On-hand salad

You know those days, when you feel like you have nothing to eat, and you're really hungry? And you poke through your fridge and make whatever you can find? Well, sometimes you end up with delicious things, such as tomato-kale-chickpea salad, with the only dressing I had in the fridge (also delicious). I give you, on-hand salad: it was perfect!

You are Every Vegan

As vegans, we often feel the need to explain our beliefs, our food, our health and nutrition, and even all the one-off examples people tell us about. You know, that friend who used to be vegan but then all her bones started melting so she had to eat rare steak laced with Skele-Grow immediately to save her life. Because we are often the only vegan they know, we are therefore also Every Vegan--so we feel the need to be ambassador for veganism. All the time. Every day. Even when we're tired or cranky or hungry because the only thing the restaurant can provide us is green salad and dry baked potato. So when we cook for non-vegans, we feel pressure to make an amazing meal, lest the next day they're saying, "Yeah, we had weird vegan food last night. It was horrible! Dry and tasteless--it needed bacon." Because if they did say that, I might have to hurt them--which wouldn't reflect well on me as Ambassador for Veganism. So when I made dinner for 9 of my relatives over Christmas, I was feeling the pressure. Which I shouldn't--I can only do my best and then it's out of my hands. But luckily they it got very good reviews. The choice of dish may have helped. I picked Leek and Bean Cassoulet, from Veganomicon. It's deliciously warming and filling and comfort food-y, and it has biscuits on top. Who doesn't love stuff with biscuits on top?!? Even my anti-vegetable brother liked it. Make it for sharing with the non-vegans in your life. That way, when they meet another vegan, this time they'll say, "Oh yeah, I have a vegan friend. She made amazing cassoulet this one time!" And Every Vegan will thank you. 

Breadmaker focaccia

I bought a breadmaker on the weekend. It was a great price, and my last one had long since given up. But we know what this means: a month of home-made bread, then intermittent neglect mixed with bouts of baking galore.
So, for my inaugural project: pizza dough. It actually tuned into three calzones and some focaccia. To keep me happy with minimal effort, I spread vegan pesto and Daiya vegan cheese on the focaccia before baking. I have yet to find a perfect whole-grain focaccia recipe, but yes, it's like sex and pizza: even if it's bad, it's still pretty good.

Un-photogenic butternut squash soup

I used to be a waitress. It coincided with my discovery of the joys of cooking, and introduced me a whole new way of looking at food. One of the recipes I gleaned from my days there for butternut squash and mushroom soup. I kept pestering the chef what was in it that made it taste so good. I even made it at home, sadly concluded that no, it didn't taste the same, and asked him again. Finally he told me: black pepper. Seriously? Seriously. Just black pepper. It made all the difference. Add fresh ground black pepper (if you don;t have a pepper mill, you should get one--they're awesome) before eating, and your taste buds will thank you. A rough recipe is below. I used it to make the soup pictured, but added a triangle of focaccia to make it photogenic because let's not kid ourselves--pureed orange soup just ain't that pretty.

Butternut squash and mushroom soup
2 teaspoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped medium-fine

1/2 cup wine

1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (chef's recipe called for shiitake, I used king oyester the soup pictured)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 can vegetable broth, plus water

Saute onions in oil until golden, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Add wine (whatever wine you have on hand, whether old or cheap, or even a full cup, no one will know unless you tell me, in which case I'll blog about how I do the same thing) and de-glaze pan, watching carefully. When wine has reduced, add broth and cut butternut squash and additional water to cover. Simmer until the squash is very soft, and mushes a little when you stir it, about an hour. Puree everything--I strongly recommend a stick blender, to avoid an accidental exploding blender incident. Add fresh ground pepper to taste, about half a teaspoon. Also tasty as leftovers.

Spicey noodle breakfast

Late breakfst today: steamed bok choy and brown rice noodles with "dipping sauce" poured over top. Spicey, and suitable for chopsticks, and even healthy--some of my favourite things!! Recipe from Vegetarian Times (and makes 'fast pho' as leftovers too).

Store-bought whole wheat gnocchi with garlic and vegan parmesan.

Black bean burger from Veganomicon with cheddar-style Daiya vegan cheese.

Vegan gluten-free bookclub part 2

Another successful mostly vegan and mostly gluten-free bookclub! I made two gluten-free items for this month's event (since I was hosting): curried potato-cauliflower from Vegetarian Times. I omitted the peas listed in the recipe because I forgot to buy them, but it was yummy! I also made walnut-mushroom pate from Veganomicon--I made a ton and expected it to disappear, but there were so many delicious things there is still some left over for me. The gluten-free bookclubber brought sandwich cookies from Bunner's Bakery. There was also two kinds of hummus and delicious spinach salad with red onion, pear and avocado. And yes, in addition to eating, we did talk about the book a little. I think this month, most of preferred the food to the book!

Grilled cheese breakfast

Breakfast today: grilled cheese with cheddar-style Daiya, cooked in my panini press. An excellent way to start the day.

Of course he loved the sausage

Like cooking, dating can be messy. You try something you thought you'd like and it goes horribly. Or something you were loathe to even contemplate turns out great. Either way, the fun is as much in the process as the end result. Which brings me to sausage.
Now bear with me as I resist the urge to giggle like a 13-year-old, but I bring up sausage because of a date I had on the weekend. I was cooking dinner for a date who indicated he preferred to stay in. Well, fine. But when a vegan hosts an omnivore for the first time, the question is always what to serve that will absolutely and in one fell swoop dispel the myth that vegan food sucks. As it is to so many things, the answer is sausage. Because I only had so many things in the house--my glass of wine after work with a colleague the night before had ended at 10:00 p.m., so I didn't manage to stop at the grocery store on the way home. Which left frozen tomatoes, an onion and some red peppers to form a meal. Pasta it is! With Italian-style navy bean sausage. Mmmmmm.
But when my date appeared I was informed he did not eat carbs. They made him gain weight. Well, fine. Despite the absolute lack of notice--even after a previous conversation about what to make for dinner during which no objections to carbs were raised--I modified the menu and served sausage with the red sauce and zucchini and one very small baked potato. (Even though I suspected his food anxieties were more about the flavour of my vegan dishes than the amount of carbs.) And upon tasting the sausage for the first time--I swear to god I have a straight face right now--my date declared it was delicious. I resisted the urge to scream I told you so and insist it would taste better with some kamut pasta. But it brings me full circle--my date thought the food would be mediocre and it was fantastic, and I thought the date was going to be awesome, and...Well, fine.
Just because things don't often go the way you expect them to, here's a recipe for pinto bean sausages instead.

Brunch at Fresh

Food photo from the past: vegan brunch at Fresh in Toronto: blueberry pancakes, tofu scramble, and vegan sausage.

Oh baby, Babycakes

Babycakes is renowned. RENOWNED, BABY. And I was there. I dragged my friend across New York City while we were on vacation and freaked the hell out. I bought two cupcakes and a sandwich cookie. And then I went to Moo Shoes and bought two pais of gorgeous vegan pumps. BOO-YEAH.

Vegan Ice cream; or, When in Rome

Vegan ice cream. Believe it or not, I found more of it in Italy than in my own city. I KNOW!! I dragged my mother 20 minutes out of the way  on thw way to our hotel on Rome so I could get the vegan ice cream mentioned on HappyCow.net. I was soooo worth it. They had many flavours of soy ice cream, and even...wait for it... vegan whipped cream! Yes, in case you were wondering, Rome is very much like heaven. ...If heaven has cute flirty waiters.

Sicilian ice in Cinque Terre

When I was on vacation in Italy, I got a Sicilian ice in Cinque Terre. Which is weird if you know Italy, since Siciliy is an island in the south, and Cinque Terre is on the coast, toward the north, south of Milan. |But the restaurant we found when exploring the towns of Cinque Terre was owned by two brothers, Sicilians, who are famous for their desserts, and yes, made vegan Sicilians ice. They called is "slushie"--it is made of fresh fruit and nothing else. I had it with an espresso and a lettuce and tomato sandwich, thus proving that you can find vegan food everywhere if you try hard enough. Though you will probably have to explain what vegan is to a very nice Sicilian who wants you to try his desserts.

Pasta e fagioli saved my life

Pasta e fagioli: this dish saved my life. Okay, so maybe not my entire life, it maybe just stopped me from being super hungry and cranky on vacation after a long day of sight-seeing. and maybe the particular restaurant I went to happened to also have a very cute and flirty waiter, but hey, it was Italy, so there were lots of cute and flirty waiters. But this dish certainly was delicious! And the waiter may have proposed to me in Italian while I was eating it, but hey, it was Italy!
This is one of those accidentally vegan foods that you mention when vegans say, "But what do you EAT?!?" (Have you ever heard of a little place called ITALY?!?) Of course, it can sometimes be made with meat broth, but unlike dishes you have to veganize, this one is easy-peasy without substitutions.
Some pasta e fagioli recipes you see are rather, um, chunky. But the picture shows the dish as I ate it when I was in Italy: the beans were partly pureed into smooth deliciousness and partly left whole, and combined with cooked pasta. That's it! A basic recipe follows, from my memory (which is why there are no quantities) but you can add herbs and spices as you like. More beans and less water will make the soup thicker. A side dish of grilled veggies rounds out this meal.
Cute Waiter Pasta e Fagiloi
Vegetable stock
Minced garlic
Chopped onion
Cooked pinto beans
Cooked pasta
In stock pot, saute garlic and onion until soft. Add stock and cooked beans and heat through. Using strainer ladle, remove 1 cup of beans and set aside. With stick blender, puree remaining stock and beans. Return beans to pot and add cooked pasta. Heat through, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with bread.

The most beautiful food

The most beautiful food I ever ate was in New York. I was on vacation, of course, and my co-vacationer and I went down to the oh-so-funky cafe in our hotel. It's so cool in fact that even locals go there! The cafe is Moroccan-inspired, and as I glanced down the menu I noticed not one, not two, but several things I could eat--without even taking off the cheese/sour cream/bacon bits. So I ordered the couscous--and this was what I got. The heavens opened, light shone through the window blinds and illuminated my divine couscous! It had eggplant, pine nuts, raisins and red peppers, and was surrounded by an oil drizzle, and was topped with Delicious light fresh-made hummus. It was so lovely I almost didn't want to eat it. But eat it I did!

The Bowl: just eat it

The Bowl: it's a staple of vegan life. You know, when you have some rice or quinoa, and some stuff to it, and then eat it. It's so much a staple that Appetite for Reduction has a section on The Bowl. Fully one-fifth of the non-beverage menu at my hometown vegetarian resto is about The Bowl. Really, The Bowl is just an opportunity for you to put some things you like altogether with some sauce or dressing, and eat to your heart's content. The thing is: it's also really, really, healthy. Unless you add two whole avocados, way too much dressing, or a bowl bigger than your head, your Bowl is likely to be ridiculously nutritious and satisfying.
The other thing about The Bowl is: it's so versatile, it's almost mid-boggling. You are limited only by what you feel like eating. If you have leftovers, you can probably make into a Bowl! My bowl tends to be the same, because I tend to pick up the same things when I feel like making a Bowl: quinoa base, red peppers (they're not my favourite but they're nutritious), eggplant, mushrooms, chickpeas, avocado and usually store-bought Italian dressing. This time, I went crazy and added arugula and caramelized onion, and left out the chickpeas and the avocado. And you can see I put on a Plate--I mean a plate--and not a bowl, for better photo staging. But it was still delicious! I've listed some additional ingredients below--I had to stop because my fingers got tired. But The Bowl is your friend--make from scratch, use up leftovers, make a make-your-own-bowl spread for dinner. However you do it, it's always delicious!

Veggies:
Peppers
Zucchini
Sweet potato or squash
Kale or other greens
Mushroom
Eggplant
Bok choy
Bean sprouts
Corn
Broccoli
Beets
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Radish
Tomato
Carrot
Onions (raw or sauteed)
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Sun-dried tomato
Protein:
Chickpea, pinto beans,black beans, navy beans, kidney beans...beans!
Tofu
Tempeh
Lentils
Seitan

Vegan sausage or other 'meat'
Fruit and extras:
Mango
Peach
Apple
Strawberry
Berries, dried or fresh
Dates or figs

Walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans. etc.
Fresh herbs
Dressing/Sauce
Basic balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Rice vinegar and sesame oil with chopped garlic and ginger
Store-bought Italian or Greek
Peanut sauce
Tahini-based dressing
Curry sauce