Have a Heart for Animals!

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! When you're gettin' gushy with your loved ones, don't forget about the creatures who need our love the most. Every year, on the weekend before Valentine's Day, our local veggie group Food Awareness puts on a "Have a Heart for Animals" demo at the busy corner of Poplar and Highland in East Memphis.

I didn't take any shots this year (oops, forgot!), but here's a snap from last year's demo. The people in the back — Vaughan and Barbara — organized this year's demo, but the guy in the front (Mark) wasn't able to come this past Saturday:

I believe we ended up with about 10 people, all holding signs with pro-vegan, Valentine-themed messages. Here's my sign (it's the same one I've used for the past several years):

After lunch, we all caravaned to Mosa Asian Bistro, a regional eclectic Asian eatery with lots and lots of vegan options. Our server was so amazing. He literally went through every dish on the menu, explaining what was and wasn't (or what could be made) vegan. After much deliberation (I don't do choices well!), I finally settled on the Thai Curry with Brown Rice:

Unlike some Thai curries, this one is naturally fish sauce-free. It was all coconutty, and Mosa was quite generous with the fried tofu and veggies (potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and onions). I ate every last bite, including that giant mound of brown rice. Of course, I doused the dish in sriracha and Mosa's hot chili sauce first.

For more on Mosa or other Memphis vegan dining options, check out my Memphis Vegan Dining Guide.

More Lindsay Love!

Look Lindsay Nixon, I know you have a husband and all. But I really think we should get married anyway. I assume this means that you would cook delicious fat-free meals for me every night, right? If so, let's get hitched!

Yes, I just proposed to the author of Happy Herbivore. Since she's spoken for, I may have to keep dreaming. But maybe I can just marry her book. I would settle for that. Why am I so very enamored with Lindsay and her recipes? Here's why — Spicy Greens with Spicy Sausage:

It's simple really. Just Lindsay's homemade spicy steamed sausages (made in the Julie Hasson way) sliced up in collards with red pepper flakes, onion, garlic, and hot sauce. But as a Southern girl, I've never been all that crazy about collards that weren't cooked for at least 40 minutes. I've tried the quick-cook methods, but they always leave something to be desired. For some reason, Lindsay's simple preparation is just as tasty as if the greens simmered on a stove for hours. And there's no oil! Just blows my mind, really.

Did you notice that sexy macaroni peeking in the background? Yep, that's a Happy Herbivore recipe too. There's two variations on vegan mac & cheeze in the book — one is baked and the other is made on the stovetop. As a former fan of boxed macaroni and cheese, I opted for the latter — Easy Macaroni & Cheese:

It's made with Lindsay's creamy-as-hell vegan noochy sauce. Ridiculously good, y'all.

Hawaiian Herbivore

I know I've been raving on and on about Lindsay Nixon's Happy Herbivore cookbook, but that's because it's just that awesome. All her recipes are vegan and low-fat or fat-free, and I'm not typically a low-fat kinda girl. But you cannot tell the fat is missing in most of her dishes! If I don't miss it, why do I need it in the first place, right?

Take for example, this Hawaiian Chickpea Teriyaki bowl:

I made this simple supper on Monday night, and there's not a bit of added fat in the recipe. The chickpeas are sauteed in a spicy teriyaki sauce, but there's no need to add oil to the pan. And the chickpeas soak up all that yummy sauce, so they're full of flavor. I served the peas over brown rice with some mango-habenero salsa.

Since the dish was a little lacking in veggies, I went with a side salad of baby romaine, radishes, cucumbers, mandarin oranges, and a homemade pear balsamic vinaigrette:

After the Kickstart cleanse, I'm trying to incorporate more fruit into my daily meal regimen. I've discovered that sneaking fruit into salads is a perfect way to get the nutritional benefits into an otherwise savory dish.

Dessert for Breakfast!

As much as I love sweets, I'm not really a dessert girl on weekdays. I find that my workday eating schedule doesn't really lend itself to dessert time.

I eat breakfast, maybe snack on a few nuts at my desk before lunch, eat lunch, have a healthy pre-workout snack in the afternoon, hit the gym after work, and have dinner when I'm all done. I'm not home from the gym until at least 6:30 or 7:30 p.m., and it takes a few minutes to cook dinner. Before I know it, it's 9 p.m., my cut-off time for eating anything.

What's a dessert-loving vegan to do? Have dessert for breakfast!! That's what I did this morning with this melty Chocolate, Banana, and Almond Butter Panini from Color Me Vegan:

The sandwich is listed in the dessert section in the book's Color Me Rainbow chapter (the sandwich has foods from the tan, black, and yellow groups). Whole wheat bread is spread with Justin's Maple Almond Butter (omg, this stuff is amazing!), dark chocolate chunks, and banana slices. Then it's pressed in my new panini maker for a couple minutes. The inside gets all melty and gooey and the outside is crispy-crisp.

Since the only real sugar came from the tablespoon of dark chocolate in the recipe, I didn't even feel guilty for having dessert for breakfast. And I wasn't sad later in the day when I didn't have time for dessert yet again. Perfect solution.

How often do you eat dessert? Everyday? A few days a week? In place of meals?

Superbowl Diablo Dogs!!

I generally pick my fave Superbowl team based on which team has the best color scheme and logo. This year, that meant I was backin' the Packers. Lucky for me, my shallow reason for supporting Green Bay led to me supporting the winning team. Considering that I know nothing about football, I have a pretty decent record of choosing the winning team every year. Pays to be shallow.

The real reason I watch the Superbowl isn't for the game or even the commercials. It's all the food (and the beer) of course. Most years, I make some variation on vegan buffalo wings, but I had a major hankerin' for chili-cheeze dogs. And that can only mean one thing — Diablo Dogs!

The idea behind this monster of a veggie chili dog came from the incredibly-awesome Jen of Pain In the Ass Vegan. I've made 'em before, but it's been awhile. Click here for Jen's step-by-step photo guide to building a proper Diablo Dog.

For mine, a jumbo Smart Dog is stuffed into a toasted whole wheat bun spread with Earth Balance and homemade horseradish (grated, prepared horseradish mixed into some Vegenaise). That's topped with Amy's canned chili, Nacho Mom's Vegan Queso, minced onion and jalepeno, sweet dill relish, bacon bits, and plenty of hot sauce. Oh yes, that's the business.

I had to eat something semi-healthy on the side to make up for my Diablo Dog transgression. So I whipped up a batch of Lindsey's Low-Fat Guacamole (a.k.a. Edamole) from Happy Herbivore:

This avocado-free guac is made with edamame, lime juice, onion, and cilantro processed in a food processor. The the recipe calls for tomatoes, but I straight-up forgot to buy one when I went on my Superbowl day beer run. Instead, I mixed in some salsa.

Now I'm a huge avocado fan, and when I first saw this recipe, I honestly didn't think I'd be trying it. Why would I ever want to sub out an avocado? But I ate lots of calories in Little Rock over the weekend, and I figured it couldn't hurt to cut back just this once.

The edamole was actually pretty darn tasty, and the leftovers don't brown overnight in the fridge. I'll probably stick to creamier avocado-based guac for most occasions, but this was a great substitute since I was the only one eating it. Now I have leftover guac for days!

By the way, I mentioned an upcoming giveaway last week of Lindsey's fabulous Happy Herbivore cookbook. The publisher had suggested a giveaway when I was contacted about reviewing a copy. But I learned after my last post that they're out of giveaway copies until April, so I think I'll hold off on a contest until then. Sorry! If you can't wait (and really, you shouldn't wait cause this book is awesome!), you can always order the book from Amazon.

What'd you serve on Superbowl Sunday?

Vegan Eatin' in Little Rock

This is my best friend Sheridan, and when I say "best friend," I mean absolute BFF. We've been best friends since we bonded over now-deceased teen actor Jonathan Brandis when we were in the eighth grade:

On Saturday, I made the two-hour drive southwest to Little Rock, Arkansas to try on bridesmaids dresses for Sheridan's upcoming wedding. Although Sheridan's been vegetarian for years, she just went vegan on New Year's Eve. This was the first time we'd hung out since then and she had lots of suggestions for delicious Little Rock vegan eats.

Pre-dress shopping, Sheridan, Brittany (Sher's other best friend/my former college roommate/the other bridesmaid), and I stopped at Izzy's for lunch. I started with a Diamond Bear Two Term IPA, a local beer brewed in the LR. I'm not much on dress-shopping, so I needed a beer (or two) to make shopping tolerable:

We came to Izzy's for the Vegan Tamales:

These were WONDERFUL! They were stuffed with a black bean/veggie mixture and we topped 'em with salsa. These were only the second vegan tamales I've had in my life.

After lunch, we tried on dresses and of course the bridal shop had nothing in my size. In fact, they don't even make my size, and I have to get my dress altered. I've never really wanted boobs, but it's annoying when clothing shops don't recognize that there are ladies out there who wear less than an A-cup.

After the stress of trying on too-large-on-top dresses, I needed dessert. Thankfully, we were able to find dairy-free Orange Sorbet with fresh fruit toppings at a build-your-own yogurt bowl joint called Yogurt Mountain:

Britt had to go home after dessert because she has a kid. But Sheridan and I went back to her house for a bit. When our tummies started growling again, we (and Sheridan's newly-vegan partner Drew) decided on Lilly's Dim Sum and Then Some for dinner. This cute Asian restaurant used to be located in Memphis, but its owners moved it to Little Rock several years ago. I'd not eaten there since Lilly's Memphis days.

We started with the Vegetable Gyoza, a chewy-yet-tender vegetable dumpling:

For our main course, all three of us ordered the same thing — Spicy Panang Curry with Tofu:

Why were all three of us drawn to this dish? It's made with Ramen noodles! And we all agree that Ramen noodles might be the best thing in the whole world. The semi-spicy sauce was creamy and coconuty and the tofu was perfectly fried. Turns out Little Rock is pretty vegan-friendly!

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana

I must be going through an orange phase! My dinner from last night was yet again from the orange chapter of Color Me Vegan. I made the Sweet Potato Tacos:

This simple taco filling is made from mashed sweet potatoes, cooked onion and red pepper, jalepeno, cayenne, and garlic. Then it's stuffed into a corn tortilla and topped with mango habenero salsa and fresh cilantro. Yum, yum!

I served my tacos with fresh tortilla chips and salsa from On the Border (where the boyfriend works) and Nacho Mama's Ultimate Vegan Queso (from a complimentary jar because they're awesome!).

What are your fave taco fillings?