Mochi and Miso! Oh My!

My co-worker Pam loaned me her copy of Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source. It's appears to be a totally vegan cookbook, but author Terry Walters doesn't like labels. As far as I can tell, she only mentions the words "vegan" and "vegetarian" once in the intro where she explains that she doesn't like to name her diet.

And that's fine, but I prefer to shout my veganism from the rooftops. Vegan pride and all. I'm of the believe that the more vegans who proudly proclaim our compassionate lifestyle, the more accepted we shall be. Then again, I guess a book like Clean Food, a seasonal cookbook of simple meals prepared with seasonal, whole foods, may also appeal to non-vegans. And that's kinda sneaky. I like sneaky.

Nevertheless, I won't hold it against Walters for not making a big deal of the vegan thing. After all, she is the driving force behind these delicious Mochi Dumplings, a recipe listed in the book's Spring section:

Mochi may just be one of my favorite foods. It starts as a hard brown square of tightly pressed brown rice, but after a few minutes in the oven, it poofs up leaving a hollow inside that's perfect for stuffing stir-fried cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, and ginger. And I love mochi's chewy factor. The recipe also includes instructions for a simple dipping sauce of sesame oil, rice vinegar, and tamari.

I served my dumplings with a steamy bowl of Miso Soup:

Just my standard miso — one cubed square of Fumara Savory Baked Tofu (tastes like Chinese five-spice powder), a sliced carrot, a little napa cabbage, some green onion, a teaspoon of miso, and a generous squirt of sriracha.

I could be wrong, but I think this meal may have been totally, accidentally macrobiotic.

By the way, don't forget to enter the Etre the Cow book giveaway here.