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.

Back from sleeping, WWFD!

Hi.
Have we met?
How long have I been sleeping?
I have much to share with you.
Much new Boston foodie mostly vegan news upcoming. But first, drumroll please...
WWFD!






What the hell is THAT?
Simple.
Vegan high protein vegetable lasagna! Contains (filling) a block of organic firm tofu (frozen, defrosted, drained and pressed), a bunch of kale, a head of roasted garlic, salt and pepper, and seasoned breadcrumbs to thicken. Pasta? Kind of. It's eggroll wrappers. Tomato sauce. Vegan soy cheese. Stack it up, bake covered for 40 minutes at 350 F, then sprinkle on breadcrumbs as topping and bake uncovered another 10. Voila! Served with baby greens salad and a roasted garlic and Meyer lemon vinaigrette that I made a day before.
Tips: I should have used more sauce and a little cooking oil spray on the bottom of the pan. I think more veggies (a layer or thinly sliced squash? A layer of caramelized onions? Would have been good. I ran out of "cheese" or I'd have put some on top... And I think nutritional yeast or a little miso paste in the sauce would have improved the savory tang- all of that said, though, it took seconds to prepare, was very low in fat, high in protein, and Todd ate two plates-full. Definitely try this.

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Soy. It's WWFD!

Soy three ways with lemongrass chili lime savory rice noodles. Prep time: 30 seconds, plus waiting for water to boil.
Cook time: 6 minutes ish.
Vegan, high protein, low fat. Easy-peasy (actually edamame, I hate frozen peas).

Celiac disease (and lemon goodness)

so, T and I have a friend who has celiac disease. Now, there is a lot of sensationalism these days about what many folks can and cannot eat, purported food allergies that aren't, all kinds of bullshit in popular social culture about food "intolerances" and other, utter, nonsense. - But this is not.

Thus, I will have to save my rant about people with fake food "allergies" for another day. For now, let us just say that I hate them, ok?

Real autoimmune gluten intolerance can make the way that most Americans eat a minefield for those affected, and in a way, I was impressed with the trust that our friend placed in me when I invited her for a meal. So I wanted to be certain that nothing I cooked made her feel in any way marginalized, and I had absolutely no intention of sacrificing my culinary integrity (nor of making her sick!)

Instead, I'll share a positive idea that I had: polenta cake.

Being that I had to avoid wheat, and I hate to bake (too much precision for my kitchen ways), I had to brainstorm a bit about something that I thought I could make excellently on the first try (since I never bake and also won't serve something gross to my friends - what kind of friend would that make me?!), and would be a dessert that I would probably like (applying the E-dessert-rule of chocolate-almond-lemon-cherry-caramel-salt-or-bust) (henceforth to be known as the CALCCSOB dessert choice rule), this took some consideration. And then I recalled a cake that I had eaten for breakfast in Greece - a kind of lightly honey-steeped walnut and polenta loaf. While this was tasty with coffee, it was too sweet for after the meal I had planned, and I had no idea how to make it.

so instead, I read some recipes online, changed the ingredients to match what I had in my pantry, and proceeded from there.

and, out of respect for folks who actually bake, I weighed stuff and I threw it into the bowl. huzzah!

The result: not to be even more self-promoting than the sort of narcissist who has a blog, but...

Great.

Seriously. As, she-who-usually-abhors-dessert, I ate a whole slice. T ate all of the leftovers the next day. ALL.OF.THEM.

I served this, in reference to the "Greek breakfast" root idea of this dessert, with some plain Greek yogurt sweetened with a touch of warm honey, dusted with fennel pollen,(Fennel pollen makes everyone think you are fancy, so I highly recommend it) and some quick stovetop berry compote with cinnamon.

This is not low-fat. eat a small slice and relish it (if you care).

This is not vegan.

Vegan swaps: maple syrup (B-grade, preferably) or agave syrup sub for the honey, and one could use raw sugar in the cake itself. I was imagining that in lieu of butter, olive oil (weigh it, not volume) would be excellent as a sub for the butter. If it seems too wet at the end, toss in either a touch of maltodextrin (corn, to keep it gluten free) or (even better) coconut flour to maintain the consistency of the batter. for the eggs, I might suggest subbing the Bob's Red Mill egg substitute. IT does work, but it is not Gluten free, methinks.

Do it. Do it tonight. Here ya go:

2 sticks (about 230 grams) butter, softened
250g sugar
3 eggs
200g corn meal
150g ground almonds (I used Bob's Red Mill almond meal)
1 tsp baking powder
3 lemons (3 zested, 1 juiced)
1 teaspoon of lemon extract (optional, I added this, twice)
taste the batter and if it is bland, add 1/2 tsp of salt (I did not use this)

hardware:
a mixer (or use a hand mixer)
a 9 inch spingform pan
parchment paper
cooking spray (like PAM)
2 med-to-large mixing bowls
pre-heat to 320F, with convection if you have it.

then:
cut a round of parchment paper that will fit on the bottom of the pan.
prep the pan: spray with pam, then set the paper round into the bottom, and spray it lightly.

make the batter:
combine the cornmeal, almond meal (sifted), and the baking powder.
set aside

in the other bowl (or bowl of mixer, I just used a hand mixer):
cream together the butter and the sugar.
then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well to fully incorporate each one.

then fold the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar-egg mix.
then fold in the lemon zest and the lemon juice.
consider adding a small splash of lemon extract.

press the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top and edges to be as uniform as possible. this takes a few minutes. you may prefer to use your hands, cold but dry.
and cook it at 320F for about 30 minutes.
then cover the top with aluminum foil (to prevent excess browning) and cook another 20 minutes or until set but not dry.

cool completely at room temp and serve.

I made this with a berry compote, which is super easy:
drop some mixed frozen berries (mine is the Trader Joe's Cherry Berry mix), probably about a cup or so, into a small saucepan and heat them up.
if they aren't defrosting much, add a little water (like 2 tablespoons)
get it all nice and hot and smash around a bit with a spatula.
to thicken (if needed) - dissolve one teaspoon of cornstarch in 2 teaspoons of water and mix, then dump into the berry mix, stir well and rapidly. once it clarifies, turn the heat off, sprinkle in a little cinnamon, mix and you're done.

vanilla yogurt sauce:
plain greek yogurt, about 1 cup
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of real vanilla paste
mix.

garnish with lemon-y items and fennel pollen.

IF you make this, e-mail me and let me know if you enjoyed it. I totally intend to make this again.