vegansaurus!

It’s summer, let’s preserve some produce!  »

You guys know how I’m all enamored of DIY and bartering with your neighbors and making your neighborhood your actual community? I know, I’m so on trend right now! The latest cookbook to cater to our 21st century homesteading obsessions is Marisa McClellan’s Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round, and I want it SO BAD.

Bay Area Bites has an interview with McClellan that features her recipes for apricot jam and pickled okra, as well as dates when she’ll be signing books and holding canning classes in the Bay Area. She sounds appealingly pragmatic, and I really wish I could attend one of these events. Maybe you can? I’m totally making refrigerator pickles this weekend. They don’t sound any more complicated that cold-brewed coffee, which I drink constantly now that it’s warm in the suburbs. And with all the extra storage room (closets! garages! attics!) there’s no reason not to put up a bunch of delicious summer produce for savoring during the leaner months. Not that it’s ever lean in California, but we do have growing seasons.

What do you think? Are you creating your own Little Apartment on the Prairie? Or is all this for us deluded, un(der)employed suckers? Who even has the time to make jam out of everything except people who don’t have jobs? I have some time for it, but that’s because the only other thing I do is work, and I don’t have kids or fun to take up my time. Just a new kitchen project every weekend. And canning seems practical! Think of all the homespun sack-garments I’ll be able to trade for my strawberry jam and spicy bread-and-butter pickles!

[photo by Jessica via Flickr]

Cookbook reviews by Rachel: The Sexy Vegan  »

Overall Rating: C
Creativity: B
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced; most recipes unnecessarily complicated
Best for: People with lots of time to spend in the kitchen and who want to spend it on hearty, dude-friendly food

I kind of love Brian Patton, author of The Sexy Vegan. He’s basically what you’d get if  John Hodgman and Ellen DeGeneres had a baby and the kid came out with Hodgman’s self-conscious nerdiness and Ellen’s dietary choices, plus hyperactivity. Patton recently tweeted a link to this yearbook photo. He makes silly jokes in his cookbook, starting with the title. He seems like the kind of friend I’d love to have at every potluck, especially the ones that involve drinking games until 2 a.m.

Thing is, friends like that don’t necessarily write the best cookbooks.

Like Brian himself, the book made me smile on nearly every page (in a Will Ferrell-meets-Shakespearean-puns kind of way: ”New England Blam Chowder: I cleverly change the C to a B and BLAM! We’ve got a delicious vegan chowder”; a dish called “My Balls”). But it’s been sitting on my shelf for months and the only time I’ve managed to use it is when I forced myself to so I could write this review.

The problem is not that these recipes don’t work or aren’t good. The problem is that they’re unnecessarily complicated, and Patton gives no hints or advice to convert them into something suitable for the everyday, after work, home cook. He doesn’t even acknowledge that he’s asking a lot, he just continues his charming-dude act. 

Oh Brian, you’re just too high maintenance! 

One entree that sounded amazing and that I considered making, Barbecue Ribz, involves flipping to SIX OTHER RECIPES. These include things like “Crazy Shit Vinegar” (a relish and flavored vinegar with peppers and carrots you could in theory make ahead of time and have on hand if you’re a member of the cult of Brian Patton) and “Blackened Seasoning”, which is just a spice blend, but seriously Brian, don’t make me mix it up ahead of time or do math and shit! I hate that! Just tell me what spices to use! The Millenium Cookbook isn’t even this complex!

And Millenium food this ain’t. The dishes I managed to accomplish—by taking a special, specific trip to the grocery store and planning way ahead—went over well with some nonvegan friends at a dinner party, but they were homey, not gourmet. Definitely not the kind of thing you’re glad you saved a whole afternoon for.

The Blam Chowder was not very clammy but a yummy, hearty, creamy vegetable soup. What really made it was the smokey flavor imparted by the tempeh bacon. But I cheated and used store-bought tempeh bacon, not Patton’s recipe (which takes a sub-recipe, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and at least eight hours to marinate).

The jambalaya was like a chunky pepper/tomato sauce over rice; again, what made it was the sausage. Patton’s recipe for seitan sausage is more involved than say, Isa or Terry’s (it includes a cooked potato and mashed white beans), but it resulted in a softer texture which was a nice change. But the dish would have been just as delicious if he’d billed it as fast food, told you to make some rice while you chopped some veggies and opened a can of tomatoes, then added some Field Roast afterwards. It tasted basically like that. Not worth my whole day.

Final Verdict: An amusing but ultimately inessential addition to the growing vegan cannon. 

CLOSED: Win a copy of John Schlimm’s Grilling Vegan Style!  »

Hey good-looking! You like to grill? Summer’s right on our doorstep, here in the northern hemisphere, and John Schlimm, author of The Tipsy Vegan,* has a new cookbook to teach us vegans how to grill as seriously as those meat-eaters. It’s called Grilling Vegan Style, and you totally want to own it.

This book looks extensive, too. Learn how to grill watermelon! Sandwiches! Pies! S’mores! Basically everything you can physically place on a grill, John Schlimm will teach you to grill, but, you know, Vegan Style, because dang it, barbecue isn’t just for dead animals.

Impress your friends this summer at the park with your grilling genius! Finally host those backyard barbecues with the skills to back up all that panache (I’ve always loved your panache). Show the grilling fanatic in your life that you, too, have mastered the art of cooking over an open flame!

Want a preview? Here’s a trailer:

Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com!]

We’re so excited about this because we have a copy of Grilling Vegan Style to give away! All you have to do is leave us comment telling us either your highest vegan grilling achievement, or your greatest vegan grilling disaster, by noon PDT on Friday, May 18. We’ll pick a winner and send the book your way! Even if you live outside of the 48 contiguous states of America! So please, comment, enter, and get ready to spend the summer reeking of smoke and pride of accomplishment.

*Endorsed by Megan Rascal!

Update: Contest is closed! Thanks for playing, everyone!

Cookbook review: Eat Raw, Eat Well, by Douglas McNish!  »

When Vegansaurus gave me the chance to review Douglas McNish’s new cookbook, Eat Raw, Be Well, I consented enthusiastically and chomped at the bit until it arrived. I love making raw, vegan, gluten-free food (obviously) that isn’t too complicated or hard to prepare. In my opinion, overly intricate raw food cookbooks do more harm than good for the aspiring raw food chef. Sure, the pictures are nice, the descriptions fanciful, and their promise of gastronomic decadence enticing—but once casual chefs attempt some recipe with a mile-long ingredient list and super-complex instructions, they often grow discouraged that they drop raw food preparation altogether. I think that’s so sad!

When it comes to feeding myself, my friends, my family, and my dearest, I prefer recipes that favor simplicity and easy-to-digest combinations. I heard that this cookbook focused on easy-to-prepare recipes that don’t go overboard with ingredients required to make everything. Eat Raw, Eat Well recipes range from super-simple, three-ingredient raw cauliflower popcorn (nutritional yeast! salt! cauliflower!) to dishes that will take a bit more time to prepare.

This book has tons of recipes for the very beginner chef, including some great tips on how to make them on the left. Before reading this book, I reached into the knife drawer at my communal household in Glendale and pulled out whatever seemed cleanest. Now, I often search for the pairing knife that we keep sequestered in a special drawer when possible, because Mr. McNish says it’s good to do that and I think he’s right! Now I cut with ease and confidence, bitch.

The publishers gave me permission to post one of my favorite recipes in the book, the Pesto-Coated Carrot and Parsnip Fettuccine (page 236).

This dish is a great way to get as many healthy ingredients into your body as possible without having to sacrifice any of the things you love. The softness of the root vegetables makes it reminiscent of traditional al dente pasta.

Makes two servings

Ingredients
3 large carrots, peeled
3 large parsnips, peeled 3
1 Tbsp. cold-pressed (extra virgin) olive oil (15 ml)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided (60 ml)
1 1/2 Tbsp. fine sea salt, divided (22 ml)
3/4 cup cold-pressed hemp oil (175 ml)
1/2 cup raw shelled hemp seeds (125 ml)
3 cloves garlic
3 cups chopped fresh cilantro leaves (750 ml)

Instructions
1. Using a vegetable peeler, peel carrots and parsnips into long, thin strips, dropping into a bowl as completed (see Tips) Add olive oil, 1 tsp. (5 ml) lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp. (1 ml) salt, and toss until vegetables are well coated. Set aside for 10 minutes, until softened.

2. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process hemp oil and seeds, garlic and remaining lemon juice and salt, until somewhat smooth but the hemp seeds retain some texture. Add cilantro and process until chopped and blended, stopping the motor once to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Add pesto to fettuccine, toss well and serve.

Variations
Substitute an equal quantity of parsley leaves for the cilantro.

Toss the fettuccine from Step 1 with another sauce, instead of the pesto.

Tips
Peeling the vegetables lengthwise produces the long, thin strips required for this recipe. For best results use a Y-shaped (slingshot) vegetable peeler. When using a regular peeler, you can glide down the length of the vegetable to make one long, thin strip.

If you prefer, combine the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl before tossing with the vegetables, to ensure even integration.

I am not a big fan of agave and kind of think it’s gross, so I was happy to see the desserts go light on them. In general, Eat Raw, Eat Well’s recipes are nutrient-rich and focus on using low-glycemic, healthful ingredients. There are better books out there if you’re just getting into raw food. Raw Food for One and Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine top my list for raw beginners, but I think this book would be a very good choice for the beginning to intermediate raw food chef. Happy uncooking to you!

Recipe and photo from Eat Raw, Eat Well by Douglas McNish © 2012 Robert Rose Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog Queer Vegan Food.

Cookbook Gifts: Sometimes you just want dinner to be classy! Enter the ladies of Spork Foods  »

Look, I am never going to tell you that your meal is not fancy enough. Most of my cooking is of the “What’s in the fridge today?” variety. But maybe you are throwing a nice dinner party, or you want to make a dish with which to impress and shock all your omnivorous friends: “That’s right, it’s vegan!” In those circumstances, Spork-Fed—the new cookbook from the ladies of Spork Foods—will help you out.

Spork Foods is a gourmet vegan food company based in Los Angeles that is operated by two sisters, Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg. The offer vegan cooking classes in person and online, and in the fall they released their first cookbook, Spork-Fed.

The recipes in this book don’t look easy to execute, but they do look delicious. They cover a variety of meals and situations, from brunch to appetizers to desserts, and the suggested menus at the beginning of the book are helpful for the culinarily stunted (like, uh, me). The carrot soup with mint oil, corn fritters with lemongrass, and glazed tempeh particularly stood out for me. I also appreciate that they mark the recipes that are gluten-free.

If you’re looking to step up your game in the kitchen, this is a good one to pick up.

Also — if you’re in Los Angeles online, Groupon has a deal on Spork classes right now! Get up on it!

Terri Coles lives in Toronto, where she enjoys barbecuing, feeding feral cats, going to local music shows and getting really mad about hockey games. She blogs about her adventures in plant-based eating at The Vegina Monologues. We edit out all her extra vowels.

Cookbook review: Vegan Pie in the Sky makes pie vegan, delicious, easy to make  »

Here are a few things to like about Vegan Pie In The Sky:

1. It’s the latest cookbook by awesome vegan mavens Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Instant cred!

2. It comes in an adorable square shape.

3. It proves that your pies can have flaky crusts, delicious fillings, and be gorgeous baked goods without animal ingredients like butter or eggs.

Those are all pretty good selling points, I think, and plenty of reason why you should pick up VPITS, or perhaps give it to your favorite baker as a holiday gift. The book looks small, but it’s 75 (!) recipes that covers everything from making the perfect pie crust to filling said crust with deliciousness—including 18 chocolate pies!—to topping it off perfectly. As a bonus, many of the fillings are gluten-free, and you can always experiment to make the crusts gluten-free as well by using your favorite flour sub.

Look, what I’m saying is that I don’t even really like pie, and I still want to make all of these. If I haven’t convinced you yet, check out the four sample recipes on the Post Punk Kitchen site.

Terri Coles lives in Toronto, where she enjoys barbecuing, feeding feral cats, going to local music shows and getting really mad about hockey games. She blogs about her adventures in plant-based eating at The Vegina Monologues. We edit out all her extra vowels.

Cookbook Review: The Tipsy Vegan!  »

I got a gratis copy of John Schlimm’s The Tipsy Vegan to review for you guys! Rachel has been on a cookbook review roll, as I’m sure you’ve read, but when I saw “tipsy,” I knew this book was for yours truly. However, this is not a book of vegan cocktails like I thought! It’s all about cooking with wine and liquor. But there are a handful of cocktail recipes as well, they kick off each chapter. 

To sum up the book in three words: Fun, challenging, sassy! That’s right, sassy. The tone of the book is very jovial and lighthearted, which I appreciate. And you are encouraged to enjoy your booze! As god intended. One thing I will say is that I’m not sure it’s really a book for beginners. It’s for more of a mid-level to experienced cook. There are lots of ingredients, lots of different techniques involved, and lots of recipes requiring things like ice cream makers and food processors (which I do not have because I’ve slimmed down my kitchen accessories. Oh, life in the big city!). A bowl and spoon are not going to get you very far here. On the other end of the spectrum, this is just the thing for the uninspired cook! It’ll give your cooking a kick in the pants! The recipes and ingredients are inventive and interesting. And the book is entertaining. I’m a fan!

I tried two of the recipes: Bruschetta on a Bender and Rockin’ Roasted Potatoes With Racy Rosemary and Mustard. The potatoes, the recipe for which you can get over on NYT, had vodka in them, which I had because my first housewarming gift was a half-empty bottle of Ketel One (#classy). Both recipes called for vermouth, but the potatoes said you could use a dry white wine instead and the bruschetta said a fruity red would work too. As I don’t know what I’d do with a bottle of vermouth and you better believe I know what to do with two bottles of wine, I opted for the wine. But the book said I could!

I don’t know what you call the sauce I made for the potatoes but it was damn good! Like, I was about to lick the bowl, horseradish and all. I had a little sauce left over and I put it in a cup to save in the fridge. I’m thinking Brussels sprouts! 

The bruschetta was interesting because it called for thyme instead of your typical basil. My bro and sis-in-law were ‘bout it for the bruschetta! They both had like seven pieces. I liked it too but I did miss the basil. But there’s really no need to buy a cookbook with a basil bruschetta recipe, is there? And red wine on the tomatoes? Genius! Why don’t we do that all the time? We can from now on. Pish, I don’t even remember what life was like before red wine-soaked tomatoes!

Sweet Instagram pic of the bruschetta. Oh, Instagram, how I love you. Follow me: @MeganRascal!!!

Check it, I scored the Bruschetta on a Bender recipe for you! With permission from Da Capo Press, naturally:

Bruschetta on a Bender

Ingredients4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and very coarsely chopped
2 tsp. kosher salt
12 slices crusty French or Italian bread, about 3 inches in diameter
1 garlic clove, peeled and split
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. dry vermouth or a fruity red wine
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tsp. dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
Toss the tomatoes with the salt and drain for 30 minutes in a large colander set over a bowl.

Under a hot broiler, toast the bread slices on both sides.

Rub the toasted top of each slice with the split garlic clove and lightly brush the top of each slice with the olive oil

Gently press down on the drained tomatoes to extract even more juices. Then transfer them to another bowl and toss with the balsamic vinegar, dry vermouth, thyme, and oregano.

Season with the pepper to taste. Spoon the tomato mixture in small mounds on top of the toasts and serve at once.

Yield: 12 bruschettas

Yay! Now you can make the bruschetta just like your pal Megan.

There are a lot of other great-sounding recipes I still want to try, namely the Merlot ice. Basically a Merlot slushy, it requires a food processor. I’m about to get one just to make it. Can you imagine? A Merlot slushy? Be still my heart! 

Before I sign off, I’ll add another point: this book doesn’t really feel like a vegan cookbook, it feels like a “regular” cookbook. It’s not really about being vegan and you aren’t making approximations of omni recipes you’ve been missing; you’re making fun and exciting recipes that are also vegan. I think omnis would certainly enjoy this book too and if not for the title, I doubt they’d notice the absence of animals products. It’s definitely a good cookbook if you’re entertaining a mixed-diet crowd! So I say check it out and get a little crazy. A little crunked, even. Go for it. 

Café Gratitude Bereavement Plan  »

It sure sucks that Café Gratitude is closing. Lucky for me, I said my goodbyes a few months ago with a slice of raw cheesecake, right after I said goodbye to S.F. Pride and right before I got on a plane and moved to Denver.

Lucky for you, I’ve had time to figure how to live Life without Gratitude. And because I’m the nicest person ever, I’m going to share that hard-won knowledge.

Gather round, grasshoppers. Here’s what you do:

WARNING! REPLACING CAFÉ GRATITUDE IS HARD AND EXPENSIVE AND WILL MAKE PEOPLE THINK YOU’RE WEIRD! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! BUT IT’S HELLA TASTY!!!

1. Admit that the best thing about the restaurant was dessert. Then buy Sweet Gratitude, the book that will tell you how to make said desserts.
2. Flip through the book. Cry a little when you realize how hard and complicated they are and how much better it was to just pay for them.
3. Take a deep breath and COMMIT. It will be worth it!
4. Buy Irish Moss.
5. Buy a kitchen scale.
6. Buy raw coconut oil.
7. Buy soy lecithin.
8. Buy raw cacao butter, powder, and maybe nibs.
9. Buy raw vanilla beans.
10. Buy a VitaMix. Or don’t but you’ll wish you had one. Trust me.
11. Choose a recipe. Buy the rest of the stuff you’ll need, like almonds and cashews and dates and agave and coconuts, from the grocery store. 
12. Plan ahead. You’ll probably need to soak things for various amounts of time, from one to 24 hours. Maybe make a Gantt chart?
13. Whip! Blend! Chill! 
14. EAT AMAZING FOOD! 

That’s a lot of steps, partly because I’m making fun of it. To be honest, it really is worth it, at least for special occasions. I still haven’t tried making the tiramisu at home. But I will. And you’ll hear about it.

Look what I made! Raw lemon-blueberry cheesecake! It rocked!

Pro tips:

• Start with some of the simpler recipes. The cheesecakes, for example, don’t need Irish Moss. 
• Making this food will make you covet a better blender, unless you have a great one already.
• Blend longer than you think you need to.
• If you’re not a raw food purist, don’t be a raw food purist. Use canned coconut milk. Use the almond milk you always use. Screw raw vanilla, use regular. Yeah of course it’ll taste different but you’ll be more sane.

Thanks, Gratitude. I am grateful you existed, and grateful for the challenges you’ve left us. Though I’d still rather just let you do the work.

More holiday deals: Oh Deer! Chocolates e-book, get it on Etsy!  »

It’s that time between the two major holiday meals, where you have two choices: take it easy, eat some veggies, maybe do a juice cleanse OR GO FULL SPEED AHEAD, EAT EVERYTHING, after all, swimsuit season is so far away! I’m somewhere in the middle—I guess it’s not so black-and-white. One thing I do want to do in this time is incorporate more raw foods in my diet. And OhDeerChocolates has sprung up on Etsy at the most perfect time!

Sara Malazzo-Miller, creator of OhDeerChocolates, is selling her e-cookbook for the low price of $8, for this week only! Her 20+ cookie, truffle, and candy recipes are raw, vegan and CHOCOLATE!

OhDeerChocolates’ chocolate mousse.

Raw dessert—it’s like health food. At least that’s my motto! Sara is also donating 100 percent of the profits to wildlife rescue centers. Now that’s the holiday spirit!

Cookbooks vs. apps: a question for the readers  »

Image by neoprolog on Flickr

Lizzie Stark over at the Today Show has a pretty interesting post up about the relative merits of cookbooks vs apps. I only know this because Terry Hope Romero, author of many of my favorite cookbooks, tweeted about it:

@terryhope

Cooksbooks & apps are like apples and tofu: need both in my life #vegancookbooks

You have no idea how much you’re missing on the Twitters, yo.

I gave you my opinions on the subject just last week: books all the way, baby. Though a digital, searchable index of the books I already own would make my year. 

Anyway, I bring the question to you, dear readers. Are cooking apps the way of the future, or misguided anachronisms like Tamagotchi and, um, what else was stupid to make electronic?

Tell us what you think! Is there a cooking app you love? Should I try it? Why?