Go Green for the Fall

Before I get into tonight's post: I've sent off free Earth Balance coupons to four of the six winners in last week's giveaway. Problem is, I've still not heard back from Belinda and TM (are y'all out there?). I'll wait another week, and if I've still not heard from them, I'll re-draw two more names.

The winners who have been mailed coupons are Natasha G., Katelyn W., Amanda T., and Abby H. Congrats y'all! I'll be choosing the North Coast Organics deodorant winners after midnight tonight.

No, this isn't a post about eco-friendliness, though you should probably make that kind of going green an autumn goal as well if you're not already as Earth-friendly as possible. But tonight, I'm talking about microgreens!

I'm not much of a gardener. I grow hot peppers and fresh herbs on my front porch every year, and I do okay. Sometimes, though, I forget to water my plants for a week and they come so near the brink of death. I don't have the proverbial green thumb. But I've been reading Mark Mathew Braunstein's new book Micro Green Garden: An Indoor Grower's Guide to Gourmet Greens, and now I'm sold on the idea of growing microgreens.

Microgreens are baby greens. They're just picked as seedlings or when the plants sprout their first true leaves. You might pay $4 for a bag of baby romaine in the supermarket, but you can grow your own at home for practically free. And the best part — some microgreens can be harvested in as little as a week. Surely, I can remember to water something for a week, right?

I haven't started my microgreen garden yet since I still have a few pages in Braunstein's book to read before I jump in. But that's my fall/winter goal. You grow microgreens inside your house, so you can have fresh local greens all winter. This book tells you how to choose the right seeds (Do you want watercress? Or bok choy? What about turnip or sesame?), how to prepare the soil (you can plant microgreens in plastic cafeteria trays), how to light the plants, and how to harvest and store the greens.

One chapter lists the inside scoop on all of Braunstein's recommended microgreens. You can find out the germination period for broccoli rabe or cabbage and learn about the flavors of each.

And the last chapter is for recipes. Sadly, there are only four recipes. As someone new to microgreens, I'd like a little guidance. But the recipes that are included (pea shoot and red pepper saute, fennel rice balls, microgreen medley salad, and potatoes and greens) sound and look delicious.

I'll keep y'all posted on how my microgreen gardening comes out. If I'm successful, I'm sure I'll be posting pics of the stuff I make with my baby greens soon.

By the way, if you haven't heard of Braunstein before, he's a bit of a vegan pioneer. He wrote Radical Vegetarianism in 1981 (and the cover photo is a power fist made with asparagus!!). He's also a huge advocate for medical marijuana and ending the war on drugs.

Dining 1900s-Style

I am going so slow with this next cookbook project, I swear. I see other authors putting book after book after book out, and I don't understand how they do it. But anyway, I promise that I am working on it. Case in point: today's menu.

In case you haven't read, my next book will be a collection of veganized versions of foods that were popular throughout the decades of the 20th century. Today, I focused on the first decade — 1900-1910.

The Club Sandwich's history is kind of a mystery, but it supposedly originated on menus in men's clubs at the turn of the last century. The first mentions in print were in 1903 and 1906, according to the Food Timeline website. I made a vegan Club Sandwich using a homemade seitan ham, homemade tempeh bacon (both recipes will be in the book), vegan mayo, lettuce, and tomato.

On the side, I made a Waldorf Salad.

The waldorf salad was said to have been created in the late 1890s (which were awesomely referred to as the "Gay Nineties" back then!) at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It's often made with raisins, but I used green grapes, apples, walnuts, celery, and vegan mayo. And it's served over a bed of red leaf lettuce.

Better Than Champagne

I have a love affair with probiotics. Yep, that statement officially outs me as a vegan nerd. Have y'all read vegan marathoner Matt Frazier's "The 17 Weirdest Things I Do Now That I'm Vegan" on HuffPo yet? If not, you should give it a read. It's all about that weird stuff vegans like that has nothing to do with veganism (putting beans in desserts, dehydrating, drinking weird-ass smoothies etc.). Here's an excerpt:

14. Drink kombucha. It'd be really weird if we brewed kombucha and had our own SCOBY, like my buddy Jeff Sanders does, but we're not there yet. For now, I'm satisfied drinking it, something I didn't start doing until I got to Asheville, where it's made locally (like so much else). I've found the smaller and more local you get kombucha, the funkier it tastes, which I imagine is how it's really supposed to be.

Well, I guess that makes me really weird like Matt's buddy Jeff Sanders. I brew my own kombucha (here's my tutorial post). I know the science is still out on all of kombucha's health claims. But we do know one thing for sure — probiotics are good for you. And kombucha contains probiotics. But there's a new probiotic drink in town that might give good old 'booch a run for her money.

KeVita is a "sparkling probiotic drink" that's not kombucha. It's made with four strains of live probiotic cultures and apple cider vinegar, but that's about the only thing each flavor has in common. Each one has a different ingredient list depending on the flavor. Kevita sent me some vouchers so I could try their stuff out, and I picked those five flavors you see there. Each has a very uniquely different flavor profile, a fizzy mouthfeel, and because of the probiotics, there's a slight aftertaste of rejuvelac. Think champagne but with bonus health benefits!

My fave of the bunch was the Daily Cleanse Lemon Cayenne. It reminded me of a light and crisp lemon champagne with a tiny hot kick at the end. This one has cold-pressed lemon plant extract, cayenne extract, maple extract, and it's sweetened with stevia. So it's like a sparkling version of the master cleanse juice, right?

I also loved the Mojita Lime Mint Coconut. It's made with coconut water, cold-pressed lime extract, vanilla extract, and stevia. Light, summery.

The Mango Coconut was like a fizzy version of coconut water. Plus, it has mango puree for a sweet and fruity taste. Pomegranate tasted just like a pom juice spritzer, like someone had spiked my pom juice with champagne. Both of these were sweetened with stevia.

My least favorite was the one I expected to love the most — Living Greens. I didn't dislike it, just my least fave of the five. When I saw "greens," I expected this was made with kale juice or something crazy. But it's actually green tea and a phytoalgae blend sweetened with organic cane syrup. Tasty. But it was almost too sweet. The sugar syrup means this bottle is 60 calories for the whole bottle (2 servings, but I had it all in one sitting), while the other stevia sweetened bottles range from 10 to 40 calories.

But don't let that push you away from Living Greens. It looks like there's some healthy stuff in that phytoalgae blend. Plus, there's caffeine! Bonus!

Will I give up my beloved kombucha for KeVita? No. But that's only because my home-brewing of 'booch is ultra economical (as in practically free). KeVita retails for about $3 a bottle, so it's similar in price to bottled kombucha. If I was buying my kombucha regularly, I'd definitely switch these out from time to time to keep things interesting.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Deja Vu II

If you feel like you've seen this post before, it's not just deja vu. It's because you have seen this post before. Or, well, you've seen something similar. And actually, it is Deja Vu.

Let me explain. Deja Vu Creole & Vegetarian Restaurant has been around in Memphis for quite a few years now. It's a New Orleans style eatery run by the always jovial Chef Gary, who can cook some mean vegan food alongside his meatier offerings of alligator stew and crawfish etouffee. I've posted about Deja Vu's vegan menu before.

But Deja Vu just opened their second (and much, much bigger) location on South Main. The original location on Florida Street is in a teensy tiny building with only 6 or so tables. And this place is hella popular with the downtown lunch crowd, so there's always a long wait at lunchtime. But the food is worth it, and people keep going anyway. But now Chef Gary has finally expanded by opening a two-story second location (the old one is staying open too) on the Main Street Mall. He tried opening a second location before a few years back, but it was way out in Hickory Hill and didn't do as well. It eventually closed. He was smart to stick with downtown this time around.

My editor Susan and I had lunch at the new place last week, and it was packed both upstairs and down.

The menu is the same in both locations, so I've tried everything vegan. But it's still always so hard to make a choice. Everything is so good!

I finally settled on Teriyaki Tofu with two sides. Chef Gary has the tofu-frying technique down-pat, and his sauces are so flavorful. You can order the tofu four ways (but one of the ways isn't vegan cause it has honey). I've had the BBQ Tofu and the Curry Tofu recently, but I hadn't had the sweet 'n' savory Teriyaki in far too long.

For my sides, I went with my two faves — Collard Greens.

And Smothered Okra

All the veggie sides for everyone's meals (vegans and omnis) are vegan. Isn't that sweet?

Susan went with a veggie plate, which means she got to pick three sides. She got the Red Beans and Rice (totally vegan!).

Citrus Spinach

And Fried Plantains

I've had all of those dishes before too, and I can tell you that nobody makes red beans and rice like the cooks at Deja Vu. And those fried plantains are awesome. Chef Gary is a New Orleans transplant, so he knows what he's doing.

Deja Vu II is located at 51 S. Main Street. The original location is located at 936 S. Florida Street.

This Is What Vegans Eat

It's photo dump time! I've been saving up pictures of stuff I ate that I didn't think warranted an entire post. This is a hodge-podge of dishes made from my own recipes, from other people's recipes, and one from a restaurant.

We'll start with what I ate tonight — Eggplant & Creole Sausage Jambalaya from Cookin' Crunk. I've posted about this dish before when I was developing my cookbook, but it's been well over a year since I've had this. I had some extra Creole sausages (my homemade spicy steamed seitan sausages) in the freezer that needed using. Spicy, eggplant-y, comforting.

For breakfast this week, I've been enjoying my favorite breakfast of the moment — Tofu Egg Bagel Sandwiches! These are made with pan-fried, pressed tofu seasoned with Cajun spices and black salt (for the eggy taste). The tofu is topped with a slice of Rice Vegan cheese and served on a Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Everything Bagel Slim with Chipotle Vegenaise.

Last week, I made this Spaghetti with Marinara and Match Ground Beef. It's gluten-free pasta topped with a homemade sauce made from whole tomatoes (which I crush by hand), loads of garlic, a splash of red wine, a touch of sugar, and some fresh basil and oregano. The "beef" is Match Meat, which is about as close to real ground beef as it gets. I'm certain this would fool even the most discerning omni palette.

I was in Nashville a couple weekends ago, and we stopped by Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant. LOVE THAT PLACE! I ordered my favorite dish there — Buffalo Beans & Greens (brown rice, pinto beans, buffalo tofu, kale, vegan ranch, and a carrot-daikon slaw).

I made some simple Chipotle Seitan Burritos a few weeks back — Upton's Chipotle Seitan, Teese cheese, tomato, lettuce, avocado, salsa, and gluten-free tortillas (I'm in no way gluten-free, but I prefer the texture of gluten-free tortillas and pasta over the regular kind).

And finally, here's a dish I made for a potluck a few weeks back from The Chicago Diner Cookbook, which I picked up in Chicago in August. It's Italian Marinated Vegetables (with chickpeas and kidney beans). Simple. Yummy. Very omni-friendly, which is good because it was an omni potluck.

North Coast Organics Vegan Deodorant Giveaway!

PSA: If you're wondering about the winners of the Earth Balance giveaway from last week, hang tight. There will be six winners, but I'm in the process of contacting each person and making sure I get addresses. If you're a winner, you will be contacted this week. I'll post the winners names here in a few days.

It's time for ANOTHER giveaway, people! And this time, we're giving away stuff that'll make your pits smell so fresh and clean. Let's face it — most vegan, Earth-friendly deodorant sucks. I'm not naming names, but I've experimented with a number of brands that have to be reapplied every hour on the hour lest I smell like a stinky old sock (vegans, you know what I'm talkin' about).

For the past year or so, I've been using one brand that I buy at Whole Foods that's just okay. It's better than some of the worst ones, but it still needs at least one mid-day reapply to offer all-day protection.

So leave it to a small, mom-and-pop vegan company out of Chicago to develop an all-natural vegan deodorant that's laced with essential oils and ACTUALLY WORKS. North Coast Organics sent me two samples of their Revolver All-Natural Deodorant and their Death By Lavendar All-Natural Deodorant. I've been putting them to the test in these last few hot days of Indian summer.

I can swipe this stuff on once after I get out of the shower, and it works all freakin' day. All freakin' day, y'all. I did have to reapply after a few sweaty workouts on the stationary bike (still off my foot with a stupid stress fracture!), but that's to be expected from any deodorant. It's made with cold-pressed coconut oil, carnauba wax, cornstarch, baking soda, and essential oils. That's it!

The lavender scent is my favorite, because lavender is the essential essential oil in my house. I use lavender oil for everything — baths, sleeping, calming, even in cupcakes! But I also loved the Revolver scent. I'm not sure what essential oils are in this one, but I'm getting hints of patchouli and maybe sage. Or maybe not. Smells great though and definitely macho enough for a dude but gentle enough for a lady (not that I'm gentle).

North Coast Organics wants to give two winners each a set of travel-sized deodorants in both scents. All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post for one entry, and if you want an ADDITIONAL entry, tweet the following (and come back here and leave a comment letting me know you tweeted!).

Vegan deodorant giveaway on Vegan Crunk from @NorCoastOrganic and @biancaphillips: http://tinyurl.com/mxll9hu

Please leave your email address in your comment (unless your account is tied to a blog where I can contact you or unless you tweet and I can tweet back. Basically, just make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win). I'll randomly pick the winners next Tuesday. If you don't win, never fear. North Coast Organics is offering a 15 percent off discount to Vegan Crunk readers. Go to their site and use promo code 15VC. It will work for 21 days after this post.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Sometimes you make a big ole meal, and, well, it looks like a big ole mess. But it tastes so good! That's what happened with last night's dinner — BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Yea, I know. It's not very pretty. I used a recipe from the inside of a box of Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken-Free Strips. It was such a simple recipe, and anything with barbecue sauce, fake chicken, and vegan cheese is right up my alley. Comfort food at its finest.

My problem started with the crust. A couple months back, I made a trusty batch of "Pizza Dough — A Novel" from Vegan with a Vengeance. It's a no-fail recipe that I've used time and time again. It makes two crusts, so I always freeze one in a ball and use one right away. When I saw this BBQ Pizza recipe, I knew I had a crust in the freezer. Perfect right?

I sat the frozen dough in a large bowl, coated with olive oil, and covered it with a towel to thaw and rise. It works every time. But not this time. You see, I placed that rising bowl in the microwave (to keep the cats out while I was at work) along with the frozen package of Beyond Meat, which also needed to thaw in a cat-free zone.

But I guess two frozen items thawing in one tiny space made too much cold for dough to rise. It thawed, but it failed to rise. I used it anyway, and it made a cracker-thin crust that was tasty but too thin to really hold the chunky Beyond Meat chicken and toppings. 

Still yet, the pizza was delicious. Beyond Meat, which is the most convincing plant meat on the market, is tossed in BBQ sauce, salt, and pepper. More BBQ sauce is spread over the pizza crust. That's topped with red onions, the chicken, vegan mozzarella (I used Follow Your Heart shreds), and fresh herbs (I used basil).

Delicious! But not so pretty. Oh well.