Bringing Home the Bacon

I've been allergic to bacon for a couple of years now.

Actually, let me add a caveat to that.  I've been allergic to the chemicals fed to the pigs and the chemicals used to commercially process the meat for years.  I did have a fairly good experience while in the United Kingdom when I still ate meat.  The bacon was purchased from the local butcher in the small village where I was staying at the time.  For the most part, with the exception of the chain grocery store on the barest outskirts of town, most of the town either grew their own vegetables and meat or bought local and fresh.  It's a working example of farm-to-table eating.

Now that I don't eat meat period, I have decided to see what the vegan options were.  I've tried the frozen vegan bacon.  It tastes like burned plastic.  No thanks.

So, hers is both the first bacon experiment and the first tempeh cooking experiment.

Tonight's kitchen will prepare Tempeh Bacon.  It turned out great! It tastes delicious, which I did not expect since I have never eaten or cooked with tempeh.  The "bacon" has a spicy, nutty flavor.  I can't wait to have a BLT!

I used vegetable shortening instead of coconut oil because I had the latter on hand in my kitchen already.  I also doubled the marinate and let the tempeh strips sit in it for longer than a few minutes, as indicated by the recipe.  I let the bacon cool on a papertowel to sop up the excess oil.  Not exactly the healthiest thing I've ever made, but definitely an indulgence when I'm craving a classic BLT, like my mom used to make for casual, weekend dinners.

  

Tomorrow's kitchen adventure: Sriracha Meatballs and Black Bean Brownies!

Monday, Monday...

Just an ordinary, rush, rush, rush Monday.  As a result of all the extra meetings and activities going on today, cooking was almost out of the question.

I know that the vegan replacements for eggs, dairy, etc are not natural, and thus should be used lovingly but sparingly.  For the sake of simplicity, I caved and for lunch made a "cheese" sandwich on Ezekial bread, with an apple, blackberries, and half of a vegan chocolate chip, oatmeal cookie.

Breakfast, while rushing out the door, holding my wobbling umbrellas in the wind and rain and balancing delicious coffee in  with my keys in the other hand, was a literal handful of almonds.  On the bright side, hey were specially covered in coffee, giving them a morning punch.

Dinner came on early, since I had to get back to the university to sign students in for the evening faculty recital.  After a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on vegetable staples and a few fun items, I threw some macaroni and cheese together with a whole wheat tortilla filled with lettuce, tomato, and srirachi sauce.  Dinner made!  Simple but satisfying, and oh so easy.

Delicious!!

I will need to add more vegetables into my meals tomorrow since today is so carb heavy.

I've added a new website to my list useful information: Cheap and Simple Vegan.  It has some great references and explanations for the newbie vegan.  Thank you!  I found it especially helpful when trying to figure out how to transition a pantry from animal-centric to veggie-centric.

For those of you who are interested, here's a recipe for Mock Mac'n'cheese and Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to satisfy your sweet tooth.  Let me know what you think!

Mock Mac'n'Cheese (from a fan on the Daiya website)
Makes 4 servings

8 ounces regular pasta, any shape

3 cups Daiya style Shreds

3 tablespoons vegan butter

2 cups unsweetened (soy / rice) milk product

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup gluten-free bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon paprika

¼ cup vegan parmesan cheese (optional) 

 

Instructions: 

- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain thoroughly when done.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare the cheese sauce while oven is warming. In a small pot melt the butter. When melted, add the pepper and nutritional yeast.
- Stir in the milk or crème product. Add the cheddar, and cook over low/medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Stir in the macaroni and mix together.
- Transfer to an 8x8 casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs and paprika.
- Bake for 15 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and top is starting to brown.
- Remove from oven and top with the parmesan just before serving, if desired.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies 

	2 1/4 cup All-purpose unbleached flour
	1 tsp baking soda
	1 tsp table salt
	8 oz Earth Balance Buttery stick (or butter of choice)
	3/4 cup sugar
	3/4 cup packed brown sugar
	1-2 tsp vanilla extract
	3 serving powdered egg substitute
	1 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy free)
	3/4 cup walnuts or pecans

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, white and brown sugar, and vanilla.
- Slowly add the egg substitute one serving at a time until thoroughly combined with mixture.
- Gradually beat in flour mixture from small bowl, followed by the chocolate chips and nuts. 
- On ungreased cookie sheet, drop rounded spoonfuls, keeping evenly spaced for cookie growth while baking.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire racks before eating.
(Tasty warm or cold, with ice cream or on their own.)

 

Family Food

Sunday means family lunch at 1pm.  That means everyone, brothers, sisters, parents, significant others, grandchildren.  Everyone.  This was my first chance to try some animal-friendly recipes out on someone other than myself.  With my mother enthusiastically throwing herself into the fun of experimental cooking, we began creating.

It is unusual for us to have appetizers at my house, but we decided to add a little extra flair for St. Patrick's Day.  While the food itself was not green, except for dessert, we figured the style was, as it's "green" friendly.

Here's the menu (forgive my photography skills, there's a learning curve.):

Appetizer: 
No-Tell Ro*tel Dip from Bianca Phillip's book Cookin' Crunk: Eating Vegan in the Dirty South

 (My sister-in-law appreciated this dish because it harkened back to her younger days when she was a teenage vegan.)













Lunch:
Black bean/black-eyed pea burgers in vegan friendly whole wheat buns
Jalapeno Watermelon Salad (Also courtesy of Cookin' Crunk)
Baked Sweet Potato Fried

 (It's not the best picture because I forgot to snap one before all the pretty patties had been eaten. Oh, well.)









(They may be from a bag in the freezer because of a lack of time to make them, but they were darn good.)








(Such a hit with the family.  There was none left after lunch, which is unusual for our bunch.  It tasted of spring, with just the right hint of spice and herbs.  I see this one popping up a lot in my future meal planning.)

Dessert:
Green Tea ice cream made from coconut milk

All the food was tasted before anyone was allowed to ask after the ingredients.  The Rotel dip was a hit for everyone, at least until on of my brothers refused to eat anymore after learning it was made of tofu and not Velveeta.  He complained that it wasn't made of real cheese, but can we call Velveeta (a processed cheese product for those who might not know), real cheese?  Somehow, I don't think so.  Thus began an argument between us where he told me that the only people he knows who are vegans are hypochondriacs who think they're allergic to everything and hippies that should be living on communes.  My parents, who are both interested to see how this lifestyle change will affect me with my chemical allergies, told him to shut his mouth and stop being argumentative.  My parents have tried for years to cultivate an atmosphere of support, regardless of whether or not they agree with thee decisions their children make, so I'm glad I have someone on my side.  I believe I have created a minor division in the household now.  Montague or Capulet, anyone?

The most well-received item was the mock burgers.  My mother and I put our heads together and attempted to invent our own meat-free version of the classic family hamburger.  After looking at hundreds of recipes, we took the idea and created our own version that is heavy on the spicy side and involves many different vegetables.  I for one am quite content with this new dish and have several extras frozen in a ziploc bag, ready to be cooked for any night's simple supper.

And now for something a little different:
Review #2:
The Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese was less than exciting.  It would do excellent in a cheesecake or other dessert, but is bland and rather tasteless, which is not something I'm looking to smear all over my toast in the morning.  It's definitely not my favorite, but I will use it until it is all gone.  I hope Daiya makes a more tasteful version in the future, as this item will continue to be something I miss about dairy foods.

The Return of Cheese

Cheese!!!  My brain screams for it.  It's been four weeks.  My longing for cheese has gotten almost too strong to resist.  Dairy-free cheeses to the rescue!

My adventure this afternoon took place in the depths of my local Whole Foods Market (since that's the only place remotely near me which offers animal-free products for the home kitchen).  I wound my way to the dairy cabinets, picking up some more agar flakes for future experimenting as I went.  In five glorious shelves were a vast variety of what I've since learned is fondly referred to as "cheeze," yes, with a "Z."  One shelf was laden entirely with nut cheezes, the one above it with hard blocks of cheeze.  The One below that held small, white cartons with jaunty designs containing tofu versions of cream cheese, butter, and sour cream.  However, it was to the top most shelf that I set my attention: Shredded Cheddar Cheeze.  There was a wide gap where the avid Saturday morning shopper had happened along before me and scooped up another week's worth of dairy-free goodness.  With my research of the previous night, and some tasting experience,  I selected the Daiya Shredded Cheddar and a small container of cream cheese.  I had thought cream cheese forever lost from my future homemade bagels.

Giddy with excitement, I went home and made a snack of Ezekial break and a sprinkling of cheeze.  With the toaster oven on 400F, I waited impatiently to see for myself how this product stood up to real, dairy cheese.  When the bell chimed, I was astounded to find that not only had the Daiya melted, but it had gotten stringy and gooey just like the real thing.  Upon my first bite, I became a convert.  It tasted almost exactly like the cheddar cheese that has been missing in my life, but in a much healthier version.  With the downfall of my nut cheeze experiment last week, I'm ecstatic to finally have something to make mock mac'n'cheeze, grilled cheeze, and pizzas. 

The second purchase of the day, the cream cheese, I have yet to try but will get to it soon.  There's only so much a girl can eat in one day.  I chose to try Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cream Cheese.  Follow your Heart is the same company that makes the well-known mayonnaise replacement, Vegenaise. 

Facts:
Daiya, a newcomer in the vegan foods market, began with their revolutionary Shredded cheddar, but have more recently branched out into individual slices, pizzas, and cream cheese.  I look forward to seeing what else this company will roll out in the future. 
-  Their products are free of dairy (including casein, whey, and lactose), soy, gluten, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts, with the exception of coconuts.  These facts are proudly displayed on their website for anyone who is interested.
-  I appreciated that the company also keeps their production facility clear of any cross-contamination with allergens by making their products in an allergen-free cooking environment, meaning, they don't make their foods in the same places as non-vegan producers.
-  Their products do not exist on the shelves of small town Mississippi grocery stories.  Believe me, I have already checked.  However, completely worth a visit to the "Big City" every now and again.
-  The cheezes may be frozen.  The product should be eaten a week after opening, so it might serve you well to freeze some in small portions for later use.  I will experiment and see how that affects how the product works, but I hope it will go well.


Websites:
http://www.daiyafoods.com/
http://followyourheart.com/

Both websites offer recipes, which I will be trying in the near future.

Beginning life as a Vegan Southern Belle

In the South, we love our food.  We love meat, bacon grease, butter, milk, mayonnaise, ice cream, and a varied assortment of animal-centric ingredients.  Going without those ingredients in this are is almost unheard of, and people tend to give you funny looks when you state that you don't eat animal products.  Recently, I decided to become vegan, if only for Lent.  However, for the first time in many years, I finally feel good.  My stomach doesn't hurt, my skin isn't cracking and peeling, my nails healing, and I'm not nearly as exhausted as I've been since I was a freshman in college, some six years ago.  In the four weeks I have been following a vegan diet, I have felt so much better in both body and mind.  It's a perk that I'm also helping to save animals in the process.

The hardest part for me, having already given up meat except for the occasional barbeque chicken pizza at a local restaurant called Soulshine, is cheese.  I have always loved cheese, and giving it up has been the absolute hardest part for me, and it's only been a few weeks.  Naturally, I began to investigate where I could find a substitute that would fix my craving for delicious hard cheddar and creamy brie. 

My first attempt, following the recipe set forth by Angela of Vegangela, provided three ramkins of unusually flavored gelatin.  Her cheeses, which you can see on her blog in the link below, look beautiful and delicious.
http://www.vegangela.com/2011/10/15/homemade-vegan-cheese/

So, my next question was "What did I do wrong?"

Well, while I attempt to answer that question, I'm investigating the best in commercially produced vegan cheeses.  Mainly recommended to me have been Daiya Shredded Cheddar and Cheezly Mature White Cheddar.  Daiya melts well, making it good for pizzas or cheezy pasta.  The Cheezly is a harder cheeze and is better for salads or sandwiches.

I plan on hitting up the health food store the next glorious Saturday morning I have free in the closest major city with a Whole Foods.  I will stock my newly vegan pantry with cheezes, meat substitutes, dairy-free breads, and other dairy alternatives.  It should be interesting,