Artisana: A Review & Giveaway

Hey everybody! I'm back. If you missed Katie's coconut butter post from yesterday, you should really check it out. It might give you a few hints about what to do if you win this week's awesome giveaway!

You see, months and months ago I sent Artisana an email asking if I could review a few of their nut butter products on my blog. I couldn't find any Artisana products in Memphis at the time, and I was desperate to try some. I wasn't ready to take a chance and order Artisana coconut butter or nut butters online without trying some first. An Artisana rep agreed to send me a package, but months passed before anything arrived. I'd all but given up, and then finally two weeks ago, I received a mystery package. I ripped it open to reveal this:

A big ole jar of Artisana's new Cashini Butter (that's cashew and tahini), coconut butter, coconut oil, and raw Cacao Bliss (coconut chocolate butter):

And wait ... that's not all. There was also this:

These are single-serving Artisana go-packs! They're new, and I suppose Artisana was holding out so I could review their newest line of products. These convenient packs are so handy for packin' a lunch or a road trip snack. Throughout the past week, I've tried one of each go-pack on bagels and toast. My favorite was the Walnut Butter:

This stuff tastes exactly like eating straight-up walnuts schmeared on toast! I actually tried adding strawberry jam to my first batch of walnut butter and toast, but the jam masked the delicate flavor of the walnuts. I quickly determined that raw nut butters are best enjoyed unadorned.

Tying for a close second fave was the Pecan Butter and the Macadamia Butter, both of which I ate on a whole grain bagel:

Though not pictured, I enjoyed a generous schmear of the new Cashini Butter on some homemade whole wheat bread, and it was melt-in-my-mouth amazing. The delicate flavor of the cashews is the perfect complement to the sturdy tahini flavor. This stuff would make some damn fine hummus.

During the time it took Artisana to get the samples to me, my Whole Foods started selling the coconut butter. They still don't sell their raw nut butters, but at least it's a start. I knew this raw Cacao Bliss was going to be amazing, and I was right. What's better than raw coconut combined with raw cacao? Yep, nothing:

Since I can now purchase Artisana raw coconut butter in Memphis, I thought it'd be nice if I used the eight-ounce jar they sent for a fun giveaway!

For a chance to win, leave me a comment at the end of this post about your favorite way to use coconut butter. Feel free to reference Katie's post for hints. If you'd like to double your chances, tweet about the giveaway (and link back) and let me know you did in a second comment. If you want to triple your chances, post a link on Facebook and leave yet another comment for a total of three entries (comments) per person.

I'll leave the contest open until next Tuesday night at 10 p.m. (CST). And if you're not a blogger who can easily be reached through your blog, please leave an email address where I can contact you if you win. I'll randomly select the winner. Good luck!

Guest Post: Katie's Coconut Butter Party

Hey y'all! I'm sure you're all familiar with the awesome Chocolate Covered Katie. You know, that adorable chick from Texas with a penchant for running, homemade fudge babies, coconut butter, and eating all cuisine with chopsticks? If not, you should really get to know her (but I can't imagine how anyone in the vegan blogosphere wouldn't know Katie!).

Katie was one of my first regular commenters on Vegan Crunk way back in 2007. She really helped me get my new bloggy feet off the ground, and her blog has always served as an inspiration. Tonight Katie is taking over my blog and tomorrow, I'm taking over hers. Why? No reason. We wanted to try a little post-trading just for fun.

Note: Pay close attention to Katie's post. Tomorrow, I'll be hosting a fun giveaway and you just might be able to gather some clues from her post. Hint, hint. Come back on Tuesday night/Wednesday for details, and check out my guest post about dining out, vegan-style on Katie's blog on Tuesday. And without further ado, here's Katie!

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Greetings, fellow Crunks and Crunkettes! (What the heck is a crunkette???) I’m so honored to be on Bianca’s bloggie, as it is one of my absolute favorites!

My name is Katie, and I follow the Chocolate-Covered Diet philosophy.

However, the topic of today’s post is not chocolate; it’s coconut butter. Bianca and I share an affinity for this special spread, whose taste is reminiscent to shortbread. But unlike shortbread, coconut butter is 100% raw and organic, with healthy fats and no added sugar. The only ingredient is coconut! Buttery, melty, and oh-so versatile. My numero uno favorite way to indulge is straight up, with nothing standing between me and my coconut-butter goodness. However, if I have to invite other guests to the party, here are some good ones:

First up, we have the easiest-ever Raw Macaroons.

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I have a friend who said she’d give me her first-born child in exchange for a batch of these every now and then. Sadly for her, I declined. What would I do with a whiney, crying baby anyway? I’d much rather have my Raw Macaroons .

Artisana coconut butter is amazing icing. You can use it on raw Carrot Cake (above).

I adore slathering it on carrot cake pancakes and cupcakes!

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And then there are always the Mounds Bar Pancakes.

Chocolate and coconut were meant to be together.

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Moving on to simpler ideas: the incredibly-creamy Coconut Banana Butter.

Coconut + bananas = heaven in a spoonful.

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Other uses for Artisana Coconut Butter:

1. Turn into a melty frosting for healthy 24-Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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Or…

2. Drizzle on butternut fries or spaghetti squash

3. Use in place of peanut butter in peanut-sauce recipes! (Thai coconut-sauce pasta, anyone?)

4. Mix into oatmeal (or blended grains)

5. Blend in a smoothie, or spread on a banana or toast (Can I interest you in a coconut butter sammie?)

6. Use as a healthy “syrup” for carrot cake pancakes

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Check out this post: Coconut is the new Ketchup!

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Question of the Day:

Have you tried coconut butter? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it? Are you as obsessed as I am, or do you not understand what the big deal is?

Like I said above, my favorite way to eat it is straight-up… like coconut fudge! But I don’t think I’ve yet found a single way of eating coconut butter that I don’t absolutely love.

Thanks again, Bianca, for allowing me to take over your blog for the day!

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Love (and chocolate),

Chocolate-Covered Katie (or coconut-covered Katie, as the case may be)

Across India in 80 Minutes

As promised, I'm going to share my yummy finds from this weekend's annual India Fest at the Agricenter. In a little over an hour (probably not exactly 80 minutes, but I thought it was a cute title), I sampled snacks from about five Indian states. Many of the booths at India Fest are organized by state, and from what the event organizers told me, each Indian state has a very distinct culture and specific regional foods.

Disclaimer: I didn't inquire as to the vegan-ness of most of these foods. I know much Indian food contains ghee (clarified butter) and I typically ask at restaurants, but the environment at India Fest was a little hectic. I'm not super-worried about accidentally eating some ghee, but I did stay away from foods that I know are usually prepared with ghee, like naan.

Here I am, ready for my culinary tour of India. Check out my bindhi — they gave these to all the girls as we entered the door:

And I was joined by fellow vegans Stephanie, Richard, and their new baby Peter (he's all wrapped up in the baby sling, so Steph would have her hands free to stuff her face):

My first stop was the booth for the state of Karnataka, where I sampled Ambode with Peanut Sauce. These reminded me of falafels, and the sauce was fantastic:

After eating the amode balls, I made a b-line for the Maharashtra booth. They had a number of yummy-sounding treats, but I'd heard great things about their Vada Pav. Vada Pav are balls of mashed garlic potatoes, deep-fried and served on a tiny bun with cilantro sauce and tamarind sauce. This may have been my favorite thing I ate:

Next I stopped at a snack tent, selling water, sodas, and these crunchy Murka sticks. There wasn't a sign for what state these came from. They're crispy, spicy noodles made from rice flour:

At the same booth, I also bought a Ladoo ball — a sweet deep-fried ball made from lentils, sugar, and nuts. It reminded me of a cross between a cake donut and a funnel cake:

Richard was craving his favorite Indian treat — Samosas. And we found some exceptionally-yummy ones at a booth for Swagruha Foods (a local Indian market). In case you don't know, samosas are deep-fried mashed potatoes and peas. At the same booth, I spotted some deep-fried chili peppers called Mirchi Bhaji. Both were super yummy dipped in sweet tamarind sauce:

By this point, I was pretty full, but I realized that I'd only eaten deep-fried snacks. I wanted something of substance to keep me satisfied for hours. So I opted for the Veggie Stew with Appam and Lemon Pickle at the booth for the state of Kerela:

I purchased the stew without looking at it, and when I got my plate, I kind of freaked out because it looked like it contained milk (though I may not worry about ghee, I can't eat something that's super-obviously not vegan). But thankfully, it was just coconut milk. The rich, creamy stew of potatoes and carrots was perfect poured over my appam (an Indian flatbread made from rice flour).

After filling up, I wandered over into the shopping area to purchase some bindhis and look at the sari selection. I spotted a booth for Bombay Salon where they were offering free henna! So of course, I got in line. Here's my fresh henna before it was dry. Please ignore my flaking nail polish:

And here's an after picture (note: I fixed my nails too):

Sorry for the super-long post, but I ate a crap-ton of food at India Fest! Also, I'd like to address an anonymous commenter from my last post who requested that I give up some recipes now and then. I've actually posted several from my book in the past. But now that I have a contract, I'm not sure if my publisher will allow me to divulge anymore. Many publishers place restrictions on giving out recipes that will be in the book. I'll check, and if I'm allowed, I'll post a teaser very soon.

Until then, here are a few links to cookbook recipes already on the blog. I didn't tag them well when I originally posted them, so I'm going on memory here. There may be more hidden within the blog, but these are the ones that I can remember for now.

Sample recipes: Cheeze Eggs, Tofu Deviled Eggy Bites, Whole Wheat Beer Bread, Chocolate Gravy (for your biscuits and such), and Country Potato Soup (as featured on the Crazy Sexy Life blog).

Gardein + Sweet P Fries + Broccoli

As I've mentioned on this blog time and time again, I'm cheap. Not in a trashy, tawdry way (well, maybe). But in the "I can't believe I just spent $5 on that!" way. Although I live for mock meats, I'm rarely willing to shell out the big bucks when I know I can make a batch of seitan for way, way cheaper. But let's face it — seitan is no Gardein.

Despite the high price tag of $4.99 per bag of 10 strips, Seven-Grain Gardein Crispy Tenders fill the hole in my little vegan heart. Whatever was missing from my life before is completely fulfilled thanks to these little munchkins:

Don't you just wanna squeeze his little mock meat cheeks and dip him in maple-Dijon sauce? That's exactly what I did. But I found the Gardein flavor so appealing, I abandoned the sauce and consumed the other two strips naked (they were naked, not me!).

But enough with the Gardein gushing. On the side, I tried deep-frying a batch of my Curried Sweet Potato Fries:

I've been tweaking this recipe for my cookbook and my original instructions called for baking. But sweet tater fries (or any fries, really) don't get crispy enough in the oven for me. So I'm adding frying instructions to the recipe. But I'll also leave in a baking alternative for those who'd prefer not to fry.

I also tested my Spicy Citus Broccoli Salad again:

This cold salad is a refreshing way to enjoy lightly steamed broccoli on hot summer days. It's spiced with red pepper flakes, sriracha, and a hint of lemon. Plus, it kinda makes up for the fact that I fried the hell out of my nutritious sweet potatoes, right? Here's the whole plate:

Chop, Chop

I didn't really grow up eating pork chops all that often. At least I don't remember eating them often (correct me if I'm wrong, Mama Crunk). I stopped eating meat at age 14, so my memories of most animal flesh products are vague. Thank god.

That being said, I was intrigued by a pork chop recipe in one of my mom's old spiral-bound church-style cookbooks awhile back. It called for chops to be cooked with a sweet 'n' savory tomato-based sauce and green bell peppers. Since anything can be improved with a little veganization, I took it upon myself to make a better dish using tempeh marinated in a pork-like marinade and a tastier homemade sauce. That was in the spring of 2009, and it turned out so well that I'm using it for my cookbook.

I tested my Tangy Tempeh Chops with Green Peppers again tonight:

While some recipes need major improvements upon re-testing, this one was pretty much spot-on. I musta got it right the first time. The stewed tomatoes and hearty bell pepper chunks are the perfect complement to the mild, sauteed tempeh strips and sweet sauce. I served the dish with brown rice and a small side salad.

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.