Gack Yack

I’m not generally a huge fan of cauliflower, but once in awhile a dish comes along that bitch-slaps me with such different flavors that I consider converting to the dark side.  I’ve never made the leap, but here’s one of the ones that made me come close:

6 servings, scant 1 cup each

Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
2 lemons
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped oil-cured or kalamata olives

Preparation

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add cauliflower, cover and steam until tender, about 4 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, remove skin and white pith from lemons with a sharp knife. Working over a bowl, cut segments from the membranes. Coarsely chop the segments and transfer to a serving bowl. Squeeze juice from the lemon peel and membranes and add 1 tablespoon of the juice to the bowl with the segments.
3. Add oil, shallot, water, thyme, salt and pepper to the serving bowl. Stir to combine. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat. Sprinkle with olives. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition

Per serving: 89 calories; 6 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 3 g protein; 3 g fiber; 199 mg sodium; 387 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (110% daily value), Folate (17% dv).

1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Courtesy of Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vegan parmesan (optional)
2 Tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/4 block of extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed (total drainage isn’t necessary since the cubes should be soft when cooked)
1/2 Tablespoon curry powder
3-4 cups baby spinach (approx – I used about three big handfuls)
veggie oil

Directions:

Heat veggie oil on medium heat in a large skillet.

In a small custard bowl, mix nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, vegan parm, water, and mustard until well-blended.  Pour in heated skillet. Add tofu over-top of the “cheesy” sauce; coat tofu cubes completely with mixture by flipping, turning, etc. Allow to cook on one side for about 3-5 minutes, then flip. Move to one end of skillet.

In the newly available skillet space, add more oil (if necessary) and curry. Add spinach and mix well with curry/oil. Stir-fry spinach and curry until spinach is cooked through. Stir-fry spinach and tofu together until mixed evenly.

Serve immediately over pasta or grain of choice.

Serves: 1-2 (hunger is a determining factor)

Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes (approx)

Courtesy of VegWeb.com

BEHOLD, the unbreakable bonds of food love: Milk and cookies. Peanut butter and jelly. But most of all, spaghetti and meatballs. For those brave enough to step away from the Lightlife and make their own balls, a recipe is coming AT YOU. Tonight we take you INSIDE a vegan meatball.

Courtesy of SuperVegan

Balls
Makes three dozen balls (6-8 servings)

* 2 c cooked kidney beans
* 1 c dry lentils
* 2 c vegetable broth
* 1/4 c ground flax seeds
* 6 oz tomato paste
* 2 tbsp mustard
* 2 tbsp safflower oil
* 1 1/4 c panko bread crumbs
* 1/3 c a-p flour
* 2 tbsp dried oregano
* 1 tbsp dried thyme
* 1 tbsp dried rosemary
* 1 tbsp dried marjoram

Sauce

* 2 jars of sauce, if, like me, you don’t need to prove anything cause you’re about to make your own meatballs. YEAH.
* 1 medium-sized onion
* 2 tbsp chopped garlic
* 2 sliced zucchini
* 2 tbsp safflower oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a dainty coat of oil on a large baking pan.

2. Pour veggie broth in a sauce pan and place lentils inside. Bring to a boil at medium heat. Simmer until lentils soften, about 15 minutes. If you don’t have veggie broth, don’t make this. It will not be as good and I absolutely cannot be responsible for your failures.

3. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. I use a stand-up mixer because I’m spoiled. So can you!

4. Time to get messy. Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls and line them up on the baking pan.

5. Toss the baking pan in the oven to bake for 30 minutes, turning balls every 6 minutes.

6. Remove balls from oven. Get spaghetti water salted and heating toward a boil.

7. Heat oil in a very large frying pan at low heat. Once it’s sizzling a little (but not smoking) add the onions, garlic, and zucchini and saute until they are fragrant and translucent. Introduce sauce and meatballs. (Sauce, meatballs. Meatballs, sauce.) Keep everything moving in the frying pan until all is warmed through.

8. Meanwhile, throw that spaghetti in the boiling water and cook until finished. If things go to plan, the spaghetti and the meatballs will be done at the same time.

9. Serve!

IHOP is cruel and Bill Mahr is not happy about it. In the video below, Mahr teams up with the Humane Society of the United States to shed light on IHOP’s support of cruel animal slaughters through the use of caged eggs. You may now weep in your pancakes.

I came across this recipe on SuperVegan the other day, and it sounded like a good scientific experiment for a side dish. Go ahead – give it a whirl.

Preheat your Broiler. Cut heads of broccoli in half and blanch in boiling water for 4 minutes. Dry on Paper towels and place on a greased cookie sheet (Figure A.) Rub each floret with Veganaise and sprinkle with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast (Figure B). Place under Broiler for 10 minutes or until blackened.(Figure C) Serve as a delicious side dish to your meal (Figure D).

This recipe from Vegweb is a good side dish for Thanksgiving when everyone fails to understand why you don’t eat turkey. Enjoy.

What You Need:

1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 carrots, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 pound leeks, cut lengthwise into eighths (about 1-1/2 cups)
2 russet potatoes, cubed
1-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound chard, rinsed and ribbed
4 large garlic cloves, diced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the Brussels sprouts, leeks, and potatoes in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them in a baking pan. Arrange kale in a layer in another baking pan. Roast kale, and potato mixture, for about 15 minutes. The potatoes should be golden and the kale should be crisp.
2. While potatoes and chard are roasting, saute the garlic in the sesame oil until it is soft and fragrant. Remove from stove and stir in balsamic vinegar.
3. Place roasted vegetables in a bowl and stir in the garlic-balsmaic dressing. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

If you’re into Vietnamese food, one of the hardest meals to give up is Pho. After all, the probability of finding vegetarian Pho (that’s NOT made with chicken or beef stock) at any decent Vietnamese restaurant is almost absurd. The recipe offers a tasty substitute for those days when you just want some damn Pho.

Go Pho it! (That expression is mildly retarded, I know, but I had to go Pho it. And now I can’t stop…)

What You Do:

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions until al dente, then drain and cut into shorter lengths suitable for soup. Set aside until needed.
2. Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté over medium-low heat until golden.
3. Add the broth, kombu, soy sauce, ginger, five-spice powder and water. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
4. Add the seitan, bean sprouts, half of the scallions, and half of the cilantro. Season with lime juice, pepper and, if desired, some additional soy sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes longer, then remove from the heat.
5. Serve at once, garnishing the top of each serving with a thin wedge or two of lime, and the remaining cilantro and scallions.

Recipe courtesy of VegNews.com and photo courtesy of To Live and Eat in L.A.

According to Wikipedia:

Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesian, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh is unique among major traditional soyfoods in that it is the only one that did not originate in China or Japan. It originated in today’s Indonesia, and especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh’s fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue.

So, what that says to me is that in Tempeh, the soy beans are like undigested corn bits in your poop. Little nutty soy poop brick. Here, see for yourself.

As if the texture wasn’t delightful enough, the taste is even less enjoyable. In its defense, Tempeh is much like tofu in that it is a conduit for the flavor that you impart on it. So, in theory, if you marinate it in deliciousness, it will taste yummy. In my experience, this isn’t ever the way it works out. The block seems to be too dense to really absorb any flavors and it almost always tastes bland when you chew it. And, the soy nuts break apart in your mouth in a most undesirable way. Yuck.

Buy, Seitan. Chop it up, saute with some BBQ sauce, and add it to a baked potato. You’ll be much happier.

It took long enough.

Environmentally Conscious Organization (e.c.o.), Inc. is a design and licensing firm, dedicated to improving outmoded, outdated and wasteful food packaging. e.c.o. is marketing its first product, the ‘Green Box’ (US Patent 7,051,919), a pizza box manufactured from 100% recycled material. The top of the ‘Green Box’ breaks down into convenient serving plates, eliminating the need for disposable plates. The remainder of the box converts easily into a handy storage container, eliminating the need for plastic wrap, tin foil or plastic bags. The perforations and scores that create this functionality allow for easy disposal into a standard-sized recycling bin. Made from a standard pizza blank, the ‘Green Box’ requires no additional material or major redesign and can therefore be produced at no additional manufacturing cost. e.c.o. owns the utility patent on the ‘Green Box.’

HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere), an international non-profit organization that seeks to promote peace and education, has found a permanent weekly home for the Sunday HOPE Farmers Market in Austin. Located at 414 Waller St. Austin, TX 78702, the Sunday HOPE Farmers Market is a “a weekly community gathering space where local farmers, artisans, community groups, families, and urban consumers can find fresh foods, community programs, artistic creations, agricultural education and wellness workshops. This unique weekly gathering space will be a platform to introduce local artists and Austin residents to surrounding area farms, healthy lifestyle companies, education in the arts and local community volunteer programs.

In addition to local farmers and prepared foods, the market will include student DJs from Austin AMP, bike repair corners, yoga workshops from Empower Yoga, cooking classes from East Side Show Room, sustainable agriculture and landscaping from Big Red Sun and host free space for other non-profits and community groups as well as promote healthy living for local artists.”

Known as Pine Street Station, the Farmers Market location has been the home and studio of legendary glass artist and painter Reji Thomas for over 25 years. HOPE officially expanded to Austin in May 2009 and began working with Graphic Glass Studios on ideas for community gatherings and artists workshops. The market is open from 10AM – 3PM this Sunday and is providing free coffee if you bring your own mug. I’ve never been, but it sounds like a place worth checking out. See you there.

The HOPE Farmers Market is a project brought to the Austin community by the HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Campaign, Finca Pura Vida, Daily Juice, Cafe Mundi, Graphic Glass Studio, Big Red Sun, Empower Yoga, Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill, Jewel Magazine, Austin AMP and HOPE Events Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3).