Your Vegan Mom

Simple Summery Spaghetti

So I know that this recipe is anything but revolutionary, and is probably the sort of thing you make all the time at home without mention, but just in case you don't, here it is. Also, I can't help mentioning it because 1) these tomatoes were just so freakin' gorgeous and 2) it just tasted so good. This little basket of multicolored tiny tomatoes seduced me into thinking that I would turn them into savory little tartlets to show off their jewel-like beauty, with maybe a bean salad on the side. But once I got them home, could I find the time to make a simple pastry? No, of course not. My intentions in the grocery store are always way grander than when I'm actually at home and hungry. We made this pasta for lunch in the time that it took to boil pasta. Poured a little bit of wine, and felt rustically fancy in twenty minutes.

Penne with Fresh Tomato Sauce

1 basket cherry or grape tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 small shallot
About 1/4 tsp. red chili flakes
About 1/4 c. olive oil
About 2 Tbsp. chopped basil
salt
About 8 oz. penne (aka half a bag, we used penne because it's what we had. Actually, I had intended to use spaghetti. And then I couldn't help insisting it was spaghetti in the title because I cannot pass up an opportunity for alliteration.)

While the water is boiling for the pasta, finely chop the garlic and shallot, and cut the larger tomatoes into halves or quarters depending on their size. Heat about 3 Tbsp. oil over medium-low and add the shallot when the oil is hot. After about a minute, add the garlic, and then the chili flakes. Cook for a few minutes until softened and fragrant. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat up to medium. Sprinkle with salt. Let simmer while the pasta cooks. I like it nice and saucy myself, but I say it's done whenever the pasta's done. Add the basil to the sauce. Toss in the pasta. Drizzle with the remaining oil. Stir and eat.

Aloha.

So we just got back from Hawaii and I will be eating nothing but plate lunches for some time. I am sorry if I bore you, but I'm afraid that's just how it's going to be. You see, I was overwhelmingly jealous of the big families out on Sunday with their hibachis and rice cookers and football team size coolers of Hawaiian punch. Apart from the fact that I wasn't invited to these barbecues, I also knew that those delicious smells eminating from the pop-up tents on the beach and in the park were not for the vegans. And my efforts to track down the elusive vegan plate lunch from a little hole in the wall called The Well Bento were met with disappointment I am so sad to say. I hate to speak ill of anyplace that offers me a vegan plate lunch, let alone the only place on Oahu, but it just wasn't very good. My teriyaki seitan was spongey and salty. The macaroni salad and coleslaw were fine. The seitan was served atop good brown rice with a mild tahini sauce and steamed vegetables. The broccoli was overcooked. The potatoes were delicious. But it certainly didn't solve the problem of my lust for everyone else's lunch. So though it is always a little sad to come home from vacation, especially when you were in Hawaii with people you love and don't get to see very often, it is always a pleasure to return to your own kitchen.

So today, finally, back in California, Paul and I had a satisfying plate lunch in our own house. We ate teriyaki tofu and two scoops rice and macaroni salad and a slice of papaya. It was good. It was everything that I had been hoping for. Sometimes, it's nice to be home.

Basic Vegan Macaroni Salad

(An exciting recipe? No. I said it was basic. Sometimes, that's just what you have a hankering for. Exciting variations will follow.)

3 c. cooked elbow macaroni
1 large carrot, shredded
1 green onion, snipped
1/4 c. vegenaise
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. agave nectar
1/4 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
pinch of salt
grind of black pepper
shake of paprika

Mix it together.

Homework

My mama and I leave in the morning to take the boy to Honolulu to meet his cousins. Hurray! I am packed. And I am now officially excited. Up until this point it has been all fretting about traveling with a 9 month old, but now excitement, at least alternating with panic. Really it's much better than even a few minutes ago. This is all to say that you won't hear from me for a week. But really quickly before I go, let me just mention two newish vegan restaurants in the Los Angeles area: Veggie Grill in Irvine and Pure Luck in L.A. across the street from Scoops. Two thumbs up. More later. Go eat there. We'll discuss when I get back.

Grilled Beets and Blueberry Shakes: Happy Birthday Nana!

So I feel like the lady with that cheesy cooking show on the Food Network. You know the one that buys an apple pie and a cheese cake from the grocery store and teaches you how to turn it into a splendid homemade apple cheese cake parfait? But sometimes you just don't have time to make the actual homemade coconut cake that you intend to make for your mother-in-law's birthday. It's just been one of those weeks. You may have noticed that I've been quiet. Trust me it's better than the reverse. I had an old back injury flare up and when I'm in pain, you just don't want to hear what I have to say. It's uninteresting and impolite. You should have seen us in the delivery room nine months ago. If my mom could have plugged that little baby's ears in utero she would have.

But anyway, I digress. We celebrated Cecile's birthday a bit belatedly this evening with a scoop of Double Rainbow Soycream Mango Vanilla topped with fresh raspberries. I found myself as dinner drew to a close racking my brain for what I could come up with for dessert. Thank goodness for that beautiful basket of raspberries that I picked up at the farmers market on Tuesday, and then there was relief when I lifted up the carton of ice cream and surprise! It didn't feel too light. There was a much more respectable amount left then the homemade vanilla that I checked first. Oh but the milk shake that I made yesterday with the homemade vanilla, frozen blueberries, soymilk, and a spoonful of blueberry jam, was worth it. (A spoonful of jam- that's the secret to a rich fruity shake if you ask me.) And it's a good thing, because this practically pre-fab dessert was perfect. Light and fresh and colorful. Just festive enough for a mid-week post birthday celebration. And I'm thinking right now that Double Rainbow might make the best commercial soy ice cream.

Dinner was pretty much a reprise of the polenta stack that my mom made last week, but I changed it up a bit. Here's how it went:

It started with a salad of arugula, avocado, and roasted corn tossed with a basil vinaigrette [About a cup of basil, a clove of garlic, a pinch of salt, and enough lemon juice and olive oil to make it blend in my subpar (See? Just a few days ago I wouldn't have said subpar. My word choice would have been much less ladylike.) blender and become a smooth tangy dressing]

And then the stack:

Grilled polenta (quarter inch slices off that tube from Trader Joe's)
Grilled onion
Grilled eggplant
More polenta
Grilled beet (Here's where I strayed from the original, and I liked it. I kind of wish that I had ditched the eggplant all together. I'm liking the corn, avocado, beet, arugula combo. I wasn't so sure how grilling beets was going to work out. Would it just be an undercooked red mess? It did take a little while, but after maybe 10 minutes a side, it was tender enough to play nice with the soft polenta.)
More eggplant
More polenta (Yes, the polenta ratio was way too high.)
Topped with a beautiful red-tinged yellow tomato whose beauty was not enhanced by the golden polenta beneath it.

That's it. Oh if only you could see the beet...as it was unstacked and eaten and the magenta of the beet juice trickled across the golden polenta...then it was pretty...so please, be brave, and pile on the beet.

Weekend Breakfast

On Saturday, I made tofu rancheros.

On Sunday, Paul made cornmeal waffles with blueberry sauce.

Here is his basic pancake/ waffle recipe that we fancy up as we see fit:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
a generous pinch of salt

1 cup soy milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first three ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine the last four. Pour the wet mix into the dry and stir to combine. Let batter rest for 5 minutes before cooking on a hot griddle or pouring into a hot waffle iron.

In this case, Paul doubled the recipe since there are now three waffle eaters in our family. Also, he replaced 3/4 cup flour with cornmeal. To make the blueberry sauce he simmered frozen blueberries with sugar and lemon juice.