Let’s Talk Turkey

In May of 2007, just a month after going vegan, I made a trip to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.  It is an absolutely magical, picturesque place, and I don’t even care how corny that sounds.  If my decision to go vegan hadn’t been cemented yet, after that trip it certainly was.  It was so amazing to be able to connect to the animals I had committed to help three times a day when I sat down to eat.

As Thanksgiving is a mere 2 days away, I thought it might be fun to post some  photos  of the beautiful turkeys I met on that trip, and compare their luxurious digs with those of factory farmed turkeys.  So, let’s level set – here’s how factory farmed turkeys live. First, they hatch in incubators, and get loaded up in tiny crates to be shipped off to factory farms:

They’ll spend about 5 months living crammed into warehouses like this:

Then they get loaded into tiny crates again and sent to slaughter.  You can read more about the process from birth to slaughter, none of which is natural or pleasant, here.

Places like Farm Sanctuary, however, are safe havens for these birds.  They live outdoors in flocks, where they can forage and enjoy the fresh air and sunlight.  They have comfortable shelter full of hay where they can sleep or stay warm when it’s cold out.  Have you ever seen anything so idyllic?

Male turkeys, called Toms, are the ones with the back feathers that stand up straight – what most Americans think of when they picture a turkey. The female’s feathers lay straight back, and are not as colorful as the male’s.  Of course, today’s farmed turkeys are all white – bred that way to produce white meat.

A turkey’s carancle, the fleshy skin on his head and neck, can change colors depending on his mood.  This skin is incredibly soft, and the turkey pictured here LOVED to have it stroked. He was quite a flirt – he would strut around and come up to us to get a little love from us.  Notice how his carancle is both dark red and bright blue – so pretty, isn’t it??

Today’s factory farmed turkeys look nothing like their wild ancestors, whose feathers are dark brown and black, allowing them to better blend in with their natural habitat.  Then again, humans have taken away pretty much everything natural about a turkey’s short life.  And that’s part of why I choose not to give thanks by eating  one!

If you want to leave turkey off your plate this year, check out our earlier posts about what we’ll be serving for Thanksgiving!

Delicious Vegan Waffles

My boyfriend loves waffles. A while ago I made him Peanut Butter waffles from the Vegan Brunch cookbook. He liked them a lot, but I thought they were too rich for breakfast, so I tried another recipe from the same book: Old Fashioned Chelsea Waffles. These really hit the spot! I made some changes to the recipe partly because I didn’t have all the suggested ingredients, and partly because I wanted to lower the fat a bit. So, here is the adapted recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups lowfat soy milk (or other nondairy milk)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 T canola oil
• 2 T unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 T agave nectar
• 1 T blackstrap molasses
• 1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 T cornstarch
• cooking spray for waffle iron

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, vinegar, oil, apple sauce, agave nectar, and molasses vigorously until well mixed.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix together until batter is smooth. Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray before placing batter on iron every time.

Makes 6 round 6″ waffles.

These waffles aren’t really crispy on the outside like some waffles. They’re more dense and a little softer on the outside. However, this weekend I made some for Jeff that he could freeze and then toast in the mornings.  He said they toasted up really nicely. In fact, the exact text message I got from him was: “Toasted waffles = NOMNOMNOM.”

These are great with Earth Balance and maple syrup OR you can add whipped cream and blueberries like I did (the whipped cream basically negated the “I’m going to make lower fat waffles” idea – whoops – but it WAS delicious).  Also, the whipped cream recipe I linked to here is FANTASTIC.  It does have a little coconut taste to it (more so on Day 2), but I don’t mind that at all. Oh, and I use more like 1/2 c powdered sugar instead of the recommended 1/3.  What can I say, I like the sweetness!  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Ideas, Take Two

Last week, Mindy weighed in with her Thanksgiving menu ideas, so now it’s my turn.  I’ll start by saying that my family is awesome when it comes to me being vegan.  Not only have they agreed to a completely vegan Thanksgiving feast for this year and last – but it was actually originally my parents’ idea to eschew the “traditional” turkey and have a totally plant-based feast instead!  Last year, I was trying to think of ways to approach my family about making a vegan Thanksgiving dinner when out of nowhere my parents said, “Why don’t we just skip the turkey & all that animal-based stuff, and just have a vegan feast?”  Ummmm, okay.  Twist my arm?  My brother & his girlfriend (both vegetarians) had no problem with this, either – and were totally supportive & excited.

Believe me – I am fully aware of how lucky I am!  So, that being said, even though my family is on board with a vegan Thanksgiving & I don’t have to convince anyone that the food will be good, I still want to deliver.  I want our cruelty-free celebration to be every bit as delicious as everyone expects the biggest feast of the year to be.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Last year’s menu included:

Appetizers

• Hot spinach artichoke dip with crackers
• Vegetable crudités with hummus

Main Course & Sides

• Cornmeal-crusted seitan
• Creamed corn
• Green bean casserole (I omit the carrot & use fresh green beans instead of canned)
  

  Creamed Corn

• Cranberry sauce
• Savory biscuits (I use 2 c. flour, ½ c. nutritional yeast, and vegetable shortening in place of half of the Earth Balance)
• Stuffing (I am heavy-handed on the spices, add mushrooms, use more broth for moister stuffing, and omit the apples & raisins)
• Mashed potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (from Vegan with a Vengeance)

Desserts

• Apple pie (crust from Veganomicon & pie filling from The Joy of Vegan Baking)
• Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake (from the FatFree Vegan blog)
• So Delicious Coconut Milk vanilla ice cream

   

  

  Dessert!

 

Spinach Artichoke Phyllo Puffs

This year’s menu is very similar, but with a few changes:

Appetizers

• Hot spinach artichoke phyllo puffs
• Vegetable crudités with Muhammara (roasted red pepper dip; I’m using the recipe in The Vegan Table, but there are recipes available online, as well)

Main Course & Sides

• Pine nut-crusted seitan
• Salad with raw Ranch-style dressing (recipe from the amazing Gena of Choosing Raw)
• Steamed green beans with olive oil & fleur de sel
• Roasted carrots & Brussels sprouts
• Cranberry sauce (I am omitting the pineapple & walnuts)
• Stuffing
• Corn chowder (recipe based on the one in Vegan with a Vengeance, but I tweak it a little to suit my tastes)
• Mashed potatoes with Mushroom Sauce (from The Conscious Cook – it’s incredible!  I sub shiitake & crimini mushrooms for the
  

  Pine Nut-Crusted Seitan with Mushroom Sauce

  lobster mushrooms called for in the recipe)

Desserts

• Caramel Apple Pie (with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and orange zest added)
• Pumpkin or Pecan Pie (I can’t decide!)
• Vanilla Island ice cream from Coconut Bliss

Clearly, we will want for nothing!  Like all Thanksgiving feasts (vegan or not), the menu takes some planning & a fair amount of work – but hey, that’s what makes the meal worth it, right?  With a little organization & a kitchen helper, everything comes together fairly quickly.  It really makes me so happy that I am able to provide my loved ones with a delicious, beautiful, compassionate, filling, and (mostly…) healthy meal on this holiday.  Plus, all these lovely, colorful dishes look so great on the table.

We’d love to hear about what everyone else is making for Thanksgiving!  What’s on your menu this year?

Thanksgiving Ideas: Herbed Mashed Potatoes with Chickpea Gravy, Maple Glazed Yams & Tofu Turkey

Thanksgiving is fast approaching – it’s hard to believe it’s the end of November, isn’t it?  Where does the time go?

Anyway, this year while I’ll be spending actual Thanksgiving Day with my boyfriend’s family, I will get to host a vegan Thanksgiving on the 28th for my (omnivorous) family.  I am pretty darn thrilled about this, I have to say.  My family has tried my food before (and my mom has even stopped calling it “fake food”), but this will be the first time they’ll all be eating vegan food for a holiday.  Because of this, I really want to make the food not just good, but amazing!  I want them to eat it and think “well, I didn’t miss the turkey at all, let’s do it this way every year” (I may be too hopeful on that last part).

The last couple years, I’ve replaced turkey with a Field Roast Celebration Roast, and while those are pretty good, I would prefer to serve something homemade and better than “pretty good”.   As a tester for the upcoming Happy Herbivore cookbook, I was able to try her Tofu Turkey recipe, which was delicious, but probably not the right substitute for my family, unfortunately.  It definitely has that “Thanksgiving” flavor, but I have a feeling my family will be weirded out by the texture (they’re not big on tofu).  I am super excited for her cookbook, though – so many great, fat free, delicious vegan recipes – can’t wait!   The herbed mashed potatoes recipe can be found in the “Pudge-Free Holidays” e-cookbook, available for purchase on her site. Loved this recipe!

Anyway, I think I found the recipe I will be using for the gravy.  From Vegan With a Vengeance, it’s the Punkrock Chickpea Gravy.  It has a great texture, and looks like the gravy I remember.  The only thing is that I found it a little salty.  I’m going to make it with low-sodium soy sauce next time (probably less of it), because that’s the only thing I could think of that would have made it too salty.  I think my family will really like this gravy.

Tofu turkey with herbed mashed potatoes, chickpea gravy, maple yams, and broccoli

Ok, last but not least are the Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes:

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/3″ slices
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potatoes, honey, ginger, walnut oil, cardamom, and pepper. Transfer to a lightly oiled, large cake pan.
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir the potatoes to expose the pieces from the bottom of the pan. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized on the outside.

So, those are 3 of the things I’ll be making for Thanksgiving. I’ll also be making cream corn and stuffing, as well as a vegan version of green bean casserole. AND, if I’m really ambitious, I might try to veganize my grandmother’s recipe for potato buns (a staple at holidays).

Restaurant Review: Ecopolitan

Cashew Cheese Log with Flax Crackers

I don’t go out to eat very often – partly because I love cooking, and partly because I don’t like spending money on food I could make at home.  I’m all for splurging on a delicious (vegan) meal once in awhile, but since I really do enjoy preparing my own food at home, I usually save dining out for an “every now & then” type of thing.

Falafel Wrap

That said, sometimes it’s nice to get out of the kitchen & leave the food prep to the experts!  I will gladly shell out money to visit a restaurant that serves great veg food – and even better if it provides a warm, inviting atmosphere.  And, extra bonus if every single thing on the menu is vegan!

(Basically, what I’m saying is that if I’m going to go out to eat, I’m not going to Taco Bell or to a place that will serve me something I can easily make on my own.  I want it to be worth it!)

Red Avocado Pizza

Enter Ecopolitan, a 100% vegan & raw restaurant – right here in Minneapolis.  In addition to the restaurant, they also have a juice & smoothie bar, wine bar, and “eco-shop” (where they sell items like juicers, blenders, and organic clothing).  Also, not only is everything on the menu vegan and raw (which is pretty darn eco-friendly in & of itself) – but Ecopolitan makes it a point to recycle, compost, and use washable napkins (as opposed to disposable).  They even use (and sell) non-toxic cleaning products!  Another “green” thing they do that I think some people find a wee bit obnoxious (but that I have to say I actually appreciate) is that they charge a small fee (50 cents) for to-go containers.  I don’t see this as price gouging or anything of that sort; instead, it’s meant to encourage diners to bring their own (reusable) containers in order to take home leftovers.  How many restaurants are so earth conscious?  (Not many!  Not many at all.)

Flaxseed Tostadas

So, all of this is really great, right?  But what about the food?  Well, the food is divine.  I’ve never had a bad meal here.  Ever.  In fact, I’ve never had a meal here that was anything less than amazing.  From Veggies & Cashew Ranch and Pine Nut Not-Cho “Cheese” as appetizers, to Rawvioli or (my favorite) Flaxseed Tostadas for entrees, diners really can’t go wrong here.  Mindy loves the Eco-Sausage Pizza, and I can’t get enough of the Cashew “Cheese” Log.  (Holy sweet gourd, I want to live off that stuff.)  Their desserts vary each day, and I’ve actually only tried a couple because I’m usually too full from the main course to eat anything more!  Though it’s really that great feeling of being comfortably sated but not stuffed, as well as having the satisfaction of knowing you had a delicious – yet super healthy – meal of living, raw, vegan food.

Eco-Sausage Pizza

I will say that the service is a little slow – but this has never bothered me because I know what to expect, so I don’t come here if I’m in a rush. Ecopolitan is romantic enough to bring a date, and laid back enough to have a leisurely meal with friends.  It’s a really cozy, charming place to sit down & enjoy a raw, organic, and cruelty-free meal.  What could be more appetizing than that?

Clearly, Ecopolitan is worth venturing out of the kitchen every now & then!

Ecopolitan is located at 2409 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55405.

Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup

As winter approaches, I find myself wanting to cook soup more often. One of my favorite cookbooks, Veganomicon, has a recipe for Chickpea Noodle Soup.  I’ve made it several times, tweaking it to my liking each time.  Recently I finally perfected it (to my taste, anyway) and I thought I’d share my version of this yummy comfort food!

Chickpea Noodle Soup

(adapted from Veganomicon)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 T olive oil for sauteing vegetables
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 c carrots, peeled & sliced
• 1 c celery, sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary (dried is fine too)
• fresh ground pepper (to taste)
• 8 oz (uncooked) spaghetti noodles*
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 5 c vegetable broth
• 2 c water
• salt to taste

*The picture shows this made with fettuccine noodles, but it’s better with spaghetti noodles. I just didn’t have any and was too lazy to go buy some!

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute chopped onions in olive oil until they start to soften.  Add garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary and pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes longer.
2. Add the chickpeas, water and vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add spaghetti noodles (break them into thirds first to make for easier eating), and simmer until spaghetti noodles are cooked.  Add salt to taste (I use the regular sodium veggie broth and then only add a little salt).

I’ve made this for some omnivores and they all comment how much it tastes like Chicken Noodle soup.  And while I don’t want to eat any chickens, there is something comforting about eating a food from your childhood – or rather, a cruelty free version of that childhood food!

Nutrition Info (1/6th of batch)
Calories: 223
Carbs: 41g
Fat: 3.6g
Protein: 7.0g
Fiber: 6.2g

Thanksgiving: Adopt a Turkey, Don’t Eat One!

I went vegetarian in July of 2007.  Starting that Thanksgiving, I decided to institute a new holiday tradition: instead of eating a turkey, I sponsor one through Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey program.  You donate $25 to them, and they send you a photograph of your sponsored turkey and a certificate.  This year, the turkey I’m sponsoring is named Rhonda – isn’t she gorgeous?

Photo from Farm Sanctuary website

I loved the idea of taking Thanksgiving – a holiday that most people celebrate around the body of a dead turkey – and turning it into an opportunity to help a turkey instead.

Obviously Jessica agrees, as she has been sponsoring turkeys since Thanksgiving of 2006.  For the past couple years, she has adopted three turkeys each Thanksgiving – one for her & her boyfriend, one for her parents, and one for her brother & his girlfriend.

This year’s turkeys are:

Bubbles

Mello

Olive

Thanksgiving presents a really wonderful opportunity to showcase the season’s bounty of delicious plant-based foods, leaving us no reason to include a dead bird (or pig) on the table.  Farm Sanctuary offers us a beautiful way to celebrate turkeys on Thanksgiving instead of using their bodies as part of a feast.

Head on over to Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey website to choose your turkey today!

Happy Halloween!

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Hope everyone has a fun (and safe) holiday!

Recipe Review: Mac & Cheese from Fat Bottom Bakery

Look at that.  It’s macaroni & cheese (or shells & cheese, in my case).  Not only that, but it’s vegan mac & cheese.  I mean, really – how good does that look?!  How jealous are you that I have this sitting in my fridge (and my belly) right now?

So, this recipe took second place in the SF Food Wars Mac Battle Royale with Cheese a couple months back.  Cool, right?  Oh, but did I mention that it wasn’t a vegan contest?!  A vegan macaroni & cheese winning SECOND PLACE in a contest that featured competitors’ dishes that were filled with tons dairy cheese (and bacon, duck fat, and other ridiculousness)???  I mean, don’t get me wrong.  I think vegan food is amazing.  Obviously. Most things can be made vegan, and they end up tasting just as good, if not better, than their animal product-containing counterparts.  But mac & cheese is just one of those dishes that can’t often compare to the stuff we remember from childhood.  I’ve had some great vegan mac.  But this.  This, my friends, was above & beyond.

The directions make it look a liiiiiittle labor intensive – but it actually took me only about an hour from start to finish (including the half hour bake time).  Easy peasy.  Modifications on my part: I reduced the miso to about a teaspoon, and I sprinkled some French grey sea salt on top of the bread crumbs (because I’m fancy like that).  And I used half water/half So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage in place of the soy milk.  Oh, and I just baked the bread crumbs right on top of the mac instead of toasting them separately.  This worked great & eliminated a step.

Note: Yes, this is vegan.  Yes, it tastes amazing.  But no, it’s not “good” for you (i.e. it’s not low-fat in the slightest).  I don’t even want to know the calorie count.  I mean, damn – that’s a lot of Earth Balance.  (And c’mon – this recipe is from a bakery named Fat Bottom!)  But since when is macaroni & cheese supposed to be health food?  It’s a creamy, dreamy indulgence to be fully enjoyed every now & then.  So find an excuse to make this as soon as possible, and dig in!

Recipe Review of My New Favorite Food: Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes

Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes with Ginger-Maple Roasted Root Vegetables

I guess the title of this post kind of gives away what kind of review this is going to be, huh?

Let me just say:  you NEED to make these.  They’re in Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s new cookbook,Vegan Brunch, and luckily for all of you, they’re also posted on the Post Punk Kitchen website, so you don’t have to buy the book if you don’t want to (although I recommend you do).   I made these just as described and they are absolutely divine. I’m not kidding.  My boyfriend told me they’re the best thing I’ve ever made for him (which is saying something considering how often I cook!). I wish I could take credit for the creativity, but whatever. Someone had to PUT THEM TOGETHER, OKAY?…. so I get a little bit of credit for that.

Isa says these are a brunch appetizer, but personally I think they’re a great evening meal.  The first time I made them I made Ginger-Maple Roasted Root Vegetables (also from Vegan Brunch) as a side. They were good, but not quite the right accompaniment to the cakes.  The second time I decided to make a simple Lemon Rice Pilaf instead using this recipe (subbing Earth Balance for butter, obviously), and that hit the spot. It’s not the greatest pilaf you’ll ever eat, but for some reason it complemented the tempeh cakes really well.  I was going to make a salad as well but Jeff told me “don’t worry about sides, I’m just going to focus on the tempeh cakes anyway.”  He stayed true to his word.  The only downside of making this recipe?  I lose out on leftovers because he gives me this puppy-dog look and asks if he can have the leftovers for lunch the next day. I can’t say no to that.  I guess maybe I need to make a double batch?

FYI: If you eat these as an entree like we did, you’ll get 10 cakes total out of the recipe, and both times we had 3 cakes leftover between the two of us. Oh, and if you’re the calorie counting type, I calculated that there are about 87 calories per cake – BEFORE frying. I have no idea how much fat the oil adds, but I imagine it’s a fair amount. That sure hasn’t stopped me from gorging on them, though!