WWFD: cheese, cheese craving, and battling it.

I sometimes really crave cheese.

When I think about it, it is absolutely disgusting - the lactated excretions from an animal, concentrated and left to mold... doesn't sound appetizing. And yet, there's pretty good medical evidence to explain why for most folks who eat a plant-based diet, giving up cheese is the hardest thing: some of the compounds in cheese probably bind the opioid receptor in the brain. Dr. Neal Barnard gave a lecture about this phenomenon years ago that I suggest you consider checking out.

Meanwhile, I feel challenged to avoid eating casein since even small amounts of it (and other dairy proteins) are positively correlated with cancer growth. Plus, cheese is the richest source of saturated fat in the diet of most Americans - correlated with heart disease and premature death.

So, what's a gal to do when Mac n Cheese is really what'd hit the proverbial spot?

This gal invented something.

I give you, with no further ado:

truffled wheat macaroni with creamy mushroom cheeselike sauce

whole grain, low in fat, and some plant-based protein too!

this comes together very quickly.

the basic recipe: boil some whole wheat pasta in well-salted water. I'll confess that I add a tiny bit of vinegar to the water with whole wheat pasta - improves flavor and texture.

meanwhile, dump into a bowl: some dried mushrooms (I get them at Costco) and warm water to rehydrate.

dump into the blender: half a block of soft tofu, Mori-nu is my favorite brand, along with two tablespoons of white miso paste (Miso master is my fave). blend on high until smooth.

have on hand: salt, pepper, white truffle oil, and red vermouth.

put it together:

put 1 tsp of oil of your choosing (olive, or vegan butter, or whatnot) into a large skillet.

put the mushrooms (chopped) in there and let them get a little sear on them, but don't burn them. Add a little salt to help the mushrooms sweat a bit.

(you could toss in some garlic, too, if you're into that).

then deglaze the pan with some vermouth. let it bubble mostly off but not to dryness.

drain the pasta, drop it in there, too.

a little sage would be nummy if you've got it, also.

then dump in your tofu-miso goop.

mix mix mix.

if it gets too watery, let it cook more or add a tablespoon of seasoned breadcrumbs to thicken.

if it gets too thick, add in more vermouth (or a little water).

salt and pepper to taste.

finish with some toasted breadcrumbs and a teensy dribble of truffle oil (real, not that chemical stuff) on top and eat.

(a little fresh sage on top would be good, too).

a more complete and accurate recipe to follow, but you get the idea.

enjoy.

if you want to details, e-mail me.

if this grosses you out, don't cook it.

tofu steak 'n accoutrements

Hey kids.

It's WWFD! Everyone's favorite game.

The challenge today: a whole-food, plant-based meal reflecting the ideal of the "new" four food groups: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins.

The catch: cook it in 20 minutes.

The outcome:
What it is: quick-cooking bulgur wheat fragranced with chestnuts (which are yummy and surprisingly fat free!), tofu "steak" with a mushroom vermouth reduction (and the sauteed mushrooms - baby bella and shitake), and quick-kale with lemon tahini sauce (that I also made on the fly).

The trick: a well-stocked pantry and old school "backward math" meal planning so everything comes out together and hot. That, and a few trademarked Lazy Vegan (the working title of the cookbook) techniques. Got it all done (including time for water to boil) in 21 minutes. Not bad.

Recipes to follow.

I am actively seeking volunteers to test recipes. In exchange, I will provide you with a free digital copy of the book when it comes forth, and a mention in the credits. E-mail me if you want in on the project.

Lazy Vegan lunchbox

Lest you wonder how it is that I can be both so lazy as well as eat a protein packed, plant-based, diet as such a busy girl on the run, I'll tell you: I pack my lunch, and lots of other stuff.

Today's lunch also includes a late breakfast (aka mid morning snack, since I was too full on the other half of it to finish it).

Nothing in here required more than 30 seconds of preparation.

The contents: one orange, one Odwalla protein bar, raw fig porridge, tomato-mint bulgur soup, and there's a Primal Strip underneath. Breakfast, lunch, pre-gym snacks, and extras in case I'm hungry. Easy. Lazy, even.

Lazy veganist lunch

I made for myself a yummy dish for my lunch today consisting of only 4 ingredients: shirataki noodles, one raw yellow pepper, red curry powder, and defatted peanut powder (before you turn your nose up, this stuff is natural, delicious, low in fat and higher in protein than regular peanut butter - not all refined things are bad, IMO).

Took about 30 seconds to prep, and contains about 100 calories for more food than I can eat.

Tossing in a piece of fruit, a flax pita, and a high-energy snack for pre-gym (I can list my favorites another time), this contributes to a fruit-and-veg dense, totally plant-based, satisfying eating day. (so no criticisms that my lunch is only 100 calories, ok?)

And how often can most of us say that we had a "satisfying eating day?" Just sayin...

More importantly, this is delicious, filling, high in fiber, very low in fat (about 1.5 grams in the whole serving, which is around 2.5 cups of food), contains around 9 grams of protein (not bad for a dish that is under 100 calories!), and 1 grams of sugars.

This lead to my considering further what to call the upcoming cookbook... How might you feel about "Lazy Vegan" as a title? Would you buy that book?

Grtfl-1

A friend of mine posted a license plate today as her facebook image: GRTFL-1.

Happy thanksgiving.

This is the first year that I've hosted this fete, and I have had a lot of mixed feelings about it. I do prefer the idea of a holiday without racial, ethnic, political, religious, or other ideology that has evolved to just be simple: We are Americans, We are thankful.

But this also becomes such an ugly display of vices in our country, and I'm hoping to succeed at refocusing my own energies in a positive manner in spite of this. Billions of dollars spent on sport, pre-Black-Friday sales, unity-in-gluttony! For me, that means a healthy but still yummy meal, and focusing on my amazing husband, wacked-out-but-lovable family, and the greatest circle of friends a gal could ask for.

It is challenging to feel truly grateful, I think, for most of us... Let alone to express that sentiment in a genuine, uncontrived, honest, and straightforward way. I strongly suspect that this is the reason for all of the distraction for so many of us: parades, football, pigging out, excessive drinking.

As a "foodie" person, I have been carefully considering the real meaning and value of many Thanksgiving buzzwords: turkey (rejected for many reasons), pumpkin (yum), grateful (ideally), bounty (sounds good except for paper towel), stuffed (I prefer to avoid it).

I'd love to challenge you, dear reader (since you are probably my friend) to not eat to excess and instead feel charitable today. Thanks, and Giving. Today I'm giving thanks for my place on the planet, the people around me, mindfulness, and choice.

WWFD: basic-idea bibimbap

I was hungry.

I was cold.

When I have that grey-day feeling, I really crave a dish that I get a local sushi hotspot, Ok-dol Bibimbap. It is white rice served in a super-hot stone pot, topped with an array of warm seasoned vegetables, as well as fresh cool veggies and pickles, served alongside a warming rich sesame-and-chili red sauce. Oftentimes, fish or meat and an egg are in the mix - I want that savory warmingness, minus the life-depleting animal proteins. So, what’s a lazy, hungry, plant-based-diet-eating gal to do? I was exhausted, so Bibimbap got the nearly-instant vegan kitchen treatment, and I just kind of made it from stuff in the pantry and fridge.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

The shocker?

It was wicked delicious!

I’m writing this down before I forget how I did it. If you improve on this, definitely let me know! All of this is approximate, probably wrong, and might not work for you.

With caveats aside, here're the deets:

The plan:

make the rice.

While it is cooking, make the veggies.

Make them one-at-a-time in the same skillet to minimize dishes.

Meanwhile, invent the sauce.

Heat and glaze tofu.

Then layer into a serving bowl with the rice on the bottom, and neat little piles of each component on top, sauce on the side.

RICE:

The best method to cooking plain rice, I swear, is the traditional Japanese method. I learned this from the book Kansha by Elizabeth Andoh. Measure out a cup of white rice, and put it in a medium-sized bowl. completely cover with water, and swoosh it around, rubbing it in small handfuls in your palm. strain off the now-starchy water, and repeat a few times until it is mostly clear. I know that most Japanese-style American rice says it is pre-washed, but do not believe this. Drain, and put the rice into a pot or saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Add 1.25 cups of fresh water, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Try not to peek - just listen. Then lower the heat and simmer-cook for another 5-7 minutes until nearly all of the water is absorbed - the sound will change. If you must, open at this point, increase the heat to high, and rapidly give a few tosses to remove any excess water - this should take no more than thirty seconds. Alternatively, just increase the heat to high, wiggle the pot a bit for 30 seconds (like Jiffy-pop), then turn the heat off. Set the pot aside, still tightly covered, for ten minutes. Your rice will be perfect. When ready to serve, use a flat spatula or paddle-like device to cut into the mass without squashing the grains and fluff it a few times. for this dish, I folded in some sesame seeds, too.

VEGGIES:

I made carrots, spinach, and mushrooms since that is what I had.

CHOP STUFF UP: I also prepped (into a tiny mince) some scallion and about 5 cloves of garlic.

The mushrooms were very thinly sliced, I sliced the carrots lengthwise into long thin strips.

the spinach was pre-washed baby spinach and I did nothing whatsoever to it.

I made the mushrooms first, figuring the leftover liquids in the pan would lend an earthy savoriness to the next batch-o-veg.

BASICS: into a nonstick skillet, I dropped a bit (maybe a teaspoon, maybe less) of dark sesame oil, then the rinsed and sliced mushrooms, added a small pinch of salt, and cooked them until they were softened. I added tiny splashes of water until they started to lose their own to prevent sticking. I deglazed the skillet with about a tablespoon of sake, and let it burn off. Then I pulled the mushrooms out of the pain and set aside.

next, I cooked about a tablespoon of the garlic until it was fragrant but NOT browned (garlic shouldn’t brown, it is bitter that way), then tossed in the carrots. similarly, to control sticking without adding more fat, I added teaspoons of water as needed until the carrots were halfway softened (I like my veggies pretty crisp), then to finish I dropped in a generous pinch of sesame seeds, a half teaspoon of Agave nectar, tossed to coat, and removed the carrots from the skillet.

Next, I made the spinach. This is so easy, “they” should take away your stove if you can’t make it. I threw in another microsplash of sesame oil, and some garlic. Once the garlic was cooking, I added in three large handfuls of baby spinach. This will wilt down to nearly nothing speedily, so keep stirring. The pan was deglazed with a small splash of rice wine vinegar, and I added a bit of salt to taste. The spinach was set aside.

While all that was cooking, I made the sauce. Now, real Korean grandmas, don’t gang up on me. I know this is a bastardization, but I prefer to see it as hunger-induced fridge-ingenuity. ok?

SAUCE: I squirted some ketchup (I used Whole Foods organic ketchup, which is apparently gluten-free? This isn’t an issue for me, but just in case it is for you, read the labels) into a small bowl. To this, I added Sriracha to taste (I used a lot, you might prefer less), the remaining raw garlic, and small volumes of both the sesame oil and some agave nectar. I’d guess the proportions were 3 T of ketchup, 1 T of sriracha, a teaspoon of very finely minced garlic, a teaspoon of dark sesame oil, and a teaspoon of Agave. But this is all a guess. keep stirring and tasting. yum.

TOFU: I had some “savory flavored” firm pre-marinated tofu in the fridge. I cut it up into 1 cm cubes, ish. This went into the skillet used for the veggies and was heated through, with small additions of water to prevent sticking. It tasted bland. So I added in some of the scallion, some soy sauce, and a generous plop of the fake bibimbap sauce, and glazed them nicely, cooking the sauce down to a thin film of sticky spicy lacquered goodness.

TO ASSEMBLE: place rice in the bottom of a large bowl. Artfully arrange the vegetables in tidy plops on top. Add the tofu, also in a neat pile. Toss some of the remaining raw scallion over the center, and serve with the sauce on the side.

notes/ideas: The technique of “water frying” as it is called in some south Asian cooking traditions permits a LOT less oil to be used. In this recipe, the sesame oil is used predominantly for its flavor, which is strong and aromatic. To my nose, bibimbap is really typified by a savory intense mix of sesame, salt, vinegar, sugar, chili and garlic that I find so irresistible in many Korean dishes. This could be made with an alternative grain (brown rice, quinoa), the rice could be a little caramelized (like a paella) to be truer to the stone pot kind (YUM), but I was too hungry. Just cook up piles of whatever vegetables you have on hand and season each thematically but separately. I also think a pickled ingredient or two, and something fresh and cold would add more flavor and texture. Ideally, I should have sought more of a balance of sweet/savory/bitter-roasted/sour/spicy in the toppings to yield a more harmonious dish. But for fridge-pantry roulette, this totally hit the spot and was cooked very speedily.

let me know if you can fix it?

Vive La Republique! (or, WWFD on Bastille Day)

Just a quick thought today after a conversation with my husband -

neither of us remotely misses eating meat.

This came up after a Bastille Day dinner - where we made vegan crepes. I'll tell you how to do it yourself below. I think I'll be reusing this as an easy weeknight dinner, since it was easy, fast, and we could each prep our own dinner and kind of graze on it, flexibly, until we were sated.

Fillings (this was refrigerator potluck, as you might imagine, since if you know me you'll know that I don't use recipes and I don't plan meals, yet we eat nicely!) were culled from

1) a bag of pre-cooked, pre-seasoned chickpeas in a cumin-and-ginger sauce (this is the Trader Joe's version of Tasty Bite, same manufacturer - kosher, vegan, and ok-tasting alone) to which I added a cube of Dorot frozen cilantro and tossed it in the nuker (why do we call it that?)

and

2) about 2 cups of frozen organic chard, some leftover artichoke hearts, and some leftover "vegan feta" that I made from tofu and has been marinating in my fridge, a smidge of soymilk to thicken, a pinch of salt, a packet of True Lemon (henceforth to be dubbed "the greatest lazy person's seasoning", or glps for short) and 3 Dorot garlic cubes - all tossed in a saucepan and heated until hot.

for a sidedish I made speedy tasty cauliflower inspired by my friend, Kelly Reine (but mine is lazier than her method): one bag of frozen organic cauliflower florets, tossed frozen into a medium saute pan. To this I added about a teaspoon of cheap olive oil (there is no need to cook with anything fancy), and let them get warm and slightly browned. Then I added 2 finely minced jalepenos (ribs and seeds removed) and let them bask in the heat for a few moments, then added about a half tablespoon of capers and their juice, toss. To finish: toss in another teaspoon of oil, and about 1/4 cup of panko crumbs. toss and toss until it is all lightly coated brown and good. Then to finish: one packet of "glps", salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, to eat: get your crepe pan hot, spritz with a touch of cooking spray, make a fresh crepe, fill will the filling of your choice,

et apres,

mange-toi!

So, you want to make a vegan crepe, eh?

Crepes without eggs may be an offense to some (and probably to the French as a whole), but as an exercise in veganism, I wanted to prove it could be done. Since I was feeling earthy-crunchy, these were whole wheat and not sweetened, since I was planning them only for savory use.

Here's the way:

3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer + 4 tablespoons water
1 cup whole what flour
1 1/2 cups nondairy milk (I used plain soy)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used melted Earth Balance stick)
about a teaspoon of salt (you can use less if you're not into salt, I am, but whatever)

6 drops of Stevia extract (this is highly variable in potency, so I suggest using tiny amounts and adjusting to your own taste. For a crispier browner crepe and if you aren't into minimizing your carbs, evaporated cane juice or sugar could be used here)

nonstick spray


1. whisk egg replacer and water. pour in about half of the soy milk, and whisk together. then add the flour all at once, whisk like a banshee.

2. Mix in the remaining milk, and whisk until lumps are gone. Add vegetable oil and seasonings. (Next step takes some practice, but then it will be awesome)

3. Spray pan with some non-stick type spray, heat at medium to low. Ladle batter into pan. and rapidly spread the batter either by tilting the pan or by using the ladle or a spatula. this requires some practice. you may need to add some water to adjust your batter thickness to achieve the desired result.

4. Let it cook for about 2 minutes, then pry around the edges with a spatula. then with two hands shake it a little so it comes loose, and flip it. Cook the other side for another minute or two, and serve.