Passover: Success!

Well, what can I say? You freak out, go to 15 different grocery stores, jabber indecisively about menus for 2 weeks, and cook for 2 days straight, and then you have a success! That's Passover, baby. Its a pain in the ass, but its worth it.

All my Germans (that's also the title of my new soap opera, btw, "All My Germans") showed up on time and ready to be educated about what, exactly, a Seder is. They were rather shocked that it was pretty straight-forward and undemanding- we had the Haggadahs printed out (I'm not fancy enough to have 12 of my own) and my friend Kat and I did most of the reading, saving the "read-along" portion for the all-important Passover story, ie, the tale of the Jews departure from Egypt. As not everyone speaks English that fantastically, we gave the option that anyone who didn't want to read a paragraph could just say "passover"! But actually, everyone did read and even discussed afterward. It was a dream-Seder, actually, and no one complained about the hour of dipping and reading preceding the meal.

And speaking of the meal, everything shockingly came together on time! It helped that I had made about half of the items before, but still I was thrilled that there wasn't a last minute moussaka induced panic-attack, or similar. For the matzoh ball soup, I made a lemongrass-ginger-kaffir lime broth this year, with plenty of mushrooms for depth. It worked wonderfully with the fluffy matzoh balls, and was arguably the hit of the meal. (Below, a couple of my lovely friends enjoying.)


As for the rest, I wasn't fantastic about getting pics with all of the action, but you can kind of glean what was served from my leftover plate, minus the moussaka.

Clockwise, matzoh, cucumber dip from V'Con, Quinoa-Tzimmes Tagine with carrots, sweet potatoes and apricots, and apple-walnut charoset. Not pictured, mushrooms stuffed with shallots and garlic, Eggplant Potato Moussaka from V'Con, and chocolate mousse provided by a friend for dessert.

All in all, I was very pleased with the turnout, both guest-wise and food-wise. It was a great way to say a temporary good-bye to Berlin and give my friends a little demo of both Judaism and veganism. I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Next year in Budapest?

Pre-Passover Freakout!

Here's a photo of our window herb-garden blooming to represent the fact that: it's Spring! That's nice and all, but I am in a total tizzy! In two weeks I'll be heading back to the USA for an extended visit, and then coming back to Berlin only to head directly to Budapest for a summer internship. In the meantime, there's Passover, Easter, a ton of friend's birthdays, and all the normal stresses associated with being a cleaning lady.

But, I am trying to put off the freakouts just a little bit longer and approach the coming madness with the sort of non-chalance that I am known for. (Not.)

In the meantime I've been having some casual meals like the one pictured above: my take on blini w/ caviar. My friends and I made these little pancakes w/ a bit of onion mixed in, then topped them with a sauteed mince of mushroom and peppers laced with balsamic and soy sauce to make it a bit salty. On top, a dollop of soy yogurt (sour cream would also be nice) and spring onions. Perfect fancy little dinner.

And now onto Pesach! Every year I plan a huge Passover Seder and every year I end up freaking out! This year is no different. I'm having 12-15 Berliners over, only one of whom is Jewish, and trying to not only teach them about Passover but also do the whole thing vegan for a bunch of avowed meat-eaters. Yikes. I am trying to avoid major problems this year in 3 ways:
-testing out a few new recipes beforehand
-making about 1/2 the meal the day before
-doing some experimental combos that take some of the labor out of the traditional meal, and make it exotic enough that people don't even think about meat or dairy.

I hope it works! As you can see, I have a sort of Middle Eastern/ Sephardic theme going on, what with the orange and almond salad, tagine-esque quinoa, and various dips. This is also partially because of the unavailability (or expensiveness) of a lot ingredients I would normally use. However, there's still matzoh balls, so I guess its all ok.

At the end of the day, its one night of these people's lives, so if something goes wrong I am not going to freak out. But since I want people to walk away with a better understanding of both Judaism and Veganism, I am definitely feeling the pressure.

With that said, I present this year's potential Passover Seder Menu:

-Traditional Apple-Walnut Charoset
-V'Con Cucumber Dip
-Baba Ghanoush
-Kosher for passover Matzoh ball soup (recipe here or here) (ie, no tofu!)
-Giant Salad w/ Spinach, Arugula, Almonds and Orange slices and some sort of dressing
-Quinoa Tzimmes Tagine (?)
-This is an idea for a recipe that came to me which combines roasted root veggies and quinoa as a heartier, make-ahead side. It will be roasted chunks of sweet potatoes and carrots, added into a quinoa prepared with onions, garlic, ginger, and some morrocan-ish spices, ie, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon. On top will be some diced apricots.
-Eggplant Potato Moussaka w/ Pinenut Cream (from V'Con)
-Herbacious Leek and Mushroom Kugel (from years past)

And for dessert, coconut macaroons, expresso, and chocolate covered strawberries.

Ok, let me know what you think. Am I missing something? Is quinoa AND moussaka weird? Am I freaking out too much?

Anyways, if you are planning your own seder please feel free to peruse my archives:
-2010 "Dip" Seder
-2009 Seder with recipes that work for Easter and Passover

I'll post pictures afterwards to show you how it went!

Happy Spring!

Song of the Day: Get Down Moses- Joe Strummer

Magic Vegan Sandwich to the Rescue!

Not to constantly emphasize a really obvious point, but being poor SUCKS! Today I was so low on funds that I couldn't afford a U-Bahn ticket and spent my entire ride to and from work staring at the train doors, ready to jump off if anyone looked remotely like a ticket inspector. (Here in 'Schland-land they use the honor system to get you to buy tickets, but do random checks every so often, and if caught you face a massive fine.) Luckily, I made it to work without getting caught, but when I complained to my boss about how my late paycheck had brought me to petty crime, she totally didn't sympathize.

Whatever. Anyways, when you are very poor you always have a secret weapon to fall back on: the magic vegan sandwich! I have talked about the magic vegan sandwich before, as it has often been there for me in my times of need. My roomates and I discovered in college that just a few ingredients makes a sort of mixture between a grilled cheese and garlic bread for the vegan crowd. Its very easy to eat 4 or 5 washed down with some chocolate soymilk and be a very happy camper.

You needn't wait until being poor to make it, its just good, cheap comfort food that is open to endless variation (due to its ridiculous simplicity.)

Here's what you will need:
-Bread, especially soft, crusty bread
-Vegan Margarine (Earth balance is perfection)
-herbs and spices
-a tomato, even a deeply sad one

Here's the magic recipe:
1.) Heat a pan brushed with oil over medium-low heat. Take a goodly sized knob of margarine and mix in any of the following: salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, paprika, white pepper, nooch, garlic powder, herbs de provence. Especially classic is ample garlic powder, nooch, oregano and pepper. You can mix these into the butter with a fork, and check if the taste is right (you don't want it too salty.)


2.) Spread said mixture thickly onto sliced crusty bread. Easy but crucial.








3. Place bread face down into hot pan and fry, checking occasionally to make sure not too hot.

4. When inside is crusty and brown, remove from heat and fill with tomatoes. You could also, of course, fry some onions in the leftover margerine in the pan, or slice some avocado thinly and add in, or use as the basis for a blt or similar. But just plain old tomatoes in the crunchy, herby bread is also a classic.




So now that I've explained to death the easiest sandwich in the world, I think I will go make a another one. And scrounge around the apartment for change so I don't have to risk my luck with ticket inspectors again tomorrow!

OOH, also, Urban Vegan has a list of 101 Vegan Picnic Ideas, a la Bittman as well!!! Check it out over at Miss UV herself...

Song of the Day: Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell

Not quite Spring, but almost...

Hello friends! I know the question on everyone's mind: is it Spring yet in Berlin? The answer is: kind of. Its like, sunny and stuff, and everyone's out in the park, there are one or two flowers popping out, but.... its still winter coat weather, and any lying around in the park is primarily based on wishful thinking rather than inviting weather.

Oh well. A few more days I think. At any rate, this sort of nervous, not-really-spring-not-really-winter holding pattern seems to be pushing people a bit to the brink... everyone seems to be in a bad mood, some arsonist is setting prams on fire in apartment buildings all over the city, and on top of it all, there was the recent death of poor Knut, the Berlin zoo's famously abandoned polar bear and somewhat of a Berlin mascot. And I'm sure you guys are aware of what's been going on in Japan and Libya. Not to mention the death of the fabulous Liz Taylor. Alright, there's a lot of reasons to feel un-springlike. But despite the last vestiges of winter gloom, I have to admit, its getting better, its getting better all the time...

And I've been making (if not photographing) a ton of food! Have you guys all seen the PPK's food blog, run by Isa Chandra Moskowitz? Its amazing, because its authored by our favorite trusted cookbook author, but features some simpler or quicker things to try out for dinner (and other meals). I've recently made the chipotle sweet potato chili and the red curry soup with rice, and both were simple and sublime. Great resource for those of you who don't own a PPK cookbook yet... hahaha, like there's anyone out there like that.

In addition, I recently made my own chipotle plantain enchiladas, because my friends needed some cheering up after the whole depressing "Knut incident", as well as some weekend pancakes, since I needed some cheering up after the whole depressing "winter incident". These are B's oatmeal pancakes, covered in bananas, soy yogurt, and agave nectar. Needless to say, they were cheering.

And in a few weeks, when my paycheck is here, the weather makes up its mind to stay nice, and I have a fellow American visitor in town(albeit, no vegetarian) I'm expecting that I will be even more cheered! After all, its almost Passover, almost summer, and almost time to pick up again and head to another B-named European city... Budapest!

******
And almost forgot to mention: if you are indeed unhappy about some of the events going on recently there's no reason to just sit around feeling helpless and stuffing your face with enchiladas. There are a ton of vegan bake sales going on all over the world to benefit Japan (this list has some for Japan as well as other causes.) And over at Chocolate Covered Vegan, Katie is holding a virtual bakesale to benefit Japan, which you can read all about here.

And if you are sad about Elizabeth Taylor, do yourself a favor and rent A Place in the Sun or one of her other classics. Curl up, and soak in the divine.

Mid-Day Dinners

Na? Wie gehts, leute?

I know I've been bitching a lot about my work situation on this blog lately, and although I'm still not totally thrilled about it, its really not as bad as I make it out to be. In fact, there are even some plus sides (aside from the tiny trickle of income I derive only to immediately throw onto the eternal tire fire of my law school debt).

One benefit is that I get to meet interesting people. Last week, at my cleaning lady job, a random, surly teenage girl showed up and started half-heartedly mopping. I couldn't get a straight answer out of her as to why she was usurping my cherished position, but I later found out that she was sent there as punishment! Apparently, she committed some "light fraud" and had the following options in court: spend a month in jail, pay 2,500 euros, or, go work in a kindergarden as a putzfrau for one month.

(Ahem. So this is the German government literally saying that my work is equivalent to a month in PRISON. That is harsh. I'm thinking of telling my boss that the gov obviously thinks my work is worth 2,500 euros so maybe I should get a little raise... like 5 times my current salary.)

Anyways, after I figured out what she was doing we became fast friends based on her love of making fun of my German, and my love is making fun of her for dressing up like a fashion model to come take out trashbags full of diapers. And we both enjoy cooing at the tiny babies and watching them stumble around and do ridiculous things. All in all, the little criminal's presence has enhanced my mornings greatly.

The other nice thing about my schedule is that since I work during dinner hours, I have a huge lunch feast every day with S, often with him cooking while I lounge around and complain about having to go to my other job. Its kind of nice to eat a big meal when its light out! Last week we had the fabulous pineapple cashew quinoa stir fry from V-Con (pictured above). I know I've made it a hundred times, but it really is such a perfect meal! Sweet, spicy, hearty and full of fresh mint, ginger, and basil. It tastes like really healthy take-out from your favorite pan-Asian restaurant.

A second meal was this simple combo: roasted pumpkin rubbed with roasted sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds, rice, and wirsing (a type of green cabage) with a little ketjap manis sauce. Perfect mid-day dinner, and a good way to use up the perpetual head of cabbage always hanging out in our fridge.

Yes, things could definitely be worse.

song of the day: Fettes Brot- Yein

International Women's Day!

Happy International Women's Day, citizens of the world! Did you know that this holiday was created by a famous German leftist and feminist, Clara Zetkin? And that it used to be international women workers day? And that in the Soviet Bloc it was celebrated like a mixture between Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, with candy and flowers for all the ladies in one's life? Now, I wouldn't promote all traditions of the Soviet Sateelite States (like, say, gulags, just off the top of my head) but I kind of dig this idea! Instead of being owned by Hallmark and having shitty ensemble movies made about it, International Women's Day celebrates all women, not just women who deserve validation because they are attached or have produced offspring.

I rather doubt that I will recieve some commi-red roses or any sweets today, but I decided I would celebrate by mentioning one of my favorite women of all time.


Emma Goldman

"Red Emma" is basically one of the most badass women in history. Born amid progroms in Russia, she emigrated to the US as a teen and was inspired to become involved in radical politics by the Haymarket Affair. She soonafter started a public speaking career that would last the rest of her life. She spoke and wrote about topics as diverse as family planning (she was also a nurse), gay rights, free love, revolution, and mostly, anarchism. She spent countless nights in jail for speaking about things most of us would consider fairly innocuous today. (Oh yeah, but she was sort of involved in an assasination attempt as well.)
She was eventually deported from the US to Russia along with other anarchists for seditious speech, and arrived in her homeland of Russia followning the revolution. Disenchanted by what she saw there, she broke with most of the left in condemning the violence against the population and starvation of large portions of the population while Moscow leaders continued to live in comfort.

In short, the woman never met a popular stance that she didn't disagree with. But she almost prophetically fought for what would become some of the major causes of the twentieth century, long before it was polite (or legal) to do so in public. And if you are looking for a kickass book to read, check out her autobiography, "My Life."

At any rate, I am also an international working woman, so I celebrated this morning with a special treat: a mango-strawberry-banana smoothie and two of Mihl's crispy cherry muffins. They were cinnamon spiked and supremely delicious, great preparation for a day as one of the world's countless working ladies.

Looking for an event to go to or something to do to honor WOMEN? Check out International Women's Day HQ for details.

song of the day: Le Tigre- Feminists We're Calling You!

Cherry Clafoutis...?

If you had the choice between working at a job that was frequently disgusting but kept you busy, or at one that was mind-numbingly boring but done in relative comfort, what would you choose? I've been pondering this from a purely intellectual standpoint lately because, in fact, I don't have to choose. I have both jobs, one after the other, every day.

Yes, friends, I've picked up another job. Following my humiliating but somewhat entertaining morning cleaning-lady job, I go to a fancy office building and conduct hours of phone calls to mostly disconnected phones in Latin America, in the hopes that one of them will take a survey. Its a dull job, but someone has to do it (or do they...?) At any rate, with these two super jobs combined, I should be able to fund a summer in Budapest (or back surgery, whatever comes first.) But on the other hand, it doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking. Or eating. (Dude, I'm going to be totally rich AND skinny!)

However, I did attempt one kitchen coup, with mixed success. So I finally made this clafoutis recipe from Vegan Visitor that I've been wanting to try for like, 3 years. Actually, literally that long, which I realized trying to dig up the recipe and seeing it was from 2008. But it had ingredients that I could largely reproduce, and feeling sophisticated, I decided to give it a try.

It was.... weird. Sort of a large chewy pancake filled with a sweet tofu mousse that doesn't ever really set (and I cooked this baby for 1 and 1/2 hours.) I mean, it was good, but I just wasn't sure I did it right. The inside is a cottage cheese consistency, owing to the curdled soy milk and silken tofu mixture, but it wasn't reminiscent of any desserts I'm familiar with. My non-vegan friend thought it was like a big milk-rice pancake, and loved it. I also thought it was fairly decent (obviously, because I consumed almost the entire thing in 1 hour), but just not totally sure it was clafoutis. I will have to try the whole experiment again to see if this is the way its meant to be.

At any rate, the whole clafoutis experiment is kind of like my two jobs. Pretty sure its a step in the right direction, but not something I can take out of the oven and call a "career".

Breakfast of Champions... or cleaning ladies

Now that I actually have a job (my dream job, as a cleaning lady in a kindergarten) my weekends have taken on extra significance. I used to be happy eating a little bread and jam, but not anymore... now I have to clean out my fridge and eat huge, epic, brunch-like feasts on Saturdays and Sundays. It just makes my celebration that I don't have to use a mop that day all the more enjoyable. This weekend, I made tofu scramble for the first time in, it feels like, years. (In fact, I think it has been years...) This is partly due to the fact that I *finally* found some local tofu that doesn't have the consistency of feta cheese, so now I have to eat it everyday in some form. The above pictured foray back into scrambled tofu territory brought me back to my college days,when me and my 3 roommates would often cook together and tofu scrambles were pretty much standard on weekends. (This was before I mastered pancakes.) Just a bit of tofu, some red peppers and onions, and a bit of turmeric and thyme, and you are cooking with gas. (Or electric. Whatever.)

Sunday I took advantage of the bulk of frozen blueberries in my fridge to whip up some banana blueberry pancakes for S. and I... they were gone before we had finished our first cup of coffee.
Not being satisfied with that carb feast, I also whipped up some sesame-poppyseed bagels to enjoy throughout the week (or, lets be honest, through Tuesday) so that my weekday breakfast can have a little flair as well. As you can see, they turned out lovely, even in my cold kitchen. (Ever since I got the tip to keep rising dough in the oven with a bowl of hot water, I haven't had nearly so many disappointing dough experiences. Thanks, SMP!)

Now, feeling fortified from the weekend, its on to the freezing, mop filled days of the working week... let's hope Spring comes soon...

PS: I added a recipe index, as much for my use as for yours, as well as a page with some photos from my travel. I didn't do an "about me," as blogger suggests because, well, don't the posts say it all?

song of the day: Kanye West- All of the Lights

BBQ Sauce

As a kid, my family went on a "BBQ Tour of the South" to find the greatest version of BBQ sauce on offer. I don't totally remember the verdict, but I do remember getting a wicked sunburn on Tybee Island a week before the 8th Grade Dance (dammit.) However, I came out of this excursion with a great fondness for all varieties of BBQ, and turning vegetarian has not altered it one bit.

However, not all my favorite BBQ sauces are vegan, and I cannot stand to use those Kraft or similar fake-ass BBQ sauces that are all corn syrup and onion powder. So, rather than stock up on sauce the last time I went to the US, I made sure to get some fixings to bring back so I could make it myself: most crucially, molasses and liquid smoke, both difficult to find here in Berlin.

Yesterday, eyeing a block of tofu in the fridge and not wanting to indulge S's newfound obsession with deep-fried tofu, I decided to whip up some BBQ sauce and bake some slabs instead. I was a bit intimidated though... could anything I make approach the level of greatness of North Carolina or Memphis style BBQ sauce? I decided there wasn't much to lose in giving it a whirl. I looked up several recipes and combined them into one that featured the ingredients I had on hand, including a chipotle from an already opened can. (Never waste chipotles, that is my mantra.)

And upon taste, it turns out BBQ sauce is kind of... um.... easy? I mean, this may have not been a blue ribbon winning version, but it was damn tasty for something I made in less than 30 minutes. For a sauce that inspires such cult-like reverence in its followers, shouldn't this be a little more complex?

Well I'm sure I could stand some improvement, but this will more than do for those occasions which necessitate a slathering of BBQ to save the day. Here's my simple recipe. Feel free to alter it.
******************

*Perfectly Decent BBQ Sauce*
vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbs. brown sugar or Agave nectar
1 diced Chipotle + 1 Tbs. adobo sauce
1/3 C. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 C. Molasses
1 Tbs. Soy Sauce
Salt + pepper
1 tsp. liquid smoke (opt.)

1.) Heat a saucepan over medium and add in a glug of vegetable oil. Add in onions and salt well, then wait until onions are translucent. Add in garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more, being careful not to burn.
2.) Add in remaining ingredients (except for liquid smoke, add it at the end if using) and raise heat to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes (or more), stirring occasionally.
3.) When sauce has reached desired thickness, remove from heat and blend well with an immersion blender. Taste and adjust salt/ sugar if necessary. Put back on low heat, stir in liquid smoke, and cook a few minutes more.

Remaining sauce can be kept in an airtight container in fridge.

*Substitutions* : I imagine you can go wild with substitutions here, subbing pomengranate molasses for molasses, white vinegar for apple cider, chile peppers or cayenne pepper for chipotle and other fruits(like mangoes for instance?) for the tomatoes. I will try it again soon and let you know.
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The finished product slathered on some tofu and broiled for a perfect simple sandwich. (Number 30, anyone?) Just heavenly, and you don't even have to leave the house, let alone head south on 85.

Song of the Day: LCD Soundsystem- I Can Change

A Simple Sexy Valentines Day

Although you know I LOVE Valentines Day, I almost always end up not celebrating it with the object of my affections. Last year I was away from my man in Brussels, and besides, Europeans don't really do Valentines Day. The year before that I crashed my parents dinner (respect) and the year before that I opted to work at a restaurant rather than force my bf to take me to one. In fact, the last time I may have had a Valentines Day proper was with my long distance college boyfriend, who agreed to watch "The Cutting Edge" over the phone with me while I ate a box of chocolates and my dorm mates made fun of me. While that relationship didn't last, my affection for "The Cutting Edge" as the greatest romantic movie of all time did. (Moira Kelley is the most adorable film bitch of all time, and D.B. Sweeney does hot jock with a heart of gold better than anyone. Plus, there's a lot of snow and ice skating, which is perfect for February.)

This year I also kind of gave up on a commercially endorsed Valentines Day. Trying to get roses and a box of chocolates out of German on Valentines Day is more or less like trying to leash a cat, so I decided to hedge my bets and have a sexy little dinner party a few days before for some friends, and not mention the V-word.

Now, having a "sexy little dinner party" is rather less easy than one might anticipate on a putzfrau's salary, so I decided to really simplify and see what I could get to feed 6 for less than 15€. Turns out, a lot! Here was the menu:
Bruschetta with roasted garlic and balsamic drizzle: I toasted sliced french bread in the oven in shifts, while meanwhile roasting 2 whole bulbs of garlic. (Is there anything more seductive than roasted garlic?) When finished and cool enough to handle, I mashed the roasted garlic bulbs with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes until I had a thick paste to spread on the bread. The topping was just a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar. These were so freaking good and all I had to buy was the bread.

Caramelized Fennel, Arugula and Orange Salad: This was also ganz einfach (simple.) While my oven was working on the bruschetta I put my stovetop to work caramelizing a huge sliced fennel bulb in a bit of margarine and oil. After about 20 minutes on low heat, it was sweet with just a hint of anise. I kept it warm until ready to serve, but prepared the rest of the salad: orange wedges, arugula, and a simple balsamic dressing. The fennel ended up being the most expensive part of the dinner.


Finally, I served it all with some V'Con vodka sauce over penne pasta, an instant creamy classic that is easily doubled for a crowd. The photo isn't great, but the end result was everything that a good vodka sauce should be, and went well with the other two featured items.

All this and 2 bottles of wine for under 15€! I was also going to do dessert, but we ended up just drinking wine for dessert. See? Simple, Sexy, and dare I say, very European. :P

Real Valentines Day wasn't so bad either: no wine and roses, but beer and sushi in the bathtub, while watching Arrested Development episodes. Works for me, my friends.

Hope you lot had a nice V-Day, or had fun ignoring it all together!

song of the day: The Cardigans- Lovefool

50 Vegan Sandwiches

Every so often the New York Times has a huge food section article with like, 101 ideas for salads or 101 ideas for grilling. My Dad usually saves the print version from his work and brings it home for me, where I proceed to drool over the unlimited possibilities, or at least the vegetarian ones. (Btw, how great is my Dad? He is in Egypt right now covering the protests! Crazy, right?)

The idea is, relatively simple combos that might be a bit unusual or sort of a cheater recipe for something usually prepared in a more complex way. Or maybe even classics that you don't normally think of as being "fast food." Regardless, the list-iness of it jogs your memory and inspires you to come up with interesting meals instead of opting for that restaurant, frozen item, or over-used standby.

In my opinion, us vegans need something like this. A long list of ideas for simple snacks or whatever, not so much recipes as combinations that you can use as a guideline for improvisation.

So! I will start off with a list for sandwiches! This is not meant to be exhaustive and leans toward my own personal tastes, so if you have any good and simple ideas, leave it in the comments! And if you want to make a list like this for desserts, breakfast, snacks, ect, go ahead and leave a comment and we can link it up. It'll be an instant score for anyone wondering what to eat for a quickie vegan meal. So without further ado...!

50 Vegan Sandwiches!!!

*Classics*

1. The Hummus Supreme: Hummus + cucumbers + tomatoes + thin sliced red onion + drizzle of pomengranate molasses on multigrain bread

2. The Roasted Wrap: Balsamic Roasted eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms + tomatoes + basil and arugula rolled into a lavash or tortilla

3. The Portobello: Grilled, marinated portobello mushrooms + roasted red peppers + hummus + basil on french bread

4. The Rueben: Tempeh bacon + Vegan Russian dressing + Sauerkraut on toasted sourdough

5. The Poor and Toasty: Herbed Earth balance slathered on a roll and toasted face-down in a nonstick pan until crusty, stuffed with tomatoes and or onions (depending on level of poverty).

6. Italiano: Pesto mixed into a little vegan mayo + tomatoes + olives + roasted eggplant on focacia or ciabatta

7. The Pizza Bagel: Tomato Sauce + Sliced Mushrooms + plenty of nooch (or soy moz) on two bagel halves, broiled.

*Breakfast Sammies*

8. The Waffle-wich: Peanut Butter + Sliced Bananas+ Drizzle of Maple Syrup, between two toasted frozen waffles

9. The Wafflewich, revisted: Same as above except with vegan sausage patties (like Gimme Lean) instead of bananas and pb. (Oh, like you haven't done it.)

10. The Scramble: Tofu scramble wrapped up, burrito style, in a tortilla

11. The Mexican Scramble: Tofu scramble + guac + salsa in a tortilla

12. The Radial Bagel: Soy Cream Cheese + Sliced Avocado + Sliced Tomato + thin sliced red onion + sprouts open faced on a grilled bagel

13. The Einstein: Chopped veggies and herbs folded into soy cream cheese + everything bagel

14. The McTuffin: Broiled/ Baked Tofu + Nooch Cheesy sauce or soy cheese slices+ circular breakfast sausage on an English muffin. (They serve these at Sticky Fingers Bakery in DC, btw.)

*Fruity Favorites*

15. Elvis: Peanut butter+ banana grilled in earth balance (add in a slice of soy bacon if you're feeling really cheeky.)

16. PB + F: Peanut/ Almond/ Cashew butter+ fresh sliced peaches, apples, strawberries, ect.

17. The Weekender: Sliced green apples + whole grain mustard + vidalia onions on pumpernickel

18. Sophisticated: Faux Cream cheese + Fig preserves + sliced toasted almonds, open-faced on good mulitgrain bread

19. Bollywood: Mango chutney+ faux cheddar, grilled cheese style

20. La Casita: Pan-fried, sliced plantains + chili powder + peanut butter in a tortilla

21. The Brussels : Sliced Apples+ Shredded Carrots+ Soy Cream Cheese + Agave Nectar in French Bread

22. The Peaches and Cream: Sliced peaches + creamed cashews + drizzle of agave stuffed inside a panini and grilled

23. The Lover: Toasted french bread+ vegan chocolate hazelnut spread + sliced strawberries + dusting of cinnamon or powdered sugar (serve w/ soymilk, plz)

24. The Banana Cream Pie: Sliced Bananas+ Soy cream cheese + brown sugar broiled open-faced on thick cut multigrain bread or a bagel.

*Protein Central*
25. BLT w/ a twist: Crispy tempeh bacon + Avocado slices+ lettuce+ tomato slices on toast

26. Meatball Sub: Leftover meatballs + leftover spaghetti sauce + soy cheese on a sub roll

27. Turkey club: Tempeh bacon + deli slices+ lettuce, tomato and mustard

28. The Momma's boy: Veganaise+ Lettuce+ Tomato + Soy Cheese + Deli Slices

29. The Way-better McRib: Broiled Morningstar Riblets + Slaw on focaccia

30. BBQ Baby: BBQ Tofu+ Grilled/ Caramelized Onions+ Toasted Roll

31. The Sailor Girl: (Leftover) breaded, fried tofu + veganaise mixed with a little relish or capers + generous squeeze lemon on a roll

32. The Babysitter: Cooked Soy hot dog, cut in 1/2 + Ketchup and Relish on whatever bread available (just make it fast, before the parents get home)


*Salad Sandwiches*

33. The Greek: Lettuce+ Cucumbers+ Slivered almonds+ grapes+ olives+ crumbled tofu+ Greek dressing stuffed into a warm pita

34. Tofu Salad: Not-egg salad on white toast (not for me, thankyouverymuch)

35. The Jimmy: Tons of raw spinach + thin sliced red onions + red pepper hummus on a toasted bagel

36. The Leftover heaven: Whatever awesome salad you had yesterday inside a hollowed out french bread loaf

37. The Chik'n Salad: Mashed cooked chickpeas + diced onion and carrots + relish + vegan mayo + salt, pepper and praprika on toast

38. The Tahini Dream: Roasted Eggplant + Spinach + tomato chunks in tahini miso dressing (equal parts tahini and miso plus a little warm water and agave nectar) rolled in a lavash

*Even More Sandwiches

39. The Portobello burger: Grilled or broiled portobello mushroom cap + pesto + tomato slices on a burger roll

40. The Patty Melt: Grilled Black Bean Burger + Grilled onions + soy american style cheese, grilled in between two buttered sour dough slices. A southern classic.

41. The Orange Monster: Roasted sweet potato mashed and spread over a whole grain tortilla + mushrooms + onions + corn + spinach + hot sauce

42. Mexi-Wrap: Mashed black beans + salsa + guac + jalapenos rolled in a whole grain tortilla

43. The kid brother: PB+J + potato chips

44. The Doug: Sliced, roasted beets + avocado slices + sweet mustard + sliced onion on whole grain bread

45. The George Bush Sr.: Broccoli or Broccoli Rabe + Nooch + Red Pepper Flakes, broiled on sturdy whole grain bread until broccoli is starting to char in places

46. The Tea Luncheon: Thin sliced radishes + cucumbers+ salt and pepper + soy cream cheese on white toast with the crust cut off.

47. The Open Sesame: Baba Ganoush + roasted red peppers + roasted zucchini + squeeze of lemon on pita

48. The Subway: Cukes+ tomatoes + sliced onions+ lettuce + Italian dressing on a hoagie roll

49. Harriet the Spy: Veganaise + Tomatoes + plenty of salt and pepper on wonderbread

50. The Pita: Falafel+ red cabbage slaw + hummus/ soy-yogurt sauce/ hot sauce in a warm pita

...so, that's about what I could come up with. Please add your faves in the comments!

Good News/ Bad News

Why is it, lately, that every bit of good stuff has to come with equally proportionate bad stuff? (I know, that was really eloquent, let's just go with it.) For example, this weekend I went to Copenhagen to visit my friend Ted. (Good!) But now I'm sick. (Bad.) I found a free English language novel on the side of the road the other night, and it was getting pretty interesting! (Good!) But I left it on the airplane. (Bad.) I found a nearby store that sells Masa Harina so I can make tamales! (Good!) But its imported and costs 8 f*cking euros a bag. (Doh!)

And perhaps the most important piece of news straddling the good/ line is my new job. On the one hand, its a job! That's super good, because I'm beyond broke and I really want to go intern in Budapest this summer, so I need to find some income, and fast. Onnnnn the downside... its a job as a "putzfrau" for a pre-school. So I'm basically walking around with a mop, broom and vacuum cleaner and trying to clean surfaces faster than babies can expel bodily fluids onto them. It is, so far, a losing battle. So yeah, that's bad.

But at least, when I come home sore and smelling of baby powder (or worse) there's still the old, and almost free standby of Hutspot- mashed potatoes with add-ins (in this case sauerkraut and apples.) It's always so comforting, and makes me feel a little better about my terrible low-wage torture job (even if it does remind me of baby food, a little.)


So what if things aren't perfect? Good/ bad is way better than bad/ bad, and maybe I'm even on the way to good/good...