Pesto Pron XXX: Live Nude Basil

Perfect Summer Dinner: BBQ, Coleslaw, Sweet Corn

SJM & HAA Collaborative Coleslaw (German/Irish Coleslaw Compromise)

• 4 cups of finely shredded cabbage - red, green or a combination of both
• 1 cups shredded carrots
• 1/4 to 1/2 cups vegan mayo 
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl add the shredded cabbage and carrots and toss. Add vegan wet ingredients and toss. Add dry ingredients and toss. Taste. Adjust seasoning if needed. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes minimum and serve! Cole Slaw is one of those kooky dishes that get better the longer the flavors have time to meld, so no hurry on serving!

Notes: As with potato salad, people are picky-pants about their coleslaw. It can get ugly based on shred size of the cabbage alone. Some purists (65+ Midwesterners) don't cotton to none of that basted red cabbage. My point being you can easily customize this recipe to your own tastes.
   SJM and I did a good old fashioned cabbage collab on this here pretty, little cole slaw recipe. We used the homemade garlic mayonnaise recipe from the Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. However, Vegenaise would work just as well.

E-Z BBQ Marinated Tofu on Grill

• 1 package extra firm tofu
• 1 - 2 cups BBQ sauce

1. Open block of tofu and press to remove excess water.*
2. Cut tofu into slices - I cut 8 at approx 1/2" thickness, they need to be big enough to not fall through the grate on the grill.
3. Put tofu in a shallow dish or a large freezer bag and cover with BBQ sauce. Make sure every piece of tofu is covered. Marinate at least one half hour, turning and/or brushing at least once or shaking gently if in plastic bag.
4. Put tofu on grill, cook for about 20 minutes until warmed through, flipping at halfway point.
5. Plate and serve!

* Frozen tofu works the best for this recipe as it gets a spongy texture after defrosting, perfect for sucking up a marinade. Freeze tofu in package for 48 hours, thaw by placing the package in a few inches of boiling waters for roughly ten minutes. Open package and press, if needed (to press tofu, put a clean cotton cloth or several layers of paper towels on a plate, place tofu on plate, repeat layers on top, add several heavy items such as books, let sit 10 to 15 minutes). Cut tofu into strips or cubes and marinate a minimum of half an hour.

Thrift Tip: You can save the extra BBQ sauce to use again (unlike meat, tofu does not contain any dangerous bacteria, etc. - store in refrigerator until needed.

The Best Way To Cook Sweet Corn

1. Shuck corn - be sure to get all those stringy silks off the ear!
2. Fill a tall pasta pot with 1-2" of water and bring water to a boil.
3. Stand ears of corn upright in pot (it's okay if they get slightly submerged), add lid, and steam until just heated through - roughly 10 minutes. DO NOT overcook!
4. Serve piping hot with butter or margarine and salt. 

 

Death By Chocolate... Hummus

Death By Chocolate... Hummus

• 1 can chickpeas (14oz), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup all natural peanut butter (MaraNatha Organic Creamy)
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, melted plus more to taste (Enjoy Life Semi Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks)
•  1/4 cup honey OR agave (Madhava Light Agave Nectar)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, pulse until completely smooth. Taste, and adjust as needed. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serving recommendation - as a dip for fresh strawberries.


Notes: Just in case you give a flying fig, I added the product name which I used behind the ingredient where applicable. 
   Be prepared for some altering after tasting - adding more chocolate chips and agave to adjust chocolate levels and sweetness to your personal tastes. 
   This is absolutely a recipe you will want to taste and adjust accordingly. This was the final appetizer I made for the art reception and again - kids and adults, omnis and veggies, all seemed to gather under a rainbow of kitten tears and hold hands over this dish. Maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic - but it was a cross-over food which I view as a success!

 

Recipe Review: BIG VEGAN: Tortilla Soup with Mock Duck & Chipotles

This recipe is from my favorite new cookbook: BIG VEGAN by Robin Asbell published by Chronicle Books.

Tortilla Soup with Mock Duck and Chipotles

• 1  tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 8 oz/225 g Mock Duck (page 38) or chicken style seitan, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 qt/960 ml Basic Vegetable Stock (page 49) or mock chicken stock
• 1 small sweet potato, cubed
• 1/4 cup/45 g quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tbsp chopped chipotle chile in adobe sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp salt
• Six 6-in/15cm corn tortillas
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup/15 g cilantro/fresh coriander
• 1 large lime, cut into wedges, for serving

  1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the onion and stir for 5 minutes or so, lowering the heat to medium. When the onion is soft, add the mock duck, garlic, cumin, and cloves. Stir for a few minutes.

2. Add the stock, sweet potato, quinoa, chipotle, and oregano and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp of the salt. Reduce the soup to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. When the quinoa is throwing off its tiny white halos and the sweet potato is tender, reduce the heat to low.


3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C/gas 5. Stack the tortillas and slice them into strips 1/4in/6 mm wide. Place them on a baking sheet/tray and drizzle with the canola oil and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes until the strips are crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Serve the soup topped with the cilantro/fresh coriander and tortilla strips, with lime wedges for squeezing over the soup. 

NOTES:    
  Working with mock duck for the first time was a little unsettling. It is almost too like poultry - pimply goose skin and all - and it sort of plops meat-like out of the can. I gagged a few times, to be honest. It is delicious if you can get past that resemblance!
Out of my four taste testers, two thought there was too much clove flavor in my soup. I suggest a very conservative, small pinch. 
   I took the lazy route and used store bought, tortilla chips for the crispy topping. Next time I will set aside more time to make the lower fat homemade version detailed in the recipe.
This was a fun recipe to make and I think meat eaters would like the mock duck, so it would be good for a mixed crowd meal.
   This cookbook has been my go-to for the past few weeks. I really like the recipe page set-up, with ingredients on the left in a green box and instructions to the middle/right. The recipes I've made thus far have been quick, easy and tasty. In my opinion, it  would be a good cookbook for any vegan to have in their arsenal.

Vegan On The Road: TC: The Barbary Fig & Spoonriver

BLERGH! I don't have any food pron photos from these last two restaurants, so please enjoy some touristy shots of the Twin Cities - Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts museums from our trip. I *photo of Spoon Bridge and Cherry* Minneapolis. I really should have gotten one of these tee shirts at the Walker!

Where: The Barbary Fig

http://www.thebarbaryfig.com/

What We Ordered:
Appetizer: Hummus with warm pita bread
Entrees: Special order by the owner! When we told our server that we had two vegans and two vegetarians in the group she spoke to the owner/chef and he made us a delicious special lunch. The falafel was just mouth watering and their pitas were so thin and flavorful - I wanted the recipe. The hummus was a taste treat and had some different subtle flavors I wanted to figure out to add to my own. It was a real treat having a customized meal made with such care - I didn't see The Barbary Fig on many veg dining sites, so it might be a well kept secret. Vegans do NOT shy away - we were completely accommodated in every way!

What is happening to this young woman's face? I do not know. She appears to be a half pig/half girl "Animal Farm" hybrid (but a nice, sweet piglet, not a Nazi boar!) and I could not get enough of her.

Where: Spoonriver

http://spoonriver.com/

What We Ordered: My fellow vegan, Big D and I both got the Chicken Udon Salad with Mock Duck subbed for the chicken.

Notes: In all fairness to Spoonriver, I must divulge that we met friends for dinner here and I was pretty busy jabbering away at my beloved college gal pal rather than paying attention to the menu. Bitches be triflin'! This restaurant was in an amazing location, had a lovely space and after dinner we walked over and toured the Guthrie Theatre (http://www.guthrietheater.org/) which offered stunning views of the river and city. As a place to meet for a nice dinner and to accommodate vegans, vegetarians, an omnivore and a gluten-free diner; Spoonriver did an excellent job of making us all happy.

Why are dudes dressed as chicks almost always better looking than me? This painting also had me singing Tone Loc's well loved line from Funky Cold Medina "Sheena was a man..." under my breath.

I tripped over this hobo camp sculpture about fifty times and may have lost a toenail to bruising in the process. Who leaves a lead hobo in the middle of a gallery? Again, my mind wandered to my version of "improving" the art by adding an old can of pork and beans and a spork.

I do not see why the flattering, practical and comfortable neck ruff ever went out of style? I'm sure plenty of bed bugs bug, lice and sores could be daintily covered under so much white starched lace.

And that's a wrap for the Twin Cities May, 2012 visit! I can't week to return in November for my big Scorpio birthday bash with Cindy Sherman!

Vegan On The Road: TC: Ecopolitan

Where: Ecopolitan
http://www.ecopolitan.com/healthyfood/the-restaurant

What We Ordered: 

Appetizer: Trio Sampler - pesto, hummus + olive tapenade served with flax crackers (first image below); Chilled Celery Soup (no image)

Entrees: Rawvioli (top image), Pesto Pasta (second image below, Pesto Pizza (not shown)

Desserts: Sadly, my memory failed and I don't recall exactly what the three desserts were. (third image below)

Notes: Ecopolitan is a 100% organic, vegan, raw food restaurant (exterior, fourth image below). This was my first time eating raw food and it was educational, and tasty too. It was fun trying all the menu offerings and learning more about the raw food diet. The Rawvioli was my main course and it was heavenly - I would eat that any day of the week. The appetizer sampler was amazing and I would love to serve it at a party - very filling and a flavorful explosion in the mouth! We sat on the charming porch and read about colon hydrotherapy. 

Apparently colon hydrotherapists love a pun, for example eCOLONogical - only they take it dead serious. These are some hardcore butt water practitioners - so do not make fun! Well, you may make fun later - it's called manners!

The Ecopolitan building does NOT have air conditioning - so be aware of that if you were planning to go in the high heat of Summer. 

Vegan On The Road: TC: Jasmine 26

Where: Jasmine 26
http://jasmine26.net/

What We Ordered:  
Appetizers: Sea Salt and Pepper Tofu Cubes (below left), Spring Rolls with Mock Duck (below right)
Entree: Lemongrass Noodle Salad with Mock Duck (above & second below)

Notes: Our meal at Jasmine 26 was my personal favorite dinner we enjoyed in Minneapolis. This was no doubt fueled by the day spent dehydrated and hungry in a dive of a pinball/pool hall where I easily lost $20 on the Twilight Zone pinball game. Being able to wash our hands in the clean restrooms at Jasmine 26 seemed like the height of luxury! Despite the look of my atrocious low-light stealth attempt at i-phone photos; the food was bright, fresh and delicious with many vegan options. Yet again, we gorged ourselves on mock duck and it was succulent!

Below - pre-dinner pinball photos: African-American Santa Yeti??? and "Gorbie" (clearly NOT based on Mikhail Gorbachev - allegedly) are two of your fares in the pinball game "Taxi". Look at that shining neon beacon of a pinball sign! Glorious!
 

Vegan On The Road: TC: Hard Times Cafe

Where: Hard Times Cafe


What We Ordered: Sadly, I can't recall the name of what we ordered and Hard Times has no website (champagne problems!) for me to reference. I know I got a burrito, and it was a big fattie that I slapped contentedly. Weird habit: I like to smack my burritos before I eat them to test the ingredients packing level, distribution and fullness. This burrito passed the test. (below)

  

Big D, my vegan mentor, ordered a falafel plate and some monstrosity of a soda called Jolt. Jolt's original slogan from 1985 was "All the sugar and twice the caffeine". In my eyes it is a man-made abomination, but I guess it is something of a legend among cola drinkers. Admittedly, I hate all cola drinks - I am an anti-colite. Fun fact: on an episode of "30 Rock" Tracy Jordan demands a can of Jolt Cola, which he explains "will be hard because it no longer exists". (below)

Tacos, y'all with the softie shells! You really can't go astray with good ole tacos, amiright? Served with a side of chips and salsa. (below)

Notes: Hard Times interior is reminiscent of a punk rock dive bar from the early 80's once the lights go up after a hard drinking night and maybe a small fire and a few fist fights. We were there in late afternoon for lunch and the food was cheap and filling, the music was quiet and there weren't many other patrons present. The diners were varied and all very quiet ranging from a guy in a suit to some punks rock guys bumming cigarettes to a schoolgirl chic middle aged lady in a gyno short plaid skirt. I did think our cook was wearing an oxygen mask but it turned out to be my own fanciful interpretation of a side view of a tribal face tattoo. I have to say, it would be a fun place to eat after a concert (when I was in my twenties and could still handle mosh pits, loud music, and wore my knee high lace-up Docs). Try not to use the restroom - or just go to look at the graffiti and wash your hands. CASH ONLY!

B.A. Baracus pities the fool who doesn't recycle!