Vegan Cheezy Spaghetti with Mushrooms

When it comes to talking about my next cookbook project (a retro vegan recipe collection), I've mostly been sharing pictures of recipes from the turn of the 20th century. At least lately. That's because, after a couple years of developing recipes all willy-nilly over the decades, I decided to start working in chronological order. I went back and started with 1900-1909 and then on to 1910-1919. And I still have much work to do in those decades (mostly need to fill out the desserts for those chapters).

But sometimes, I like to jump around and make something from a more recent decade. Last week, I veganized a 1983 Southern Living recipe for Cheezy Spaghetti with Mushrooms.

Technically, the 1983 recipe was a three-cheese spaghetti, but since I was making it vegan, I figured that was a little too over the top. One cheeze is plenty. Especially when that cheeze is nooch sauce. That was the basis for this super-simple pasta dish. Sure, I could have gone with melted Daiya or Follow Your Heart. That would have been delicious, but what would a good '80s vegan do? Use nooch! Because that's all they had back then.

So, let this dish be a celebration of the original vegan cheese — Nutritional Yeast!!! And just for fun, here's the recipe.

Cheezy Spaghetti with Mushrooms
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Serves 4

1 8-ounce package spaghetti noodles
2 Tbsp. vegan margarine, divided
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder, divided
Black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. dried parsley

Boil the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Set aside.

Heat 1 Tbsp. margarine in a skillet and add the mushrooms. Stir and saute for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms begin to soften. Add the soy sauce, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, and black pepper. Saute for 5 more minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, combine the nutritional yeast, flour, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, and salt. Stir until well combined. Add the almond milk and water, and whisk until the lumps are gone. Turn on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Simmer and whisk continuously until the sauce thickens like a gravy. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 Tbsp. margarine and the mustard. Stir until margarine melts.

Toss in the cooked pasta and mushrooms and stir to coat. If pasta and mushrooms have cooled, allow them to re-heat in the sauce before serving.

Stuff I Ate

I live to eat. Seriously. Like, when I'm eating breakfast, I'm thinking about my lunch. And when I'm eating lunch, I'm thinking about my afternoon dessert. And when I'm eating my afternoon dessert ... okay, you get it. But as much as I love food, not every dish gets its very own post. So here's a random hodgepodge of stuff I've been eating this month.

Omg, nachos!! I made Deconstructed Nachos for dinner a few nights last week. There's Beanfield's Sea Salt Bean & Rice Tortilla Chips, Let Thy Food Chedd'r Bac'n Dip (an Austin score!), Wholly Guacamole, salsa, and a mix of black beans, corn, and fresh tomato. 

I'm just loving the new boxed Daiya mac! Here's the Daiya Alfredo Cheezy Mac with Sauteed Kale. Mmmmm ... my favorite kind of dinner.

A couple Sundays ago, I had a giant lunch at Imagine Vegan Cafe with a BBQ sandwich, baked beans, fries, and cake (but I forgot to photograph everything!!). As you can imagine, I was stuffed. And when dinner time came around, the only thing that seemed right was a Big Ass Salad (romaine, cherry tomato from the garden, carrot, celery, radish, baked tofu, cauliflower, Wayfare Bacony Bits, and goddess dressing).

One night, I picked up my namesake sandwich — the Bianca Banh Mi — from Midtown Crossing for dinner. Yep, my neighborhood bar named a sandwich after me! It has red bean hummus, marinated tofu, homemade pickled veggies, cucumbers, jalapenos, and cilantro.

I'm still on a toast kick for breakfast. This is Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Sprouted Grain Toast with Earth Balance Cinnamon Culinary Spread & PB2.

And of course, more Avocado Toast!! This had nooch, black salt, and Yellowbird Habanero Sauce!

I'm back to running a couple days a week. Still having some runner's knee pain, but the physical therapist said it was okay to start walk/running as long as I'm doing my quad/glute exercises daily. And I am, so I've been trying some runs. And I always have smoothie after runs, so last week, I made several of these Carrot Turmeric Smoothies (mango, carrot, turmeric, almond milk, and vanilla Vega One).

Last Saturday, I went to Blue Nile, a new Ethiopian joint, for lunch with Stephanie and Pam (and then Cassi popped by for takeout). I got the Mesir Wat (spicy red lentil stew) with Greens and Beet Salad. So good!

And then on Saturday night, I stopped by Imagine Vegan Cafe to pick up a slice of Stephanie's delicious caramel pie. She'd delivered it there that morning to sell by the slice, and some customer came in and BOUGHT THE WHOLE DAMN PIE. Ooooooh, I was sad. But I got a Sheila Dog instead — veggie dog topped with vegan cheese sauce, coleslaw, sauerkraut, onions, and relish.

This week, I've been having Banh Mi Salad in a Jar for lunch every day!! The recipe came from Joanna Vaught and it was included in Vida Vegan Con cookzine that Amey Matthews of Vegan Eats & Treats organized. This has a creamy dressing on the bottom and then chickpeas, edamame, baked tofu, quick pickled veggies, red cabbage, and lettuce.

These are great to take to the office. I just dump it in a big salad bowl, and chow down at my desk!

Well, that's it! I'll get to work right away eating more stuff that I can show you. It's hard work, but somebody's gotta do it, right?

Vegan Drinks at Deja Vu!

Tonight was Vegan Drinks! We meet up at vegan-friendly restaurants once a month for drinks and dinner. Typically, we go with places that have full bars. But so many vegan places in Memphis only serve beer, so sometimes, we break the rules. That was the case tonight when we dined at Deja Vu Vegetarian & Creole Restaurant. 

Hey look! It's Cassi's Pink Diva delivery scooter parked out front!

We had a nice little modest-sized crowd tonight.

Chef Gary, the mastermind behind this vegan-friendly Creole restaurant, is super-awesome. And he (and his son) sat and talked with us for the entire meal!

Deja Vu isn't a totally vegan place (they have all sorts of meaty Creole specialties), but they have a number of vegan entree items and desserts. Plus, all the soul food sides are vegan! And since they're a New Orleans-style joint (Gary moved to Memphis after Hurricane Katrina), they always have Abita in stock. Nathan had an Abita Strawberry Lager.

And I went with Abita Amber.

Cassi and Pam don't really drink beer, so Cassi brought her own bottle of wine in. She shared a glass with me, too!

Clarita, Bert, and Shay got Abita, too! But Vegan Drinks isn't just about drinks. We eat! Deja Vu has a number of great vegan entrees — mock chicken salad, curry tofu, BBQ mushroom sandwiches, vegan tacos, vegan quesadillas. But I was in the rare mood for a Veggie Plate! Deja Vu has such amazing veggies! I picked four for my meal. One was Red Beans & Rice.

And Smothered Okra, Fried Plantains, and Roasted Garlic Potatoes. YUM!

Pam went with one of my very favorite entrees — BBQ Tofu!! And on the side, she got plantains and fried cabbage.

Cassi went with the Portabella Mushroom & Sundried Tomato Pasta. This was definitely enough for two meals! I think most everyone else ordered some variation on these same items.

I've eaten at Deja Vu a million times, and I've ordered every entree more than once. But I'm always so full that I've never had room for their Vegan Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Sauce. Such was the case tonight, but Cassi had room left. So she ordered a slice, and we all sampled a bite. Mmmmmmm. This is served warm and the strawberry sauce really just sets it over the top. This is the kind of cake that deserves a glass of cold coconut milk on the side. YUM!

Cheers!

This Is My Jam

Okay, technically, this is my fruit spread. But that doesn't have the same ring to it. What am I talking about? Italian-imported Fiordifrutta fruit spreads by Rigoni di Asiago!

A little while ago, I got an email from a PR rep from Rigoni di Asiago asking if I'd like to review the company's chocolate hazelnut spread. I got all excited until I googled and realized it wasn't vegan. So I wrote an email back politely declining. But the PR rep responded by telling me that she'd be happy to send over some of Rigoni di Asiago's vegan, organic fruit spreads instead. Well, yes!

I got to pick two flavors from their long list of all-natural fruit spreads. I went with Wild Lingonberry (because I'd never heard of a lingonberry, so it sounded intriguing) and Lemon (because I love all things lemon!).

Each jar contains more than THREE POUNDS of organic, non-gmo fruit sweetened with apple juice and thickened with pectin. And that's it. Only three ingredients! Now that's about as unprocessed as it gets, folks. The spreads are also lower in calories than most jams and jellies because of the natural sweetener. Most jams are around 50 calories per tablespoon, but these range from 30 to 40 calories.

You can do all kinds of things with fruit spread — add it to coconut yogurt, use it as a muffin filling, top your pancakes with it, even blend it into smoothies. But I'm old-fashioned. I like my fruit spread on toast. I tried the Lemon Fiordifrutta spread on a slice of vegan-buttered sprouted grain toast with a side of tofu scramble. It has a nice lemony tang, but the sweetness from the apple juice offsets that so that it's not too tart. The perfect combo.

I didn't know what to expect from the Lingonberry Fiordifrutta spead since I'd never had a lingonberry. A little googling quickly revealed that lingonberry jam is a staple food in Scandinavian cuisine. Neat! The fruit spread has a tart and sweet flavor that's reminiscent of cranberries. Seemed like the perfect thing to pair with almond butter on cinnamon raisin sprouted grain toast!

These fruit spreads are fantastic. I'd love to try some other flavors eventually. They have apricot, peach, wild blueberries, cherry, Seville orange, fig, pink grapefruit, and more! I looked up where to buy it, and it's available all over the place — Amazon, VitaCost, even Walmart. So from now on, this will be my jam. Or my fruit spread. Whatever.

Pink Diva Cupcakery's New Digs!

My friend Cassi has been operating Pink Diva Cupcakery, a vegan cupcake bakery, for a few months now. She started out baking special orders and catering events. And then she moved into Midtown Crossing Grill, a vegan-friendly pizza pub, where she leased space to bake and sell cakes.

And today, Cassi officially announced that she'll soon be getting her very own bakery space! Memphians are surely familiar with the original location for Deja Vu Vegetarian & Creole Restaurant at 936 Florida Street. Well, Chef Gary has closed that location since he's opened a larger, more centrally located Deja Vu on South Main. And Cassi will be leasing the space on Florida! Here's a picture of the building (with her scooter gang outside!). It still needs some power-washing, a new sign, and paint. But it's almost ready.

Over the past week, her friends (myself included) have been helping her paint some purple window trim with bright pink paint — her signature color. But we were under strict orders to keep the new location under wraps until today because Cassi wanted to announce it at her Divas Day Out event. She gathered her most loyal customers at the new location today for a little party and announcement. Here's Cassi drinking out of her giant fishbowl glass when the crowd thinned out.

The Divas Day Out party was $15 at the door, which bought you all-you-can-eat cupcakes, appetizers, and booze. She made one of my favorite cupcakes — Sweet Potato Mango. The cupcakes are made with mashed sweet potato, so they're very moist. And they're stuffed with a sweet mango puree!

And there were also boozy Bluff City Blueberry cupcakes, which were stuffed with vodka-soaked blueberries. I somehow failed to photograph those at the event today, so I swiped this picture from Pink Diva's Facebook page.

On the savory side, we had Crostini with Guacamole.

Black Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips.

And Pam's famous Asian Slaw with Tofu. God, this stuff is so good.

And there were Cucumber Slices with Tofutti Cream Cheese and Tomatoes.

Cassi used Memphis-made Pyramid Vodka to spike the pink lemonade punch. I had a few glasses. I took a picture of the punch, but then I accidentally deleted it. Oops!

There was a silent auction to help Cassi raise start-up costs for the new space. The auction included gifts from Co-Motion Studio (where I take hula-hooping lessons), Pyramid Vodka, Philip Ashley Chocolates (yes, he makes vegan chocolates!), and more.

Of course, I bid on the Co-Motion stuff. I won an entry to a hula-hoop class and one of Co-Motion's hand-made hoops. By the way, this tiny hoop was for display only. The hoop I won will be a regular-sized hoop that I'll pick out from the store. I need a new hula-hoop like I need a hole a my head, but hey, a girl can't really have too many hoops.

Pink Diva Cupcakery should be open in the new location in about a month or so. I'll keep y'all posted here! But until then, you can still find Cassi slinging cupcakes at Midtown Crossing.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Guilt-Free Pastries

It takes some serious skill to make gluten-free desserts that are also vegan and delicious. I've sampled some xgfx vegan treats in my day that were just so-so and some that were just bad. But Memphian Brandon Thomas has mastered the art.

Brandon operates a pop-up storefront for his bakery — Guilt-Free Pastries — at 344 South Main, and he sells his stuff at Stone Soup Cafe and the Casbah Restaurant. I popped into the pop-up last weekend to grab a few treats to sample. Here's Brandon! He got his start baking healthy desserts because he weighed 300 pounds at one time and was trying to change his eating habits. After he made that change, he lost 125 pounds, and now he keeps it off by indulging in his guilt-free treats.

And here's his display case. Note that not everything here is vegan, but several items are.

I got one each of the vegan pastries to sample. I'd tried a few things before, but I needed to try them again, you know, for "research purposes." I got a Vegan Avocado Brownie.

You'd never guess this brownie was made with avocado. It had a fudgey brownie texture — all soft and chocolatey. The dark chocolate meant that it wasn't too sweet, and it had that sophisticated bitterness that cacao has. Fantastic! And only 52 calories! As a calorie counter, I really appreciate that Brandon's desserts truly are guilt-free.

I also got some bite-size Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies!

These are made with almond flour as opposed to wheat flour. But that soft cookie texture is still there! And they're so much fun to eat. Bite-sized is always better.

And finally, my very favorite item were the Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies!

These are also made with almond flour, and they have a similar soft texture to the chocolate chip cookies. But they're LOADED with cinnamon. I love anything with cinnamon. I really didn't want this package of cookies to end. They're only 60 calories a bag, and I could have easily eaten two bags if I'd had more.

If you're looking for delicious vegan, gluten-free baked goods in Memphis, Guilt-Free Pastries is THE place to go. The pop-up is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or check out Stone Soup and the Casbah.

Split Pea Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons

Split pea soup is as old as time. It was mentioned as far back as in Aristophanes' The Birds, a play first performed in 414 BC! But I wanted to include it in my upcoming retro vegan cookbook because I've seen so many mentions of pea soup in my research on recipes from the 20th century. It may not have originated in the last century, but it was certainly popular, especially in the early half of the 20th century.

It seems to get mentioned in a lot in cookbooks that date from around 1910 to 1919, so I figured that'd be a good decade chapter to include the recipe in. I have a fancier chipotle split pea soup in Cookin' Crunk, but I wanted to stick with something simpler — more traditional. So I whipped up a very easy, very basic recipe that I'd like to think our early 20th century ancestors would have made. Here's my Creamy Split Pea Soup with Garlic Croutons.

Okay, I'm sure our ancestors didn't drizzle their soup with garlic aioli. And they probably didn't serve it with fancy croutons. But plain old pea soup can get a little boring. I'm not being a purist with this retro cookbook. After all, I'm already bastardizing the traditional recipes by making vegan versions. So I'm taking even more creative liberty with some dishes.

This soup is really yummy and it's light enough to eat on a hot summer day. The croutons add just the right bit of texture, crunch, and burst of garlic flavor. Even though the recipe is for my next book, I'm sharing it here because we all need a bowl of split pea soup!

Creamy Split Pea Soup with Garlic Croutons
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Serves 4

For the soup:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
9 cups water
2 cups dried green split peas
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Black pepper, to taste

For the croutons:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 day-old baguette, cubed (about 2 cups)

For the soup, heat the oil in a large soup pot with a lid. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, and saute for about 10 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften. Add the garlic and saute for one minute.

Add the water, peas, liquid smoke, herbs, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and partially cover. Allow to simmer for about one hour or until peas are very soft and falling apart. Transfer the soup, in batches, to a blender. Puree until very smooth.

For the croutons, preheat the oven to 350. Combine the oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Toss the cubed bread into the bowl and stir until all the cubes are coated. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until cubes have hardened and are beginning to brown.

To serve, ladle the soup into four bowls. Sprinkle croutons over each bowl. Drizzle with vegan garlic aioli if desired.