Your Vegan Mom

Lemonade's Cranberry Relish

If you're not from these parts, you might not be familiar with "L.A.'s favorite modern cafeteria," Lemonade.  It's a local chain of fast casual restaurants from chef Alan Jackson. They serve sandwiches and salads and soups and...(surprise!)...lemonade made of high quality seasonal ingredients.  Everybody loves it.

The cookbook is as adorable as the cafe, and as moderately vegan-friendly.  I marked a bunch of salads  to try that I thought might be good for Thanksgiving, like Sweet Potato, Parsley, Pistachio Vinaigrette, and Kohlrabi, Granny Smith, Apple, Chive, Sesame Oil, ooh, and Farro, Spaghetti Squash, Pomegranate Vinaigrette.  Each of those recipes is vegan, save a sprinke of feta in the last one.  There are some really interesting salad dressing recipes here and a lot of smart, simple food.  I like it.  

I have dough for the fig bars (not vegan, easily adapted) chilling in the fridge right now, along with two jars of this cranberry relish.  With a perfect balance of sweet and tart, the children hate it, and I've been looking for excuses to slather it on anything.  Last night I ran out and bought a package of tofurky slices just so that we could have easy pre-Thanksgiving sandwiches for dinner.  We mashed a thick layer of cranberry relish into vegenaise on good bread and piled on smoked tofurky and avocado and lettuce, but can I tell you something I'm not totally proud of?  Next time I'll skip the avocado and lettuce.  They just diluted that all important tofurkey/cranberry contrast.

Cranberry Relish
From The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.'s Favorite Modern Cafeteria by Alan Jackson and Joann Cianciulli.

• 1 pound frozen whole cranberries, thawed
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
• pinch of cinnamon
• juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the whole and dried cranberries, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and orange juice and zest.  Pulse to break down the cranberries and incorporate the ingredients; it should still be a bit chunky.  Add the water, little by little, and pulse until the mixture reaches a chunky relish consistency.

Allow the cranberry relish to sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour, so the sugar dissolves and the flavors can marry.  The cranberry relish can easily be prepared in advance, covered, and refrigerated.

Natalie Slater's Cujo Chow

Keep reading. I'll get to the part why this snack bowl looks nothing like one of Celine Steene's (always) gorgeous photos.

In her adorable, well-crafted, thoughtful, delicious, personal and fun new cookbook, Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans, Natalie Slater describes this recipe: 

Rabid Puppy Chow fans might recognize some of these ingredients. (Heh, get it? Rabid.) “Puppy Chow,” for the rest of you, is the somewhat unappetizing name for the traditional mix of chocolate, peanut butter, and rice cereal that showed up most often at sleepovers and school parties. In this version I’ve added some tasty new elements and even a superfood or two for good measure. 

First Day of School Breakfast

 

Paul's Buttermilk Pancakes + Peanut Butter Maple Syrup + Rice Crispy Sprinkles = a fully belly ready for Kindergarten (!)

Paul made a slew of pancakes over the weekend that I've stockpiled in anticipation of our big week.  Now I can just pop two in the toaster, while I whisk together some peanut butter and maple syrup to sneak a little protein into a red letter day pancake breakfast.  Wish us luck and nice kids and an interesting teacher and a mom who doesn't cry (at least in front of the kid).  

Peanut Butter Maple Syrup
makes: 1/4 cup
takes: 1 minute

• 2 tablespoon peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Heat in a glass measuring cup for 30 seconds.  Stir to combine.  Pour on pancakes.   

Avocado Basil Spread and My Current Favorite Sandwich

I love a good sandwich, and this is my current favorite.  You chop up a small handful of fresh basil and smash it into a ripe avocado with a little lemon juice, salt, and peper, and some walnut parm if you have it.  You thickly smear that on some excellent toast and top it with drippy slices of summer tomato and maybe another sprinkling of salt and pepper.  And you've got a meal.  It was breakfast on Monday before taking the dudes to swim lessons and lunch on Tuesday with a side of cold melon.  I think you could even stick an ear of corn next to it and call it dinner -  perfect for the sweltering days of ripe tomatoes.   

Avocado Basil Sandwich Spread
makes: a scant cup or enough to generously spread on 4 sandwiches
takes: less than 5 minutes

• 1 ripe avocado
• about 3 tablespoon chopped basil
• 1/4 cup walnut parm
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Mash that all together and spread on good bread.    

Creamy Lemon Salad Dressing

I don't have long to talk.  Paul's home today, and we're about to go do something fun.  Plus, it has just been so, so Spring all week - 70 degree days with loads of sunshine and flowers and bird chatter.  We're heading to my mom's tomorrow for the Easter weekend, and I have done nothing to prepare for the holiday.