Recycle your old fridge...

OK, if you're paying attention to me at all, you know I really need to win this, but who am I to keep it a secret.

Go forth and win a new fridge from Whole Foods...

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/earthmonth/sweepstakes.php

Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes rock my ever lovin' world

The Chesapeake Bay lies to the west of the Delmarva peninsula. My home turf. Land of the ubiquitous crab cake. So when Isa posted the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes for her upcoming book Vegan Brunch *, I just had to get off the couch and make them immediately. I haven't been this excited since I made vegan scrapple.
I already ate 2 before I took the photo, so I put the sauce on the side. The cakes are delicate so just be gentle when turning them and they won't fall apart too much-I ate the ones that fell apart, so it's not actually a bad thing. I think letting the mixture sit a few minutes helps as the later ones were more solid.

At first I was like where the heck is the Old Bay? I guess since it's not available everywhere it makes sense it's not in the recipe. BUT the recipe seasonings are perfect and I didn't miss it at all. OK, I confess, I sprinkled some in on the last batch and honestly I couldn't tell the difference between those and the other ones.

Super freakin' awesome. I sent some to the Bronx for the in-laws to try. I don't think the ninja is going to tell them that it's not actually made from crab...let's see how that goes.

*unofficially: I'm still calling Vegan Brunch the Crack of Noon in my head. You can pre-order it on Amazon.

Making the world a little more vegan...

We all know the pitfalls of thinking something is vegan and then finding out isn't always as animal friendly as we thought.Molly from POM recently sent me a sample case of POM pomegranate juice and I was totally stoked to guzzle it down and promote it, but then I saw the comments on Joanna's blog about how they supported animal tests to prove the benefits of the all mighty pomegranate. I thought I should dig a little further.

After Peta got involved in the effort, POM has stopped testing on animals and has no plans to resume it. The literature I received from POM highlights the human tests that show how good it is for people. Check out POM's website for more information.

Now you can be really militant and say, well they used to be OK with animal testing, so now I don't want to support them at all. I think the opposite. When the people get together and show that we want something done and achieve victory, we should support and thank those that have come around. I mean most of us weren't always vegan and anyone who's ever popped even a Tylenol has supported animal testing. If you haven't yet read Karen Dawn's Thanking the Monkey, check it out for lots of great tips on becoming (and staying) an animal rights advocate.

Anyway, I totally enjoyed my POM juice mixed with some seltzer. And I feel pretty good about it.

Hail Seitan!

This ad for a popular NYC grocery delivery service is on the side of a bus stop on 3rd Avenue in Murry Hill. Seitan is going mainstream.

Lost in Austen

Always listen to River. Lost in Austen is fantastic.

Vegan Craft Samples

Check out Vegan Samples for a chance to win their super cute tote bag packed with vegan crafts. Or if you want to go the easy route and just buy one, 10% of sales from the vegan craft bags will be donated to for the animals sanctuary. To buy, click here. It's $25.

Easter Brunch

Easter Brunch was lovely at Puttanesca on the West side. I took a quick snapshot of my penne puttanesca. So easily veganized sans anchovies. The sauce is tomatoes, black olives, capers, and garlic.

Also just in case you ever need this information...i.e. you have been enjoying many mimosas and bellini's and get stuck with a half hour wait at Grand Central at 7:55 on a holiday Sunday...Two Boots has a prepared Earth Mother vegan pizza for a quick slice. I know some of you are blessed with places that have vegan cheese pizza handy, but I have yet to find one in NYC. This was a very happy, serendipitous discovery for me since I blast through Grand Central practically everyday.

Quiche!

Yeah I don't think I'll get the ninja to eat this, but after my earlier frittata success, I just had to see if this would come out.

This time the scramble part had onion, garlic, collard greens, leeks, carrot, celery, and a veggie burger.

The "eggy" part was:

1/3 cup firm tofu

1/3 cup vegetable broth

2 TBS nutritional yeast

2 TBS masa harina

1 tsp lemon juice

A pinch of salt

Blend together

I put the scramble in a small casserole dish then poured on the eggy part. Baked at 400 about a half hour. I think leeks make everything taste good, but this was really nice. I was surprised how quiche like it actually was. Last week I used chickpea flour which made the eggy mix kind of hummus like, so this week I subbed the masa harina from the failed tortilla attempt. The masa harina is fine enough that it's not corn bready, but still firms the whole thing up nicely.

Glad I ate something before heading off to brunch with friends. I did check the menu and I can get a fruit salad and pasta. Next time I'm dragging them out for a vegan brunch.

Happy Easter or Passover or whatever you're celebrating!

Banana nut mocha chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

I am an evil genius. OK, I'm no Dr. Horrible, but these freakin' cookies are sinfully awesome. But wait, there isn't really anything bad for you in them...as much natural, organic, non-hydrogenated goodness as you can pack into a cookie. These bad boys really pack a punch, or evil death ray blast, whatever you've got on you.Banana nut mocha chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

2 Cups cooked steel cut oats

2 Cups King Arthur Flour white whole wheat flour (or all purpose, or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
1 1/2 cup Sugar in the Raw
2 TBS Flax seeds
1 Banana
1/3 cup strong black coffee
1 tsp vanilla

2 Cups semi sweet vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cook oats or cook extra when you're making breakfast. You are eating oatmeal for breakfast, right? Measure 2 cups of already cooked oats and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Grind 2 TBS flax seeds. Blend together with 1 banana and 1/3 cup brewed coffee. Set aside.

Mix together margarine and sugar. Add flax banana mixture and blend well. In 3 batches blend in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats, choc chips, and nuts.

Drop by teaspoons full onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 min or until edges start to brown. Let cool on baking sheet 1 min and transfer to cooling rack.

Vegan Eggplant Parmesan - Boston Style

OK, I don't know if this is really Boston style, but my friend's grandma in Boston made the best eggplant parm and I found out the secret ingredient was American cheese.

The preparation was rather impromptu. I sliced the eggplant in rounds. Then breaded using the triple layer method. Dredged the slices in chickpea flour, then in a soy sauce/balsamic vinegar/broth mixture, then in mazo meal seasoned with Italian seasoning mix. I actually then baked them instead of my usual frying. Still good. I made an American Cheeze sauce from the Uncheese cookbook. And I made a tomato sauce from some sun dried tomatoes and shitake mushrooms. Layered it all up and put it in individual small baking dishes. Then I flipped it upside down and drizzled it with some more thinned American Cheeze sauce. I think there's an Italian grandma out there that would be proud.