Global Annoucements

I don't have any food pics to share right now. Okay, well I do. But I'm saving them for later posts because tonight I want to let y'all in on a couple of important announcements, both involving countries other than the U.S.


Let's start with Voracious Vegan's "Souljourn for World Hunger." If you follow Tasha's awesome blog, you're probably already in on this one, but hear me out. Back in the spring, the lovely Tasha lived on 1,000 calories or less (all consumed in one simple evening meal) for seven days in an effort to bring awareness to the plight of the world's 1.2 billion chronically hungry people. During the seven days, she also spent her time researching the whys and hows of world hunger. Read about her journey here.

Now Tasha and Kendra Swartz Pepper of the Conducive Chronicle are asking others to join them on their next Souljourn. Beginning in October, participants may choose to live on minimal calories for anywhere from 7 to 21 days. If you're interested in helping, click through to Tasha's Souljourn post to sign up.

During her last Souljourn, Tasha discovered that the planet actually produces more than enough food to feed its inhabitants. The problem is unfair distribution. Here's what she had to say:

1 out of every 6 human beings alive does not have enough food to survive. The most heartbreaking thing of all is that it does not have to be this way. This chronic hunger is not caused by famine or lack of food; in fact we grow more than enough food to sustain everyone. According to Food First, our planet produces enough for each person on earth to have 4.3 pounds of food every day; 2.3 lbs of grains, beans, and nuts, 1 lb of fruits and vegetables, and 1 lb of meat, eggs, and dairy products. That is more than 3,500 calories per person per day, a generous amount of food that everyone could survive on. And despite what many people think, emergencies account for less than 8 percent of hunger’s victims. Chronic hunger is therefore not a matter of lack of food or natural disasters; it is a matter of unequal and unfair distribution of food.

Will Vegan Crunk be taking part? Unfortunately no. Though I'd love to bring attention to this issue through a Souljourn of my own, I have only a few months to finish my cookbook. The manuscript is due in January, and I can't take any time off from testing now. But if another Souljourn occurs after my deadline, I'm all in. I felt like linking back to Tasha's post was the least I could do for now.

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In other global news, I wanted to let my Mid-Southern readers know about India Fest this weekend at the Agricenter at 7777 Walnut Grove. India Fest runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, August 28th.

This annual tribute to all things Indian will feature a ton of yummy vegetarian and vegan foods from the various states of India. Of course, there's some meat too, but we don't care about that, right? Participants can walk from booth to booth, each representing a different Indian state, sampling foods from every region.

If you're not local but wish you could go, never fear. I'm toting my camera along and I'll be posting about my Indian food finds on Sunday night.

Where'd All the Crowder Peas Go?

I know absolutely nothing about farming or gardening, but I do know what's supposed to be in season. Every year around this time, the Memphis Farmers Market is awash with fresh peas and beans of all shapes and sizes — purple hull peas, lima beans, butter beans, cream peas, lady peas, and my personal fave crowder peas.

Crowder Peas (image from DineWithDanielle.com)

But here lately, I've only been able to find fresh shelled purple hull peas and lima beans. That's it. No crowders. In case you don't know, both purple hulls and crowders are in the same cowpea family. Purple hulls are just like black-eyed peas but with more of a purplish-colored eye. And crowder peas are all squashed up in the pod, so they have squared-off ends and tend to look a little bigger. They taste about the same, but I prefer the texture of crowders to purple hulls.

Purple Hull Peas (image from BackYardChickens.com)

Does anyone know what's up with the lack of pea varieties in the Mid-South this year? We've had a way hot summer with temps in the 100s for almost a month. Could that be the culprit? Anyway, I ended up settling on a bag of shelled purple hull peas to test my Harvest Crowder Pea Soup for my cookbook:

They cook up in the same amount of time, so I think it's fine to test this recipe with purple hulls. And I guess now I can give people the option in the recipe of either crowder peas or purple hulls. If you could bottle late summer and pour it into a bowl, this soup is what it would taste like. Nothing says August to me like a fresh bowl of peas.

Soup isn't a meal without bread, so I decided to give my gently-used, new-to-me bread machine another try. Remember what happened last time? My whole wheat bread totally sank. But I took all your advice from the comments, and look what happened:

Whole wheat bread success! I subbed out whole wheat bread flour for regular whole wheat flour and I added a tablespoon and a half of vital wheat gluten flour. I also stuck around the house during the four hours of the bread machine cycle so I was ready to remove the bread as soon as it was done. Last time, I let the machine kick off while I was at work and left the bread in for several hours. This soft, wheat bread was perfect schmeared with Earth Balance and garlic powder.

Hot Stuff

On Saturday, a few of my friends and I saw disco diva Donna Summer at an outdoor show at the Memphis Botanic Garden. She may be gettin' on in age, but Donna still has it. Girl had at least four fabulous costume changes, a posse of high-energy dancers, and flashy, animated backgrounds that made the whole stage look it was on fire.

The Botanic Gardens hosts these outdoor shows once a month on their lush, sprawling grounds. My friends and I go to most of the shows, and we always pack a picnic and a bottle of vino. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my Nikon into the show because there was a 30 percent chance of rain, so all I had was my iPhone camera. It takes good shots sometimes, but not when it's getting dark ... as it was in this shot of Nathan's plate:

In the center are my Butter Bean Bruschetta, a recipe going in my cookbook. On the upper left corner of the plate, you can barely see the vegan ranch dip underneath those carrots. That recipe is also going in my book. Greg's tahini-less hummus is in the bottom right. And not pictured is Nathan's creamy avocado dip. We scooped up all those dips with crudite and tortilla chips while we sipped on blush wine.

Just for fun, we took pictures of each other with my Hipstamatic app for the iPhone. This app makes photos look like they were taken in the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s (this may be my favorite app!). Here's hipstamatic Nathan with a mouth full of food:

And hipstamatic Greg, also in the act of chewing (not sure why I took everyone's photo while they were eating):

And here I am with my plate, about to stuff my face as usual:

Cheater Tamales

Full disclosure: I've never actually made a tamale from scratch. I keep meaning to give it a try, but I always hear about how time-consuming and arduous the tamale-makin' process can be. Though I typically love spending hours in the kitchen, I just haven't blocked out time in my busy schedule for a tamale day. I will. Soon. Promise.

Until then, I present you with my quickie version of the savory stuffed treat — my Hot Tamale Pie:

It's yet another recipe I'm testing for my cookbook (told y'all I was steppin' up this cookbook game, right?). I've made it once before, but I made too much filling for a 9-inch pie pan. This time, I used a 10-inch pan and lessened the ratios of ingredients. It's not as fancy as a tamale, but it satisfies when you don't have all day to spend in the kitchen.

Though tamales originated in Latin America, they also have strong Southern roots. The Mississippi Delta (the area along the river from Memphis down to Vicksburg, Miss.) is often referred to as the Tamale Trail, thanks to an abundance of tamale stands and diners serving up the Southern version of the traditional Latin treat. Why is this? There are several theories. Some say migrant workers who worked the cotton fields with African American slaves back in the day shared their foodways. Other theorize that U.S. soldiers from Mississippi brought back tamale recipes after traveling to Mexico during the U.S.-Mexican War.

While Mexican tamales are made with masa, most Southern folks make theirs with cornmeal, which lends the tamale a grittier, polenta-like texture. In keeping with Southern tradition, my pie features a cornmeal-based, polenta-like crust and topping. I gotta keep it real.

Sriracha-cha!

Some like it hot and I'm one of them. Ever since I started using sriracha (that's the spicy Thai hot sauce with the rooster on the bottle for the unintiated), I've developed an insane craving for spicier and spicier foods. I think spicy food is a little like tattoos. Once you get a taste, you want more, more, more. And bigger, bigger, bigger.

Long ago, I developed my Some Like It Hot 'n' Spicy T.L.T. Sandwich for my upcoming cookbook, but in testing it again tonight, the amount of heat called for sounded too mild for a "spicy" sandwich. So I upped with the sriracha measurements in the tofu marinade a little, but it can still be prepared as mild as you'd like if you can't take the heat:

As you can see, the "T' in my "T.L.T." is tofu. I know tempeh bacon makes a great sandwich, but everybody does that. I like fat, smoky, marinated, sauteed slices of tofu instead. Oh, and I add avocado, Vegenaise, and extra sriracha because that's just how you do.

Because I can't get enough of the spicy-spicy, I served my sammich with Jalepeno Tortilla Chips made by Food Should Taste Good:

Despite the name and bright-red color, the chips weren't really all that spicy, so I dipped them in Frog Ranch Chipotle Salsa. Needless to say, my nose was running throughout the entire meal ... but it was so, so worth it.

Stirfryday (on Wednesday)

Last Friday, my friend Greg and I took part in an old Memphis vegan tradition — Stirfryday! This monthly stir-fry party used to take place once a month at the Sanssouci Collective House on Tucker Street. Though we didn't go every time back then, Greg and I used to stop through for $5 tofu stir-fry every once in awhile.

But the Sanssouci house (a cooperative house of hippie vegans) is no more, and the monthly stir-fry party has moved to the DeCleyre Cooperative, another collective of grassroots activist hippie kids. The DeCleyre house (located in the University District) has been around since 1998 and was founded as a vegetarian/anarchist household. They have an awesome collection of zines and progressive books, and the place was named after Voltarine DeCleyre, one of the most badass anarchist ladies of all time (except for Emma Goldman, of course!).

Anyway, DeCleyre hosted a Stirfryday event/rock show this past weekend. Here's the menu:

You get one of four choices of tofu and a choice of curry paste. That's sauteed with fresh veggies and served over sticky white rice. Matt Kime, a former Sanssouci resident, did the cookin' on Friday night:

Look how sweaty?! You see, DeCleyre doesn't have A/C, and it was about 100 degrees on Friday night. Though I don't typically approve of shirtless dudes cookin' my food, I can understand when it's a million degrees out.

Here's my finished plate:

I chose sesame tofu and massaman curry paste, and I washed it all down with an ice-cold pint of Magic Hat #9. We couldn't stay for the rock show though. It was just too darn hot!

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Deja Vu Creole Soul Food & Vegetarian Restaurant

I get plenty of e-mails from blog readers planning trips to Memphis or phone calls from out-of-town friends who'll be stopping through, and they always want to know the best place to find vegan food. My first suggestion is always Deja Vu Creole Soul Food & Vegetarian Restaurant. I would have blogged about the place much sooner, but they just opened a second location, and I wanted to check it out before doing a post.

Deja Vu has hands-down the largest selection of vegan options on any menu in the city. Although they do serve meat, the soul food joint offers about 15 vegan entrees and all the traditional Southern sides are vegan. You won't find any ham hocks in these collard greens and the candied yams are delightfully marshmallow-free. The vegan entrees range from soul food stuff like barbecue tofu cubes to pasta dishes and fried veggie-filled "egg" rolls. BTW, I love this place so much that my profile pic (the one on the right) was taken at Deja Vu over a plate of barbecue tofu.

This Portabella and Sundried Tomato Pasta is one of my faves:

The savory sundried tomatoes and meaty mushrooms give the dish a crazy-hearty flavor. It's a little difficult to stop eating when you're full because it's that freakin' good. I snapped this photo a few months ago at Deja Vu's downtown location.

Deja Vu's humble original location has been open for over a year on Florida Street in downtown Memphis. It's a teensy little place with only six or seven tables. Folks crowd in for lunch and typically have to wait for an available seat. But the second sprawling Hickory Hill location is HUGE with a private room for meetings. I believe the place used to house an O'Charley's. I finally had a chance to check out the new digs at our Food Awareness (the local vegetarian club) monthly meeting on Saturday.

I ordered this delicious Spinach and Mushroom Quesadilla:

It's a newer menu item and I was so surprised to see that it contains vegan cheese! It's especially difficult to find restaurant food in Memphis with vegan cheese. I'm not sure what they used, but it's a toss-up between Tofutti Mozzerella or Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack (don't you love playing "guess-the-vegan-cheese"?). Also stuffed inside the grilled tortilla are spinach, portabella mushrooms, and some Creole-style spices.

Almost everyone else at my table (Stephanie, Lindsey, and Jordan) ordered the Veggie Tacos:

These are stuffed with TVP and taco sauce and served with lettuce, tomato, and salsa. I was actually way too engrossed in my yummy quesadilla to ask how these were.

Other Deja Vu favorites include the Mock Chicken Salad Sandwich (which I first blogged about here), made with TVP and vegan mayo:

And I LOVE the curry tofu cubes! Not all the vegan entrees come with sides (the quesadilla does not), but when I get to choose sides, I typically spring for the grilled cabbage, navy beans, smothered okra, or green beans and carrots. I noticed on the new menu that they also offer fried plantains as a side dish too! When I have room for dessert (which is pretty much never), I opt for the vegan banana nut bread. But someday I plan to try the vegan chocolate cake with strawberry sauce.

Deja Vu Creole Soul Food & Vegetarian Restaurant has two locations: 936 S. Florida St. (901-942-1400) and 3557 Ridgeway Rd. (901-590-2221).