Cooking Video!!

We had a blast this past weekend, filming and editing our first
'cooking video'. Of course we've both done this sort of thing
before, just not with food. Its an all out Scott Pilgrim, Classic
video game, geek squad sort of deal.

The recipe is for Chilaquiles, something my Mom used to make a lot.
Traditionally the recipes call for eggs, a lot of frying and a
butt load of cheese. (As in so much you'll get a big butt from eating
it all). Its a cross between an enchiladas casserole and nachos...
or a pizza. Lets just say its real tasty and easier than eating out.

My Mom used to make it with tomato sauce and ricotta, I've one up-ed
that and use a home made sauce pumped with garlic and onions and
tofu instead of cheese. You can top it with any of your favorite
vegan cheeses, but I prefer Daiya Cheddar or Pepper Jack!

So, watch the video, have a laugh and share-share-share.
To win we need the most views, so help us get it out there peeps!



Share me!!

Galaxy Vegan Cream Cheese

It is spring (actually it has been for a month, but I'm behind).
The flowers are blooming, our lawn is literally a jungle out of
control, and all sorts of new veg products are hitting the shelves
faster than you can say 'march hare'.

One of the newest vegan cheeses on the street is Galaxy Nutritional
Foods cream cheese, which I got the pleasure of trying out for
all of you!

Not only is there an 'original plain' flavour, but there is also a
'chive and garlic' flavour much to Monkey-man's delight.



I can't lie, I love my bagels. But I wanted to do something a little
nicer than bagels to try out something new.

So with the 'original' we made some crepes and stuffed them with
the cream cheese, diced apples, spice and drizzled it all with
agave.



The flavor is milder than it's dairy counterpart without that
gross sour aftertaste. The texture is cross between any other vegan
(or nonvegan) cream cheese out there and sour cream. It is soft and
perfect for spreading. It doesn't turn your toast to crumbs while
you're trying to spread a layer of goodness.

We got a little spicy with the Chive and Garlic and made some
jalapenos poppers for Monkey-man's Bday.



Because it was already seasoned with just enough garlic and chives,
all we had to do was fill some halved and seeded peppers, sprinkle
with paprika and bake. Oh, yeah-- And eat to our heart's content!

We still had a little bit of each left over so we had a little European
meal the other night for dinner. Monkey-man made some classic borsht...



And I made some dumplings to go in it.



To fill the dumplings I cooked 1 cup TVP in enough vegetable
broth to make it soft, then added some salt and pepper, sage,
soy sauce and a little bit of molasses. A little plop of
vegan cream cheese and some wonton wrappers later... Deliciousness!



I really dug Galaxy's new product, I liked how smooth and versatile
it was. And the chive and garlic addition? Very nice, tasty and
savory, but not overwhelming or artificial tasting. And I just saw
it stocked in my little health food store! What a coincidence!

Good on ya Galaxy!

P.S. We just back from Paso Robles, CA and I have some great wine
stories to share with you all!

Beet Bejeweled Risotto

Since we had recently gone a little over the top with bread, we hit up
some standard burritos and tacos, and then I had to move on
to a different starch for my meals.

I’ve recently developed a love affair with risotto. There are so many
myths surrounding risotto, telling people it is too hard to make
unless you’ve got Gordon Ramsey screaming over your shoulder,
telling you what to do. I’m here to tell you that risotto is super easy.
If you can pour broth into a pan and stir rice around for a half
hour, you can make risotto.

Of course I like twisting the flavours around. You’ll usually see
some tomato and basil risottos-- anything you might find replicated
from a pasta recipe. Most of all I wanted to change the colour of
the actual dish, so what better than beets? The beets are steamed,
peeled, and chopped before hand so that they are ready to go when
you’re making the risotto.

Its perfect because I wanted to start up some themed dishes to get
you all ready and in the mood for St. Valentine’s Day.

Yes, I know a lot of people really hate St. Valentine’s Day.
Especially, if you’re single or sometimes with a really annoying person.
Well if St.Valentine’s Day is about love, what about loving yourself
a little? Love yourself with a special meal, some dark chocolate,
a glass of wine, and your favorite movie.

Or throw a little dinner party and then you won’t be alone. Maybe
invite all your single friends so no one feels alone out there in
the world of candle light couple events... I honest have never seen
St. Valentine’s as something corporate or designed to make you feel
bad for not having a significant other. I always used it as a day to
remember all the people I love. I’d make cards, cookies, or candy for
all my friends and family. Later on in life, I got little things here
and there from boys and that was nice too. But I wasn’t expecting it,
so it was even better.

Getting back to cooking.... If you are trying to multi-task while
making risotto, good luck. I mean forget it. You’ll probably end up
with some hard, sticky rice. You can hardy leave the pan alone for a
minute without it drying out.

So make sure everything else is set and ready to go. Feed the cats,
take out the dog, avoid interruptions. And enjoy~

Bejeweled Risotto



3 medium beets, cooked, peeled and chopped
1/2 large onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp earth balance or olive oil
1 cup vodka
6-8 cups of vegetable broth
or water with a few bouillon cubes dissolved
2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup daiya moz cheese
black and white pepper
sea salt
sage, thyme, lemon zest

First heat the oil in a large frying pan or saute pan.
Add the onions and garlic and cooking in the oil for a few minutes
at a medium to low high heat.

Add the rice, coating well with oil. Cook for about two minutes,
stirring. Add the vodka, making sure that it is warm or room temp
to not shock the rice leaving it unable to cook properly.

Once the vodka is almost absorbed and the liquid looks sparse,
add a 1/2 cup of warm or room temp broth. You will continue to do
this. Add broth, stir, cooking it just at a light simmer until the
liquid is not quite gone, add more broth. Don’t let it get too dry.

Once it starts to look puffy and sticky, start testing it to see if
the center is cooked. Once it is near al dente, add the seasonings
and chopped beets. Continue to cook until the beets are hot and the
colour has distributed nicely. Add more broth still as needed.
Finally, add the daiya and stir until completely melted. Serves 4-6

I had mine with some garlic-chili grilled tofu! Yum!

Plethora of Panini: pairing and pearing

I know when I've hit the tail end of a series. It is usually when I
really can't imagine eating that dish once more in a very long time.
I still have the last few paninis on the docket, but I am growing
very near to not being able to eat another for a while.

In fact I'm starting to crave chimichanga... If I can't grill
sandwiches, I'm gonna find something else to grill.

Since this Panini was so extraordinarily simple and not very
high in vegetable content, I had to pair it with another more
nutritious dish. Monkey-man has been complaining about wanting
soup because he doesn't want to get sick. So instead of arguing
that it isn't soup that will keep him from getting sick it is
a good load of vitamin heavy veggies, sleep and exercise--
I quietly made him some sweet potato stew and he was content.

The stew had sweet potatoes, russet potato, bell pepper, turnips,
onions, garlic, cabbage, and carrots. It was a simple base of broth,
soy milk, whole wheat flour, sage, paprika, bay, oregano, sea salt,
black and white peppers, and peanut butter. I don't usually pair stews
and sandwiches, I usually go with a bisque or blended soup.
But as long as you are sure to moderate with a smaller sandwich,
it is perfect.

The panini was stuffed with vegan rice pepper jack cheese, sliced
apples and pears, a sprinkling of garlic powder, and if you're
adventurous, some jalapenos! The sweetness of the fruit is perfectly
balanced with the spiciness of the 'cheese' and peppers.
I've also heard of pair peaches or apricots with brie, but
I'm not sure what vegan cheese I'd use for that. The vegan brie
we did make from The Uncheese Cookbook had much too much onion
powder in it and I cannot imagine that going with peaches...
I'll keep experimenting and get back to you on that one.

Get your fix with sweet, spicy, and savory all at once.
That's an order!

Plethora of Panini: Fajita Panini

I'd like to say that the majority of our meals are planned, but that
would simply not be true. It is part of what I want to focus more of
my energy on this year-- planning ahead. But then life happens.

I was planning on doing a Middle Eastern Panini last night, but
Monkey-man ended up doing a quick fix of a Mexican seasoned panini
instead. Our plans were changed because on the way to the grocer,
we passed a small dog that had been hit and left.

At first I though he was dead because his legs were in the air as
if he was going through rigor mortis, but when we swung around I saw
him shaking. By the time I had him in the car and we had decided to
take him to our vet to see how bad it was he had relaxed and was much
more awake. Not sure if they clipped him or actually ran him over
because there were tire marks across his abdomen.

But now he's upstairs in our bathroom, healing his broken pelvis.
Pretty sweet guy. So if anyone wants a dog! Ha ha, just let me know.
He is not micro-chipped and not fixed (for long...)

Needless to say our dinner was little late, but this is what Monkey-man
magically mixed up for us.



Fajita Panini!

Saute a bell pepper, onion, a bit of jalapenos and a few cloves of
sliced garlic with chili powder, salt, pepper, a little bit of lemon
juice and cumin. Add water as it drys out and then add some olive oil
and half a pack of sliced tofu. Flip to grill both sides.

While that is being cooked, heat up your grill.
On your chosen bread add vegan pepper jack (galaxy rice cheese),
avocados and fresh tomatoes. Add some hot sauce, salsa or bean spread
to make it a little more exciting-- Grill and enjoy!

Plethora of Panini: Beet on the Brat

One of Monkey-man's Christmas presents was a cast-iron panini press
that I seriously had to hunt down. He's been ogling cast-iron pans
for awhile and next to pizza I am pretty sure sandwiches are his
favorite. Finding it was a hassle. I knew Macy's carried them and after
dealing with countless, stupid employees-- I found one at the Macy's
on Lake. Thank goodness my Monkey-man enjoys the more practical
gifts because this has certainly opened us up to a new series as we're
breaking in the ol' cast-iron.

Cast-Iron takes pampering. You should never wash it with soap, leave it
wet or use metal utensils on it. If you cook things on it that require
cleaning after-- something that sticks-- than clean it with very hot
water and a scrubber. Dry immediately afterward and oil to prevent
rusting. It may seem scary, but if you're cooking something like plain
toast, etc. you just brush it off, re-grease it and leave it. This
will age and season your pan.

I've seen people that cook meat just leave their pans with the fat, crap
and everything. Yeah, gross. Many argue that you should NEVER clean
your cast iron, but I do not agree. I say that you should try to never
use soap on it-- or at least don't use a lot and only when you really
need to. I believe in caring for your dishes properly, but I also
believe in not getting sick from bacteria festering on a pan.

Having said that, cast-iron is great because you can cook on the stove
and then stick it straight into the oven or actually use it as a baking
dish for things like corn bread or roasted vegetables. Our has ridges,
so it wouldn't be entirely ideal for that, but it is a possibility.

On to the food!
Panini, or Panino, is basically an Italian Sandwich. More accurately it
is a bread roll. A stuffed Panino is a roll stuffed with sandwich fixings.
This is derivative of the Italian word for bread: Pane. Often they are
served hot or grilled on ciabatta or focaccia. Americans refer to any
grilled sandwich as a panini, as being grilled is the deciding
characteristic. Whereas any sandwich is called a panini in Italy.

If you don't have a stove press you can use an electric one. Some
waffle makers double as panini presses. You can use a heavy pan and
a brick wrapped in foil. Just allow the brick to heat with the pan
before adding your prepped sandwich. Or you can just set a heavy pan
on top of your sandwich and plan on flipping it.

Part One: Beet on the Brat Panini

Ingredients

Beets or beet pulp (See Below)
2 cloves garlic, minced
vegan cream cheese
mustard
Miso
1/2 Red Onion
Vegan deli slices: ideally field roast, sliced seitain, or something
similar to yves roast slices. I'm sure Tofurky would be good too...
But stay away from the bologna style stuff.
Olive Oil or Earth Balance

When I make Borsht I blend the whole pot and push it through a mesh.
I usually end up with about two cups of beet pulp that I use to fill
dumplings, spread on sandwiches or mix into something else.

I had some left over beet-pulp from our postponed Christmas Dinner
that I still needed to use. You can steam beets and blend them with
a little broth, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Or you can just
steam a beet and slice it very very thin.

Heat your pan and saute the sliced onion until soft and caramelized.

I made two sandwiches here... spreading vegan cream cheese, mustard,
and light miso on one side of the bread and then sprinkled it with
diced, raw garlic.



Oil or grease the other side of the bread.
Arrange the deli slices on the side with the cream cheese.
Spread or arrange the beets on the other side of the sandwich and
top with the cooked onion. Squish the sandwich together and grill
according to the type of pan you are using.

Cut in half and serve!

Pumpkin Patch Part Four: Pumpkin Chili

I'm pretty bummed that last week I made an awesome pumpkin curry
for a potluck and totally forgot to take a picture for you all.

That's why there was a gap of a couple days. However, last night
we made a version of Monkey-man's favorite meal ever-- or one of
them anyway! Chili with roasted potatoes and the best-est cheese
sauce!

Usually I like summer squash or zucchini in my chili, but instead
I used pumpkin. And we got these amazing vitelotte potatoes at our
local grocer. The skins were almost black, but the inside was a
rich, beautiful violet. At first I thought they were going to
taste like the purple sweet potatoes that I used to get in Hawaii,
but these were wonderful. They had the same texture as your run
of the mill potatoes, but had a deeper, earthier, rustic flavour.
Apparently they are native to Peru and Bolivia. Usually I think
of Europe and Ireland when I think of potatoes, but supposedly
Peru is the birthplace of more than 90% of potato varieties we
eat and love today.

I'm sorry, this wasn't meant to be a post about potatoes!
This is a post about pumpkin in Chili! So here you go!

Pumpkin Chili

2-3 cups fresh pumpkin, chopped largely
1 can or 4 large diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup of corn
2 cups of beans, cooked (any kind you like)
1 small pepper
1/2 cup TSP or TVP (opt)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 vegetable bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic for about five minutes in a large
pot over medium heat in a few tablespoons of water or oil.

Add the pumpkin and a little bit more water an cover, cook for a
few minutes then add the tomato and seasonings. Cover and cook,
adding water if needed and cook until the pumpkin is starting to
get a little bit tender, but is not completely cooked-- about 10
minutes max.

Add the pepper, corn tvp and beans and cook/heat through. You may
need to add a little extra water or veg broth for the tvp. By the
time the tvp is plumped the pumpkin should be cooked through, but
not mushy.

Serve over roasted potatoes and topped with your favorite cheese or
cheese sauce. Monkey-man added daiya moz just for good measure.
If this isn't hot enough for you, throw in a diced hot pepper like
a habenero or some hot sauce if you're kinda lazy and don't want
to deal with chopping hot peppers...

Tater Scramble

I guess we were on a roasted mexican potato kick. But I especially liked
this because it was one of my favorite meals... tofu scramble.
However, not the way we normally serve it up. Instead we used our
marinating tofu feta from the uncheese book to jazz to twist it around
as a tater scramble with tofu instead of a tofu scramble with a side
of taters.



We went by the same seasonings of chili powder, cumin, salt, and
pepper but also threw in some jalapenos and bell peppers. The tofu
feta cooks up nicely, gets a little puffy, but crunchy.

We loved it on pizza and it was just as good with potatoes.

We always have our scrambles with earthbalanced toast, but also had
some yummy avocados on hand! The avocados on the 'buttered' toast
perfectly balanced the spiciness of the peppered scramble.

Daiya Deluge

Monkey-man wanted me to post our recent winnings that has raked in
5lbs of Daiya and a copy of Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook.
I dig this cookbook. I would rank it among those best for high end
entertaining or creating a truly impressive meal for special occasions.
Not that it is all hoity toity recipes, but many are quite rich and not
for light eating. Its amazing just for the photos. His training and
experience really shine through. It is what professional cooking should
be. It separates the home-cooks and the real chefs.

I avoid most of the vegan cookbooks out there, but lots of (I'm sure
your favorite authors) the more popular vegan 'chefs'. I avoid them
for mainly two reasons... 1. anyone can think up a recipe like this
and don't need a book to tell me that or 2. the author(s) have no
training and no palate. I've gone through a lot of vegan cookbooks and
used their recipes straight off the page and cannot imagine what they
smoking that made that taste good? Ok, I better stop there or I will go
on a never ending rant! Sorry guys.


The contest we won was for our pizza photo, that you can see here.
It is also what sparked my recent Pizza Pizzaz Series.
We froze most of the cheese and I'll be taking some back with me on
my summer adventures. But we don't eat alot of cheese, so I think it
should last a good while. Imagine my excitement when a cooler arrived
from Canada filled with vegan cheese!



If you haven't had daiya, I strongly suggest you try get some.
If you had it once and didn't like it, try it again in a different form.
Honestly, (sorry daiyafoods) I didn't like it the first time I tried it.
But neither did I like the follow my heart cheese. I may have been
stuck in the dairy cheese mentality and that was all I was expecting.

I really think this holds way too many people back from being vegan.
They push away vegan products because they don't taste identical to
the cow titty based products. You have to be open minded and enjoy
everything for itself, not for what you want it to be.

I compare it to an experience I had as a kid. I was playing in my
room with a friend (probably around 10yrs old) and my Mom calls me
into the kitchen, asking if I want some candy. Hellz yes, I wants
candy. So she offers me some 'chocolate covered raisins', which in
fact turn out to be chocolate covered espresso beans. Not cool Mom.

Now I love coffee, at points in my life I've loved coffee too much.
And I may have liked it then if I had not been expecting a raisin.
Basically we set our minds up to want a specific experience, flavor
or texture and that in turn shoots us in the foot when the experience
at hand does not match our expectations. It may even be better than
what you had wanted but its not identical and that is what puts
us off.

We first had daiya at Z Pizza. It was too much. Too oily and too wet.
So we avoided it for a bit and then had it again at Purgatory Pizza.
Our minds were quickly changed. You just need to know how to use it.
Don't let one bad meal change how you feel about a food.


Quesadilla!!

On that note... I'll still be here, still posting away. But I'll
be leaving LA for about a month and going up to stay with family in
the mountains and write my cookbook. I'm already planning some
more series to focus on, as well as filling those requests that have
been sent out to me. (Shall I call them requests or challenges?)

I may come back down for a weekend to beach bum it up or hit up
some Knott's Berry Farm, but other than that... consider me exiled!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Six: Chipmunk Pizza

Going through this series we had a list of white pizzas that we wanted
to give a shot. Now I love cashews on pizza (especially with broccoli)
but I wanted to turn up the nuttiness up to eleven.

First I started with adjusting the crust. When adding the flour to my
yeast, sugar, oil, salt, water mix I also tossed in about three tbsps
of flax meal. I like the flecked effect it gives, plus the added
nutritional boost. Monkey-man needs his omega-six!


For the Sauce I mixed up a white wine sauce with a earthbalance roux
base. I thinned it out with soymilk, but any nondairy milk would be
fine. Added some garlic and a dash of nutmeg, just to give it a twist.
Of course salt and pepper and cooked enough to burn off the majority
of the alcohol.



For toppings I went all out, not stopping with cashews. I also threw
on sun flower seeds and toasted Brazil nuts, roasted garlic, diced
tomatoes, and black olives. I considered almonds and peanuts, having
both on hand... but almonds are too sweet and I thought peanuts would
be too overpowering.



Lastly I topped it with a dusting of daiya moz cheese.


Again I baked it at 450F for about 12 minutes until browned.
It was incredibly rich and good with a nice salad or leafy green.

I can think of a few other nuts that might have been good... like
macadamia nuts, walnuts, or pistachios-- go nuts!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Four: Strawberry Fields Forever

Cooking is easy with minds closed, boring foods are all you see.
It's getting hard to be different, but it all works out.
It really matters much to me...

Let me take you down cuz we're going to Strawberry Fields.
I promise it's real. Not thing to get weird about.
Strawberry Fields Forever.



It still strawberry season here in California and I've been
hitting up the local vendors every week now. We've been having a
lot of strawberry smoothies and I've been adding them to my
cereal for weeks now. I plan to make some preserves too, but need
to find all my jars. But somewhere along the way I figured, why
not pizza?

Why not indeed. We put all sorts of sweet stuff on our pizzas right?
Well, some of us do. Pears, pineapple... ok thats all that really
comes to mind right now, but we need to try more sweet stuff. I'm
not saying throw gummi bears on your pizza, but more naturally
sweet stuff.



That's where this pizza comes in.
Its topped with a delicious red sauce, kale (although, I'd sub out
chard instead), grilled strawberries, pecans, and tofu feta.
Seriously, that is it.



We used the Tofu Feta from Jo Stepaniak's The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.
It was good. Better baked than raw, but tasted a little too much of
miso when you think about it. I'll try the recipe again without so
much miso, while looking around for better recipes that I can incorporate.



Baked at 450F for about 10-15 minutes we served it topped with
balsamic vinegar-- very important! Come on! Get out there and try
something new for god's sake!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Two: Twisting the Tostada

When I was a teen the only way I would get to see a decent concert
was to fly to Honolulu from the Big Island. One time when I was on
Oahu to see The Ataris (when they were cool and before the age of
emo) we all hit up California Pizza Kitchen. It was before the
restaurants were really that big, so it was pretty exciting at the
time.

Ok, I'm done dating myself.

When we were there I got a vegetarian tostada pizza that really
kicked butt, but then was struck with the karma of eating cheese
and got a headache. Years down the road I realize that the majority
of my headaches came from eating cheese. Go figure.

Looking back though, it was a good pizza. And I especially liked
it because of how unusual it was. I love going out and trying things
that haven't dawned on me to make at home.

So, during my pizza making adventures I decided to pick my memories
and try to replicate it. First thing to go was their crappy lettuce.
I will never understand what the appeal of iceburg lettuce is to
people. Oh yeah, its cheap.

Next I used pinto beans instead of black and baked it with the
cheese, whereas they just throw it on cold. I used the chedder daiya,
but Follow My Heart pepperjack would be good too.

First you mash about a cup or more of beans with some garlic, 1 tbsp
chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, and a dash of cayenne. Roll the prepared
crust out nice and thin and spread the bean mash on top. Sprinkle
with cheese.



If you're using a pizza stone like we have here, make sure you
preheat it in the oven first at 500F and then turn it down to
450F when you actually bake your pizza.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust starts to brown nicely.
Before baked, prep your toppings.




Think of what you like on your tostadas... We had lettuce, salsa,
and corn tortillas. Then you're going to top it with some ranch
dressing.

Combine a couple tablespoons of veganaise and mustard, thinned out
with a little bit of non-dairy milk. Add garlic powder, onion powder,
a squirt of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some italian seasonings.



Slice your pizza and top accordingly. Consensus? Awesome.
CPK, kiss mah butt.

Pizza Pizzaz Part One: El Diablo

Today is 'day-one' of my pizza week series!
This is exciting! I've been reading a lot of ideas and suggestions
for special toppings and have will have a hard time cutting it down
to seven. But I'm gonna start off with something really simple.

Granted this may be comprised of mostly left-overs, but let me tell
you that left-overs can make a damn good pizza. That is where I start
this series. I think we all need to open our minds a little and
start experimenting with pizza more. Is anyone else tired of the
plain 'cheese' pizza with basil and tomatoes? Ok, it is pretty good
I grant you, but I want something different. And I rarely make the
same thing twice. I want something out there, something that will
take me by surprise. Something with pizazz, pizza pizazz.

So last night we had tacos and I had made a neo-traditional spicy tvp
taco filling. It then got thrown in with some tomatoes, jalapenos,
fresh spinach, purple onions, all topped with the chedder daiya cheese.



The spice gets pumped from ground chili from our mexican market.
Not the typical chili powder that you get from vons, etc. Plus a
splash of cayenne. If you like, use habeneros instead of jalapenos
or sprinkle the whole thing with some tabasco/hot sauce.



The daiya cooled it down a little, but only so much.
The thin crust compliments the whole dish, without weighing it
down with breadiness. We had to keep it a little mild in the
long run though, 'cause I don't think Monkey-man can take the
heat-- I like my food to make me sweat!

Full Moon Celebration

It started when I got the cutest kiss ever from a funny guy I met in
class. After a movie, some fries and a milkshake, he smacks me one
under a huge Hawaiian Full Moon. He kissed me so hard I thought he
might have been dared to do it, but it still left me grinning like a
Cheshire cat.

Two years, hundreds of emails, tearful skypes, a year in separate
countries, barrels full of delicious food and books of sickeningly
sweet dialogue later... We spent the Full Moon celebrating love,
happiness, and life in nature. We don't measure our time together by
days or numbers, we know by cycles of the moon.

We drove to Bonelli Park by my house to throw ourselves a little party
for two (not counting the ducks). The park is over in Via Verde by
Puddingstone reservoir. You would never know you were surrounded by
suburbia. For the picnic I made blackberry scones and he made
some vegan brie from The Uncheese Cookbook.


Black Berry Scones






We had ourselves a quiet little picnic, so quiet he almost fell
asleep! It was pretty cold, the wind caught the moisture off the
reservoir and chilled us like popsicles.

To warm up we went on a brisk hike and got some nice views. I
found a plastic bag at the head of the trail, so we picked up
trash the whole way. Doesn't sound to fun, but it feels so rewarding
and gets strangely addicting after a while. By the time we got
back, the bag was bursting with rubbish. I can't believe how
horrible people are like that.


The park itself is quiet large with a few different sections.
There is even a sanded beach area where you can swim in the
summer and probably half a dozen different playgrounds in the
picnic area. We played around and toured the whole park, but
it was cold so we retreated home when the sun was no longer
keeping us warm.

That night we did our usual ritual of awesome dinner and a movie.
I am so blessed that we both can take such pleasure in the
simple things in life. We don't need expensive dinners or trips
to the movie theater. I don't need hothouse roses or silly
jewelry to know I'm loved. But even in this short time that I've
been with my guy, I feel like I've known him forever. We can make
the best day out of nothing at all and I can't think of a better
way to live or ever being happier with another being.

Vegan Fettucini Alfredo

The summer I spent living with two of my best friends, our
cheap college fare was extremely bizarre and fatty. Granted
we did eat our fair share of potatoes and the vegetarian ramen,
there were three main things I learned to cook during that time
span. I learned how to make crepes from my neighbor, mochi from a
classmate and alfredo from my roomie.

I wrote before how we used to eat a crap ton of crepe...
But I have no idea why we started making alfredo. It was
originally what me started back on a path to attempting to
reincorporate mushrooms into my diet. Ultimately that was
foiled by my strange gag reflex triggered by them.
However, we used porcini mushrooms nonetheless in hopes that
someday I could stomach them.

Since those days I continued making alfredo, but very rarely or
when I was desperate to make something my mom would eat.

I learned to make it with fresh parmesan and heavy cream and
since been trying to make a vegan version with nutritional
yeast and soymilk.

*Enter 'The Urban Vegan'

I really dig this cookbook. Unlike most of the vegan books that
get churned out, it doesn't contain a lot of asian dishes or
bizarre expensive ingredients. I have a very european palate I
must admit.

So finally I shoveled out the earthbalance and made Balcavage's
Vegan Alfredo. I made a couple adjustments...

First, I added garlic. Sorry, but I don't know what alfredo without
garlic would be like... Oh yeah. Boring.

Second, I cut down on the earthbalance and upped the nutritional
yeast. Theory was to make a roux out of the oil and yeast. Well,
to make a proper roux you need equal portions of the fat and X--
typically flour.

Third, having a proper roux you don't need the kudzu root that is
called for.



Vegan Fettucini Alfredo~ Adapted

Ingredients

3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup earthbalance
1/4 cup heaping nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup soy milk
black pepper

In a medium pan over medium heat, saute garlic in melting
earthbalance. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add the
nutritional yeast to form your roux.

Continue to cook for about for a few minutes to cook roux.
Whisk in soymilk a little at a time. Add salt and turn to
low. Allow to simmer until it thickens up.

Toss with fettucini or other desired pasta.
I made about 2/3 of a package for this much sauce and served
it with some dark leafy greens.

To add some extra protein try tossing in some vegan chic like
gardein.

Even without the mushrooms, the memories hit me and I tasted
them anyway. Amusingly enough, Monkey-man said later that if
we hadn't had it with greens he wouldn't have been able to
stomach it either because he kept 'memory-tasting' shrimp.
Go figure! So, yes. This alfredo is so authentic tasting it
will blow your mind!

Breakfast Burrito Bamboozle

There are these really large flour tortillas sold at trader joes,
one of the only wraps or tortillas that are vegan. They tend
to tear pretty easy, but they are soo good- especially if you
get them on a fresh day.

They are one of the things I always seem to have around, showing
you just how often I eat burritos and wraps. I have to say that
I like them because they are cleaner than sandwiches and you can
be more exciting with what you put in 'em. I like throwing left-
over curry or salad in a wrap.

Not that I only eat white flour tortillas, they are just the most
accessible and the only ones near that don't have over 20 ingredients.

But hands down, I love breakfast burritos the most. When I'd get
taken to a fastfood mexican place as a kid, I always wanted to
order french fries with my burrito to stuff in to attempt to simulate
a breakfast burrito.

It is also one of the only ways I would eat eggs or red sauce.
Now I love mixing it up with different beans or just doing some
spicy taders.

My latest joy as been getting the vegan tofu eggs down.
I'm not talking about a tofu scramble here, very different.
Think plain scrambled eggs, now we're talking.


I just cooked the potatoes with some chili powder, cumin, salt,
pepper, garlic, onions, basil and a tomato. I don't have any
hot peppers right now, so I just added a splash of some hot
chili thai sauce that gave it a bit of tabasco fiasco.

Now the eggs are super simple. Cooked in a nonstick pan, dry...
Mash half a block of tofu add a squirt of mustard, 2 tablespoons
of braggs, black pepper, and a good sprinkling of kala namak-
black salt.

I got it at the Punjab market a couple miles away.
Basically its carbonized salt (pink, not actually black) that has
a strong sulfuric essence. I picked up the idea from the Vegan Crunk
who posted a recipe for some tofu deviled eggs a while back.
Haven't made the deviled eggs, but I've been using the salt in my tofu
salad sandwiches and scrambles. One smells screams eggs, try it
and you will understand. The pack was only $1, so there is no reason
not to.

So, cook the tofu over medium heat until it starts to dry out a bit
and brown. Throw it furiously into your tortilla and eat with voracity.



Like I said, any kind of beans are awesome in these guys, or
peppers. Vegan cheese, I'd recommend Follow My Heart's Pepper Jack
to grab a little spiciness. If you asked my brother, he'd say it
needed catsup. What is your favorite thing to put in burritos?

P.S. Since I mentioned the Vegan Crunk, I have to add that she is
having a giveaway right now for a copy of Tamasin Noyes' cookbook,
American Vegan Kitchen. So check that out!

7 Days of Irish Luck, St. Paddy's Day: Baked Vegan Courgettes

Frankly anything Irish is big in my family. It is really the only
ethnic tradition we hold on to... and its passed on pretty well.
I love making traditional Irish dishes and my Brother loves
drinking beer! Hee hee, its true! (But believe it or not, Irish
wine is a rising foodie's heart-throb).

You may not have realized it yet, but next week is Saint Patrick's
Day and although my pagan spirit may not agree with the
accompanying connotations of the holiday's origins-- I can never
turn down a reason to celebrate life. 

To celebrate I'll be posting a series of traditional Irish dishes
everyday until Saint Patrick's Day and then finally break down and
have a bottle of Irish Stout or whiskey while I'm writing my
final paper for this quarter. So lets all hope that I get my work
done early and be celebrating finishing that instead.

To kick start the Irish in all of us, here is a great snack for
anytime of day. I'd have it for breakfast, but I also like it when
I get home late from class and don't want a whole meal.

Baked Farmhouse Courgettes (Zucchini)



Cut however many courgettes/zucchini you plan to make in
half. Place in a glass baking dish and sprinkle on a thin
line of nutritional yeast. I did this to pump up the
nutritional content a little and add a sharper flavor to
the vegan cheese.



Sprinkle with whatever vegan cheese you're using. I used
daiya here, but use what you like. I'd like to try this
with the follow my heart cheddar. Add a few little dots or
pats of earthbalance and place under the broiler.



Cook until cheese starts to bubble and turn golden and
the zucchini looks tender (about 15-20 mintues).



Monkey-man and Pandamonium waiting for their snack...



Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can eat it as a side dish
or serve it on top of buttered/earthbalanced toast like we did...