CHIA FRESCA!

After reading Born to Run I've become slightly obsessed. Part of this obsession has resulted in chia fresca, a raw food energy drink. I feel like I have goddamn energy legs. It looks kinda like dragonfruit snot and if you don't watch out it will turn into a gel, but its amazing. I can't wait to bring it on my next run.

Coffee

So, it's terrible. I've been making (and eating!) tons of delicious meals, and yet I never seem to remember about the camera until after I've polished off the whole plate! Also, I'm trying to go somewhat vegan... as in, I dont use milk products or eggs or meat at all if I can help it at home, but I'm not pressed enough to keep from ordering my favorite breakfast at a diner that has it (creamed chipped beef over toast with a side of bacon). I know, it's dichotomous.so what.


But anyway, here is a quick update to make sure that this blog doesnt die:

here's the meat and potatoes: i bought a cappachino maker. oh yeah. this is almond milk steamed up with a (big) shot of espresso in it and a teaspoon of dark brown sugar. this shit is the bomb, and amazing. and almond milk is awesome in coffee, way better than soy or rice. those guys suck. almonds rule! YUM.

Jesus, just to get the veal off the front page :( :(

How do you make vegan french toast more palatable? cook 'em in butter! And serve with sausages yum.

Great French Toast  (from www.thekindlife.com, a pro-vegan website run by alicia silverstone)

INGREDIENTS
Yeast-free bread slices (French Meadow Summer Bread or whole spelt bread are good options)

1 1/2 cups firm tofu

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons rice syrup

1/2 cup soy milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon corn oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Oil of your choice (olive, safflower, sunflower, etc.) for frying



STEPS
Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
If too thick, add more soy milk. 

Dip bread in batter and fry in hot oiled skillet until browned on both sides. 



Topping: 
Serve with maple syrup. 
Or you can make a great cinnamon butter by mixing cinnamon together with Earth Balance to taste. 
You can also make a maple/flax syrup by mixing 1/2 cup maple syrup and 2 teaspoons flax seed oil (that kind of ratio, because you don't want to make more syrup/flax than you will use)
Mix them together well. 
The oil adds a nice layer to the syrup. 

shepherd's pie doesn't photograph well

Also, this is a little blurry, I think because the glass of wine pictured was not my first of the evening. This was the night before an exam, after a snowstorm, and the only overlap of free time that Kerensa and I had pretty much for the whole break.

So! Veggie Shepherd's Pie! This is an adaptation of another Klein Kid Non-Recipe. The things that we generally throw in here are lentils, carrots, pearl onions, and other usual suspects, with a red wine sauce. I also added butternut squash and shallots, seasoned with cinnamon, cumin, salt/pepper, and coriander. No mushrooms this time, but I like to do a mushroomy version sometimes. Leeks or fennel are also a nice addition. Also, we don't keep milk in the house, but Kerensa had made some red velvet the night before, so we put some of the leftover buttermilk in the pototatoes. OMG. To round things out, I did a combination collard and beet green sautee on the side.

I'm Still Here (Sunday Dinner)

Taking a break from paper world, I finally took a minute to cook up the stuff I got at the AMAZING Inwood farmer's market (more on that later). I like to do a Sunday night dinner that is a little awesome since the rest of the week is so insane. Here we go:
-roasted fingerling potatoes
-sauteed collards
-roasted spaghetti squash with vars spices
-baked soy-mustard crusted tofu

P.S. HAZ! (thx Ben!)

Pesto is the answer

I am revealing to you my trump card for every potluck or backyard bbq. Roasted russet potatoes and haricots verts with pesto. Usually I would put this over watercress. Sometimes I add capers but the pesto was a little salty this time. Why I am making it in the middle of the week on a school night when I have 42309324 pages of reading to do for tomorrow I am not sure except that it is difficult to concentrate with basil aging in the vegetable bin.

Ezra Klein: Vegetarianism is good for the environment

Not to be preachy, but this is a great angle on the (eating meat α climate change) argument. Thx, Shadowbanker.

Component meal: bbq tofu, fiddle head ferns, kale, mashed yams

What I like to call a component meal is basically a bunch of things in little homogeneous piles on a plate. What I did here was some sauteed kale, steamed fiddleheads, bbq tofu, and mashed yams (not pictured) -- oh sorry. Sweet potoatoes!

I don't know why bbq tofu is so awesome. I used the primo sauce in my mom's fridge (living at home fridge access benefit) called Hoboken Eddies. Some of you should know what I'm talking about. Lately I have been really into doing triangles instead of cubes for tofu. Don't ask me why. I think it might just be really satisfying to do them this way. First, cut a grid in all directions so that you have little rectangular prisms, still composed in the original tofu block form. Then cut diagonally through the stacks in one direction, going through the corners of each square-face.

Tofu gets seared in a very hot pan, then sauced. I sauteed the kale in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Doesn't need much more than that. Fiddleheads are also delicious almost naked. Just steamed up with some lemon juice squeezed on top and then tossed. Mashed sweet potatoes are a great alternative to regular mashed potatoes because they are healthier and taste great without too much stuff mashed in, which is where the butter/margarine/salt intake can get out of hand. All that went in was maybe a dot of olive oil and a little fresh pepper.

So, I made a pretty ok sandwich.

I opened the fridge around lunch time. Opening the fridge reminds me most of the time of cooking plans that didn't materialize. Like that basil that was on its way out because I wasn't getting stoked on the pesto I was supposed to make this week. So I told myself to get off my ass and make good.

Whole wheat bread from the fridge had to do. No time to bake my own, though it's easy enough. I like the No Knead recipe because who has time to really do the whole bread baking thing? It's surprisingly good for how little effort is involved.

I made a pretty standard pesto: basil, pine nuts, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic.

The day before, I tried a new seitan recipe that requires baking rather than boiling. I really love this concept. I altered the seasoning a little (it is reminiscent of pepperoni) and maybe in the future it would be fun to do a stuffed version. I think there is also potential there for a veggie dog that is not just a bunch of extruded soy paste. (Another shortcut confession: I used vital wheat gluten flour rather than forcing the gluten out of wheat dough which takes 8796984 hours.)

Ugh boiled seitan. Talk about disaster stories. I challenge anyone to tell me that their boiled seitan was anywhere near baked in quality. Or even approached store-bought.
Anyway. Sauteed the seitan with some spinach that was turning in the fridge as well.

Bang. Sandwich. Stacked on some carrot matchsticks and sliced avocado. Then I ate it. It was fine.

In conclusion: Sammich challenge? Stuff turning in the fridge challenge?

Benedict in stereo

Poached eggs, smoked tofu, sautéed baby spinach, on top of whole wheat toast with a smear of earth balance. Replace eggs with avocado (you know, same idea) for the house vegan.