(thursday) food round-up

Hi everyone and welcome to the weekly food round-up. This week, it comes to you on Thursday instead of Friday, because this is going to be a very busy weekend. On Friday, I'm headed to New York City, and then on Saturday, I'm headed to Boston for VegFest! I hope to have good stories and photos from both trips to post for you this weekend.

With the exception of one or two, most of our meals this week came from an intensive bout of batch cooking that we did on Sunday. This allowed us to eat well while having an extremely busy week.

However, the week started off on this lovely note:

Daiku has perfected a Moussaka recipe filled with good stuff (eggplants, mushrooms, tomatoes) without the bad stuff (uh, lamb). We ate this decadent yet surprisingly healthy dish for dinner with an arugula salad topped with a orange-balsamic glaze and a hearty Shiraz wine.

This dish is incredibly easy to make, here is the recipe:

Daiku's Vegan Moussaka: (4 large servings)

Ingredients:

• one medium eggplant, cut into 1/2" slices
  
• 1.5-2 C. your favorite tomato sauce
• 1 cup mushrooms of choice, sliced (we used cremini)
  
• 3/4 C. whole wheat bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1 C. Bechamel Sauce:

• 2 TB Earth Balance margarine (or vegan non-hydrogenated margarine of choice)
• 2 TB flour
• soymilk as needed
• salt to taste
  

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your eggplants into 1/2 inch slices and sprinkle with salt. Have your eggplant, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and bread crumbs ready to assemble before you make the Bechamel sauce. To make the sauce, melt margarine in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat. Carefully add the flour and whisk until a light roux has been created. Carefully add soymilk, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a soft boil. Add more soymilk gradually until you have achieved a thick but pourable consistency. To thicken, continue to heat, to thin out, add a bit more soymilk. Salt to taste.

To assemble Moussaka, spread a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of a medium casserole dish. Follow with a layer of eggplant (salt rinsed off and patted dry), then another layer of tomato sauce. Top with mushrooms and about 1/3 of your bechamel sauce. Repeat, starting with the eggplant, until you have assembled all of your ingredients. End with remaining tomato and bechamel sauces, and top with bread crumbs. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 55-65 minutes until the top is brown, the sides are bubbly, and the eggplant is tender. This is a flexible recipe, sometimes we splash on a little red wine before adding the final layer of sauce. Enjoy!

* * *

The next night, I made a tofu egg salad with: firm tofu, chopped celery, fresh dill, vegannaise, pickles, onions, and spices.

We had this for a smorgasboard-type supper with sliced baguettes, olives, vegetables, grapes, and some more red wine. (On the right, you can see that Daiku also had some cheese: a hunk of Saint Nectaire, a French cheese that is so stinky, even our cats won't come near it!)

Over the weekend, we picked some leeks from our garden.

They had not thrived in our climate (some were smaller than scallions!), but they were too nice to let go to waste.

The first plan was to make a Vichyssoise, a cold leek and potato soup. However, since we were a bit low on potatoes, and still had a variety of squash from the previous week, we decided to make ... Squashyssoise. We roasted a butternut squash in the oven while makeing a soup base with the leeks, homemade leek and vegetable stock, carrots, and spices. (I added a hint of cinnamon, because I love the squash/cinnamon combo). We blended the squash and the soup together and made enough soup for several servings. This soup was good whether served warm or cold.

What are some other things we made in large batches?

New Orleans Red Beans + Rice:

Thanks to his years of living in New Orleans, Daiku has a large repertoire of Cajun/Creole recipes. Unlike most other ones, this one is vegan to start out with, and doesn't need to be modified in any way. The secret is to cook the beans for a long time (we had them on the stove for over 8 hours while we cooked other things) so that their proteins break down and you get the tell-tale "gravy" that makes this style of red beans so distinctive.

Dilled Potato Salad with Green Beans:

I combined roasted red potatoes with steamed green beans, chopped onion and celery, fresh dill, and a dressing of vegannaise, Dijon and yellow mustards, apple cider vinegar, and a dash of olive oil. I just love potato salads of all kinds, and this one absorbed the flavors really well because the ingredients were warm.

2 more batches of pesto:

Several people had blogged about making pesto with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and so I had to try that! Since our basil plant has survived its move inside the house, I took advantage of it to make and freeze 2 batches of pesto for the long winter, when we will be desparate for a taste of anything green! Here are the pine nuts and the pepitas toasting.

* * *

The Battle of the Roasted Vegetables:

Usually, Daiku and I work pretty harmoniously in the kitchen, but every once in a while, we just butt heads. One night, we wanted to roast some vegetables for dinner, but we couldn't decide which ones to make or how to make them. We finally decided to make two separate batches, each roasting our veggies just the way we wanted. Bazu's sweet potatoes had olive oil, pepper, cinnamon, jerk seasoning, and just a touch of brown sugar. Daiku's brussels sprouts had olive oil, raisins and some fried shallots. They ended up going pretty well together.

* * *

Green Tomato Update

Thank you so much to everyone who gave us suggestions and sent us links about what to do with our green tomatoes. We used your ideas for quite a few things.

Some of the green tomatoes ended up ripening:

We made some into fried green tomato sandwiches. I can not believe that I had never eaten this amazing delicacy before! Tart-sweet green tomatoes breaded with cornmeal, fried up and eaten on sliced bread with nothing but a touch of vegannaise... so dreamy.

Shelly had suggested the dill green tomato pickle recipe from the Ball Blue book, which we followed to pickle some of the tomatoes. Well... we didn't actually pickle, since we don't have a canner and don't really know what we're doing. We followed the recipe and put them in jars and then... stuck them in the fridge. They smelled so good- can't wait to try them! We modified the recipe (which called for fresh dill, bay leaves, and garlic) in some of the jars by experimenting with adding peppercorns, peppers, and celery seeds.

We still have some green tomatoes left! These last babies might go into a green tomatoe salsa of some sort.

* * *

Ending with a cliffhanger...

Guess what I received in the mail...

And I've already gone out and bought a ridiculous amount of paraphernalia...

Stay tuned in future food round-ups for a slightly rounder and happier Bazu to bring you creations from... [with apologies to Tania for copying her picture idea]

*

*

*

(thursday) food round-up

Project Censored

Here is a website that is really interesting. ProjectCensored.org is a media watchdog group that each year compiles stories that are of great importance to our lives, and yet go under-reported. While magazines and newspapers fill up their pages with celebrity gossip and sensationalized accounts of scandals, we often go without learning about events and issues that affect us, our environment, our political reality, our food, our privacy, our liberties.

I have copied their top 25 list for your interest. For more detailed explanations, resources, and links please visit their website. This worthwhile project reminds us that it is up to us to seek out the truth, in a mediascape that seeks to dull us with infotainment. (Hello, Brangelina?)

Top 25 Censored news stories of 2006

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
#7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

Project Censored also had tons of real news stories, which makes them an invaluable resource when you want to find out what's going on out there, or find out more about what you already know.

Other websites of note:

• FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Media) http://www.fair.org/index.php

• Syracuse New Times (where I first read about Project Censored) http://syracusenewtimes.com/

Project Censored

Friday food round-up & Food links

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's Friday food round-up! Can you believe this is the fourth food round-up? It has been a hectic week around here, with deadlines, writing, applications, bills, and visits to the vet competing for our time. We have managed to eat well, but this post might be a bit shorter than others. What I thought I would do is use this post to let you know about some of our favorite websites. Most of these are food-related, and I'm sure many of you already are familiar with at least some, but I thought this would be a good way to have all the links together in one place. Click here to skip the food photos and go directly to the links below.

And now, on to the food.
[click on images to enlarge]

During the weekend, we had a fabulous run to the farmer's market and the food co-op, and you can see what we bought above. From left to right: a pumpkin [Emmy, I finally found a pie pumpkin for $1!], a bunch of kale, a butternut squash, an acorn squash, a canteloupe, a bunch of arugula, a whole box of green peppers for only $3, a big bunch of spinach, baby potatoes, zucchini, chilli powder, Tofurky bratwurst, turnips, little chocolates, silken tofu, Gimme Lean Smart Round meat crumbles, onions, and a huge bunch of fresh dill. It felt so good to buy some fresh spinach! After getting home, I immediately washed and trimmed the spinach, then dried it in a salad spinner and stored it in a plastic dish lined with paper towels. This way, it was easy for an entire week to just reach in there for a handful of spinach to throw into the pot or make into a salad.

You will also notice on the lower left-hand corner of the picture a couple of bags of bulbs. Our neighborhood has a free bulb giveaway every Fall, and we got a bunch of hyacinths, daffodils, and other perennials to plant for free. In Syracuse, nothing beats the feeling of seeing the first buds peeking out in April after a long hard winter. Judging from the 2 feet of snow that fell in Buffalo yesterday, Winter is already here..?!...

One of the first meals we had was this German-style one, courtesy of Daiku. It is simple, but oh-so-satisfying. Potatoes are cooked together with sauerkraut, and then mixed with chunks of bratwurst. Notice the spinach salad and my favorite cow glass. I like to eat this meal with a lot of mustard, but Daiku wanted horseradish, and since we didn't have any, he substituted some wasabi for a kick.

Next... what to do with the ton of green peppers that we had bought? I had been having a craving for stuffed vegetables for a long time, so I thought I'd make a big batch of stuffed peppers. At first the plan was to freeze some of them, but I read that they don't freeze well, so we only ended up freezing 3 uncooked ones to see how they would come out.

For the recipe, I decided to veganize my mom's Iranian recipe, substituting Gimme Lean for the ground beef and brown rice for white.



Here are the peppers cut and hollowed and ready for stuffing. (We didn't even end up using all of the peppers we bought! There were some little ones left for salads.)

Bazu's Iranian-style Stuffed Peppers (Dolme)
[this recipe makes a huge batch, so feel free to cut it in half]

Ingredients:

• canola oil for sauteeing
  
• one large yellow onion, diced small
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tsp. turmeric
• about 2/3 of a package of Smart Life Gimme Lean ground round crumbles
• 1 TB. powdered sour grape (can be found in Iranian or Middle Eastern groceries) [I talk more about powdered sour grape in this previous post]
  
• 3 cups cooked brown rice (I used medium grain brown rice, cooked until al dente, not mushy)
• 1 cup split peas, cooked until just tender (You can use green, yellow, or a mixture of the two)
• large handful of flat leaf parsely, chopped
• 1 large lemon
• Several medium to large bell peppers, all one color or a combination. Carefully cut off the tops with knife at an angle (so they will fit back snugly as caps) and hollow out seeds and rinds.
  
• Tomato paste or sauce

Instructions:

• Cook rice, set aside. Cook split peas, drain if necessary, and set aside.
• In a large pan, sautee onions in canola oil. Add turmeric and salt and pepper, and sautee until golden brown.
• Add the crumbles, make sure that there are no large chunks, and they are well incorporated with the onion mixture.
• Add the powdered sour grapes and stir to incorporate.
  
• Gently incorporate rice and split peas into the mixture. Add most of your parsley (save some for garnish) and the juice and zest of half the lemon. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
• Let mixture cool down slightly before stuffing the peppers. You want to stuff them generously, but not so packed down that the peppers will crack or burst during cooking.
• Meanwhile, combine equal parts water and tomato sauce or paste with remaining lemon juice to make a liquid enough to cover an inch on the bottom of a large pot. Gently place stuffed peppers into this mixture.
  
• Cook at a low heat, making sure that the liquid never comes above a very gentle simmer. You want to be steaming these peppers rather than boiling them to insure they don't burst or discolor.
• The peppers are done when they are tender, anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes. Serve garnished with lemon and parsley.
  

Here are the stuffed peppers being placed into the pot with the tomato mixture.



And here they are when they are done. These hit the spot, but since we didn't freeze most of them, we had leftovers to last a while! This recipe would also work perfectly for stuffing grape leaves, cabbage, tomatoes, or eggplants.

Have you ever had mochi? Mochi is the Japanese word for rice flour, and it also refers to little concoctions made with rice flour. It comes in many forms- you can make it yourself, of course, or buy it as a candy or an ice cream. It also comes in ready-to-bake sheets that I have seen at Whole Foods and health food stores, the package looks like this:



It comes in many flavors ranging from plain to chocolate walnut brownie. It is an extremely healthy, macrobiotic, low calorie food, and it is fun to make and eat.



Here's my latest batch (I used cinnamon flavored mochi). It looks a little obscene, I know! The cool thing is, you cut it into small squares and as they bake they puff up, creating a hollow space in the middle. (They are not supposed to combine together the way mine did!) Fill the hollow space with some creamy, or fruity (or any combination) filling, and voila- you have vegan cream puffs. Try these, they are fun, and I think kids would get a kick out of them.

Since this was such a busy week, it was the perfect time to whip out one of the pestos I had frozen earlier. (Click this link to see the pesto in an earlier post.)

We tossed pasta with the pesto and mixed it with a mixture of sauteed sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms. Garnished with some fresh basil, it was a light and satisfying dinner.

We had it with a romaine salad with turnips and tomatoes. It's a pity I don't photograph our salads more often, because they are not an afterthought or a side dish with me- I can't live without them! If I go more than a day without salad, I get cranky.

Here's another quick dinner for a busy night: sloppy pitas. Daiku picked up these fresh baked pitas (they are something like 50 cents for a package of 6 from our favorite Egyptian grocery store, Jerusalem). The filling was onions and bell peppers sauteed with turmeric, red pepper flakes, fresh oregano and fennel seeds. To this mixture was added leftover meat crumbles and crushed tomato, finished up with some minced garlic.





The fennel seeds really add that authentic kick. Try adding a few next time you make pasta or pizza sauce.

This week's baking project was tahini bread. This bread, called Tahinopita in Greek, is consumed by Orthodox Christians during Lent when not just meat, but eggs and dairy are also forbidden. (Vegan score!) There are many variations, but my favorite recipe comes from the Cat-Tea Corner website which specializes in Eastern European vegan recipes (more information below). Click here for the recipe. I modifed by using 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour, dried cranberries instead of raisins, and 1/2 cup sugar instead of 2/3 cup.

Served with extra dried cranberries and cashew cream. This bread is already low in sugar, and you can safely decrease it even more. The tahini flavor permeates the whole bread and gives it a tender, crumbly texture. If you like tahini, you will LOVE this recipe, try it! It almost had the texture of a cake baked with buttermilk or sour cream-it's rich! I have successfully cut this recipe in half in the past.

* * *

Now for the links, some of my favorite websites.

• The Natural Grocery Company. This is the informative website of a Northern California food store. You can find natural healing tips, an ingredient glossary and so much more, but my favorite part is the healthy recipe pages. You can search by ingredient or type of recipe (for example vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic, etc.) The funnest way to browse the recipes, though is randomly. On the right-hand side of the page, there is a button that says "what's cooking." You click on it to be taken to that recipe site. And then you can keep clicking on it to be transported to the next random recipe. So fun! Such a good way to accidentally waste an hour! Not all the recipes are veg., but there is an abundance of them. Here is an amazing and amazingly simple recipe to try: broccoli with squash sauce. The best part is that every recipe comes with detailed nutritional data on the side, so you can feel extra good about what you're eating!
  
• Cat-Tea Corner. This charming and extensive website is dedicated to the love of tea, and has much specialized information for tea connoisseurs. But the added bonus is the huge collection of vegan recipes, with many Eastern European ones. Whether you want tea-time treats, sweets, or main courses, you will be overwhelmed with the number of choices and some of the recipes are very unique. Added bonus: most recipes come with a tea recommendation- if you always wondered about what tea to pair with your snack, here's where to find out!
  
• Whole Foods Recipe Collection. I have already mentioned this website, but it bears repeating. Not only do they have an entire section devoted to vegetarian/vegan recipes, but many of their other recipes are vegetarian or easily modified. In addition, these recipes are very international in scope and health-conscious. Try the tofu quiche or the chickpea and broccoli salad with flax-tahini dressing. Yum!
  
• Uncaged UK. Here is a British animal rescue organization that just happens to have a great selection of vegan recipes, with a British accent. Have you always wanted to make rashers or sherry trifle? Here is where to find the recipes. I used their recipe for cashew cream to go with my tahini bread, above. You can also read about their various campaigns on behalf of animals and donate money to their cause.
• BBC Food Vegetarian and Vegan Page. To continue the British theme, here is a website with really useful information on issues such as dietary concerns and menu planning as well as some fun recipes.
• Vegan Chef: Beverly Lynn Bennett. Here is an incredibly useful and extensive collection of vegan recipes, with a distinct Cajun accent. It's never tooo early to start planning your Mardi Gras feast. Eggplant poor boys with remoulade sauce anyone? How about bourbon, pumpkin and spiced pecan tart?
• Vegetarians in Paradise. Another charming site, this time based in Southern California. An excellent database of restaurant, market, and farmer's market reviews, vegan recipes, and nutrition information. But my favorite part of this site is "Ask the Vegan Athlete" where Brendan Brazier talks sports and nutrition. Now I'm far from the marathon champion that he is, but you can become so informed on nutritional issues: P.H. balance, the calcium question, recovery foods, what to eat before/after a workout. This is the place to go to become a confident, well-informed vegan, because Brazier shatters so many myths that are so prevalent in our culture. And maybe you'll become really really buff as a result- who knows?
• Path to Freedom. The final stop on our tour around the world is this Canadian website. You will not regret checking it out. It is all about the environment, sustainability, making wise product choices, and the information and advice you need to make it all happen. The D.I.Y. section is awesome- for example, have you always wanted to know how to make your own compost? This is the place for the urban, the rural, and the in-between to come together and learn how to make small and large changes to make the world a better place. A fantastic resource.

I hope you have enjoyed this Friday's food round-up and I hope you will find something useful to you in these links, which are among my favorites. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Friday food round-up & Food links

Walk for animals and weekend show & tell

The day was finally here- Sunday, October 8th was time for the Walk for Farm Animals in Ithaca, NY. (More information about Farm Sanctuary: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/) As we showed up to Dewitt park to register, there were 2 Farm Sanctuary mascots, a chicken and a cow, there to greet everybody.



We put on our t-shirts and got ready to walk. All together, we were a group of about 25-30 people (and mascots and pets). The weather on Sunday was a gift, with temperatures near 80 degrees! That put us all in a light-hearted mood. The walk took us around Ithaca commons. We got a lot of supportive honks and waves from drivers and passers-by.



Who didn't appreciate our presence? All the restaurants serving brunch and their patrons, who glared at us before going back to their bacon and sausage.



The group posing after the walk.



It was so fun to do the walk, and these cute kids made it even more fun. The little girl on the left set the pace for the entire walk, chanting "go veg, go veg" the entire time. We talked to some Farm Sanctuary people after the walk about the status of our turkey adoption, and they said we should be hearing from them any day now. Apparently, Farm Sanctuary just rescued a group of factory-farmed turkeys, including some babies, so we might be getting one of them! (Click here for more information on this latest rescue) We are very excited, and hopefully will meet "our" turkey at the Thanksgiving celebration next month.

* * *

The weather was so ridiculously gorgeous that we decided to take a very meandering drive back home.

These changing leaves reminded us that it is indeed October, and not July.

We passed by a llama farm. These creatures are so adorable. When we stopped to photograph them, they looked up for a minute, then went back to their grazing, not at all interested in our presence.

We stopped by the town of Skaneateles, which is a beautiful old town and tourist destination with their seemingly endless lakefront. [When we moved to upstate New York, we were quickly informed that Skaneateles is pronounced "skinny atlas." Also, did you know that Syracuse is properly pronounced "seracuse" by locals?]

The new fruit discovery of the week? Niagara grapes. They are so delicious- they taste like a slightly milder concord grape. Here is a pint we picked up at a farmstand along the drive.

This weekend's full moon was the Harvest moon. Here is a picture Daiku took from the backyard. It really was this bright. Is there anything more romantic than a big full moon?

All in all, a fantastic weekend. It felt nice to walk for the animals. I'm not sure our walk raised any consciousness in the people who saw us, but it raised money, and we got to meet a group of wonderful people.

Walk for animals and weekend show & tell

Friday Food Round-up

Welcome to the Friday food round-up, everyone! This week had some good food, but also some, uh, interesting food experiments. You will see them all...

[click on any photo to enlarge]

On Sunday, we wanted a special breakfast, and decided to go for pancakes. We had buckwheat pancake mix, and made it with "buttermilk" (a teaspoon of vinegar in a cup of soymilk) and chocolate chips. You can't see the chocolate chips very much in the photo, but we topped the pancakes with raspberries and a bit of maple syrup.

Later, it was time for a serious sandwich. We had some nice crusty bread, but didn't know what to put in it. We decided to make falafel burgers topped with onions and tomatoes sauteed with fresh oregano, avocado, and fresh basil.



The sandwiches were served with "apple fries"... fresh apple cut to look like fries. It was a nice crisp accompaniment to these huge and messy sandwiches!

Daiku picked up some fresh beets and a head of romaine lettuce at the co-op one day (both organic.) These made it into a really refreshing and tasty dinner. We roasted the beets in the oven. We decided to put the beet greens to good use (did you know that beet greens have more nutrition than the beetroot that we normally eat?) and sauteed them with some balsamic vinegar. These went with some potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary. Our romaine turned into an incredibly crisp salad made with cucumber and purple pepper (from the garden) and some daikon.

All of this week, I'd been craving cookies. I finally decided to bake some, and I honestly don't know what went wrong! I used this recipe from Vegweb, replacing the walnuts with hazelnuts and adding a bit of hazelnut syrup.

We call these gimp cookies, and you can see why!



Yikes! I decided to go biscotti on them and bake them again, because they were fluffy, uncooked monstrosities. After being separated and baking 3 or 4 times as long as they were supposed to, they ended up ok. They were great with a hazelnut latte (sense a theme?) made with coffee and hazelnut milk.

I love the Whole Foods recipes website. They have a huge selection of vegetarian recipes (even a lot of their recipes that are not filed under vegetarian are actually veg- or can easily be adapted) that are healthy and often use flavors or combinations that I would not have thought of. I've never made any of their recipes that I'd been unsatisfied with. For dinner one night, we used a couple of their recipes but modified them quite a bit based on what we had.

Recipe 1: "Thyme for Tempeh"
This recipe called for tempeh cooked with mushrooms and onions, served with fettucini and a side of carrot and cabbage. Daiku cooked the tempeh together with the carrots and cabbage, and we had it with brown rice instead. The flavors of this recipe were amazing- the thyme gave it a very savory, winter-like flavor, the sauce was a rich gravy, and the tempeh was really tender. Daiku thought it was like a tempeh moo shoo.

For dessert, I made Recipe 2: "Apple Pie" but I made it without the crust. Since it had a topping, I decided a crust was unnecessary, and so it was more like an apple crisp instead. The flavor was great! I might have sliced the apples too thinly, though, since they were a little dry. Whole foods is my kind of recipe site: "peeling the apples is optional"-yes! You guys will quickly learn about me that I have an aversion to peeling anything- beets, apples, potatoes, kiwis, carrots... I obsess that peeling gets rid of nutrients and other good things! I know it's a bit much, but I'm grateful that Daiku puts up with it.



Here is a coconut trembleique (pudding) that Daiku made one night. He followed this recipe from Vegweb. The result was tasty, but very firm- perhaps less cornstarch next time.



And now, I present you with a Friday food flashback. This meal was from August, but it was one of the funnest dinners we've had, and I would hate to not blog about it!

This summer I found a line of very "Le Creuset-looking" enamelware at Ikea. I've always wanted to have a few Le Creuset pieces, but they are way out of our price range. These Ikea pieces, which are made in France, look beautiful and are very heavy-duty. When I noticed that they included a fondue pot, I had to grab one. I had always wanted to make the fondue recipe from the Vegan Lunchbox, and now I could finally try!



Here was our first fondue meal. I can't get over how fun it was, and if a 27 year-old could get that excited, imagine how an actual kid would feel!

For dipping, we had green beans, zuchini, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, bellpeppers, and white and whole grain bread. The fondue was really tasty, but the original recipe was a little bland for our taste. We added more miso, more mustard, more lemon juice, more spices. If you haven't tried this yet, I would totally recommend it.

Finally, on a slightly sad note. Last night, after waiting as long as possilbe, Daiku and I knew it was time to pick the final harvest from our garden, since there was a very high chance for a frost during the night. What is sad about it was that we had several heirloom tomato plants that had produced late in the season, so we were faced with the prospect of picking gorgeous, but green heirloom tomatoes. This whole summer, we only had 3 that made it to ripeness, and now we had to pick 10 or more that never had a chance. Booo. Here's the sad harvest:





So here is my question/plea to all of you bloggers... do you know of any good fried green tomato, pickled tomato, or other green tomato recipes? Please help us! Some of the bigger ones may ripen a little, but most of them are hard, and we will cry if they go to waste.

Lastly, I came across this website called Weird Foods, where people have written in some of the unusual or crazy foods that they have had. While I found the list interesting and informative, I also found it frustrating and even offensive! A lot of these "weird" foods are foods that I eat regularly. If someone who has never tried these foods reads this list, it would turn them off forever! For example, I think of Miso as one of the most sophisticated and nuanced tastes ever, but if you read that it's "fermented bean goo soup" would you ever try it? Yikes!

Have a great Friday and a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Food Round-up

Fun with Fufu

We had a lot of fun with last night's dinner, and I just couldn't wait until Friday to post photos of it!

While shopping in a small African grocery store, we came upon a box of fufu mix.

I'd never had fufu before, and am always up for trying something fun and new. Fufu is a staple of African (especially West and Central African) cuisine, and can be made with different starches, specifially cassava and yam.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article describing Fufu:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fufu

Here is a picture of cassava that I found on the web:

Fufu is usually eaten with a "sauce"- a thick stew that you scoop up with the fufu. I tried to think up a good recipe for a sauce for dinner. I came up with this recipe that came out really delicious. I am totally ignorant of West African cuisine, but I tried using ingredients that might plausibly be authentic.

Bazu's Groundnut Stew (vegan)

Ingredients:

peanut oil for sauteeing
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 medium carrots, diced small
2 medium potatoes, diced small (I didn't have any on hand, but I'm sure sweet potatoes would be fabulous here as well)
1 cup sliced okra (I used frozen)
2/3 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 small-medium chilli (to taste) chopped
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2/3 large can crushed tomatoes (about 18-20 oz.)
1/4 cup raw peanuts
1/2 cup groundnut paste (natural peanut butter ;-)
2 TB coriander
dash jerk seasoning
dash red pepper flakes
salt and freshly gound pepper to taste
water as necessary to adjust thickness

Directions:

• heat peanut oil in a heavy pot and add onions to sautee over med-high heat
  
• once onions are starting to get translucent, add carrots, potatoes, and chilli
• add all the spices and sautee for 5-6 minutes
• add okra and corn
  
• meanwhile, roast peanuts in a toaster oven or stovetop until fragrant
• add peanuts to vegetables
• turn heat as high as possible without burning vegetables
  
• once pot is hot, add diced and crushed tomatoes- it is important for the tomatoes to cook at very high heat and caramelize for authentic flavor
• stir constantly, making sure the tomatoes do not stick to sides of pan
• once tomatoes have cooked for a few minutes, add peanut butter and stir until combined
• at this point the stew should be really thick. Add a bit of water if necessary.
• Let mixture come to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes

Eat with fufu or the starch of your choice!



Now on to the scary part- making the fufu! I realized that making fufu out of a box is probably no better than making mashed potatoes out of a box, and that this would be so much better if mashed from boiled cassavas or yams. But this was a first time, so it was fun and interesting no matter what.

To the powder,



we added some boiling water and created this crazy mash



Then Daiku and I both attacked it, pounding with wooden spoons until it resembled a smooth dough. Now, we know that fufu is meant to be served in ball shapes for everyone at the table to tear little pieces off. But how to make this hot, sticky dough into a ball? According to the Internet, you just shake it and it forms itself into a ball. Would this work?...

Here is Daiku shaking the pan vigorously





Would you believe it? It really did turn into a neat little ball!

We had so much fun dipping pieces of fufu into the stew and eating with our hands. The fufu had a very mild flavor- nothing too exciting, but the excitement was in trying something new!





We both really liked the stew. It was thick and hearty, and the peanut butter didn't taste like peanut butter but instead added a rich savory flavor. You all should try it!

Here is a shot of Bijou the cat trying to sneak her way closer to the food- we see you!



I have always dreamed of visiting West Africa, especially Senegal. Hopefully someday I'll blog about eating authentic fufu on a voyage!

Fun with Fufu

What's on your skin?

For a while now, I've been concerned about the toxins and chemicals that are absorbed through the skin. Most commercial brands of toiletries and beauty products contain chemicals that are proven carcinogens or irritants, or that have not been fully proven safe. The skin, our largest organ, drinks in pretty much everything that we put on it, and what is worse, these chemicals stay in our bodies through a process known as bio-accumulation. The solution is to be as informed and dilligent as possible with the products (shampoos, conditioners, lotions, make-up, shaving creams, perfumes, moisturizers, sunblocks, etc. etc. etc.) that we use. This is especially important with small children, whose bodies are more susceptible to chemicals.

Here are 2 good websites where you can learn more, see how your favorite products rank, and find new options to use. You will be surprised at how little the government and the FDA do to ensure that everyday products are safe and non-toxic. You will become familiar with some of the most offending ingredients to avoid. I was so shocked that some of the companies I consider very responsible still have many questionable ingredients and practices that they use in their products.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Skin Deep

Happy October, everybody!

What's on your skin?