The future is now. Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche.

As you know, I love Homaro Cantu. I think that he and Ben Roche are two of the most inspiring, creative minds out there today. I had the pleasure of eating at Moto, enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen and all of the cool systems they have installed (including the creepiness of seeing a photo of myself and a "no avocado, no bananas" icon), and got to chat a bit with Chef Cantu back in May 2010. Since that time, the Moto guys have continued to be superproductive, and, hopefully soon, will be bringing some of their innovations to a more accessible market.

When one considers the function of the animal (eat, metabolize, reproduce), it is impossible to exclude that as animals, eating is central to the human experience. It is tied up in expectations, learned behaviors, culture, and social behavior and meaning. A great problem facing us globally today is the effect of our often locust-like need to consume.

Consumption doesn't necessarily require decimation. And this is where Cantu comes in. Check out the lecture from TEDx in Chicago, Cantu and Roche's home town. It is a fun summary of some of their most recent projects, and a look at the hopefully more fruitful and healthy future.

a new idea: Vegan product review (henceforth, VPR!)

It is no secret that I am kind of a "secret Vegan." I am Veganish. I think it is healthier, better for the environment, and probably better for my soul (If I believed that I had one, but that is another post for another day...) but I am not going to starve in Mongolia if all they have is yak, either. I don't make a "thing" of it, I don't proselytize. I am not an animal-rights activist, or much of any kind of activist, but I kind of do my mostly vegan thing as much as I mostly can. I have no idea if I just offended someone in a yurt somewhere.

In any case, as I have begun my attempts to take myself out of the mass-marketed, fatness-inducing, pre-packed and ready-to-rumble food world, I have noticed that there are just as many products marketed at the other side. It is easy to worry about the environmental, health, and ethical impact of meat-eating, but has anyone really studied the impact of NOT eating it? I mean, as a vegan-for-me person without a real agenda, I have been noticing more and more just how many products (many of which are lousy in one way or another, incidentally) that are marketed (hard!!!) at vegans and vegetarians. Add to this two major desires of mine: First, to avoid eating a vegan mushpile every night ('cuz that is gross) and; Second, to avoid being one of those "white food" vegetarians (you know that guy - the one who eats nothing but crackers, french fries, and peanut butter? this is not healthy and I want no part of it). Thus, some investigation of how to make my Veganish lifestyle effective at providing me with a "normal" healthy broad range of foods, and to avoid having that be so restrictive that I sacrifice nutrients (or taste) is required.

This has prompted a new series:

Vegan product review (or, henceforth, VPR).

VPR #1: Veganaise

This product is widely-hyped, and even comes sealed with plastic that reads "made with solar power" - I guess they figure if you care about one thing, you care about all of the other yuppy causes (and I am not saying I don't, I am just sayin' in general). Purportedly, this is the "best tasting" vegan mayonnaise substitute on the market (well, at least as they market it).

The thing is, I don't even LIKE regular mayo, so I have no real idea how I might integrate this product (which is stiff full fat, albeit all polyunsaturated veggie fat) into my previously mayo-free diet.

SO, I tried it - cooking with it as a binder, using it to emulsify some salad dressing, and as a spread to moisten an otherwise dry-as-old-bones (not that there were any, this is a VEGAN rant, kids...) sandwich.

and, much to my self-loathing yuppy dismay, I liked it. I mean, it is kind of nice - lighter tasting than real mayo, lacks any musky animalic flavor notes, and has a pleasing degree of vinegary bite. The texture stayed light and whippy when I cooked with it, and it did provide more satisfying throat-lubrication (nasty, but true) to a tofurkey on whole-what pita than cranberry chutney had the day before.

My name is Erica, and I like Veganaise. (this is where you say "Hi, Erica" and make me admit that being Veganish really is less of a lifestyle change or "problem" when it is this easy to make a substitution that seems, even purely culinarily, better.)

lazy. hungry. vegan. (WWFD)

So, I got kind of depressed today, and I was wandering around Whole Foods and got looking at all of their sexy sexy produce.
(hey, you cheer up your way, and I'll cheer up mine, ok?)

And I found some REALLY hot vegetables. Butternut squash, cauliflower, all kinds of kale...
but when I got home, I discovered that we barely had enough space for it all in the fridge, which, in turn, spawned - WWFD!

This required under 5 minutes of prep. The trick to speed here was a pressure cooker.


Lazy person's very low fat vegan squash soup with Asian pear and "sausage"

ingredients:
one butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2-3 inch hunks

3 cubes of frozen minced ginger (mine is the Dorot brand)

salt and pepper

one tablespoon of vegan "butter" style spread (no partially hydrogenated fats. ever.)

one Asian pear (I had this in the fridge and it was about to go bad. a crisp apple would also do very nicely)

2 "apple and sage" style vegan sausages (or whatever you happen to have)

I served this with some oven roasted cauliflower. If you want to know how to make it, e-mail me. (This is amongst the only ok ways to prep the otherwise often vile flower of cauli, IMO)

here's what to do:

put the squash in the pressure cooker, along with the frozen ginger, about a half cup of water, salt and pepper. Put the lid on it. Set to high pressure for 3 minutes. (no that is not a typo, THREE MINUTES is all that is required).

meanwhile: roast the cauliflower, cut up the apple (or pear, in this case), and slice the "sausage' into coins. put the sausage in a skillet with a spritz of nonstick spray over medium-high heat and get it caramelized on the outside, tossing gently until evenly cooked.

when the pressure cooker has achieved pressure, keep it there for three minutes, and then vent the pressure (carefully, using tongs, since high pressure steam is HOT, hello!) - do not let the pressure out "naturally" as this will overcook the squash.

assemble:

remove the lid, and using a stick blender (or in small portions I suppose, with caution, you could do this in the blender or with a handheld masher), blend it into a smooth soup texture.

thicken and enrich the texture, if desired, with a little vegan "butter" (I like Earth Balance).

top with the pear (or apple, or whatnot) and the "sausage" and eat.

This could very easily be changed up by using different vegetables, different spices, or different add-ins to the squash-sauce (like with some red chilis, chickpeas, and finished with coconut milk instead of butter and maybe some lemongrass, topped with fresh cilantro and minced tofu... a totally different yet equally speedy and yummy dinner).

I am in love with my electronic pressure cooker.

Easy Cheeze? NOT.

I have been experimenting with vegan cheese sauce. I had been kind of obsessed with getting some nutritional yeast. I consulted the Veganomicon. I blended, I tasted, I seasoned. Twice.

The thing is, it sucks.

I don't get it, cuz ya see... nutritional yeast TASTES BAD. not "addictive" not "just like cheese" not "a tasty topping for popcorn" or any other thing that the nutritional yeast council has put out there on the interweb. IT IS HORRID.

that is all.