Cookbook Challenge 2 - Vegan with a Vengeance

Cookbook Challenge II - Vegan with a Vengeance

This is the book that started it all! As the humorous and heartfelt introduction points out, Vegan with a Vengeance is Isa Chandra Moskowitz's first cookbook. The tangible product of her veganness and public access cooking show (The Post Punk Kitchen - some episodes are still available here), Vegan with a Vengeance is a compilation of recipes developed over a decade, and it is full of veganized classics - - and utterly unique creations. It's really fun to read (yes, I read cookbooks) and Isa's got a great attitude and perspective that reflects much of what I also value - compassionate cooking, feeding good food to your friends, loving all animals and loud punk music.

This week, like prior weeks, I sought to test out recipes I'd never made before. I've cooked my way through about half of this book, so the pickins were still plentiful.



Baking Powder Biscuits with White Bean Tempeh Sausage Gravy



Last Sunday's breakfast was unexpectedly easy to make, and was made up entirely of pantry staples (if tempeh isn't a "pantry staple" for you, I think you need to reevaluate your life). The White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy combined crumbled tempeh with warming herbs - dried rubbed sage, crushed fennel seeds, a small sprig of thyme and a dash of oregano - and pureed white beans to create a thick and velveteen gravy akin to what any Southern grandma would serve with homemade biscuits. Oh wait, I did that, too! The Baking Powder Biscuits are the other half to this harmonious love story of a breakfast. They were flaky and buttery to the point of perfection, and not at all sticky! Biscuits in generally are so easy to make, but often leave you with clumps of dough stuck between your fingers - well, not these babies! They were some of the easiest I've made, ever. 



Banana-Pecan Pancakes

Contrary to those breezy biscuits, only once have I ever made a perfect vegan pancake (most of my love&devotion are reserved for waffles, anyway). It was so long ago that I hardly remember the recipe, or from where it originated. Most likely it was my own interpretation of one of the many pancake recipes recipes found of Vegweb.com. Why are pancakes so difficult, you wonder? I haven't the slightest clue! Mine have always burned to easily, been too runny, or tasted slightly chalky. Ignoring my inner thoughts and warnings, I decided to give the Banana-Pecan Pancakes a shot because I had all of the ingredients on hand, and I was intrigued by the thicker-than-you-average-pancake introduction. Oh, these were thick all right - almost like eating a cake. 



Banana-Pecan Pancakes

Thick, dense and moist, these pancakes weren't terrible. The flavors were perfect and the texture would have been wonderful...if I didn't have frantic and finicky stove top burners! Canola spray oil should not smoke on medium-low, right? Well my pan was smoking in a matter of minutes - so much that I had to change pans half way through because it was taking too long to cool down. The recipe suggests medium-high heat, but that was clearly not an option. As a result, my p-cakes were nearly burnt on the outside and wet on the inside, but my immaculate photography skills had you thinking otherwise...right? Overall, the recipe will receive a positive review, because I can't pass my poorly executed pancakes off as a recipe problem. Next time, I'll probably just make waffles.

Fettuccine Alfreda

A recipe that has always called out to me is the Fettuccine Alfreda. I thought this was really tasty, albeit nothing to write home about. In the recipe introduction, Isa warns that this isn't exactly like the alfredo found in Italian restaurants & pizzerias, but more like a spur-of-the-moment creamy pasta dish resulting from the ingredients she possessed on hand - mainly nutritional yeast and pine nuts. There was too much nutritional yeast for my preferences and I couldn't get over the fact that it wasn't vegan fettuccine alfredo in the aforementioned restaurant style. It almost reminded me of macaroni and cheese cheese sauce (kind of American/cheddar-y), but much more mellow, which I did enjoy. It was really thick for me so I thinned it with pasta water. Also, pine nuts are waaaay to expensive to use on a sub par sauce (roughly $30/lb here!), so if I were to make this again, I will most certainly sub cashews for pine nuts, cut back on the nooch and add a little bit of unsweetened almond milk...and probably a dollop of earth balance for good measure.

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

This was fantastic! The White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup from Vegan with a Vengeance is criminal. The soup was alarmingly easy to make, but the final flavor profile blew me away. Two words: roasted garlic. Two whole bulbs cloaked in olive oil roasted for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees until they were a mellow paste encapsulated in their shell. Just thinking about them has my mouth watering! They were combined with creamy canellini beans (any white bean will do), sauteed onions, earthy spices - fennel, thyme, oregano - and pureed into a thick soup perfect for rain or snow or whenever! I left about one ladle's worth of soup whole, which for me was a good thing; a few chunky beans and garlic cloves here and there are definitely welcome. This was perfect for the recent dip in temperatures (Louisiana had freezing rain!). We dipped the leftover Baking Powder Biscuits in the soup and ate just about the entire pot - yes, there were only two of us...



Brooklyn Pad Thai

Never having had Pad Thai from Thailand, I'm ok with this version reining from New York. Brooklyn Pad Thai tasted almost like what I've eaten numerous times at Thai/Fusion restaurants, and Matt (a man obsessed with all things Pad Thai) gave it two thumbs up. Rice noodles are so easy to work with, and this recipe really comes together in a sinch. Just make sure to use a large sauteing vessel - preferably a wok with high sides. I didn't, so it was a bit of a mess for me. If you chop all your vegetables beforehand, the meal is ready in less than 20 minutes (10 of which are reserved for cooking the rice noodles!). The sauce was a little spicy for me, so I'll be sure to reduce the amount of chili sauce (I used Sriracha) next time. I also had to omit the bean sprouts because I forgot about them on my grocery run (lemongrass, too!). Considering my minor changes and omissions, this was really good. Full of flavor and easy enough to make on a weeknight, but only if Matt will agree to clean up afterwards!

Holiday in South Florida

I'm taking a quick detour from my very active participation in this year's Cookbook Challenge. Over the winter holidays I visited friends and family in my Florida hometown, Fort Lauderdale. In addition to sleeping in for an entire week (!!), I wined and dined at one of the finest vegan dining establishments on the east coast. Sublime Restaurant and Bar is located in downtown Fort Lauderdale and features an all-vegan fancy-foods menu! The owner, Nanci Alexander, is also the founder of ARFF (Animal Rights Foundation of Florida) and 100% of the restaurant's profits are donated to organizations set on reducing animal cruelty and promoting a vegan lifestyle. It also doesn't hurt that all of their food is absolutely delicious.

Matt and I started with two appetizers (they were having an anniversary special - all appetizers were only $4!). The Crispy Eggplant Rollatini was perfectly proportioned and the vegan ricotta couldn't have been creamier. I'm usually skeptical about ordering dairy analogues at restaurants, especially ones that are house-made, but I'm glad I did in this instance. Below, our second appetizer is one that can't be missed. I've ordered it every time I went to Sublime and it keeps getting better and better. The Frito Misto consists of battered and lightly fried cauliflower florets covered in a sweet chili sauce and topped with black-and-white sesame seeds and a spring onion garnish. M-O-U-T-H-P-A-R-T-Y. Just writing about this dish has me yearning to recreate it. I know what my weekend project will be...

If you are intrigued at all by the appetizers, you must stay for dinner. The menu at Sublime is really diverse, featuring salads, sushi, brick oven pizza, an array of entrees and mouthwatering desserts. Matt ordered the Mushroom Ravioli for dinner and I was utterly speechless after my first bite. The pasta was made in-house and if that was any indication of fresh pasta, I'm seriously missing out. It was soft, silky, creamy, sexy yummy goodness. The filling was excellent as well, but they could have served just me plain noodles and I wouldn't have complained.

My entree was almost as delicious (maybe if it had been wrapped in ravioli noodles...) but still very enjoyable. The Sublime Picatta consisted of Gardein cutlets, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and a lemon caper sauce. I've only ever tried the chicken-style Crispy Tenders, but I've heard really good things about Gardein brand meat analogues so I decided to give it a whirl. The taste and texture were pleasurable, but anything covered in lemon caper sauce would taste good to me. I was mostly surprised by how they found such thick asparagus!

Let the verdict show that vegan gourmet is entirely possible, and insanely delicious. If you're ever in south Florida, support this vegan establishment!

Vegan MoFo 2010: THE FINAL DAY

20 posts behind me...

November 30th, today, is the final day of Vegan MoFo 2010. While I may have burnt myself out within the first two and half weeks, I'm really excited to continue participating for as long as MoFo lives. Though I only ended up blogging the recommended minimum of 20 posts, I'm glad I participated. This past month was drowning in delicious vegan goodies from bloggers all around the world, and I've bookmarked so many blogs and recipes for future use. There were so many interesting, creative and compassionate people participating this year! Thanks to everyone that read and supported my blogging efforts; you've all inspired me to continue blogging for as long as I possibly can. GO VEGAN MOFO IV!

Matt and I just returned from a long weekend in Tallahassee, FL. We spent the last four days with best friends, cooking, drinking and laughing. Thursday was spent at Meg and Sebastian's house, cooking up an awesome all-vegan thanksgiving spread. Honestly, we made way to much food for four people, but everything was delicious. And because we were just visiting, I didn't have to worry about what to do with all of the leftovers. Still enjoying that cheesecake after four days, Meg?!

Sebas and Meg, cooking green beans and sweet potatoes


I spent the last week and a half planning Thursday's menu and exceptionally pleased with the results. For an appetizer, I made the Pepper-Crusted Cashew Goat Cheese from Vegetarian Times magazine. If you've ever planned to make this, which I highly recommend that you do, remember that it requires advanced preparation. You'll need to start making this atleast 36 hours prior to your planned serving time. The cheese was excellent; it was tangy, soft and spreadable, but hard enough so that it kept it's shape. I ended up baking the cheese for about 15-20 minutes longer than the recipe suggested.



Parsley and Pepper-Crusted Cashew Goat Cheese from VT...half-eaten!

In addition to the cashew "goat cheese," I made Seitan en Croute, a recipe originally published in 500 Vegan Recipes that author Joni Marie Newman featured on her blog, Just the Food. Not only does it look amazing (I'm midly obsessed with braided pastry dough...ok, ok, all things pastry dough!), but it was one of the finer tasting seitans I've ever made or had prepared for me. Matt and I tested the recipe earlier in the week, halving all of the ingredients. The tester was dry, which slightly worried me. Thursday's loaf was much moister, though I think I may have added too much liquid smoke. Regardless, it was tasty!



Seitan en Croute

Fine food and finer company, wouldn't you say. Below is a photo of Sebastian, Matt and Meg behind all of the glorious grub. Spread from left to right: green beans and veggie sausage with sweet potato puree, sweet potato casserole with dandies (vegan marshmallows), off-center piece of Seitan en Croute, mini macaroni and cheese pies topped with walnuts and parsley, extra-creamy macaroni and cheese, maple-roasted brussel sprouts with pistachios, and a bottle of beaujoulais nouveau! YUM

It was a great weekend away from Baton Rouge and the ol' job. I've missed Tally so much these past few months; that trip was everything I needed and more. I can't believe I'm already back, sitting in my office at my desk. I miss you Tallahassee!

Vegan MoFo 2010: Day Eighteen

Well, it looks like I've finally broken my perfect posting record! I've been working 10-12 hours a day all week, and my evenings have been dark, cold and short.  We're implementing a new accounting system at my job, and the training has been tedious. I haven't cooked much in the way of MoFo-worthy fare, but I have managed not to starve myself. The other night I made tempeh marinated in teriyaki sauce (recipe here) with lo mein noodles and frozen broccoli-stirfry veggies. It was a really satisfying meal and didn't require anything other than what I had on hand. In an effort to strictly budget my spending for the next week, I have not allowed myself to venture to the grocery store for any reason. While I did falter and purchase a bottle of wine (Thursday was the 2010 release of Beaujolais Nouveau!!), I haven't bought anything else in a while - almost three weeks.

So in the spirit of saving dough (and staying classy!) I made a white bean picatta! I've had picatta once in my life, and only after going vegan. Sublime Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale makes a seitan picatta served over mashed potaotes (I think) and it was delicious. I whipped up a quick lemony sauce, tossed in some frozen peas and beans I cooked earlier in the week alongside whole wheat penne for a very satisfying dinner.

Vegan MoFo 2010: Day Seventeen

Day Seventeen: The Frugal Vegan

Last night's snack left me craving something warm and filling. In a successful attempt to use only foods from my current pantry stock, Matt and I created just that. Half a block's worth of tempeh triangles were marinated in a sweet and salty teryaki sauce, adding dimension to a simple vegetable lo mein. A frozen bag of stir fry vegetables (broccoli, red peppers, mushrooms and carrots) was cooked alongside flat pasta to create this tasty dinner. I'll definitely post the recipe tomorrow! Happy MoFo!

Vegan MoFo 2010: Day Ten

Day Ten: Spaghetti Dinner

On top of spaghheeettiii, all covered with noooooch...

There is something uniquely youthful about spaghetti dinners! It's an inexpensive, fast and versatile meal solution that few people actually dislike. Even the pickiest children will enjoy pasta, as long as the noodle shape is enticing and the sauce is just right. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination, or kitchen pantry. As a kid I would load up my portion of pasta, usually short and fat rigatoni noodles, with butter and Parmesan cheese, while my sister preferred marinara (or ketchup!). At grandma's house, my siblings and I always ate spaghetti (cut up by grams) in meat sauce mixed with corn kernels! What was your preferred pasta preparation as a kid?

While there may be exponential amounts of pasta and sauce combinations, nothing compares to good ol' spaghetti and (not)meatballs. Normally I would prefer to devour more interesting varieties of pasta, but who has ever heard of Cavatappi or Conchiglie and (not)meatballs?! I may be keeping the noodle, but one "tradition" I'm not sticking to is the meat in meatballs. Beanballs are my topping of choice! Packed with all the protein, taste and texture and none of the blood, cholesterol or cruelty.

Spaghetti and Beanballs from Veganomicon

From the infamous Veganomicon, a cookbook every vegan should own, this recipe couldn't have been easier! Would you believe me if I said that boiling the pasta water was the most time consuming step? The beanballs are comprised of pantry staples, and allow generous room for modification. They were moist with a crunchy exterior, perfectly remniscent of my childhood spaghetti dinners.

And no spaghetti dinner is complete without..."SPAGHETTI TIME"



Eggplant and Zucchini Rollatini

Genovese and Sweet Basil in the bowl, Lemon Basil on the board.
Fresh herbs from my garden. Such a bounty!

I'll never come to terms with an office job, the 9-5 (6-5 in my case), pushing paper, literally. I've settled for this routine that has developed over the last month, but it's not making me happy. I'm trying to utilize my free time for activities that are all my own. For one, I'm entering the beginning stages of writing a vegan cookzine, but an unconscious fear of incompletion or ill-favored reviews is holding me back from getting it started. I've gathered a modest amount of recipes, compiled mostly from commonly cooked dishes stored in the back of my brain. I'll be requesting the help of my most creative friends to collaborate on the design and layout, and I'll need some recipe testers when the time comes. This idea spawned (at work) out of this realization that I need to be doing more. Something more needs to come out of me, something positive, tangible, and beneficial to others. Something I can take credit for and be happy with.

That being said, work has left me drained. I'm working 5 days a week, leaving the house at 6AM and returning home around 5PM. Needless to say I'm exhausted and have been alternating between mildly dressed up frozen burritos, salads, and pasta. Not this weekend, I told myself. Matt and I have been on an eggplant binge for the last few weeks - they are plump and deliciously cheap at the farmer's market - and I've had my heart set on eggplant rollatini all week.

Eggplant and Zucchini Rollatini with Cashew Ricotta and Lemon Basil

I breaded and baked the eggplant slices, and decided to throw in some sliced zucchini. It's filled with the cashew-ricotta from veganomicon and some lemon basil from my garden. Everything turned out wonderfully...better than I anticipated. Time-consuming and ingredient-heavy meals have a tendency to be altered significantly during my cooking process. I'll usually eat 1/3 of the meal during the time spent in the kitchen, tasting this and that until I'm too full to ever sample the final and complete dish. Not this time around. The effort and time spent on this meal was worth the reward.

Pumpkin Seed Butter

A few weeks ago, before leaving Tallahassee, a couple of friends and I got together for a BBQ. We planned to make the get-together a monthly, if not bi-weekly occasion. Sadly the move to BR limited my attendance. At our first jamboree, our friend Lindsay had recently returned from a trip to Jacksonville. While there she went to one of the most spectacular farmer's markets I have had the experience of hearing about. She brought back a couple of dips and spreads, and I have been on a dip-kick ever since.

There was an Artichoke-Walnut Pesto which everyone seemed to enjoy. The flavors were spot on: a mellow tangy-ness from the artichokes, that was subtly muted by the earthy walnuts. I thought it was a bit too oily, but definitely delicious. I also sampled some raw cashew cheese, which I've been making on a semiweekly basis since that day. All that was in it was raw cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tahini, garlic, and salt.

All of those spreads and dips were fantastic, but the last one I sampled takes the cake. It was a Pumpkin Seed Butter! I've never had raw pumpkin seeds before, and I never enjoyed the toasted ones my mom made after the Halloween tradition, but this was AMAZING! It was creamy and salty and thick and everything I wanted. Needless to say I slathered it on my portabello mushroom burger, baked potato, and even on the cob of corn.

Since then, I've been working on my own recipe for the infamous Pumpkin Seed Butter. Mine has more ingredients than the one I originally sampled, and it also has a hint of sweetness from the agave I decided to add to it. I decided to add some cashews to this recipe just to give it more volume, so feel free to purely use pumpkin seeds. My partner declared this the "IT" dip for pretty much the rest of his existence. Here the recipe and a photo; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Pumpkin Seed Butter
makes 1.5 cups
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/8 cup light agave nectar
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3-4 Tablespoons water

Place pumpkin seeds and cashews into a food processor or blender. Pulse the seeds/nuts into a medium-sized crumbs. Add the agave nectar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Pulse until everything is uniformly combined. Slowly add the water, running the blender until it all comes together as a thick paste. Add more water by the teaspoon until desired consistency is reached.

I prefer my Pumpkin Seed Butter to be thick, so I stick to 3 T of water. At this consistency, it is thick enough to dip and hearty enough to withstand being spread on breads.

Serve this as a dip or spread with crackers, veggies or on sandwiches. I think this would make a really good pasta sauce with a few tweaks. In that case, thin it out with another tablespoon or two of water and throw in some fresh basil for a Pumpkin Seed Pesto (in fact, I think I'll do that for tonight's dinner!).

Moving On + Loads of Food!

Hello again!

These past few months have been nothing but hustling 'n bustling. I'm proud to say that I am now a college graduate, and I'm shaking in my boots. While my day-to-day activities have hardly changed (aside from three or more hours of required reading a night), I'm beginning to understand my life within the "bigger picture." My experiences as an undergraduate were mostly devoted to bettering myself. All of the studying and all of the classes were to foster my interests and expand my capacity for knowledge. Now I'm at a stage in my life where all the lessons and skills ingrained into me are mine. I've learned a great deal from the people I've encountered the last four years, and I'm confident enough in them and in myself to pass these lessons on.

Vegan Yum Yum's Avocado Wasabi Salad

Brown Rice with peas, carrots and a garlic-ginger sauce