Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole

I'm kind of on a "veganize things I used to love" kick right now, so Veganomicon is on the back burner a little, so to speak. People on one of the forums I frequent have been RAVING about a Mac and Cheese recipe from VegNews, so I decided to test it out. Cheese substitutes are difficult. There are a few decent ones that you can buy. Most homemade recipes rely heavily on nutritional yeast, which has a very distinct flavor that people tend to have a strong opinion about: love it or hate it. I do not love it so much, though I'm going to try out the Veganomicon Cheezy Sauce to give it another chance. The important thing to remember I think when trying out cheese alternative is to NOT think of them as cheese substitutes, but as their own thing. I decided to try this sauce out because it does not call for nutritional yeast or any soy ingredients. I altered it slightly to increase to give it a sharper taste. Yum!

Then I remembered: Mom's Rice-Broccoli-Cheese casserole. Mmmmm. So good. So, I though, if this sauce makes a good Mac and Cheese, I wonder how if I could use it make a vegan version of my old favorite?

Oh yes. I actually liked this sauce BETTER with the rice and broccoli than I did with just pasta. I think it added more texture and flavors. I topped it off with bread crumbs, which gave it that nice, crunchy brown top that help make casseroles so tasty. And the leftovers are even better!

Coming up: tortilla soup and "chicken" enchiladas! So stayed tuned!

Rum Cake! Mmmm, rum...

My mom makes a kick ass Rum Cake. It's a little scandalous, really. My parents are basically teetotalers* who don't keep any alcohol in the house EXCEPT the rum for the rum cake. I grew up in a dry city, so it was a big deal when the rum ran out and one my parents, usually my dad, had to go to the store to buy more. He'd walk in after work with the brown paper bag, all solemn about his brief venture into satan's territory. Not surprisingly, this cake was always a big hit at the church socials, where someone was always bound to joke about having "one too many" which is crazy since the alcohol cooks off, but whatever.

*sidenote: my parents will now drink wine occasionally, especially if we are out to dinner and I order a bottle, stating that they can join me, or they can watch me drink the whole damn bottle myself. They usually join in.

Fast forward: So last year when my roommate went to the Caribbean, she came home with at least 5 little rum cakes. Apparently, the only time she ever had rum cake was when her family went to the islands. She gave me one, thinking it was this crazy special treat I'd probably never had, and I was like, "Oh rum cake? That's cool. My mom makes this all the time." This year we were coming back from Aruba and she REALLY wanted to buy a rum cake in the airport, but they were $20 for the little mini-bundt pan ones. TWENTY FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!! I promised her I'd bake her the damn cake myself if she would just PLEASE for the love of God not spend $20 on that tiny little thing.

I got the recipe from my mom, and then played around with it a little bit to make it vegan. My bundt pan is in storage, so I made do with two loaf pans, but it really is prettier if you have a bundt pan to make it that way. I tested it out on my roommate and she gave it her full approval. Even after I told her it had tofu in it. ;)

So, for your enjoyment:

RUM CAKE

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. (3 3/4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 light rum
1 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Grease and flour Bundt pan (or two small loaf pans). Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Place cake mix, pudding, oil, water, and rum in a bowl. Mix for a minute. Puree tofu in a blender, pushing down the sides as needed. Add to mixture. Mix well. Pour batter into pan over the nuts. Bake 50-60 minutes @ 325 degrees. Remove from oven. Pierce with toothpick or fork and pour RUM GLAZE over warm cake (while it is in the pan). Let set 30 minutes before removing from pan.

RUM GLAZE:
1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup rum, 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine (1 stick)

To prepare GLAZE, melt EB in a saucepan. Add sugar, water, and rum. Bring to a boil. (Beware that it may boil over -- be prepared to take it off the stove as needed.) Boil 2-3 minutes. Pour over hot cake.

ENJOY!

Red Lentil and Cauliflower Curry

I’ve been craving Indian food lately, and this recipe has been on my top “to make” list since I first browsed Veganomicon, so I decided it was time to test it out. Plus, I have a LOT of red lentils on hand right now, despite making several batches of various red lentil soups. It’s like they’re secretly breeding and multiplying in the cupboard at night.

Indian curries range from very simple to rather complicated, both in terms of ingredients and cooking skills, and this falls on the simpler end of both scales. (For great vegan Indian food, check out Alternative Vegan by Dino Sarma.) You can moderate the spice and heat depending on the type/amount of chili pepper and the heat of the curry powder that you use. I’m from Texas so I can take the heat!

I served this over a pilaf of millet, quinoa and brown and white rice, although I think it would be really great over just white basmati rice. A sprinkle of coconut flakes on top would be tasty as well, though I didn’t have any on hand. If you want to up the nutrient factor, you can add a bunch of chopped spinach towards the very end. I add spinach to practically ever soup and stew that I make, because it is such as easy way to sneak in those leafy greens without even having to think about it. This particular night I really wanted my spinach separately, so instead of adding it to the curry I sautéed it with some garlic and mushrooms and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

This made for a GREAT one-pot dish (bonus: easy clean-up). The sweetness of the parsnip really helped round out the flavors of the curry. I had seconds. And thirds. And the leftovers held up well for lunches for the next few days.

Now to check on what those cheeky lentils are up to…..

Caesar Salad and other goodness

So nothing today comes from Veganomicon but they're still worthy of mention.

So for lunch today I had a burger and a Caesar Salad. I have heard AMAZING things about the Living Caesar Dressing recipe from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink and be Vegan. Normally, Caesar dressing is made out of raw egg and anchovy paste, among other non-vegan ingredients. Dreena's recipe is made out of cashews and pine nuts blended together with a few seasonings and thinned out with lemon juice and water.

I was skeptical. I how on earth could this list of ingredients create anything vaguely resembling caesar salad dressing? Well, I have no idea, but this dressing is AMAZING. If this were served to unsuspecting diners in a restaurant I seriously doubt anyone would guess that it wasn't just a regular, fabulous caesar dressing. I think I could drink the stuff. It should be called Caesar crack or something. I can't wait until dinner so I can have some more.

I have never made my own veggie-burgers and intend to try it out sometime soon, but today I just paired the salad with a Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle burger on a bun topped with salsa and sliced avocado. If you've never tried veggie-burgers and are wary of the idea, I think these are a great place to start. In no way do they attempt to resemble beef, so there are no "this doesn't taste like a REAL burger" issues. They aren't supposed to--they have black beans, corn and chipotle peppers in them and are very nicely seasoned. Also, it only takes a few minutes to heat them up, so they're a great thing to have stashed in the freezer for when you need a quick meal.

Couscous

So usually, my starch of choice in the humble sweet potato. Easy, tasty, healthy. While a sweet potato serves as an excellent base for chili or a tofu scramble, most of the time I just eat them plain with perhaps a dash of salt. I used to always just microwave them, but I've been dabbling with macrobiotics lately, which eschews microwave cooking, on the grounds that it is sooo completely unnatural and that nothing should cook that fast. Overall I agree, though I'm not tossing mine anytime soon. But it is kind of freaky if you think about it. I mean, SHOULD something that takes an hour at 300 degrees F to cook in an oven be ready to eat after five minutes in a microwave? And what, exactly, is a microwave? (come on science geeks!) What is it really doing to the food? Anyway, so recently I started baking my sweet potatoes and OH MY GOD what a difference. Even the skin is delicious. I just can't go back.

All of this is just a really long way of saying that 1. I like my sweet potatoes, 2. I like them BAKED in the oven, 3. tonight my oven was otherwise occupied so I had to come up with another starch to round out my meal, and 4. I didn't have time to make rice. And then, I remembered: couscous!

Couscous is a tiny little round "grain" that is actually a pasta made out of wheat. And it cooks in five minutes. My only problem is that I have a difficul time seasoning it so that it tastes good if I'm not using as the base for some sort of pilaf. So, I turned to Veganomicon, and found a recipe for Tomato Couscous with Capers (p 117).

Now, I am weird about tomatoes. I don't like them raw, and I don't like big chunks of cooked tomatoes. I like tomato everything: salsa, as a base for soups, pasta sauce, etc... But I like them finely diced or pureed and I like them cooked. And yes, I have had amazingly fresh straight-off-the-vine tomatoes (my grandparents are farmers) and I still feel this way. So instead of mixing in the diced tomatoes later, as the recipe indicates, I pureed to the tomatoes and cooked the entire can with the juice/water/couscous. I also doubled to total amount of liquid, just because the recipe calls for a 1:1 liquid to couscous ratio, while the directions on the couscous calls for a 3:1 liquid to couscous ratio, so I compromised with a 2:1 ratio.

Taste-wise I enjoyed this dish. I think it might still need some more seasoning or something. Or more texture. Next time I might just chopped up the tomatoes so the diced chunks are smaller instead of pureeing them. And I might add some toasted pecans or something for a little extra flavor and crunch. Oh, or maybe ground flaxseed for a little texture and some omega-3s. Hmmm. But still, it was a really easy, quick recipe that would definitely go well with a lot of different things. It would also be great as a base for a pilaf with chickpeas and some lightly sauteed chopped spinach mixed in. I have lots of leftovers, so if I try anything that truly makes me go WOW! later this week, I'll let you know.

I'm BAAACCCKK!

Hey all you vegan freakies and other well-wishers: I am back with a vengeance! With yummy goodness to share!

So I had a friend in town not too long ago who requested that I experiment on her. So, in honor of having someone around to appreciate my efforts, I busted out the Braised Seitan with Brussels, Kale and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (p. 182) and served it with the oh-so-tasty Broccoli Polenta (p. 114).

This was my first attempt at making homemade seitan and I think it came out pretty well. I used the Simple Seitan recipe in the book (p. 131). I don't think I'm a big nutritional yeast fan, so in the future I might leave that out, but who knows. I'll experiment. I really don't eat a lot of tempeh or seitan, as I love legumes of every shape and form and could live on lima beans if I had too, but it was fun to try something new.

I do however looove polenta, and I love broccoli, and the Broccoli Polenta was so easy and so tasty that you must make this right away. I basically ate the leftovers like muffins or cupcakes or something. Mmmmm.

Once the seitan was ready, the recipe itself was simple and fast to prepare. The sauce is very basic, just a little red wine, veggie broth, and a few spices.

This dish seemed to get more interesting as we ate it. At first, both my friend and were like, hmmm, it's ok, not that much to it. But the more we ate, the more we both liked it. And it's so colorful and it full of nutritious goodness, what's not to love? I may try it with baked tofu instead of the seitan in the future, but that's just a personal preference.

Fresh Direct came today, so I'm browsing through Veganomicon deciding what to conquer next. (For you non-NYC'ers, Fresh Direct is basically an online grocery store where you click, order, and then have food magically appear at your doorstep the next day. If you never shopped in a NYC "grocery store" or had to lug said groceries up five flights of stairs, you may not fully appreciate the magic. But it's about as close to waving a magic wand and having food just appear as you can get.) So check back soon!

A break from our regularly scheduled programming

Hey everyone-

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. Real life keeps getting in the way. I'm taking some time off from blogging to deal with some personal issues, but I'll be back! Veganomicon, I WILL conquer you!

Thanks to everyone for your love and support. Check back soon!

Love,
Rachel

Winter Blahs

I hate winter. Hate. I grew up in Texas where winter doesn't really exist. Sure, it gets kinda really cold here and there, but it never lasts more than a few days and you never really have to be outside in it longer than the 10 seconds it takes you to get from your car into a building. And the rest of the time it's 60 degrees. Before I went to college I thought "winter coat" meant a suede jacket.

The first winter I lived in New York City I thought I was actually going to die. I didn't know it was possible to be THAT cold, all the time. And it gets so dark, so early, and the whole city walks around with their shoulders hunched up around their ears and everyone's in a bad mood until it starts to thaw in April. Or June. HATE winter.

Anyway, I've definitely got the winter blahs. All I want to do is lie on the sofa and watch bad television and not go to work and not clean my room and not send out resumes and not answer my phone and not ever leave my house ever even to see friends. And I hate the world.

So I made soup.

I love soup. I think I could eat soup for every meal, including and especially breakfast, during the winter. Soup makes me happy. And the Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans (p. 137) made me especially happy. Tomato! And Brown Rice! And Garlic! and Navy Beans! Mmmmm..... So yummy and healthy. And it required minimal chopping and only one pot, so I didn't have a sink-full of dishes to do, which is another thing that I hate. Also, this recipes makes A LOT of soup, so there were a lot of leftovers, which enables me to come as close as actually possible to opening up my fridge and magically having a fabulous meal jump out. I added a bunch of chopped spinach, which is one of the easiest ways I know to sneak in leafy greens.

Winter, bleck. Soup, mmmm. I might make to spring after all. Maybe.

Garlicky-Garlic with a side of Garlic

You do not want to kiss me right now.

Tonight I made the Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf (p. 115). Yum. This pilaf only calls for 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, but I served it with the Roasted Brussel Sprouts (from Vegan with a Vengeance, or you can reference p. 31 in the "How to Cook a Vegetable" section), and some kale sauteed with garlic, capers, and balsamic vinegar (from The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld). I think I destroyed an entire bulb of garlic. No vampires for me! But mmmmmmmm.... Also, if you think that you hate Brussel Sprouts, remember the first rule of Vegetables 101: do not boil! You MUST try them roasted with garlic. Must. I had no idea I even liked Brussel Sprouts until I cooked them this way. If you still hate on them after that, well, I guess you're a lost cause.

The pilaf doesn't have a strong flavor, so it will compliment just about anything, but it's also tasty enough to stand alone. This is simple delicious-ness at its best. And since I used red quinoa, it's so pretty!!

A quick quinoa primer: First of all, it's pronounced "keen-wah" not "kin-oh-uh." Knowing this will save you the hassle of having some snotty stock kid at Whole Foods condescendingly correct you when you ask where the hell it is. Seriously? You work at a grocery store. There's nothing wrong with that, but get over yourself. There are red and brown varieties of quinoa, which taste the same. I always buy red if I can find it, because I love the color it adds to whatever I'm using it in.

Second, it's a grain, originally cultivated by the Incas. So if your kid has a research project due on the Incas and totally procrastinates until the night before, you can whip some up and send him off with his cultural contribution.

Finally, quinoa is very nutrient dense. It is very rich in calcium, and it's gluten free for those with gluten sensitivities. And because I there's a vegan law somewhere that mandates I mention this: quinoa is a complete protein, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids. So when that annoying aunt asks you where you're getting your protein now that you don't eat meat, you can just say, "quinoa" and walk off to leave her scratching her head and wondering if you just cursed at her in some African dialect.

Almond-Quinoa Muffins

I love muffins. They're cute and happy and tasty and the perfect little self-contained "grab and go" meal or snack. More things in life should be as simple as muffins.

These muffins are super healthy--no refined sugar, all whole grains, quinoa. But they're also tasty enough that they don't scream, "health nut!" (They may not be that healthy if you eat them all in one sitting, like I attempted to do, but... hey!) I made them with red quinoa, which I really love using in pilafs because it adds an unexpected splash of color, and it does the same for these muffins. I think next time I'm going to make them with fresh cranberries instead of the dried apricots.

There's a typo in the book, so I went to the PPK forums, and one of the testers posted the following corrections: 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt.

Enjoy!

Hummus, a love story

I wanted to call this entry Hummus, a love song but I couldn't think of anything that rhymes with "hummus" except for "pumice" and that's just not appetizing. So I wrote a love story instead. It goes something like this:

Girl meets hummus. Girl falls madly in love with hummus. Hummus is there for girl, through late night "I'm nibbly and want a snack" times, through "this sandwich just needs a little something" times, and "I don't want to cook dinner so I'll just keep eating hummus and carrots until my stomach hurts" times. They live happily ever after, the end.

It's a very simple love story. Much more simple than my ACTUAL love life, which right now goes something like:

Girl meets boy. Girl is taken by boy's chiseled good looks and quirky humor. Boy pursues girl. Girl freaks out, then succumbs to boy's irresistible charm. Boy and girl fall madly in love. Boy freaks out. Boy breaks up with girl. Boy and girl remain "just friends" for five and half years. Girl moves halfway across the country. Boy moves the halfway across the country in the opposite direction. Boy and girl finally break up FOR REAL. Girl goes to a lot of yoga and kickboxing classes and eats a lot of chocolate. Boy freaks out about giant vacuum left in his life by girl's absence. Boy proposes to devil woman. Boy tells girl he's engaged. Girl goes bowling and imagines boy's face on pins. Girl goes to grad school, gets new job, dates the occasional boy toy. Boy realizes he's miserable. Boy breaks up with devil woman. Boy contacts girl. Boy and girl rekindle actual friendship. Boy apologizes to girl for every stupid thing he ever did. Girl thinks boy is just really lonely. Boy makes grand statements about a possible future together. Against all common sense and better judgment, boy and girl go on vacation together. Boy and girl have an amazing week. Boy says "I love you." Girl want to move forward. Boy says he's uncertain and still getting over devil woman. Girl bangs head against wall, wonders if she should dust off copy of He's Just Not That Into You.

Or something like that.

Anyway, hummus has always been good to me, and the Lower-Fat Cauliflower Hummus (p. 68) was no exception. If you want a tasty treat, but find yourself going through hummus less like a condiment and more like a vital nutrient you must consume in mass quantities in order to ward off imminent death, then try this out. I thought the cauliflower might affect the taste or texture but I was mistaken. Even my non-hummus-loving, cauliflower-averse roommate gave it a thumbs up. Make it right now!

Why are you still reading this? Go!

Taco Night

I'm originally from Texas, so you can bet that the second I saw the recipe for the Baja-Style Grilled Tempeh Tacos (p. 96) it went straight to the top of my to-make list. I love Mexican food. I want to marry it. I actually bring salsa back to NYC with me every time I visit Texas, lovingly bubble-wrapped and stashed in my suitcase. Trust me, I've tried every possible brand of salsa available here, from your basic grocery store brands to the gourmet fancy shmancy stuff. It's worth importing, even if it means shlepping a super-heavy suitcase up my five flights of stairs.

These tacos are kind of time consuming, but only because everything has to be prepared ahead of time so it can marinate/chill/whatever coleslaw does for a while before you actually put these suckers together. So you can save yourself a lot of time by planning and accordingly: throw the coleslaw, lime crema, and tempeh marinade together, stick it all in the fridge, watch an episode or two of The Office or do a load of laundry, take a nap, go for a run, whatever. If you are an early riser (and I am most certianly NOT) you could even take about 30 minutes to do this before work in the morning.

I think I liked the individual components of this dish better than the final product. Everything together was just a little too.... vinegar-y or something. And I luuuv vinegar. I mean, give me a jar of dill pickles and I can do some serious damage. I added some avocado as garnish, which helped to cut the acidity, but I was still underwhelmed. I do like the suggestion to turn the components of this dish into a taco salad (sans slaw), and I think I'm going to throw the tempeh and the lime crema on top of some mixed greens, along with a little avocado and maybe even some corn, and take it for lunches this week.

How to Cook a Vegetable: Roasting

One of the things that makes Veganomicon so great and so Joy of Cooking-ish is the section entitled "How to Cook a Vegetable." Unlike Joy of Cooking however, or The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, the cooking tome of choice at my house growing up, nowhere does it suggest that boiling a vegetable to mush and then covering it with butter, cheese or cream is an acceptable way to treat our Plantae friends. So if you are like my roommate, who still harbors nightmares of flavorless zucchini disks that she and her sister turned into mini UFO's zooming over the balcony when their mother wasn't looking, have no fear! Properly cooked vegetables are like a whole new food group.

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a mother who could actually boil a vegetable in a way such that it was still recognizable and tasted great, with perhaps a dash of salt and a pat of margarine to spruce it up. She single-handedly cured my father's fear of broccoli. However, since most people do not possess my mother talent, I agree whole-heartedly with Isa and Terry's mandate that you never, EVER boil a vegetable.

My new favorite method of cooking vegetables, especially during the winter, is roasting. Roasting! Who knew something so simple could yield such delicious results? Roasting has the added advantage of freeing up stove space when you are cooking meals that require more than one pot/skillet/pan.

So dinner tonight was roasted cauliflower and a tofu scramble of my own creation. Although Veganomicon suggests rubbing cauliflower with oil before roasting it, I've had great results with just a spritz of cooking spray and some sea salt if you're looking for ways to cut down on the oil in your cooking. As an added bonus, here's my quick and delicious scramble recipe. I've converted tofu-haters with the recipe. Enjoy!

Scrambled Tofu Ranchero for two

Ingredients:
-1/2 small onion, diced
-6-8 chopped mushrooms
-1/2 block of extra firm tofu, drained (for this recipe you can just press out the extra water by squeezing it between your hands, or by putting it on a plate and using a paper towel to press down on it)
-soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos
-cumin
-chili powder
-garlic powder
-oregano
-paprika
-cayenne pepper
-salsa
-handful chopped spinach
-sliced avocado

Saute the onions and mushroom in a little bit of olive oil or in a non-stick skillet sprayed with Pam. When the onions are soft, crumble the tofu into the skillet. Add a splash of soy sauce/Bragg's, then a dash of each of the spices (I tend to use a lot of cumin and chile powder and less of the other spices, but whatever floats your boat is fine.) Scramble the tofu and vegetables, mixing in the soy sauce and spices. Add about ¼ cup of salsa, continue cooking. After about 3-5 minutes, or when most liquid has evaporated, add the spinach. Saute 1-2 minutes more until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat. Garnish with sliced avocado and serve!

This is really good served inside a baked sweet potato, or in a tortilla.

Extra tofu can be stored in the fridge in a Tupperware container, covered with water, for several days. If you change the water daily it should last at least a week.

Variation: Black bean fajitas

Saute the onions and mushrooms as above (you may want to add more mushrooms). When onions begin to soften, add one diced zucchini. Saute 3-5 minutes, until zucchini begins to soften. Instead of the tofu, add one can drained black beans. Add soy sauce, spices and salsa as above (increase salsa to ½ cup). Continue cooking until vegetables are desired tenderness and flavors have melded. Serve with tortillas or over rice, garnish with “cheese”/avocado/"sour cream”/salsa as desired.

Veganomics Best Salad Ever!

I'll admit, I'm guilty.

I have committed what some may view as a horrible crime against humanity, or at least vegetarians and vegans trying to prove to the world that we do not subsist on lettuce and carrot sticks. On my very first night of cooking out of Veganomicon, for my very first actual blog post, I made a salad.

I know, I know. What?! A salad? I WHOLE cookbook of yumminess, and I made A SALAD?!

I couldn't help it. I wanted to make something big and exciting for my first entry, perhaps the Braised Seitan with Brussels, Kale and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, or the Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls. I've regaled my coworkers with the loads of fabulous baked goods I'm going to be bringing to work on a regular basis. Maybe I should have started there, with Pumpkin Cranberry Scones, or the Jelly Donut Cupcakes. (Hungry yet?)

I tried to ignore it. I needed a grand beginning! A raison d'etre! But it just kept calling to me..... "Pick me. Choose me. Love me." Every time I flipped by the page, every time I saw the picture... I couldn't help myself. I wanted it. It had all my favorite things in it. And it didn't require a real trip to the grocery store. I could just pop in, grab two or three items, and pop out. Besides, isn't that part of the mark of a great cookbook, that you don't always have to scour the ends of the earth to find all of the ingredients, and yet can still create something spectacular?



So, I thought, screw it! I will not apologize for kicking off this project with a salad! So, I proudly present to you: the Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing (p 87), aka, the Best Salad EVER! Mixed greens, chickpeas, sliced avocado, Roasted Portobellos (p 112), and spicy mustard dressing. How could I possibly resist?!

The recipe says it takes 45 minutes, including the mushroom cooking time. This is probably about right, except that it does not include the mushroom MARINATING time. To actual time-to-table was about and hour and twenty minutes. BUT, once the mushrooms are ready, it literally takes about three minutes to whip up the dressing, slice the avocado (and red onion if you use it. I left if out because I don't like raw onions in my salad), crack open a can of chickpeas, and voila! I served it with a side of steamed broccoli garnished with sesame seeds.

This is definitely going to become a staple for me. It's nutritious, delicious, filling and amazingly simple. I've already packed up the leftovers to take in to work for lunch, and can't wait to eat it again. A little crunch in the form of some sunflower seeds would also be a tasty addition.

In Vegan with a Vengeance, Isa said that someone once told her to never apologize for her food. A salad like this means never having to say "I'm sorry."

The Challenge

The Challenge: Cook my way through the entirety of Veganomicon, the latest cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano. Essentlally, the Joy of Cooking, sans meat, eggs, and dairy.

The Obstacles: An exhausting full time job, a teensy NYC kitchen, a drawer full of take-out menus, and my own propensity towards laziness. Why cook when delicious Thai food is just a phone call away? And delivered to the door of my fourth floor walk-up? And why am I so poor? Hmmmmm...... The mysteries of life.


Introduction: I need a project. A focus. Something, really, to distract me from the uncertainties in my life and provide some structure. I recently finished grad school, and am now "only" working full time, so.... I have a lot a free time on my hands that I don't really know how to use. I'm looking for a new job, trying to decide if I really want to stay in the City, an old boyfriend has re-appeared, I'm going to have to somehow start paying back my student loans soon.... basically I spend way too much time sitting around THINKING about my life, and not always doing that much. And spending way too much money on food that I am perfectly capable of cooking myself.

No more.

In an effort to DO something, anything, while also saving money and imposing some sort of structure and pseudo-discipline into my daily life, I give you: Veganomics.

Credits go to: The Julie/Julia project. Yes, I'm totally stealing her idea, sans all the butter, eggs, meat, sweetbreads, and other scary animal bits. Also, and most importantly, to Isa and Terry for their amazing and inspiring cookbook. And to the Veganfreaks, for helping me pick which book to cook and blog my way through.

More musings on the hows and whys to follow. For now, let the game begin!