Phenomenal Soup

A couple of days ago, My Beloved talked me into making a soup. It was against my better judgement as - that night - I really wanted some vegan 'junk food' and this soup seemed altogether too healthy to even contemplate.

However, I am awfully glad that I listened to him (for once!) as this was just about the most perfect soup ever! It is from Jo Stepaniak's classic Vegan Vittles** and is the Potato, Tomato and Cheez Chowder, with two slight deviations: no tomato, and a small substitution.....

Ingredients:

2 cups diced potato (peeled)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery
6 cups vegetable broth (stock)
2 cups soymilk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cashew butter
(originally the recipe called for 1/2 cup of tahini, which I did not have so substituted the two nut butters instead)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Here's what you do:

1. Combine the potatoes, onion, celery and vegetable broth (stock) in a large pan and bring to the boil.
2. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 15 mins.
3. Combine the soymilk, flour, peanut butter, cashew butter, nutritional yeast, roasted red peppers, lemon juice, onion powder, salt, garlic and dry mustard in a blender. Process until smooth.
4. Pour this mix into the pot with the potatoes, celery etc and stir over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes. It'll be ready when it's smooth and thickened.
5. Stir in the parsley and serve.

The pic does not do it justice, but lemme tell ya, it was creamy, savoury, velvety and so more-ish that we both ended up with 2 bowls each and then I had the remainder for lunch the following day. It was awesome!

With food as good as this, it is really easy to...

Stay Vegan, Friends!

** If you try this recipe and like it, please do think about buying the book. It's understated but really quite the find!

On Prop 2: Ask yourself 'What would she want?'

In case, in case, in case there's anyone in California who's unsure which way to vote on Prop 2, please let me introduce you to someone who might help you make up your mind. Her name is Blaze and she currently resides at Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary. Isn't she gorgeous?



Now, I know that there's this huge ideological chasm between welfare reformers and abolitionists about Prop 2 and other similar ballot initiatives and equally I know that the issues are complex. However, when I look into Blaze's eyes, those intelligent, inquisitive, forgiving, comical eyes, I know which way SHE would want us to vote. If we can offer even a modicum of comfort, succour and relief to the millions of caged animals that Prop 2 seeks to assist, I think she'd want us to do it.

OK, the phasing out of intensive confinement (battery cages, gestation crates, veal crates) does not bring us immediately to a world without suffering, a world of compassion and respect, a reality in which our fellow sentient creatures are no longer used and abused for our taste and our whim.

But look into those eyes. Let yourself really see her for the singular creature that she is. And then tell me that these measures wouldn't have made any difference to her?

Stay Vegan, Friends

Read about Blaze, and Edith, Pillar and Dora at Joanna Lucas' beautifully written blog, Peaceful Prairie.org

Gnarly Head or Blue Star?

On this auspicious day, My Beloved and I prepared a small celebration. The drinks are ours; the decision, yours!

Voting Today?

East Coast: Yes on Question 3

West coast: Yes on Prop 2

Please.

Avocados do not have rectums....

....whaaaaa???

Yes, that was the Quote of the Day at yesterday's Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. My Beloved and I managed to get there right on time and boy was it ever worth getting up early on a Saturday morning! The day started with a talk by Sarah Kramer on travelling as a vegan and she is so entertaining - funny, erudite, snappy, with a terrific presence and a good heaping measure of plain old common sense. She is exactly the sort of person you wish was your next door neighbour, your BFF or your older sister.





No papparazzi, sweetie!!!



But no, the above quote is not attributable to Sarah!

Next up was a legend in the vegan community: T. Colin Campbell. I was so honored to hear him speak and he did not disappoint. The room was packed - and I mean that there were people ranged along all of the walls (several layers deep), others sitting on laps, the gangways were packed with those who chose the floor and still others were crushed in the doorways, just to catch a glimpse. Professor Campbell was the first speaker that day to receive a standing ovation, so that pretty much tells you how thrilled the audience was. His presentation focused largely on how The China Study came about, his work with malnourished children in the Philippines and was very by its nature fairly dense with medical and scientific data. My Beloved loved it and is now interested in reading The China Study, so I'll have to procure a copy for him......



But, no once more, the above quote is not attributable to him either!!

Following Professor Campbell's talk, we were hooked. We stayed for all of the others throughout the afternoon and were alternately charmed by Karen Dawn, greatly entertained and enlightened by Dr. Michael Greger and delighted in Hannah Kaminsky.






Apologies for the terrible pix, but I truly could not get closer. And besides which, I was just so thrilled to have the chance to listen to these folks, I kind of forgot about camera angles....

Karen Dawn is very Californian and incredibly media-savvy. She is a true professional and you can just feel the passion oozing out of her. Highly energized and energizing, it is a privilege to spend time with her. Michael Greger is one of life's born teachers: the kind of peson you dream of having as your professor at university, but sadly never do! He's incredibly well informed and 100% up to date on his material, has all of the facts at his fingertips, knows the research inside out and has the charisma of the showman. His presentation was very audience-focused, with a lot of very dense information imparted in thoroughly entertaining ways. I would drive a fair few hours to hear him speak again!

Sadly, I have no photos of Hannah. Her spot was right at the close of the festival but still the room was packed. She presents as someone who is perhaps somewhat under-confident, but I think that's completely due to her tender age. There is no doubt that she was intimidated by appearing before so many people but I sense that she will grow into the role nicely and prove to be a wonderfully engaging and attractive advocate for veganism. I am excited to see how life develops for her.....

OK, I have tons more to say but it is cold here in my study and I am longing to curl up under the duvet(s) and read through some of the literature I picked up at the festival. So, you'll have to wait for Part Deux tomorrow, when I will indeed reveal who said: 'Avocados do not have rectums!'

Until then, gentle readers, stay vegan. Friends!
:)

People continue to surprise me...

Final MoFo Post and Happy Halloween!

It's an odd thing. People continue to surprise me. Often in ways that leave me breathing a weighty sigh, it must be admitted, but not today. Today, I was pleasantly surprised and here's why....

I brought in the goodies I baked last night and we had a bit of a Halloween binge:




This was the finished cheesecake:



And here's a non-blurry shot of the fingers, complete with their spidery friends:



Thanks for the pix, Laura!

OK, so the other thing that was happening was that one of our 'corporate business partners' was bringing in lunch from Panera. I assumed that there would be nothing for me as Panera tends to use a lot of animals and their secretions as sandwich fillings, soups and the like. Plus, why would anyone think to get something separate for me?

Well, I was blown out of the water by the fact that when Bonnie arived with lunch, she'd brought for me some vegan tomato soup, a sourdough bread bowl, chips and salad. So within the space of 30 seconds, I went from having no lunch (the paninis of last night scarely lent themselves to offering leftovers!) to having a veritable feast. And it transpired that my boss had orchestrated the whole thing by calling her up and mentioning that I am vegan.

Now this is the sort of accommodation that makes me want to bake cookies and cheesecakes and cupcakes and whatever for these people Every Single Day. Because that kind of thoughtfulness and respect of my choices - even though they do not share them - are just a couple of traits that make the folks I work with the best on the face of the planet.

On the Eve of All Hallows Eve....

It's Halloween tomorrow so tonight My Beloved is bravely making do with a panini for dinner. It is - in my own defence - a mixed mushroom, carmelised onion and soy cheese panini, but a panini nonetheless. The reason? Well, I am taking some goodies in to work tomorrow and have spent the whole evening baking. Following my recent crowing about the pumpkin cheesecake I have been conscripted to make another to share with my friends and coworkers.

However, this cheesecake almost came out somewhat differently. Take a look at this and see if you can spot the difference:



Yes, it's tough to see it immediately. And even tougher when you're in the grocery store, it's the end of a long day, you have a 45 minute ride home, it's raining and you just want to get back to cuddle your pups and snuggle with your beloved.

But it is terribly important - vital, you could even say - to notice the albeit rather 'subtle' difference between these two lids if you are going to spare yourself the complete panic attack I had when opening up the lid for the pumpkin cheesecake to find this:



Cheddar.

Cheddar-flavoured cream cheese!

Not particularly useful for a pumpkin cheesecake. Good folks at Tofutti - what do you have to say for yourselves???

The gods were with me, however, as I had some spares. I mean, what's the chances of there being 2 spare tubs of vegan cream cheese when you need them????

That aside, last year at my first ever vegan Halloween party (sigh!), I made some Dead Man's Fingers (from Yeah that Vegan Shit) which went down a treat. They are surprisingly simple and fun to make, absolutely ghastly to behold, and mouth-watering to munch, so I made a batch to take to my work and a batch for My Beloved too. See here....





Hopefully our coworkers are not reading this tonight and spoiling the surprise for tomorrow!

Apologies for the short post, but it is getting late and I hear my bed calling softly to me......

Stay Vegan (and spooky), Friends!

MoFo Wednesday: Back to my Roots......

It's time for some dietary sanity.

Cheesecake??
Truffles??????

No wonder I'll never be skinny. Bah!

And so, last night, My Beloved and I returned to our roots.
No, not fish and chips and jam butties* but roots - root vegetables.

Now that the weathter's turned decidedly nippy, I am newly possessed by the need to roast things. Fortunately for all I am restricting myself to things within the Plant Kingdom...such as sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots. Thus:




Peeled, chopped and tossed with some olive oil, salt, black pepper, rosemary and a few whole cloves of garlic, they went into the oven at around 375 for about 40 minutes and came out looking like this.



Although relegated to the status of a 'side dish', they paired really nicely with the samosa-stuffed baked potatoes (from the Vcon) and some simple couscous.



There were enough roasted roots and couscous for lunch today, which put a smile on my face and a grimace on those of my colleagues. Whole roasted garlic cloves...how to win friends and influence people....!

;)

Stay Vegan, Friends!

* Being Brits, fish and chips was a staple in our pre-vegan lives and 'jam butties' is not nearly as excitingly rude as it sounds - it simply means a jelly sandwich. So there!

MoFo Tuesday: Chocolate Truffles

In this final week of MoFo postings, I have abandoned any pretense of health and sensible nutrition, it seems, in pursuit of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

Of the 'Chocolate Truffle' variety, specifically.

I recently acquired - at the behest of My Dear Mama - a copy of the Artful Vegan, the cookbook from the Millenium Restaurant. It is splendid - full of juicy foodie images and beautifully elegant recipes. They are not exactly your typical 'mid-week, just got home from work, via the gym, still got to feed and walk the dogs and it's already 8:15pm' kind of fare, however. But, this weekend, I took the plunge in a very minor way by making these:



Chocolate truffles.

They are super simple but ridiculously delicious. Here's what you do:

Chop up 3/4 cup dark chocolate and 1/4 cup dried cherries, thus:




Melt them in a double boiler along with 1/4 cup soymilk and a 1/4 cup of rum. Stir gently until it looks like this...a marvelously melty choccie confection!



Add a 1/4 tsp chili powder for a bit of a spice kick. This is optional, but fun!

Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Using a melon baller (or teaspoon), scoop out the thickened mix and drop into some cocoa powder, sweetened with a little powdered sugar. Roll into cute little balls, popping the first one into your mouth - just for 'Quality Control' purposes, of course.

Yeah.

The mixture should make about 16 truffles (-1 for the cook!) so there are ample to go around.

I substituted dried cranberries for the dried cherries as that's what I had in the cupboard, rationalising that - this way - there's a double serving of those wonderful antioxidents!

The end result was deep, dark and rich beyond words. The kick of cayenne (I had no chili powder as such) comes on afterwards, but it is unmistakable and surprisingly good.

If you want to try them for yourselves, this is the book for you:



Or come on over to my place - I have a whole batch just waiting for you!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Flying South for the Winter

Nothing speaks of the upcoming winter as much as the turning of the leaves, fields surreal with pumpkins, the grocery store plethora of edible squashes and the migration of birds (and visiting relatives) who - sensing the nip in the air - decide it's very much time to excuse themselves and return to warmer climes.

And so it was a bittersweet weekend: my (visiting) father-in-law flew home, albeit eastwards, rather than in a southerly direction, and I marked the occasion by baking my first pumpkin cheesecake of the season.

I took the recipe from Colleen's JOVB and - yet again - it was a triumph. Honestly, I have not found one recipe in that book that hasn't turned out exceptionally! Don't believe me? Pah - take a look for yourself!



Need more?




When I came to the States, one of the differences in food styles was the humble cheesecake. Now, in the UK, the cheesecake traditionally is not baked - it's more of a refrigerated thing. And so the American cheesecake could be a tad 'firm' for my tastes. Unless they were 'Cheesecake Factory' cakes of course, but that's a whole other story from my pre-vegan days.

However, Colleen's recipe bridges the culinary divide for me: yes, it's a baked cake but it is moussy and light and delicately creamy. It uses Ener-G Egg Replacer and I think it's this very component that makes it so delectably more-ish. The spices are perfectly balanced - cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger - and the graham cracker crust is wickedly sweet and delightful. In the past I used to make a double thick crust - using twice the amount of crust mix for a really firm base to my cheesecakes - but this recipe really does not need that, and heaven knows I scarcely require the extra calories! Mind you, if you're going to have some cheesecake, HAVE some cheesecake! And this particular one is ideal for a late autumnal treat!

Stay Vegan, Friends!