What’s this all about, anyway?

While we’re on the subject of linkage...

Fri, 8 May 2009 11:09:24 -0400

Many of you may be registered on these forums already, but I wanted to talk for a moment about natmedtalk.com. It’s a forum community dedicated to natural medicine. Most of us as vegans recognize the importance of treating and preventing illnesses in natural, holistic ways; I experienced a drastic improvement in my own health when I embarked on a serious effort to treat everything naturally before going to the doctor and chugging more pills! The side effects alone could kill you- sometimes literally.

Anyway, check it out and register if you haven’t already.

Wish I had a recipe to post today, but I had a late night (we saw Star Trek and it was CRAZY. Go see!) so I haven’t cooked anything yet today. I do have an itching for green sweet potato curry...

HealthyFellow.com

Thu, 7 May 2009 19:19:32 -0400

Wanted to give you a heads up about another health blog that I stumbled across recently. When you have a moment, surf over to HealthyFellow.com and check it out. It’s a natural health blog offering some really fantastic information. There are some very useful articles on diet, exercise, healthy eating, massage therapy, anti-aging, and more. Check ‘em out, folks!

In other news, I’ve been playing around with my ice-cream maker to GREAT success. Here’s a recipe I developed for double-chocolate vegan ice cream:

1 1/2 cups plain soy creamer
3 TBSP cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

In a saucepan, heat the creamer and sugar, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Add the cocoa powder and keep stirring. Add the chocolate chips; stir for another 30 seconds and remove from heat. It is OKAY if the chips don’t completely melt; I like to have some chunks in my ice cream. Throw a pinch of salt into the mix and stir.
Fill a large bowl with some water, lots of ice cubes, and some more salt. Stir. Place the saucepan in the water and let the ice cream mixture cool. When it reaches room temperature, add to your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. For firmer ice cream, freeze the mixture after removing from the ice cream maker.

Spicy Peanut Stew! Who knew?!

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:45:02 -0400

I was browsing over at the Post Punk Kitchen at found a recipe for spicy peanut stew. I tried it last night, with mad editorializing to make do with what I had in the kitchen at the time. Here’s the result:

1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced coarsely
Peanut oil
4 shallots, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup tomato paste
12 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes with juice
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander seeds (crushed or ground)
1 tsp cumin
1-inch piece of peeled ginger, diced
3 cups vegetable broth (in a pinch, use water instead)
3/4 cup organic peanut butter
juice of one lemon
a handful of cilantro leaves, rinsed and chopped

*Place the eggplant in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for around 30 minutes. You’ll see the eggplant begin to “sweat” out its liquid. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry.
*In a large pot over medium heat, heat 3 tbsp of the oil. Add the eggplant and brown it- 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the eggplant to another dish.
*Add 2 tbsp of oil to the pot and add the shallots. Brown them until they’re beginning to crisp up and caramelize- around 15 minutes. Remove the shallots to the dish with the eggplant.
*Add the chopped onion,ginger and spices to the pot. Stir thoroughly. Brown 5-6 minutes. If you wish, you can bloom the spices in oil first for 30 seconds before adding the onion.
*Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, stirring frequently.
*After 3 or 4 minutes, add the broth, stirring thoroughly. When mixture is heated through, remove a cup or two of liquid to a separate bowl. Stir the peanut butter into this liquid and combine thoroughly. You may have to be persistent in order to obtain a smooth texture. Dump this peanut butter mixture back into the main pot and stir to incorporate. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 3-5 minutes.
*Bring heat back down to medium. Add the eggplant and shallots to the stew.
*Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
*At the end of cooking, stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.

This stew, like most soups and stews, is even better the second day, since the flavors have a chance to marry.

I know, I know.

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:07:37 -0500

I’ll bet you thought I was never going to update this thing again. Lemme ‘splain.

On December 30th, I underwent gastric bypass surgery. A fat vegan- who’dathunkit? Well, I was- and still am, although I’m 30 pounds lighter and losing quickly.
The downside of the surgery was that for several weeks my dietician strongly encouraged me to eat dairy products and even occasionally meat. I did it, too- no point in lying. I felt great physically and shitty spiritually, and now I’m back “on the wagon”, so to speak. My brief sojourn back into the land of omnivorous eating has re-affirmed my belief that veganism is the way to go.

I write today’s entry in honor of mochi: pounded glutinous rice from Japan that is a wonderfully versatile alternative to cheese. It’s got other applications, too, notably as a puffy baked good. It’s the traditional food for the Japanese New Year.

Here’s something that I whipped up for my morning meal. It was inspired by the Mochi Melt recipe in Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello (an excellent, excellent cookbook, by the way). However, I didn’t have all of the ingredients, so I did a little subbin’.

DARIA’S MOCHI MADNESS- serves 1

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1/4 cup daikon matchsticks
1 smallish carrot, diced or cut in matchsticks
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thinly
1/2 cup spinach leaves, rinsed and finely chopped or torn
1/4 cup small broccoli florets (mine were frozen)
Salt
Pepper
Reduced-sodium tamari
Filtered water
Several thin strips mochi

Add the oil to a large skilled and place over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the vegetables in the order listed. As you add each vegetable, season lightly with salt. When the vegetables become slightly tender (but not thoroughly cooked), add the next. After you add the spinach and it begins to cook, form a flat mound with the veggies and place the broccoli on top. Cover with the mochi strips and pour 1/2 cup of water down the side of your pan. Cover the pan and let everything steam for about 10 minutes.
When the mochi is melted, remove from heat and plate it up. Sprinkle pepper, tamari and cilantro over the top.

A simple Udon Breakfast

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:40:13 -0500

You have to use the fresh Udon for this, best obtained in the refrigerated section of your best local Asian market. Try, for the love of all that is holy, not to use the shrink-wrapped variety.

1/2 a medium package of fresh Udon
1 bunch scallions, white & light green parts, sliced thinly
Several dashes togarashi
Light soy sauce
Sesame oil
A small handful of cilantro, washed and hand-torn

Bring a pot of water to a boil. As it approaches the boil, add the noodles. While the noodles are boiling, wash the scallions and slice ‘em.
After the noodles are cooked (about 4 minutes maximum), drain them and add the rest of the ingredients. Still well to mix and add more togarashi if you like heat.

I realize that the cilantro probably makes this not authentically Japanese, but I don’t care because I LUVS IT.

Green Sweet-Potato Curry

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:42:19 -0400

This is the best recipe I’ve tried in a long time. I adapted it from a recipe in an old cookbook of mine, but since my husband doesn’t like eggplant I omitted it and put in some more sweet potato.

It is, as they say, yummers.

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp green curry paste (be sure it doesn't contain shrimp, if you're vegan)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 very large sweet potato
1 tbsp brown sugar
zest of 3 limes
juice of 3 limes
8 oz vegetable broth
1 can lite coconut milk
chopped cilantro for garnishing

Add the oil to a pan. Heat it up and add the onion and curry paste. Sauté. When the onion has softened, add the sweet potato. Stir for about a minute and add the coconut milk and broth. Stir for 5 minutes. The starch from the potato will begin to thicken the sauce. Add the sugar and lime juice/ zest. Cook for about 8-10 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice, garnished with the chopped cilantro.

YUM!

PS- if you're Orthodox and don't eat oil on fast days, you could probably saute the onion in some of the coconut milk (or maybe in a bit of broth). Haven't tried it yet.

Now that you’re too old to read this blog...

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:33:11 -0400

I know, I know. I’ve been a bad blogger.

I’m also feeling like a very, very bad vegan. Aspiring vegan. Whatever. I’m completely, 100% fine at home: vegetables and grains are plentiful, and I have a beautiful kitchen. Eating out, the least I can do is a veggie burger, and although there’s usually no way to tell at a sit-down restaurant if ithe veggie burger contains eggs or milk, at least it’s a start.
The problem, friends, is food on the fly. Not even fast food- that problem is remedied by the abundance of Subway restaurants in my area. Easy breezy. The problem is days like today, when we drove 3 hours to Annapolis for the country’s largest sailboat show. I didn’t see ANYTHING at the hot food area there that wasn’t meat. Okay, fine: potato chips, but I don’t have the willpower to just eat a bag of chips and nothing else for 8 hours.
If I had been wiser last night, I would have made some curried lentils and brought them with us this morning. Since the boat show was a last-minute idea, I plain and simple didn’t think. *headdesk* Thankfully, I got access to a veggie burger for dinner on the way back.

I suppose every day you live and learn. Tomorrow’s dinner: the curried lentils that never got made. I’ll post the recipe if they’re yummy!

Tofu Paprikash

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:19:42 -0400

This recipe is a doozy- be prepared to eat the whole thing if you aren’t careful! Be sure to taste the dish lots as you cook so you get the balance of sugar and salt just to your liking.

Ingredients
Enough rotini pasta for 4 people- I use whole wheat
1 medium tub soy “sour cream”
1 jar paprika (NOT hot paprika unless you like pain)
salt
pepper
white sugar
1 large yellow or white onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 container extra-firm tofu, frozen for at least 48 hours and then thawed and chopped into bite-sized chunks

Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water and add the dry pasta. Heat and cook.
While the pasta is cooking, peel and chop the onion.
Add the oil to a pan on high heat and add the onion. Saute until softened and beginning to brown.
When the onion is beginning to brown, add the entire tub of “sour cream” and the entire jar of paprika. Don’t be shy! Stir to mix it all up.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add the tofu and stir to incorporate. It’s ok if the tofu breaks up a bit, but preferable if it stays relatively intact.

Taste the mixture. Add some sugar (I start with 2 tbsp) and a dash of salt.

Drain the pasta and pour the sauce mixture over it. Stir to incorporate everything well. Add salt to taste and serve!

Serves at least 4!

Rice Puddin’

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:14:21 -0400

Two days ago I made waaaaaaay too much rice in the rice cooker. Pantloads of it. There it sat, nestled inside the rice cooker, politely staying useable until tonight, when I decided to try a rice pudding recipe. Rice pudding veganizes incredibly well, and I’m enjoying a nice hot bowl of it topped with an ample dollop of cinnamon at the computer right now. Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 cups cooked sushi rice
2 cartons organic vanilla soymilk
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup water

In a very large pot over medium-high heat, add all of the ingredients. Be sure to dissolve the cornstarch in the water before you add it, since you can’t add cornstarch to hot liquids without horrible lumping.
Stir everything together, and keep stirring for about 20 minutes until the mixture reaches your desired consistency.

I added about 1 cup of raisins to the mix in the final minutes of cooking, and sprinkled each serving with lots of cinnamon!

Serves at least 8!

Savory Bean Sauce Noodles

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:08:51 -0400

I whipped this up myself one hungry morning. Savory bean paste is sold in tubs in Asian markets, right near the Gochujang and other sauces/ pastes. A tub will last you a good long while.

Ingredients
1 packet Udon
2 heaping spoonfuls savory bean paste
1 generous dollop of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
3 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thinly

Fill a medium pot halfway with water and put on high heat. Insert Udon. Remove from heat when the noodles are separated and cooked- only a few minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients and break up lumps. Pour over drained noodles and snork it up!