Your Vegan Mom

Nacho Cheese Party

 

One of my heroes, my Great Aunt Joyce, used to throw a legendary super bowl party filled with snacks and cocktails and illegal betting.  It was almost enough to get me behind football.  A good vegan nacho cheese party could maybe do the same.  

Nacho Cheese For a Crowd
If you double this recipe it will fill your big crock pot and make a nice vat of slightly spicy molten cheese sauce to douse your tortilla chips.  If you don't have oat flour and arrowroot starch, you can replace it with 3/4 cups all-purpose flour.  If you want to make a more reasonable portion (enough for 3 or 4 people), divide the recipe by three (You can use 3 T oat flour + 1 T arrowroot starch or 1/4 c ap flour). 

• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
• 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup non-dairy butter
• 3 cups soy milk
• 1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes with chilies 

In a medium sauce pan, or a big pot if you're going to double it, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add the soy milk.  Turn on the heat and whisk continuously while the mixture heats.  When it begins to bubble, whisk constantly for about one minute.  It will thicken considerably, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Stir in the butter and tomatoes.  Blend until smooth.  (If you have one, an immersion blender is seriously the way to go here.)  In a pinch, you could just leave it chunky.  

Serve hot over tortilla chips. 

Biscuits and Gravy and Weekends

 

(I wrote this on Saturday morning.  There may be some verb tense confusion, but maaan, it's been a bit hectic here.  You'll forgive me, right?)  

 Desmond was at my mom's all last week.  This sounds great.  Three is such a fun and exhausting age, what with all the creative play (Seriously, if Bob the freaking Builder and I have to fix those noisy flipping pipes one more flipping time...) and instant melt downs (Candy is not a reasonable breakfast request, even if you call it fruit candy), that a few days off really should have been lovely.  

But it wasn't exactly planned.  I dropped him off on Tuesday after my computer wasn't ready and I was going to have to drive back across the city again the next day in the rain with two children to the not (surprise!) kid-friendly computer store, after I hadn't got any writing done for days following the catastrophic apple juice spill of last Tuesday. (This week's tip: children's beverages and laptops don't mix.)  But then it was raining so hard the next day that my mom decided to keep him just one more night instead of getting on one of Los Angeles' semi-flooded freeways.  And then the next day we had a couple lengthy doctors' appointments about Felix's poor misshapen head (I think he's going to need a helmet.  Anybody have experience with the DOC band?  Snake oil?  Medical necessity?  Nightmare experience?  Totally fine?  How about your insurance?  Was it covered?  I'm a bit of a wreck on the subject.)  And then, the rain again.  So Desmond inadvertently had a bit of an extended vacation with the grandparents.  And I didn't fully realize until he came home today, just how very, very much I missed him.

It is so nice to have our whole family at home right now.  Everybody is happy.  Paul.  Me.  The Baby.  Desmond.  It's even supposed to be sunny all weekend.  And we're going to investigate the lagoon-sized puddle in the park.  We discovered it on Monday afternoon during a brief break in the rain.  There were three families full of boys there with a boogie board, a foam surf board, a broom paddle, and lots of sticks.  It was like Tom Sawyer's Island, except there was also a delighted toddler in pink rain boots stomping about the edges.  We have some super serious playing scheduled for this weekend.  We'll need to fortify with a serious breakfast.

There will be biscuits.  And gravy.  I won't bore you with another biscuit recipe.  I've recently been loving this one, but I've had passionate flings with more biscuit recipes than I care to admit.   

And I like to think that this gravy serves them proud.  You simmer crumbled tempeh with breakfast sausage-y seasonings*, before whisking in your flour and milk.  It's easy and a whole lot better for you than the traditional version, leaving you more fat points for an extra biscuit.  With strawberry jam and a second cup of coffee, please.  

Sausage Gravy for Biscuits (or just life in general)

• 4 ounces tempeh (that's half a standard package)
• 3 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• small pinch of fennel
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• salt and pepper to taste

Crumble or roughly chop the tempeh.  Combine the Bragg's through the fennel in a small sauce pan.  Add the tempeh and simmer over low heat until all the liquid is absorbed.  

Turn up the heat a bit, add the flour and cook, stirring, for about a minute, just to get rid of the raw flour flavor.  Stir in the milk, and let simmer to thicken.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot over biscuits.

(Gravy can be made ahead and reheated.  If gravy thickens too much, whisk in more milk.)

 

*Sausage-y seasonings totally inspired by Lindsay Nixon's seitan breakfast sausage recipe in this month's Vegetarian Times.  Thanks!   

 

Bake Sale!

 

 

We're eating down the pantry this week, so that I can funnel most of the grocery budget into baked goods. This is a responsible decision because all of the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and the baked goods will be homemade treats provided by the vegan bakers of Los Angeles.  I'm not sure if you know this, but there is a deliciously high population of vegan bakers in this city, and an event like this fosters a congenially competitive baking spirit that benefits us all.  This is a serious opportunity to try some radical treats. Also, if I understand correctly, Locali will be donating a portion of their profits that day to Doctors Without Borders as well.  So maybe it's finally time to fork over the cash for the Dr. Cow cheese.  If you're not in Los Angeles, there's probably a bake sale near you.  You can find more information on the Post Punk Kitchen blog, and there's more details about the Los Angeles sale here .

See you Sunday!

Roasted Cauliflower

 

Totally addicting bar snack or nutritious side dish?  You decide.  I am completely fine with it being both.  Incidentally, Desmond loves this as much as Paul and I do.  We tend to eat it with our fingers before dinner.   

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 medium head cauliflower
• about 2 tablespoons canola oil
• about 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• about 1/2 teaspoon salt
• about 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (optional)

Heat the oven to 400.  Trim the cauliflower into medium florets.  Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil.  Sprinkle with garam masala and salt.  Mix it around with a spatula to evenly distribute the seasonings.  Roast for about 45 minutes, until well browned in spots.  Toss with fresh cilantro if you like - it looks pretty and adds a nice fresh note, but it is equally delicious without.    

Your Tuesday Tip: maximize your citrus

 

I've counted the lemons on my tree, so I'll know if you pick one.  Don't.  It actually wasn't hard.  There were 5.  Now after a batch of muffins and margaritas, there are 3.  So I really, really appreciate this tip:

Throw citrus rinds into a freezer bag for later zesting.

Have you tried this?  I love the idea, because I am certainly not going to waste a single bit of flavor from any of my precious, precious lemons.  Plus, the citrus at the farmers market is just spectacular right now, and sometimes I want the quick zing of a squeeze of lime and don't need that flavorful zest just yet.  

This tip comes from Dollars to Donuts: Comfort Food and Kitchen Wisdom from Route 66's Landmark Rock Cafe (which was recently sent to me to review).  While this is not remotely a vegan cookbook, I still found it to be a fun read.  The chapter on pork chops gave me lots of ideas for ways to prepare tempeh, and the book is populated with little practical kitchen tips that are super-useful - like that one up there about your somewhat spent citrus fruits.  

How about you?  What do you do with the peel? 

PuPu Platter: Happy New Year!

 

 We just got back from Felix's 4 month check-up.  He's 20 pounds 12 ounces, or about the size of the average American 9 month old, which explains why the 0-9 month diaper covers already don't fit.  So, go vegan babies.  

I hate the mall, but yesterday, when Desmond was at my mom's house, Paul, Felix, and I found ourselves in the Beverly Center.  Did you know that they have a really pretty outdoor eating space just off the food court on the third floor?  It was a mild evening, and we were the only ones out there watching the pink light of the setting sun bounce off the buildings downtown.  So beautiful.  And all enclosed.  I made a mental note that this would be a good place to eat with a rambunctious toddler.  Plus the pastagina (Really?  Pastagina?  Is that supposed to rhyme with lady privates?  Because that's certainly how I'm going to say it.) inside has at least one pasta that is specifically marked vegan.  I appreciate that, pastagina.  Thanks.    

To Live and Eat in L.A. just wrote about another place that I love to eat with kids.  Good Girl Dinette is super-comfy and kid-friendly, and those rice cakes with crispy scallion tofu are as amazing as they look.  

Tal Ronnen, of The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat fame, will be at the Pasadena Whole Foods tomorrow from 5:30 - 7:30.  There's information to RSVP on their site. 

21-Day Vegan Kickstart looks like a really great resource for the vegan-curious.  

I love these calendars that Cameron Blazer, the Cottage Industrialist, created for you to print out.  Now I just need some really nice paper and probably some printer ink.  

I'm heading to Trader Joe's right now, and I seriously hope they're out of Candy Cane Joe Joes, though the boy has somehow got it in his head that because we ran out, we're going to make some.  I'm looking at this recipe.

Happy New Year!  

Sun-dried Tomato Cashew Cheese Spread

 

I'm going to have to make this quick.  Paul went back to work yesterday, so it's just me and these two maniacs.  I know the flip side of that statement is that I am pretty freakin' lucky to have had him at home for the first three and half months of Felix's life.  But now...now I'm going to have to relearn how to live.  On my own.  Without my partner, dish washer, diaper changer, toddler entertainer, and the only member of our household not prone to breaking into dramatic fits of crying.   

Snacks will be essential.  I always try to have some kind of spread in the fridge to dip crackers in or smear on bread when there isn't time to otherwise feed myself.  I mentioned this cashew-yogurt cheese a few months back, but it bears repeating.  With four ingredients in the base recipe, about 5 minutes of prep time, innumerable variations, and rich, delicious flavor, I think it deserves to be as trite as hummus in the snacking lexicon.  Make it so.  

Also, while I eat it straight out of the repurposed yogurt container in the fridge, it would be easily fancied up by, you know, putting it in a bowl, and maybe even busting out that tiny cheese knife that you never use.  You could add a garnish of chopped basil and call it a chiffonade.  Surround it with some fancy crackers or toasted slices of baguette and your New Years Eve cocktail soiree is served.  

Sun-dried Tomato Cashew Cheese* 

• 3/4 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• scant 3/4 cup plain soy yogurt (or 1 6-oz. container)
• 1 clove garlic
• about 6 small sun-dried tomatoes

In the bowl of your food processor, grind the cashews finely.  Add the other ingredients, reserving a couple pieces of the tomato, and process until smooth.  Add the rest of the tomato and process again to leave some identifying chewy red bits.   

You can serve right away, or chill first.  This spread will thicken up in the fridge.  

Happy New Year!  

*Thank you Mezzetta for the sun-dried tomatoes and other party snack supplies!  

Instant Hot Cocoa says Merry Christmas

Hot Cocoa Mix 

• 3 parts powdered soy milk
• 1 part cocoa powder
• 1 part sugar

Mix and then sift before funneling into clean dry jars for gift giving and holiday sipping.  To serve, use 3 1/2 tablespoons of dry mix to 1 cup of hot water.      

What are you making for holiday gifts?  

Chocolate Pecan Pie

 

The rain is washing my car.  The baby's asleep.  The boy's at my mom's house.  Paul did the laundry fairly recently.  Lunch is made.  The Christmas cards will be ready tomorrow.  As always, I'm way behind on email, and correspondence in general, but pushing that guilt towards the back of my mind is working for the moment.  The house is not a complete mess.  I have so much to do to get holiday presents ready that the magnitude of the problem is simply blinding - I can't see it.  

So let's talk about pie.  One of the highlights of our Thanksgiving feast this year was a chocolate pecan pie that was so decadent and rich and delicious that my brother compared it to candy.  If the idea of candy served in the size and shape of pie, not to mention wrapped in buttery pastry, doesn't completely repel you, keep reading, I've got a holiday dessert for you.

It's a variation of that derby pie that from my limited understanding of Kentucky (I used to have a friend that lived there once.  Hi Peter.) seems to involve nuts, chocolate, and bourbon.  I started with this recipe on Martha Stewart's website.  But that one was just too sweet and too bourbon-y for children and nursing mothers (Sorry Dorka).  

So I cut back on the bourbon and the sugar, replaced it with the molasses-y brown variety for more flavor, and fell in love all over again with pie.  

(Just to be clear, this love has never abated, but I've discovered it can reach new depths with the addition of chocolate and pecans and bourbon.)  

Chocolate Pecan Pie

• 1 prepared pie shell
• 2 tablespoons flax meal
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup vegan butter, melted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons bourbon

Blind bake pie shell: prick several times with a fork.  Cover with parchment paper or foil.  Weigh down with rice or beans or pie weights.  Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove paper and weights.  Bake for another 6 - 8 minutes, until the crust appears dry and the edges are just beginning to brown.  Remove to a cooling rack.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, until the flax meal absorbs the water and transforms into a thick eggy goop.  Beat in the melted butter, brown sugar, and flour.  Add the pecans, chocolate, and bourbon.  Stir.  Pour this mixture into your blind baked pie shell.  Bake at 350 until filling is set, about 25 minutes.    

Let cool before serving.  

Leftovers: The Sandwich

 

Take one slice of really good bread.  Slather it with vegenaise.  Pile on slices of tofurkey roast.  Mound a bit of stuffing on top. 

Take another slice of really good bread.  Slather it with vegenaise.  Mash on about a half a slice of jellied cranberry sauce.  Carefully flip this onto the tofurkey half.  Eat.  

How are you enjoying your leftovers?