Dancing Down the Moon

Vegan MoFo Day 13: Mo'Betta Punkin Butta

I admit I kind of dropped the ball on today's post--I usually write a day ahead and set my blog to automatically post in the morning, but I got caught up in the whirlwind of the season and nearly forgot today was a MoFo day!  The shame of it!

Since I'm at work and a bit at a loss as to an informative and entertaining subject, here's a simple recipe that I've been wanting to make again lately.  It's only in the last couple of years that I've learned to love pumpkin; I have three recipes now that I love, and I'll be posting the second one soon (hopefully I'll get a chance to bake some and take a picture, although pumpkin muffins aren't the most glamorous food), but this is a crazy simple delicious recipe.

Punkin Spread
(makes about a cup, more or less)

What You Need

1 can pumpkin
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or more/less to taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Let's Get it On

1 - Blend everything together until smooth. You might want to microwave it for about 20 seconds to make the peanut butter easier to mix in.  That's it.

Keep refrigerated--it gets better as it sits. It'll keep for a week or so, if it doesn't disappear by then.

This has a wonderful nutty Autumny taste; it's healthier (and more filling) than peanut butter alone, with lower fat and higher fiber content. You can also vary the nut butter (almond, YUM!), and add a bit of nutmeg, ginger, or use premade pumpkin pie spice instead. You could also use a different sweetener, like honey or agave nectar, or maple syrup. Made this way it takes advantage of pantry ingredients and is a good way to stretch out that last bit of peanut butter left in the jar.

What to do with it?  Egad!  Spread it on waffles, bagels, any sort of toast.  Dip fruit in it.  Make a sandwich with it and some jam.  Swirl a spoonful into your hot breakfast cereal, or throw some into a smoothie for a bit of nutritional and comforting punch.  The possibilities are endless!

Vegan MoFo Day 12: Love and Loss in the Land of Veg Eateries

The restaurant business is cutthroat, and I'm guessing that running a vegetarian place in a cow-munching state like Texas is no picnic.  Back when I was in culinary school I entertained the notion of one day opening one--actually what I had in mind was a combination vegan bakery/coffeeshop/Pagan bookstore with classroom and workshop space.  Perhaps one day when I'm independently wealthy I'll give it a try; the thought of making cupcakes for a living does have its appeal. 

Once upon a time, for a brief shining moment, Austin was a haven for vegetarian and vegan restaurants.  At one point we had a half dozen all-veg places and even one that was totally vegan.  It was an embarrassment of riches.

One by one they fell like dominoes.  The guy who ran Cosmic Cafe--which was in the location that was once the city's fancy-schmancy veg place, West Lynn Cafe--decided to close up shop--now the space, which used to have gorgeous Hindu murals and live sitar music, is now a generic yuppie taco barn.  Cosmic was my first introduction to Indian food; when it closed, I cried.

Then Nu Age Cafe, the vegan place I'd only been to twice, shut down unexpectedly because of the death of its owner.  I never even got to try the Sesame Seitan!  Dhaba Joy, a vegan bakery/cafe down on Guadalupe with actual vegan soft-serve, closed unexpectedly last week under some fairly shady circumstances--poof, and it was gone.  I never even got to try their food. 

The most crushing blow came in 2007 when Mother's Cafe, the first veg restaurant I ever went to in my life, burned down.  It burned down!  A homeless guy was cooking steaks in their back garden.  If that's not bad karma, I don't know what is.  I was absolutely devastated when I heard; Mother's didn't just have excellent food, they had a beautiful garden area with plants that were decades old and a pond full of koi that were all roasted alive in the fire.  It felt like the end of the world.  I can only imagine how horrible it must have been for the owners and employees.

The three other all-veg places here in town that I know of are Mr. Natural, Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, and Casa de Luz.  Casa is macrobiotic and I've never been there, although I've heard good things about it.  I loved Bouldin Creek the one time I went there but they're always mega crowded and there's no parking.  (I don't do well with large crowds in small quarters.)  Mr. Natural's food is...kind of uninspiring, to me, although they have the BEST veggie burger in the history of the world.  I keep meaning to go back there and try some more things from their menu (and have the veg burger again, yum.)  Plenty of other places around town offer veggie fare; Kerbey Lane Cafe has an entirely vegan platter and they'll swap out tofu for eggs in any of their fabulous scrambles and omelets. 

Still, the loss of my two favorite places to eat in the entire universe (Mother's and Cosmic) was hard to accept.  I watched the news online like a hawk to see how the rebuilding efforts were going at Mother's.  When they reopened last fall I wanted to turn cartwheels.

The loss of the garden space was really a shame, but they took the opportunity to add more seating and revamp the decor, and have put in a lot of new plants that will one day be as huge and lush as the old ones.  (There are new fish, too.)  The menu is as fantastic as ever, with many dishes either vegan or easily veganized, and even most of the desserts are vegan!  They've added a few new dishes too, like the sloppy joes made with TVP (which aren't terribly sloppy but are delicious). 

I'm hoping to have my birthday dinner at Mother's this year, and I'm already dreaming about the food: 

Mashed potatoes with sage (they taste like Witchcraft!)
Sloppy Momma Joes
Salads with their locally world-famous cashew tamari dressing
Jamaican Stir-fry, just a little sweet with cashews and pineapple
Peasant's Meal - a big bowl of rice and beans or chili with soup or a salad
Vegan banana whole-wheat pancakes
Smoothies, Belgian chocolate cake, apple pie...oh my!

Pretty much all entrees are under $10, and their weekend brunch is known far and wide.  Seriously, if you're ever in the Austin area, you have to try Mother's.  And if you live here, why aren't you eating there right now? 

Yeah, you're probably surfing the Net in your underwear at 3am, but still, get thee to Mother's!  Soon!

For hours, the full menu, and more, visit their site.   

(Incidentally I have found an Indian place I love just as much as Cosmic, the Clay Pit; I just miss my old love, and its far more comfortable atmosphere.  I've been to the Cosmic location in Dallas, though luckily I never have occasion to visit the DFW area, which is almost as awful as Houston.  Ugh.  I intensely dislike 90% of Texas...or, rather, 90% of Texans.  It's a beautiful state full of crazy people and Austin is the only safe place for sanity.) 

Vegan MoFo Day 11: Oh, You Beautiful Dhal

I had a personal request from a lovely and dear friend to post this recipe, and of course I jumped for joy  at the chance to show off one of my best recipes (and to prove someone's reading my blog that I know in the real world!).  Maybe Nadia will give me permission to post her pumpkin chipotle chili recipe in exchange.  We can make each other locally world-famous.  :) 

One of the foods I loved most at Cosmic Cafe (you'll hear more about it tomorrow) was the Buddha's Feast, which featured a samosa, a bowl of dhal, and a side of curried veggies of the day, over perfectly cooked basmati rice.  It was quite possibly the perfect meal.  I decided to conquer the elements of the dish--the samosas  from Vegan With a Vengeance are excellent (although I want to try them with Alton Brown's pasty dough next time, just to see if there's a difference), and I can curry a veggie with the best of them.  I also found a fantastic fragrant basmati recipe or two.  The last hurdle was the Dhal itself. 

Careful combing of internet forums, cookbooks, and my own experience yielded this recipe which, if I may say so, is so awesome it'll make you forget all others.  I can't take full credit for it, I simply synthesized several recipes and matched them up to the ingredients I had on hand.  But the result...oh, the result.  Thick and aromatic, hearty yet not heavy, spicy yet not overspiced...I love the way Indian dishes layer the spice flavors over each other to achieve a perfect gustatory gestalt.

Anyway, here's the recipe...it serves at least six.

Red Lentil Dhal of Doom
(surrender now!)

Spice Blend:

2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
5 whole cloves
4 whole cardamom pods

1 dried red chili, seeds removed, minced
(or one minced jalepeno without seeds)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon grated ginger (I buy minced ginger in a jar--it's way easier to deal with and lasts in the fridge for months.)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt

1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups vegetable broth (for the love of god don't use canned--get a good boxed variety like Pacific.  A non-chicken would be good.)
5 plum tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can of diced plum tomatoes

1 cup lightly packed chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime

Making the Spice Blend:

1 - Toast the seed blend over medium low heat for five minutes, stirring constantly.  Keep a lid nearby for when the mustard seeds start popping, or you could put someone's eye out, seriously.  When they start to get golden brown and fragrant, remove from the heat.  Whatever you do, don't put the chili pepper in the pan, or you'll mace yourself.  If you're using a fresh jalepeno instead of dried, add it in step 3 when you saute the other aromatics.

2 - Let cool completely before adding the dried chili and cinnamon and grinding to a fine powder.  An electric grinder is best for this, but you can also have a lot of fun pissing off your neighbors by dumping everything in a thick Ziploc bag and pounding the shit out of it with a hammer.

Meanwhile:

3 - Saute onion in oil for five minutes.  Add the garlic/ginger and cook five minutes more.  Dump in the spices and salt, cook five more minutes.  By now your kitchen should smell like heaven, or at least like God's favorite Indian restaurant. 

3 - Add the broth to deglaze the pan, scraping a bit to unstick any little bits of onion garlic spice goodness.  Add the tomato paste and lentils.  Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.

4 - Add the tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and more water if needed.  Simmer 10 more minutes, season with salt and black pepper to taste, and then serve warm with naan or pita bread, and over fragrant basmati rice.

As with most soups this dhal's flavor improves the next day, and it can be frozen quite easily for a couple of months in an airtight container. 

Tomorrow:  Austin's veg restaurants - the good, the bad, and the extinct.

Vegan MoFo Day 10: Curd Your Enthusiasm

You know, I really want to like tofu.

I want to be the sort of person who loves to just marinate and pan-cook a slab of the ol' bean curd, or grill or roast or bake it to spongy perfection and make yummy noises. 

Alas.

I've come a long way since my first stab at vegetarianism.  Like most people when I first came across tofu I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen or tasted.  Over the years I've tried it a dozen different ways, and have liked some and hated others, but the sad fact is that I still don't love it. 

It's easy to find badly prepared tofu.  A lot of people have no idea how to cook the stuff--and a lot of people who try to feed it to you have no idea that just taking it out of the box and cutting it into cubes doesn't make it palatable.  Tofu is something of a diva--it needs a retinue, a support staff, to make it shine.  Otherwise it's scoogy and insipid. 

Tofu is created similarly to cheese; in fact, taking the kind of milk out of the equation they're basically the same thing, so if tofu disgusts you, cheese probably should too.  It's mostly a question of unfamiliarity for the Western palate.  In the American mind tofu still inflicts visions of tasteless "health" food or spooky foreign fare, while cheese evokes pizza, queso dip, and other comforts of home.  The process involves the culturing and pressing of milk, regardless.  The amount of liquid pressed out gives tofu its various levels of firmness.  Either with cheese or tofu, however, the whole idea is to make milk go bad on purpose and then eat what's left.

Yum, right?

Silken tofu, the creamy stuff in the sealed cartons, is made differently; the culture and soymilk are pumped into the carton so the curd forms in the package, therefore not giving it time to press like the firmer sort.  Silken tofu is a wonderful thing for those like me who want to keep the creamy textures of dairy without the dairy.  One of my favorite dessert recipes, in fact, involves silken tofu (see below).

Regular tofu, aka Chinese tofu, is the kind most people think of, and the kind most people claim to hate.  It's got a weird spongy texture and almost no flavor, so cooks often tout its ability to suck up flavor from marinades--but most of the time in my experience the marinade stays on the outside of the block without really penetrating, so while the outside tastes great, the inside is kind of like the inside of a hot dog but without the lips and assholes...and flavor.

Still, tofu is astoundingly good for you and incredibly versatile, so I persevere.  I'm convinced that if I can just find the right method, I'll love it.  I know that most of my aversion is mental; I have the same associations with the curd as a lot of people do.  It's the idea of it more than the actuality. 

Scrambled tofu (also called "scramfu" on the veggie internet) is one application I've enjoyed when I've had it, so I intend to try out several different recipes and play with the chunk size a bit until I get it where I like it.  Deep fried tofu is also tasty, but obviously deep frying anything makes it problematic in the health department (and since I don't fry in oil at home I can't really replicate it).  Part of the secret for me is making sure the tofu portions are as small as possible so that I don't get too much of the texture in one bite.  The smaller the tidbit, the better it cooks anyway.

Another tasty option is tofu jerky; a friend of mine gave me a recipe and I tried it out in a dehydrator.  It was salty as all hell, but I loved it.

Silken tofu shows up a lot in faux dairy, and I wouldn't be able to survive without Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for cake frosting purposes.  The best use of silken fu, however, is in recipes like the following, quite possibly the richest and most intensely fudgy pie on Earth--so much so that I had to start making them into tiny single-serving pies.  It's fast, it's easy, it's no-cook; practically the perfect recipe, as is reflected by the fact that practically every vegan cookbook out there has some variation on it.

OMG Itty Bitty Mocha Pies

What You Need:

1 12oz bag chocolate chips
1/3 c Kahlua
1 block silken tofu (firm or extra firm)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar

Wee graham cracker or frozen pie crusts (makes about 24 teeny or one big pie)

If using regular pie crusts, prebake according to package directions and allow to cool.

Let's Get it On:

1 - Melt the chocolate chips and Kahlua either in a double boiler or over very, VERY low heat until smooth.

2 - Put the tofu, vanilla, and syrup in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add the chocolate mixture and blend until a nice uniform color and texture.

3 - Pour into crusts.  Chill for 4-6 hours until firm.

I love to garnish these with a tiny sploot of cream cheese frosting and a single raspberry or strawberry, but a swirl of berry coulis would be great too.

Vegan MoFo Day 9: Soup is Good Food

Mmm, soup.

Over half of my most beloved recipes are soups or chilis--the Dhal, the Tortilla Soup, the Enchilada Chili.  Aside from the fact that I've lucked into fantastic recipes, the fact is, soup is one of the easiest and most rewarding things to cook, especially this time of year as we're heading into cooler weather and a bowlful of thick beany goodness is just what the season ordered.

The great thing about soup is that it's a wonderful way to use up that last tomato or onion, and most recipes are versatile so that you can add in whatever lonely half-dead vegetables you have laying around.  A zucchini wouldn't go amiss in this recipe either, nor would a handful of mushrooms.

Most non-cream soups have the same basic procedure: saute the aromatics (as in onion, celery, carrot, garlic, bell peppers--mirepoix, or what Emeril calls the "holy Trinity") in a bit of oil, then add everything else and season.  Bring the whole mess to a boil and then simmer it at low temperature until it's all done.  Chilis and stews are made basically the same way, just with more vegetables and less liquid.  As for liquid, you can substitute vegetable broth, water, tomato juice, or a jar of salsa.

To thicken your average vegetable soup take a handheld blender (I call mine the boat motor) and puree part of the soup for a few seconds; or, in the case of Mexican soups, add in some dehydrated refried beans or mash part of the beans already in the recipe.  Just be sure you check the label to be sure your beans are vegetarian--look for them to be labeled that way, although "fat free" refried beans are almost always veg too.  Some stores carry refried black beans, which are also tasty.  Pintos and black beans are the most oft-used beans in Mexican food, but if all you have are kidney beans, hey, go ahead.

This is one of those recipes for when you don't have anything fresh in the house and just want to throw together something warm and comforting that will give everyone happy tummies.  It's all canned and jarred pantry ingredients, but feel free to substitute a whole sautéed onion for the powder, fresh minced garlic, fresh tomatoes, whatever you have.

Embarrassingly Easy Mexican Bean Soup

What You Need:

1 can vegetarian refried beans
1 can pinto beans or black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can vegetable broth plus 1 can of water
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 or 2 cans diced green chiles
1 can corn, drained, or 1 cup frozen corn

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves

Let's Get it On:

1 - Dump everything but the corn into a soup pot.  Stir until refried beans are mixed in.

2 - Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer 30 minutes until nice and thick.  Add the corn in the last five minutes.  Serve hot.  Please don't forget to yank out the two bay leaves.

You can serve this as is, or:

Over cooked rice or leftover Spanish rice
With crushed tortilla chips and fakey cheese
Over cornbread (or with cornbread on the side)

Vegan MoFo Day 8: Survey!

There are quite a few fun food surveys going around the Vegan MoFo'verse, and I'm a sucker for surveys, so I thought I'd do this one since it's Friday and I'm low on inspiration today.  This one was harvested from Love Like a Vegan.

Next week--restaurants!  My Tale of Tofu!  And the most fabulous teeny chocolate pies in the history of the world!  And some other stuff too.  I plan to start posting a few non-food things too, so keep a weather eye on the horizon and other pirate metaphors as well.

1. Name a song that involves food in some way.

"Ice Cream" by Sarah McLachlan

2. What criteria do you use when choosing a new cookbook to buy?

Usually what I do is go to the bookstore, compile a stack of interesting looking cookbooks, take them to the cafe, and peruse them over a tasty coffee beverage.  I'm immediately drawn to food porn, of course, but beyond that I prefer recipes that I could make every day.  Special occasion fancy food is fun and all, but when it comes down to it I need reliable recipes that I can make over and over and not get sick of. 

3. What did you eat today?

It was kind of an off day--for breakfast I had chocolate pudding (homemade from coconut milk; I'll post the recipe), and lunch was a veggie "chicken" patty, curried grain pilaf, and steamed veggies.  As of writing this I haven't got dinner squared away yet but I'm betting it will involve pudding for dessert.

4. Name a vegan food that you know exists but you have never tried.

Fake cheeses.  I'm a little scared of them, to tell you the truth.  More on this below.

5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow.

I hope they like sarcasm. 

My cooking show would be something like, "A Lazy Wannabe Vegan Snarks in the Kitchen While Throwing Some Shit Together or Possibly Saying Fuck it and Calling the Pizza Guy."

6. Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

I am a spice wuss.  Seriously.  Pace medium picante sauce is too hot for me.

7. How old were you when you became vegetarian/vegan?

Argh, that's a loaded question.  I guess I could say I first became vegetarian when I was 20, then went on and off the wagon for several years, then decided to go vegan (for the first time) in 2005, and have tried repeatedly to get the cheese monkey off my back.

8. Favorite vegan cheeze?

See, vegan cheese is scary to me, but not for the reasons you'd think--it's sort of the final frontier for me.  Like, cheese and ice cream are the two main things that keep sucking me back into nonveganland, and while there are plenty of tasty nondairy ice creams, I've heard that most vegan cheeses are awful.  It's as if, by trying them and admitting they suck, I'll have declared that my life must stretch out into eternity without cheese, and that's a frightening thought to me.  The thing is, it makes me angry that a food has that kind of power over me; cheese does have addictive properties (casomorphins; for more info click here), but more importantly, it's symptomatic to me of my disordered eating.  I don't want the reason I don't stay vegan to be a food that's horrible for me anyway.  My beliefs should be stronger than cheese. 

9. Cutest baby animal?

OMG, baby deer! 

10. Favorite type of jam/jelly/marmalade/preserves?

Mmmm, cherry.  And peach.

11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements?

If my mom asks, I take calcium.  She's very concerned about my calcium intake.  Otherwise I periodically get B12 injections, and when I'm thinking about it I take a multivitamin. 

12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall season?

Pumpkin muffins! 

13. What food would you have a hard time living without?

Besides cheese?  Potatoes.  And cooked tomatoes.  And garlic.

14. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

Coffee!  NOW! 

15. It’s 10PM and you’re starving. What do you eat?

The couch.

16. If you have an animal companion, what is his/her favorite food?

String, apparently. 

17. Worst injury you’ve gotten in the kitchen?

I burned the bejesus out of my forearm not too long ago on an oven rack; it blistered and everything.  Hurt for days.  Somehow I managed not to scar, though.  About fifteen years ago I was trimming the stems off flowers I bought for my mom with a pair of kitchen shears and cut a v-shaped chunk out of my left ring finger.  There's still a scar there.

18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

The internet, yo.  I usually search on the PPK Forums.  Barring that, Google.

19. Summer is ending- What food will you miss most?

Berries that taste like something.

20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?

I usually have some form of granola bar, and I often bring fruit.  Right now I'm in love love love with Honeycrisp apples.

21. Favorite soup to make on a rainy day?

Hmm...tortilla soup, definitely. 

22. What’s your favorite combination of fresh vegetable and/or fruit juices?

Pomegranate cherry.

23. Favorite brand of root beer?

Not sure I have one.  I'm not a root beer connoisseur. 

24. Make up your own question!

What's something you ate as a kid that you wouldn't touch now?

Spam.  Actually my mom used to make this stuff she called Mulligan Stew that was basically onions, Spam, and Ranch Style Beans.  You ate it over Fritos like chili.  It was serious poor workin' people pre-payday food, and my brothers and I inhaled it.  I do miss Ranch Style Beans--or I did until I found Whole Foods' organic Ranchero Beans, which taste exactly the same (to me) without the critter bits and scary byproducts.

Vegan MoFo Day 7: A Girl and Her Toys

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Okay, don't.  Mine needs company anyway.

Just as there are pantry staples that everyone relies on for their own personal cooking repertoires, so too are there equipment, tools, and gadgets that make cooking easier, faster, or just more fun. 

I'm something of a gadget whore; I come by it honestly, as my mother has every specialized small appliance known to human kind, from a breadmaker to a pasta machine to an ice cream freezer to an ice crusher.  Lucky for her her kitchen is huge and there's cabinet space for all that mess.  In my wee apartment kitchen I have a handful of doors and only three drawers, and about as much counter space as a cat has humility.  I've pared down my kitchenware to the bare minimum--unfortunately for me that means I keep thinking, "Hmm...what else do I need?"

There are some things I turn to over and over again, though, and they are:

1 - 6" Chef's Knife - I have small hands, so larger knives are uncomfortable for me.  I also have craptastic IKEA knives, but I know someone with a knife sharpener (that would be my dad).  Loath as I am to chop and prep, using my chef's knife makes me feel like a badass, and takes me back to my brief stint at culinary school.

2 - Dishers - That's the fancy word for "ice cream scoop."  I never use mine for ice cream, though; it's a cupcake batter scoop, and portions out perfect dollops of batter into my pan.  I want to get a couple of different sizes and replace the cheap one I have with some from the restaurant supply store.

3 - Flexible Cutting Mats - I don't like cutting boards.  They're awkward to store (for me), and I've never found a material I was satisfied with.  Flexible mats, however, come several to a package and have a multitude of uses; you can roll one up to use as a funnel, gather the sides to easily transfer prepped ingredients into a pan, and use them as a pastry-rolling surface.  I took the set I got for five bucks and punched a hole in the top of each so I could hang them inside my cabinet door.

4 - Electric Spice Grinder - Oh, sure, I could use one of my umpteen mortar and pestles, but why slave over a hot mortar, only getting your coriander seeds partly chunked, when you can give them a whirl and get the perfect consistency?  Just as a note of warning, though:  do not ever make incense in your spice grinder if you want to keep using it for food.  Frankincense is not good eats.

5 - Bench Knife - Another fancy cheffing word, this one for "dough scraper."  You can shell out bucks for one at a cooking store or just buy a similar sort of scraper at the hardware store.  They're useful for, as the name would imply, scraping bits of dough up from the counter, cutting balls of dough into bits, and even transferring small things from one place to another that would otherwise get your hands sticky.

6 - Oven Thermometer - My oven sucks bunny balls.  The only way I can be sure it's actually at the right temperature is with my trusty thermometer, a four-dollar investment that's saved more baked goods than I can count.

7 - Cook's Essentials Cookware - My mom gave me a set of these pans which are made exclusively for QVC (she's a home shopper), and I love them.  They're nonstick but safe for metal utensils, dishwasher safe, and shaped beautifully.  I especially like the rounded feminine shape of my big ol' stock pot. 

8 - Stir Fry Pan - The only pan I use that isn't Cook's Essentials is my Tramontina stir fry pan; picture a wok with a single long handle and a flat bottom.  It's big enough to make just about anything in but light enough that I can handle it with my weak little girly wrists. 

9 - Pinch Bowls - I love little bowls!  Unlike a lot of the weird little things I collect, these are incredibly useful.  If making something with a lot of spices, for example, I measure them all out into a pinch bowl and mix them together before I start cooking.  Having been to culinary school (for a few months--I got through the soups unit) I have a deep appreciation for mise en place, the French term for "having everything set out and prepped before you turn on the stove."  Plus there's something so sensually delightful about little bowls of ingredients arranged around the stove.  I nab a bowl here and there at World Market or IKEA, and I use them all.

10 - Improvised Pot Rack - This isn't really a tool so much as a storage solution, but it's one of the best ideas I've ever had.  I had only one cabinet to hold all my cookware, and the skillets and stir fry pan never fit properly; every time I opened it things fell out no matter how carefully I stacked them.  Then one day it occurred to me that I had a blank stretch of wall between the bathroom door, which opens into the kitchen, and the living room.  Aha!  I went to Lowe's and bought a curtain rod with fancy finials, anchored it into the wall, and hung my three skillets and stir fry pan with S-hooks.  The whole project cost about twenty dollars, it looks awesome, and has freed up immense amounts of cabinet space.  Every time I see my pans hanging there all shiny it makes me smile.

Vegan MoFo Day 6: Broccoli Cashew Quinoa

Time for another recipe.  :)  This one's a main course, or a side dish depending on how many people you're serving.

Quinoa is my very favorite grain.  I'm not that fond of rice, though there are some recipes I adore it for; quinoa is adorable, loaded with protein and fiber, and cooks up quickly, three qualities that I like in a pantry staple.  Quinoa was so loved by the Inca that they dubbed it the "mother of all grains."  

Quinoa should be rinsed before cooking to remove the bitter saponins that might remain; usually the saponin is removed during processing, but better safe than sorry. 

Broccoli Cashew Quinoa

What You Need:

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup frozen chopped onion
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup broccoli florets cut into bite-sized pieces (I use about half a bag of frozen, or sometimes a mix of broccoli, bell peppers, and onions)
black pepper to taste
a handful of roasted cashew pieces
thinly sliced scallions (optional garnish)

Let's Get it On:

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil in a saucepan for 3 minutes.  Add the quinoa and stir a minute or two until the quinoa turns slightly golden brown.

2. Add the stock, wine, and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir in the salt. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the broccoli and simmer an additional 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat, toss until combined. Add pepper and additional salt to taste.

4. Top with cashews, and scallions if desired.

Makes enough for two people as a side dish, or one person with a bit left over as a main course.  Can be easily doubled or more.

If you don't have white wine, you can use 1 cup of vegetable broth, or half broth and half water. 

Vegan MoFo Day 5: Staples

Everyone has kitchen staples--there's the usual suspects like flour, sugar, olive oil, and spices, but then we each have our own favorites, those ingredients that are a constant presence in our pantries and fridges.  Someone who loves Mexican food is likely to have a slightly different list of staples than someone else who's really into Chinese.  I'm not likely to need sushi rice or capers, but you might go through them by the bushelful. 

The same is true of kitchen gear, but that's a subject for tomorrow's post.  Here's my top-ten staples list:

Sylvan's Ten Absolute Must-Have Ingredients

1 - Apple Cider Vinegar.  Now, I hate vinegar--the smell makes me gag.  ACV, however, is at least partly responsible for making vegan baked goods work, and that means it's more than all right with me.  The chemical reaction it causes with the other leaveners in a batter both lifts and tenderizes a cake batter, which helps replace the eggs in traditional baked goods.  It also curdles nondairy milks, creating a sub for buttermilk. 

2 - Frozen Bell Pepper/Onion mix.  I use this in everything.  Everything.  My favorite blend has three colors of pepper; there's even one you can get at Target that includes roasted peppers.  I can grab a handful to saute with other veggies or with potatoes, chop them up a bit for scrambled tofu, and on and on.  I usually buy two bags at a time.

3 - Jarred Minced Garlic (and Ginger).  Two of the most fantastic inventions in culinary history; you can even get pre-roasted minced garlic when you want that darker flavor.  The ginger especially is useful for me, as I don't use all that much at a time, and grating ginger is an enormous pain in the ass.  Jarred ginger and garlic both last forever in the fridge; no peeling or chopping necessary. 

4 - Earth Balance Margarine.  Think being vegan means missing out on the flavor and cooking properties of butter?  Think again.  There are several nondairy butter substitutes on the market, but EB is the one that vegans all over America would offer up their loved ones for.  I find it virtually indistinguishable from butter, and it's nonhydrogenated, available in both tub and stick form, and bakes like a dream.

5 - Canned Pinto Beans.  Being a Texan gal pintos are my favorite bean, both in their whole and refried varieties.  Of course, you can make your own refried beans with a little bit of oil and a potato masher, so usually I get the whole variety.  Whole Foods even has a vegetarian version of Ranch Style Beans, which I missed terribly after I stopped eating meat (what can I say?  I grew up eating them by the canful.).  Pinto beans are incredibly versatile, healthy, and filling, and in my mind the tastiest bean, though your mileage may vary. 

6 - Quinoa and Couscous. Not the same thing at all, but I group them together in my mind in the "small round grain-type-thing" category.  Couscous isn't technically a grain, more like a tiny tiny semolina pasta; but quinoa is ancient and packed with protein and other nutrients.  I'm not very fond of regular pasta, and I don't like rice (I know, I'm such a Philistine), but these two little starch powerhouses are quick, easy, and adaptable to a wide variety of dishes both savory and sweet.  I buy them in bulk and store them in airtight jars to keep the critters at bay.

7 - Almond Milk. I've gotten to where I don't taste the beany-ness of soy milk so much, especially vanilla-flavored Silk, but my nondairy milk of choice is still almond.  I get the vanilla flavor most of the time, which comes in aseptic boxes; I like that kind of packaging because it means that if I don't open it right away it won't go south on me.  (I also keep juice-box sized plain soy milk for recipes where vanilla flavor wouldn't work.)  I like the nuttiness of almond milk over breakfast cereal, and occasionally pick up the chocolate variety to drink straight up.  Almond milk also makes fantastic hot cocoa, chai, and lattes. 

8 - Vegetable Broth.  Speaking of things in cubes, I also like to keep cartons of vegetable broth around.  It's not only great for soups, you can use it in place of oil or water for low-fat sauteeing, and replace some or all of the water in cooking grains with broth to pack in more flavor.  Pacific makes my favorite varieties; the non-chicken kind is useful for noodle soups and comfort foods.  Much as I dislike the mass-produced over-salted Swanson's variety I usually have a can of it in the pantry in case I only need a cup or less and don't foresee using up a whole carton in the next few days. 

9 - Diced Tomatoes.   Like I said before, I don't do fresh tomatoes; the smell and sliminess of raw toms is kind of nauseating to me.  Canned, however, I love them to the Moon and back.  Diced is my favorite, and they come in a lot of different flavors these days--Mexican, Italian, chili-style, petite diced, and on and on.  My favorites are the organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes; they add a certain sumthin-sumthin to recipes without being overpowering. 

10 - Taco Seasoning. Oh, sure, you can make your own, but here in Texas there are a variety of authentic Mexican companies making real Mexican spice blends that are cheap and delicious.  Mexican is my default cooking flavor (with Indian a close second), so when I don't know what to do with the potatoes in my pan or the beans I've opened, I reach for the taco seasoning. 

Vegan MoFo Day 4: This Spud's for You

I realize that my last post probably made it sound like I never buy anything fresh and never prep a single vegetable. Not so. There are certain things that I always buy fresh and can't really imagine any other way, even if they do come in more convenient forms.

Potatoes, for example.

Potatoes, those starchy members of the nightshade family, aren't eaten by the truckload all over the world for nothing. They're filling, tasty, versatile, and good for you. I've actually heard of people who don't like potatoes, and to them I say, "Um...let's not hang out, ever."