Speed Vegan Spring Giveaway!

So spring has finally sprung! It was 81 degrees in Memphis today, and I suddenly noticed my yard is in major need of mowing. I hate, hate, hate winter, so I'm super-duper excited for spring. I celebrated the equinox with some serious spring cleaning (baseboards, closets, dusting in hidden places I've never even thought to dust). And I also enjoyed this light spring meal of Navy Bean & Swiss Chard Soup from Speed Vegan:

Nothing says "early growing season" like fresh greens, and Swiss chard is one of my faves. I'm also a big fan of white beans, so this soup was the perfect combination. As with all the recipes in Alan Roettinger's Speed Vegan, this dish came together in a matter of minutes.

Lucky for one of y'all, the Book Publishing Company (publisher of Speed Vegan) is letting me give away a copy of Speed Vegan to one lucky reader! See the bottom of this post for details on how to enter. Read my review of Speed Vegan here.

You can't have soup without bread! So this was the perfect opportunity to make Sarah Kramer's Sassy Sandwich Bread, the March recipe in her Go Vegan! 2011 Wall Calendar:

The recipe is accompanied by an adorable parody album cover of the Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head." Instead of Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA, the picture features three gansta Sarah Kramer's in toboggans, sneakers, and shades with the words "Yeastie Boys" and "Check Your Bread." Cute, right? The bread, by the way, is absolutely delish! Soft and chewy and perfect topped with a little melted Daiya vegan cheese.

Ok, now for the giveaway details. Leave me a comment about your favorite quick, gourmet-ish meal ideas.

For an extra chance to win, tweet about the giveaway and leave an additional comment letting me know you did. For an extra, extra chance, link back to the contest from Facebook and leave yet another comment to let me know. And finally, for a fourth chance, link back to this contest on your blog (if you have one), and leave yet another comment to fill me in. That's four chances to win!

If you don't have a Blogger account with a listed email, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. Good luck! I'll randomly select one winner on Wednesday night (March 23rd).

The Fast and the Delicious

Throughout the month of March, the Book Publishing Company at the Farm (the same folks who are publishing my cookbook!) is giving away copies of several recently-released vegan cookbooks as part of the "Live Delicious, Eat Vegan" campaign.

Titles include Speed Vegan, The Natural Vegan Kitchen, Vegan In 30 Days, The 4-Ingredient Vegan, Becoming Vegan, and Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness. Click here to enter.

I own most all of these book (except for Becoming Vegan), and I can attest that they're all amazing. I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Alan Roettinger, author of Speed Vegan, last weekend when we both led back-to-back cooking demos at the Farm's Sustainable Life Vegan Retreat. Here's Alan in action:

I reviewed Speed Vegan shortly after it came out last year. You can read the full review here, but in a nutshell, I'll just tell ya that this book is designed for vegans who'd love to eat and serve gourmet meals but are hindered by time constraints. Everything in Speed Vegan comes together quickly, yet boasts a complexity of flavor that hints at hours and hours spent working in the kitchen.

This weekend, I attended a dream workshop led by my friend Cindy, and guests were encouraged to bring finger foods. I wanted to show up with something fancy that took no longer than five minutes to whip up. Thankfully, Alan's Artichoke Sandwich Spread from Speed Vegan did just the trick:

Rather than serve it on sandwiches, I brought a bowl of the spread with some Back to Nature Stoneground Wheat Crackers. It literally took me less than five minutes to toss together canned artichoke hearts, vegan mayo, shallots, and few other ingredients to make this appetizer. The results? A creamy, dreamy spread with just the right mix of tanginess and a subtle hint of shallots. God, I love shallots.

Anyway, if you'd like to see Speed Vegan for yourself, hop over to the BPC's website and enter the giveaway!

Down On the Farm (Part 3)

Last post on the Farm vegan retreat, I swear. I had so many pictures of the weekend-long vegan cooking conference at the Farm in Summertown that I had to break them into three posts. On Sunday night, I posted about the opening dinner on Friday. Last night, I posted pics from Saturday's cooking demos through lunch. Tonight, I'll be posting about everything that happened after lunch. For more on the Farm or the retreat, go here or here.

Immediately after lunch, I ran over to the Book Publishing Company to prep for my 2 p.m. demo. I was scheduled to demonstrate my Tempeh & Carrot BBQ Sandwiches and my Tofu Deviled "Eggy" Bites (both recipes are from my upcoming cookbook, to be published by the Book Pub Co. very soon). Here I am preparing the Creamy Poppyseed Coleslaw for the 'cue sandwiches. On the side, you can see the tofu squares for the deviled eggy bites:

Here's a close-up of the slaw bowl before the vegan mayo and poppyseeds went in:

Here's the Tempeh & Carrot BBQ filling sizzling on the stovetop:

And here's me and my lovely assistant (a.k.a. the boyfriend) with a platter of tiny BBQ sandwich samples. The class loved the barbecue! Most folks either loved or were totally weirded out by the deviled eggy bites. They get their egg flavor from black salt, and you either adore black salt or you don't, right?:

Right after my demo, chef Alan Roettinger, author of Speed Vegan and Omega 3 Cuisine, went on with his demo. He's a professional chef, and his style is way more gourmet than mine. I enjoyed being treated to such fancy foods!

For starters, Alan made this AMAZING kalamata olive tapenade with a secret ingredient (it was chocolate!!). This recipe is from Omega 3 Cuisine, which I should be reviewing very soon:

Next up was Pimento Soup with Vermouth from Speed Vegan. I'd seen this recipe in the cookbook before, but it didn't sound nearly as appealing as it tasted in real life. The vermouth gives this soup an amazing complexity of flavor that I can't even describe. Plus, y'all know I'm a fan of any food made with alcohol:

And then Alan fed us Red Quinoa with Zucchini and Corn and Napa Slaw, both from Speed Vegan. This was my first time trying red quinoa because I've always been too cheap to buy it. OMG ... I think red quinoa is my new favorite food!

After eating sample-sized portions all day, none of us were all that hungry for dinner. But the Farm was holding a community dinner Saturday night, and we weren't about to miss that. Community dinners are fund-raisers for the Farm School or other special organizations, and many of the Farm's residents attend. This was a chance to meet Farmies who weren't involved with the vegan retreat. Plus, there was live music and a school play. Here's the list of menus for community dinners, appropriately held in the Farm's community center:

Saturday's menu featured Thai Stir-Fry (with some of the best, firmest tofu I've ever eaten!!), Yellow Rice, and a Green Salad. Despite my lack of hunger, I cleaned my plate:

And for dessert, a homemade Vegan Brownie. And yes, I finished that too:

By the time we left the Farm at 7:30 p.m. to make the three-hour drive home to Memphis, I was as full as a tick! We had a fabulous time at the retreat, and I ate some of the tastiest vegan food I've ever had. Plus, we made some new friends. I wish we could do it all over again next weekend!