Your Vegan Mom

Pancake Layer Cake

 

You guys, the broccoli we talked about?  It's not ready yet.  It cooks a long time.* 

In the meantime, let's talk about birthdays.  In our house, the special day starts with a pancake layer cake. Ideally the number of pancakes in your layer cake corresponds to your age, but this morning when we made one for Grandma, we rounded down to three.  In addition to the pancakes, you need something to hold them all together.  

In Desmond's cake from last fall (seven layers!), peanut butter syrup holds together oatmeal chocolate chip pancakes.  Excellent choice, son.

And last summer, Felix's pumpkin pancakes were held together by yogurt frosting (soy yogurt + raw cashews + maple syrup -> Blend until smooth.)

For Grandma, we made multigrain pancakes with layers of lightly sweetened yogurt and berries.  She looked like a little girl on her birthday as the teetering tower of pancakes topped with a candle came her way.  

To turn our basic pancake recipe multigrain, I used a cup of whole spelt flour, 1/4 cup of cornmeal, 1/2 cup of all purpose, and 1 cup of oats in place of the 2 cups of flour called for.  Pancakes are the perfect place to use up whatever odds and ends you have.  Leftover rice?  Throw it in the pancakes. Overestimated how many pecans you needed to toast?  You get it. 

I love birthdays and pancakes and watching my boys snuggled up against their grandma at breakfast.

It's been a good day.  Happy Birthday, Mom.

*(Also, I'm not 100% happy with the recipe yet.  It's coming.)  

Preschool Lunch

Remember this baby?  I was sitting across the lunch table from him today, and I thought maybe you'd let me just pop back in here without a lengthy explanation of where I've been for the last 6 months.  What do think?  Maybe we can just catch up slowly? 

Felix was eating a super simple lunch, but eating it with such pleasure, and lack of complaining, that it reminded me that I write a food blog.  Remember?  I grabbed my camera.  We talked about his day at preschool, about the cave he had made for the snake because the snake was poisonous and he had to protect his friends, and about the goblin that came during writers workshop.  We talked about snack.  (Sunflower seed butter, celery, apples, raisins.  He ate the raisins.  And he made ants on a log.  But the log was made of apple.)  

There were no leftovers from dinner last night which comprise his usual lunch, so I cut a smallish red potato into chunks, and put them into a bowl with a splash of water and stuck it in the microwave for 3 minutes until it was soft and warm.  I cut a few florets of broccoli into small bite size pieces and steamed them in the same way - for 2 minutes until bright green and tender.  I cut super firm tofu into sticks and squirted some ketchup onto a  plate.  And that was lunch.  Not perfect.  Some good fat would have rounded it out nicely - this should really be the part of the blog post where I give you the recipe for the simple and luxurious creamy sauce made of pureed nuts and seeds that makes steamed broccoli and potatoes and plain tofu so good, but sadly it's not.  

This is the part where I realize that I just wrote about 3 florets of steamed brocolli on a food blog, and promise you the precise opposite of that next time.  I've been making something so luxurious and decadent and perhaps even totally wrong with broccoli, that I have to tell you about it.  Next time.  Say next week?  As opposed to 6 months hence?  Let's catch up slowly.  How have you been?  What's for lunch?   

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. 

Caramel Tofu

"How's the tofu?" I ask as I sit down across from the 6-year-old.

"It's...(throws his head back for emphasis, and then more breathes than says)...aaawe.some (while slowly nodding his head forward)."

With that sort of review, I thought I better get back in the saddle, and share this recipe adapted from the latest issue of Bon Appetit. 

Digging into my second bite, I hear the boy's plate scootch across the table to me.  With his mouth still full of rice, he asks for seconds.  When I bring the plate back full again with rice and tofu and simple roasted broccoli, he asks if he can have more once he finishes that.  He did too.

Caramel Tofu

makes: 4 sevings (allowing for quite a bit of self control and side dishes)
takes: 45 minutes (about 10 active)

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 19 ounces firm tofu
• 8 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, chopped
• 1/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (or chives if that's what you already have in your garden)

Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  Slice tofu about 1/4 inch thick.  Pat slices dry, swirl the hot oil around in the pan, and carefully arrange the tofu in a single layer.  You'll probably need to do this in two batches.  Fry on each side until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.  Add the garlic to the pan, and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 1 minute.  Scrape the garlic onto the tofu.

Return the pan to heat, add 1/2 cup water, scraping up browned bits.  Add brown sugar, stir to dissolve, and cook stirring often until you have a rich brown syrup, about 4 minutes.  Carefully stir in the vinegar.  If the sugar crystalizes, keep stirring over the heat to dissolve it again.

Stir in the ginger, broth, and soy sauce.  Add the tofu and garlic back to the pan.  Swirl to coat with sauce.  Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook until the sauce is syrupy thick, about 20 minutes.  (Which is just about the amount of time broccoli needs to get some charred bits in a 450 degree oven, if you're looking for a tofu accompaniment.)  If you have an old stove like me, move the tofu around occasionally to evenly distribute the sauce and make up for the hot spots.

Top with scallions or chives, and serve with rice and broccoli.