Vegan Mofo: Salad Doesn't Have to Be Boring!

I know some vegan cookbooks steer away from "salad sections" because many vegans want to get away from the myth that we only eat lettuce and carrots all the time. And I get that. But lettuce and carrots are yummy, and good for you!

My book will have a combined "salad & sandwich" section since I view both as super lunch-y foods. In real life, I generally make big ole everything salads with no recipe to speak of. I just throw whatever salad-y stuff I have into a bowl and toss with a convenient bottled dressing. But my book will have some real recipes that include homemade dressings and carefully-paired salad ingredients, like in this Seitan & Red Pear Salad:

It uses the Seitan Chicken from another recipe in the book, red pears, green onions, walnuts, and my homemade white pear vinaigrette. It seems a little fancy for country cookin' book, but even the most downhome cook likes to make gourmet stuff sometimes.
What's your favorite salad combination?

Vegan Mofo: Quinoa Queen

According to Sarah Kramer's 2010 Go Vegan wall calendar, I'm the Quinoa Queen for a Day. That's because I made the recipe of the month — Rustic Quinoa & Yam Salad:

November features a kitschy-cute picture of Sarah donning a pageant crown and a big ole bowl of unadorned quinoa nestled in one of Vegan Dish's awesome bowls (By the way, mom and dad ... if you're reading this, a Vegan Dish mug would be a great Xmas gift idea! Hint, hint!) Anyway, Sarah deserves her crown for inventing this yummy salad.

The quinoa is mixed with cooked sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, onions, cilantro, lemon juice, maple syrup, and Bragg's. So, so good. Thankfully, the recipe makes a ton so I have plenty more for leftovers.

A word on "yams": I've never eaten, nor even seen, an actual yam. I've eaten my weight (or more) in sweet taters though. That's all you'll find around here. Yams and sweet potatoes are too totally different tubers. Sweet potatoes are orange or yellow with a brown-ish skin. Yams are purple, white, or red with a dark skin. I've never understood why people confuse the two.

And I'm not totally sure if Sarah intended on her recipe to include sweet potatoes or actual yams. But regardless, it's delicious made with sweet potatoes!

Have you ever eaten a real yam? I want to know what it tastes like....

Vegan Mofo: Bluffin' with My Muffin

I've been craving muffins somethin' fierce lately. Not sure why, but it has been a long, long time since I've baked fresh muffins for breakfast. It was time to fix that, and who better to turn to than Isa Chandra Moskowitz?

I flipped through Vegan Brunch, hoping one of the many muffin recipes would call to me. And sure enough, these Pumpkin Bran Muffins were all, "Make me Bianca, make me!" I heeded the call and here's what I got:

Nothin' fancy to look at. In fact, they got a little browner around the edges that I would have liked. But damn are they good! Isa really knows what she's doing. I had some doubts when I saw the recipe called for an oven temperature of 400 degrees, but I was reassured with my first bite.

The batter is loaded with pureed pumpkin and oat bran flakes, so I feel extra healthy when I eat these ... even if they do contain a little sugar. I guess I'd never tried bran flakes before, but I liked the subtle gritty texture the flakes lent these muffins.

I washed them down with a half-cup of Silk Pumpkin Soymilk mixed with a half-cup of regular soymilk. That's a little trick I learned from Nora at Pride & Vegudice. The Silk Pumpkin is way too sweet, and it's a whopping 170 calories per cup. Mixing it with plain soymilk cuts the calories and takes a bite off the sweetness.

What's your favorite muffin flavor?

Vegan Mofo: Warm Fuzzies

We interrupt this regularly scheduled food blog for a word from today's featured kitty. That's right, folks. One of my six cats — Gelfling — will be blogging tonight. I'm taking the night off so my felines can share their thoughts on a new pet product that we were given to review — the Pet-zzz-pad, a ped bed warming pad for cats and dogs. Without further ado, here's Gelfing:

"Hey everybody. I'm Gelfling, my mom's most favoritest cat. She says loves us all the same, but I know that's a lie. I'm small and fat and I have the most adorable meow in the house. I can make anyone stop what they're doing to pet me with one little high-pitched mew. It's kind of my superpower."

"Anyway, I'm supposed to be talking to y'all about our new Pet-zzz-pad. Over the weekend, mom placed a small, soft round pad in the living room floor .... right in front of the fireplace she's scared to use. It had a long white cord sticking out of the pad, and she plugged that into the wall."

"I was the first of my five siblings to check it out. They say curiosity killed the cat, but whatevs. I'd rather take a few risks and have fun, unlike my scaredy-cat brother Seymour (but we won't talk about him). I sniffed around the thing, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck to do with it. So I walked away and went on to something else. I don't remember what, but I'll bet ya I went over to scoot my water dish around the floor with my head. That's my favorite game! And it makes mama so mad because I splash water all over the kitchen floor. Ha ha!"

"A few minutes later, I walked back to the Pet-zzz-pad in the living room. By then, my older brother Polaris had already figured it out. Here's Polaris acting like he's already king of the Pet-zzz-pad"

"According to Po-po (that's his nickname, by the way), you have to lay on the pad to activate the warmer. He laid on it for awhile and it reached a vet-recommended 102 degrees! That sounds hot, but Po-po said the soft cloth pad doesn't get too warm."

"I wouldn't know because Po-po's been a total Pet-zzz-pad hog for days. He lays on it all the time now and the rest of us haven't had a chance to try it out. I mean, he moves for breakfast and dinner, but I'm certainly not missing a meal for anything in the world."

"The Pet-zzz-pad is intended for use in cat or small dog beds, but we never lay in ours. We prefer the people bed, the computer chair, or the back of the couch. So mom's just leaving the pad plugged in next to the fireplace. It works well as it's own bed for cats, and the fleece pad is machine-washable. That's a good thing since all six of us cats love to throw up hairballs on anything soft. Mom will be washing this thing all the time!"

"Mom says the pad retails for $19.99 to $39.99, and it's available at Pet-zzz-pad website or at PETCO. I bet it'd be a great holiday gift for your pets! Mom really outta buy all of us cats our own Pet-zzz-pad because Polaris has laid claim on the one we have now."

And now a word from mom: Don't forget to enter Rick's Nacho Mama Vegan Queso giveaway over at the Health Sleuth blog!

Vegan Mofo: More Barbecue!

Remember last night when I said Memphis was built on barbecue? Yep, still true. Rock 'n' roll and barbecue. That's what we do here. I can even do barbecue two nights in a row ... how rock 'n' roll is that?!

This time, I went the "dry rub" route with the final version of my BBQ Dry Rub Seitan Ribs:

Y'all have seen these before in various stages of development. But I've finally got the recipe where I want it. The 'cue flavor in these tender "ribs" comes not from a sauce, but from a combination of spices and a hint of brown sugar.

I served my ribs with a helpin' of my Cheezy Broccoli Rice Casserole:

Not the best photo, I know. But it's hard to make a casserole look nice. You can see a prettier shot here from last December. I don't know about y'all but I grew up eating a not-so-healthy version of broccoli rice casserole — loaded with Velveeta, white rice, and condensed cream of mushroom soup. I promise mine is way, way healthier! But still tasty.

In case you're wondering about a cookbook update, I'm in the home stretch. I have until the first of January to finish testing and make the final edits before submitting my manuscript. That's why you've seen so many test recipes lately.

Don't forget to enter Rick's Nacho Mama Vegan Queso giveaway over at the Health Sleuth blog!

Back on the 'cue theme, what's your favorite vegan way to enjoy barbecue sauce or rub?

Vegan Mofo: BBQ Tempeh Pizza

The streets of Memphis are paved with barbecue sauce. Seriously. The people here live, eat, and breathe the 'cue. So it's no wonder that my cookbook will have lots and lots of vegan barbecue-based recipes. Thankfully, you can do a million and one things with barbecue sauce. Down here, we put 'cue-sauced protein on our sandwiches, nachos, salads, spaghetti, and even pizza!

A long time ago — back when I first started my cookbook project — I developed a BBQ Tempeh Pizza. But the early incarnations were more of a first draft. You can see old pics here and here. At first, I wasn't sure how to slice my tempeh for a pizza topping. But duh. I finally figured out that crumbled tempeh was the only way to go. Past versions weren't quite barbecue-y enough, but I've finally perfected my BBQ Tempeh Pizza:

The tempeh is sauteed in my homemade Memphis-Style Barbecue Sauce (heavy on the vinegar with a lovely hint of sweetness). It's crumbled atop a homemade nutritional yeast-based cheeze sauce and a bed of fresh baby spinach.

There's no red sauce though. The nooch sauce takes the place of a traditional marinara and, thus, erases the need for shredded vegan cheeze. Nothing against shredded vegan cheeze pizzas though. Daiya pizza totally rocks my world. But I feel like the nooch sauce is a better complement to the tangy crumbled tempeh.

Speaking of cheeze, don't forget to enter Rick's Nacho Mama Vegan Queso giveaway over at the Health Sleuth blog!

Vegan Mofo: From Mexico to Mississippi

For the past couple of days, I've shared photos of my vegan breakfasts, lunches, and dinners on our family Carnival cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. While I found plenty to eat on the boat, I also ate pretty well on land during the trip.

On Saturday, our ship — the Carnival Triumph — docked in Cozumel, Mexico just after breakfast. Another Carnival ship, the Ecstasy, docked right next to us a few minutes later. Check out this view of the two ships from the shore in Cozumel:

By the way, you might have noticed that I misspelled "Cozumel" in my last two posts (both have been corrected). Thanks to a commenter for catching the error. I was spelling it with a "y" as "Cozymel" instead of a "u" as "Cozumel." I blame that on the fact that Memphis used to have a restaurant called "Cozymel" with the "y." Oops!

Anyway, after a bit of shopping in the tourist area of Cozumel (yes, I bought LOTS of Mexican wrestler masks!), we wandered off the beaten path in search of a quiet place to eat lunch. An employee at a nearby hotel suggested we try Las de Guanatos .... and he gave us a coupon for three free drinks!

I chose a plain margarita on the rocks, and it was one of the best I've ever had:

My parents opted for blended mango margs:

Their menu didn't have any vegetarian options, so I asked the server if they could make me some vegetarian fajitas. He said that wouldn't be a problem, and then he brought us these homemade corn tortilla chips with the world's most perfect dish of pico de gallo for snackin' while we waited:

When our food finally arrived, I was so delighted to see what the chef had concocted for me — French Fry Fajitas!

Some healthier vegans might have been disappointed, but I can think of no greater meal than sauteed French fries, peppers, and onions piled onto a homemade corn tortilla. Carbtastic! This reminded me of a Mexican version of my favorite New Orleans sandwich, the French Fry Po' Boy. I wasn't so sure about the beans being totally vegan, but I ate them anyway. Sigh. And the guacamole was out of this world!

After lunch and more shopping, we boarded the boat to head back to New Orleans. You've already seen what I ate on the ship Saturday night and Sunday. On Monday morning, we docked in NOLA, made our way off the ship, and piled into the car for the six-hour drive from NOLA to Memphis.

As if by fate, we just so happened to be passing through Jackson, Mississippi around lunchtime. Since it was a weekday, that meant my favorite vegan lunch-only diner — the High Noon Cafe — was open. The High Noon Cafe serves delicious vegan fare inside the Rainbow Grocery Co-op, but it's a three-hour drive from Memphis so I only eat there about once a year ... when we're passing through for a New Orleans trip.

This time, I opted to start with the soup special — Tomato Lime:

This chunky tomato soup was well-spiced with only a hint of lime. It was served with a half-slice of sprouted grain bread.

Since we'd been pigging out on the cruise all weekend, I wanted something a little healthier for my entree (had to make up for those French fry fajitas!). I decided on the Blue Bowl:

Brown rice is topped with flavorful baked, marinated tofu, lightly steamed carrots, cauliflower, and edammame. And it's topped with a yummy Thai peanut sauce. The perfect end to a lovely family vacation.

On another note, y'all should get over to Rick the Health Sleuth's blog to enter his giveaway of Nacho Mama's Vegan Queso. This stuff is all natural, low-cal, animal-free vegan cheeze dip. I wish I coulda had some of that to top my French fry fajitas. The contest is open through Nov. 17th, but get over there now!