Vegan Baking Class

Last night I went to a vegan baking class with Doron Petersan, the owner of Sticky Fingers Sweets and Eats here in the DC area. It was put on by Living Social, which recently opened a location downtown, as a part of their new gourmet series. I didn't see much of the space, but they did have an art room and a phenomenal cooking class space. I felt like I was a student at the Culinary Institute of America! First we made S'mores Brownies. Here are my (and my partner's) brownies, fresh out of the oven:

We also made the Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Spiced Rum icing that helped Doron to win Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. We used an ice cream scoop to make them all the same size (and to have less of a mess). I'll definitely be doing this from now on!

The class included drink pairings. We had a beer with the brownies and a dark and stormy with the cupcakes. I don't know why I haven't had a dark and stormy before, but I think that is all I might drink from now on! It's ginger beer, rum and lime. Perfection!

We took my brownies out of the pan first, so we sacrificed beauty for taste. I ended up with essentially a giant s'mores brownie cake (with deeeeeelicious Sweet and Sara marshmallows):

Here are the finished cupcakes. I need to work on my icing skills.

And here is me and Doron! What a great night! I would definitely go back and take other Living Social classes.

28 Day Healthy Eating Challenge

This month I am participating in the the Whole Foods 28 Day Healthy Eating Challenge, which is affiliated with their Health Starts Here work.

For five weeks, I will attend a class at my local store, with sessions to include: Whole Foods core values and wellness lecture, a healthy eating demo and a healthy eating on a budget store tour, navigating your way through a healthy lifestyle change, a cooking class with the store chef and a supper club with a panel of experts. Additionally, they will be screening the film "Forks Over Knives", but since I've already seen it, I won't be going to that session (but you should see it if you haven't! Fantastic film!). All this, plus a book and a bag of healthy starter groceries (lentils, quinoa, steel cut oats, Lara Bars, digestive enzymes, etc!), for just a $30 donation to their Whole Planet Foundation. This is the third time the store near me has ran this program, so if you are interested I would suggest that you see if a Whole Foods near you already is holding the class or let them know that you are interested.

At our first session this week, we reviewed what we should be eating during this time period by learning about their four pillars of healthy eating: eat whole, unprocessed foods, lots and lots of plants, healthy fats and foods with a high nutrient density. They are stressing eating a plant strong diet, which could include eating meat or dairy as as more of a garnish to a dish, but stated they aren't there to make everyone into vegetarians. While I know they are trying to not push people away, they are basing their course on the work of Dr. Fuhrman and Rip Esselstyn, so I wish they would at least touch on the benefits of a plant-based diet. They also brought in an expert on wellness who talked about reducing stress levels for a healthier lifestyle. He taught us a breathing exercise to try to combat cravings and explained how chocolate, dairy and sugar all temporarily increase your relaxation response, which is why you want to eat them when you are stressed.

This is supposed to be a challenge and I am sure that it will be. This month includes the Super Bowl, my birthday, Valentine's Day and a trip to New Jersey to visit my family. All of these are potential pitfalls for a healthy diet. However, I am hoping to learn some new things (such as more ways to cook greens!) in this course and apply them for the long term. For the next 28 days, I plan to follow their suggestions as closely as possible. It's time to go from eating vegan junk food to really focusing on eating good, whole, nutritious food. So far, after just one class, I have a lot of new information and resources. I'm looking forward to seeing where these next few weeks of class take me.

(Picture from the Whole Foods website)

Vegan Seafood

In my pre-veg early twenties, I very suddenly developed a severe shellfish allergy. I was forced to cut them out of my diet cold turkey (cold shrimp?). Now I wouldn't eat them even if I could due to ethical reasons, but I would be lying if I said there weren't times over the years when I missed shellfish. A few weeks back when I saw Sophie's Kitchen vegan seafood appear in our local market, I decided to give it a try, if only because my Mom developed the same allergy and I know she misses it badly.

They come frozen, so you simply thaw them out long enough for them to separate and then add them to whatever you are cooking.

For us, that meant a stir-fry with an orange sauce. I added them in during the last few minutes of cooking time.

We served our stir-fry over some brown rice. Since I accidentally bought prawns instead of shrimp, they were enormous. As for the taste, they were chewy and slightly gummy, but I think it's been so long since I had shrimp that I am not sure I was a good judge. Jesse really liked them, but I felt like I could take them or leave them. If I get them again, I think I will try the shrimp, which will be smaller.

I also picked up some vegan breaded calamari, which I will review here once I get a chance to give them a try.

Recommended Reading

Recommended reading from Gilt Taste: "When Being a Vegetarian Gets in the Way of Family"

by Allegra Ben-Amotz

Dinners Lately

Lately, I've been cooking lots and lots of bowls for dinner, meaning a grain or base of some sort, steamed veggies, a protein and a sauce. They are a perfect dinner, usually provide leftovers for lunch and are a great way to use up what you have in the fridge. I've been trying to cook gluten-free (more on that in another post) as well, so these bowls are good for that purpose too. If you pile on the veggies, it looks and feels like a ton of food for not a ton of calories. For great ideas, check out the section on bowls in the back of Appetite for Reduction (love, love, LOVE this cookbook!).

Soba noodles, black beans, steamed broccoli and zucchini with green onion miso vinaigrette from AFR.

Brown rice, steamed broccoli, sesame tempeh and peanut lime dressing from AFR (BEST SAUCE EVER!!!! I want to put it on everything everyday.)

Quinoa, steamed broccoli and green beans, baked tofu with spicy orange sauce (from a bottle).

Revelry Review: ShopHouse

This past weekend Jesse and I tried a new-ish fast food restaurant, ShopHouse, the latest creation of the founder of Chipotle. Touted as a "southeast Asian kitchen", you can either build a bowl or have a banh mi sandwich with a variety of possible fillings. I had been looking forward to checking it out for a few months now. If I had checked my expectations at the door, I might have liked this place better than I did. I had dreams of yummy warm green curry and firm chunks of tofu with a variety of delicious veggies.

However, as a vegetarian, there was no green curry for me. In fact, the only sauce that did not count fish sauce as an ingredient was the tamarind vinagrette. Okay, fine. I was disappointed but I figured I would just appreciate that they told me and move on. The tofu looked more like the tofu scramble I make at home than any tofu I have ever had at an Asian restaurant. It was very tumeric-y and SUPER spicy. I wish I had been warned.

When you are essentially eating a bowl of brown rice and tumeric-y tofu, it would be great if you were allowed to choose more than one vegetable. My sauteed long beans were delicious but I wasn't given that many of them. I would have loved to try the charred corn, eggplant and Chinese broccoli too. Chipotle lets me have whatever toppings I want and I wish this place did too. The saving grace was the green papaya salad, which provided some relief for my super spicy lunch.

Overall, I thought ShopHouse had large portion sizes and I appreciate having a new fast food vegetarian option, but I just wish it had been less spicy and contained more veggies. Hopefully they will refine their menu over time.

ShopHouse is located at 1516 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC.

Vegan Mofo 14: Thanksgiving Dress Rehearsal

Last night I decided to do a Thanksgiving dress rehearsal. We usually go to Jesse's aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving and like to bring something veg to share. I always try the recipes beforehand so I can be sure they will be delicious. First up: Pumpkin pull-apart rolls!

These were pretty easy as far as bread goes and tasted delicious!

Then I tried making Harvest Pies. Here is the butternut squash, cranberry and shallot mixture after it came out of the oven.

Potato, carrot, onion, spices and white wine on the stove.

The pies before going in the oven.

The final product: one roll, one pie (with vegan gravy that was superb) and a salad. This dinner just tasted like Thanksgiving. So comforting and warm and yummy. I also made a pumpkin pie but its crust was a disaster. Thank goodness my copy of Vegan Pie in the Sky is on its way to me!

Vegan Mofo 13: Tempeh Sloppy Joes

I made Sloppy Joes for dinner the other night on a whim. It was snowing (?!?!) outside and I wanted a quick comfort meal. The truth is, however, it was really on a whim because I had never had them before. Even in my pre-veg days, I have never eaten red meat. When I was first given a hamburger to try, I told my Mom it looked like worms and that was that. I did, however, grow up in a house where these were made from time to time. I wasn't sure that I would actually like them since they had the same smell as the animal ones I had grown up around.

The verdict: These are awesome. I love having another way to use tempeh, especially because I don't love it on its own and this is an easy way to get more protein. I also like the veggies in there and the fact that I get to eat these on a burger bun! The recipe came from this post on the Vegan Dad blog. I highly recommend giving these a try!

Sautee green pepper, onion and celery.

Add grated tempeh that has been steamed with soy sauce.

Add spices and sauces.

The finished product!

Serve with roasted brussel sprouts and sweet potato tater tots.

Vegan Mofo 12: Kaya's Kitchen

Last weekend Jesse and I took a road trip to New Jersey for a comedy show. Before the show, we took a small detour to Kaya's Kitchen, a vegetarian restaurant in Belmar. The menu is very extensive and it took me a long time to decide what to order. It's rare that I can order from the entire menu, especially one so big! We started with wildberry iced tea and some bread and olive oil. Then I had the Thai Sweet Potato Soup, which was sweet and spicy and very comforting:

Jesse began his meal with the cajun tofu salad. It had seasoned grilled tofu, greens, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, pickled red onion, sunflower seeds, sprouts and a cucumber ranch dressing. People, this is a small:

For his entree, Jesse had the "Acapulco Loco", which was diced veggie nuggets, peppers, corn, onion, black beans and broccoli in a spicy Mexican chipotle lime sauce over rice.

I was in the mood for a sandwich, so I tried the "Island Grilled Tofu Sandwich", which was Jamaican jerk tofu. Mmm.

To finish, Jesse got a vegan mint cake. Perfect ending to a great meal. We will be back for sure!

Vegan Mofo 11: Tired and Stressed Edition

Some days, I come home from work totally exhausted. It's been a crazy week (and it's only Wednesday...oy!). I had no energy to make something super involved, so I tried the "hummamole" from Quick-Fix Vegan. It's pretty versatile because it's relatively plain. It's basically plain hummus with a whole avocado thrown in. It was good as a dip for veggies, but I think it would be delicious as a sandwich spread!

Vegan Mofo 10: Favorite Vegan Cookbooks

Let me begin by saying I own a TON of cookbooks. Like more than any reasonable human being will ever need. However, I justify this because it's the only thing I collect AND I read them like they are novels. Because of this, I own vegan and non-vegan cookbooks. I love food writing by Melissa Clark (her red lentil soup with lemon recipe is my all-time favorite!), Claudia Roden, Molly Wizenberg and Dorie Greenspan. For obvious reasons, I only cook very infrequently from these books since very few recipes are vegan-friendly. Mostly, these books sit very pristinely on the shelf.

I do, however, cook like a mad woman from all of my vegan cookbooks. The pages are stained and wrinkled from lots of cooking love. I wanted to share with you some of the ones I use the most, but I should be clear: this was like choosing my favorite children. Here are five of my favorites:

1. Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz : I love all of Isa's books, but this one is really stellar and right now it's probably my favorite out of all the cookbooks I own. It is so overused in my kitchen (and by that, I mean dirty and crumpled!), that I would feel awful even asking Isa to sign it if I ever met her. I've tried many, many recipes from here and each one has become a regular part of our menu rotation: Try these: Chimichurri tofu, buffalo tempeh, butternut rice, pineapple collards, vegetable korma.

2. The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau : This was one of the first vegan cookbooks I owned. The lemon bars are what really convinced me that you don't need butter, eggs or milk to have amazing desserts. Colleen's work is crucial and I appreciate her attitude toward veganism so much. Also check out her other cookbooks, which are gems as well.

3. Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson : Robin is probably the single most prolific vegan cookbook writer (and, ahem, I own most of them!). I've never had a recipe of hers that wasn't great. This book in particular has some wonderful recipes. Try: spanokopita (life changing!), samosa pie, and tropic of tempeh. I also like this one because this is Jesse's cookbook, meaning about once a week he makes us something from here. It's a win-win for me!

4. Vegan Yum Yum by Lauren Ulm : This is how every single cookbook should look: great instructions and beautiful color photographs for all of the recipes. One of my favorite meals is the chili lime tofu with collards and quinoa. I use the dry-frying method she details in that recipe at least once a week. I still mourn the fact that she doesn't update her blog anymore! I still use it for culinary inspiration. Come back, Lauren, come back!

5. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman : I know, I know--this one isn't entirely vegan and I also know some people have strong opinions about Bittman. However, this is a great reference book. There have been times in my life that I've purchased produce or a spice that I didn't know what to do with and this book saved the day. His app is also great for when we're traveling and need a veg recipe on the go.

What are some of your most beloved cookbooks?

Vegan Mofo 9: Quinoa

I've been trying to get better at making quick, delicious weeknight meals. This is mostly because I like to go to the gym around 8:30 pm. This week I tried another recipe from Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegan: Tropical Quinoa. Quinoa, black beans, mango, red pepper, spices, garlic, onion, lime juice. Yum!

I served that with some barbecue baked tofu.

Delicious dinner in about 30 minutes!

Vegan Mofo 8: Tofu and Brussel Sprout Goodness

I recently stumbled across this recipe for Tofu and Roasted Brussel Sprouts in a Sweet Chili Sauce. It contains all of my favorite ingredients, so I figured I would like it. In fact, I own the cookbook that the original recipe came from: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. It's one of my favorite cookbooks for vegetarian inspiration, but many of the recipes intimidate me. This was a great introduction. It was easy to make and tasted gourmet, so I highly recommend it.

Prepping the green onion and the shitakke mushrooms.

Marinating tofu in the delicious sauce.

Tofu and vegetable mixture cooking.

The final product, served over brown rice.

Vegan Mofo 7: Quick-Fix Vegan

Last week I received Robin Robertson's new cookbook, Quick-Fix Vegan, in the mail. I love her recipes. They are almost always easy, full of normal ingredients and tasty. First up? The harvest cookies. Think of a spice-filled oatmeal cookie with walnuts, dried cranberries and golden raisins (though I used regular because my Whole Foods didn't have them in the bulk bins).

These are no more difficult than a batch of regular oatmeal cookies but taste ten times better.

The entire house smelled of autumn spices: cinnamon, all-spice, etc.

Yum.

I also made her Moroccan-spiced pumpkin soup. I think next time I will use two cans of pumpkin for some more heft and maybe use an immersion blender to puree the bits of onion. It is not much to look at, but it had a real depth of flavor that I didn't expect. The recipe also calls for topping it with some pistachios, which I left off.

I would like to cook pretty much every recipe in this book. Next up might be the "hummamole" (a mix of guac and hummus) and the tropical black beans and quinoa.

Vegan Mofo 6: Pumpkin Pasta!

This weekend I went out to a pumpkin festival at an orchard just outside of Washington, DC. Once I saw the field of pumpkins, I knew I needed to cook some more with this delicious vegetable!

I remembered seeing a recipe with pumpkin on Chloe Coscarelli's website and came across a recipe for Creamy Pumpkin Penne with Crispy Sage and Toasted Pecans. If you haven't tried her recipes before, get to it! Her panang curry and harvest-stuffed portobello mushrooms are to die for. I can't wait for her cookbook to come out in 2012!

This is super easy but looks complicated and decadent. You make pasta and toss everything else in blender. Voila!

I added peas to ours so that there was something green. I also left off the pecans (forgot to get them at the store!) and the crispy sage, but it does have fresh sage tossed throughout. It was creamy without leaving you with a gross feeling. I definitely recommend this one for a great autumn meal.

Vegan Mofo 5: Good Vegan Eats

Some snapshots of what I've been eating lately:

Ridiculously amazing vegan pizza from Whole Foods: thin whole wheat crust, extra garlicky sauce, roasted tomatoes, artichokes, kalamata olives, squash, zucchini, spinach and Daiya. This may be the best pizza I've ever had. And it was $3.

Curry noodle soup (rice noodles, spicy curry broth, kale, sprouts, cilantro, basil, carrots and edamame) with spicy tofu from Java Green. The perfect lunch!

Brown rice sushi with cucumber and avocado.

Tofu bibimbob (brown rice, mixed veggies, pickled radish, baked tofu), also from Java Green

Butternut squash ginger and orange soup from Color Me Vegan, topped with cilantro, orange zest and green onion

"Tropic of Tempeh" from Vegan on the Cheap: rice topped with coconut curry tempeh, carrots, red pepper, onion, pineapple and a yummy sauce.

I've eaten these things AND lost 8 pounds in two weeks. Life doesn't get much better than that!