I'm in the Bean Club!

Hey there! Sorry for the, uh, two-month-plus absence! Since I don't have time to blog daily anymore, I'm just planning to update this blog when I can. Sometimes, that might be weekly. But more likely, it'll be more sporadic. Between work and a pretty active social life, I don't have a lot of spare time at home. And when I do, I'd rather be eating or cooking or watching TV than sitting at a computer. I sit at a computer all day for work, too. 

Anyway, one of the things I do love doing in my spare time is cooking healthy meals from scratch. And lucky me, after about eight months on a waiting list, I finally got into the exclusive Rancho Gordo Bean Club! I got my first shipment a few weeks ago. Each quarterly shipment costs about $50, and you get six bags of heirloom beans and one "extra." This month, that "extra" was Stardust, a chili-lime dipping spice for fruit that tastes like Tajin but without all the chemicals.

As for the beans, the shipment also comes with a newsletter filled with recipes for each. Because this shipment arrived in August, those recipes were mostly bean salads. So, I dug right in and tried a couple. First, I made the Buckeye Beans, which were a bit like pintos with a firmer texture. I enjoyed them as soup beans with onion and chow chow first.

And then I tried them in this Hippie California Salad, which had a butter lettuce, buckeye beans, tangerines, sprouts, cucumber, avocado, and butter lettuce with a tahini dressing. Loved this! It's funny how much better a carefully crafted salad tastes than my usual throw-everything-in salads.

Next, I made the Flageolet Beans, which had the taste of limas with the texture and shape of lady peas. Very delicate but firm. These were great eaten cold with a lemony-olive oil dressing, a recommendation I found on the Rancho Gordo website.

But they were most excellent in this Raw Zucchini Salad, which had a base of thinly sliced zucchini tossed in lemon and garlic. That was topped with flageolet beans, cherry tomatoes and basil from my garden, vegan feta, and olive oil. The recipe called for parm, but all of the stores in Midtown were out of vegan parm. (Trust me; I went to three stores!). 

More bean experiments will coming soon, and I do intend to blog about them. See ya then! Or maybe before! If you're still reading, thanks for sticking around! You can always follow me on IG for more frequent food content (and real talk, a lot of hashing photos!)

Vegan Spam Fried Rice

I recently happened upon a little can of vegan spam at the Viet Hoa, my neighborhood Vietnamese market. 

I'd tried the Omni Foods vegan spam awhile back, but that comes frozen in a bag. This stuff, by Unmeat, comes in a can, just like the real thing. And it falls out in a blob! Yum! Haha.

Once I cut into the spam, I could see little flecks of something. I'm not sure what. But it's plant-based, so I don't really care what it is. 

Granted, it doesn't look that appetizing when it's uncooked. But it fried up nicely in a skillet! The can had a recipe on the back for Spam Fried Rice, so I made that because, honestly, I wasn't sure what else to do with it. I used brown rice (for balance!), and the dish also had carrots, corn, scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil. A perfect pairing with the spam. 

This stuff tasted very much like I remember Spam tasting. I think it was closer to Spam, taste-wise, than the Omni Foods brand. But I think the Omni has a better texture. Both are good though! And I'd buy them again.

Full Moon, Friends, and Plantains for Brunch

A few of my Memphis Hash House Harriers friends and I gather for most every full moon, and the June Strawberry Moon was no exception. Our friend Grace graciously hosted and cooked us a lovely vegan dinner. Most of these gatherings just involve some wine and vegan cheese or snacks, but Grace went all out!

She made Vegan Risotto, Muhmmara with Veggies, and a Green Salad with a homemade dressing! The muhmmara is a red pepper-walnut spread that's a little like hummus but better! She even made, not pictured, Vegan Strawberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert!

Here's a recent brunch from The Liquor Store. The Cuban Platter comes with black beans, saffron rice, sauteed veggies, and the best-ever plantains. 

And I've been enjoying this Cauliflower White Bean Alfredo with pasta for weeks. I made a bunch of the sauce (using this recipe) and froze it. It's very high-protein with Complement plain protein powder, white beans, cauliflower, and lots of other veggies. 

Happy Father's Day!

I went to my parents' house in Cherokee Village for Father's Day, and we did a little weenie roast in my parents' new-ish firepit. They had the pit built last year, but they've barely used it. So I suggested roasting hot dogs to break it in.

I used a couple Veggie Dogs, and my parents had meat hot dogs. Mama also made a Vegan Macaroni Salad and some Baked Beans.

After dinner, we made S'mores! Using Dandie's vegan marshmallows, dark chocolate, and some Belvita breakfast cookies. Those are a nice vegan stand-in for graham crackers since most have honey.

The next morning, mama cooked a big breakfast with Just Egg, Impossible Sausage and Biscuits, and Hash Browns. She makes the biscuits and hash browns from scratch, and both are so good.

Mac, Burgers, Fritters, and More!

Oh hey, it's me again! I once again forgot to blog for a few weeks, but here I am! It's been a busy summer, but here are a few things I've been eating. This Rock Your Brocc mac & cheeze from Plant You was super good. It has a cheesy, noochy base with creamy coconut milk and lots of broccoli and carrots.

These Zucchini Fritters from Plant You were a winner, too. You grate the zucchini super finely in a food processor and then squeeze and drain the water, so they stick well — much like making latkes. It was served with a homemade tzatziki, also from the book.

A couple weeks ago, No Meat Athlete/Complement held its annual online Plantapalooza Festival, which featured vegan doctors and health experts. I'm still working my way through all the audio content. But they also shared an e-book of recipes. And I made this Garden Chickpea Omelet from that. It's stuffed with zucchini, bell pepper, onion, spinach, and a little vegan cheese. Topped with avocado and some pickled peppers from my garden.

And here's a quick Impossible Burger (I think?!) from the Bayou Bar & Grill. Met some friends for brunch there on Sunday, and then menu says it's a Beyond Burger. But it tastes like Impossible to me! And I prefer Impossible anyway. They also have great fries!

Skirt "Steak," Plant Balls, and More!

Sorry for the long break again! I think I'm going to just commit to blogging a couple times a week and see if that works. And hey, if you ever stop by here and see I haven't posted in awhile, just know I'll be back soon. I've just been super busy living life and doing fun stuff. And you can always follow me on IG at @biancaphillips, where I post food photos far more frequently. 

Here are a few things I've eaten lately. I made this Vegan Skirt Steak with thinly sliced portabella mushrooms from Tabitha Brown's Feeding the Soul. This was a simple dish with lots of flavor! On the side, I had the Tahini Green Beans from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook and some Smashed Potatoes from Scrappy Cooking.

Forever ago, I made Vegan Swedish Meatballs with a coconut milk-based white sauce and IKEA Plant Balls and lignonberry jam. But I froze one portion of the sauce and had just enough balls left to make a quick weeknight meal. I love freezing stuff like this for easy dinners.

Here's a tasty Pineapple Thai Curry Stir-fry from the original No Meat Athlete book (not the cookbook). That book has a few recipes, and this is one I'd been meaning to make forever. It had a tasty sauce cooked with fresh lemongrass and red curry paste.

And several weeks ago, some friends and I gathered for a girls' sauna night (one friend has a sauna in her backyard!). But first, we snacked this amazing Olive Focaccia Bread that she made. Yum! 

Vegan Donuts + 5 miles = Bad Idea

I realized, since I've missed almost a month of posting in April, that I failed to update y'all on a crazy race I did. In mid-April, I signed up for the Donuts & Dogs 5-miler, which benefits the Streetdog Foundation. In this annual race, you run 2.5 miles, eat anywhere between 3 and 12 donuts, and then run another 2.5 miles. They don't typically offer vegan donuts, but I'm friends with the race organizer (it's mostly hashers who run it, and a hasher puts it together every year). So I asked if I could BYOD (bring your own donuts), and of course, that was fine. 

I ordered a dozen vegan donuts from Darling Donuts — glazed, lemon curd-filled, and apple fritters —to split between three vegans who were running: me, Kenzie, and Kate. 

We intended to each eat four donuts at the halfway point, but we quickly realized that was a bad idea. These donuts, lovingly baked by my friend Lily, are delicious, but they're also bigger than your average non-vegan donut. We figured each one equaled two Krispy Kremes, which is what everyone else was eating. So we decided on three each. 

Kate had no problem scarfing down those donuts and finishing her run. And Kenzie cheated and ate only two before taking off. Me, on the the hand, I struggled. A lot. It was a hot day, and I was having a hard time eating donuts after those first 2.5 miles. It took me FOREVER to get all three down, and I wanted to throw up a few times. But I did it! I think, from now on, I'll stick to the beer mile though.