Bride of Vegan

We are getting hitched. We're actually in the thick of wedding plans now. We're planning a small but elegant country wedding in central Vermont. People keep asking why VT. When people get married in The Bahamas no one asks them why The Bahamas. Apparently only people who like the beach are supposed to have destination weddings. We do not like the beach, we like the mountains, and we wanted a destination wedding. It's a good excuse to keep the affair small and intimate, which means we get to talk to all of our guests instead of just saying hi to hundreds of people we barely know.

Also, we like Vermont. It's beautiful and relaxing. Lots of green and mountains and fresh air. It's also a civil union state, and since weddings are so expensive, I'd rather spend our thousands of dollars supporting the wedding economy in a state where everyone can be legally joined with their partner. I am all for straight couples boycotting the wedding industry in states that discriminate against same sex couples. The wedding industry makes big money, and refusing to spend your wedding dollars in a place that discriminates is a good way to let lawmakers know that there are economic consequences for their bigotry. What about the poor caterers, photographers, florists, etc. in red state USA? Other industries that want laws made that are favorable to their business get together to pressure lawmakers to change policies in their favor. If the wedding industry cares about this, they too can lobby for a change in policy. If enough people make this a political and financial issue for lawmakers, they'll change what they're doing. Until they do, my wedding money goes to states like Vermont.

Any way, the trickiest part about wedding planning is the vegan thing. Most chefs either do not want to deal with vegans, or don't really understand what's involved with cooking for vegans. We don't eat eggs or dairy or meat. That means we do not eat butter and chicken stock. You'd think this would go without saying, but people seem to not understand that "I do not eat meat" means I also do not eat things made from meat. Also, fish is meat. I know omnivores think otherwise, but take my word for it, vegetarians and vegans do not eat it. If they do, they are not vegans or vegetarians. We also do not eat fish sauce or gelatin. I know it sounds like there is a long list of things we do not eat, but it's a short list and the list only gets long if you mention everything made from the short list of stuff we do not eat. The list of things we do eat is much longer.

The other thing most chefs do not understand is that vegans do not live on granola and hemp seeds. In fact, I can't remember the last time I ate either of those things. We do not want to spend $100 per plate on spaghetti, and we do not consider steaming carrots and broccoli with a dusting of paprika to be haute cuisine. We cook a lot, and are very knowledgeable about food. We can identify celery root and yucca on sight. We can tell you what every item in the produce department is and how to work with it. We have a over dozen kinds of oil and vinegar in our pantry. We know food and we like food. This is our wedding, and we want the food to be just as good as it would be if you were cooking for omnivores. In fact, you could probably get away with being less creative for an omnivore audience. Most of them might not know the difference between olive oil and hazelnut oil. We however do know the difference and we want you to wow us because we are spending a lot of money.

We are planning a trip to VT in a couple of weeks for tastings at wedding venues we liked. So far we have only tried the food at one place (The Weathersfield Inn) and their chef is super amazing. Here is what he made for us:







The Weathersfield is all around a cool place. It's eco-friendly and works with local farmers so the food is always really fresh. In the summer you can eat out under the stars around their cozy fire pit. This inn is worth visiting for any foodie couple looking for a romantic weekend getaway. The chef was really accommodating and nice, not to mention a great cook.

Normally, I do not like to bother people about my dietary choices. I'll join you at the restaurant of your choice and eat a completely lame wedge of Iceberg lettuce for dinner while you eat a steak and never complain. I do not like to impose, and do not like to perpetuate the reputation of vegans being difficult. All of that said, my wedding is my party and it's a day where things need to be done my way. When wedding venues seem put out about my wanting a great vegan meal for the reception it just tells me I need to find some place else that actually wants my money, and understands that this isn't me judging them or telling them to go vegan, or trying to annoy their chef. This is one of the most important parties I'm going to throw in my life and I need to work with a wedding venue that's going to accommodate my requests.

Long Time No Post

I have not been posting because I've been super busy/not cooking as much as usual. I have a few pics from recent adventures in the kitchen but I'm ashamed to say that it's been so long since I've messed around with food pics that I forgot what a few things were!



In any case, now that it's summer. I feel less like cooking and more like drinking. Maybe I should switch to posting about booze. I did make an amazing strawberry shortcake:


I hacked together some not vegan recipes from Food Network's site and veganized them. I also veganized Alton Brown's heavenly home made soft pretzels.



It hasn't been 100% booze and junk food however. I have been playing with my miso soup recipe


At what point is it no longer miso soup? It now includes lemongrass, ginger, spinach, shiitake and baked lemon pepper tofu.

I also made mini pizzas using giant portobello mushrooms instead of dough. I just washed these babies and scooped out the gills with a spoon. Sprayed with olive oil cooking spray and roasted 'em on both sides under the broiler until tender. Then I spooned on some tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella soy cheese. I topped it with some shredded basil from the garden and popped it back under the broiler to melt the cheese. Delicious!


About the soy cheese in my little low carb pizzas above: I used a soy cheese called Teese which is made in Chicago and available from Pangea. If you are a vegan YOU NEED THIS PRODUCT!!!! It melts, for real, better than FYH! We also made a lasagna with it.

Sexy Tomato Soup

I really like soup so it's tough to play favorites, but this one really was amazing and as a bonus it's easy to make! We used veg stock instead of beef stock and Tofutti sour cream instead of Crème Fraiche. Otherwise, we just followed the recipe and ended up making this soup a few times a month thereafter.

Pizza and Wine

We found ourselves hungry and in the mood for booze last night so we made ourselves an awesome pizza from scratch. Unfortunately we drank a bottle of wine while we were cooking so the photo isn't the best.

We used a pretty basic pizza dough recipe but we made ours with whole wheat flour. We used jarred pasta sauce that we enhanced with sautéed shallots and garlic and several generous shakes of dried thyme and oregano. We topped our pizza with fresh basil, mushrooms, soy pepperoni and bell peppers. It was really the best pizza ever, despite our drunken cooking. Actually, maybe the drunkenness improved our enjoyment of the pizza.

Eggplant Adoration

If you love eggplant as much as we do you'll love this roasted eggplant and tomato panino as a mid week meal.



If you are interested in a fancier dinner time eggplant experience, these eggplant tomato stacks look great and they're a breeze to make.



We just sliced eggplants and tomatoes, brushed them with olive oil and roasted them in the oven at 450 degrees untl they started to brown. We then stacked our roasted veggies, sprinkling salt and black pepper and drizzling balsamic between each layer. We topped each stack with grated soy mozzarella and broiled the completed stacks to melt the cheese. We topped our finished stacks with basil chiffonade and served with a side of fresh spinach salad.

Lemongrass Miso

We love lemongrass and we love miso soup so we had to try this recipe.

The results were fantastic. It's a refreshing take on a classic Asian recipe. We did spice our version up a bit with some chili paste though. If you like a little spiciness this makes a perfect addition.

Meatless Mushroomletta

If you love a salty, vinegary, cheesy, messy muffaletta sub but you're looking for a lighter way to indulge you'll really like this mushroom-based alternative. Carb-avoiders take note!

Ingredients:
Olive oil for cooking
4 large portobello mushroom caps cleaned and gills removed
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3/4 cup green olives, chopped
1/3 cup pepperoncinis, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red hot peppers (a jarred version of these should be available at your supermarket)
1 large kosker pickle, chopped
5 oz soy mozzarella

Brush the mushrooms with some olive oil and cook them under a broiler until they become very dark in color and cooked all the way through.

While the mushrooms cook sauté the onions in olive oil until they become golden brown. Combine the cooked onions with the remaining ingredients and mix up the "salad" until everything is evenly distributed. You can adjust the ingredients to taste.

When the mushrooms are cooked spoon the olive mixture into them. Heat the cheese in the microwave to liquefy it and pour cheese over the tops of the stuffed mushrooms.

January Vegetarian Times

We made a few things from the January Veggie Times this month


Broccoli With Peanut Sauce


Tofu Frittata with Zucchini and Onion


Vegetarian Pho (this was so good we made it twice!)


Southwestern Stew

Mushrooms Love Wine

We've been doing a fair amount of cooking with mushrooms and wine and the results have been delicious. We veganized Michael Chiarello's Polenta Bites with Caramelized Mushrooms by using soy cheese, vegetable stock and soy creamer. We were too lazy to do the recipe's suggested presentation (which would have been more suitable for party snacks than dinner for two any way) but the meal was tasty nonetheless.



We also made a crostini dish inspired by this recipe with portobellos, cherry tomatoes and soy mozzarella.

Here's our vegan crostini recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Tbs soy margarine
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Portobello mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tbs soy creamer (we used Silk non-dairy creamer)
1/4 cup soy mozzarella cheese (we used Follow Your Heart)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
baguette (sliced and toasted)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced
2 Tbs soy Parmesan cheese

Heat butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant add in the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the mushrooms become golden brown (approximately 10 minutes).

Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add the cream and cheese. Simmer until the cheese is melted and you have a thickened sauce.

Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Spoon the mushrooms onto the sliced bread and top with tomatoes and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Arrange the crostini on a baking sheet and broil until the tomatoes begin to brown.

Middle Eastern Vegetable Stew

We made this from Linda Fraser's "Essential Vegetarian Cookbook", which I've had around for years but haven't cracked open in forever. If you're considering going veg this is the book to get. It's got lots of really good easy recipes and tons of pictures.

The stew pretty much involved bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, celery, potaotes, chopped tomatoes, chili powder, fresh mint, ground cumin, chickpeas, salt and pepper cooked up in a large casserole in a bit of veggie broth. To get the detailed recipe, look for the cookbook. If you're a seasoned cook, it's the kind of thing you can probably pretty much figure out how to make with the ingredients list. It's a stew so really you just cook everything up in a big pot until tender.

Mmm Chocolate

Once a year I make like 100 chocolate truffles. I spend an entire day on them and make them with different flavored booze and roll them in fancy toppings. They make great holiday gifts for people who kinda already have everything (aka parents and other adult relatives) and people you have no idea how to shop for.

My truffles, are of course, vegan. I use this recipe which works so well that every non-vegan in your life will be pleased with the results. In fact, an omnivore foodie friend of mine who is into candy making actually traded in her truffle recipe for this vegan version several years ago because she was so much happier with the flavor and texture of these truffles than any other recipe she'd ever tried.

Here's a picture of my creations:

Spicy Lemongrass Chicken and Broccoli

Adapted from "Simple, Tasty Vietnamese Cooking" in Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2007

2 T soy sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 T curry powder
2 1/2 T sugar
1 package soy chicken, diced (I used Morningstar Farms soy chicken strips)
3 T water
2 lemongrass stalks, minced
1 shallot, sliced
3 chilies, seeded and minced
2 cups broccoli florets, steamed to tender crisp texture
1 scallion, finely sliced
cooking spray



In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, garlic, curry and 1/2 Tbs sugar. Then add the soy chicken to the sauce and toss to coat.

In a small pan mix the rest of the sugar with 1 Tbs of water and cook over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Cook until a deep amber caramel forms. Rmove from heat and stir in the rest of the water. Set this mixture aside in a bowl.

Heat a wok over high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add the lemongrass, shallot, and chilies. Stirfry for about a minute. Add the chicken (with the marinade), broccoli and caramel mixture to the wok and cook until heated through.

Top the dish with the sliced scallions and serve over steamed basmati rice or rice noodles.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

So warm up with a steaming bowl of soup. Soup is one of my favorite winter meals. Here are a few I've tried lately and liked:

Rosemary Cauliflower Soup by La Tartine Gourmande

The great thing about this soup was that it was really rich and creamy without being heavy and filling. It's perfect comfort food without the calories. I did find the original recipe somewhat lacking in flavor so you'll want to raid your spice cabinet for additional flavor. I added garlic salt, onion powder, coriander and cumin.

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Onions and Apples from Spa Flyer

This recipe had the perfect flavor profile. The butternut squash, onions and apples were ideal compliments to each other. We ended up using vanilla (soy) yogurt for garnish and found the slightly sweet vanilla flavor actually enhanced the flavor of the soup greatly.

Heirloom Tomato Soup by Two Yolks

It's tough to imagine why any one would ever eat soup from a can with recipes this simple and delicious around. This soup derives it's "creamy" consistency from rice. It was a great excuse to pull out our immersion blender so we can feel like Food Network cooks. We served this light soup with some roasted potatoes seasoned with fresh dill and topped with a vegan mayo/horseradish dip.


Chorizo and lentil soup by Seven Spoons

Who says you need veg recipes to make a vegetarian meal? We substituted vegetable stock, soy sausage and soy Parmesan for the chicken stock, sausage and Parmesan this soup recipe called for. The variety of ingredients made for a rich hearty flavor.

Ode to Eggplant

Whether you're looking for a quickie or a long romantic evening with Eggplant it's happy to accommodate. I can't say enough good things about this versatile and underrated veggie so here are a couple of things I've done with it lately that were delicious.

Inspired by Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, I halved some baby eggplants, brushed them with olive oil and roasted them at 375 F for 10 minutes. Then I put them under the broiler (set to high) for a couple of more minutes. I topped them with jarred Whole Foods brand artichoke bruschetta and fresh julienned basil. We had a quick tasty meal in less than fifteen minutes and it was colorful and well-presented to boot!


We also tried out Mario Batali's Eggplant Caponata recipe. This exotic rendition of caponata called for cinnamon and cocoa powder! The results were spicy, unique, and flavorful with just a hint of sweetness.

Thanksgiving Not-Vegan Style

We spent actual Thanksgiving at my parents' house. My mother shared the kitchen with me so we were able to make a few things for ourselves. They really made a special effort to offer food we could eat. This was, of course, appreciated. Actually, there was a lot more vegan food than Matt and I could ever have eaten between the two of us any way. The salad alone was so good I didn't really need anything else. I love a great salad!


"I've Died and Gone to Heaven" Salad with toasted almond slivers, olives, spinach, cucumbers, peppers, red onions, carrots and I forget what else. Yum!


The omnivore spread


Cherry and Clove Spiced Cranberries prepared by your's truly


Baked apples filled with stuffing that my mom made for me and Matt


French Vanilla Pumpkin Pie with a Ginger Praline Crust that I made for the family

Thanksgiving Vegan Style

Usually we have a giant dinner party at our house for Thanksgiving. We cook up a huge vegan feast and all of our (mostly vegetarian) friends come over and we stuff ourselves and get drunk and have a terrific time. This year our presence was, well, demanded at my parents' house so we had to have our annual Thanksgiving dinner party early. It was a great time, albeit a bit hectic. The power company has a habit of fucking with our electricity around this time of year and we had a 13 hour outage that started as soon as I began cutting veggies for our meal the night before and lasted until about 2 hours before our guests arrived. As a result, we had to borrow a friend's kitchen in order to make this dinner happen. This was tough since the friend is a bachelor and has a kitchen you'd imagine a bachelor would have. It's not just ill-equipped, it's small and sort of in the process of being rehabbed. We felt like we were trapped in some kind of horrible Top Chef challenge.

"Tonight on Top Chef the chefs are working in teams of two to prepare a dinner party for 12. They have 6 hours, no electricity and 8 square feet of space, stay tuned for the dramatic event."

The Menu:
- A Salad of Winter Greens with Roasted Beets, Crushed Hazelnuts and a Pomegranate Balsamic Reduction with White Truffle Oil (adapted from the Millenium Cookbook)
- Spinach Garlic and Chickpea Soup
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes (made by friends, don't have the recipe details)
- Cherry and Clove Spiced Cranberries
- Homemade Chestnut Stuffing (made by friends, don't have the recipe details)
- Soy and Seitan "Turkey" with mushroom gravy
- French Vanilla Pumpkin Pie with a Ginger Praline Crust
- Apple Crisp

I am not going to try to convince any omnivores reading this entry that vegan turkey is similar or comparable to real turkey. I've been a vegan since I was a kid so I wouldn't really have any basis for comparison any way. It's a good substitute if you don't eat meat and it is tasty but meat has just never appealed to me so a vegan version of it doesn't thrill me like an amazing salad or delectable pie. We make it out of tradition but I am not trying to sell anyone on the idea of it.

This year was the first year I ever made cranberries from scratch. I don't know what took me so long. The cherries and cloves with the cranberries were amazing!!! Matt wanted to eat it all himself. I doubled the sugar that the recipe I linked called for. That is my only suggested alteration, other than maybe doubling this recipe since it's really really good.

About the pie, I am going to level with you here, I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. It's always been my least favorite really. This changed when I happened upon this particular pumpkin pie recipe last year though. The original recipe came from Fine Cooking Magazine and was written by Abigail Johnson Dodge. Here is my vegan version though:

Pie Crust
1-1/4 C flour
1/2 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c soy margarine
2 Tbs cold vegetable shortening
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs cold water

Praline
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1 Tbs soy margarine
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger


Filling
1-2/3 c canned pumpkin puree
2/3 c dark brown sugar
4 tsp flour
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbs cornstarch
3 Tbs soy milk
1 cup French Vanilla Silk Non-Dairy Creamer
1 tsp vanilla extract


Combine flour sugar and salt in a food processor, pulsing to combine. Add the bugger and shortening, pulsing until crumbs form. Tyrn the dough onto a work surface and shape into a disk. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to one day.

Roll the dough out and line a 9" pie pan with it. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes then bake it in the oven at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes or until the crust's edge is golden brown.

For the praline: In a bowl mix the sugar, soy butter and fresh ginger until well blended. Cumble the praline evenly over the bottom. Bake until the sides of the crust are golden and the praline is bubbling -- about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

For the filling: In a bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, and salt until smooth. Add the remaining filling ingredients and whisk until blended. When the praline is hardened but still warm pour the filling into the crust.

Bake for about 45 minutes and then cool on a rack. Refrigerate over night before serving.


This is what a vegan Thanksgiving platter looks like


Our friends gathered around our dining room table


Fancy Salad


Dessert!

Tangerine Chicken with Honey Chipotle Glaze

Check out these grill marks, baby!



If you've got a hankering for sweet, tangy, and spicy barbecue type fare check out this recipe from Bon Appétit magazine.

I used Morningstar Farms soy chicken strips to make this recipe vegetarian.

Baby Bites

Because I love miniature and bite-sized foods. I sometimes have them for dinner, even though they're typically considered party fare. I like to audition these eats as mid-week meals so I have an arsenal of recipes when cocktail party time rolls around. Most recently I made:


White Bean and Watercress Tartines (from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times)


Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Spanish Olive Tapenade

Veg Times

Fall issues of Vegetarian Times tend to be favorites for me since they are usually loaded with lots of savory rich hearty meals involving root veggies and gourds in particular. Here are the recipes we tried from the latest 2 issues (all of it was terrific):


Hoppin' John with Collard Greens


Harvest Vegetable Medley


Herbed Winter Vegetable Roast


Moussaka

Attack of the Killer Squid

Ever since the spring a package of vegan squid has been staring me down from the pantry. I bought it on a lark when we went to NYC earlier this year and went on a shopping spree in the May Wah vegetarian grocery, which has a veg version of just about anything under the sun. I bought the squid because it was there and I figured I'd find a use for it eventually. Finally, I gave it a purpose and tried my hand at calamari. I used a recipe I found on another food blog and it turned out surprisingly well. We served it with some homemade cocktail sauce and a completely delicious caponata-like dish from Cookthink.