Food Inc.

I'm going to see Food Inc. tonight at Film Forum! yay!
Update: Food, Inc. was a little tame for my taste. ;) Entertaining, but tame.

I might even be able to rope Lucas into a meal at Red Bamboo or Vegetarian's Paradise beforehand. heh.
Update: We went to Vegetarian's Paradise 2. We had the Avocado Faux-Crab Tartare (yum!) for an appetizer, Lucas had the seaweed soup (yum!), I had the Texas Fried-Faux-Chicken (yum!), and Lucas had a curry. The Texas Fried "Chicken" was pretty good. It was definitely the most unhealthy high-fat meal I've had in a long time, but it was pretty tasty. It's only fault (other than fat!) was that it almost tasted too much like the real thing which made it slightly off-putting for me!

Vegan Brunch

Image source: http://superspark.wordpress.com

When winter was coming to a close, I stocked up on a few cans of pumpkin purée. (I love pumpkin.) So ... I made the pumpkin bran muffins from Vegan Brunch on Monday. They are so yummy! Mmmmmmmm.

This is after a failed attempt to make the pumpkin pancakes from Vegan Brunch. The pancakes just remained a pile of mush no matter how long I cooked them. meh. I followed the directions to a T ... I dunno what happened.

So, go for the muffins. They are super yum. :)

Vegan Mac & Cheeze

This is the first time I've made vegan mac & cheeze although it's been on my list for a while. I will definitely give this the thumbs up. Lucas, my beloved omnivore, also gave it the thumbs up. ;)

Next time, I am going to try Fat Free Vegan's recipe though (as that one is a little less fattening).

I went with Vegan Dad's recipe.
Click here for original recipe on Vegan Dad's food blog:
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/06/creamy-mac-and-cheeze.html

INGREDIENTS
Makes a lot - enough for 4 or 5 people.

- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 2 cups soy milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 cups firm tofu (does not have to be silken) NOTE: I used 12oz firm silken tofu.
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp miso (something mellow)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups uncooked macaroni

METHOD

1. Cook macaroni, as per directions, until al dente.

2. While macaroni is cooking, place all other ingredients in a blender and blend for 5 minutes, until very smooth. Make sure all nuts and seeds have been blended.
NOTE: I blended the nuts on their own first in my food processor with a bit of the soymilk and then added the rest of the ingredients and blended until very smooth. I feel like that blends the nuts better that way.

3. Drain macaroni and return to pot over medium heat. Add sauce and bring to bubbling. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and reduces a bit (about 5 mins)

I served it up with veggie burgers and a salad. Yum!

Okra Potato Coconut Curry (vegan)

This was probably one of my favorite curries I've ever made. Super yum!

Ingredients:

1lb 8oz potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (I steam these for a few minutes to soften them up before throwing them in)

enough okra to compete with the potatoes (heh) ... cut off tops and then cut in half.

2 tablespoons oil (I used canola)
1 onion (thinly sliced)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
20 curry leaves**
2 tablespoons curry powder (I use a Madras medium-hot blend)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can lite (i.e. lowfat) coconut milk
3/4 cup veggie broth
2/3 cup fresh coconut**
6 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large skillet with sides. Add onion and stir-fry over medium heat until onion is translucent and soft. Stir in the ginger, garlic, cinnamon, curry leaves, curry powder, ground coriander, turmeric, and chili powder. Throw in the okra and the potatoes. Cook on medium-low heat until the potatoes and okra are cooked through. Once it's done, top with the coconut and cilantro.

Serve over basmati rice. Mmmm.

**I bought my curry leaves at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens. Unfortunately, I'm yet to find another place in New York City that has fresh curry leaves! What gives??? I'm sure they exist somewhere closer to my home in Brooklyn. Please let me know if you know a place ... sheesh.
Curry leaves look like this and they make things taste divine. :)


I get my unsweetened coconut from Indian grocers. It's what I'd call a "powdered" coconut because it is fine like a powder. Any coconut you'd find in a regular supermarket will not be a good substitute.
This is the coconut I purchased at my favorite Indian grocer on 1st Avenue and 6th Street in Manhattan ... just to give you an idea of what you're looking for. It's only about $2.50.


NOTE: This recipe is a veganized version of the "Coconut Lamb Curry" recipe found on page 112 in the book 200 Curries by Sunil Vijayakar. (This book is inexpensive and it has some great, authentic, curries in it!)

More reasons to eat more plants and less animals...

Vegan Buddhist Nuns Have Same Bone Density As Non-vegetarians

Grape Seed Extract Kills Cancer Cells In Lab

I've taken grape seed extract in order to prevent blood clots. Unfortunately, my family is prone to bad circulation stuff like that and studies have shown grape seed extract to have preventative effects. It might be good for something else too! ;)

Pizza dough efforts and other musings...

Exams are over and I've been doing some cooking. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much picture-taking. heh.

I tried my hand at making the pizza dough recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance (even though I usually destroy anything that requires something resembling dough). It went OK - certainly better than I thought it would. I think, next time, I'm going to make four small pizzas which will be easier to stretch out - rather than two twelve-inch pizzas. :)

I topped them with some tomato sauce, fresh tomato slices, black olives, fresh basil, and the tofu-basil ricotta from Veganomicon. It was edible, but I am going to keep trying to make the perfect crust over and over. :) At least it's a cheap experiment - only requiring yeast, flour, and water.

Other than that, I made the muhammara and baba ghanouj recipes from Vegan Fire & Spice. Both are somewhat insanely delicious and habit-forming, but that version of baba ghanouj is definitely the best I've ever made! It is fluffy and delightful - just like you get at Middle Eastern restaurants. I am proud, very proud. :) haha.

My parents are coming over for their Mother's Day visit on Saturday. I think I will make the baba ghanouj for that. Hmm. What else to make?

I signed up for a 4-week intro to yoga series. I am very excited. I had taken an intro class at a wonderful yoga studio in Manhattan two years ago and loved it. However, that just proved to be too inconvenient of a location to get to in order to continue on a regular basis. Hopefully now I will pick up where I left off and make this a more regular part of my life. :)

Artichoke-Olive Crostini (vegan)

I also made the Artichoke-Olive Crostini from Smitten Kitchen.
It is yum! Click above to go to the recipe on her site.

Pic from Smitten Kitchen to entice you...