A Dinner Out and a MoFo Wrap-Up

It looks innocent enough.

When I first realized that not only were some of my childhood food allergies back, but that I had also gained some new ones, I considered going raw. I was thinking that, particularly in the case of gluten, raw might really work for me. But then I contemplated that 50% of raw recipes contain sesames or tahini and wondered what it would be like paying $3000 a month for produce in the middle of winter. I quickly abandoned that plan. I still enjoy a good raw meal from time to time, though, which is why I was kind of excited that my friend wanted to check out Bonobos for dinner last night. That, and because if you have a brownie for breakfast you have to do penance at dinner by eating nothing but vegetables and fruit. (You didn’t expect me to freeze them all did you?) I quickly selected a nutmeat patty on a nice platter of veggies and some coconut water.

Raw vegetable goodness.

I Could Live Without It

Fall scramble with butternut squash, sage and mushrooms.

Every time I am faced with the horrible hypotheticals that limit my food choice (deserted island, last meal, etc.), I never say tofu scramble and yet it is probably the food item I eat most often. Sometimes I eat it out of necessity. It’s commonly the only gluten-free option on a weekend brunch menu. Who am I kidding. Restaurants that normally make nothing but vegan food during regular hours (with the odd bit of soy cheese with casein here and a little cow’s milk for coffee there), suddenly become such egg pushers during the brunch hour that the scramble is frequently the only vegan option (yes, Bliss, I’m talking about you and I don’t care what that reviewer “Joshua” said, the scramble there is just a’ight).

Chocolate and Blueberries

I had to have a little taste.

I love to bake, but I have to admit I hate having baked goods in my house. You know that trigger that exists in your head, the one that says “Stop Eating”? Baked goods turn mine off for some reason. I’m not the only one. Whenever my mom would make a Company Cake, the minute Company exited our front door, my mom would throw what remained of the Company Cake into the trash can. I’m not as strong as my mom. I have to flush remaining Company Cake down the toilet.

Long Weekend Wrap Up

I never contemplated how difficult it could become to do weekday MoFo posts while at work because, well, I never contemplated that I might have to do things at work. So, predictably, I’ve fallen behind and my crafting posts have been relegated to mere captions on flickr. But there really has been a lot going on both cooking and crafting. This post will just be cooking, though, because I don’t have enough time to cover crafting today.

The obligatory Thanksgiving meal (part 2) money shot. The rest were blurry. Blame the bottle of syrah and the brandy. I bought the brandy for figgy pudding, although the hard sauce did not happen. More on that to come.

Obligatory re-use of Thanksgiving leftovers. Here I manage to whip together some beanballs, some horrifically common but always divine butternut squash-sage risotto (I really do need to find another risotto that screams winter, though) and dandelion greens. I’m trying to like the bitter greens, but they aren’t growing on me even when they’re overly sauced. The leftover part? I used my cranberry relish in place of grape jelly in that old omni meatball favorite recipe.

I’m playing with making fake omelets that I can eat. This was good. It crisped up on the outside only. It was deliciously creamy on the inside. I served it with some nice balsamic mushrooms and faux cottage cheese. I don’t think the omelet or cottage cheese are quite there, but they were pretty tasty.

Brunch, part 2, wherein I try to be healthy by grilling baked potato slices rather than frying them in copious amounts of oil. As seen with a caper-dill “yogurt” sauce. Creamy was very satisfying.  I’m still craving home fries, though.

I’m testing for FreckleFoot and managed to make her spicy yogurt marinade on frozen tofu right before Thanksgiving. Phenomenally good. And really spicy if you grind your own chili powder from dried Thai bird chili peppers.

I think the scariest part of this entire post is the fact that I took the first shot in my own apartment and I can’t even figure out where the set up took place.  I live in a one bedroom apartment.  I clearly hit the brandy bottle one too many times.  I’m glad I decided not to roast those chestnuts . . .

Vegan Survey

I’ve seen this survey floating around on the blogosphere and the PPK, so I figured it was time for me to join in:

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

I probably use plain Silk the most because it’s fortified, but hazelnut is really my favorite.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?

3/4 of the items in Veganomicon, lumpia and 1/2 of Arabesque

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

Nutritional yeast and canola oil spray. Sometimes with added Cajun spices.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

See Snuff post. Although, baking is frequently hazardous. And we’ll not talk about the time I picked up the ground coriander instead of ground cardamom at Whole Foods. At least I noticed after I added it to the frosting. (This would be after I baked it into the cupcakes.)

5. Favorite pickled item?

Do I have to choose between okra, turnips and jalapeños?

6. How do you organize your recipes?

I do not understand what word number four means.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

I miss garbage disposals.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?

Asparagus, blueberries and chickpeas. No wait. Chocolate. No, um. How do people ever pick three things?

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

When I was three and my brother was two, we used to go to our next door neighbor’s house. He was single and in his thirties. He would give us Lifesavers. I wonder if he was a pedophile.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?

Thank you Soy Delicious for making a gluten-free cookie dough ice cream. Although I love all of the It’s Soy Delicious fruit-sweetened ice creams.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

Immersion blender.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

Because it’s winter, I’ll say sage. This tends to be a seasonal thing. Although I’d rather cheat and say a spice blend. I’m trying to be strong here. I don’t do well with favorites.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

Vegetarian Times Cookbook. I have two that are older but I have no idea where they are.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

Fig is OK. I really prefer fruit or vegetable butters. Mmm. Pumpkin butter.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

My “lasagna” always goes over well, which is crazy since it contains none of the ingredients that make lasagna lasagna. The wonderful VWAV stewed potatoes and tofu with miso gravy (I know that’s not the official name) with roasted cauliflower. Three weeks after I had made it for one of my omni best friends, he called me primarily to tell me that he was still thinking of that meal.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

Tempeh.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?

Brunch.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

A microwave the previous tenants forgot to remove. I think it still works so I’m going to be looking for an owner for it soon.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

Cookies I’ll never eat, the insert to my ice cream maker that will be used this evening and a bank-breaking amount of gluten-free flour.

20. What’s on your grocery list?

Brussels sprouts, okra, pomegranate seeds, yukon gold potatoes, butternut squash, limes, walnuts, TVP, soy creamer, chocolate chips, chickpeas, chestnut puree, apple cider, pomegranate juice, brandy and wine. Happy Thanksgiving!

21. Favorite grocery store?

Bell Bates and the tiny one near my apartment, although I really shop anywhere where I can get the item the cheapest.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.

Lumpia

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?

Too many. Some of my favorites are on my blogroll. I’ve also come across many more compliments of VeganMoFo. My favorite crafting blogs are being seriously neglected. The only non-vegan food-related blog I read with any regularity is the scent of green bananas.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?

Scharffen Berger’s Dark Chocolate (although I’m unsure of whether this is a fair trade brand so I haven’t bought it lately), Green & Black’s Ginger Chocolate, Dagoba’s Lavender bar and the Terra Nostra rice milk chocolate (I’m so sad that one of the health food stores near where I live stopped carrying it as it was the only place in NYC I’d seen it to date).

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately

Saffron and chanterelles, although that really was some time ago.

I suppose this entry is a bit of a cheat, but I kind of like reading other people’s surveys.