am doing pretty awesome. I gained weight at first, mostly because I would get overly excited when I found junk food or anything super tasty that was also vegan (oh hello snap pea crisps and sweet potato chips). In the past couple of weeks, I have lost a few pounds. With my tastes changing, I find I need less of certain food “accessories”–salt, sugar, salad dressing, etc. I didn’t go vegan to lose weight, though. I want to be clear about that. I did it to get healthier. And I have. I recently had a health screening and my numbers were so good that the nurse was cheering for me. She actually said that based on my numbers, she would assume I am an athletic person. (Excuse me while I laugh my ass off.)

So I feel great and I am super motivated to keep going and stay committed. I’m learning that there is never a stopping point at which I can say YES, I AM 100% VEGAN AND HEALTHY. If there is anything I learn from Christie or the lady at the grocery store or my friends who are really invested in organic/GMO or current studies and literature, it’s that there are always better foods to eat and better ways to cook.

Thanks again to all of you for reading the blog, following the blog, trying out our recipes, giving us awards (ohmigosh, how fantastic and humbling and encouraging). I’m amazed and inspired by all of your support. I have so much more in my brain and in my kitchen that I want to share with you, and I know Christie and Brent do, too. So, stay tuned! We love you. –Melissa

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