Grilled veggie panini with Daiya mozzarella

Oh the trendy panini, how I love thee. I got way too many veggies going on from the CSA with loads of zucchini, squash, and eggplant and I need to start getting creative on ways to use them. Daiya cheese melts so well and really rounds out the panini experience.

I have the older version of this cuisinart panini grill that I like, but from the Amazon comments it looks like this updated one is even better.

Off to watch more Avatar, the last Airbender...gotta love cartoons where the main character doesn't eat meat! I haven't seen the movie yet.
Don't miss this giveaway Vegan Crunk Bianca is giving away soap nuts on her blog.

Also remember to renew your Veg News subscription. This month's 10th anniversary issue features a gorgeous Peter Max cover, but only on the subscriber issue. It also has the 10 top vegan blogs, articles by Joshua Katcher and his sister Joelle, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Terry Hope Romero, Robin Robertson, Hannah Kaminsky, Dynise Balcavage and more. It also showcases the top veggie cities where of course New York Rules!!! There's Vegan Drinks, Veggie Prom, Veggie Pride Parade, Lula's Sweet Apothecary, Moo Shoes and 42 vegan restaurants! Go NYC!

Steamed Red Seitan from Viva Vegan and more

It's yet another rice bowl of Mexcellence. This one is topped with steamed red seitan from Viva Vegan. The sauce is tofutti better than sour cream mixed with aji panca.The aji panca is not too spicy, but has a really nice red peppery bite that is more bitter (in a good way) than a red bell pepper.

Now for the seitan...if you haven't made steamed seitan yet, what are you waiting for? If you haven't gotten a chance to pick up Viva Vegan yet (yes, you really do need another vegan cookbook, it's Terry Hope Romero awesomeness...) just google "steamed seitan" or check out the PPK post On Sausage and Community. Steaming seitan is slightly easier than boiling it (honestly, I've never bothered baking seitan) and it has a nice finished texture. Because you wrap each steak up in aluminum foil, it keeps it's shape as it expands when steaming. Also I think it breaks apart a little better if you want to make crumbles out of it. I made these a few days ago when it was a little cooler, and I think they are even better after chilling in the fridge. Lemon lime aid is a summer must. Limes were 12 for $2 at the store, so I had to get them even without a plan for them. The lemons were organic, so I grabbed that bag, too, though I don't think they were as cheap. Instead of letting them linger and go bad in the fridge, I juiced them and kept the juice for other things. Here's the freegan part...instead of tossing the peels after juicing, plunk them in a large pitcher, cover with water, and pop in the fridge. By the time the water is cold, it's infused with all the juice you didn't quite get out of them and the oils from the rinds. You can add a little sweetener if you like, but I dig it straight up. Cool and refreshing.

Fast and easy pickles.

My CSA has been providing me with way more cucumbers than I know what to do with. My mom used to can pickles, but I wasn't really into making that much effort on a hot day to preserve them. So I pulled out Vegan Deli by Joanne Stepaniak and found an easy Garlic Dill Pickles recipe. You just slice the cukes, pack them in a jar with seasonings, garlic, dill, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and bay leaves. Boil some water with salt, then pour over the cukes. Ball makes plastic lids that fit their jars and also fit lots of other jars from other commercial products. Classico spaghetti sauce and Zukay salsa are 2 jars that I know the lids fit. Yeah, I know plastic is evil, but it's easier than messing with the metal 2 part canning lids and you're going to reuse them forever.

Oh and in other exciting vegan blogger news...River is back at Wing-It Vegan and Halloweegan is on!

Rockin' the rice bowl

Burrito schmurrito, all you need is rice bowl. Mexcellent rice, pinto beans, avocado, salsa, and tofu sour cream with a splash of lime.The secret to eating more grains and rice really is a fancy rice cooker. I don't have a microwave at home, so not only does it cook perfect rice every time, it also reheats beautifully in a snap. The secret to amazing Mexcellent rice is sofrito. Sofrito is a mix of onions and peppers that adds the perfect seasoning to any Latin American cooking. Most people have their own special way to make it (mine originated from Daisy cooks,) but it's basic components are onions and peppers. I don't cook it first, (Terry's recipe in Viva Vegan calls for cooking the sofrito) but it usually ends up cooking anyway in the final recipe. I generally use a sweet vidalia or maui onion so it's less overpoweringly oniony if I leave it raw for guacamole or something. My new addition to the sofrito this time is aji peppers. I haven't been able to find them fresh, so I finally broke down and got the jarred ones. My local grocery store has a pretty good selection of Latin American items. The aji peppers are about the same spiciness of a jalapeno, but a little bigger and with a different flavor.

Sofrito

1 vidalia onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 aji peppers
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch culantro (recao)

Chop all ingredients really fine or throw into a food processor. I do mine in batches in a mini food processor and mix them together. Keeps a few days in the fridge, or forever in the freezer. I save sofrito frozen in 1/2 cup portions in ziplock snack bags.

Mexcellent Rice

1 cup long grain rice
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup sofrito
1/4 cup green salad olives
2 TBS capers
1 good pinch saffron (optional, but makes the rice yellow)

Mix all ingredients together and press the on button on the rice cooker, or cook on stovetop according to rice directions.

I also made some monkey bread. This came from a mix that happened to be vegan (yay!) but it's pretty easy to find a vegan version. Essentially you could use any quick bread recipe and just take balls of the dough, dunk in sugar, and pop into a pan. Top with a sugar and melted earth balance mixture then bake at 375 for 30 minutes, and voila, monkey bread. I have a ton of zucchini, so maybe I'll try out a zucchini monkey break later this week. I'm all for sneaking vegetables in unusual places...

Woodstock Farm Sanctuary and The Garden Cafe

Here's some photos of the animals at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Loads of fun. We took the tour and walked around and took way too many pictures of the critters...

The educational information is available, but not too "in your face" because the animals really speak for themselves. In the case of the roosters, quite literally. The farm is very interactive and totally kid friendly. Everyone liked to be petted and the pig particularly likes the belly rub, though he couldn't really be bothered to wake up or anything. It was really hot out so most of the pigs were hanging out in the mud pond...

We headed into Woodstock for some dinner after the farm to the Garden Cafe. You can't miss it, it's right behind the drum circle. In case you're wondering, Woodstock is chock full of hippies like it's 1969...

At the Garden Cafe,I had a lovely asparagus tart, but I wolfed it down before I took a photo. We got the blinis which were an Indian spiced something over the little pancakes.

And the rockin' black bean quesadillas.

The Garden Cafe is a great vegan place to eat in Woodstock. You can sit outside, but we opted for the air conditioning which turned out to be the right move because just as we were leaving, the skies opened up for a downpour. I think the drum circle was still going...

SLT Seitan Lettuce & Tomato

Headed to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary this afternoon, so I packed a picnic. SLT, seitan lettuce and tomato sammiches. Seitan from last night (Yellow Rose Recipes) and some farm fresh lettuce and tomatoes from my CSA share. I split the cutlets again to make them thinner and dredged is some flour and Penzeys pork chop seasoning and panfried. I added a little of the piccata sauce to the sammiches as well. Now I'm getting hungry...

Seitan Piccata

Seitan Piccata is what to serve to non-vegans to showcase a classic dish that isn't missing the meat. Rich and savory doesn't even begin to cover it.

The seitan is from the Yellow Rose Recipes by Joanna Vaught and the piccata sauce is from The Candle Cafe Cookbook. Lightly fry the seitan and serve with the lemony capery winey piccata sauce. The sides are quinoa and broccoli with miso-tahini. I just can't get enough of the miso-tahini.

Joanna had a previous recipe on her website for seitan cutlets that I used all the time, but she replaced it with the recipe from the book. I couldn't find the old one and the new one from the book worked just as well. The broth was super rich and delicious.

The last time we went to Candle 79, the Ninja got the seitan piccata and asked me why I never cook this for him. So I whipped it up tonight and he said this is his favorite vegan dish. I'll have to make it more often. I will cook for praise.

Summer salad with peas tomatoes and "bacon"

This is a veganized version of something my mom used to make that I loved. It's a really simple, creamy summer salad with fresh peas, tomatoes, and "bacon." It doesn't really look like much, but something about bacon and tomato and fresh garden peas just goes together. The peas and tomatoes were from this weeks CSA. The "bacon", I picked up in a health food store. I also added a dollop of vegan sour cream. I used the Follow Your Heart one, which I think tastes a more like a thick yogurt than sour cream, but whatever, it's pretty good. You could also use some Tofutti Sour Supreme or Vegenaise.

Also in the CSA was a TON of broccoli, I used some here as a side dish smothered in miso tahini sauce. The "meat" is some Gardein with mushroom gravy. It's on top of a pile of Quinoa.

Red Amaranth and Quinoa with Miso Tahini Sauce

Do not fear the weird vegetables...Red Amaranth. I'm pretty sure I've had amaranth the grain in cereal at some point, but I didn't even know it was a leafy green until it was part of this week's CSA share.

I plucked off the leaves off the stems and sauteed them in some olive oil and garlic. Then I served them over quinoa with a simple miso tahini sauce. Turned out pretty good. The leaves are tender and have a nice mild flavor.

Miso Tahini Sauce
1 TBS miso
2 TBS tahini
1 TBS lemon juice (I know it should be fresh, but in a pinch Minute Maid concentrate will do)
1 TBS olive oil
A good pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
1 tsp dried parsley

Blend together to make a thin sauce. Spoon over greens and quinoa.

Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce

I made the black-eyed pea and quinoa croquettes with mushroom sauce from Vegan with a Vengeance.

OK, so I was hungry and forgot to snap a photo of my plate before I ate which if you'll use your imagination was really pretty with the croquettes and a side of bright green garlicky kale. So here's a photo of the two we were too full to eat. They kind of look like the mini mashed potato Devil's Towers from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but whatever, they were DELICIOUS. Also in my rush to get food out before tonight's premiere of True Blood, I totally forgot to add the nooch and soymilk to the sauce. What I did do was add a little liquid smoke and kombu when I cooked the black eyed peas. Black eyed peas have a lot of flavor for a bean. I should cook them more often. For dessert I whipped up some strawberries with cream cheese topping and fig balsamic vinegar. The cream cheese topping is powdered sugar mixed into some tofutti cream cheese, so it's kind of like a cheater cheesecake. The fig balsamic vinegar is just awesome. I usually choose one or the other to top berries, but both seemed like a pretty good idea, too. Yum.

Hooray for the CSA!

My CSA finally started today and boy am I gonna be eatin' my greens. For a vegetarian, I don't normally eat enough vegetables, but with today's CSA bounty, I'm kick-started to veg-out for the summer.Kale, kohlrabi, purslane, lettuce, hydroponic tomatoes, red amaranth. The fruit share is strawberries. Extras are white and crimini mushrooms. I lucked out and got the last of the crimini.Lunch is a big salad with lettuce, purslane, grated kohlrabi, grated carrot, dried squash seeds from last year's CSA, quinoa, and a mustard vinaigrette.

Mustard vinaigrette

2 TBS good whole grain mustard (check the label, some mustards contain eggs)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBS good balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried herbs or dressing mix (I used Penzey's Green Goddess)

Whisk together and add a little water to thin if necessary. I don't usually add salt because the mustard is salty, or sugar because the balsamic I use is sweet. Taste for seasonings, though and add a little salt or agave nectar if it needs it. Another salad dressing trick is to blend in a tomato. Yum.

I'll be cooking all day because I'm determined to make my lunches for work all week out of my veggies. I'm also making the Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce from Vegan with a Vengence tonight for the True Blood Season 3 premiere, so check back later for the croquettes and lunches.

Cheers!

Hobos Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Usually when I come home to the beach, I trek to the pizza joints of my youth and am happy to have a cheese-less pizza and some beach fries. My facebook friends already saw the chips, salsa, guac, and margarita shot from Tijuana Taxi on Monday. Those are generally my type of options.

Now enter Hobos, a restaurant that is actually interested in catering to vegans and welcomes the challenge of a dietary restriction. The menu is a bit changing, but there are tons of apps and entrees that are normally vegan and even more than can be made vegan with a little tweak. They've got Daiya cheese and the chef makes her own cashew cream. Woo-hoo!

It was restaurant week (uh, yeah, freakin' restaurant week in Rehoboth!), so we were looking over the extensive options and I asked if there were any vegan desserts (because what's the point of getting the prix-fixe if there isn't a dessert.) The server had me at vegan cupcake, but there were several other vegan dessert options as well. Once he determined that I was indeed vegan, next thing I knew the chef came out to chat and let me know the what's what of the menu. You know how I'm a sucker for Daiya, so I got both the appetizer and entree with the Daiya. I was so tempted by the seitan, but I'll have to go again for it.
The Tamale was INSANE! SO good. The chef even came back out to assure me it was vegan sour cream. Mom had the artichoke soup. I tried a bite (with a fork) and it was chilled, refreshing, and quite substantial. The Ninja had the eggplant artichoke dip which was super delicious. I should know because I ate about half of it myself. Chile Rellenos is one of my favorite dishes that I miss dearly. This version includes Daiya with butternut squash (and I think sweet potato, but I can't remember.) The chef had mentioned that she thought the Daiya was overkill, but I could definitely taste it and I think it made it even better. Vegan chocolate cupcake. It was warm and gooey. I was totally full by the time I got to this, but I devoured it anyway.

So glad mom suggested Hobos and I will definitely be back again. Hobos is on the second block (from the beach) of Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Chillin' Cauliflower Soup

This chilled cauliflower soup is both light and satisfying. Perfect for lunch on a warm sunny day. Chillin' Cauliflower Soup

1 TBS Olive oil
1 Onion
1 Leek
1 head cauliflower
3 red potatos
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
4 Cups vegetable broth or water*

In a large pot heat olive oil and add chopped onion and chopped leek and saute until softened. Add chopped cauliflower, chopped potatoes (you can leave the skin on,) herbs-use about 1 heaping TBS fresh or 1 tsp dried of each-and add broth or water to cover. Simmer until potatoes are done. Blend with immersion blender until smooth. Let it chill in the fridge a few hours or overnight.

*If you have the time, you can make broth just from the ingredients you are already using. In the large pot put in the stems from the cauliflower, the green and tough outer parts of the leeks, the skin and outer layers of the onion, and the potato peel. Add enough water to cover. Let it come to a boil then simmer for about a half hour. Drain and use the broth for the soup.

Veggie Pride Parade NYC

I was up bright and early this sunny Sunday morning to head into NYC for the 3rd annual Veggie Pride Parade. I met up with the NYC Vegan Eatup group at Sacred Chow in the West Village for some awesome bunchy goodness.

Big thanks to Sacred Chow for opening an hour early to feed us before the parade. I got the biscuits and gravy which was quite tasty. I forgot to snap a photo. It was a biscuit topped with tofu scramble, greens, and gravy. I ate off the greens and tofu then got an extra side of gravy to drench he biscuits in. Yummy.


Photo of the eat-up group outside of Sacred Chow.

Then we walked over to the parade staging area. Lots of fun folks out and decked out in their veggie best. Demetrius of NYC Vegan Eat-up and David (aka Veggie Prom King) of Farm Sanctuary.
I walked with the Veggie Conquest group. I really dig the aprons. Here's Jessica posing with the carrot and pea Veggie Parade mascots.

The parade finished at the North end of Union Square park where there was a stage and lots of tables set up for the various veggie groups.

It was a great day to be out and about in New York. Come join the fun next year!