A Lovely Day and Jennifer's Tacos de papas y lentejas

Even with the stress of finals (...and break-ups, and upcoming trips I'm not prepared for, and whatever else the world decides to throw at me) I'm trying to enjoy these first couple days of truly gorgeous weather in DC. The tendency during hardcore studying may be to lock oneself in a dark room and inhale coffee (and other substances, if you're from my school...), but I prefer to sit somewhere I can be easily distracted. Just look what's right outside my house!

Its the little things that make you more cheerful when you're incredibly screwed. For instance, instead of typing up an outline I'm hand-writing it. Its easier on my wrists, and since I can't bring it to the exam anyways I think the act of writing aids my memory. I'm also blasting music and making sure there are plenty of bananas and faux-nutella nearby, as crucial study aids.

You know what also helps? Having a full meal- not just vending machine cuisine. While I was wondering if I could possibly dream up something on my own, my roomate suggested tacos and I thought- "you know who makes yummy-looking tacos...?"

I was of course thinking of the lovely Jennifer of Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings blog. I've been drooling over a few of her recipes lately, but the ingredients and timing were right to make Potato and Lentil Tacos (minus the home-made salsa.) I also tried out the avocado cream from a few posts earlier. And ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to announce that both items were a rousing success.

In fact, when my omni roommate saw what was cooking, he decided not to cook the lbs of greasy taco meat he had planned on. :)

I have to say that I'm always a little nervous about lentils. I either make them too mushy or under-cook them, or I under flavor them... its just a mess. But for once I got it right, and the mixture with the onions and jalapenos was flavorful enough on its own that I plan to eat it tomorrow over some leftover lettuce and tomatoes. The potatoes were also awesome. I really under-utilize plain old potatoes- and they can be so good! The whole thing came together really well, and I loved the avocado cream (which was also super-simple.) I can only imagine it was better with the addition of home-made salsa, but I was happy with the store-bought kind too.

So thanks Jennifer! An easy and spicy meal was just what I needed to get me prepped for an all-nighter with my good friends Of Montreal and Understanding Trusts and Estates. And just so you know, the timing you wrote was accurate- minus the salsa the whole think took just under 40 minutes from start to finish. Not bad for such awesome results!

And now... sigh...back to work....

Protein Power: Chipotle Black Beans & Red Quinoa

This is another one of those super-easy meals that comes together before you can get annoyed at yourself for not starting earlier. The portions are also ideal for 1-2 people. Not only that, but its packed with protein with the combo of quinoa and beans. Perfect for when you've been relying on beer and soy ice cream as your protein sources for the last week, like some people I know. (cough, cough.)

The red quinoa isn't prepared any differently then regular quinoa, nor does it taste any different. But hey, its cool looking!

Chipotle Black Beans*
-1 onion, diced
-1 can black beans, drained
-3/4 can chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped with sauce reserved
-Garlic powder or other spice mix

So simple. Cook the onions in some oil of your choice on med-low until softened, and sprinkle with garlic powder. Add in the beans and the chipotles and sauce, stir, raise the heat, and cover. In about 15 minutes you have the perfect accompaniment to quinoa and veggies of your choice. I thought it was particularly amazing with some slices of avacado, diced mango, tomatoes and a dollop of soy sour cream.

*I should mention that this was quite spicy, even with the cooling avacados and sour cream. So just be sure to use a little less adobo sauce if you're not a big heat-person.


And speaking of incredibly easy, which is about all I can handle at the moment, I've been making a lot of little parfaits for myself lately with the various kinds of soy yogurt and puddings out there. The best? Fresh rasberries, almonds and chocolate pudding layered in a little cup. It feels so fancy even though it takes about two seconds to put together. So yay for quick, yet distracting, meals!

Also, I wanted to thank all of you for your kind words about my recent break-up. You guys are awesome. However, if you really wanted to put your money where your mouth is, I'd appreciate your assistance in hooking me up with one of the following excellent candidates for my affection. I know someone out there must know at least one of them.
Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal sings the soundtrack to my life, so he may as well be in my life...

James McAvoy is ruggedly handsome, but more importantly, hilarious and seemingly very smart and cool...

And Dave Eggers wrote one of my favorite books (What is the What) but also has amazing taste in music, as evinced by his awesome columns in the old Spin magazine.

So guys, thanks in advance for your help! I will go ahead and clear my calendar for the weekend. :) Don't forget to mention that I can cook.

Cupcakes and Heartbreak Salad

When your relationship ends, the whole world comes to a stop. Minutes seem like days and its hard to believe that you will ever want to listen to music, read a book, or eat anything that doesn't come out of a box again. However, if you can drag yourself out of bed and away from the Jameson's, its possible that some sifting, chopping, and mixing could cheer you a little.

Well, it did for me. Just a little.

The cupcakes I made for a friend's birthday party which she conveniently held at my bar. They're both from VCTOTW. On the left we have the gingerbread cupcakes topped with lemon cream-cheese icing, and on the right the strawberry tallcakes (a variation on my favorite chocolate cherry cream cupcakes. While the tallcakes were good and very pretty, the gingerbread cupcakes were INSANE. Kind of spicy and slightly salty, topped with the most fabulous icing I have ever had, vegan or not. My roomate was furious with me when I polished off the last of those two babies.

Seriously, try them. Its always nice to be the one bringing cupcakes to the party. :)

After the rush of the weekend, I was still (understandably, I think) pretty miserable. On a whim I stopped into Wholefoods, vaguely planning to get something from the to-go section. But walking through the produce aisle, inspiration struck. Some bright and ripened mangos caught my eye, reminding me of all the mango trees in Cuba and what a wonderful thing it is to reach up and grab a juicy piece of fruit when its hot outside. Some avacado and fresh corn got tossed in, reminding me of a delicious guacamole they have at a restaurant in Atlanta that I commonly frequented when I was single. Some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes so red they made me smile. And finally, some wasabi dressing- to wake me up and work magic with the avacado.



So I chopped up all the veggie, sliced off the corn kernals, cubed the mango and avacado, and tossed it all the with dressing. (Actually, I made enough for two servings and squeezed some lemon on one so it would keep for the next day.) Maybe its not the prettiest picture, but believe me. This salad is magic. The entire time I ate it, the sun was shining in the window and all my favorite food memories were popping in my head. I couldn't think about the break-up for even one bite. Now that's a good salad. I highly recommend it next time you find yourself eyeing the boxed mashed potatoes and cookie crisp.

Spicy Gingered Chickpeas and Unidentified Pakistani Spices

I have to tell you, I really haven't been in the mood to cook lately.

Well, that's not it exactly. Its more like I haven't wanted to go to the grocery store. Although I have a very nicely stocked pantry, between work, school, and sleep I just haven't had a lot of time to head to the store for those fresh essentials: onions, garlic, bananas, soy cream cheese... I've just been too busy to stop in for even a few minutes.

And sadly, when I do get a chance to pick up a few things, its the solo person's nightmare- throwing them away a week later when they go bad. Such a waste. But I decided to conservatively take a step away from living on cashew butter and jam sandwiches and make a meal that is 75% pantry essentials and just a few things from the store. That way, there's no chance of throwing a bunch of vegetables away when I neglect the kitchen for a busy week. Thankfully, the recipe turned out great! (I was really surprised, actually!) Just spicy enough and very filling. Perfect with some ginger beer. Give it a shot the next time you're too busy to shop.

Spicy Gingered Chickpeas
-2 Tbs Coconut Oil
-1 small onion diced
-2 cloves garlic, diced
-2 tbs ginger, grated and chopped
-1/4 tsp. turmeric
-1/8 tsp. cumin
-1 14 oz can chickpeas, drained
-1/2 can diced tomatoes with peppers
-1 T brown sugar
-pinch of salt

-Naan and mango chutney to dress it up (if you like)

1. In a small pot heat the coconut oil on med-low. Add the onions and cook until they start to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the turmeric, cumin, garlic, ginger and a little salt and let cook for a few more minutes. (At this point you could also add more chili powder or cayenne pepper to up the heat level.)
3. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, and a cup of water. Raise the heat to medium until it reaches a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until sauce has thickened. Stir in brown sugar and cook a few minutes more. Season to taste and serve with naan and a dollop of chutney.

Note: This was enough for me and leftovers. Doubling the recipe would probably serve 4.

Now, as much as I love using ginger and the like, I've been trying to branch out in terms or what spices I use. Luckily, my Dad brought me back some new things to try from Pakistan. Unfortch, he didn't bother to buy things with labels or anything useful like that. So now I have all these spices, and have no idea what they are.

I'm pretty sure a few of these are some kind of fennel variation. Any idea about the rest? I'm particularly intrigued about the last one- little charcoal-black hard pieces of something. No idea. Maybe I will just start cooking with them and hope for the best!

5 Things and Excellence!

Ok, time to take care of some blog-bizness. Three Anouncements!



Second announcement: I have to write 5 things about myself.
Ok, I think I am officially the last person on the internet to have completed this meme. I forgot, guys! I smiled when I saw that Miss Kamutflake Girl (whose blog I adore!) had tagged me, and then got completely distracted when thinking about my five things. But here, lemme give it a shot.
*FIVE THINGS*

1. I can't get anything done without music on. In fact, its fair to say that my brain moves sluggishly in silence. I study, cook, exercise, shower, and sometimes sleep with music on. And while my taste is constantly skipping around from post-punk to klezmer to 60's wall of sound to (fill in the blank), at the moment I'm obsessed with Athens band Of Montreal. Guess I'm sort of in a psychadelic mood.

Oh yeah, and that's where I got the idea for my blog title! The song "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider" where Kevin Barnes sings, "I need a lover with soul power/ and you ain't got no soul power."

2. I'm in law school and I HATE IT. But I think that's just part of the deal with lawschool, right? So hopefully I won't hate being a lawyer. Oh yeah, and I'm going into public interest law. So no big law firm for me, probably just a non-profit or legal services office with old "Free Nelson Mandela" posters hanging up.

3. I'm addicted to historical biographies. Eva Peron, the last Czars of Russia, Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt, ect. I just find it fascinating to get lost in someone else's imperfect life. I also think they are so revealing about the author's perspective. (Like, does one portray Peron as a victim of her time, a pre-feminist heroine, or a narcississtic manipulator? That says more about the author than her.)

4. I can't read clocks. Seriously, something about analog clocks doesn't work with my brain. Its like I have a very specific learning disability. If someone put a gun to my head and was like- "look at that wall clock! What time is it?" I be like, "Just shoot me now." (I'd have a better chance looking at the sun.)

5. Art Nouveau is my favorite artistic movement. Its so swirly and beautiful... Although, I really like Futurism too. And pre-historic art. But I am so excited to go check out all the Jugendstile and other art nouveau relatives in Eastern Europe.

And that brings me to the third announcement: I'm Excellent!
I have recieved the "E for Excellence" award, so graciously bestowed upon me by the lovely Jennifer of Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings. I quite adore her blog as well, especially since she shares my interest in cooking with whole foods and not relying so heavily on tofu and seitan. So, the other blogs I think deserve an "E":

-Fresh Approach Cooking : As I've said a million times, I adore this blog, and its the one that I most frequently make recipes from.
-And since I'm such a sucker for pretty pictures, I adore Vegan Visitor. The photos on this blog are just... LUSCIOUS! It makes me feel guilty for not always waiting for natural light.
-Swell Vegan is similarly beautiful and packed full of delicious-looking recipes.
-And finally, I just discovered Vegan Eats and Treats and its already distracting me from homework. I think its also the traveling aspect of this blog that keeps me skimming through the archives.

But really, this is just skimming the surface of all the blogs I love. I discover about 5 new ones (and about 100 new recipes) every day! Yay for blogging. Ooops, and yeah, I tag the above blogs in the share-5-things meme too. :)

Easter Dinner Spectacular

So believe it or not, my parents went for yet another all-vegan holiday meal! This is just getting too easy!

Of course, why wouldn't it be when we're turning out scrumptious treats like this!

While I don't actually celebrate Easter, my Mom does and after all, do you really need an excuse to have a lovely family dinner? (Especially with no school the next day!) Above is the highlight of the meal, the fabulous coconut macadamia carrot-cake from VwaV. It was a bit of prep work at the start, but in the end it came together easily and everyone loved it. So worth the work. (And trust me, I don't have the best track record with baked goods.) I mean, with a glass of soymilk you're pretty much in heaven. It also gave me the confidence I need to bake some other layer-cake delicacies I've been admiring of late.

Dinner was lemon asparagus risotto. (Doesn't that sound spring-y?) I made it the same way I always make risotto. Except this time, I sauteed some asparagus and tossed that in at the end, along with a little lemon juice and lemon peel. Honestly, at this point I could make risotto in my sleep! (If I could stir in my sleep, that is.)

I served it alongside some cherry tomatoes sauteed in garlic, crusty bread, and a strawberry-spinach salad with homemade dressing (the same one I made on Valentines day, because its SO AMAZING). It all went off without a hitch.

I'd like to mention here that when I'm coming up with a menu, I keep in mind the age-old secret of different colors and textures on a plate. Thats why I chose tomatoes- more greens would have been overkill with the spinach and the asparagus, and some gingered carrots would have been way too reminiscent of the dessert. This worked out well, but I still wondered what else could have been served alongside to spice things up. Maybe some smoked tofu? The blog What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway? always has great ideas for full menus, as does Eat Air, another blog I love.


***In travel news, I am in the midst of preparing for my big trip in May. I have all my flights booked, my shifts covered at work, and Lonely Planet guidebooks/ dictionaries for everywhere I'm going. At this point, I'm trying to figure out how to distill my clothes into about 2 interchangable, weather appropriate outfits. I'm also working on booking hostels and coming up with itineraries based on where I might be staying. And of course, I'm also heavily focused on the food! So far, it looks like Budapest will be the most vegan friendly, based on the number of vegetarian restaurants listed in the guidebook. But, its always a different story on the ground.

One of the things I plan to do to prepare is to veganize a few recipes from each country to get familiar with the kind of ingredients used in popular dishes. (Also, basically just for fun.) I've never made a "goulash" before, I've no idea what kind of spices are predominant in Turkey, and I assume that many yummy Viennese pastries are packed with eggs and cream. So lm going to have to find out! As for Germany, having lived with a German for a year I feel fairly confident that there will be vegetable dishes galore in Berlin. Either that or he adapted amazingly well. :)

Hope everyone had a relaxing/ revitalizing holiday! Here's me gloating over my well-turned-out cake.

Bagels from Heaven

Like I was rhapsodizing about last week, there's nothing better for a weekend breakfast than one sweet and one savory bagel. And since everything must be topped with avacados for me lately, the everything bagel was really super-fabulous. Why oh why is soy cream cheese so awesome?!

Meanwhile, I'm having a bit of a dillemma today about what to make at my parents's house for Easter dinner. I've been focusing much more on Passover (the planning of which has been helped tremendously since I purchased Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook) so I'm kind of at a loss, and I need to shop today! Here's what I have so far:

-raw crudites stuffed w/ herbed soy-cream cheese dip
-brussels sprouts w/ pistachios and lemon
-Coconut Macadamia Carrot Cake (from aforementioned VWaW)

But what for the main course? I want something spring-y but rich. Like asparagus risotto, or maybe pasta primavera. My folks kind of just want grilled portobellas and mashed potatos since they loved them so much on Valentines day, but I want to mix things up. I'll let you know what I came up with!

Veggie Tacos and Mango-Avacado Salsa

Before I had a blog, nay, before I was even fully aware of the wonder of food-blogging from any angle, I used to simply email myself recipes when I came across them and title them things like "idea for passover" or "yummmm". Little did I know that I would soon base almost my entire diet off of recipes gleaned from the vegan and veg-friendly blogosphere...

This recipe from the Fresh Approach cooking blog, which I labeled simply "delish sweet potato thingie" has become a standby now for nights when I have a few veggies on hand and a sweet potato. The idea is simple- but oh my, is it heavenly. (That Rachael is a goddess!) I altered it a bit this time, what with my black beans and salsa, but I believe thats sort of the idea. Now, for the salsa:

Mango Avacado Salsa
-1 ripe mango, diced (if you don't know how to do this properly, here's a fun little walk-thru)
-1 avacado, peeled, cored and diced
-1 red onion, diced
-1-2 cloves garlic finely diced
-Juice from one lime
-Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients, tossing in the lime juice, and s&p, and cover with plastic wrap. For best results, refrigerate for about a hour until you are ready to eat.

This salsa is good enough to eat straight from the bowl, but I usually top it on tacos or burritos that are a little spicy. (The avacado cools things down a bit.) I like it with spicy flaxseed chips too.

Vegan Brunch at Asylum (and my house!)

I can't believe I never heard of it until now, but a bar in the ultra-hip Adams Morgan neighborhood has a weekend brunch featuring extensive vegan options. As soon as I heard, I had to drag my boyfriend along to check it out!

Asylum is nestled between an array of other late-night hostpots on 18th street. A wrought iron fence by the entrance leads you to the downstairs level, where a pool table and brick walls surround the crowds by the bar. The upstairs features blood-red canopies and gothic light fixtures along with a second long bar- this is where the brunch takes place. When we got there around noon a waitress rushed up to tell us it would be a 20 minute wait- then came back 2 seconds later to seat us. This place is busy, but the tables turnover fast.

The menu has two sides- one vegan and one non-vegan. They make it clear that the vegan side is completely vegan, ie, even the worchester sauce for bloody marys contains no animal products. I also overheard a waitress telling the table next to us that the vegan brunch items are prepared in a separate kitchen from the other stuff. Very thorough! The menu featured a southwestern take on brunch, with tofu huevos rancheros, a scrampled tofu wrap with black beans, and assorted standard fare like french toast, soysage and pancakes. I opted for the huevos (although a texas toast breakfast sandwhich was tempting as well.)

The food came out fast and the portions were huge! Mine was a corn tostada layered with tofu scramble, salsa and soy cheese. It was served over black beans and fried potatoes. I was skeptical- the tofu looked undercooked and the salsa looked watery- but it was great! Subtly spicy, crunchy and filling. Total perfection for a hangover meal, or in my case a good start for a busy day. And when I looked up from wolfing the whole thing down, the boyf was pleased with his bacon breakfast wrap as well. We will DEFINITELY be back.

And speaking of brunch, I had the most perfect homemade brunch saturday as well. No pictures (alas!) but let me just tell you. I took half an everything bagel and half a raisin bagel, toasted each and spread with soy cream cheese. The everything bagel got topped with avacado, cherry tomatoes and red onion, the raisin bagel got strawberries. So simple, and oh-my-goodness was I in heaven. I don't think I'll ever go a weekend without this combo again.

Oh, and in other brunch news, Isa Chandra Moskowitz is coming out with a new brunch book! (Who hasn't heard that already, but still. ) I'm so psyched!

Don't forget your lipstick!

Its more than apparent that not all make-up is vegan (or even vegetarian!) Between the milk & honey spattered throughout Burt's Bees products and the crushed up beetles used to make a racy red color in many lipsticks (look for the ingredient "Carmine") its a safe bet that if you wear make-up, you have something in your stash that has animal or animal by-product ingredients.

At the same time, most people aren't accustomed to scanning the list of ingredients of their lotion or eyeliner to make sure its vegan. (After all, you aren't going to eat it!) And not all products are labled the way food has to be. Thats why its nice to see companies like Urban Decay promoting a new line of "vegan beauty" products. According to the website, even though they are not a vegan company they still want to be friendly to those consumers who are. (Nice niche marketing strategy!) I lived on their purple lipstick when I was a 13 year old, and maybe now I will have to check out some of their sparkly vegan offerings.

Of course, you could always stick to those companies that are completely vegan to avoid this issue. I have some companies listed at the left, and Etsy has a pretty good array of vegan beauty booty as well. Fancy up yourself and support some independent vegan retailers!

(Hat tip to Fashionista)

Two-bean Cinnamon Soul Power Chili!

Everyone and their vegan blogger mother has a recipe for chili. And with good reason: just a little variation (sweet potatoes, zuchinni, chocolate?! ect) changes the taste totally. Its also a good clean-out-the-cupboard dish- and that was the plan tonight. I've been meaning to try some of the awesome looking variations from the vegan blogosphere, but I ended up just tossing a bunch of things in and hoping for the best. But here were some of my inspirations:

*Chipotle sweet potato and black bean chili from Swell Vegan
*Red Bean and Lager Chili from Veggie Meal Plans
*Chocolate Chipotle Chili from The Urban Vegan
*Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili from Vegan Visitor

So I took the idea to use sweet potatoes and cinnamon, and the rest all came together based on what I had around (beer! tomato puree! corn!) And actually, it turned out super-fabulous. So here it is, my very own...

Two Bean Cinnamon Soul Power Chili!

1 big ole onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 sweet potato, you guessed it, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1-2 jalapenos, sliced and seeded
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can tomato puree
1 can diced tomatoes
3/4 c. frozen corn
1 bottle of vegan Lager
Varying amounts of the following: salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, smoked paprika, chili powder, habanero sauce

1. Toss your onion and garlic in a big ole pot with your choice of oil at medium heat. After a few minutes, add in the sweet potato, red pepper and jalapeno, and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cinnamon. Stir and cover for 5 minutes.
2. Pour in about 1/3 of the beer and cover again- checking occassionally to see if the sweet potatoes are tender (about 5 minutes). Once they are, add in the beans, tomatoes and sauce. Add a few pinches of sugar to cut the acidity.
3. Now comes the spicing. People have different ideas of whats spicy, so start out with 1 tsp. of chili powder and a few dashes of habanero sauce, and add more depending on how spicy you're feeling. ( I probably ended up with about 2 tsp. and 8 dashes and it was spicy but not too much for my Mom.) Add in the rest of the beer, frozen corn, and more water as needed to make it saucier. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat and cover until ready to serve.

Serve over sliced and lightly fried store-bought polenta.

*And for dessert I had "vegan" muffins that my little brother made with soymilk. How freaking cute is that!?*

Banana, Brown Sugar and Soy Sour Cream Crepes

In Rehobeth Beach, Delaware there are many lovely things. There's a long boardwalk that leads to a kid's playland, rainbow flags that line the streets and wave in front of most businesses, a Victorian-themed hotel with exotic birds that fly around the lobby and land on people's shoulders... and of course, there's the beach itself, not quite as crowded as Ocean City, not as spare as Bethany, and filled with both families and adults on holiday. I used to go there every year, with my best friend, and really, the whole trip was about two things: chocolate covered strawberries and crepes from Le Crepe Suzette. Oh, we flirted with the ideas of piercings or henna tattoos, but crepes were really the main event for me. Cute foreign exchage students stood in a little boxy stand with the radio blaring, pouring streams of batter onto a huge round surface and using a squeegee to comb and trim the excess. After flipping, they would fill it with whatever you wanted: and for me, that meant bananas, brown sugar and sour cream.

It was only natural that I would learn to reproduce this treat at home, which I did to great effect with friends and dinner guests. But when I went vegan, I thought my crepe-capades had come to an end. (Afterall, they're so eggy!) But thank heavens, the wonderful vegan pioneers that came before us have veganized the recipe to absolute perfection. So now, even Rehoboth's famous crepes are an easy vegan feat.

There are plenty of vegan crepe recipes floating around the internet, and I know there are two in V'Con. However, I rely on the recipe from the fabulous Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard (I've had this cookbook something like 5 years and I still use it all the time). Their recipe uses powdered egg replacer which I think works great, but of course, I've seen them done many other ways. (And a lot of people seem to avoid egg replacer for whatever reason.) Here are some of my own tried and true commandments of crepe-making:

1. Make the batter in a blender. This produces a smoother result, and you can pour it out of the blender rather than ladling it.
2. Pour the batter into the center of the pan then rapidly tilt it in a circular motion till the batter has spread.
3. The first one is always a throwaway (or eat-away.)
4. Wait till bubbles appear and the edges start to curl up before flipping.
5. Always make a comically small one for any pets or babies around.
6. When doing the filling, throw the crepe back on the pan to warm up the ingredients.

For me, although a pretty crepe is wonderful, its really all about the filling, baby. So the bananas, soy sour cream and brown sugar is one way to do it, and its fabulous, but here are some others I have obsessed over:

-fake nutella and bananas
-fake nutella and sour cherry jam (lust!)
-mangos and rasberries with powdered sugar
-almonds, butter and maple syrup
-sliced strawberries and balsamic reduction
-tofu scramble
-asparagus or broccoli and nootch cheezy sauce

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be cranking out more cruelty-free crepes than any stand at Rehobeth beach can shake a stick at. (But all love to Crepe Suzette anyways- I'm sure they'll come around and go vegan one of these days.) (And yep, they're still there.)

Vegan Valentines Feast!

I just got to wake up Valentines Day and have a chocolate-cherry-creme cupcake! Why, you ask? Because I am waiting tables tonight, and therefore made a Valentines feast for my fam and some friends last night. (My bf, unfortunately, was unavailable.) Amazingly enough, this meal turned out truly great. Seriously. I very rarely concoct a dinner and have everything go off without a hitch, but this really was delicious... not one of the non-vegans had anything left on their plate.

For an appetizer I made little mini heart-shaped pizzas. I used the Joy of Cooking pizza dough recipe I love so much, but divided the dough into four balls, rolled them out, and shaped them vaguely into heart shapes before brushing with EVOO. While the dough had been rising, I roasted two heads of garlic in the oven at 350, and marinated some sliced heirloom tomatoes in EVOO and salt and pepper. When the garlic was all roasted, I squeezed each bit out of its crunchy shell and into a bowl, where it was mashed with a little more EVOO and set aside. Finally, I caramelized a few sliced shallots. (To be fair, I had some time on my hands while the dough was rising to get all this inspiration.) To put it all together, I rubbed the garlic paste onto the pizzas and topped it with the tomatoes, shallots, some sliced roasted peppers (from a jar), and some red pepper flakes. I then cooked it for about 15 minutes at 425. They turned out really flavorful and delicious. This may be my new go-to pizza recipe.

I also made a simple strawberry salad with some spinach, sliced strawberries, hazelnuts, and a homemade dressing recipe I got from Vegetarian Times. I can't find it online right now, so let me just tell you, you combine:
-1/2 c. sliced strawberries
-3 T. Sugar
-3 T. Balsamic Vinegar
-1/2 a shallot
-1 clove garlic
... in a food processor or blender, then slowly add in 1 c. EVOO. The dressing is really creamy and thick, and the balsamic complements the strawberries perfectly.

For the main course, I made an old standby: grilled portabello mushrooms over mashed potatoes with asparagus. The mushrooms were marinated in some steak seasoning, EVOO and soy sauce before grilling and the asparagus were similarly coated in some Earth balance and salt and pepper before going into the oven at 375 for about 10 minutes. To make things EXTRA decadent, i made a "port wine reduction" for the shrooms, which is just a fancy way of saying "boil 3 c. wine in a saucepan until it reduces to a syrup." It was sooooo good over the potatoes too. But be forewarned- it takes longer than you think, so get started way before any grilling occurs.

To finish off, I made my absolute favorite cupcakes from VCTOTW. Since I was in such a hurry to get everything else cooking, I didn't have time to make these as pretty as they were the last time I made them. But trust me, they were still decadent and delicious.

Mmm. Especially for breakfast.

Have a happy Valentines Day!

B.'s Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine

Ok, so I know I've been talking about cooking something 'merican lately to make up for all my international experiments. But Troopers, (as my trust and estates prof would say) I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not when the stars aligned to let me make this awesome Tagine. You see, I've been begging my ex-roomate B. to send me some of her recipes ever since I moved out. Other than her proclivity to scoop cottage cheese or plain yogurt on everything, B. is an awesome cook and is particularly adept with two things: vegan chili over mashed potatoes (*drool*) and Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine. So I finally got her to send me the latter recipe, and coincidentally, this month'sBon Appetit had a set of Morroccan recipes as well!

So what is a Tagine? Its a North African dish that is slow cooked and often contains dried fruit, ginger, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and peppers. The word also refers to the awesome cooking vessel that rich people register for when they get married. :) Basically, the dish is cooked in such a way that the meat (or whatever) has a chance to braise in the spices and slow cook into a stew. Sounds good, right?

Well this recipe is a slight twist- I used the method from B.'s dish and the spices from the Bon Appetit recipe. I served the whole thing over 5-minute pine-nut couscous and with a side of mint tea- oh man was this a satisfying meal. And as usual, my reliably picky family gobbled it up.

This isn't really a labor intensive meal despite the large amount of ingredients- the only ish I had with the this recipe was that the potatoes weren't fully cooked when I finished. I'm not totally sure how to remedy this, I guess put them in earlier and cook them for longer before deglazing w/ the tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Eggplant and Chickpea Tagine

-1 Large Eggplant
-2 zucchinis (or one large one)
-3 shallots (or 1 yellow onion) diced
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 T. grated peeled ginger
-4-5 small boiling potatoes (or sweet potatoes) diced
-1/4 tsp. turmeric
-1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
-1/2 T. cumin
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 T. tomato paste
-2 T blood-orange preserves or bitter-orange marmalade
-1 1/2 cans chickpeas, drained
-1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped
-1 T. chili sauce or powder
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 thyme sprig

1. Slice up the eggplant and zucchinis and salt them liberally in a collander. Let them hang out there while you cut up the potatoes and onions.
2. Rinse off the eggplant and zucch and toss in some EVOO. Broil on a baking sheet, tossing once, for about 20 minutes or until browned.
3. In a large (I mean, huge) pot, heat 2 T EVOO over medium and add in the shallots (or onions), garlic and ginger. Cook until translucent, then add in the mushrooms. Cook for a few more minutes, then add in the potatoes. Now, add in the turmeric, paprika and cumin.
4. Once the potatoes are softened, add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and 2/3 c. water. Bring to a boil and partially cover for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat back to medium. Add in the eggplant and zucch, chickpeas, and the rest of the ingredients.
5. Simmer for 15-20 more minutes, stirring. Taste and season with salt and pepper.


Serves 4-6, w/ leftover. Serve w/ instant couscous and mint tea. Also excellent for leftovers with pita or tortilla chips.

Thanks B! Now, send me your chili recipe!

Spring Travel Extravaganza

Best news ever!

I am going on a magical mystery tour of Eastern and Central Europe in the spring. Starting off in Istanbul, I'm going to hit Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and hopefully Berlin. There is no reason for this trip other than the fact that I'm craving an escape from law school, DC, and... myself! And thanks to some extra waitressing money coming in, I can just about do it. (Although I really should be throwing it into bottomless pit of lawschool loans.) In my experience, if you put something off until there's a good time, you'll never do it.

I have been to some of Europe before. Right after college my bf and I traveled to England, France, and Spain via Eurorail and had a grand old time. The only dowside (other than the fact that my bf insisted on climbing every winding staircase in every church) was the food. Although these countries aren't naturally hostile to vegetarians, we weren't prepared in advance and it caused plenty of problems. After a day of trampling through museums and unknown parts of town, you're so hungry that you'll eat anywhere- even if the only available food is patatas bravas and beer. The other issue is that if you're not paying attention, you end up spending way too much money just to get some tofu. I'm hoping to avoid both these problems this time around. (Although, living on carbs and beer is not a fate worse than death.)

But this time I'm going to be uber-prepared. I'm going to have a list of every vegetarian establishment in all of Europe, and be aware of where grocery stores are. I'm hoping it will be relatively cheap as well. My friends think I stlll can't make it all vegan (cough, cough, M.E.!) but I'm going to do it.

In the meantime, if I come across good ideas for veggie-friendly travel between now and then, I'll definitely post it either here, or in the margins under the travel section. And if anyone reading this has recomendations, lay it on me! I'm ridiculously excited to embark.