Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rucola Cream Sauce

Because of some little angels that I am friends with, and whom happen to admire my spaetzle, I have now acquired a potato rice/ spaetzle press! Accordingly, I have been dreaming of all the lovely european dishes I can now make with the greatest ease with this midaevil looking device... among them, of course, Italian gnocchi!

A potato ricer makes gnocchi-making easier because it keeps the potatoes from getting starchy like they might when mashed by hand. Instead, they stay juicy and fluffy, perfect for fluffy gnocchi pillows. (Or so I thought...)

I've seen gnocchi made before, but never made them myself. I must say, it was a bit complicated in my slightly-bigger-than-a-breadbox kitchen. I mean, its just two ingredients, potatoes and flour, and yet, its very easy to destroy. So, if you want to make them yourself, I would suggest looking elsewhere for a decent step-by-step recipe, because mine was characterized by constant freaking out, sticking dough back in the fridge, and overall paranoia and confusion. All the same, they turned out perfect, fluffy and fantastic, so maybe its not quite as complex as I was making it. :)

At any rate, the cream sauce was less traumatic: I caramelized some onions with some garlic in a large pan. When the gnocchi were formed, boiled, and drained, I added them in, along with maybe 1/2 cup soy creamer, and a couple handfuls of rucola. It was so freaking good, but next time I would take it over the top with a few cranberries or walnuts. Overall though, my testers more than enjoyed my first attempt at the moderately tricky gnocchi. (And I froze the rest to enjoy soon... love that about gnocchi.)


Also, I took The Bad Vegan's idea to use my maple ginger apples over oatmeal. (See, I totally read the comments!) And it was delicious. Thanks for the idea!

More pasta:
Pasta alla Norma
Carrot-Cashew Ginger Pasta

Song of the Day: Beach House- Walk in the Park

Why I Love Vegan Cooking!

Its no new observation that necessity spurs creativity. How many dishes were created in a situation of deprivation that are now considered haute cousine? Southern soul food, Italian pasta dishes, bangers and mash, pad thai- the dishes that are created to feed hungry families with a minimum of expensive ingredients have a way of making their way into our hearts and getting reinvented. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are also often spurred by necessity- but it is a self-imposed necessity.

Whether to avoid animal cruelty, for health reasons, or for mere distaste towards animal products, the vegetarian lifestyle is always a sort of self-imposed exile. The way that a herbivore views supermarkets, restaurants, the homes of our friends and families, not to mention special occasions and religious holidays, necessarily changes, and this shift can be extremely jarring at first.

More important is the change that happens in our own homes. There is no way to be vegan and to be complacent about what you put into your body. Instead, the ingredients of any given item must be examined for animal products, and the results are often surprising. Fish sauce in my favorite stir fry sauce? Chicken broth in vegetable soup? Lard in potato chips or canned beans? Who knew? And this realization is really the key- we don't always know what is in our favorite foods. Once we do, don't we need to create new favorites?

For me, my tastes have completely changed since I went vegetarian. The most important shift is that I vastly prefer food I prepare from basic ingredients to food that comes frozen, canned, or delivered. Not only because I can be sure of exactly what is in it, but also because I have discovered what a constant source of fun and even mental stimulation cooking vegan food can be.

Which takes me back to the creativity thing. The fact that, for a vegan, a craving for say, lasagna, usually can't be fulfilled with a trip to the supermarket or take-out from your favorite Italian place forces you to come up with something yourself. The first time I made lasagna with artichokes it I was amazed- not only that it tasted awesome, but that I had thought of it. And I think this sort of "a-ha!" that you can get when you figure out a perfect egg or cheese substitute, or whatever, is one of the reasons that vegan cooking is so exciting and undergoing such a renaissance. Combinations that people would never think of get tossed into every page of the new vegan cookbooks and on every vegan blog. Coconut milk on pizza? Sweet potato falafel? "Cheddar Cheese" made of almonds? Its like the futurist cookbook came to life. And the best part is that vegan cooking is not only the realm of vegans. The more people that try, say, cashew sour cream, vegan cupcakes, or banana "ice cream" the more they realize that it is easy to make healthier and way more interesting food, as part of a complete diet or as an accent to their omnivore lifestyle. And I firmly believe that people will look back on this era of food history, with heroes like Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Sarah Kramer, and Bryant Terry, as a time of amazing innovation that changed the way EVERYONE eats, not just vegans.

Ultimately, I think that a vegan diet almost always has the result of not limiting your choices, but of changing your entire perspective on what is normal and delicious. That's the remarkable side effect of going vegan: an irresistible expansion of ones tastes to allow for food that is more exciting, more strange, and above all, imbued with the lightness that comes from knowing that no one had to die for your dinner. And that's why I love, love, love vegan cooking in all its forms.



Why do YOU love vegan cooking?

Moroccan Dinner Party, Potato Soup

Oh winter, when will it end? The other day we were blessed with rare sunshine and warm weather and it was such a terrible teaser for Spring. Along my street, where all the luxury goods and luxury people usually taunt me, the pale peach and taupe cashmere sweaters seemed as harmless as sugar pills, and the rich bitches in fur coats, sunglasses and high heeled boots lowered their noses a bit and smiled at the peasant passersby. But the next day, it was gone, and I went back to glaring at the well-dressed mannequins and people on Avenue Louise. (But really, why wear bare legs and a fur coat when its freezing out? How about sparing an animal and just looking into pants?)

At any rate, to cheer ourselves up from the never-ending winter, a few friends and I have been having Friday night dinner parties lately. In general, our only requirements for a good menu is that it be inexpensive, vegetarian, and easy enough to cook for a group. So far we've had risottos, pasta, etc, but this week we went a little crazy with a theme and had everything Moroccan. We even decorated the table with batik prints and little lanterns.
The menu consisted of the following:
Appetizers: hummus, flatbread, olives, spiced olive oil and cheese cubes
Entree: Eggplant and Mushroom Tagine, Couscous with mint and almonds, red wine
Dessert: Baklava, fresh mint tea

The tagine, sort of a mix between my minimalist one and the more complex version was fantastic, and even though I make it all the time a couple people at the party had never had one before and were surprised at how good it was. The mint tea was also really simple and festive: just put some mint sprigs into glasses and pour green tea over it. It looks so nice too.

I have a weakness for themed dinner parties, and this one turned out so well that I'm already plotting the next one: maybe Russian, with buckwheat blini and mushroom caviar, and a beet salad? (And vodka!) That would go along with my recent Tolstoy obsession, although everyone in his books seem to eat "melt-in-your-mouth-pasties" all the time and I have no idea what they are. (Anybody know?)

At any rate, the dinner party set the tone for the rest of the amazing weekend: I went to Antwerp (above) for the day on Saturday, and spent Sunday roaming around the St. Gilles farmers market (but not buying anything, since Antwerp put me over the weekly budget.) Considering what to eat for dinner, instead of surrendering to the allure of pancakes, I decided to make a soup out of some sprouted potatoes, past-their-prime leeks, and a little leftover soy creamer. Happily, even with sub-par ingredients it turned out fabulously, and with some stale bread to complete the picture, it was fit for a queen.


Song of the Day: Belle and Sebastian- Fought in a War

Hungarian Chickpea Paprikash and Spaetzle

There are two things that I am completely obsessed with right now: cooking, and sunshine. The cooking is a possibility since I have a little cash and a ton of cheap recipes (thank you awesome new cookbooks) but the sunshine is a bit more of a problem, this being Brussels and all. So when there is a day like this saturday, when I get to cook for people AND the sun is out, I'm pretty much ecstatic.

I decided to walk down to Place Flagey to check out their market and take a few photos. I saw this little girl defending her self-made snowman from the sun's rays. Noting a few hungarian wax peppers on sale, I realized that I probably had all of the ingredients to make the Chickpea paprikash from The Urban Vegan cookbook, and to serve it up over some homemade spaetzle.


I love Budapest more than almost all other cities in Europe, and was so impressed by the dramatic city-scape, the warm people, and the tongue-twisting language. However, I was never too in love with the food, mostly because it seemed to consist of nothing more than various types of meat simmered in cream sauces. (And don't get me started on the vegetarian food: cherry soup, with frozen cherries floating in yogurt?) But I figured I would give Chickpea paprikash a try, out of respect, and also because I've been wanting to try spaetzle to impress my German boyfriend.

Paprikash is usually a dish where meat is simmered in a paprika-spiked sauce, then gets a creamy kick from sour cream and is served over rich noodles or anything else. Spaetzle are basically really simple noodles that are very soft and comfort food-esque- almost like dumplings. You have to make a simple dough and then drop little pieces into boiling water, a bit like gnocchi. Well, although I was skeptical about how both items would come out (especially since I have no spaetzle-press) they were both AMAZING. My friends came over and gobbled up the lot of it, leaving me with no leftovers, and a promise to buy me a spaetzle-press so I can make them all the time.


I was really excited by how good everything came out, because not only is Urban Vegan's version rich, warming and delicious, but its also extremely cheap. The most expensive thing on the menu is probably the soy yogurt or sour cream used at the end. And spaetzle is practically free, granted you have flour around. I will definitely be making this again. And the spaetzle has a million different topping ideas, though I'm captivated by the thought of a apple-cabbage cream sauce....

Another food-related development this weekend was a new topping for pancakes that I created on the fly when my friends were over: Maple ginger apples!

Its very simple and delicious: slice 1/2 or 1 apple thinly and place in a pan over medium heat with a good dollop of earth balance. Then grate some ginger (to taste, I used a 1/2" piece) directly over the pan using a microplane grater. Cook until lightly browned, then drizzle over a tablespoon or so of maple syrup. Cook 2-3 minutes longer, then serve over oatmeal pancakes! Soo amazing.

Song of the Day: ELO- MR. Blue Sky

More on Budapest: Budapest Inspired Strudel
More from Urban Vegan: Bangin' Havana Beans and Rice

Urban Vegan's Bangin' Havana Beans and Rice

Just a quick post because I am cranking out proposals for various endeavors, in a seemingly never-ending loop... but at least I have good brain food!

Last night I made such a damn-good dinner that I was sad (for a second) that no one was there to eat it with me and complement me. (And then I cackled gleefully because I knew I had the rest all to myself.) However, maybe the reason why you make such good food when alone is because you are only trying to please yourself, and can afford to be more adventurous and/or ridiculous. Like, I decided to make the Havana Rice and Beans from the Urban Vegan cookbook, despite having only a 1/2 the ingredients. Further, I had a handful of cashews, so I decided to try the cashew sour cream from Vegan Brunch. If someone else was there I probably would have done something less time-consuming, that I actually had the ingredients for, but it ended up being lovely puttering around the apartment, leisurely making the components for my meal while simultaneously freaking out about transnational citizenship.

Anyways, it was so FREAKING good. I dunno why a simple beans and rice dish is so amazing, but one explanation is that Ms. Urban Vegan is a genius. Go out and buy her cookbook immediately. This is by far one of the least exciting-sounding recipes in the book, and its still phenomenal. There's a bay leaf involved, and veg broth, and vinegar... but still, I was doing double takes while I ate it, like "did I just make this? woah." And that's with half the ingredients. Meanwhile, the cashew sour cream was equally exultant, the only problem being that its so easy and has so few ingredients that I might make it every day. Wow.

So there you have it, another cheap and hearty meal with lots of leftovers and happiness. But just in case you think I've strayed too far from my daily pancake routine, here is my pal Ted enjoying one of the 3 batches of pancakes made over the weekend. Still the best bang for the buck, those pancakes.

(Yes ladies, he's single. :) )

Song of the Day: Joe Strummer and the Muscaleros- Global A-Go-Go

Dutch Hutspot!

*The Baltic Sea*
This desolate, romantic landscape is where I spent the first few days of 2010, in a little cottage near Kiehl with a group of friends. If you can believe it, one of the more spartan members of the group actually took a swim in the sea. Crazy, right? Germans.

Anyways, I'm already back in swing of things in fabulous Brussels now. Why "fabulous" you say? Well after flying all over the northern hemisphere for the break I came to realize how much I like this little town. Yes, Brussels, with all of its duo-linguistic issues, inferiority-to-Paris-complexes, and bureaucratic nightmares, is a great place to come back to. Its calm, the public transport covers every inch of the city (once you figure it out), and in terms of food, its way easier then I make it seem to eat well on budget. (It just takes getting used to... and speaking the language doesn't hurt, I'm sure.) And I finally figured out how to operate my kitchen with a minimum of fire hazards. (But then, I've only been back a week.)

One of my new budget dishes is actually a Dutch treat I learned from S. in Berlin. Its called "hutspot" and its essentially mashed potatoes and carrots-- baby food, but good baby food! I guess its usually made with speck (bacon) but among the group I ate it with I didn't notice anyone hesitating to get seconds from the vegetarian portion. The great thing about this is you can obviously get huge portions, making it good for a get together when everyone is broke, or just in the mood for some baby comfort food.

Dutch Hutspot
-3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" slices
-8-10 boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
-1 large onion, diced
-3-4 cloves garlic, diced
-nutmeg
-soymilk
-earth balance

1. Place all the carrots and potatoes into a stockpot filled with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender, about 15 minutes depending on how many you made.
2. In the meantime, drizzle a good knob of olive oil in a pan and bring to medium heat. Add in your garlic and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and garlic is starting to brown.
3. When potatoes and carrots are done, drain in a colander then return to hot pot. Add in onions and garlic, a good couple knobs of earth balance, a drizzle of soymilk, a few pinches of nutmeg, and of course salt and pepper. Mash together with a masher until fairly blended. Taste, and adjust seasoning to taste. (I usually end up using more soymilk and butter after the initial mashing.)
Serve with a salad, or just eat straight out of the pot. :)

song of the day: Wir Sind Helden- Denk Mal

Bagel Mania and Haiti

For the last two weeks I have been doing only two things: writing papers, and making bagels. (Well, 3 things if you count eating the bagels.) I've basically been chilling in Berlin with S. and hyperventilating over my various topics in between massive bagel orgies. (I also developed a cool way to stack bagels for brunch, as illustrated.) I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch which I thoughtfully received over the holidays. Man that cookbook is awesome.

So basically we've been making both sesame seed and *trying* to make blueberry bagels, with varying degrees of success. Apparently the trick is to fold the blueberries in when frozen, quickly before rolling out the dough and boiling. However, I think the real trick might just be using dried blueberries... well, I'll give that a shot next time.

Anyways, I know bagels seem like a bit of a chore to make from scratch, but I would encourage people to try them. Like tamales, once you get the hang of it, its simple. And best of all, the end product of your hard work is BAGELS! I.e., avacado's best friend! Coffee's soul-mate! And the best thing to bring to brunch, hands down.

At any rate, the bagel part of the week was exciting, but I was somewhat less thrilled to hear about Haiti. One of my paper topics had to do with Haiti's debt to France (a very terrible story, as a matter of fact), so I was already spending a lot of time focusing on Port Au Prince when I heard the news from Berlin. Naturally, the vegan community is usually one of the best responders to things like this (since people that care about animals usually care about people, too!) so I know many of you are probably donating and participating in vegan bake sales. (If not, head on over to the PPK blog for more info.) My Dad, as a journalist, is there right now. And while I'm worried about him, I also know that journalists do a service during times of disaster by drawing attention to the needs of the community in harm's way, so I'm also very proud! Here are a few pictures he sent...


Hope that all of you in the blogosphere are safe, and if you are take a moment to thank your lucky stars (and donate a few more dollars...)!

Tamales!

This year for Christmas dinner I was in the mood for something kind of challenging, since my cooking has been repetitive at best and "just pancakes" at worst. After seeing Tofu Mom's post about tamales on her awesome blog, I figured they were just the ticket.


Now, everyone has their own method of making tamales, and I won't expound too much on the recipe here since you can find it in many places, including the above post and in your trusty Veganomicon. But what I will say is that even though I've often enjoyed these goodies at local Salvadorean and Mexican restaurants, they always seemed a bit too complicated to make: like you need to be in a kitchen in Mexico with your grandmother explaining to you exactly how to do it. And while it was tricky to find the corn husks, even in DC, I think the grocery shopping was actually the most complicated part. The rest of it, while time consuming, is not really difficult.

Essentially, you make the filling first, which could really be anything, then flour mixture, then assemble it in a corn husk, wrap and steam. We chose to make a simple mushroom filling, as well as a black bean and sweet potato filling (just a can of black beans, a steamed sweet potato, and some cumin and cinnamon.) The result was gorgeous little bundles of joy that looked not unlike presents, and were perfect with some salsa and soy sour cream. (Guac would also be a good addition.)
Unfortunately, we didn't have any leftovers, but I'm told they are very simple to freeze and enjoy later on. They were so perfect with some caesar salad on the side as a light and festive Christmas dinner.

My family actually liked it so much that when I took off for more days of miserable travel, this time to reach Hamburg for a new years celebration, they decided to make more! This time my Dad and little brother made the filling out of black beans, sweet potatoes, and garlic spinach, which sounds incredibly delicious. They also wrapped them in banana leaves which they were able to find at a market close by. My Dad's tip? "The trick is to have the masa kinda soupy, like thick peanut butter, and spread on on with a spatula, then a little filling."

My tip would be to make them as soon as possible because they are fabulous and hard to mess up!

Song of the Day: Flaming Lips- I can be a frog

Travel Hell and Christmas Eve Heaven

Ahhh holiday travel. Where two inches of snow translates into 3 days of travel delays.

Yes, my transit back to the good ole USSA was kind of a mess. Overnight in London Heathrow, overnight in ATL, numerous sleep-deprived marches through airports, but eventually, I made it home, to my hilarious dog (pictured) and adoring (or at least, adored) family. By the time I did make it back, there were 2 feet of snow on the ground, giving DC a freakishly rare white Christmas, and me a good excuse not to leave the house.

And you would think after being gone for 6 months I would have a lot of mail. I guess I felt like I was gone a long time and everyone would notice? But as a matter of fact, aside from student loan forms *shudder* all I received was one Christmas card... plus this awesome handmade cookbook-lette from Amey at Vegan Eats and Treats, "Cooking Up a Storm!"

Man was I excited to see that! This booklet is jam-packed with awesome looking recipes for all manner of deliciousness plus cute home-made drawings. It being Christmas, I went straight for the cookies and decided on the choco-cherry-pecan cookies. They took about 15 minutes all told, and they were so unbelievably delicious, especially with a tall glass of soymilk. Even in my sweets-filled household these went fast. Amey, your cookbook rocks! Thanks so much!

A few days after my initial arrival and many cookies later, my fam and I headed over to Peking Gourmet in Falls Church for the traditional Christmas Eve gorge. Peking Gourmet is famous for two reasons. 1.) It was President Bush (Sr.)'s favorite restaurant and there are pics of him splattered all over the place. 2.) The Peking Duck. You would think from these two snippets of info that I would hate the place, but actually I love it. It has a very limited vegetarian menu, but those items on it are phenomenal. I had the gourmet eggplant and my brother got a tofu dish that was equally fab.

I also love munching on the duck accompaniments: rice pancakes, plum sauce, and spring onions. Heaven. But truth be told, more than the food, I love the busy metro atmosphere in this spot, which has been in the Culmore shopping center forever and attracts hundreds of people over the holidays (and I suspect, most weekends.) The crowd out the door is huge on Christmas eve, but its always kind of exciting and we often see people we know. Definitely one of my favorite traditions of the holidays.

My other favorite tradition is the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. I love being in Europe, but the melancholic angst of Charlie Brown is just not something that translates well. After all, how would you translate the following into french: "Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie-Browniest!"

Ah, America.

Merry Christmas!

Back in the USA and cooking up a storm! But for now... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

just pictures...

Still not home for the holidays, still no camera, but here are some old, (but new to you!) pictures from the old days while I ponder my holiday menu and dream up ways of acquiring a new camera (or fixing my old one...)

Broke Food: Risotto!

One of my favorite scenes in all of movie-dom is from The Little Princess. (Take your pick, but I prefer the Shirley Temple version.) Little Sarah has gone from wealthy and pampered prep school queen to orphan scullery maid, due to the unfortunate disappearance of her Father (and his fortune) during the Boers War. Now she must discard her fabulous clothes and furniture and live up in the freezing attic with the other little maid, while the other girls mock her relentlessly and the mean headmistress tortures her for being poor. (Let's just keep our Marxist analysis to ourselves...)

Then, one particularly freezing and dreary night, while the two little girls are sleeping, the next door neighbor's Indian butler, who has been charmed by little Sarah, replaces the squalor of their attic with a lush bedroom, filled with soft bed-dressing and clothes, a sumptuous buffet, and beautiful paintings. The girls wake up the next morning to think that they have conjured the whole thing through the power of imagination.

I think you can pull a similar trick with risotto. Through pure mind power (read: stirring a lot) you can transform plain old rice and broth into a warming gourmet meal. With the help of an friendly butler (read: mushrooms, squash, or other veggies) you can take it over the top to something truly magical. It really works for me when I am feeling like an orphan scullery maid, which is often these days. (Don't worry, its just finals period.)

So here is my recipe, which I've shared before (many times before), but made as plain and wallet-friendly as possible. I've been eating it so much lately I feel like a risotto making machine, but if its your first time, be vigilant- you don't want to ruin the bottom of your pan by not stirring enough.

Risotto w/ [your favorite and/or cheapest vegetable]
1 large yellow onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
olive oil and/or earth balance
*1 c. white wine
1 cube veg boillon, or packaged veggie broth
Your vegetable of choice, plus an herb of choice

1. [First you will probably want to prepare the vegetable. If its mushrooms, slice and cook together with some thyme or oregano and olive oil in a saute pan until brown and slightly crispy. If using squash of pumpkin, slice in 1/2 and place in a pan in the oven along with some olive oil and sage and cook at 375 until soft. Asparagus can be sauteed or cooked in the oven with some oil and garlic. You get the picture.]
2. Fill a pot with water and boil along with a bouillon cube. Reduce heat to medium. (Alternatively, heat a package of veggie broth over low heat on the stove top.) Keep within reach of your other pot.
3. Melt 1 knob of Earth balance and a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When bubbling add in garlic and onion and cook until translucent.
3. Add in rice and allow to coat with oil and mix with onions and garlic. Salt and Pepper liberally.
4. Add in white wine. (*If you can't afford wine like me, substitute two tablespoons of plain vinegar or white wine vinegar.) Stir until just absorbed.
5. Ladle in about a cup of the heated broth, stirring until absorbed by the rice. Repeat this step over and over again, ladling and stirring, until rice is no longer crunchy and coated in a thick creamy sauce.
6. At this point, add back in your cooked veggie, salt and pepper liberally, stir, reduce heat to low and cover. Serve with warm bread and a crispy salad.

Suggestions for combos:

Butternut squash and sage

Lemon and Asparagus (add in a bit of lemon juice and zest when you add in the cooked asparagus.)

Mushroom and Leek with thyme, my personal favorite.

I suspect one can stretch this recipe into new territories, like using beets, fake cheese, or non-italian flavorings. However, even minus the veggies this is pretty awesome comfort food, and the only thing you really have to buy is the rice. Ah, cheap, classic, kitchen magic. "Because every little girl cook is a princess."

Song of the Day: Neko Case- This Tornado Loves You