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 From the farmer's market: butternut squash, mysterious green squash (tastes a bit like zucchini), renkon (lotus root), purple sweet potatoes (yellow on inside.)

 green squash

first time ("hajimete")

 roasted renkon: good for snacking on with beer
They taste a bit like potato.  Popular in Japanese dishes like oden, tempura, pickled veggies.

brunch sautee with mushrooms, carrots, collard greens, onions, stray soba noodles

Farmer's market veggies!  From top: carrots, spinach, sesame seeds covered in umeboshi flavor (pickled plum), myoga (a type of ginger/scallion vegetable), eggplant.  Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in her podcasts says to try to chop and prepare your veggies soon after you get them home, so they don't rot and you're more likely to eat them.  She says don't worry about how they'll lose nutrients - it's just so much better to eat them than waste them.  So I've been chopping, steaming, roasting... makes it so convenient to put together a quick meal.

I ordered a 4-pack of these buckwheat groats.  Years ago, I remember loving their flavor, but not the gas.  Beano, which has always worked well for me, contains gelatin (from cow tendons and ligaments) and fish ingredients.  So I ordered Bean-zyme, a cruelty-free product.  It works even better.  The buckwheat groats are good with sweet or fruity syrup, or even cooked with brown rice for a savory mixture.

New books.  I really like the Vegan's Daily Companion.  It has nice bright pictures, stories of rescued animals, literature excerpts, recipes, and tips on talking about veganism.  Living Vegan for Dummies is a good reference book.  I'm reading many books at the same time these days (all very slowly.)

Pea Salad

The name makes me chuckle, that's why I don't come up with anything more catchy.  I made this on a whim to bring to a party.  It turned out good!  Next time I make it, I'll take a picture.

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl and serve chilled.  Amounts are estimates:

1 can blackeyed peas
2 cups frozen green peas, thawed or cooked
2 cups cooked pearl barley
a couple chopped cucumbers
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped canned peaches
fresh basil, chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
a little lime juice

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beans look so pretty when they're soaking (in my Martha Stewart bowls!)

coffee bars

I made these up when I accidentally brewed the next morning's coffee and didn't want to waste it.  They were a bit rubbery, but good enough for me: coffee, molasses, ground oats, raw buckwheat groats, I forgot what else.  The groats gave it a little crunch (they softened a little upon baking.)

Masala Baked Tofu

 My first experience pressing and marinating extra-firm tofu.  I was surprised that this turned out like a "meat" dish.  I've been avoiding any "meat analogues" since learning so much about farming and slaughtering (just because of the ick factor.)  Many meat analogues (like Morningstar Farms Veggie Burgers) still contain animal products.  Anyway, after two months of nothing meat-like, this was pretty tasty.  I ate it with broccoli and basmati rice from a friend.  But I think it'd be excellent in a meal with other Indian dishes.

This recipe is from page 146 of Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Appetite for Reduction.

Getting ready to press some extra water out of the tofu.  Don't worry, the book was clean!  Pressing out extra water allows the tofu to soak up other flavors.

 I wrapped it in a clean kitchen towel on top of a tray, then put a heavy book and two heavy cans on top.  After 30 minutes, I flipped it, wrapped it in a dry towel, and pressed for 30  more minutes.

 The marinade called for mirin (I think rice vinegar is the same thing), soy sauce, vegetable broth (I used cooking liquid from greens), curry powder, garlic, and ginger.  I mixed the marinade in a rectangular Pyrex dish.

Slice the tofu and soak in the marinade for several hours (flipping once.)  In the recipe, Isa said I could try cutting the rectangles into triangles, but that looked weird.  I think cutting the tofu into smaller cubes would work, too.  Bake on a sprayed baking sheet for 20 minutes at 375.  Flip pieces, spoon more marinade on top, and bake another 10 minutes.  I spooned all the marinade on for baking.  It was so nice to deal with a marinade for once without worrying about Salmonella and meat slime.

And a few days later, I'm still enjoying the leftovers.  This day, I had it with veggies, beans, soba noodles, broccoli, sauteed mushrooms & shallots.  And Asahi beer!

gifts of food

It seems my friends want to share their food that is accidentally or intentionally vegan.  These are some of the treats they've served or given us recently:

• spicy cold soba noodles
• tofu and vegetable stir-fry
• mung bean soup
• home made rye bread
• veggie, bean, and tofu soup
• chickpeas and tomatoes
• barley and spinach
• veganized snickerdoodles and peaches
• pureed black bean & veggie soup
• whole wheat pasta salad with broccoli
• olive, garlic, and chickpea salad
• vegan "fried" basmati rice

It's fun to try all these offerings and share the things we make.  If our friend Sandie lived closer we could really have a good time sharing vegan creations!

Red Pepper Hummus

I threw this together for a small lunch party.  I didn't measure the ingredients exactly.  This hummus was especially good in a toasted pita with extra red peppers.  The Vlasic pickled roasted red peppers I bought are good, but do list sugar as an ingredient (white sugar is often processed through animal bone.)  So maybe next time I'd choose something different.

Ingredients:

• about 3 cups cooked or canned chickpeas
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp salt
• about 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice and zest of one lemon
• a few Tbsp. olive oil
• fresh parsley

Puree all ingredients (except parsley) in a blender, adding more chickpeas or liquid to get the consistency you want.  I stirred in chopped parsley at the end.  Serve with crackers, pita bread, or veggies.

Compassionate Cooks (Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

I discovered Colleen Patrick-Goudreau a couple months ago while looking for podcasts of vegetarianism and veganism. She has a company called Compassionate Cooks, several books, a cooking DVD, and an informative website. Her podcast talks are sometimes light and sometimes heavy (discussing exploitation, torture, and abuse of animals.) She has an eloquent and heartfelt way of talking about the animals. She has many cooking demo videos on You Tube:



And here's one where she visits a farm sanctuary:

Banana-Chocolate Bars

These bars are sweet and healthy (with ground oats and flax seeds.)  The Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips are dairy-free, and available at most grocery stores - a happy discovery for me!

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix these dry ingredients in a large bowl:
3 cups oats, ground to a coarse flour in a blender
1 cup Bisquick (using up my box; you could substitute any flour and baking powder)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup Sugar in the Raw

Grind 1/4 cup flax seeds in a coffee grinder or blender, then whisk with 1/2 cup water until frothy.  This is your egg replacer.

Mix wet ingredients:
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
flax seed egg replacer (see above)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir wet ingredients into large bowl of dry ingredients.  Stir in
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Spread in a 9x13-inch lightly greased pan.  Bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Cool and cut into bars.

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I made this soup yesterday in my new Crock Pot slow cooker.  I threw it together with leftovers in the fridge: celery, sauteed onion, negi (leek), chickpeas, barley.  I threw in some bay leaves, garlic, uncooked lentils and vegetable stock (just leftover veggie cooking liquid I store in the fridge.)  It was done and delicious when I came home that evening.  I added some parsley and fresh ginger.  Grapes, kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), and sliced ginger are on the side.

By the end, I was mixing in green peas, chopped pumpkin, grapes, and bananas leftover from my toddler's meal.  Yummy!

Quick dinner plate: (from top) chickpeas with sauteed onions and miso paste, leftover lima bean stew (something I invented in the slow cooker), canned peaches, kale, and vegan rye bread from a friend.

Cashew Quinoa Salad

This was one of the first vegan dishes I made up back in July.  I had invited friends over for dinner, but spent all afternoon goofing around at the pool and bike riding.  I threw it together last-minute, and it was good and filling.  The key ingredients are quinoa, cashews, dried cranberries, chickpeas and/or edamame (soybeans), and lemon or orange juice.  The quinoa and edamame/chickpeas are good protein sources. I've made it a couple times since with different variations.  Here's what I used this time:

• about 3 or 4 cups cooked quinoa
• about 1/2 cashews (raw or salted, whole or pieces)
• about 1.5 cups cooked edamame (I use the frozen, shelled type)
• about 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• a few chopped fresh basil leaves
• juice and zest of one lemon
• shredded coconut, about 1/4 cup
• fresh ginger, grated, about 1 Tbsp
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• salt to taste

Mix all together and serve warm or cold.  This is a comforting and satisfying dish, and my toddler also likes it.  The cashews soften as the dish sits, so I can mash them a bit, along with the beans for her.  She wasn't sure about the coconut this time, though.  I think it would be good mixed with coconut milk!

Pico de Gallo Quinoa

Summer is ending, and I wanted something fresh and Mexican, that's also a main dish.  The key flavors are cilantro, lime, tomato, onion, and garlic.  Hot or mild pepper would be good, too, but I left them out so I could share with my toddler.  This could be a great burrito or soft taco filling with mashed avocado or refried beans as the "glue".  Enjoy it with beer & lime, and it's like you're sitting on the Mayan Riviera.  Delicioso!

The ingredients (could be easily personalized for your taste)

• Cooked quinoa (I cooked up 2 cups dry quinoa with leftover veggie cooking liquid  - in a rice cooker)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can pinto beans, rinsed
• 1 can crisp yellow corn, rinsed
• 1 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped (I also added a sliced "negi" - Japanese green onion)
• 3 or 4 raw garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• juice of one lime
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar (I think this is the same as mirin)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• optional: peppers (bell, jalapeno, whatever you like!)

Mix all ingredients and store in fridge.  This has a fresh gazpacho-like flavor. 

As a burrito filling with Haig's roasted-red-pepper hummus as the glue (it was all I had.)  I've also had this alongside greens, and with pumpkin seeds and nutritional yeast on top.

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Some favorite groceries: (from left) kale, natural peanut butter, nutritional yeast (tastes cheesy, and fortified with B12), sunflower seed butter, tahini, almond milk, miso paste (green tub in front.)

Quick lunch when I was really hungry: (clockwise from top) quinoa & tofu with black sesames and Seven Spice, Grey Poupon (turned out good with this!), collard greens, red onion, hummus (Haig's roasted red pepper flavor), carrots in middle.  Smaller bowl has edamame in shell leftover from a sushi train, and roasted garlic cloves.  The drink is a Japnese veggie-fruit juice blend.

Girls' quick dinner.  Mine has quinoa, canned pinto beans, walnuts, cilantro, collard greens, nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.  Hers has quinoa, mixed veggies, olive oil, banana, and hard boiled egg (she's not vegan.)  She loves quinoa!