I’ve been laid low by some back weirdness, but I seem to be on the mend and I can turn my mind once again to food. In celebration, I present some bagels Dr. Apricot baked yesterday, the recipe which will be available in Isa Chandra’s upcoming brunch cookbook. It’s worth it for this recipe alone, I guarantee you. It’s topped with an herbed cashew-tofu spread also from the cookbook.
Hello! Vegan Man is back from his many vacations and is remembering what his normal schedule is like. I baked a delicious but super ugly cake last night, and you’ll thank me for not posting pictures. Tonight’s dinner is a redux of the Vegan SpaghettiOs, and after that I’m going to have to get it together and cook something awesome.
I’m home from vactionland, but not for long. Tomorrow I fly out to Colorado to visit family. My grandmother is turning 80, and I’m proud to be able to be there for it. I’ve been told there’s a vegan meal waiting for me at the restaurant (thank you grandfather!), so I’m going with no worries.
I apologize for the complete lack of photography in the past few weeks; I’ll be back in the kitchen with a vengeance next week, and will be once again dishing up the deliciousness.
Tonight’s dinner is rice and beans with tofu, guacamole, salsa, and cilantro. I believe they call these things “burrito bowls” or “naked burritos” or somesuch nonsense nowadays.
A question for you: do you find that your veganism is a creative aspect of your life? I know that some people think of it in terms of denying oneself “for the greater good” but to me it’s quite different. I am curious as to how you guys feel. ::waves in the general direction of the internet::
Hello from vacationland! Vegan Man spent the last week in a vacation rental house in the Catskills relaxing. There’s a kitchen here, and when there’s a kitchen, there’s cooking!
The kitchen here is well-stocked, almost. It’s in that uncanny place where I assume that everything I need will be present, but sometimes it falls short. No baking sheets, really? How about a cutting board bigger than a small plate? And the pantry is full of whatever the last renters left. As such I schlepped up part of my kitchen so that I would be able to cook a bit more sensibly; some tofu, almond milk, nooch, and spices. These have all come in very handy, but what I’m regretting not having right now is my microplane. There’s a grater here, but it’s made out of aluminum only slightly thicker than foil, and it tends to bend when one attempts grating anything.
Tuesday night as we were prepping for soft tacos and I was getting some stuffed shells (filled with tofu ricotta) ready, the range ran out of propane. This was a problem! After finding out that we wouldn’t get a delivery of gas until the next afternoon, it was time for improvising. All the fillings were cooked outdoor on the grill and then served inside tortillas with salsa, guacamole and friends. I never thought I’d eat a Tofurkey Italian Sausage as a soft taco, but who really knows what the future will bring?
What better way to celebrate Dr. Apricot’s birthday than with a cake? Expert baker Idlewild and I teamed up to construct something reminiscent of a cherry chip cake, but with a bit more class.
Here’s what we did: we started with a double batch of the batter for the Veganomicon Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes, and added 2 cups of candied cherries. We filled two 8″ cake pans, and baked them for 30 minutes. For frosting, we used a batch of the Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World buttercream frosting with the addition of 1 Tbsp of the syrup from a jar of maraschino cherries. Frost, pipe on some decoration and finish up with sprinkles, maraschino cherries and candles, and now you’ve got your own Cheery Cherry Cake.
This week is turning out to be be a magical mystery tour of food.
Spanning three cookbooks and the country of Italy: Grilled red-wine marinated tofu (adapted from the trusty Veganomicon), smoked garlic pesto (a smidge different than Isa’s recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance), and chickpea pizza from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian.
This was the first time for the chickpea pizza, and I was impressed by the flavor and texture. It’s gluten-free as well, which gives it some points. It doesn’t need a lot of toppings, or even sauce; the crust is the focus here. Add some fresh herbs to the dough and maybe a scattering of the veggie of your choice on top.
For dessert was super-secret nut bars. They were amazing. I would post the recipe but I believe the ninjas would come after me if I did, so you’ll have to settle for a picture.
Welcome VegNews readers! I just got my copy in the mail yesterday, and was delighted at the write-up. Site traffic here at Vegan Man has, by my rough calculations, octupled. And that’s not counting RSS readers. If you’re lurking, feel free to stop by and say hi!
For the record, I’m not the world’s biggest comics fan, though I’ve got a shelf full of graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, and Alan Moore. And all of Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha. And the fabulous Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O’Malley.
On second thought, maybe I am a comics fan.
The true story is that once I registered the name veganman.net, I was faced with the challenge of designing a theme for it. Vegan Man seemed to demand a comics-inspired design, and that’s what it’s gotten.
Last night’s dinner was a complete Indian feast. My own dal, fluffy brown basmati, some gobi paratha from the local Indian grocery store, and samosas and chutney from Vegan with a Vengeance. Thanks to visiting guest cook Dr. Apricot for tag-teaming the meal with me. The samosas were a first, and while they were a bit of work, they were entirely worth it.
I didn’t even know I my inner 8-year old was craving Spaghetti-Os until this recipe came to my attention. Props to desert vegan!
This batch was made with cute-shaped brown rice pasta, and was remarkably good. It might have been a little too good for Spaghetti-Os, but it tickled my stomach in all the right places.
