Vegan Mofo Strikes Again

I'm determined to get back into updating this blog.  I keep meaning to and then forgetting and procrastinating again.  However, Vegan MoFo is coming to blogs near you this November!  That is going to be my jumping off point to a more regular system of updates over here again.  yay!

Now here's a picture of Dramatic Marmot.  (I saw him over the summer in Yellowstone National Park. :) )

Herbes de provence

Herbes de provence
Originally uploaded by Fabounet

Here goes my attempt to get back into blogging. I keep thinking about it and thinking of things that I want to share. I think it's been so long that I've become intimidated to get back into things. I have no idea how frequent this will become, but this is a start. :)

As I write this, I'm sipping a cup of cherry rose sencha and smelling the delicious smell of potatoes roasting in the oven. Such a simple thing for a Sunday morning, but always two of my favorite things to include on a relaxing morning. As I was preparing the potatoes for the oven, I was thinking about how simple it is to make them, but how amazing they taste when they come out of the oven.

I've known quite a few people that are intimidated by cooking and I can totally understand that, especially when it's never been something that you've attempted or you don't even know where to start. We all feel like that about something in life.

Well, for all of you out there that get anxious thinking about trying to cook something, I have a tip for you. Go out and buy some herbes de provence. Get yourself a pepper grinder (you can even get them at the dollar store these days) and some sea salt. Probably you'll want some olive oil, too. All of a sudden you've just armed yourself with the basics of what you need to cook quite a few things with little or no effort.

Seriously, quite often you can just cook something in a small amount of olive oil, add some salt and freshly ground pepper and you're golden. If you want a bit more flavor, add some of the herbes de provence. That herb blend is quite adaptable to many different vegetables and grains. That's right - grains, too! The difference between having some plain old quinoa and some quinoa with a dash or herbs is astounding. Instant side dish!

Here's a great way to use them for breakfast: Get yourself some red or yellow potatoes (not the Russets, you want a thin-skinned potato), chop them up, toss them in some olive oil, salt and pepper and herbes de provence. Maybe add a little bit of chopped garlic or some diced red onions. Stir it up and put it in a baking dish and bake them at 400F for about 45 minutes or so. Just check them after about 30 minutes or so by poking one of the potatoes with a fork. If it slides in and out easily, they're done. If not, give it another 10 minutes. You can just eyeball all of the seasonings. I know that can be scary for some people, so if you're worried, start out with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon or so of dried herbes. Just give it a slight dusting of salt and pepper and stir it all up. You can always add the salt and pepper later if you're worried about making it too salty. Once you've made this a time or two, start experimenting. Maybe add some shallots instead of garlic or onions or include some mushrooms or tempeh or something.

Trust me, it'll be delicious no matter what you do if you start with some nice, basic things like that. I've always urged some of my single guy friends who are just discovering cooking to go out and buy some herbes de provence as their go-to herb. It's just one jar and then it's much less scary then having to learn what herbs do what when you're first getting into cooking.

What's in this magical herb mix, you ask? It all depends on where you get it, but the typical herb mix for herbes de provence is savory, basil, thyme and lavender. Sometimes there will be fennel or rosemary or tarragon or oregano or marjoram in the mix as well. I get mine in huge bags from the farmer's market. It's quite cheap to get it that way, but most grocery stores and markets have this, too.

So what're you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

Rebellious Tomato

This is the first time I've sat down for almost the entire day. I've been cooking since around 7am for the Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. Seeing as how it's nearly 10pm now, that's a long day of cooking and standing in a hot kitchen. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was cook dinner for myself. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking, but I'm cooking for tomorrow... I had forgotten to keep something ready to eat tonight.

Enter Rebellious Tomato. This is a local Vancouver pizza joint that just so happens to have vegan pizza. (There's one in North Vancouver and one in Kitsilano if you're in the area.) I usually go in and pick it up or I just eat inside and honestly I didn't even think they delivered. But lucky for me, they do. So in the midst of the flour flying and the stuffing trying to jump out of the bowl and onto the floor, I didn't even have to cook and I still got dinner.

They use this interesting kind of cheese called Daiya. Granted, you have to specifically request it because they do have regular cheese, but still! I'm not much for fast food, but in situations like tonight, this is exactly what a vegan needs. And you can get spelt crust if you want to make it gluten free as well. Even better, there are tons of really fun toppings you can get like capers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, different kinds of mushrooms, etc. My personal favorite is the Riviera (sun-dried tomatoes, capers, tomatoes, green olives and artichoke hearts).

As happy as I am to have gotten sustenance, I have to giggle at how silly it is to order food when I've been doing nothing but making food all day...

Resurrected!

I've been meaning to start this blog up again for some time now. It being Vegan MoFo time again, I thought it was appropriate.

It's also Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I'll be cooking up a storm. I'll post some photos of the awesomeness after the weekend.

SmLove Pie

The menu is:

Assorted Olives (yay garlic-stuffed olives!)

Edamame Dip with veggies and crackers

Homemade Tofurkey type thing - stuffed with...

Stuffing (consisting of whatever looks like fun to add when I go to the store tonight)

Mushroom Gravy

Cranberry Sauce with Tangerine bits

Kale

Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes and Green Beans (thank you VWAV)

Sweet Potatoes of some sort... maybe mashed?

SmLove Pie

French Apple Tart

and of course... wine, wine and more wine. :)

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Jager Bomb Cupcakes

I have never actually had a Jager Bomb. I'm more of a Bombay Sapphire gin and ginger ale type of gal. But I hear they're all the rage with the kids nowadays. No matter, a friend just sent me this link and I thought it was so awesome, I had to share. If anyone makes these, let me know how they turn out!

From Om Nom Nom...

http://www.ommnomnom.com/2008/vegan-jager-bomb-cupcakes-round-two/

Spaghetti & Beanballs

Yes, more from Veganomicon. Isa and Terry have brainwashed me, I think. It's the most delicious brainwashing ever, though, so I don't really mind I must say. I have been wanting to try making the Spaghetti and Beanballs recipe for ages. I'm not sure why it took me so long to do it. The recipe makes a ton of these cute little things, so really I think I could get away with either only making half next time or freezing half since it's just me that I'm cooking for.

If you're not familiar with this recipe, it's basiscally like a meatball, but made with mashed up kidney beans instead of meat.

See... I had fun mashing up the beans. It's a good way to get out some agression, that's for sure. So you add a bunch of other stuff to the beans like bread crumbs and wheat gluten and herbs and such and you form them into these cute little balls.

There is an option to either fry them or bake them. I remember reading some threads on the PPK forums and some blog postings about these. Most people seemed to prefer the frying pan method of cooking, so I decided to go with that.

These suckers will absorb insane amounts of oil, so be careful how much you're putting in the pan and definitely use olive oil and not some other not as good for you oil. They also sorta start falling apart about halfway through cooking. I managed to keep a few of them whole, but I had to be really careful about it. To be honest, I actually prefered the smaller broken up pieces because then I had more crispy bits when I put it on top of my spaghetti.

This is definitely yummy and definitely something I'll make again. It was quick and easy, too. If you have kids, I'll betcha they'd had fun helping you mix the stuff together and forming the little balls. It's always fun to play with your food just a little bit. :)

Potato Salad to Rule the Universe

We all want things to eat in the summer that are light and filling and that don't require us to do much cooking. Turning on that oven when it's already an inferno in your place is not fun. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with summer salads lately. I have a bit of an aversion to mayonnaise, as I think I've mentioned before, so let me tell you - I was so excited for this potato salad. It's pretty much a tweaked version of a recipe I saw on Jamie Oliver's show. I was a little skeptical at first for some reason. But really... you shouldn't be. It's amazing. I loved this so much that I just ate a bowl of it for lunch one day instead of just using it as an accompaniment to something else. Yes, it's that good.

The original recipe called for creme fraiche. Interestingly enough I find that most commercial vegan sour creams kinda taste like creme fraiche, so it works out nicely. If you have something that you think might work better to replicate that flavor, then by all means, use that instead. Just steer away from using anything that has that sour tang to it.

Potato Salad to Rule the Universe

12 or so small yellow potatoes
3 Tablespoons capers
1 lemon (for juice and zest)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
a handfull of fresh dill, chopped
a few dollops of vegan sour cream

Boil the potatoes in salted water just until they're tender. You don't want them to fall apart. A good test is to stab one or two with a fork until the potato gives easily. Depending on the size of your potatoes, it could be anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes, so do check them every 5 minutes or so. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and add them to a large bowl.

To the potatoes, add the capers, juice and zest of your lemon, salt and pepper and olive oil while the potatoes are still hot. Stir it up until the potatoes are well coated and then let the bowl sit on the counter until the potatoes are room temperature. Don't put it in the fridge to cool it in a hurry, though. Part of what you want to happen right here is for the flavors to meld together and seep into the potatoes while it's cooling down. Putting this in the cold of the fridge will stop that from happening as well. Be patient, it won't take too long.

Once everything is room temperature, add the dill and the vegan sour cream and stir it up. How much of the sour cream you add is up to you, I think I used about two-thirds of a container and that seemed to work out nicely. Maybe you want more, maybe you want less. It's your potato salad. :)

Eat and enjoy the awesomeness.