VeganMoFo 2017

Kitchen Tour! | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Eleven

/ Kelly / 7 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week Two: Behind the Scenes
Kitchen tour!

In the two years since my last MoFo kitchen tour, things have changed about as much as possible: I have a new kitchen! In a new house! That I own! Here’s a pano shot from the sliding doors that let onto the carport/driveway.

Our house was built in the ’70s but had been tastefully updated in the last few years, so we didn’t need to do any major remodels or redesigns when we moved in. That was a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse. Of course I’m glad to be spared the expense (although you could argue that it was baked into the asking price), but it also means I didn’t get to personally design my kitchen, and I have no real excuse to remodel it in the near future.

Kitchen counter closeupThe appliances are new(ish) and work great, the cabinets are an inoffensive reddish wood (I know nothing about wood types), the countertops are a sparkly black stone that I actually quite like, and the backsplash is plain white subway tile. I’m not a huge fan of subway tile; I think it’s played out, and the white is just a bit boring. The floors are a textured grey stone, and they’re fine. We painted the walls a country blue, which I liked a year ago and still don’t mind, but I do think a brighter color might be better: Besides the ambient light that comes in from the living and dining rooms, the only real light source is the sliding door…which abuts our covered carport, reducing the amount of direct sunlight we get. Lighter walls might help.

My kitchen is not huge in terms of counter space (especially when compared to the massive butcher-block island we had at our rental!), but by keeping it clean and uncluttered, I actually never have a problem. I’m a methodical, clean-as-you-go cook, so I don’t end up with piles of dishes on every surface. The only appliance that has permanent real estate on the counter is my KitchenAid mixer because it’s a beast and would be a pain to lug back and forth. Everything else is in the pantry/laundry closet (behind the white panel doors in the pano shot above) or another storage spot and is easy to grab. (Steven’s SodaStream keeps encroaching on my counter space, though I try to stash it away…!)

Truth be told, our kitchen is a bit less personalized in our house than it was in our rental. I blame the somewhat impersonal features, but the lack of wall space (for art) doesn’t help. We do have a few Steven-made shelves for various ingredients and some Ikea spice racks on the walls. But the kitchen opens into our dining room, where we’ve put in more personal touches.

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I love our mid-century dining room table — we bought it off Craigslist from a Russian lady and her daughter, and it has built-in leaves that make it surprisingly spacious. The chairs are Crate & Barrel; combined with the table, they match the wood-and-dark-metal theme in our living room.

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To the right of the kitchen entrance, you can see our little bar, a “cellarette” from my grandmother’s house. It’s gorgeous dark wood and just the right size for that space. It opens up to feature a set of cut glass barware that came with the piece. We have lots more booze stored above the fridge, but we keep the pretty stuff on display. (The dining room opens on to the living room, which you can see on the right of this photo.)

Above it is an awesome vintage victory garden poster Steven gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I’d love to get a few more posters of this ilk and move them  in a collage on the wall behind the dining table, which for now is filled with some colorful canvases from our old place.

Dining room detailsTo the left of the kitchen entrance is our coffee bar! The “bar” itself is a cheap piece of furniture I got at a yard sale for $5 years ago (you can see it in use in my previous tour too); I replaced the knobs and gave it a coat of paint and it’s serviceable for now. At some point I’d like to replace it with a piece that fits better with the rest of our decor, but it does offer a lot of storage for things like our food processor and random other small appliances.

Steven built those awesome open shelving units above the bar, which show off some of our prettier hot drink accoutrements. (Ignore the horrible vintage Ronald McDonald plastic plate in the rightmost shelf… Steven was going through some of his childhood crap and thought it would be funny to put it there. VERY FUNNY. HAHA.)

Dining room detailsMcDonald’s merchandise owning aside, Steven has some redeeming characteristics. Namely, the ability to build shelves! Aside from the shelves I’ve already mentioned, he also custom-built these corner shelves, which I use to display my beloved Pyrex collection. It’s just a few steps from the kitchen, so it’s a great way to store these pieces (which I use for cooking and eating regularly).

(You can see one of the previously mentioned colorful canvases in this photo. That wall is really tall because we have near-cathedral ceilings, and we just don’t have enough art to fill that space. Canvases will have to do for now!)

So, there we have it. My kitchen and dining room, such as they are. I’m excited to see everyone else’s cooking space!

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Vegan Pumpkin Streusel Muffins | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Ten

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week Two: Behind the Scenes
 Secret ingredient: Is there an unconventional ingredient or product you use to make a certain dish that no one would suspect?

The idea of “hidden” or “secret” ingredients in my food has always weirded me out a bit, perhaps because I grew up with a younger sister who has some pretty severe nut allergies. “Hidden” nuts in food sent her to the hospital or to her emergency Benadryl/EpiPen stash more than once, so I’m all for transparency in labeling and serving.

That said, I appreciate the idea that sometimes an ingredient might put someone off a food if they knew what was in it. (Hey, kinda like those dumb-dumbs who don’t want to try vegan dishes even though they contain nothing weirder than vegetables, grains, and not-animal-based proteins!) I also appreciate the recipe developers who have found immensely creative ways to add nutrients to apparent junk food in an effort to healthify treats. (Though, to be honest, I personally want my junk food to be junk food and my treats to be treats!) Chocolate-Covered Katie in particular has a whole arsenal of ONE WEIRD TRICK-esque recipes, which rely on surprise ingredients to add moisture and flavor to (and reduce fat and sugar in) her baked goods. (See: a chocolate cake featuring cauliflower!)

So perhaps my issue is with semantics: Call it an “unexpected” ingredient and I have no quarrel with the notion. I even have a few recipes featuring unexpected ingredients of my own (black bean brownies, anyone?).

"Pumpkin" streusel muffins But one of my favorite ways to subvert expectations — while offering superior flavor — is a relatively simple one: using mashed roasted sweet potato instead of pumpkin. Much of the flavors we associate with “pumpkin” are actually the warming spices that typically accompany it, the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice that just scream “autumn!” to most Americans. In reality, pumpkin by itself is quite bland; it really needs the augmentation of said spices (and some sweetness) to shine.

I offer up in its place sweet potato, which plays just as well with those lovely spices yet has an inherent mellow sweetness of its own. Cup for cup, it also boasts more fiber, calcium, and vitamins A and C. Baked into a muffin and topped with a crumbly, oaty streusel, you get a treat that could easily pass for pumpkin. So, next time you fire up the oven to make muffins, pass over the pumpkin and pass me the sweet potato! (Just be on the watch for folks with sweet potato allergies.)

"Pumpkin" streusel muffins

“Pumpkin” Streusel Muffins

Makes 12

Muffin ingredients
  • 1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup roasted and mashed sweet potato
  • 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Streusel topping ingredients
  • 3 T softened butter
  • 3 T flour
  • 3 T rolled oats
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • Dash salt
Method

In a small bowl, mix together the streusel topping with a fork until crumbly and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Prepare a muffin tin by adding silicone or paper liners or spraying it lightly with oil.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients (almond milk through vanilla extract, whisking to combine. Add the sugar and thoroughly mix.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Use a plastic spatula or wooden spoon to mix just until combined; do not over-mix. (If it’s too wet, add a tablespoon or two of flour. Some sweet potatoes seem dryer than others!) Scoop batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each well about 2/3 full. Add a spoonful of streusel to the top of each muffin.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or just until a toothpick or other testing mechanism comes out clean. Enjoy! You’re not eating pumpkin!

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"Pumpkin" streusel muffins

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Vitamix Love | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Nine

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week Two: Behind the Scenes
Go go gadget: A kitchen gadget you couldn’t live without, be it a simple grater or a blender. Alternatively, use a gadget you very rarely use.

Heads up: I’m about to become a total vegan cliche. Today I am extolling the virtues of my dearly beloved Vitamix!

Now, let’s get this out of the way: You don’t need a high-speed blender. You really don’t. I used a regular ol’ blender for six years in my vegan kitchen before welcoming a Vitamix into the appliance fold. But having one does make your culinary life easier, and it does open up new worlds of (creamy! smooth!) cooking possibilities.

Vitamix bookletTruthfully, I probably would have gone much longer without a Vitamix if my wonderful, generous parents hadn’t gifted one to Steven and me for Christmas 2015. They got a great deal on it and knew we’d appreciate it, and we absolutely do! For a while it had pride of place on our counter, but when we bought our house and actual lost a little counter space, it now lives in the pantry. (It’s still easily accessible and comes out to play very frequently.)

For me, a high-performance blender is most valuable when it comes to transforming nuts and seeds into creamy delights. Without a high-powered blender, you need to plan ahead if you want to make cashew cream or the like; you’ll need to soak your nuts to soften them. But that’s just no necessary with my Vitamix, meaning cashew cream, nut-based cheese sauces, and all things creamy are ready for your spur-of-the-moment whims.

My parents also kindly gave us a dry grains container, which is optimized to grind grains into flour. I love using it for turning dried almond pulp (leftover after making almond pulp in the regular Vitamix container!) into almond meal.

The regular (wet) container also makes short work of blended soups and, of course, smoothies. I do notice that it sometimes fails to “catch” the ingredients in my smoothies if I don’t add them in the right order, so it’s not exactly fail-safe.

Vitamix at homeSpeaking of which… I’d hoped to have a fun, slightly unusual blender recipe to share with you today: pancakes! I’ve always been leery of blender pancakes, fearing that the whir of blades would decimate any gluten strands in my batter and leave the resulting pancakes a gummy mess. Yet recipes for blender pancakes abound, so there must be some trick to it. I wanted to offer up a recipe that relied solely on roasted bananas (!) for sweetness, imagining that slow roasting would bringing out caramelly notes in the bananas’ flavor to make up for the lack of added sugar. (Steven is currently avoiding sugar, so I wanted to make something sweet he could still enjoy.)

Well. Well. My fears about blender pancakes proved true. I’m not sure what y’all are doing with your blender pancakes, but mine were gummy and just… odd. (The fact that I only had whole-wheat flour definitely didn’t help.) I’ll try again, but didn’t have the opportunity to do so before writing up this post. Alas.

So, instead, here are some other recipes that rely on a high-speed blender. Maybe my roasted banana pancakes will make an appearance another day… but not today. Sigh.

Editor’s note: This post includes affiliate links. If you purchase something through my link, it costs nothing extra for you, but I get a few pennies to help cover hosting costs.

Template for an Enticing Salad | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Eight

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
You do make friends with salad: A salad to win anyone’s heart.

Colorful rainbow saladEarlier this summer, I had a bit of a salad revelation. It is, perhaps, a bit embarrassing that it took nearly eight years of veganism for me to realize that you can make a salad with LITERALLY ANYTHING YOU WANT. Limiting yourself to raw vegetables only? How provincial. Throw in some roasted veg, some beans, some crispy chickpeas… there are no rules! Limiting yourself to a particular set of flavors is also unnecessary — you can mix and match flavors with abandon. Make every bite a surprise!

So today I present to you an extremely loose template for creating a salad that both empties your fridge and leaves you full. Customize it according to your tastes and available veggies (or… fruits?! Get crazy!) and munch away. Salads aren’t just for bunnies anymore.

Template for a Super-Filling Salad

Serves 2

  • Greens (a few large handfuls): baby spinach, arugula, baby kale, romaine, mesclun… heck, even iceberg if you’re desperate!
  • Raw veggies (choose 2-4): sliced carrots, chopped tomatoes, shredded cabbage, sliced mushrooms, chopped peppers, thinly sliced radishes, diced avocado, edamame, sliced cucumber, chopped celery (not recommended, but acceptable if you’re desperate to get rid of it)
  • Roasted veggies (choose 1-2; optional but recommended): squash (delicata would be lovely), eggplant (I used cute Turkish eggplants in the salad shown above), cauliflower, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, corn kernels, diced beets
  • Protein (choose 1-2): cubed and marinated tofu, crispy roasted/sauteed chickpeas, crumbled veggie burger, Beyond Meat (or other) chicken shreds, crumbled tempeh, beans
  • Something sweet (choose 1; optional): dried cranberries, dried cherries, candied pecans/walnuts/other nuts, thinly sliced peaches/apples/pears, fresh berries
  • Crunchy topping (choose 1): hemp/sunflower/pumpkin seeds, croutons, extra-crispy roasted chickpeas, chopped nuts
  • Dressing (choose 1): classic olive oil + vinegar/lemon, Green Goddess, spicy almond (or peanut) butter,  Caesar, lemon-tahini, turmeric-ginger

Basically, do whatever the heck you want when it comes to salad. And let me know your favorite combinations — I’m looking for inspiration!

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An “Original Vegan” Dish | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Seven

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
Original vegan: Vegan meals that aren’t trying to replicate meat/omni ingredients.

I just love this prompt. My tastes tend to be cyclical; I’ll go through periods where I’m all about veg meats and cheeses, then longer stretches of time when I eschew those in favor of more whole foods. While I mused on this prompt, my mind immediately went to elevated dishes involving unusual takes on typical veg ingredients. Curried kasha, cooked in coconut milk and spices?! An elaborate pasta dish with plenty of roasted tomatoes from my still-abundant garden?!

…but then I took a step back and realized this is the perfect opportunity to highlight a super easy, nourishing, healthy veggie meal. The kind that, truth be told, I rely on most weeknights. Especially this time of year, when it’s getting a little chillier out and I don’t mind turning on the oven, I love featuring roasted veggies in my dinners. It’s not unusual for Steven and I to sit down with a bowl of two or three roasted veggies, maybe a grain, and some tofu or beans for protein. Meals don’t need to be a single cohesive dish to be satisfying; sometimes a bowl with a few simple yet tasty components can be remarkably satisfying.

Simple, veggie-rich bowlSo I present to you a vegan dinner that is simple, satisfying, terribly healthy, and quite affordable. It lends itself well to scaling up or down, depending on how many diners you’re serving, and can be augmented with additional roasted veggies depending on what you have wilting in your crisper at the moment. I used delicata squash (the first of the season!), spicy marinated tofu, and steamed kale. Roasted sweet potato would also be lovely here. You can swap out the garam masala (which I’ve used on my delicata rings) for another spice blend of choice, but I like the way the sweet spices works with the kickier harissa-spiced tofu. You could certainly fancy this up with a sauce, but I kind of like the simplicity of enjoying each element’s individual flavors. (Pardon my rough recipe; this is not a meal that requires precise measurements! And pardon the rough phone photo; I was hungry!)

Simple Veggie-full Dinner Bowl

Serves 2

1 lb extra-firm tofu, pressed
1-3 tablespoons Harissa paste, to taste
~1 tsp garlic powder
1 delicata squash
Vegetable or olive oil
1-2 tablespoons garam masala
Dash salt (optional)
3-4 roughly chopped handfuls curly kale
Lemon juice (optional)

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

First, prepare the pressed tofu by slicing it into ~1” cubes. Toss it with harissa paste and garlic powder and set aside to marinate.

Trim the ends off the delicata, then slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, then cut each half into ~3/4” half-moon slices (see photo above). Toss with a little oil, garam masala, and salt, if using. Spread onto a baking sheet and pop in the oven, setting the timer for ~15 minutes. (Note: You can flip your rounds at some point to ensure even cooking, but I don’t always do that. #lazy)

When the squash rounds are nearly done (at about 15 minutes), heat a little vegetable oil in a cast-iron skillet or other nonstick pan. Add the tofu cubes to the skillet and cook on medium heat, flipping occasionally, to brown them slightly. When they’re about done and the squash is fork-tender, start boiling water for the kale.

Remove squash from oven and let cool slightly while you steam the kale for ~3 minutes, until bright green and tender but not overdone. You can drizzle the kale with lemon juice at this point if you’d like.

Add a good portion of each component to your bowl and enjoy!

Editor’s note: This post includes affiliate links. If you purchase something through my link, it costs nothing extra for you, but I get a few pennies to help cover hosting costs.

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For the Love of Vegan Cheese | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Six

/ Kelly / 3 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
Vegan cheese is “real” cheese! Showcase your best cheesy dish.

Steven and I just returned from an incredible all-vegan vacation (more on that later), and we had the chance to chat with plenty of vegans — many of them newish — about veg products available in the States and abroad (we were in London and Norway). Among the newer vegans, conversation often turned to perhaps the most deeply desired — yet frequently disappointing — food: cheese. As in, which brands are good, which brands are horrible, which products lend themselves well to which application. For the almost-vegans we chatted with, cheese was frequently the sole item they found themselves craving and occasionally indulging in.

I’ve talked about cheese quite a few times on the ol’ blog. In truth, though, after eight years without it, I really don’t miss it. Sure, I’d love a perfect analogue for the sharp, sliceable Vermont cheddar I grew up with, but you know what? I’m not going to spend my time crying about it. Instead, I just enjoy what’s available to me now and rest easy knowing that I’m not contributing to any of the horrors endemic to the dairy industry.

Cow in Olden, Norway

No cows harmed in the making of my cheese.

If you’re a new vegan missing cheese (or a would-be vegan scared about missing it), my best advice is to just stop eating it for three to four weeks. Give it a break. Avoid vegan substitutions. Then, when you’ve lost the taste for it just a bit, dive on in to the myriad substitutes available and enjoy them as they are. They are not identical to their dairy-based counterparts, but many are still damn tasty. From local, small-batch producers (such as our MD-based This is Vegan Foods varieties) to countrywide powerhouses (Miyoko’s!) to big-time international brands (Follow Your Heart!), there are a whole lot of vegan cheesemakers out there. Here are some of my current picks for the best vegan cheeses (barring in mind that I actually don’t buy vegan cheese all that often!).

My favorite store-bought vegan cheeses

  • The best slices for sandwiches or grilled cheese: Field Roast Chao slices, any flavor
  • The best artisanal cheese for a cheese-and-cracker snack plate: Anything from Miyoko’s Kitchen
  • The best shakeable parmesan that reminds you of the cheap stuff you used to dump onto pasta: Go Veggie (or straight-up nooch!)
  • The best cream cheese for bagels: Kite Hill chive (I used to be a diehard Tofutti fangirl, but I tried Kite Hill recently and was smitten!)
  • The best shreds: UNDECIDED! The new Follow Your Heart ones seem pretty promising, but I’m between favorites right now. ;) Violife is new to the U.S. and I’d love to try their offerings!
  • The best queso for nachos, baked potatoes, or even modifying for mac ’n’ cheese: This recipe, which I use frequently — it’s deceptively simple and so satisfying. I use unsweetened almond milk instead of water to make it extra creamy.

I also enjoy making my own cheeses. Anything from Miyoko Schinner’s Artisan Vegan Cheese is bound to be great, but here are a few other recipes I like.

My favorite homemade vegan cheeses

Creamy vegan butternut squash gratin // govegga.comI’m also a big fan of a simple cashew cream when I want something evocative of cheese but not overly flavorful. One of my favorite applications to date was in this butternut squash gratin, which uses both cashew cream and coconut milk to create an ultra luxe sauce. It’s a decadent recipe, perfect for the holidays

What are your favorite cheeses, either store-bought or homemade?

 

 

Editor’s note: This post includes affiliate links. If you purchase something through my link, it costs nothing extra for you, but I get a few pennies to help cover hosting costs.

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An Omni-Persuading Meal | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Five

/ Kelly / 6 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
Conversion meal: What would you make to convince an omni to convert?

Call me a spoilsport, but would someone really go vegan based on food alone? If a person chooses to reduce the variety of foods they eat, they’re not gonna do it just for fun, without a compelling reason. So let’s assume a baseline for this prompt: The “someone” in question — let’s call her Jane Omni — has already bought in to the underlying arguments for going vegan, but she needs reassurance that she’ll still have lots of delicious food to eat with this new lifestyle. (Am I being too pedantic and interrogating this prompt more than necessary? Probably. I just like guidelines, OK?!)

So. Pedantry acknowledged, let’s move on! Jane Omni is ready to go vegan and I have the immensely important task of feeding her incredible food to help convince her to make the switch. Forget fake meat, mac ’n cheese, even ice cream… Jane and I are doing brunch. A massive, sweet and savory, boozy brunch with lots and lots of options. It will last hours. She will leave in mild stomach pain. She won’t eat until the next morning. This is the shock and awe conversion approach; I’m appealing to the ravenous glutton that resides in all of us.

Vegan breakfast at Deer Run B&B, a vegan bed and breakfast in the Florida Keys

(Also, the booze is key. I’m going to get her good and tipsy so she’ll remember the meal fondly. She might even drunkenly pinkie-promise to go vegan. Hey, I didn’t say I’d be playing fair!)

Our disgustingly expansive brunch will include:

  • All the fixings for mimosas and Bloody Marys (house-made, fish-free Bloody Mary mix included!)
  • Fresh juices (I’m thinking orange and mango?)
  • Hash browns AND home fries AND lovely  herby roasted potato wedges, to satisfy any potato preference
  • A big pan of basic tofu scramble, with optional sautéed veggie add-ins (peppers, onions, mushrooms) and lots of hot sauce and ketchup for topping
  • Tortillas, homemade refried beans, diced avocado, cheesy shreds, and pico de gallo to make breakfast burritos with the aforementioned tofu scramble
  • Sweet potato and veggie chorizo hash (also acceptable to stuff into a burrito)
  • Made-to-order waffles with optional add-ins
  • Stacks of classic fluffy pancakes, plus homemade vegan butter, plenty of pure maple syrup, and fruity toppings (blueberry sauce! apple compote!)
  • The lemon-poppy seed muffins from Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For, because they are the best
  • Scones! Regular and potato.
  • Rice paper bacon. This is ballsy, but I’m going to wait until she’s tipsy to bring it out. I probably won’t call it bacon; I’ll just serve it up and let her enjoy it for what it is.
  • Bowls of fresh fruit, cut up into charmingly bite-sized pieces for easy health food consumption amidst the rest of this unhealthy decadence
  • Some amazing fluffy homemade biscuits and a vat of vegan sausage gravy
  • DOUGHNUTS. Dozens.

Vegan breakfast at Deer Run B&B, a vegan bed and breakfast in the Florida Keys

Listen. If Jane Omni doesn’t make the switch after rolling out of my house, belly full and booze-addled, she’s a lost cause.

…and now I’m hungry for brunch.

Note: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase something through my link, it costs nothing extra for you, but I get a few pennies.

An Improved Catered Meal | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Four

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
Catering: Improve on the worst catered meal (wedding, party, conference, etc)
you’ve been served.

When it comes to catered events, I’ve been pretty lucky: The majority of the weddings, conferences, and other food-featuring events I’ve attended had at least one respectable vegan option on offer. Chalk it up to a combination of thoughtful friends and a real lack of conference-going on my part. (The only conference I’ve been to in recent memory took place in Seattle, and the organizers made sure there were quite a few vegan dishes for lunch. They were tasty, too — see photos below!)

It’s completely possible I’m just blocking out a particularly woeful meal from my memory, but my candidate for worst catered meal is pretty benign: a boring salad, potatoes roasted in margarine, and rolls. Certainly not exciting, but not horrifying. If I had to recreate that meal, I’d make the potatoes my main dish — perhaps as part of my spicy potato and tofu chorizo casserole? Adding tofu would provide protein, making this a filling meal.

Spicy Potato Casserole with Tofu Chorizo

Truthfully, if I were eating this at home, I’d eat it alone. But in this remade catered meal, I suppose I’d have to add a few side dishes. Mirroring the lackluster meal mentioned previously, I’d pair the casserole with some homemade dinner rolls — maybe Vaishali’s pull-apart multigrain rolls? — and a simple side salad. How about a nice hearty kale salad dressed with the the classic lemon-tahini dressing from Oh She Glows?

I guess I’m not too sad I don’t have more to say for this prompt. If I did, it would speak to a sad history of sad catered meals. But I can’t wait to see what everyone else shares!

 

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Protein-Packed Vegan Meals | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Three

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
But where do you get your protein? Make a protein-packed meal.

This prompt gave me a chuckle: I devoted all of VeganMoFo 2014 to sharing meals that are high in some of the nutrients vegans get grilled about: calcium, iron, and — duh — protein. (Side note… gosh, that photo of Luna in the link above is squeezing my heart. My little baby girl. I miss her so much.)

So, protein. Although I briefly considered developing a brand-new, protein-centric recipe for today’s prompt, I decided instead to plumb the depths of the ol’ blog and share some older recipes that fit the bill. Let’s call it recycling. ;)

First, a few words about protein. (I’m also recycling (and retooling) these from a 2014 post).

Marinated Tofu Sandwich

Where do vegans get their protein?

The “But where do you get your protein?!” has a pretty simple answer: From nearly everything I eat. Here’s what the American Heart Association has to say on the matter:

“You don’t need to eat foods from animals to have enough protein in your diet. Plant proteins alone can provide enough of the essential and non-essential amino acids, as long as sources of dietary protein are varied and caloric intake is high enough to meet energy needs.” (1)

Still, protein-related myths abound. One oft-cited “fact” is that plant proteins are inferior to their animal-derived counterparts because they don’t provide all essential amino acids in a single source (and are thus called “incomplete” proteins). Based on this belief, some sources will say that you must consume all of your complementary proteins in a single meal to derive the full protein benefit, but that’s been disproven. Instead, as long as you eat a variety of proteins throughout the day, your body can take care of combining them. (2)

(For a further, more in-depth read, I highly recommend The Vegan RD’s primer on plant-based protein. Ginny Messina is a vegan treasure!)

How much protein do vegans need?

So — how much protein do you need? Not as much as lots of people think. Unless you’re very active, 10-30% of your calories should come from protein. (3) The USDA has tool for tailored nutrient recommendations here. I’ve done a few calculations, and I should be getting between 50 and 70 grams per day. What does that mean in real-world food terms? Well, half a block of tofu has around 18 grams, half a cup of tempeh has 15 grams, and half a cup of black beans has 20 grams. And those are just the protein powerhouses! Most of the incidental foods we eat contain at least a little protein, and those grams add up. For example, bagels often contain around 10 grams of protein. A small handful of almonds gives you around 4 grams. Eat a balanced, whole-food-heavy diet, and you should have little trouble meeting your needs.

Hearty, protein-rich vegan veggie stew // govegga.com

What are some protein-heavy vegan recipes?

Glad you asked! Why not try one of these?

Sources cited:

(1) http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Vegetarian-Diets_UCM_306032_Article.jsp 
(2) http://www.theveganrd.com/vegan-nutrition-101/vegan-nutrition-primers/plant-protein-a-vegan-nutrition-primer/http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html
(3) https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/appendix-7/

Note:

I’m neither a doctor nor a dietitian; please don’t treat my posts as medical advice! Consult a medical practitioner for specific medical or nutritional recommendations.

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Vegan Doughnuts Forever! | VeganMoFo 2017 Day Two

/ Kelly / 12 Comments

VeganMoFo 2017

Week One: Changing Vegan Perspectives
Junk food forever! It’s not all kale chips and chia seeds being a vegan – show us your fave vegan junk food.

Let it be known: I am a vegan — first and foremost, forever and always — for the animals. The environmental benefits come second, followed by human rights. A distant last? Health.

Look, I don’t doubt that a plant-based diet is heaps healthier than the so-called Standard American Diet. Anyone switching from consuming lots meat and dairy will probably experience health benefits. But do I believe that veganism will cure cancer/solve the alleged obesity epidemic (ugh)/guard its adherents against every disease? Hell no. Overblown health claims are, frankly, detrimental to the movement. If you promise a would-be vegan a life of perfect health and the reality doesn’t match up to that promise, how likely is she to stay vegan? Not very. Touting overblown health benefits is not an effective long-term strategy.

Plus, my veganism isn’t a diet; it’s a lifestyle that aims to reduce suffering. So, all this is to say that I love vegan junk food. Unashamedly. Do I indulge in it every day? No. My own body feels best and most in balance when I eat mostly whole foods, with lots of fruit and veggies. But that doesn’t mean I will not scarf down a bowl of ice cream or half a pan of apple crisp or yes, a large portion of a bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos on a Friday night. (Yes, the latter is vegan. I know.) I might eat two or even all three of those.

However, I definitely do play favorites when it comes to vegan junk food. And my ultimate favorite will-drive-many-miles-to-obtain snack? Doughnuts. Delicious doughnuts. I used to think of them as the final frontier in vegan dessert, and craved them with a sugar-desiring hunger. (See this four-year-old post for proof of my obsession! And during VeganMoFo 2011, I talked about missing them. Ha!)  Nowadays, I am #blessed to have two vegan doughnut producers in somewhat-easy reach, and I indulge whenever possible. And I have changed my mind about the final frontier: It’s angel food cake. Sigh. I miss that stuff.

Three doughnutsSo, doughnuts. My all-time favorite doughnut-slinging establishment is Glory Doughnuts, which I mentioned here. Not only does this all-vegan joint bake up dozens of creative doughnuts (those are maple bourbon, the coconutty Chewbacca, and key lime pie in the photo), but they also serve savory breakfasts that just scream “Sunday brunch!” Think tofu fried egg sandwiches, fried cookie butter-filled French toast, PBR-infused Belgian waffles… ugh. Plus, it’s a woman-owned business, which makes me love it even harder. If this place were closer to me (it’s about 25 minutes away, in historic Frederic, Maryland), I would be sorely tempted to eat there all too frequently.

Donut Alliance treatsNow, a newcomer to the Maryland vegan doughnut scene:  Donut Alliance, previously mentioned here. I’ve only had their offerings once, but I was impressed. Clockwise from top left, that’s strawberry margarita, birthday cake, Samoa, and maple bacon. YUM. I really loved these light, fluffy doughnuts! Unfortunately for me, Donut Alliance doesn’t have a storefront and only sells their goods at Baltimore businesses. Baltimore is about an hour away, so my chances to indulge in these fried treats are few and far between. But I’ll take all the opportunities I can get!

Vegan Treats doughnutFinally, my #1 choice for cake-y doughnuts: the inimitable Vegan Treats. Is there anything this mecca for sweet-toothed vegans can’t do?! VT is about a three-hour drive away, and I’ve only been there once (for my birthday!) BUT, our local Loving Hut (which is about 45 minutes away, in Falls Church), frequently has VT desserts on offer. That’s where I picked up the doughnut pictured above (and discussed, in great detail, here.) I used to brave the massively long Vegan Treats line at D.C. VegFest to get my fix, but now I’d rather just get some pho at Loving Hut and wrap it up with a VT dessert. ;)

Alas for me, I’ve never been to Dunwell or Voodoo or any of the other big-name vegan doughnuteries. One day. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my local faves. I also just became the proud owner of six individual doughnut ring pans and so far have made one baked chocolate doughnut recipe. It was… just OK. I think, at the end of the day, I’d prefer a deep-fried, totally unhealthy, professionally made doughnut. But if you’re open to homemade goodness, here are some recipes that look pretty good to me:

So. What’s your favorite vegan indulgence? And what’s the best purveyor of vegan doughnuts near you?

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