Veganmofo Wrap-Up

Let’s take a moment to think of all the great times we had this Veganmofo here at Lazy Smurf’s Guide to Life. NOTE this post is meant to be read with this video playing in the background.

I think the most exciting posts were about my trip to Chicago & volunteering at an organic farm. I was really excited to make a Top Ten list of my favorite things to eat in Austin and review a few local places that I have been to: Tarka, and Koriente and I even left our little blue dot and went to Mango’s in Houston where I found tater tots, sandwiches, and cupcakes.I shared some recipes that I am very excited about, Black Bean & Plantain Empanadas, Sanguine Moon Curry, Ugandan Tofu Scramble, Risotto with Amaranth Greens, Raisins, and Pine Nuts, Chez Rolez Gumbo, Spicy Sesame Potato Saladand Soupa Za Moju Babu and I also added a new section for all my recipes on the toolbar. You can pick by picture but I think I might also do a second one by title of the recipe. I also posted recipes from Raw Food Real World, Hot Sour Spicy Sweet, and even the St. Sava’s Serbian Sisters cookbook.

I even wrote a few letters (actually I write a lot of letter’s in a similar way to Grandpa Simpson) but two of them were love letters, one was a letter to my workplaces sustainability comittee and I even ranted about the TSA stealing my peanut butter.

The best part about veganmofo is reading everyone else’s blogs and though it got overwhelming and my google reader still says +1000 I had a fun time checking out the other top 10 lists on Scratch & Sniff, Pulling it Together, Vegan Mom in LA, and a Bear’s Fare in Missoula. I also learned about Dancing Through Life when Ashley won the giveaway and I fell in love with her attitude and her blog. I made plans with Krys from Two Vegan Boys to volunteer at the farm and I went out with a bunch of Austin bloggers for pizza at the Parlor. I even found a blog, Funky Sunflower Foods from my hometown of Springfield which was really exciting I am hoping to find out about more restaurant options for the next time I go! I tried to hint at Mo that she should move back to Texas so I could go to her awesome parties. And I decided that I was going to make the Tempeh Sausage from Jes at Cupcake Punk, the garlic stuffed jalapeno poppers from My Veggie Kitchen, and the vegan solyanka from Seitan is my Motor.

Viva VeganMofo!

A love letter to Wheatsville’s Frito Pie

Your crunchy fritos, warming tempeh chili, piquant nutritional yeast, fiery jalapenos, and your fierce onions, I could never quit you

going

going

gone

Sanguine Moon Curry

So many things about cooking seem so obvious once you learn them. I think my grandparents knew that food that ripens together usually has complimentary flavors but I didn’t know that tidbit of knowledge until recently and it has made cooking so easy. I went to the store and I found persimmons which I have never cooked with before but they were on sale and they were ripe so I picked a couple up. I also had some local oyster mushrooms and the sweet potatoes and arugula that I picked at the farm. By the time I got home it was pretty late and I didn’t really feel look cooking so I did what I often do when I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I made Thai food.

Actually, I don’t even know if you can really call it Thai food since it is so inauthentic hence the name Sanguine Moon Curry. The Sanguine Moon is also known as the Hunter’s Moon which is what follows the autumnal equinox. With the fall colors and the autumn vegetables I thought it made perfect sense.  This was a very lazy dish where the sum of the whole was definitely more than the parts. The persimmon added tannins and a certain astringent quality that worked so well with the sweetness of the lemongrass and the sweet potatoes. The quinoa also added an interesting nutty note to the dish that made it seem perfect for this time of year.

For the Quinoa

Toast
1 Cup of Quinoa in
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Add
2 Cups of broth or water,
Cover and steam for about 25 minutes

For the Curry

Saute until aromatic
1 Tablespoon of Massaman Curry Paste
Combine with
1/2 can of coconut milk
After a couple minutes Add
1/2 can of coconut milk
1 cup of broth
1 peeled & chopped persimmon
2 cups of chopped sweet potatoes
2 cups of chopped arugula
Cook until potatoes are soft about 20 minutes & Add
1 bunch of Oyster mushrooms
1/2 lime juice
1 tsp of sugar
Once the mushrooms are softened. Serve with a mound of Quinoa in the center and the curry around it topped with scallions. Enjoy!

Ugandan Tofu Scramble

If you try this recipe I swear you will start waking up in the morning craving something Ugandan. This is another dish that is inspired by Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. In the recipe she makes a kind of dry stew with okra, tomatoes, and spices but she said that in Uganda they often topped it with eggs and so I thought it would work well as a tofu scramble. I am pleased to say that it turned out fantastic! I think it was the best scramble we have ever had so if you like okra try it out.

in a bowl Crumble & combine
1 lbs of tofu
juice of one lemon
1/4 tsp black salt
1/2 tsp salt

In a mortar & pestle make a paste of
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Saute
1 lbs okra, sliced into rounds
after 5 minutes reduce heat & add tofu mix
When Tofu is browned add
2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used one big fat yellow heirloom)
spice paste

Cook until the scramble has reached the desired consistency and serve with mashed yuca, fried plantains, or roasted potatoes and toast or tortillas. Top with chives or scallions.

Enjoy!

Vegan Nuoc Cham (Vegetarian Fish Sauce)

One thing that can make eating out at Southeast Asian restaurants challenging for vegans is that they use fish sauce in almost everything. Luckily, the Vietnamese often do Buddhist fasts and so they have come up with some great ways to get around the prevalent use of fish sauce. In some specialty markets you can find veg fish sauce which I often call for in recipes that I post. But you can always use more soy sauce too and sometimes I use Oyster (mushroom) sauce as well.  If you want to make your own fish sauce, here is a recipe from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia which is one of my favorite cookbooks. It isn’t at all fishy but it adds some complexity to Thai recipes and a little bit of that Southeast Asian flair.

Mix

3 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon lemongrass, chopped
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 bird chili (or other hot little pepper)
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

The key, of course, is to have really good soy sauce. Usually I have several different kinds that I get when I go to the giant Asian Super Market a couple times a year. I like to have both light and dark and I often use both in the same recipe. It doesn’t hurt to try different kinds!

In truly lazy style  I recently boiled some soba noodles, added some bok choi, drained and poured the whole recipe of fish sauce into a pot and mixed it with the noodles and greens and a little bit of oil. It was good enough to eat, cheaper than take out, and even healthier. Looking at those noodles is making me so hungry

Risotto with Amaranth Greens, Raisins, and Pine Nuts

Amaranth is a really interesting plant. It is native to the Americas and was a staple of the Aztecs. When the Spanish came to conquer they wouldn’t let people eat their pagan grain. They did the same thing to the Incas with quinoa. So many atrocities were committed against the people here but not letting them eat the food that grows all around them in favor of the more godly plants seems particularly sadistic. Especially when you consider that amaranth grain, like quinoa, has large amounts of protein and essential amino acids and can grow easily in all sorts of difficult environments. You can also eat the mild leaves which are similar to spinach. It was a vital plant to the region that kept people from starving. They had to grow it in secret.  The Aztecs celebrated Amaranth on the feast of Huauquiltamalcualitztli which I think we should revive as soon as possible. I am always excited for a new celebratory feast.

I got the greens when I worked in at the farm over the weekend. I really wanted to make something Jamaican since that is where this particular strain came from but I couldn’t find half the stuff that I needed to make Callaloo and so I started thumbing through World Vegetarian and I found this risotto recipe that used spinach and sounded very easy.

I am so glad I tried it! We both really liked it and the recipe was very simple and used ingredients that I normally have on hand. The last step was to add Parmesan cheese and butter which I switched to nutritional yeast and earth balance. I was a little worried it would have that noochy taste which wasn’t what I was looking for but it actually came out perfect. It made the risotto really creamy and rich tasting so if you try the recipe be sure to add it in at the end. The raisins got so big while cooking in this dish and I thought they really added a lot of flavor and I upped the cinnamon a little bit too from the original and I thought that was better as well but you might want to start with 1/4 teaspoon. The key to risotto is never stop stirring so make sure you have something to read or entertain you or it can get ruined.

Simmer
4 cups stock
separately Fry in Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
Remove when golden and add
2 large shallots, chopped fine
Once golden add
1 Tablespoon raisins
after 1 minute add
10oz Amaranth, cut into ribbons or other mild green (like Spinach or Chard)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
after a couple minutes add
1 Cup Arborio Rice
fry for another minute and then add a ladle full  of stock. Stir until the liquid is mostly gone and then add another ladle full. Keep repeating this process until the rice is cooked, the stock is gone, and the liquid has been soaked into the rice.

Add
1/4 cup Nooch
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance

Season with salt and Enjoy!

Soupa Za Moju Babu (soup for my grandma)

Last week I was cooking for my Baba and other family in Merrillville Indiana. The area isn’t know for its’ fantastic health food stores but the options are getting better all the time. Nonetheless, I have learned it is better to keep ideas pretty simple. My uncle bought me a head of lettuce so that I would have something to eat while I was there, isn’t that cute? It is sweet that he tried, but I have never been a fan of lettuce, especially by itself! I went to the store and I bought a ton of vegetables so that I could make the healthiest soup possible. It was good and it suited every taste and everyone was excited about trying turnip so the next time you are cooking for a family consider this soup!

Soupa Za Moju Babu

Caramelize

2 chopped onions
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or oil

Saute

1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 turnip
4 cloves garlic

After the vegetables are browned Add

2 cans of white beans
box of frozen spinach
box of frozen corn
2 bay leaves
red pepper flakes
water to cover

In another pan Saute

1 package of chopped mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance or oil
cook until the mushroom liquid has evaporated and add
1 teaspoon of rosemary

Add the Mushrooms along with

juice of a lemon
salt & pepper
Serve with Parsley and Green Onions

Enjoy!

*Let me know what you think of the format I have been writing recipes, it is kind of the short hand way I do it in my notebook and a lot of times I copy recipes that way so you don’t have to list all the ingredients, and then later list them again. If it isn’t clear though I can go back to doing it the traditional way.

travel rant and a sick dog

You can skip this rant

I was flying back from Chicago to Austin and they took away my peanut butter. It made me so freaking mad (don’t worry, I internalized the rage and gave up the peanut butter without argument). It seems I always get into these stupid disagreements with the TSA about if things are a liquid or a solid. I have taken humus through O’hare plenty of times. Sesame paste, still in a sealed bottle, was taken away from me in St. Louis. Teese was OK. My olives were taken from me in Portland (they were more solid than the brine, which I offered to pour out, but they still threw them out) and today O’hare stole my freaking peanut butter. What the hell is the physical difference between humus and peanut butter? I just hate the waste of it all. At least, they could give it to a homeless person. I ate my orange and my luna bar but damn it, the crackers were dry. I also bought a soy latte from the Starbucks and it cost $4.91, I uttered “Jesus”, and the cashier said. “Welcome to O’hare”. Did you notice how they never say “fly the friendly skies” anymore? It is because they aren’t friendly anymore. And I don’t buy that all of these precautions have any effect on terrorism whatsoever. They just cause a lot of hassle which was probably one of the aims of the terrorists anyway, to make our country less free. So the terrorists won. Good job Homeland Security.

What kind of food do you guys like to take on through the airport?

Rant Over

So, I was also in a bad mood because after spending the last couple days taking care of my Baba Dinger developed a lot of problems with his hind legs, he wasn’t jumping up and he could hardly walk so he spent the last couple days at the vet. They still don’t know what is wrong but his x-rays showed that his spine is OK and they don’t think it is neurological. He is going to stay on pain medicine for a couple weeks with bed rest and we will see what happens.

They put him out with anesthesia which made me really nervous. He’s just a little guy! I have been so worried about him. I am just crazy about this dog. Even the doctor and nurse really liked him! They said he was an angel, aw.

Prijatno – Pumpkin Shell Casserole

I have been taking care of my Baba here in Merrillville Indiana outside of Chicago for the last few days. Growing up, I always thought “baba” meant grandma. It wasn’t until I went to visit family in the Croatia a few years ago that I learned that Baba actually means “old woman” to them. The funny thing is that all my American  friends always called her Baba too, like it was her name, and I always thought it was silly that they were calling her Grandma, but really they have been calling her old woman! She has a giant dog named Bear and they are best friends.

So I have been here cooking and taking care of her. Usually when I come I have to make do with eating typical vegetables and grains but this time when we went to the store I found Earth Balance, Almond Milk, Silk Creamer, and a wide assortment of greens! It sure is exciting that vegan products are becoming more available along with healthy vegetables.

I have been looking through an old cookbook called Prijatno and writing down recipes that sound interesting. It is a cookbook written by St. Sava’s Serbian Sister’s Circle in the 1970s. My Baba and her family were a part of St. Elijah but my Dad’s family all went to St. Sava so some of my other Grandma’s recipes are in the book. It makes me feel like a part of a long tradition of writing down recipes and sharing them with friends and family.

I came across this recipe and though I haven’t tried it, I thought I would print it out because I think it would be a perfect holiday recipe and I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to make this year. It is freezing here so I already have winter on my mind. I will be happy to get back to warm weather!

Pumpkin Shell Casserole

1 small pumpkin, 7 inches in diameter

2 cups peeled and chopped apples

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash & dry pumpkin. Slice off the top for a lid. Scrape out the seeds. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients. Fill the pumpkin and return the lid. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake until the apples are tender. Begin testing after 45 minutes. It may take as long as two hours. Serve from the shell, spooning some of the pumpkin with each portion.

Enjoy!

I think when I make it I will add some figs too and maybe toast the seeds and add them back in as well.

Spicy Sesame Potato Salad

Sometimes I get really inspired by the salads at Wheatsville Co-op. I had one like this a few weeks ago and I thought it was an interesting idea but needed more flavor and this is what I came up  with, it is all little crazy but I thought it was great!

Steam for 20 minutes

5 yukon gold potatoes

Toast

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Add to

3 Tablespoons peanut (or sunflower) oil

In a a large bowls toss potatoes, infused oil, and

1/2 cup cilantro, minced
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon smoked salt

Enjoy!