Day 29:
Woke up in Lincoln around 10am and decided to try and get my body moving, so I strapped on my sports bra and sneakers and went for a run. It was only about a mile or so, but it was really pleasant, even though it was a little drizzly. After the run, I took a shower and Nate and I went up to Yia Yia's pizza to meet up with Jim (Shipbuilding Company) and his fiancee Ellen. While there, we ran into Darren (The Show Is The Rainbow, Bad Speler) and hung out for a little bit.
After lunch, I hung out with Jim and Ellen, then took Cathy up on her offer to let us see We Need To Talk About Kevin. The movie was a broken narrative. The premise circles around a mother and her son and their contentious relationship that is exacerbated by...well I don't know if the spoilers are out yet, but Kevin does something awful.
After the flick, Nathan ran me to the coop on South St and I picked up some bell peppers, kumquats, bananas and apples, then I headed to Zoo Bar.
The early show was still going on, so I wandered past the Bourbon...and there was Darren again. He let me into the show and I saw a couple of songs by Shipbuilding Company, who were sort of a prime example of the genre I like to call "Arcade Fire rock." Lots of descending chord progressions at moderate tempo, fogerty-esque guitar tricks and a reedy voice at the front. I don't have any real malice for the Arcade Fire or the 8000 bands that are capitalizing on their success, but I am not altogether too excited by mid-tempo big-sounding rock unless it's emo as fuck (see earlier entries on WWPJ).
I headed back to my venue, Zoo Bar, and got unpacked. The venue had been promoting the show with the wrong bands on the promotional flyer (Pink Flag, Low Horse and Pharmacy Spirits) and it turned out to be Mildred Bonk who were experimental noise mostly...a lot of feedback and effects. The sound wasn't really coming through on my phone.
Next up was Fuchsia Minutia, who are a very mathy, noisy little act. Their set is essentially organized chaos, but the sheer virtuosity of the players is pretty impressive. Word on the Lincoln street is that these guys do the best cover songs ever. I believe that they are probably really good.
I played 3rd, the was followed by the Pharmacy Spirits, whom I kind of adore. They're sort of like a spooky version of a band that's really into the beach boys. Or a Christian Death cover band that has never heard a Christian Death song in their life. Regardless, there is some sort of sunglasses-at-night coolness to the sound and I drive around listening to it sometimes and enjoy it. This song pictured is called Teen Challenge. I apologize, again, for the quality of the sound on these guys, this room was just a tin box basically and loud as hell.
After the show, we packed up and I went over to the guys from Fuschia Minutia's and hung out until (woefully) 3:30AM.
Day 30:
My notes for this day were:
"Chicago bound. Stayed up WAY too late in Lincoln. Chicago traffic. Rain."
My day was basically the wasteland that is Iowa. Iowa takes FOREVER to drive. I also rolled into Chicago at...oh exactly rush hour, which meant that I got to the skyline then sat in traffic. And it was raining. These were two days of just straight soggy shoes for me (foreshadowing!). Anyway, I got to the venue about 30 minutes early and it happened to be next door to an asian restaurant, so I got a cucumber salad and an avocado salad and used the nice clean asian restaurant bathroom.
So, musicians, folks in general, do you ever have one of those events you have to attend where you walk in the door and go "Oh Man..." and not in the good way? That's kind of how I felt walking in to Ultra Lounge. I was the first person there...by some time. I bummed around for a while until Vortis and the sound guy showed up, then loaded in.
Vortis were the punk rock mixtape that your friend Mike/Steve/John/Chris gave to you when you were 15 along with some safety pins and a Misfits patch. The group formed under the idea of the Vortis, which was a turn of the century idealogy that supports the idea of living with an adolescent clarity. Their songs were upbeat, fun and bled one right into the next. The energy was lost on the crowd of 5-6. At the end of their set, per a discussion, I got up there and completely butchered "Oh Bondage Up Yours" by X-Ray Spex.
The Funs - cute, and fun. Nothing I've never heard before (Just think about all the 4-track recording lo-fi artists in the late 80s no-wave underground and you got it), but they were still very sweet, fun to listen to and brought a great crowd of kids to the show. Violent, bouncy, dancey kids. I wish I were still so enthusiastic. Really I do.
At the end of the night, I went back to Tina and Liz's place and climbed into their baby's ikea loft bed (and seriously, if I weren't starving myself to death right now that thing would have COLLAPSED under me, every time I shifted my weight, it let out a terrible shriek, threatening to drop me), and promptly passed the fuck out.
Only to wake up at 7am for the drive to Columbus. With a cold (SOGGY SHOES!). This is really gonna help with the high notes. Videos to be attached later. Can always be searched via my youtube account, though!
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Raw for Lent: Days 13-14
Monday, Day 13:
On another note, I don't often get into politics, but feel it is necessary to start to raise awareness for something that is a really important issue here in the state of North Carolina. The civil and human rights of people in same-sex partnerships in the state of North Carolina are currently under a huge threat. Amendment One proposes to make the same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina part of the state constitution.
This bill would essentially lay the groundwork to invalidate existing same-sex arrangements like custody, estate settlements without wills, visitation rights at hospitals and prison and could even be used to overturn restraining orders or convictions based on "domestic violence."
If you would like to know more about the amendment from a fairly unbiased source, you can see the BallotPedia Page for Amendment One. If you would like to contribute or get involved, Protect All NC Families is an excellent organization doing fine work. The best thing you can do, though, is tell anyone you know in North Carolina about this upcoming issue.
Monday meant some more yoga, but I bailed. I ended up finishing the recording for the LAM! LAM! tour and getting my screens set up and considering paint color, then hit the gym. Food was...a banana. An apple. A noble attempt to eat more kale salad both before and after work, then a grapefruit and a handful of almonds for dinner/pre-bed snack.
Tuesday, Day 14:
Today was a barn day! Sadly, Shep, my trainer, doesn't think Jazz is ready to do lessons, so I rode Newman, my old love. Newman is still a totally awesome horse; just am totally amped on Jazz. Regardless of a little misbehavior (apparently, Newman has not been ridden again since I last rode him!) and silliness, he was a very good boy and listened well.
After riding, I decided to finally pull out my Sun Warrior and made a shake of almonds, water, chia gel and frozen strawberries, which I put in my bag for work and drank there. I forgot how congealed the Sun Warrior shakes tend to get. Or maybe it's the Chia doing it. Whatever, I choked it down but the shake wasn't as filling as I remembered said shakes being, so I ended up stopping at Whole Foods and picking up some new stuff. I got some more kale, zucchini, tomatoes, apples, a little guac and these "Brad's Raw" chips.
So reviewing the Brad's Raw Chips. I decided to go for the "cheddar" version because I wanted something to eat with guacamole and figured the nacho type chip would be the best for my needs. First thing, these chips are EXPENSIVE. Like, $8. Ouch. But, they are good. Some of them are better than others (like, in the same bag), because the slightly thicker ones, while sturdier, have that sort of chewy fruit leather texture as a opposed to the light crunch of the thinner ones. Overall, my impression was that they tasted like slightly spicy, healthy wheat thins. And ya know, that works for me. Hell, it's probably even worth the $8 splurge every so often, like tonight, when I just want something quick and easy and tasty. Or when I'm craving the bready crunch. Also, they supposedly give away free chips and prizes (HELLO I WOULD LIKE SOME FREE CHIPS THANKS!) if you join the mailing list or like them on facebook. So overall, I'd say the company is not totally evil and the product is good, but this is definitely a once-in-a-while indulgence because of the price, so stick to your sun warrior and apples and bananas if you are cheap like I am.
BUT that said, I did just totally splurge on a food dehydrator so I'm gonna make some kale chips and zucchini chips and maybe fruit leather yayyyy.
On another note, I don't often get into politics, but feel it is necessary to start to raise awareness for something that is a really important issue here in the state of North Carolina. The civil and human rights of people in same-sex partnerships in the state of North Carolina are currently under a huge threat. Amendment One proposes to make the same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina part of the state constitution.
Just to be clear, same sex marriage is ALREADY illegal in the state of North Carolina.
This bill would essentially lay the groundwork to invalidate existing same-sex arrangements like custody, estate settlements without wills, visitation rights at hospitals and prison and could even be used to overturn restraining orders or convictions based on "domestic violence."
If you would like to know more about the amendment from a fairly unbiased source, you can see the BallotPedia Page for Amendment One. If you would like to contribute or get involved, Protect All NC Families is an excellent organization doing fine work. The best thing you can do, though, is tell anyone you know in North Carolina about this upcoming issue.
Regardless of how you or your family feels about same-sex marriage, remember, it is ALREADY ILLEGAL in the state. This bill is not about banning gay marriage in NC, but is about the LEGAL marginalization of a minority group. Replace "gay" with any other minority group and you'll know how to vote. We are beyond this as a culture.
Friday, February 19, 2010
40 Days of Raw: Day 3
Day 3 meant sleeping until 4 pm to catch my sleep up to my energy level. When I woke up, I ran to the grocery store to pick up supplies (pre-packaged kimchi, korean chile pepper, raw granola bar type stuff) and set to work.
Yesterday's lunch was more cauliflower and a little kale salad. Snack turned out to be grapefruit. Dinner was pre-packaged kimchi and unsweetened almond milk with raspberries.
The project for yesterday? Pickling!
I started by making home kimchi. I used the recipe (or guidelines) found at Bella Online, combined with my pickling guru recipe from Tommy J's Kitchen to make my half sour pickles and radishes. Yes, I'm attempting to pickle radishes.
I copped on the
kimchi a little...used a fresh habanero in addition to the korean chili powder, so ended up with more of a mud, then blended some garlic and ginger into it. In hindsight, I would've probably used 3-4 cloves of garlic instead of the one. The kimchi, overall, looks a little bit light. I let it sit out overnight to cold process ferment before putting it in the fridge. I'll probably sneak a taste on Sunday night. The cuke pickles will be ready on Monday.
Oh and the raw granola bar things? Tasty and surprisingly satisfying, but they are a little steep at $4 a pop. Basically, they taste like a saltier, healthier version of those nature valley granola bars, with superfoods in them (goji berries, blueberries, cranberries and chocolate are the flavors). They're also a little salty, which helps me to treat them like a real meal and not some lame candy bar.
Since it's also a slow afternoon, I'll tell you about my last Falafel Party (pictured at left). I'll admit, our first (pictured at right) was slightly more successful, falafel-wise, but our israeli salad and hummus were spot on this time around. We used the recipe from VWAV to a T in may
, and this time were a little more liberal and winged it (which resulted in some tough first falafels that essentially crumbled in the pan). The one thing that's weird about the VWAV recipe for falafels is the amount of baking powder-- it makes them puff up and created a weird air pocket in the middle that you don't get at your fav middle eastern pita joint. Either way, I'll continue making falafel because it's awesome. But not until April 4.
As far as the israeli salad goes, this time I used fresh lemon juice, sea salt, english seedless (or what my parents call "israeli") cukes, grape tomatoes, fresh cracked pepper and a TON of parsley. It didn't keep well, but there wasn't much to keep! A great way to dress a salad like this is to cut the veggies over the container you inte
nd to keep it in/serve it in. Then put the top on, shake it up and enjoy :)
My pointers for making hummus are more vague-- mainly because hummus is so subjective. I prefer a lighter, lemony hummus to the garlic-tastic that pleases dork. The best I've done (and it has taken weeks of mediocre chickpea dips) are as follows:
Roasted Garlic -- appx (all measurements are!) 8 cloves (roasted) to 2 cups chickpeas, 1 tsp tahini, 1/2 lemon's juice, pinch of cumin, 1/2 tsp salt and a few grinds of the old pepper mill. Olive oil until it flows freely-ish.
Red pepper (not roasted!) -- 2 c chickpeas, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp tahini, pinch cumin, 1/2 lemon's juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 red pepper (fresh!), ~1/3 c olive oil, then water until free flowing.
That's all I've got for now, dear bloggers. At some point soon, I'm going to attempt soaking legumes. Til then!
Yesterday's lunch was more cauliflower and a little kale salad. Snack turned out to be grapefruit. Dinner was pre-packaged kimchi and unsweetened almond milk with raspberries.
The project for yesterday? Pickling!I started by making home kimchi. I used the recipe (or guidelines) found at Bella Online, combined with my pickling guru recipe from Tommy J's Kitchen to make my half sour pickles and radishes. Yes, I'm attempting to pickle radishes.
I copped on the
kimchi a little...used a fresh habanero in addition to the korean chili powder, so ended up with more of a mud, then blended some garlic and ginger into it. In hindsight, I would've probably used 3-4 cloves of garlic instead of the one. The kimchi, overall, looks a little bit light. I let it sit out overnight to cold process ferment before putting it in the fridge. I'll probably sneak a taste on Sunday night. The cuke pickles will be ready on Monday.Oh and the raw granola bar things? Tasty and surprisingly satisfying, but they are a little steep at $4 a pop. Basically, they taste like a saltier, healthier version of those nature valley granola bars, with superfoods in them (goji berries, blueberries, cranberries and chocolate are the flavors). They're also a little salty, which helps me to treat them like a real meal and not some lame candy bar.
Since it's also a slow afternoon, I'll tell you about my last Falafel Party (pictured at left). I'll admit, our first (pictured at right) was slightly more successful, falafel-wise, but our israeli salad and hummus were spot on this time around. We used the recipe from VWAV to a T in may
, and this time were a little more liberal and winged it (which resulted in some tough first falafels that essentially crumbled in the pan). The one thing that's weird about the VWAV recipe for falafels is the amount of baking powder-- it makes them puff up and created a weird air pocket in the middle that you don't get at your fav middle eastern pita joint. Either way, I'll continue making falafel because it's awesome. But not until April 4.As far as the israeli salad goes, this time I used fresh lemon juice, sea salt, english seedless (or what my parents call "israeli") cukes, grape tomatoes, fresh cracked pepper and a TON of parsley. It didn't keep well, but there wasn't much to keep! A great way to dress a salad like this is to cut the veggies over the container you inte
nd to keep it in/serve it in. Then put the top on, shake it up and enjoy :)My pointers for making hummus are more vague-- mainly because hummus is so subjective. I prefer a lighter, lemony hummus to the garlic-tastic that pleases dork. The best I've done (and it has taken weeks of mediocre chickpea dips) are as follows:
Roasted Garlic -- appx (all measurements are!) 8 cloves (roasted) to 2 cups chickpeas, 1 tsp tahini, 1/2 lemon's juice, pinch of cumin, 1/2 tsp salt and a few grinds of the old pepper mill. Olive oil until it flows freely-ish.
Red pepper (not roasted!) -- 2 c chickpeas, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp tahini, pinch cumin, 1/2 lemon's juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 red pepper (fresh!), ~1/3 c olive oil, then water until free flowing.
That's all I've got for now, dear bloggers. At some point soon, I'm going to attempt soaking legumes. Til then!
Monday, January 11, 2010
NC Beer List
Over the past year, I've become more interested in local craft beer due to a growing relationship between local brewers and local rock musicians, as well as a growing buy-local mentality. With that in mind, I've started to compile a list of the vegan-friendliest brews for those of you who live in the NC area (or have access to some of these beers). I've withheld my own personal recommendations from this list because it is incomplete and because I hope to possibly pilgrimage (a la Beer Y'all) to some of these breweries and do a side by side comparison of their wares to bring you the best and brightest from each one!
Without further ado, the list thus far:
Aviator - Vegan Friendly
Fuquay Varina, NC
We don’t use isinglass in any of our beers (we did use it in the past…but have discontinued it) and to now we have not used honey.
You can list them all!
Cheers,
Mark.
Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC
carolinabrewery.com
Thanks for your interest in the Carolina Brewery. We always have Sky Blue Golden Ale, Copperline Amber Ale, Flagship India Pale Ale and Oatmeal Porter on tap, plus seasonal beers.Our beers are made with malted barley, hops, yeast and water. None of our beers contain isinglass, dairy, gelatin or honey. For a complete list our beers please visit our website www.carolinabrewery.com.
Thanks, -Jon
Carolina Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Holly Springs, NC
http://www.carolinabrew.com
According to John, "We don’t use any honey, isinglass, dairy or gelatin at all so every beer we make is vegan."
Catawba Valley Brewing - Vegan Friendly!
Morganton, NC
http://www.catawbavalleybrewingcompany.com/
At this time all of our Beers are Vegan, In the past we used some different clarifying agents, (Isinglass to be exact) But I haven't used anything in many years . So were safer , fresher and happier..
Thanks
W Scott Pyatt
Craggie Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Asheville, NC
www.craggiebrewingco.com
My name is Bill Drew and I am the owner/ brew master of Craggie Brewing Company. Thank you for your interest in our beers. Have you had a chance to come to our tasting room to sample our wares yet? All our beers are "Vegan". No clarifying agents or foam inhibitors. We don't filter either. Most of our beers are just malt, hops, yeast, water. Since yeast is a living organism, is it an exception to the rule? Some of our other beers do contain candy sugar, molasses, ginger, spruce tips, strawberries, blueberries, etc. depending on the seasonal recipe. I hope this is helpful. Thanks and cheers!
Bill
Foothills Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Winston-Salem, NC
http://foothillsbrewing.com/
We do not use isinglass in any of our products, nor do we use honey. I believe, as a result, all of our beers could be considered vegan. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me at jamie@foothillsbrewing.com or directly at 3364079276. Thanks for the interest! Jamie Bartholomaus (Brewmaster)
French Broad Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Asheveille, NC
http://frenchbroadbrewery.com
Cheers,
Drew Barton
Greenville, NC
www.hamsbrewhouse.com
It's actually easier for us to list our brews that aren't vegan. The only ones that are not vegan are our Mother's Milk Cream Stout (it contains lactose) and our Sunfest Lager might not be vegan. We filter our Sunfest Lager and our filter modules contain DE (diatomaceous earth), but I'm not sure how you guys feel about DE. Here's something to read if you're not familiar with DE....
http://veganfootprints.
Other than that, all our brews can be considered vegan.
The only fining (used for clarity) we use is Irish Moss, which is made from different kinds of seaweed.
Other than those two, any of our brews listed at www.hamsbrewhouse.com would be considered vegan.
Thanks!
TL Adkisson
Heinzelmännchen Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
Sylva, NC
http://yourgnometownbrewery.com/
Except for our Ancient Days Honey Blonde Ale, all our other Ales (Gopher, Hoppy Gnome, Gnutty Gnome, Middleworld Brown, Black Forest Stout, Weise Gnome, & Big Amber Ale). We use a cold maturation process to clear most of our beer with an occassional dose of Trub Clear (an Irish Moss product) in our specialty Ales due to the higher protein content of that style. You can find beer style descriptors on our website.
Prosit,
Dieter
Highland Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Asheville, NC
www.highlandbrewing.com
Hi – Thanks for your interest in our brews. All our regular and seasonal beers are vegan. Our regular beers are Kashmir IPA, Oatmeal Porter, Gaelic Ale, Black Mocha Stout, and St. Terese Pale Ale. Our seasonal beers are Cold Mountain Winter Ale, Black Mountain Bitter, Clawhammer Oktoberfest, and Cattail Peak Wheat. Barb @ HBC
Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
High Point, NC and Myrtle Beach, NC
http://libertysteakhouseandbrewery.com
Nice to hear from you and also about your interest in our craft beers. We do not use isinglass or gels here at Liberty, nor do I add lactose to any of my beers. Sometime in the future (as I have in the past), I will be utilizing honey, but it would be advertised as such. I believe I will be making a honey wheat ale in the Spring. One point to make is the fact that beer is created by the metabolism of sugars and other constituents by yeast. There is active academic debate whether fungi, which brewers yeast is a type of, is a plant or animal. I personally (along with most) categorize fungus into its own group and leave the plants and animals into their own respective groupings. I would guess that you would have to interpret the definition of fungus to yourself and decide whether or not beer is in fact vegan. I personally think it is as long as lactose, finings or other animal products are not utilized. If you have any other questions, please contact me at your leisure. Thanks!
Cheers,
Todd Isbell
Brewmaster
Lone Rider Brewery - Somewhat Vegan Friendly
Raleigh, NC
http://www.loneriderbeer.com
Shotgun Betty (unfiltered Hefeweizen) is completely vegan. Our other beers do use finings.
Natty Greene's Brewing Co - Mostly Vegan Friendly!
Greensboro and Raleigh, NC
http://bigdraft.com
the only beer we use isinglass finings on is our General Stout, and the Irish Honey Red contains honey.
all of our beers are vegan aside these two. here is the list of the main sellers:
Guilford Golden
Wildflower Witbier
Southern Pale
Buckshot Amber
Old Town Brown
Cannonball Double IPA
Black Powder Russian Imperial Stout
Red Nose Winter Ale
at our pub locations in Greensboro, and Raleigh we brew over 40 recipes over the year and all of these are vegan.
in a follow up email, Sebastian mentioned:
I missed one, the Milk Stout we do has lactose sugar in it which is derived from dairy products...specifically whey.
Sebastian Wolfrum
Director of Brewing Operations | Natty Greene's Pub and Brewing Company
Olde Hickory Brewery - Mostly Vegan Friendly
Hickory, NC
www.oldehickorybrewery.com
Thank you for contacting the Olde Hickory Brewery! I've spoken with our brew master and confirmed that the vast majority of our beers are vegan friendly. The only beers we make which are not are the Imperial Stout and Christmas Ale, both of which contain honey. The bottles of these are labeled with "made with honey." All of the rest of the beers listed on our website are vegan friendly, as well as our Dopplebock which is new and not yet on the site. Best, Nikol Wuest
Red Oak Brewery - Vegan Friendly
Whitsett, NC
www.redoakbrewery.com
Thank you for your inquiry. We brew 3 different lagers and all are vegan. We brew according to the 1516 law of purity the oldest consumer protection law in the world. This allows only 4 ingredients; Malted Barley, Hops, Water and Yeast. The beers we brew are Hummin' Bird, Red Oak and Battlefield Bock. We do not filter the beer or clarify it. We brew the way all beer used to be made.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Chris Buckley
Brew Master
Top Of The Hill - NOT Vegan Friendly
Chapel Hill NC East Franklin St., Third Floor, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 100 East Franklin St., Third Floor, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
"I am sorry but we use Isenglass in all of our beers. No isenglass remains in the beer but we do use it to clarify instead of filtering.
Cheers!"
Scott Maitland
Proprietor
Triangle Brewing Company - Vegan Friendly!
Durham, NC
http://trianglebrewery.com/
As of last inquiry (July 2009) all beers are vegan.
Still Awaiting Feedback:
Appalachian Craft Brewery - Fletcher, NC
Asheville Brewing Company - Asheville, NC
Big Boss Brewing - Raleigh, NC
Boyland Bridge Brewpub - NC
Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery - Farmville, NC
Front Street Brewery - Wilmington, NC
Green Man Ales and Brewery - Asheville, NC
Huske Hardware House Brewing Company - Fayetteville, NC
Outer Banks Brewing Station - Kill Devil Hills, NC
The Mash House Restaurant and Brewery - Fayetteville, NC
Mother Earth Brewing - Kinston, NC
Pisgah Brewing Company - Black Mountain, NC
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Charlotte, NC
Weeping Radish Farm Brewery - Jarvisburg, NC
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
NYC for Xmas!
So I headed home for Christmas and planned a whirlwind trip of NY and the surrounding areas.
First off. I stopped in Richmond for snackiepoos on the way up, and shock shock, Harrison St Coffee was CLOSED. Oh well, I hit Panda Veg. I ordered the home style tofu, a spring roll and the sesame balls. The tofu was not the tofu I'd had at the buffet, and I ended up throwing most of it in the trash, but can I expound for one moment on the joy and beauty that is sesame balls? Okay
, so you have these little balls that get put
in the deep fryer and expand to 3x their size. Nothing amazing there. What is amazing is the crispy, sesame seed coated outside, which yields to a hot, doughy, sticky bun with dense, molasses flavored peanut butter core. I didn't want to eat all of them before I got out of Virginia, but I totally did. They were fantastically delicious.
My first night, I had dinner at new restaurant Dirt Candy. Dirt Candy is a very small restaurant on 9th ave, devoted to, as they
say "leaving the
vegetables to professionals." A 3 person operation, it is a
little snug, but uses that size issue to its advantage. The front-of-house man is very helpful,
charming and friendly. He asked us and all parties seated after us if anyone at the table was vegan and made reccomendations on dishes accordingly. The menu is very small-- 9 items total. We ordered everything on the menu except spinach soup and carrot risotto. Here's how it went down:
The "snack" of jalapeno hush puppies was tasty, but I wish that chef
Amanda Cohen had devised a more inventive way of combining the popcorn sized snacks with the perfect condiment that is maple butter. If Cohen ever decides to make brunch, this would be the perfect thing to serve with, well, every breakfast item possible. It would be ideal on waffles, pancakes and toast. It does complement the puppies, but swabbing them across the butter is a little awkward. I'd like to see a chef who seems interested in advanced techniques like Cohen try something like flash freezing the butter, then surrounding it with hush puppies.
The star of this meal, as far as I was concerned, was the appetizer. My father ordered the greek salad-- I didn't try it due to the cheese, but the
portabello mousse. Can we talk about this mousse for a moment? Honestly, I was scared, but t
he waiter sold me. My love for mushrooms can turn to hate very quickly, particularly when they are pureed, mixed with gelatin and served in futuristic style cubes. BUT these totally scored. The mousse tasted like mushrooms, almost more so than the thinly sliced pile that accompanied it on the plate. The pear confit was a surprising
burst of sweet that worked out. The crostini
added salt and a little crunch to what would otherwise be a mushy dish. I really loved this. I probably could've eaten two of them. I kind of want to
make portabello mousse squares for my friends, but I don't think they'd understand. My mom ordered the regular garden salad, which looked pleasant but was really saved by the grapefruit
pops. The grapefruit pops are essentially grapefruit sections, coated in a hard candy shell. They were divine and have resparked my interest in grapefruit brulee. Hooray butane torches.
I went and saw Playing Dead and Autumn People at Mr Beery's in Farmingdale. Playing Dead are friends of a friend who played the Stately on Labor Day Weekend. They serve up radio friendly rock which holds echoes of local Long Island heroes
Taking Back Sunday. Autumn People are devoted psychadelic noise rockers. I didn't expect to like their set as much as I did, but I really liked the show. Fabian's voice is unexpected, the bass player can really write a bassline and their drummer managed to continue playing as feet, beer, instruments and band members came hurling at him and knocking over his drumkit.
The next day was Christmas, and for Christmas I made the I'm Fucking Hungry Fajitas for my main dish, and a slight variation on VWAV's Tuscan White Bean soup. Add about 2 cups of spinach, then tell me how much you love me. My family was, sadly, pretty wary, but my dad tried some and drank a whole lot of soup the next day.
I also made an apple-grapefruit pound cake. I love pound cake. It's very beautiful, but doesn't keep extremely well because it's so moist, and because the grapefruit on top starts to go bad. Photo at right shows the Cake, and a slab cut off of it, for your delicious joy. I did kind of nick and modify this recipe from my friend Rachel, so I'm going to share my changes with you.
Fruit Pound Cake
Cake:
1.5 C flour
1 C sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C apple cider (or go half and half, cide and grapefruit juice)
1 Tbsp grapefruit zest
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp almond extract
Icing:
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C margarine
2 T apple cider vinegar
2-2 1/2 C powdered sugar
Grapefruit zest to taste
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a pan. Mix all dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix together quickly, for no more than 2 minutes, then get it in the oven. If you use a bread pan (to make a little loaf cake like me) it will need about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you use an 8x8 pan bake about 30 minutes. You can also double the recipe and make a big honkin' cake with two 8x8s.
While your cake is cooling and shortening and margarine are approaching room temp, peel and section a grapefruit. Then you can mix the icing ingredients together, adding more sugar if it's too loose and more cider if it's too stiff. Ice the cake as you would any other. Part of the beauty of this cake is that you can sub in/out almost any fruit and be alright.
On the way home, I got to go to my favorite place in the world: Vegan Treats.
(Warning, this post is about to become a love song)
How do I love vegan treats? Let me count the ways. Observe the look of almost-mindless ecstasy as I bite into the love of my life, the Berliner. Oh, how I miss jelly donuts.
I have lots of pictures of this donut because i wanted to remebmer it forever, but I won't make you look at them. I also got a slice of chocolate covered strawberry shortcake, two (yes I know) cinnamon buns and a couple of mini cakes to taste. They were so pretty! How could I resist?
The cinnamon buns were exactly as I remembered-- overbearingly rich, smothered in icing, soft and chewy...so totally effing wonderful. I shared them with my bandmates and it got everyone's seal of approval.
I'm just going to leave off with photos of all the wonderful treats now, but I propose a question or a challenge-- does anyone have any *idea* how they get their icing so fluffy and wonderful? I know transfats are involved and don't really care. Most baked goods are not that healthy anyway, and a little transfat to make the difference between satisfying and I-will-eat-this-until-I-cannot-physically-swallow-any-more seems like a fair trade. Maybe it's because my real dream in life is to have a Vegan Treats Satellite here in Durham.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Kimono
I discovered a new restaurant in Durham at 2505 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd called Kimono. It opened on Halloween. I went with Wessie and ordered the vegetable sushi combo, which includes, for 12.95: soup (choice of clear or miso), salad, 1 vegetable hand roll (avocado, cucumber, asparagus, yellow pickle, plum pickle and carrot), 1 10 piece vegetable maki, 2 pieces each of avocado, cucumber, asparagus, yellow pickle and carrot nigiri. I couldn't finish it all, but I was AMPED. The only thing I wasn't excited about was the miso soup. Even though it was super tofu, seaweed and chives heavy, I also think there was some bonito involved. =( Either way, the sushi and salad are still worth the price, especially since they serve it to you in a boat! I've never warranted a sushi boat before.
I've attached a picture of the apple they chopped up for us after our fourth or fifth meal there over the course of two weeks. Yay fancy apples.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Battle of the Fake Cheese
So in my mixed bag from Vegan Essentials, I purchased several types of fake cheese, including the much-fawned over Teese.
I should preface this with the fact that 1 - I am still very happy with the "cheese-like" consistency of road's end, but my local whole foods has deigned to NO LONGER CARRY IT, thereby driving me into a tizzy of rage, not helped by the fact that my roommate Wessie is seriously an easy mac addict. I am easily influenced in food cravings.
Here are my findings:
Teese Mozzarella = 4 1/2 out of 5
Teese Cheddar = 2 1/2 out of 5
First, the Mozzerella. This is the first vegan cheese I've come across that I actually would EAT BY ITSELF. It reminds me very much of that lame-ass fat free string cheese my mom used to buy me that was pretty tasty, but didn't string out and that I would in turn share with my dog. I've had Teese Mozzarella in a lasagna, so I know it'll be good in that usage. Emboldened by everyone's love of teese and praise of its melting powers, I decided to make a pizza.
Now, as you can see, the pizza looks pretty good (as evidenced by the narfed piece). That said, you can probably see that my pizza looks nothing like the Teese photo magic pizza to the right. I can forgive the lame meltiness. It's not that bad, I'm used to un-melty cheese and frankly, I don't use cheese enough to care too much.
As far as substitute mozzerellas go, this one has my blessing.
Now, to discuss the Cheddar. Teese, maybe your cheddar is in beta, maybe it's still a little soft, but don't stick a fork in it because you're not done.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Teese, it comes in little red sausage roll up plastic thingies. I dislike these plastic roll up thingies f
or a couple of reasons:
1 - you have to peel it away to get to the (very slippery and very expensive) Teese, which, on my first attempt, led to a piece of (very slippery and very expensive) teese ending up on my (not so clean) kitchen floor and going for a visit to the garbage disposal.
2 - they are strangely shaped and do not fit easily into small size tupperware, which means you have to either store them in ridiculously large tupperware OR in plastic baggies
3 - the nutritional info is not listed on the packaging, which means you first have to go online, then you have to weigh your teese (or figure out how many times 26g goes into 1 lb, which I couldn't do) to know how much you are supposed to consume at one sitting.
Which brings us to the unique issue with the cheddar. Upon opening the cheddar, it looks, smells and tastes exactly like kraft singles. Which is AWESOME. Kraft singles and string
cheese-- looks like I found the two bland american cheese substitutes I was searching for! Unfortunately, this doesn't hold up. Once you put it over heat (or overnight in the refridgerator) the flavor of the cheddar literally leaks out. I noticed when making my mac and teese (with 3 servings/80 g of teese to 2 cups noodles) that it was kind of...well...flavorless. The next day, I figured since I'd spent about 12 bucks when all was said and done on this pound of food, I may as well use it. I opened the bag and my hands were covered in a cheddar smelling liquid that leaked from the Teese, and took several good washings to get off. Melted? No flavor. After a day in the fridge? Less flavor and lots more icky water.
Again with the cheddar I found the melting power to be truly lacking (note big chunk of teese floating in bowl after boiling for almost 10 minutes). I guess I shouldn't say lacking--it is about on par with Follow Your Heart Brand cheeses and similarly reconstitutes into a gelatinous sludge when it cools. While the slightly sweet and almost absence of the chalky vegan cheese flavor of the mozzerella means i'll probably shell out for it again, particularly for use in my thanksgiving lasagna, sadly the cheddar needs to go back to the lab, in my opinion.
Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese = 3 stars out of 5 stars
I found this
FYH Cream Cheese at Earth Fare. I like it better than I did at the beginning of last week, when I slathered it onto a bagel for the first time. In truth, I'm not sure if it's the fact that although Tofutti is probably higher fat, that it reminds me more of the low fat cream cheese my mom used to get from the bagel place. The FYH cream cheese tastes like really really thick FYH mayo. And when I started treating it like "supermayo" it changed my outlook on this product. Instead of 2 tbsp FYH cream cheese on a bagel, try 1 tbsp FYH cream cheese on bread, with some fake bacon and a little smart deli bologna. Because FYH Mayo is so high fat (1 TBSP runs 100 Cals) while the "Supermayo" is high fat, but not even close (2 TBSP runs 70 Cals) you get more bangs for your buck. I'd stick to tofutti for your "cream cheese" needs, but as a miracle whip/low-cal mayo, this is pretty worthwhile.
Tofutti Slices = 4 out of 5
Tofutti slices are the perfect american cheese substitute because
1- they come wrapped like american cheese
2- they are as unhealthy as american cheese
3- they kinda sorta melt and burn the crap out of your mouth like american cheese
4- everyone pretends to hate them but secretly loves them like american cheese
These singles still strike the right chord when making vegan "grilled cheese" or make a mac and "multi-cheese."
I don't care that they're probably made of hydrogenated oil and the hopes and dreams of vegan children. Tofutti and I are going to run away together and make hydrogenated oil babies.
As long as I'm unabashedly praising tofutti and their hydrogenated ways, can I just say that I desperately miss Tofutti Pan Crust Pizza Pizzaz? I live in North Carolina, not the land of the vegan, but for three shining months, Tofutti Pan Crust Pizza Pizzaz found its way into my local Kroger natural foods freezer without fail. Until all of a sudden it vanished and everyone pretended they had no idea what I was talking about when I asked why it was gone. This is my "stuff I miss about cheese" post and french bread pizza is definitely up there.
Lastly, I can't review the Sheese I bought because when I opened it it had spirals on top that looked like mold and I was too icked out to eat it. Does anyone out there like Sheese? Or Cheezly? I'm starting to grow wary of trying new vegan cheeses. They can be really gross.
I should preface this with the fact that 1 - I am still very happy with the "cheese-like" consistency of road's end, but my local whole foods has deigned to NO LONGER CARRY IT, thereby driving me into a tizzy of rage, not helped by the fact that my roommate Wessie is seriously an easy mac addict. I am easily influenced in food cravings.
Here are my findings:
Teese Mozzarella = 4 1/2 out of 5
Teese Cheddar = 2 1/2 out of 5
First, the Mozzerella. This is the first vegan cheese I've come across that I actually would EAT BY ITSELF. It reminds me very much of that lame-ass fat free string cheese my mom used to buy me that was pretty tasty, but didn't string out and that I would in turn share with my dog. I've had Teese Mozzarella in a lasagna, so I know it'll be good in that usage. Emboldened by everyone's love of teese and praise of its melting powers, I decided to make a pizza.
Now, as you can see, the pizza looks pretty good (as evidenced by the narfed piece). That said, you can probably see that my pizza looks nothing like the Teese photo magic pizza to the right. I can forgive the lame meltiness. It's not that bad, I'm used to un-melty cheese and frankly, I don't use cheese enough to care too much.
As far as substitute mozzerellas go, this one has my blessing.Now, to discuss the Cheddar. Teese, maybe your cheddar is in beta, maybe it's still a little soft, but don't stick a fork in it because you're not done.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Teese, it comes in little red sausage roll up plastic thingies. I dislike these plastic roll up thingies f
or a couple of reasons:1 - you have to peel it away to get to the (very slippery and very expensive) Teese, which, on my first attempt, led to a piece of (very slippery and very expensive) teese ending up on my (not so clean) kitchen floor and going for a visit to the garbage disposal.
2 - they are strangely shaped and do not fit easily into small size tupperware, which means you have to either store them in ridiculously large tupperware OR in plastic baggies
3 - the nutritional info is not listed on the packaging, which means you first have to go online, then you have to weigh your teese (or figure out how many times 26g goes into 1 lb, which I couldn't do) to know how much you are supposed to consume at one sitting.
Which brings us to the unique issue with the cheddar. Upon opening the cheddar, it looks, smells and tastes exactly like kraft singles. Which is AWESOME. Kraft singles and string
cheese-- looks like I found the two bland american cheese substitutes I was searching for! Unfortunately, this doesn't hold up. Once you put it over heat (or overnight in the refridgerator) the flavor of the cheddar literally leaks out. I noticed when making my mac and teese (with 3 servings/80 g of teese to 2 cups noodles) that it was kind of...well...flavorless. The next day, I figured since I'd spent about 12 bucks when all was said and done on this pound of food, I may as well use it. I opened the bag and my hands were covered in a cheddar smelling liquid that leaked from the Teese, and took several good washings to get off. Melted? No flavor. After a day in the fridge? Less flavor and lots more icky water.Again with the cheddar I found the melting power to be truly lacking (note big chunk of teese floating in bowl after boiling for almost 10 minutes). I guess I shouldn't say lacking--it is about on par with Follow Your Heart Brand cheeses and similarly reconstitutes into a gelatinous sludge when it cools. While the slightly sweet and almost absence of the chalky vegan cheese flavor of the mozzerella means i'll probably shell out for it again, particularly for use in my thanksgiving lasagna, sadly the cheddar needs to go back to the lab, in my opinion.
Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese = 3 stars out of 5 stars
I found this
FYH Cream Cheese at Earth Fare. I like it better than I did at the beginning of last week, when I slathered it onto a bagel for the first time. In truth, I'm not sure if it's the fact that although Tofutti is probably higher fat, that it reminds me more of the low fat cream cheese my mom used to get from the bagel place. The FYH cream cheese tastes like really really thick FYH mayo. And when I started treating it like "supermayo" it changed my outlook on this product. Instead of 2 tbsp FYH cream cheese on a bagel, try 1 tbsp FYH cream cheese on bread, with some fake bacon and a little smart deli bologna. Because FYH Mayo is so high fat (1 TBSP runs 100 Cals) while the "Supermayo" is high fat, but not even close (2 TBSP runs 70 Cals) you get more bangs for your buck. I'd stick to tofutti for your "cream cheese" needs, but as a miracle whip/low-cal mayo, this is pretty worthwhile.Tofutti Slices = 4 out of 5
Tofutti slices are the perfect american cheese substitute because
1- they come wrapped like american cheese
2- they are as unhealthy as american cheese
3- they kinda sorta melt and burn the crap out of your mouth like american cheese
4- everyone pretends to hate them but secretly loves them like american cheese
These singles still strike the right chord when making vegan "grilled cheese" or make a mac and "multi-cheese."
I don't care that they're probably made of hydrogenated oil and the hopes and dreams of vegan children. Tofutti and I are going to run away together and make hydrogenated oil babies.
As long as I'm unabashedly praising tofutti and their hydrogenated ways, can I just say that I desperately miss Tofutti Pan Crust Pizza Pizzaz? I live in North Carolina, not the land of the vegan, but for three shining months, Tofutti Pan Crust Pizza Pizzaz found its way into my local Kroger natural foods freezer without fail. Until all of a sudden it vanished and everyone pretended they had no idea what I was talking about when I asked why it was gone. This is my "stuff I miss about cheese" post and french bread pizza is definitely up there.
Lastly, I can't review the Sheese I bought because when I opened it it had spirals on top that looked like mold and I was too icked out to eat it. Does anyone out there like Sheese? Or Cheezly? I'm starting to grow wary of trying new vegan cheeses. They can be really gross.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
A Big Week for Vegan Food: Mini Blog
Now that I am finally recovered, I am going to do this in lots and lots of mini blogs. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who sent their well wishes. I'm still fighting the plague, but it's getting better all the time.
At the beginning of this week, I placed an order at Vegan Essentials for some of their "refrigerated" foods. I haven't gotten through all of them yet, but you'll hear about some of 'em in a little bit.
Anyway, I was going to buy some Parma! but I saw on the Vegan Essentials product page that you could make it for much cheaper. I tweaked it a little and have come out with a pungent, parma substitute that costs less.
Parma on the Cheap
1/2 C nutritional yeast
1-1/4 C toasted walnuts (if you toast them, it loses the raw but gains a little delicious)
1 tsp salt (I used seasoned sea salt)
dash garlic powder
Totally delicious.
At the beginning of this week, I placed an order at Vegan Essentials for some of their "refrigerated" foods. I haven't gotten through all of them yet, but you'll hear about some of 'em in a little bit.
Anyway, I was going to buy some Parma! but I saw on the Vegan Essentials product page that you could make it for much cheaper. I tweaked it a little and have come out with a pungent, parma substitute that costs less.
Parma on the Cheap
1/2 C nutritional yeast
1-1/4 C toasted walnuts (if you toast them, it loses the raw but gains a little delicious)
1 tsp salt (I used seasoned sea salt)
dash garlic powder
Totally delicious.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Matzoh Ball Soup
I have been awfully awfully sick recently and with no sign of relief. Finally, I broke down and pulled out my Candle Cafe cookbook, determined to make myself some of that Jewish penicillin of which Joy speaks.
The good news about the CC Knedyl soup is that it is *Very* low fat (1 tbsp oil in the whole thing) but very high flavor. I won't reprint the recipe because
1- I think this cookbook is a very good resource that you will be happy you own
2- I think it's worth buying this cookbook for the Matzo ball soup recipe alone.
The broth is a soak soup and the recipe calls for you to dump the veggies after the soak, but I couldn't bring myself to dump such tender root veggies, so I left them. I think my strategy next time will to be to put the herbs (the recipe calls for close to 1/2 cup dried herbs!) into a little satchel so I can sprinkle a few in, but not be digging through the weeds of this soup, while preserving all my veggies. I treated the kombu like a bay leaf and just fished it out. I am also now addicted to Butler's Soy Curls and drop them into all of my soups and recipes for a little protein punch. In this soup I'd reccommend soaking, chopping into smaller bits and then dropping in at the same time as the balls for maximum flavor absorption. Next time, I think I'll also go a little easier on the lemon juice. My soup is very citrusy and with all the herbs it's starting to taste a little more like sabzhi and a little less like knedyl. I wanna stick to ashkenazi recipes for right now.
Anyway, the real star of the soup (although the broth is surprisingly flavorful. Wessie was shocked) is the knedyl. I'd made Maneschewitz box matzoh balls before and was having a heck of a time binding them together. Joy & Barry had the brilliant idea to secretly meld knedyl and latkes and come up with WONDERFUL matzoh balls. If you were a light fluffy matzoh ball person, you'll disagree, but if you liked your knedyl dense and chewable, with lots of flavor, they have nailed the recipe for you.
They were so darling I remembered to take photos. I'll probably be making this soup for thanksgiving since it took so much less time than I expected it to and will really wow my goyem friends. Here's hoping the jewish penicillin works on me. I need to recover, stat!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
In the mood for some piggin' out
So, I've been sick all week and on Wednesday, I decided I was in the mood...the mood for some piggin' out.
My roommate Kiki mentioned that she was planning to make an apple crisp with the apples she hand picked in MA and I convinced her to use Earth Balance sticks mixed with shortening in lieu of regular butter to veganize. I stopped off at whole foods and bought Fajita supplies. When I came home, the house smelled WONDERFUL and I found a lovely note that read:
Don't eat this wonderful VEGAN apple crisp until we return.
-The Mgmt
I was STOKED.
I was about to make my fajitas when they returned with their "supplies" (some extra cinnamon and some reddi whip).
We all ate a little bit of crisp, which was adapted from the cooks illustrated recipe. Then Wessie participated (he more hovered, but he helped!) in the fajita cooking and in their eating. Wessie, who was a fallen vegetarian, has recently put a foot back on the wagon and is now pescatarian. He commented that these fajitas tasted better than the chicken fajitas he'd had. And he commented that my homemade seitan was better than the store bought. Double score.
I'm Fucking Hungry Fajitas (makes enough for 4 VERY hearty fajitas)
For the Fajita Filling:
About 1-2 C Seitan (homemade is obviously the best, but I used westsoy's stir fry strips)
1 green pepper
1 yellow onion
2-3 cloves garlic
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chile powder
Whole wheat tortillas
Optional fixin's:
Vegetarian refried beans (I prefer Bearito's "spicy" version)
Guacamole
Salsa / Pico de Gallo
Mexican rice
Tofutti Sour Cream
Vegan Cheese
Shredded lettuce
Chop and start sauteeing the onions and mushrooms in olive oil while you chop your green pepper and garlic, then add them and some chile powder to the oil. Rough cut the seitan and toss it in there too. Add your spices. I basically eyeballed them, but I think that was about right. Be careful with the salt! If you're using refried beans, put them in a pot or microwave to get them ready, then get your whole wheat tortillas, put a wet paper towel over them and microwave for about 25 seconds.
We used Bearito's spicy refried beans, Rudi's organic flax wheat tortillas, bagged lettuce, Pico de Gallo and Guacamole. Truthfully, if you've got guac, it'll serve the same purpose as most of the cheesy/sour creamy elements. They were delicious. I forgot how much I love homemade fajitas. They also take about 15 minutes tops, but you'll be eatin' (or trying to be eatin') the rest of the night and you won't want to share.
My roommate Kiki mentioned that she was planning to make an apple crisp with the apples she hand picked in MA and I convinced her to use Earth Balance sticks mixed with shortening in lieu of regular butter to veganize. I stopped off at whole foods and bought Fajita supplies. When I came home, the house smelled WONDERFUL and I found a lovely note that read:
Don't eat this wonderful VEGAN apple crisp until we return.
-The Mgmt
I was STOKED.
I was about to make my fajitas when they returned with their "supplies" (some extra cinnamon and some reddi whip).
We all ate a little bit of crisp, which was adapted from the cooks illustrated recipe. Then Wessie participated (he more hovered, but he helped!) in the fajita cooking and in their eating. Wessie, who was a fallen vegetarian, has recently put a foot back on the wagon and is now pescatarian. He commented that these fajitas tasted better than the chicken fajitas he'd had. And he commented that my homemade seitan was better than the store bought. Double score.
I'm Fucking Hungry Fajitas (makes enough for 4 VERY hearty fajitas)
For the Fajita Filling:
About 1-2 C Seitan (homemade is obviously the best, but I used westsoy's stir fry strips)
1 green pepper
1 yellow onion
2-3 cloves garlic
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chile powder
Whole wheat tortillas
Optional fixin's:
Vegetarian refried beans (I prefer Bearito's "spicy" version)
Guacamole
Salsa / Pico de Gallo
Mexican rice
Tofutti Sour Cream
Vegan Cheese
Shredded lettuce
Chop and start sauteeing the onions and mushrooms in olive oil while you chop your green pepper and garlic, then add them and some chile powder to the oil. Rough cut the seitan and toss it in there too. Add your spices. I basically eyeballed them, but I think that was about right. Be careful with the salt! If you're using refried beans, put them in a pot or microwave to get them ready, then get your whole wheat tortillas, put a wet paper towel over them and microwave for about 25 seconds.
We used Bearito's spicy refried beans, Rudi's organic flax wheat tortillas, bagged lettuce, Pico de Gallo and Guacamole. Truthfully, if you've got guac, it'll serve the same purpose as most of the cheesy/sour creamy elements. They were delicious. I forgot how much I love homemade fajitas. They also take about 15 minutes tops, but you'll be eatin' (or trying to be eatin') the rest of the night and you won't want to share.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Tower Indian, Morrisville
After a tennis match on the Morrisville side of Cary, I decided to drag my parents along to a south Indian feast at Tower Vegetarian Indian in Morrisville. I'm glad I did.
The buffet was not in swing (a fact that really disappointed me), but since we had three people we decided to order off the menu. For starters, we ordered some puffed rice thing that my dad was trying to get as the only indian dish he knows how to say besides naan-- which is some rice and yogurt thing (Lacto-ovo Indian afficions, help me out)-- and a Masala Dosa.
I don't have pictures of the puffed rice thing because I thought it tasted kind of like that yucky bonito fish cracker stuff but my father loved and devoured it. The Dosa here was definitely tasty, crispy but soft on the other side, but the filling wasn't particularly well mashed or distributed. Maybe I'm just wishing I'd ordered a Mysore Masala Dosa in my hear of hearts, but the MMD I got at Udupi kind of beat this one up. And the coconut chutney at Updupi definitely beat this one up. But I like coconut chutney anyway, so I ate and enjoyed it.
For our main course, my dad ordered some sort of rice/lentil and curry sauce dish that I found to be a little bland and too garlicky. My mother ordered a vegetable kurama in a cream sauce and I ordered Channa Masala with Poori (and had a little poori freak out). The poori was kind of uneven but I need to tell you all a little secret:
Tower has the best Channa Masala I've ever eaten. Could it have been a little hotter? Yes, but that's not a problem. The sauce tasted like tomato, was thick and creamy in the way that Imagine tomato soup is thick and creamy, and it STUCK TO MY CHICKPEAS. Every ounce of it that I scooped up with a little piece of poori made me happy. I ate until I was full, then I took it home, waited a few hours and finished it. It was seriously chickpea crack.
The service was good. Next time I'm in/near morrisville I'll order the same thing, but this time just CM w/ poori to go. I wish we had a good south indian/veg spot in Durham.
Now, mission 2: Dal Sag or Channa Sag in a non-cream based sauce. If you know of one, don't be shy.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
German Chocolate Cupcakes
Well, when I found out it was my friend Joe's birthday and we were invited to play a show with him, I immediately volunteered to make (secretly vegan) cupcakes! Not that I think Joe or his TOTALLY AWESOME BAND, (Hammer No More the Fingers, check them out, they rock) or any 20 something year old boys are particularly picky in the eating category, but I like the opportunity to wow people with yummers cupcakes.
In order to make them, I used the Super Rich Chocolate Cake from the PPK (links to the recipe) as well as the Pecan Coconut Fudge and Chocolate Buttercream recipes from VCCTOTW. I made a few tweaks-- like I decided to sub chocolate soy milk for all the regular old soy mil
k, and I used about three shots of bourbon instead of vanilla (we like to drink).The cupcakes came out BEAUTIFULLY. Dork described them as "orgasmic," Wessie said they were like "chocolate crack," and Sick gave a nod while dropping bits of icing into her mouth. Joe really enjoyed them (observe bite number two at right-- prepping yourself for chocolate overdose) and was helping me force people to try them so they would not die without knowing the joy that is Vegan German Chocolate heaven. There's a photo at left of them chilling on the floor. Just as a note-- the Cake recipe only made enough to fill 22 cups, and the coconut/pecan icing was sufficient, while the fudge didn't quite make it all the way through.
Can't wait to bust these out again! Isa's cupcakes never fail.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Curious Case of Shirataki
This week I managed to hit a pretty big milestone-- dropped a size in clothing. Which is awesome.
Anyway, since I spend a lot of time on both thedailyplate.com which is an excellent free resource for tracking your calorie and nutritional consumption (although lacking in the vitamin dept) and also a lot of time looking at weird foods on the internet, I've been put in an ad targeting pocket for diets. I saw this ad that was like "miracle noodles" and I wondered...could they be talking about Shirataki?
Once, about 2 years ago, I saw a bag of tofu shirataki in my local whole foods. I have insulin resistence, so I always am looking for good sources of carbohydrates and more protein. Anyway, I bought the bag thinking "yummy protein pasta" and ended up chucking it because after I opened it it smelled like magic markers and paint drying and I couldn't bring myself to eat something that smelled like that.
Well, I'm over myself. I did a little research on the interweb. Shirataki is the new oolong tea or acai berry--something most of us have known about for a while but now it is the "new miracle diet food." Granted, shirataki is sort of a miracle diet food. The real stuff has about 6 calories a cup (compared to pasta's 140-200) and is extremely filling. HOWEVER it is not really pasta-like. If you approach it more like a noodle shaped foodstuff (in the same way that soba noodles and spaghetti squash are pasta-like, but simultaneously different) you'll be happier with it. Tofu shirataki is considerably more palatable, consistency-wise, than ordinary yam shirataki, which is supposedly rubbery and gross. The smell can be reduced with thorough washing and a
solid parboil. Armed with five dollars, I set off for the whole foods to purchase some of the stuff.
I bought some fettucini style, thinking that wide flat noodles might be easier to pass off as something other than spaghetti, went home and set to rinsing them thoroughly in 125 degree water. I then set a pot to boil for the parboil (seriously guys, this smell is something else) and started a little "get your nutrients on" sauce on the side, made of Yves Ground, Rao's Tomato sauce, broccoli and spinach. The point of pasta, for me, is the way delicious sauces wrap around the noodles, not the noodles themselves. I made a TON of sauce, probably 3x as much as I'd need, but I figured if the noodles were again inedible, I could just eat the yves/veggie concoction and call it a night.
After a 4 minute parboil, I rinsed, blotted and tasted one of the noodles. It tasted like nothing, and sort of had the consistency of glass noodles, so I dumped the shirataki into my sauce, stirred and then parceled it off. Overall, not a terribly high calorie meal, packed with protein-- came in at 365 calories (using 1/2 package shirataki, 1/2 package yves, 1 c broccoli cuts, 1/3 c frozen spinach and 3/4 c Rao's) per serving, with 31g Carbohydrates, 13 of them are fiber, 37g Protein and 10g fat. Not terrible.
So next week maybe I'll try either a shirataki and chreese or shirataki w/ peanut sauce. I also probably need to work on my food photography. Maybe I should refresh on VeganYumYum's big mfing photography post. But I think she's way more visual artsy than I am. It looks gross, but it's actually really tasty and really filling. I promise. =)
Anyway, since I spend a lot of time on both thedailyplate.com which is an excellent free resource for tracking your calorie and nutritional consumption (although lacking in the vitamin dept) and also a lot of time looking at weird foods on the internet, I've been put in an ad targeting pocket for diets. I saw this ad that was like "miracle noodles" and I wondered...could they be talking about Shirataki?
Once, about 2 years ago, I saw a bag of tofu shirataki in my local whole foods. I have insulin resistence, so I always am looking for good sources of carbohydrates and more protein. Anyway, I bought the bag thinking "yummy protein pasta" and ended up chucking it because after I opened it it smelled like magic markers and paint drying and I couldn't bring myself to eat something that smelled like that.
Well, I'm over myself. I did a little research on the interweb. Shirataki is the new oolong tea or acai berry--something most of us have known about for a while but now it is the "new miracle diet food." Granted, shirataki is sort of a miracle diet food. The real stuff has about 6 calories a cup (compared to pasta's 140-200) and is extremely filling. HOWEVER it is not really pasta-like. If you approach it more like a noodle shaped foodstuff (in the same way that soba noodles and spaghetti squash are pasta-like, but simultaneously different) you'll be happier with it. Tofu shirataki is considerably more palatable, consistency-wise, than ordinary yam shirataki, which is supposedly rubbery and gross. The smell can be reduced with thorough washing and a
solid parboil. Armed with five dollars, I set off for the whole foods to purchase some of the stuff.I bought some fettucini style, thinking that wide flat noodles might be easier to pass off as something other than spaghetti, went home and set to rinsing them thoroughly in 125 degree water. I then set a pot to boil for the parboil (seriously guys, this smell is something else) and started a little "get your nutrients on" sauce on the side, made of Yves Ground, Rao's Tomato sauce, broccoli and spinach. The point of pasta, for me, is the way delicious sauces wrap around the noodles, not the noodles themselves. I made a TON of sauce, probably 3x as much as I'd need, but I figured if the noodles were again inedible, I could just eat the yves/veggie concoction and call it a night.
After a 4 minute parboil, I rinsed, blotted and tasted one of the noodles. It tasted like nothing, and sort of had the consistency of glass noodles, so I dumped the shirataki into my sauce, stirred and then parceled it off. Overall, not a terribly high calorie meal, packed with protein-- came in at 365 calories (using 1/2 package shirataki, 1/2 package yves, 1 c broccoli cuts, 1/3 c frozen spinach and 3/4 c Rao's) per serving, with 31g Carbohydrates, 13 of them are fiber, 37g Protein and 10g fat. Not terrible.
So next week maybe I'll try either a shirataki and chreese or shirataki w/ peanut sauce. I also probably need to work on my food photography. Maybe I should refresh on VeganYumYum's big mfing photography post. But I think she's way more visual artsy than I am. It looks gross, but it's actually really tasty and really filling. I promise. =)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Vegan 100 Way Late
So, a vegan meme, since I've been vegan-crazy lately.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!
1. Natto - I am really on the fence
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4.Haggis - I have a philosophy-- if the original is unappealing, the veganization is probably not going to excite you either. Case in point: all vegan seafood.
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue - the veganlunchbox.com version is TO DIE with raw cauliflower
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15.Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream - better than omni, according to my mom
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23.Ceviche - the whole foods "tofu ceviche" is VILE.
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche - ooh always wanted to try!
28.Caviar - see above comment re: vegan seafood
29. Baklava
30. Pate - angelica kitchen walnut lentil? the bomb.
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly - This sounds like something I must make for the next party.
39.Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut - nutrilicious ftw!
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear - so tempted to pick these off the side of the road right now. but I know better.
52. Umeboshi
53.Tofurkey - not to be ungrateful to a brave forefather but this stuff is vile.
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59.Scrapple - savory mush? ew.
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores - before there was sweet & sarah, there was me, matches and smart treats marshmallows.
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake - not vegan though.
68.Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79.Jerky - oh ew ew ew
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta - chickpea polenta > corn polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough - is it possible to make cookies without eating it?
woo!
Learn about the most obscure of these fab foods at Bittersweet!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!
1. Natto - I am really on the fence
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4.
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue - the veganlunchbox.com version is TO DIE with raw cauliflower
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15.
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream - better than omni, according to my mom
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23.
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche - ooh always wanted to try!
28.
29. Baklava
30. Pate - angelica kitchen walnut lentil? the bomb.
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly - This sounds like something I must make for the next party.
39.
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut - nutrilicious ftw!
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear - so tempted to pick these off the side of the road right now. but I know better.
52. Umeboshi
53.
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59.
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores - before there was sweet & sarah, there was me, matches and smart treats marshmallows.
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake - not vegan though.
68.
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79.
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta - chickpea polenta > corn polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough - is it possible to make cookies without eating it?
woo!
Learn about the most obscure of these fab foods at Bittersweet!
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