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 07 2012
9 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Pad Thai, oh my!

Pad Thai is something that I routinely order at Thai restaurants because if you ask them to omit the egg it’s vegan and gluten-free. Tofu or tempeh also makes a nice addition to the meal. If you’re on a budget or want to make this classic a little healthier you should make it at home. Brent and I took some tips from Vegan Black Metal Chef and made this our own with some substitutions. To prepare this dish we assembled the following ingredients.
1 package of brown rice noodles (use 8oz for 3 people)
1 bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 head of cabbage cut into ribbons (we couldn’t find mung bean sprouts)
1 tomato, diced
1 package of Chinese style water packed tofu
1/4 cup crushed peanuts
6 cloves of garlic, minced
ginger, we used a piece about the size of half a big toe
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)
3-4oz. tamarind (frozen, soup base, or powdered)
2-4 tbsp molasses
1 lime, sliced for a garnish
olive oil
water
salt to taste

Before you do anything, break the noodles in half and place them in a large bowl of warm water to soak.

Cut the tofu into bite sized pieces. Place the tofu on a paper towel and stack 2 paper towels on top and put a pan or a bowl on top to help drain the moisture from the tofu. This will help keep it from falling apart when you cook it later.

Also cut your veggies into bite sized pieces and set them aside.

Put the peanuts, garlic, ginger, crushed pepper, peanut butter, and most of the cilantro (save some for a garnish) into a bowl and cover with 1-2 cups of water. This next part is tricky because it’s about your taste and type of ingredients. I add 3-4 ounces of frozen tamarind paste.

You can also use 1 tbsp tamarind paste or soup base. This is what gives the dish it’s tartness so add it slowly, tasting it until it’s ‘right’. I add about 2 tablespoons of molasses but I don’t like it particularly sweet. Stir it all together and just keep tasting it until you like the flavor of the sauce.

Put a little olive oil, maybe a teaspoon or two, in a large pan and add the tomato. Heat it for about a minute.

Then add the shredded cabbage or bean sprouts and stir the for 3-4 minutes. Drain the water from and add the noodles, they don’t have to be too dry. A little liquid is fine.

Add the tofu, broccoli, bell pepper and the sauce and stir it all together. Keep stirring on medium high heat for another 6-10 minutes or until the noodles are soft and have absorbed the sauce.

Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro, crushed peanuts and a lime wedge.

Extra vegetables you can add: 1 bunch scallions cut into 1 inch pieces, broccoli florets, 1 small head of bok choy chopped into ribbons instead of or in addition to bean sprouts or cabbage. I hope you get to try this delicious dish.

Until then, this is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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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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Mar 04 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Mushroom and Tofu Tacos

I love mushrooms. I love tofu. I also hate both of them a little. There’s something about how mushrooms lose all their water and shrink when you cook them that bugs me. I also sometimes dislike how that mushroom flavor gets permeated into everything mushrooms are cooked with. As for tofu, I sometimes can’t stand that ‘tofu’ taste, like no matter what I do, I can still taste that it’s tofu. (Yes, I know I’m being silly.) Today, the only vegan thing in the fridge was mushrooms and tofu sauteed in garlic. I got so depressed at the idea of eating it. Then, I saw them: tortillas. Beautiful corn tortillas. I also had avocado, cilantro, lime, and tomatoes. So, I gave the mushroom/tofu dish a makeover:

First, I made some taco seasoning by mixing together the following:

3/4 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Then, I browned the the mushrooms/tofu in some garlic and then added the taco seasoning. When everything was just about heated through, I threw in some sliced onion, mixed everything around (this is where I would flip the stuff in the air if I were someone who could do that without getting food everywhere), and removed from heat.

At the same time, I took some leftover (read: on the verge of spoiling) rice (brown/white mix) and decided to make a really weird version of fried rice:

3 cups of rice, cooked (this will generally work better if you use leftover rice that is not heated)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vegetable broth (I used a ‘not-chicken’ bouillon cube)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen lima beans
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 diced onion

When that was done, I made an avocado salad of sorts to top the tacos with. Um… I was so excited to eat that I didn’t get a good photo of it:

1 ripe avocado
1/2 diced plum tomato – mine was on the verge of being ripe which was perfect because it wasn’t too soft and had a nice little crunch to it
1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
juice from 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

By now, I was beyond ready to eat, and boy did I eat. I kept eating and eating and eating!

I sprinkled some Tapatio on everything and it was so delicious. I’m so proud of this that I have to post another pic.

I love food makeovers and I love stuffing my face with delicious food. It makes me happy. I hope you get to stuff your face with delicious food today… Melissa

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Mar 02 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

I love food with funny names… like quiche.

I had a giant glass of carrot, lemon, kale and ginger juice and decided to use the pulp to make a quiche. Why the eff not… right? Recently LuminousVegans and FormerFishTacoFanatic had an incredible brunch featuring a vegan quiche (check it out for other idea and recipes) and I just haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.

I mixed the pulp with a generous heap of flax meal, 2 tablespoons of tahini, and a pinch of salt.

I mixed it together until it got doughy and then mixed in a generous pinch of baking soda. I mooshed it into a olive oil coated pie dish and baked it at 350F/175C for 15 minutes. It might take longer to cook depending on how thick it is. Test it to be sure it’s starting to get firm and a little crisp before you take it out. You can also use your own favorite crust recipe.

While that was happening, I sliced up some mushrooms, broccoli and tomato and sauteed them lightly and poured off the liquid. I was worried the crust might get soggy from the mushroom and tomato juice.

I put the veggies and some vegan cheddar into the pie crust and then mixed them with a tofu scramble recipe from this is my everest , I just put “egg” part into my food processor with a carton of Mori Nu soft silken tofu and a tablespoon of starch and blended it until smooth. I baked it for another 40 minutes. Cover the edges with foil if you’re worried about them burning.

I let it sit for a little while to cool… I was really worried it would fall apart when I tried to serve it. I was also worried that it might not be as delicious as the tofu scramble by itself and I would have to scrap this post and draw a picture of a giraffe instead to assuage my grief.

Not to worry, my intrepid adventurers! The crust did get a little soft in the very middle… Next time I do this I’ll probably use less gooey veggies than fresh tomato… maybe sun dried tomato. I had to take this picture before I accidentally ate the whole thing. You might notice that it’s mostly vegetables with a little tofu scramble on top… bad habit. I think more tofu scramble would have made this more quiche-like but I dig veggies. What can I say.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Mar 01 2012
1 Comment
Desserts, Snacks

Adventures in Fruit: Mamey, Rhymes with “Hooray!”

This is one of my favorites. If I hadn’t moved to Miami I would never have never gotten to try this amazing fruit. Did I mention it’s one of my favorites?

It’s flesh is a similar texture to sweet potato but creamier. It’s flavor is like creamy honeyed banana mixed with pear. It’s awesome in flan, milkshakes or with a spoon. I ate this one with a spoon. Another favorite application is to put the flesh into the blender with almond milk and make it into popsicles. Talk about a nutritious refreshing post-work-out snack!

You’ll be able to recognize this fruit by it’s gritty brown skin and its about the size of a Nerf football. They’re ripe when they start to get wrinkly. Cut away the area around the seed and discard the skin. I hope you find one!

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 27 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

I like to call this one, “Tandoori Tofu”

This is a dish about spices. I love Indian food but am wary of restaurants (even though Southeast Asian cuisine usually has ‘safe’ options for people who are vegan or vegetarian but I have the additional issue of gluten free). This is a great main or appetizer with an exotic blend of herbs and spices. Clockwise from top is cilantro, lemon (zest and juice), ginger root, garlic and something you may not be used to: turmeric root.

Turmeric is what gives Indian curries and indeed a lot of vegan foods their rich golden coloring. It’s very similar to ginger root in it’s appearance and texture but the flesh is a rich orange compared to the pale gold of ginger. It’s slightly sweet and intensely herbal in flavor when consumed in the root form. If you can find it, I recommend cooking with it whenever you can. I store mine in a paper bag, wetting with water occasionally to keep it from drying out completely. One tablespoon has 15% of your recomended daily allowance of iron. OMG!

All of these spices are excellent sources of anti-oxidants and micronutrients that you just can’t get anywhere else.
For this dish, you’ll need 1 package of firm Chinese style water packed tofu, cut into bite sized pieces (I used Nasyoa).

The marinade consists of the following:

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or minced (a piece about the size of your big toe)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder or a piece about the size of your thumb, grated or minced
chili powder to taste
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
juice from 1 lemon (add a little zest if you’re feeling adventurous)

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade.

Spoon over the tofu, tossing gently to coat. Let set for 30 minutes so that the flavors can marry and sink into the tofu.

Line a baking tray with foil, spray lightly with olive oil and place tofu on the tray. Bake at 400F/200C for 20 minutes on a middle-upper rack. Serve hot, with cilantro sprinkled over the top and lemon wedges for squeezing.

You can do this with any vegetables: potato, zucchini, mushrooms… even make kebabs! This is an easy way to impress taste buds with healthy exotic cuisine.

If you’re a purist and need raita, I AM working on a vegan version. So far it’s okay but needs a little something more. I’ll let you know what happens.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 26 2012
5 Comments
Cooking

Nuts for Brussels Sprouts

I love Brussels sprouts. I rarely ate them growing up. In fact, all I knew about Brussels sprouts was that I wasn’t supposed to like them. The first time I saw them, I remember thinking, “those aren’t sprouts!” Aside from being delicious, these little guys are so freaking good for you, they’re easy to prepare, are extremely versatile, and they’re seriously cute.

For lunch today, I decided to make some of Christie’s almond crusted tofu. I was about to dump the leftover breading when I got the crazy idea to make some almond crusted Brussels sprouts.

First, I added about 2 tbsp of granulated garlic to the breading. Then, I rinsed and quartered the Brussels sprouts, and then placed them right into the dish with the breading. I drizzled some olive oil right into that dish as well, to help the breading stick a little.

I dumped the sprouts into a frying pan, and cooked them for about 8 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. Between these and the tofu baking in the oven, my kitchen smelled like nuts.

The breading burned a little but, but I didn’t mind. They were nice and crunchy, and the dish itself was really flavorful. Some of the outer leaves were really crunchy… like Brussels sprouts chips… yum… Anyway, I totally stuffed my face with these, the tofu, and some brown rice. My belly is happy, and so am I.

Here’s to more adventures in Brussels sprouts cuisine… Melissa

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