WTF IT’S WORKING!
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Author: vegansneedsauce
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Freestylin’ it, I guess
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Pan alla mama
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Bread rising, biscotti resting, squash resting…
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Mom testing the pasta recipe (we won’t have a thin pasta on Thanksgiving, but gotta make sure everything will work)
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Baby kale, delicata squash, thinly sliced beets, hemp seeds, tomato sauce with lemon zest and garlic
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Cotch hipping
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Brussels sprout fried rice with chickpeas and mushrooms, topped with cilantro-parsley-garlic coulis and avocado, ‘cause why not?
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Homemade tortillas, veggie fajitas, fresh guacamole, beans and spinach. Super yum.
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#VeganMoFo: The Aftermath
I ended up taking two days off of cooking once the month-long challenge was over. Beyond just being tired (not just from the blogging), my creative juices seemed pretty drained. But I thought it’d be fun to take a minute to reflect on the month.
Things I’d make again that I hadn’t made before:
- The spiced rice from the fusion challenge
- The cooked salsa with mushrooms and greens as a taco filling
- This mushroom pate that I made in honor of the autumn equinox
- That cherry tomato chutney made from all seasonal produce
- Putting tomatoes on an herby mushroom frittata, yes
- The entire menu that I pretended to cook for President Obama, it was that good
- Adding beets to a dinner I make all the time
Something that needs work:
- The leftover lentils lettuce wrap from dinner in the park – it was under-seasoned, but could have been great!
Posts I am surprised no one commented on, because I was ridiculously proud of them, or at least of the effort that went into producing them:
- I made INSANE RAMEN inspired by a super classic food dork movie! C’mon!
- This awesome roll-your-own Vietnamese fresh rolls platter! One of my favorite things ever.
- Either third time will be a charm or I should just give up on the idea of ever making vegan meringue for boccone dolce. But I hope you enjoyed reading about my spectacular failure as much as I did (in retrospect).
Also, fresh tortilla porn! Apparently everyone likes that. Tortillas for everyone! They are delicious, I get it.
Anyway, see you next year, fellow veg-heads.
Well, it’s the last day of MoFo. This is my second year participating and it’s been a challenge and a thrill. Thank you to the organizers for the themes and keeping it all together! Thank you to new vegan pals (hooray for Twitter), thank you to friends and family for commenting on Facebook, and thank you to anyone who’s been reading.
The final theme is wide open: fusion. I wanted to make something I hadn’t made before, so I thought about Indian-style kofta with… something. First I considered treating it like a meatball and serving it over spaghetti, but after careful consideration (or a distracted conversation in the car), my boyfriend and I agreed that didn’t actually sound appealing.
Kofta and Thai curry, on the other hand? That might work. I picked up an interesting herb at the market this week – lime basil – and it inspired me. Koftas could simmer in red coconut curry and be eaten with rice and a side salad, all incorporating Indian and Thai flavors/techniques.
The result was…not bad. Different. Some things worked, others less so, but a worthy try.
First I made the koftas, basically this recipe, but apparently I didn’t have any garbanzo flour (I swore I did!), so I made it with whole garbanzo beans and wheat flour so it’d hold together. The texture is probably a little off as a result.
Then I set up a simple pilaf: brown rice in the rice cooker, with a coconut oil-happy mix of cumin seeds, fried shallot, and one cinnamon stick tossed in.
Next, the curry, which was thick with coconut milk and pureed squash:
- Red curry paste + coconut oil bubble together
- Light coconut milk swirled in, brought to a simmer
- Half a yellow onion and a very small winter squash cook in the sauce
- Puree in a blender, then bring back to a simmer (it gets very thick)
- Add a chopped tomato and some greens, if you like (I like)
- While the rice cooks, add some already-cooked kofta
- A few minutes before you’re ready to eat, at lemon juice and herbs (cilantro and lime basil, in this case)
Finally, a fresh salad to tie things together: finely diced cucumber, quartered tomato, and a bit of yellow bell pepper, gently sprinkled with lemon juice, garam masala, and a pinch of salt, then served with sprigs of cilantro.
Oh, and toasted cashews. A necessity.
I found these elements didn’t work well on their own, but eaten together, kind of worked. Maybe I’ll have to keep working on it. They’re not all winners, but the fun of MoFo is in the trying.
Have a lovely October, everyone. I’ll try to keep myself occupied here (albeit probably a bit less frequently with the actual posting), but may try to create a challenge of my own to keep things interesting.
A few months ago my mom came down to California and we took a three-day trip up to Mendocino in my 1999 Honda Civic. It’s about a 3 ½-hour drive from my house, definitely long enough to warrant car snacks, much like what I’m writing about here.
It was also the last road trip I’ll take in the car–I gave it back to my mom (it was her old car, anyway, I was just using it for the last 10 years or so) because my boyfriend and I decided to share one car–a Kia Soul EV (on a three-year lease). We love driving an electric car, but it doesn’t lend itself to road trips. You’d definitely need good snacks, because it takes at least two hours to get a charge that takes you 80 miles, so that’s a lot of sitting around. To drive to Mendocino, we’d need to do that at least twice, and that’s heavily dependent on finding charging stations where we need them, that aren’t otherwise in use or broken, along the way.
Anyway, here’s what I aim for when packing road snacks: easily accessible, non-messy options are key. You need a sweet, you need a protein, you need a crunchy, you need a fresh, you need a drink.
Drink is usually just water. Boring, but important. Maybe the car is hot and you don’t have a big cooler.
Snacks:
- Peanut butter or trail mix cookies (homemade or store-bought)
I made these nice oatmeal raisin cookies (which I know is a divisive cookie at best, but I like ‘em)
- Carrots, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, or your other favorite crudites (chips or pieces of pita bread would also do, but let’s pretend we are healthy)
- Hummus or another bean dip
Freshly blended hummus, green from parsley, with carrot wedges and cherry tomatoes, ready to skedaddle
- Your favorite nuts or protein bars (I’d bring almonds and chocolate-peanut butter Pure bars)
For a really long trip, you better have a bigger cooler, and then you can bring more veggies and things to make a quick meal, like tortillas or lavash bread, sliced cherry tomatoes, spinach, salad greens, cooked tempeh strips, etc. A prepared lentil/bean salad will also do–anything you can eat with a spoon and then wipe off and stow. A container of iced tea might be welcome for a little caffeine boost. Nothing spillable, nothing that will melt (that means you, chocolate), nothing that will wilt and spoil in less-than-pristine cooling conditions.
If we go on a road trip any time soon, it’ll probably be to Yosemite or nearby. Not a terribly long drive, but definitely the kind of trip where these snacks will be welcome. Just gotta figure out which car to take…
My back is getting better, so I managed to get back into the kitchen after work tonight I didn’t want to leave such a good theme hanging without making something!
Since my my mom gifted me with a cast iron tortilla press, I’ve made fresh corn tortillas many times. It makes all the difference. I’m terrible with yeast breads, but tortillas? Pssshh. Easy. Only a little bit time-consuming, heh. It has to mix, then sit, then press each one, then cook each one.
Filling these flaky, warm, sweet, and toasty blank canvases? That’s the fun part.
First I made some tofu. I don’t usually do tofu on my tacos, but I had an idea. (Also, I should really look at how many of my posts this month featured tofu–I feel like I used it more than I normally do, but eh…) I did my normal baked tofu prep, but with a twist: red wine vinegar, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, and thinly sliced green bell pepper and red onion all went into the baking dish with the tofu on top (with a little marinade dredged on both sides), then baked for 20 minutes on each side at 400 degrees. I use my toaster oven because it doesn’t heat up the whole room, plus it bakes on a timer so it’s a total no-brainer. THe veggies roasted up nicely and the tofu has a lot of flavor.
Then I needed a sauce–getting back to basics, hello blog name!–but I also really wanted to use up some collard greens and mushrooms. Plus I picked up some nice saucing tomatoes, so I decided to make a cooked salsa with veggies in it: diced onion, sliced mushrooms, minced red jalapeno, lots of tomato, chopped collards, cook cook cook, then add several cloves of crushed/microplaned garlic (I want that PUNCH), followed by fresh cilantro and lime juice. It isn’t runny, but it is saucy and filling and flavorful.
So for the taco we’ve got sliced baked tofu, some roasted onion and pepper slices, fresh-cooked tomato salsa with mushrooms and greens, and some shredded lettuce and more cilantro to finish. Yum yum yum. Flavorful and good texture without being super messy–wow.
NOTE: I wanted avocado, but when I inspected them, they did not appear to be ripe. However, when my boyfriend appeared, he decided one of them was. But I had already eaten by then. HARUMPH.
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Homemade tortillas make ANY taco at least twice as good
Here’s the thing: I was going to get a delicious burrito at my farmers’ market and then go home and make tacos and do a whole compare and contrast. But then my lower back (really, glutes) decided it was a great time to have a tantrum so doing much of anything is painful. (I even had a super intense massage, which made 95% of the pain disappear, and I was doing a happy dance until turning the car into the driveway triggered another spasm.)
Tl;dr: I didn’t make anything today. But let’s discuss the pros and cons of each.
Portability
- Burritos: easy to pack and bring almost anywhere with minimal utensils and cleanup
- Tacos: open-faced nature requires structured carrying, napkins, and sometimes utensils
- Point: Burritos
Availability
- Burritos: you can find a vegan burrito at at least a half dozen national chains, in airports, at farmers’ markets, as frozen food, at grocery store deli counters…
- Tacos: many taco vendors offer only meat fillings
- Point: Burritos
Creativity
- Burritos: while the fillings can be anything, the presentation and often the taste are very much the same
- Tacos: its small size means experimenting with different combinations of veggies, salsas, proteins, etc. is incredibly easy, and often beautiful
- Point: Tacos
Homemade
- Burritos: extra-large tortillas are harder to find in stores, and rolling an overstuffed burrito requires care and skill, usually perfected with experience
- Tacos: any small tortilla will do–even homemade tortillas come together in a snap–and toppings can be made or bought in any quantity or quality, making it a quick dinner or an easy party buffet
- Point: Tacos
Healthiness
- Burritos: filling and easy to make into complete meal with beans, whole grains, avocado, salsa, and lots of veggies
- Tacos: easier to control portion size and have with more greens or beans on the side than might be practical in a burrito
- Point: Tie
There are no losers here, only winners. Tacos are what I’m more likely to make at home or at a family gathering; burritos are a go-to quick meal. Isn’t the world a better place with both?