I Love Ramen!!

I love a good home-cooked meal, but my ultimate comfort food isn't slow-simmered collard greens and fluffy biscuits. Those things are delicious of course. But the one food that makes me the most warm and fuzzy inside is simple, cheap-o Ramen noodles:

I typically add veggies to up the virtually nonexistent nutritional value of the noodles. I've added fresh zucchini, Soy Curls, corn, green peas, and chili-garlic sauce to this bowl. I always add lots of sriracha or chili-garlic!

I eat a hot, steamy bowl of Ramen almost every Saturday and Sunday for breakfast. Yep, breakfast. As a kid, I actually chose to eat Ramen before school on the weekdays. Back then, I ate the well-known, non-vegan brands like Maruchan and Top Ramen. But these days, I'm a bit of a Ramen snob. I purchase noodles in all kinds of vegan flavors from the Viet Hoa, my local Asian market:

MAMA is a favorite brand, as you can see. They make noodles in fake meat flavors, like artificial beef, chicken, and tom-yum pork. They also make some bad ass rice noodles called "clear soup," that are only 200 calories per package. That's a good deal considering that fried noodles (which I also love) range from 300 to 500 calories per package. Here's a bowl of the "clear soup" rice noodles with edamame and the dried veggies that come in the package:

One of the best features of Asian market Ramen is the packets. I love packets! While the American brands typically only have one powdered flavor packet, these guys come with packets of powdered seasoning, flavored oil, dried veggies, chili powder, and sometimes fried onion topping! The more packets, the better.

Most of the Asian brands do contain MSG, but I don't mind. In fact, I actually kinda love MSG. It's one of the few "bad" ingredients that I'm not ashamed to love. Sorry, MSG haters. I'll never give up my monosodium glutamate or my precious Ramen noodles.

Don't Have a Cow ... for Dinner

Though Memphis has a decent number of veg-friendly restaurants, we're lacking a totally vegetarian eatery. Thankfully, Nashville's Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant is a quick three-hour drive down I-40. The boyfriend and I were in the state capitol this weekend visiting his siblings, and we made dinner at Wild Cow a number one priority.

The place opened several months ago, and I've been drooling over their menu ever since. I've been dreaming of the day when I'd finally have a free weekend to make the road trip. When we arrived at the restaurant on Saturday night, I could hardly contain my anticipation. After much deliberation, I finally settled on the Seitan Philly Cheezesteak with Spicy Kale:

Oh my god, y'all. Best thing ever. Their seitan was sliced thinly and it may be the most tender wheat meat I've ever put into my mouth. It was sauteed with green peppers and onions and covered in a yummy nooch sauce. They offered a choice of Daiya or nooch, but I was curious to taste their homemade sauce. The kale, my choice of side item, was so, so tasty. I doused it in sriracha and some nooch sprinkles that were offered on the table.

Paul isn't vegetarian (and definitely not vegan), so he chose to have dairy cheese subbed out for the standard nooch sauce in his Pinto Bean Nachos:

Wild Cow makes everything vegan unless you request dairy cheese. Isn't that crazy awesome? A vegan default! I managed to sample a bite of beans and rice with no cheese and it was pretty tasty.

Paul ordered the Black Bean Soup as his side item:

I ended up eating about half of it. We both loved this soup, which was the featured soup of the day. It was thin and sorta chipotle-ish.

Wild Cow offers numerous vegan dessert options, and I wasn't about to pass up a moist slice of this Grasshopper Cake:

Here's a messy inside shot of the cake in my eco-friendly to-go container:

We thought we'd be too full to share cake, so we requested the takeout container. But we ended up eating the whole slice in the restaurant. I think this may be the tastiest slice of vegan cake I've ever had. Seriously. So, so moist and rich. And the frosting had just the right amount of mint. Just like a vegan cake version of a Girl Scout Thin Mint!!

I knew that I'd need to have something for lunch on Sunday since we were staying with Paul's sister. So I ordered Wild Cow's daily special to go — Sauteed Veggies and Brown Rice with Blackened Tempeh and Harissa Sauce:

The best part about this dish? $1 off every purchase of the daily special at Wild Cow goes to the help the Gulf Coast oil spill relief effort!

I heated the entree up this morning and it was to die for! The tempeh was sliced thin and blackened to perfection. The veggies were a mix of cabbage and sweet corn. I did add a little Maggie Seasoning to the dish because I love sodium.

I can't wait to go back to Nashville for more Wild Cow deliciousness! I was originally planning on meeting Lacey from Kuntrageous Vegan there, but she wasn't able to make it. So it looks like I have a great excuse to go back soon!

Wild Cow is located at 1896 Eastland Ave. Here's their mouth-watering menu.

Speaking of Nashville, check out this adorable veg children's book Garlic-Onion-Beet-Spinach-Mango-Carrot-Grapefruit Juice by local author Nathalie VanBalen. It's a cute book about two vikings who love to juice. When the vikings learn that yellow-spotted snail shells make a great nutritional supplement in their juice, they're forced to confront the ethical issues with eating animals. Here a link to Nathalie's website (and you can even buy little stuffed vikings!).

My Big News! Plus Tempeh Steak!

Ready for the exciting news? I know you're all just holding on to the edge of your seats. I bet some of you were so anxious that you couldn't even sleep last night. Well, maybe not. I slept fine and I'm sure y'all did too. Honestly, I'm just writing silly stuff to build the anticipation. If I could go to an annoying commercial break right now, I would.

But alas, I'll delay no further. Guess what? I'm gettin' published!!! Yep, after almost three years of slowly working on my Southern vegan cookbook, I've landed a book deal. And you're never gonna guess the publishing company? Okay, well maybe you will. This is a company that I mention all the time on my blog. A popular publisher of important vegan tomes. A company located right down the highway from me in Summertown, Tennessee. Any guesses?

If you said the Book Publishing Company (yes, that's the formal name) at the Farm, then you'd be spot on. I've adored this company for years because a) they publish some of my favorite titles like The Uncheese Cookbook, Raw Food Made Easy, and Tofu Cookery and b) it's only a three hour drive from Memphis, and c) it's run by some of coolest hippies you'll ever meet. Many of the folks who work there have been with the company since the Farmies caravaned to Summertown from San Francisco in the early 1970s.

My manuscript is due in January so that's why you've seen more and more tester recipes on the blog. I'm in the final re-testing and editing stages right now. Though there's no set release date, it should be out within a year of the Book Pub Co receiving my manuscript.

If asked to pick a favorite recipe from my book, I'd be hard-pressed to choose just one. But if you really, really pushed me, I'd probably vote for my Country Fried Tempeh Steak with Soymilk Gravy:

To be fair, the above tempeh steak wasn't fried. Though my original recipe calls for pan-frying, I'm working on a baked variation for folks who fear the fat. We'll call this Country Baked Tempeh Steak. It's tasty, but my heart belongs with fried version. Both variations will be included in the book.

On the side, I'm also tweaking my recipe for Mama's Mac & Tomatoes:

I grew up eatin' macaroni and stewed tomatoes at least once every couple of weeks. It was always a favorite side dish. This version is made with quinoa pasta and fresh summer tomatoes from the Memphis Farmers Market.

A Typical Vegan Southern Meal

Quick post tonight about a few cookbook dishes that I've posted about before. I'm in the testing phase so sorry for the repeats. But I like to post yummy food pics daily, even if some of you may have seen them before. Hope you don't mind.

I actually made this meal on Sunday since the main dish — Creamy Squash Casserole — takes quite some time to bake in the oven:

This is a veganized version of one of my Granny's delicious squash casseroles. She has several variations, some with cheese and some without. This version didn't originally contain cheese so it was easy to veganize. I used fresh summer squash from Dodson Farms at the Memphis Farmers Market and wholesome brown rice.

I'd been craving stewed okra & tomatoes ever since Veggie Cookie posted about her re-creation of Deja Vu's (a veg-friendly Memphis soul food joint) tasty vegan side dish. I actually created a cookbook recipe for my Smoky Stewed Okra & Tomatoes last October, and I felt my craving was a great excuse to test the recipe one more time:

I love okra prepared this way. Growing up, we only ever had it fried because my parents don't like boiled okra. And while I still love the fried stuff, I think stewing (or boiling) really brings out okra's awesome texture.

That's all for tonight. But come back tomorrow night for a big, big announcement!! And don't worry. If you're not around Thursday night, that post will remain on top throughout the weekend. It'll be way exciting!

'Nanner Butter!

Sorry for the lack of posting Monday night. I left O.C. Night with the girls early (missed the season one finale!) to come home for my nightly blogging ritual. But as soon as I walked in the door at 10:30 p.m., the sky opened up and a massive storm ensued. The power went out and stayed out until about 3 a.m.

But it's all good now. My four pints of soy cream (including the homemade rocky road) didn't even melt! Tonight's post is a tribute to the awesomeness that is Chocolate Covered Katie. If you don't know about CCK (formerly known as CCV ... I still call her that ... the V stands for "vegan" of course), check out her blog. She's a super-healthy, super-vegan, super-athelete from Texas, and she creates so many yummy wholesome treats like this Banana Butter:

After reading her numerous tributes to homemade banana butter, I finally broke down and made a batch to top my morning bowl of steel cut oats:

What is it? Just bananas and peanut butter. That's it. But the secret's in the blending. It's super-creamy and nearly double the volume of two little ole' tablespoons of peanut butter.

Click here for Katie's directions. She uses a Magic Bullet, but I don't have one. Instead, I tossed one very ripe chopped banana, two tablespoons of Earth Balance chunky peanut butter, and splash of soymilk (to aid in blending) into my upright blender. The end result was an uber-creamy banana-flavored peanut butter, perfect for plopping onto oats or just eating by the spoonful.

Lick It!

I love homemade ice cream, but I went all last summer without making my own because I couldn't find my ice cream maker. Actually, it's my mom's ice cream maker, which I gave to her as a gift years ago. But I'd borrowed it the summer before last to make some fresh peach ice cream, and I swore I gave it back to her. When I asked to borrow it again last summer, she couldn't find it. In fact, she didn't think I ever gave it back.

Well, turns out she was right. It was in the storage room at my house all last summer, right under my nose. When I came to this realization in the fall, I was all sad that I'd missed ice cream season. But now that temps are in the 90s again, I can finally put my long-unused ice cream maker back into commission. Lucky for me, the fine folks at the Farm's Book Publishing Company gave me a copy of Lick It! to review.

Lick It! by Cathe Olson is filled with mouth-watering recipes for vegan ice cream, sorbets, frozen yogurt, popsicles, and even tasty ice cream toppings. Because I had half a package of Sweet 'n' Sara vegan mini marshmallows begging to be used, I opted to try the Rocky Road Ice Cream first:

This is a variation on Olson's basic chocolate ice cream, which like most of her full fat ice creams, has a coconut milk base. I added the marshmallows and some walnuts to make it Rocky Road. It tastes EXACTLY like the So Delicious coconut milk ice cream, which makes me very, very happy:

And yes, I do have new hair!

As for texture, it's super creamy, but it does seem to melt a little faster than commercial store-bought ice creams. Of course, it's so tasty that it's hard not to eat it so fast that it doesn't have much time to melt.

I can't wait to try some of the other frozen treats in Lick It! Next on the list are Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet, Blueberry Frozen Yogurt, Peanut Butter Ice Cream, and Drumstick Cones.

Twlight Delights

I have a confession. I'm a huge Twilight nerd. I read through Stephenie Meyer's vampire saga faster than I've ever finished a book series. I had the world's biggest crush on Edward (go Team Edward!). I cherished every minute of the movies, especially New Moon and the latest Eclipse film. The film version of Twilight was incredibly cheesy, and the makeup and acting were awful ... but I didn't care. Still loved it.

So when I was contacted about reviewing Love at First Bite: The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook by Gina Meyers, I jumped at the chance. It's not a vegan cookbook by any stretch, but the way I see it, all non-vegan recipes are just begging to be veganized. I figured I could make just about anything in the book without meat, cheese, or eggs.

When the book arrived a few weeks ago, I flipped through and noticed quite a few easily veganizable recipes and a couple that were already accidentally vegan. So no problem there. However, I also noticed that the book is poorly organized. Some of the ingredients in recipes aren't listed in the order they're used. At least one recipe — the Yellow Squash and Tomato Parmesan — is listed twice in the book. Some words are capitalized or lower-cased that shouldn't be. Basically, the book could use some serious editing. Oh, and the black and white photos aren't all that appetizing. Honestly, if you're publishing a cookbook with no color, you really shouldn't include photos.

Because I'm a huge stickler for proper editing (my day job is a newspaper reporter) and decent photography, this was an immediate turn-off. But I'd promised a review of the recipes, so I kept my word. And I'm glad that I did. Many of the recipes have cutesy Twilight-themed names like, "I Dare You to Eat Pizza, Edward" and "Harry's Famous Fish Fry."

I chose the Bella Bruschetta as my main course because it seemed easy enough to veganize:

I swapped out the sausage for my homemade Creole Seitan Sausages and the mozzarella for Daiya Italian Shreds. Those are combined with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and fresh garlic atop a slice of whole grain French bread spread with olive oil. The recipe actually called for one cup of olive oil to spread over the entire loaf, but I thought that sounded crazy. So I spread each slice (I got four large slices from one loaf) with about a tablespoon of olive oil each. Sadly, I forgot to top this bruschetta with the recommended fresh basil before snapping my photo.

Sure, it was an easy recipe, but nonetheless, this bruschetta (more like a French bread pizza, really) was damn tasty. Bella would be proud to serve this to Charlie on a busy weeknight.

On the side, I tossed together this Breaking Dawn Berry Salad:

It called for mixed greens, but I thought spinach sounded like a good fit to combine with the fresh raspberries, avocado, red onion, chopped pecans, and raspberry vinaigrette. I'm bad about falling into salad ruts when it comes to side salads, just tossing in whatever veggies I have on hand. So this was a nice change. I'd probably never think to combine avocado and raspberries, but it was delicious.

Though I take issue with the editing errors, the food I chose to make from Love at First Bite didn't disappoint. I'm also impressed with the book's very large cocktail section featuring drinks with names "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "Cullen Club Collins."

There's also a Twilight party planning guide with a strange idea for a New Moon party with an astronaut theme (what?!), a prom planner for Bella (also strange), and 101 random Twilight saga facts. For example, did you know Stephenie Meyer initially named her book Forks? The back of the book is filled with a Twilight trivia quiz, which I'm assuming would come in handy at the New Moon astronaut party.

In conclusion, I'd say the book could certainly use a little cleaning up. But it's still a kitschy, fun volume for diehard Twilight nerds like me.