Sorghum Vs. Molasses

Molasses Cake, an old Southern favorite, is typically served unfrosted with butter or cream cheese. It's a simple cake, flavored with good ol' fashioned blackstrap molasses. But I like sorghum better than molasses, so for my cookbook, I modified the traditional molasses cake to become Sweet Sorghum Syrup Cake:


Sorghum comes from the sorghum cane, and it's rich in iron, calcium, and potassium. It's lighter in color than molasses, and it's a bit milder in taste as well. Molasses is a by-product of the sugar-making process, but it's also rich in iron, calcium, and potassium.

The two can be used interchangeably in recipes depending on how strong you like your flavor. For some reason though, sorghum just seems more Southern ... about as Southern as mint juleps and iced sweet tea. So it seemed a better fit for my cookbook. The stuff I'm using came from Marvell, Arkansas.

I've been topping my Sorghum Cake with Soy Whip and fresh strawberries for breakfast each morning. I figure it's better to eat cake for breakfast than to eat it as a snack later in the day. At least, I'm taking in the big calories in first thing in morning, while I still have time to work them off, right?

Melty Teese-y Goodness

Okay, so I'm in a bit of a pizza rut. But I don't care. I like pizza and, dang it, that's what I shall have until I'm tired of it. Besides, I've had my Teese shipment for a few weeks now, and I'd yet to try melting it on a pizza until tonight. Behold, the meltiness of Teese:


Oh yea, that's what I'm talking 'bout. The first bite of gooey, melted Teese pizza with mushrooms, black olives, and bell peppers was the moment I've been waiting for since I went vegan in 2004. I don't miss real cheese, but I miss the melty factor. And though I like the taste of most vegan cheeses, none melt like Teese.


It melts so well that it tends to ooze of the pizza after its sliced, but that's okay. I just licked the extra off the pizza pan. That's right. My inner fat girl was all over that one. And I enjoyed every last crumb.

But many of you have already discovered Teese's magical wonders, so I'll spare you more gushing. Just know that this won't be the last time you see Teese-heavy photos on this blog. I think I have a new favorite food.

For the crust, I thawed out a half batch of Isa's basic pizza dough from Vegan with a Vengeance. I also made the basic pizza sauce from VwaV, but I substituted fresh thyme and fresh oregano from my new herb garden in place of the dried herbs in the recipe. I used a jar of home-canned tomatoes from my Granny for the base of the sauce.

Served with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, this was hands down the best meal I've had in quite awhile. And lucky for me, there's enough pizza left over for lunches for the next couple days. I only hope Teese melts well when re-heated in the microwave at work.

Pie in the Sky

On Saturday night, my mom and I saw Jewel perform at an outdoor concert in the Memphis Botanic Gardens. But first, we stopped for the Vegan Pizza at Lou's Pizza Pie:


Piled high with spinach, eggplant, tomatoes, red onion, and artichoke hearts, this pie hit the spot. I'd been craving veggies all day, and I'm pretty sure this meal fulfilled my daily recommended allowance. Not to mention that we also had Lou's garden salad with garlic mustard vinaigrette.


It was the first time I'd tried the vegan pizza at Lou's. In fact, I just heard they had one a few weeks ago. Anytime I learn a restaurant owner has gone out of his or her way to create a vegan menu item, I get really excited. This is Memphis after all, and um, it's not exactly a vegan mecca.

As tasty as the pizza was, once we got to the Jewel show, we were wishing we'd brought picnic food. Since it was an outdoor performance, EVERYONE had coolers and picnic baskets. Some people even brought their own portable picnic tables and bouquets of flowers to decorate. Oh well, maybe next time. At least we had some good eatin' before the show. And Jewel was amazing, especially when she yodeled during the encore.

Quinoa and Falafel! Oh My!

Hey guys! My story on the locavore project came out in the Memphis Flyer yesterday and it's now available online here. Check it out and feel free to leave comments on our website because my editor LOVES comments. They actually pick their favorite comments on the website each week to run in the newspaper.

On another note, we had our monthly Food Awareness veggie group meeting tonight at Wild Oats. I led another cooking demo. This time, I made Quinoa Black Bean Salad. Here I am squeezing a lime for the dressing:


And here's the finished product (scroll to end for the recipe):


After the demo, Steph from Poopie Bitch brought out some yummy vegan cookies — Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies. Thankfully, she's a tester for Kelly and Garrick's upcoming vegan cookie book, so we got to help her sample the goods. Verdict — Amazing! Especially the chewy peanut butter ones!

Before the meeting, Steph, her awesome vegan friend Ahnah, and I had dinner at Pita Wraps. Steph's been raving about their falafel on her blog for some time, and I've been dying to try it. Here's the Falafel and Hummus Pita Wrap:


One bite and I totally understand what the rage is all about. I think this may be my new favorite falafel place! By the way, you can see how huge this wrap is...and we all ate every bite!

Quinoa & Black Bean Salad
-------------------------
1/3 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 tsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. scallions, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, minced

Bring quinoa and water to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer until water is absorbed (about 15 minutes). Fluff and allow to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, lime juice, cumin, coriander, salt, cilantro, and scallions. Add cooled quinoa, black beans, tomato, and pepper. Serve.

Mochi Madness

I've seen the hard brown squares of packaged mochi in the food cooler at Wild Oats, but until now, I had no idea what to do with it. I wasn't even sure what it was. But thanks to Judy Brown's "Guide to Natural Foods Cooking," I've discovered the wonders of this glutinous brown rice cake. My first mochi experiment — Judy Brown's Mochi Vegetable Melt:


It may not look so appetizing, but trust me on this one. See that melty looking cheese-like substance in the right side of the picture. That's melted mochi, glutinous rice that's been pounded into a paste and molded into shape. That may not sound appetizing either, but it's delicious!

Melted mochi has a texture that's somewhere between melted mozzerella and sticky sushi rice. The original flavor, which I used for this melt recipe, has the slightest hint of sweetness, but not at all overpowering ... a nice compliment to the saltiness of the soy sauce used to season this dish.


For this recipe, saute your veggies (I used kale, cabbage, carrots, red onion, and mushrooms) and then place squares of mochi on top. Cover for about 10 minutes while the mochi melts over the veggies. In the end, I tossed in tofu that I'd sauteed separately.

According to the package, you can also bake mochi. I think it puffs up and the outside becomes crispy while the inside gets soft and gooey. I'm going to try this later with the remainder of my mochi.


By the way, Judy Brown's book is freakin' awesome. I picked it up at a Goodwill in Nashville for 75 cents. I always peruse the cookbook sections in thrift stores, hoping against hope that there will be a vegan cookbook lurking on the shelf...and then sure enough, this time my shelf-scouring paid off. The book was published in 1989 (can you believe it's vegan and that old?!) by the Book Publishing Company on the Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. It's currently out of stock on Amazon but you can place an back order.

On a different note, several of you have asked about being a tester for my upcoming Southern-style vegan cookbook. Recipe development is about halfway complete (got about 100 so far), so I'll need testers soon. I'll keep ya'll posted. Thanks for offering help and encouragement!

Somebody Pass Me a Wet Nap

In true Southern barbecue fashion, my Memphis-Style BBQ Tofu Mushroom Sandwich left as much sauce on my hands as it did in my mouth:


I've been working on perfecting the BBQ sandwich recipe for my cookbook for awhile now, and after tweaking the sauce and experimenting with different faux meats, I've finally settled on this version. Crumbled tofu and minced mushrooms come together in my tangy Memphis-style sauce. Memphis style means heavy on the vinegar, by the way.

The texture of crumbled tofu and toothsome bite of the mushrooms make this sandwich similar to the pulled pork sandwiches folks eat around these parts. Memphis, home to the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Neely's barbecue family of Food Network fame, claims the title of "barbecue capital." Honestly, I've never eaten a Memphis barbecue sandwich (unless you count the barbecue tofu sandwich at R.P. Tracks), but I know a good Southern sauce when I taste one. And I'm pretty darn proud of mine.

I also developed a recipe for Creamy Poppyseed Coleslaw to dress the sandwich. No barbecue sandwich is complete without slaw.

And on the side, I created No-Tell Ro-tel Cheese Dip (also going in the cookbook):


In the South, it's almost guaranteed that someone will bring Ro-tel Cheese Dip to any non-vegan potluck. It's basically a combination of Velveeta cheese (gross, I know, but I used to love it) and canned diced tomatoes with green chilis. Some people also add meat, and as a young vegetarian, that always pissed me off. Why add meat to the cheese dip?!

My vegan version has neither meat nor cheese, but it definitely hit the spot with my Guiltless Gourmet Blue Corn Tortilla Chips.

Teese Test

As if to taunt me at the start of my local eating project, my shipment of Teese arrived just as I was beginning my week-long challenge. Though I was super-elated to see those long, round tubes of supposedly melty vegan mozzerella, I knew it was hands off until my locavore week was complete.

But now that I'm back on regular eats (food miles and all), I've ripped open the Teese and put it to the test. I'm probably the last vegan blogger to try this new "cheese" product, so bare with me. Inspired by Melisser's (of The Urban Housewife) Teese tests, I started with a Grilled Teese Sandwich:


Now, I recall her Teese being a little meltier than this, but she made hers in a sandwich press. I used a plain old skillet. As you can see, the sliced Teese has retained its original shape, though it did begin to soften as though it was starting to melt. While frying the grilled cheese, I topped the skillet with a lid to trap in moisture.

I seem to remember someone on some blog (maybe Jess of Get Sconed) saying that Teese melts best when shredded or cut into tiny bits. And that's probably where I messed up here, since I sliced mine pretty thick.

But regardless of its melty factor, Teese is delicious! Way better than Vegan Rella, and similar in taste to Follow Your Heart mozzerella. But it's flavor is a tad bit more buttery, and that was an excellent complement to the melted Earth Balance on my grilled Teese sandwich. Next I will try the famed Teese Pizza.

By the way, I need to thank my Daddy for ordering the Teese. He placed an order with Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe several weeks ago. Here's the whole stash:


My dad actually picked all this stuff out by himself. I have the best dad in the world! He's not even close to being vegan, but he knows what I like — Tings, two tubes of Teese, two Cashew Pecan Nut Butter Balls, one Almond Nut Butter Ball, Stonewall's Mild Veggie Jerquee, Primal Strips Shitake Mushroom Hot & Spicy Jerky, Primal Strips Soy Hickory Smoked Jerky, Larabar Jocalat Chocolate Coffee Bar, and two bumper stickers for my new car (pictured below).

In tribute to the SHAC7:


Because it's true: