Your Vegan Mom

Green Earth Vegan Cuisine

 

 

Me: We just had lunch at Green Earth Vegan Cuisine.  What was your favorite part?

Desmond: Guacamole on the chip.

Me: So you liked the nachos?

D: I like the guacamole on the chip with no cheese on it.

Me:  Got it.  How come?  Wait, did you try the cheese?

D: mmhm.

Me: Really!?  I think mommy and daddy hogged all the cheese.

D: Hogged?  What does hogged mean?  There's a hog in the screen.  It looks like... (And he veers off into the fantasy world of the almost four-year-old.)

 

Me: Ok, what about the stuffed shells?

D: Yeah, I do like the stuffed shells.

Me: What did you like about them?

D: I loved them 'cause it had pasta sauce in it and it's made of pasta.

 

Me: How about the eggplant, pumpkin, and tofu dish that they call three flavors?

D: Yeah.  I love that too.

Me: How come?

D: 'Cause I love the punkin.  And I love the tofu.

Banana Spring Rolls with Vanilla Ice Cream

Me: What did we have for dessert?

D: Banana Ice Cream.

Baby was also a fan of the pumpkin and eggplant and tofu, and really, everything we ate here.  The seasonings were very mild.  Though the space was a bit more chic and upholstered than I'm comfortable with in his company.  

Me: Was there anything you didn't like?

D: I didn't like the pepper I had.  (Apparently the boy doesn't like bell peppers.)

Me: Thank you for trying it.  Anything else?  Is there anything else you think someone should know before they come to this restaurant?

D: I didn't like the pepper I had.

Me: Got it.  Thanks for your review, Buddy.

Green Earth Vegan Cuisine
37 South Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105

Hours:
Monday - Thursday, Sunday 11AM - 9PM
Friday, Saturday 11AM - 10PM

House Tofu

Have I told you this already?  Desmond has gotten picky.  I suppose it was inevitable - he is a child.  But even so, it seems bad.  For example, here's a conversation that he had with his pal in the sandbox on Friday:

Mauro: I'm cooking rice and peas.

Desmond: I don't like peas.

Mauro: I won't put peas in yours.  I'll make you rice and corn.

Desmond: I don't like corn.

Mauro: Okay, you can cook your own.

Seriously, if the other almost four-year-old has already given up on him, how am I supposed to get a varied diet into this little body?  Yesterday, on the way home from the store, when he and I were discussing what we were eating for dinner.  (Barbecued seitan sandwiches with cole slaw.)  And I waited for his predictable response, wondering whether he was going to go with, "I don't like seitan," or "I don't like cole slaw," he surprised me.  He didn't say either of those things.

His response?  "I don't like barbecue sauce."

I had to laugh.  And ask him what he does like.  Apparently at this point in his career, the boy likes peanut butter and jelly, and tofu.  Here's how we eat it most often -

House Tofu
This is the basic way that I prepare tofu to use in sandwiches or serve with rice, and greens, and savory sauce.

• 1 pound extra firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (that's the juice of your average lemon)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled

Slice tofu into cubes or slabs for sandwiches.  Whisk together the remaining ingredients.  Pour over tofu.  Toss to somewhat evenly coat and set aside to marinate for an hour or two or even better, overnight.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium, and cook the tofu for about three minutes on each side until lightly browned.

New Vegan Kids' Book

 

Garlic-Onion-Beet-Spinach-Mango-Carrot-Grapefruit Juice, the new vegan-friendly children's book by Nathalie Van Balen gets the ultimate thumbs up from my four-year-old.  "Read it again," he giggles while gleefully squirming in his seat.  I happily oblige.  

Who knew a book explaining veganism (or vegetarianism - you can really take this book in whichever direction you choose) could be this fun?  And yet, this book is just an absolutely delightful combination of thought-provoking story and hilarious characters and fun photo collage illustrations.  We all love it.

Leaving the choice of actual information-sharing up to the parent, the story here provides a good launching point to the discussion.  It tells the story of Thora, a plush toy that wears her heart and her brain on her sleeve, who saves the day by first stopping to think, and then gently, but firmly speaking her mind.  The book is just so smart and funny and weird that I really don't want to tell you anything more about it.  Just read it.  But rest assured that there are also Vikings, and Snails, and lots of Juicing.

The book, as well as handmade plush dolls and free printable coloring pages, are available on the author's website - 

 www.thorathinks.com

S'more Pie

 

On the topic of picnics, I thought we really ought to discuss this pie.  A couple years ago, I developed this recipe for a guest post on Veggie Meal Plans.  The site appears to be undergoing some maintenance right now, and the recipe is not currently available, and what with it being summer and this pie being crazy delicious, I thought it was perhaps time to share this twist on a classic summer campout treat, in pie form.   

S'more Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie and two bonus pudding cups for the cook

• 1 graham cracker crust (I used Arrowhead Mills.)
• 1 carton Suzanne's Ricemellow Creme (Mine came from Whole Foods.)
• 1 recipe chocolate pudding (This part I actually made.)

Chocolate Pudding:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2 2/3 cups soy milk (I'm partial to the refrigerated Trader Joe's organic.)
• 1/4 cup extra-firm silken tofu
• 2 tablespoons non-dairy butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Blend together tofu and 2/3 cup of soy milk until very smooth.  (I like to use an immersion blender for this.  A regular blender will work, but if the mixture gets very frothy, let it calm down a bit before continuing.  Otherwise the extra air can give your pudding a moussier texture, rather than the dense silkiness of good chocolate pudding.)

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch.  Chop up chocolate and add it to the pan.

Add the remaining soy milk as well as the tofu mixture to the pan.  Whisk continuously over medium heat.  Once the mixture begins to bubble, continue whisking for one minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

Pour into the prepared crust and chill until set, in the freezer for two hours, or the refrigerator for at least four or overnight.

Once the pudding has set up, top with the ricemellow creme.

Now for toasting your marshmallows:

Heat up the broiler.  Wet a dish cloth in cold water.  Ring out the excess water and use the wet cloth to line a rimmed baking sheet.  Place the pie on the towel and surround it with ice cubes to keep the pie chilled while you toast the topping.

Put it under the broiler and watch it while the marshmallow toasts.  This will take a matter of seconds, so don't go off and do anything else.  

Picnic!

It's that time of year.  We have packed up our dinner, or breakfast, or lunch at least twice a week since the beginning of July.  What is your hands down favorite vegan picnic dish?  I'm going to say a perfect picnic should have fried chicken (but you know, not really chicken), succotash salad, and peach hand-pies for dessert (I've never actually had a fresh peach hand pie, but don't you bet it's the best picnic dessert in the world?  In the absence of fresh peach hand pies, I'll take a brownie).  Oh and you need snacks too. What should we take for snacks?  And a portable cocktail.  And a big jar of iced tea or lemonade.  What else?  What will you bring?  

 

Here's some more picnic-friendly recipes if you're looking for ideas:

• potato salad
• brownies
• peanut butter rice crispy treats
• oatmeal chocolate chip cookie
• cashew-yogurt cheese (nice spread for crackers, also, unlike many homemade "cheeses" this one is crazy easy)
• lentil salad
• berry lemonade
• pan bagnat