Going out with a bang.

Regular readers will know that this blog is usually much more knit-centric than food-centric, for a few reasons:
1. I can rarely be bothered taking decent photos of food before I eat it;
2. I rarely leave the house with my camera, and wouldn’t be caught dead photographing food in public (I have issues);
3. While I regularly experiment with my staple set of dishes, these are usually variations on a theme rather than brand new recipes worth sharing;
4. I LOVE talking about knitting. I love the timeconsuming, cumulative, observable nature of progress on a knitting project and the way it can be documented in pictures and words more readily than my attempts at capturing the process of preparing food–which, in my kitchen and at my hands tends to be erratic and adrenalin-charged rather than contemplative and ordered.

All that said, I just had to share one last meal before returning to the usual ‘look-what-I-knit’ posts: sweet potato enchiladas with guacamole and mango salsa.

None of those dishes in themselves are particularly revolutionary, and I suppose to the casual observer the choice of dishes may seem uninspired, but I can happily say that each of these dishes works really well; together, the meal approaches perfection.

What makes me so happy about this is that the meal was made without a recipe of any kind, and I’m relatively new to the art of Mexican/ Latino cooking. Six months ago I couldn’t even tell you what an enchilada was. But with the help of Viva Vegan and other vegan cookbooks, along with the grand old internet, I’m feeling much more comfortable and confident with combining these flavours in satisfying ways.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed Vegan MoFo 2010. It’s been a blast.

Vegan MoFo Recap

My lucky thirteen Vegan MoFo posts for 2010:

Vegan Doughnut Muffins

Red Wine Risotto

Potato and Lentil Bake

Mushroom Balls

Taboulleh

Musings on salad

MoFo survey

Soy-free Vegan Quiche

Musings on the dairy craving

Cinnamon Teacake

Musings on seasonal fruit

Jalapeno Lemon Barley Salad

Two Salads

I have really enjoyed the challenge this month. I’ve found some new staple meals, developed a bit of self-discipline and learnt to actually follow a recipe, and discovered some wonderful new vegan bloggers.
Huge props to Kittee for the mammoth undertaking of organising it!

Bang for that buck.

Summer necessitates minimal use of heat: quick meals, low fuss, in and out of the kitchen quick-smart. Thus the need for a bunch of go-to salad ideas. I say ‘ideas’ rather than recipes because the whole point of ‘low fuss’ is that you use what’s on hand, plentiful or in season.

I tend to go for the hearty salads based on grains, starches or legumes rather than the leafy variety as they tend to be more filling and hold up better for lunchy leftovers: it’s all about bang for the buck.

Pictured are an off-the-cuff baby beet, baby spinach and butter bean salad, dressed simply with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper; and canned chickpeas and mixed beans mixed with grape tomatoes and spring onions in the dressing from Wolffie’s black bean salad in La Dolce Vegan. This was the first vegan cookbook I owned, and at some point I wrote in the margin of this recipe, ‘[My sister]‘s favourite dressing’, along with two mods: cutting the oil in half, and subbing balsamic vinegar for the red wine vinegar. We’re big balsamic fans in my house.

What go-to meals do you have for when it’s hot or you’re pressed for time?

Jalapeno Lemon Barley Salad, Redux

A bare-bones, back to basics version of the barley salad in 500 Vegan Recipes, made with pantry ingredients and leftovers.

Subbed what I had on hand for the veg ingredients: chickpeas and mixed beans, corn, chilli Queen olives and a few stray grape tomatoes instead of cucumber, tomato, capsicum and onion.

Subbed lemon juice for the lime, as I was all out of lime juice (Again! Although I wasted a good 20 minutes hunting for it. We have a bizarro kitchen thief who periodically steals away with a staple ingredient or two. Or something like that.) I think lime would have been excellent, and will aim to actually have some limes in the house next time I feel like making it.

This is such a workhorse of a recipe, like many others in this excellent cookbook that I can’t recommend highly enough. I am eagerly awaiting the duo’s new cookbook, The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions.

Simple things.

Just a quick note to say that I love stone fruit season. Apricots, peaches, cherries, nectarines; oh how I’ve missed you.

Cinnamon teacake

Subbed wholemeal flour for the spelt, half a peeled and grated Granny Smith apple for the applesauce, and used rolled oats instead of ground (What are ground oats? Is that like oat bran?).

From the 500 Vegan Recipes cookbook. Gosh darn, I love this book.

This clever little recipe reminds me of a simply perfect cinnamon teacake that I tasted once growing up and never forgot. The topping on this treasure is reminiscent of a hot cinnamon doughnut, but the cake itself is moist and tender like the very best kind of muffin.

You should all make this cake. You won’t regret it.

Changing tastes.

When I first went vegan I imagined a life deprived of dairy products to be one full of pining and longing, a sad and insipid existence made tolerable only by the self-righteous glow of the martyr.

Uh, no. This is about as far from the truth as my very melodramatic and vivid imagination would take me.

At first I leaned heavily on dairy analogues, hoping they would simulate the cows’ milk versions I grew up on, in order to make a seamless conversion and debunk all fears of a bread-and-water existence.

This didn’t really happen for me: I am not one of those people who could drink cows’ milk and plain soy milk interchangeably without noticing a difference. I haven’t had much exposure to vegan cheese, but my limited experience has been uninspiring.

When it comes to other kinds of substitution, however, I’ve found more success. I find that my occasional cravings for something creamy, soothing, cloying or tangy can easily be filled by vegan ingredients that boast these features naturally: coconut milk in curries, frozen banana in smoothies, hummus on toasted sandwiches, soy milk and lemon juice in place of sour cream.

In some cases I have simply found alternative ways to complete a dish: coleslaw is now dressed with crushed pineapple rather than mayonnaise, and potato salad is now made creamy by tossing in a simple vineagrette while still hot. Pizza is cheese-free, nachos have extra guacamole, and tea and coffee are served black.

I now very rarely have the dairy cravings, and I like to think that my taste has changed for the better. I’m living proof: even the most reluctant (or delusional) of us can change.

Soy-free vegan quiche

This is a truly great recipe for vegan quiche: no tofu, no soy milk, just a quick and easy batter made from chickpea flour and water.

This was my first attempt at an eggless quiche, and it was made not due to any craving on my part but due to a fascination with the simplicity of ingredients and method. I read and re-read this recipe and just had to see if it would work.

Boy, did it work. The texture is most egg-like while still warm from the oven, although it seems a little firmer than the wobbly quiches I remember from my childhood. The taste, however, is eerily quichey, so much so that after each bite I couldn’t help exclaiming to family members and passers-by, “It tastes exactly like quiche. It’s crazy!”

The next day, after spending the morning in the refrigerator, leftovers seemed to be even more dense in texture–but allowing it to get to room temperature might have helped. I’ll experiment a bit next time and let you know.

All in all, an excellent quick, cheap, tasty, super-easy and healthy option for dinner. What more could you ask for?

Epic Vegan MoFo Survey

Survey questions formulated by the PPK and saved here.

What’s your favorite spice or spice blend?
Freshly cracked black pepper.

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). What do you buy?
I’m crap at this–I don’t plan meals out a few days in advance, let alone a week. I make lots of little shopping trips throughout the week and cook based on my whims.

What’s your favorite way to make tofu?
Scrambled! Crumbled into any kind of sauce and simmered. I’m not really a fan of the texture of tofu any other way.

Vegan guilty pleasure?
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures: no guilt, just pleasure.

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be?
My partner. It would make home cooked meals much easier.

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be?
Vegan Eats and Treats. Amey’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious.

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food?
Longtime amateur foodie, but veganism has made me really passionate about food and the possibilities that exist.

Excluding analogues, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn’t have as an omni?
Miso and tahini.

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can’t get behind?
Quinoa. I think it’s something to do with the texture. Oh, and green smoothies? Dude. No dice.

What was your first “wow, I’m such a stereotypical vegan” moment?
I haven’t had one yet, but I feel like if I start making green smoothies there will be no going back.

First recipe you veganized?
ANZAC biscuits. So good.

What would you like to veganize, but haven’t yet?
A really decent vegan cheese to melt onto nachos: it’s the holy grail.

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance?
My waffle iron. Waffles are the best.

Most disastrous kitchen failure?
When I was trying to learn to like miso, I made some pasta that tasted like vegemite. It was, sadly, deemed inedible.

First vegan cookbook?
The Garden of Vegan. Bought when I first started thinking of going vegan.

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering?
‘Why did you decide to go vegan?’ I always feel like I should be more prepared for that question, but there’s too much I want to say and too little time to make that pithy, perfect soundbite.

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be?
We’re right.

Funniest vegetable?
Oh, beetroot. Magically turning everything pink.

What is a family recipe you have veganized?
Sweet and sour sausages. The one weirdo family favourite dish in our house, and a piece of cake to veganise.

Weirdest food combination?
Dill pickles + everything.

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can’t/couldn’t?
As an omni I used to make an infamously perfect pavlova, and have yet to try to replicate my former glory with a vegan version.

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins?
Tempeh crumbled and simmered in apricot nectar and french onion soup is pretty damned good.

Are your pets vegan? if so, what do you feed them? tell us about having vegan furbabies!
No pets. I like animals more in theory than up close. I have to remind myself sometimes that that doesn’t make me Hitler.

Favorite non-dairy milk?
I haven’t tried too many. Vitasoy with Calcium (the purple one) is my soy milk of choice.

What’s one “vegan myth” you’d like to squash?
You don’t have to be an animal lover or an extremist to go vegan and love it. And, of course, it’s totally not hard. Digesting cheese is way harder.

Salad is for lovers.

I hesitate to publish two posts in a row about salad, considering the ubiquitous cliche about vegetarians, but the truth is that I rarely make or eat salads.

When dining out, I find more and more places seem to be padding their salads out with meat–or at the very least, cheese or mayo. And at home, when warmer weather comes around I’m much more likely to reach for a burger, wrap or mezze with Turkish bread than the salad bowl.

But one of the great things about this month is the way it encourages thinking about food, and thinking about it in different ways. I’ve been encouraged and inspired already by the endless ways to combine and dress fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, and seeds. You guys rock.