the greatest of these is love

Pardon me.  Have you seen the movie "Crash"?  Very much the way it starts by flashing around to seemingly unrelated stories, I am going to start with two apparently independent vignettes.  Just like the movie, it will all come together in the end.

*~*~*~*~*

A little while back, Christians worldwide celebrated their holiest holiday, the one that gives irrevocable substance to their beliefs - Easter and the holy days preceding it.  Long story short, the man bold enough to call himself the son of God breaks bread with his friends and then tells them that the next time he will eat with them will be "on the flip side."  After a night of ardent prayer in a garden in Jerusalem, one of his "friends" leads those who would arrest him to Jesus, beginning the end, so to speak.  The next 24 hours will find this supposed Messiah tried, beaten, and hung on a cross, crucified until dead.  The miracle, though, upon which Christians base their faith and find their salvation, is that after resting in a tomb from a Friday afternoon until a Sunday morning, Jesus rose, bringing veracity to all his claims and reconciling a broken relationship between humanity and a pure deity.

I have no idea who named all the holy days, but as Easter approached this year, my cousin's wife inquired if anyone knew what the word Maundy meant (as in Maundy Thursday, the night that Christians remember The Last Supper and take part in a sacrament begun on that night 2000ish years ago).  I'll admit, I referred to the expertise of the internet to help me answer her, but upon finding this article, I remembered things I learned in seminary.  "Maundy" is taken from "Mandate."  Let me explain further:

After humbling himself and washing his friends' feet in a symbolic act of what he was about to accomplish on a far larger and bloodier scale, and after instituting the sacrament of Communion by offering his friends his body/bread and blood/wine and asking them to remember him when they dined together, Jesus gave them one last mandate.  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Gospel of John, 13:34-35 ESV)

*~*~*~*~*

Do you know who Beth Hart is?

I've mentioned her before, but lately she's been taking up a lot of space in my brain and in my heart.  I believe I have come to decide that she is truly the greatest performer of my time for what she does.  There are two reasons for this:

1. She seems to have perfect pitch - she never misses a note!
2. She is so completely honest and raw... she pours every part of her heart into her music.  I saw an interview with her when she said that she wrote when she was sad and toured when she was not, more or less.

Having lost myself in hours of YouTube videos over the last several weeks, I've seen her live performances from all over the world, in all kinds of venues from stadiums to dive bars, and multiple versions of her more popular songs.  She is a consummate performer - she enjoys every moment of what she does (even in a bittersweet, maudlin kind of way) and recognizes at every opportunity how lucky she is that she gets to sing her heart for a living.  She is so real.

She is a storyteller and I love that.  Through her songs and the tales she uses to introduce them, I learn more about her and her life and her inspirations.  She has written the most sincere love song I've ever heard and the most painful plea for love, too.

Beth did not have the fame she deserved in the USA, so she does most of her touring overseas, throughout Europe.  She very clearly feeds off of the energy of her crowd, so she interacts with them frequently throughout the concert.  She loves it when her crowd sings along, they obviously love when she talks to them, and there is always this intense intimacy between her and those in attendance at her shows.  I hope to be so lucky one day.  

As I've been vicariously participating (via YouTube), I noticed a trend in her closing song.  It is not normally the same song, though they are almost always incredibly personal and sometimes heart-wrenchingly painful songs.  One can almost imagine Beth's fans leaving the concert in a contemplative way not unlike the worshippers at a Maundy Thursday service.    

After concluding her Wroclaw (Poland) concert with the song that made her [at least somewhat] famous, she sincerely thanks her fans for being "so nice to me."

Maybe I was in a particularly melancholy mood while watching this one night, but I thought to myself, "what kind of pain makes a person thank total strangers for being nice to her?"  It was enough to push tears into my eyes, thinking of all I knew she had been through from reading up on her and watching interviews with her.  Divorced parents, possible abuse, a heroin user by age 15, when she was 22ish her old sister, who she holds in high regard, died from AIDS, which she caught from a dirty needle.  It took Beth years to care enough about herself to clean up (and the love of a good man).  Her self-esteem is still just awful and my heart aches for her.

In her adult years, she reconciled the broken relationship she had with her father, who left when she was still young.  When she wrote one of her more recent albums, 37 Days, she asked him what his favorite song was.  He told her he didn't know why, but it was this one:

She told him she knew why - Because he is an addict, just like her.  Clean or not, it is a continuing struggle, laid bare in this song.  "God knows I can't change me; I've tried and tried... it's been a long time at the bottom.  Spent a lot of time way down there.  It's been a long time at the bottom - I don't know how I made it here."

*~*~*~*~*

So how do the two parts of this post "crash"?  Really, it's quite simple.

You don't know what another person is going through or has lived through.  You don't know their joys or the pain they carry unspoken.

Be kind.  Love one another.

and now for the bonus round

So, last night Blogger was being mean (or it might possibly have been Comcast, who apparently felt like last night was a good time to mess up our whole connection) and I couldn't post pictures of dinner or Angst or rice wrapped in grape leaves.  Every Wednesday morning at work, we have a sales meeting where we each share one thing we learned this past week.  You know what I learned this week?

I suck at telling unillustrated stories.

You want me to rant about the squandering of our planet's resources?  Provide an in-depth discourse about why I don't eat honey?  Shame the fast food industry for profiting off of our fast-forward culture and increasing the chances of your average American growing obese?  Shall I regal you with stories of how people have committed petty crimes to violate their parole so they can return to prison just so they don't have to decide between 7 different kinds of bread?  Or how pasta can feed an army of undernourished poor for pennies a serving?

I can do all of that without a single picture (though they make it more fun, you must admit), but tell you a story about pasta with broccoli and new concentrated liquid bouillon and a fuzzy fan?  Nope, can't do it without pictures.  I use the photos as a kind of outline - they remind me where the story is going next.  Without them, I totally lose my train of thought and the entire post derails in mere paragraphs.

So, I've fixed last night's post - feel free to check it out.

Tonight, I made Moroccan Chickpeas and Zucchini from Appetite for Reduction.

In lieu of the prescribed [gross] onion, I sliced up the other half of the huge shallot Mister picked out on our team trip to Whole Foods last week.  In other news, I'm super proud of him for only picking up three things that weren't on the list I gave him for his Superfresh run today.

I was also a bit generous with the "pinch" of cinnamon to be added to the mix.  It came out perfectly, actually, but when I first did it and all I could smell was cinnamon (above 5 cloves of garlic, 1 Tbsp grated ginger, a sliced shallot, cumin, and coriander!), I panicked a little.  See, when the recipe says to add a pinch of something powdery (like cinnamon), I just flip up the top of the spice jar and shake some in - no need to actually "pinch" it with my fingers - you'll never get that off.  Regardless, sometimes I forget how eager cinnamon can be to escape the little plastic jar in which it lives as well as what a pungent little spice it is - a little dab'll do ya, as they say.

Angst was so excited about dinner tonight that I had to put him in the bathroom.  He's getting very vocal in his old age and there comes a point where Mister and I just can't listen to him squeaking while we're talking.  Once we'd finished, I retrieved him and gave him plenty of love.  Fortunately, he likes the bathroom, so he probably just fell asleep and forgot he was stuck...

Or maybe he'll just hate me until I give him breakfast in the morning when he's had a long lonely night to remember how much he loves me and misses me when I'm gone.

birthday coffee and shameless plugging

I will beg your pardon ahead of time - this post may bounce all over the place.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday which is absolutely no excuse for not posting since we didn't do anything but talk on the phone, but all I did for dinner was send Mister out for more tortilla chips while I reheated the leftover chili, so I didn't consider that very post-worthy.  Something post-worthy could have come out of the conversation I had with my dad while I walked home from work, but I couldn't think of anything clever to say about his boat being shrink-wrapped for the winter (but doesn't it evoke a fabulous mental image of men on ladders with hair-dryers?).  Here's something I love about my dad, though - me calling to wish him a happy birthday turned into him asking whether I prefer my coffee beans whole or pre-ground... just in case he returns to the Realm of Dark Chocolate Ecstasy Coffee this weekend...

Tonight, I made an old favorite recipe that I haven't made in years for no good reason except my own lack of imagination: Penne with Spinach and Chickpeas in Garlic Sauce from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.

Angst absolutely loved all the little Hummus Balls (chickpeas) Mister was sharing with him.  First he licked off all the salty, garlicky sauce, then he ate up his Hummus Balls with great gusto!  And to think, possibly the only reason I haven't made this in recent years is because it didn't occur to me to just leave off the Parmesan - shame on me!

Okay, I'm sure a little of my negligence was due to the cookbook-buying spree I went on when I discovered how many amazing vegan cookbooks there are out there, thanks to the blogiverse.  Speaking of amazing vegan cookbooks....

Yanked from Amazon.com

Best segue I could come up with accidentally to remind everyone that Celebrate Vegan by local Philly Urban Vegan, Dynise Balcavage is now available through Amazon.com and you should order it.  This is the cookbook I had the incredible privilege of testing recipes for over the winter last year and I know I can't wait to get my hands on it!

For your reading pleasure, and with the hopes of enticing you to get this cookbook with express shipping, here are some links to my wintertime testing:

1. Farfalle with Shallots and Chard - I cannot wait to make this again!
2. Gussied-up Tabbouleh and Smoky Zucchini Bean Dip - the best tabbouleh I've ever had.
3. Pasta with Red Peppers and Basil - because "a big pot of pasta is a happy thing" according to Mister.
4. Lemon-Champagne-Braised Baby Bok Choy and Pan-Seared Tofu with Balsamic Glaze - I kind of want to start stockpiling the baby bok choy now... I already have a little bottle of champagne in the fridge.
5. Funeral Cake - BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER and just in time for some Addams Family Halloween Fun!
6. Mega-Israeli Salad - the only thing better than the crunch is the bite of the garlic.

You can also click on the "testing" label at the bottom of any of those posts to see more adventures, but seriously - you need this cookbook.  Celebrate Vegan by Dynise Balcavage - go get it!

let's give 'em something to talk about (link party)

A friend of mine posted an article on facebook today about how useless a college education is, sparking a short but lively interaction between friends in the comment section.  The main point of the article is that institutions of higher education are outdated, obsolete.  They are expensive wastes-of-time and in the end, the bearer of a degree benefits little from that time and money spent.  I have my own mixed feelings toward this article.

On the one hand, I did go to college.  I even went to grad school and was 2/3 through my Masters degree before taking a leave of absence that turned into dropping out altogether.  I am still paying off my Bachelors degree but I haven't worked in "my field" since 2003.  I may still be paying off the degree I didn't get when I entered graduate education (can't differentiate that debt from leftover wedding debt with some travel/moving debt mixed in for good measure).  So, to sum it up, I am many thousands of dollars in debt for a degree and a half that I'm not using.

On the other hand, I think there is a great deal more learning that goes on in higher education than what is summarized on that nifty piece of paper you get when you wear a black robe under a hot May sun for a few hours.  Do I regret that I haven't worked in "my field" in over 8 years?  Somewhat.  Do I regret what I eventually got my degree in?  Sometimes, and more frequently lately.  Do I feel I would have gotten as far as I've gotten professionally without a degree?  No.  No, I do not.

Every time I've engaged in a job search over the last 10 years, any job I had any interest in pursuing was quite clear on the necessity of a college degree.  Some have been content with a 2-year degree, others have stated that a 4-year degree is "preferred."  Besides just having a degree to have a degree, I think I learned a lot more during my time in the classroom.

I learned how to think.
I learned how to ask questions.
I learned how to communicate to various levels of understanding.
I learned how to expand my vocabulary; I learned how to "dumb it down" for accessibility.
I learned how to juggle work, school, and social life.
I learned about a big world I didn't know existed - I was extraordinarily fortunate to go to two schools who placed a heavy emphasis on multi-culturalism and learning from "the other."
I learned how to play nice with people who weren't like me.
I learned how to reach deep inside myself and find something I held in common with "the other."
I learned how to see the world, or just my little city, through the eyes of someone completely unlike me.

I learned how to cooperate.  I learned how to love.  I learned.

So, regardless of my current profession being as far from "my field" as possible, I have always been and continue to be ineffably grateful for the 9 years I spent in institutions of higher learning.  I learned a lot from the books, but I learned a lot from the people and the experience as well.

My college and grad school were very focused on social justice, equality, and leaving the world a better place than it was when you entered.  The world around us is making it very difficult to carry out the last one, but I have no doubt that my classmates are continuing to strive toward that goal as much as I am.  By being part of that culture, surrounded by that ethos for nearly a decade of my life, my mind is irreversibly changed.  I was privileged, sheltered, and myopic as an adolescent.  Being a part of that new world helped to shape me into a pensive, globally-conscious, action-oriented adult.

My decision to give up meat had very little to do with the suffering of animals, but rather, it was focused on the degradation of our world - environmentally, nutritionally, and socially - which can be traced to the meat industry.  My husband became a vegetarian first and I thought he was crazy - life without meat, cheese, milk, etc, was absolutely foreign to me and I was not comfortable with it at all.  I asked him why he chose that route and his long, thoughtful answer appealed completely to the part of me that mourns for the exploitation rampant in poorer areas of the world, poorer areas of our own country, state, 25-mile radius.  It was the slow realization that I was contributing to the poverty and hunger of other human beings by indulging in luxuries like filet mignon on a pretty regular basis that led me to declare "Never again," as two-thirds of a perfectly good piece of meat slid off of my plate and into the waiting garbage can.

The USDA (in all their hallowed, pure-intentioned, unconflicted-interest glory) released the new My Plate, to replace the food pyramid as the new guide for how Americans should eat.  This has led to a number of editorials, blogs, and tweeted musings about the influences that shaped the Plate and whether it accomplished any good whatsoever.

Mama Pea stirred up quite a discussion with her post - I encourage you to read not only the post but also the comments.  Her readers are an insightful and generally well-educated bunch.  Someone who was interested in doing so could learn a whole lot of good information from these comments.  I know I did.

Nutrition and healthy eating are nearly constantly on my mind.  I work for one of the top three weight loss programs in the nation as one of the people who train incoming new hires as well as "uptraining" the present corps of employees on new policies, guidelines, or other relevant information.  This can be, on limited occasion, extremely rewarding.  Most of the time, it is heart-rendingly frustrating.  Because I have put so much time into understanding my own relationship with food and the way that it fuels my body and propels my life, I take for granted that other people also think of these things.  I am guilty of crawling back into my own little world and neglecting the evidence of the much larger world out there.  It is astonishing how little people know about food, nutrition, and how to not kill themselves.

A few times, I have thought it would be humorous to devote an entire post or two to some of the bizarre things my new hires or present employees say to me in trainings.  While these things are kind of funny in retrospect, as a "I can't wait to tell Mister about this one" kind of thing, they are horrifying when they actually occur because they remind me how much I take for granted in my own life.  Here are some highlights:

There was the employee who was truly surprised that chicken would not be included on our vegetarian program. [click here for the full story]

There was the hot dog vendor who was personally offended by my tofu pups.

There was the woman who explained that vegetarians have to eat a lot of food that's been enriched with protein to help them "fight the cravings."  I was too busy being horror-stricken to ask her what vegetarians were craving that they needed protein in large quantities to ward off.

That same employee, only minutes later also explained that vegetarians don't get enough nutrients, which is why "they all have that weird skin color."  Mister and I had a field day with this one.  That weird skin color?  We weren't sure whether she meant that healthy glow that comes from eating foods that are good for you or the absence of red-flushed cheeks/face that indicate hypertension.

Another new hire nearly laughed himself into a coma trying to figure out why we would even need a vegetarian weight loss program since "those people" don't eat anything.  On the one hand, I'm glad he was able to recognize that eating animals contributes to the obesity rampant in our nation.  On the other hand, I explained to him that there are a great many things that are vegetarian-safe but will make you fat: potato chips, cake, french fries (not from McDonalds), most candy; I finished by pointing out that Alec Baldwin is a vegetarian.  I didn't need to say the rest.

I don't share these stories to make fun of the "stars," rather, to show what I believe is a relatively common ignorance about healthy eating.  It's so much more convenient to eat whatever McDonald's tells you is healthy or pick the lowest calorie treat in Starbucks' pastry case than it is to think of balance.  Pizza and drive-thru burgers are so much easier than working all day and then cooking a meal from scratch.  I totally get that and there are times I feel the same way.

So, although I feel the USDA is hopelessly corrupt and has been bought out by Big Meat/Dairy, I do think the Plate is a babystep in the right direction - at least it shows that half the plate should be taken up by fresh whole foods like fruit and vegetables.  Even though protein represented by meat and dairy are considered an essential part of your daily meals, at least the protein portion is smaller than the rest.  People don't know enough, generally, about nutrition or the corruption of those who feed us (so to speak) to make an educated decision, so if this will give them a little tap in the right direction (portion control, anyone?), I'm all for it.  Paradigms are not shifted overnight and the veg movement is definitely gaining ground.  We'll get there.

In the meantime, may I suggest two in-depth articles for your reading pleasure?

On the Huffington Post, Nil Zacharias explores The Inconvenience of Being Vegan.  He provides a lot of really good information in a completely accessible and readable format.  He incorporates humor but knows when to turn more serious to make his point.  He also includes a ton of links so interested readers can get more information.

At ZenHabits, the writer explores the myth that soy is bad for you in some way.  I was fortunate to find this post immediately after one of my new hires expressed concerns his son had raised to him about soy, resulting in the young man's refusal to eat anything with soy.  When I say "anything," I mean this young man is reading labels as closely as a vegan looking for casein.  This is a well-written and comprehensive answer to him buying into the anti-soy propaganda circulated, not surprisingly, by Big Meat and Big Dairy....

I meant to tell you how much I enjoyed the Rice Island Casserole from Vegan on the Cheap tonight, but I think too much.

weebles wobble but they don't fall down

Favorite recipes, however?  Well, sometimes, they can teeter a bit on their throne, but it takes a powerful punch to knock them off altogether.

Meet the contenders:

Clara's Pasta e Fagioli from The Urban Vegan

The Reigning Champ

VS

Pasta e Fagioli from Veganomicon

The Challenger

I've made both of these recipes a few times now.  There is a special place in my heart for the Champion, because the introduction Dynise wrote for this recipe was so heart-warming, I think it actually influenced the flavor of the meal.  The recipe appears in the Soup section of her cookbook, but despite the multiple times I've made it, it has yet to even vaguely resemble soup.

That's actually a point in its favor, folks.  If you haven't been paying attention, Mister does not love Soup, Mister Loves Pasta.

I was actually a little intimidated by Pasta e Fagioli until I found Dynise's recipe, which she adapted from her mother-in-law.  It just seemed so simple and I knew Mister would appreciate it since he does order it whenever we go to Pietro's with his dad.  I discovered that making a big pot of nutritious yet simple pasta causes me to think deeply about the state of things, and when I made the Pasta e Fagioli from Vegan on the Cheap, I wrote another treatise on good food and how we shouldn't take it for granted.  Pasta brings out the philosopher and sociologist in me, I guess.

The first time I made Isa's Pasta e Fagioli, I managed to refrain from waxing poet on the sad state of affairs and how this one pasta dish will solve all the world's problems.  I did so only by focusing completely on how surprisingly good it was.  With that in mind, I made it again tonight:

I used penne because I missed the "-ette" attached to it in the recipe.  Nevertheless, this Pasta e Fagioli is killer, even with noodles a little too big for the dish.  Mister happily plowed through three bowls, barely coming up for air while I savored each bite of my first serving (yes, I did have seconds).  

From the first bite, I knew...

...we have a new Champion.

P&AB, MoFos!

The last words spoken to me at work today concluded a ninety-minute planning session with the department director.  She looked into my bloodshot eyes and raised her voice above my sniffling:

Her:  Can you do me a favor?
Me, looking sad and worn out, I'm sure:  Umm...?
Her: Would you please go home and rest?

Yes.  I can do that.  I regret that I don't have some stupendously exciting meal to post about, since it's the last night of VeganMoFo...unless you count my killer Peanut & Apple Butters Sandwich and Yogi Detox Tea.  I have to tell you, I appreciate that Whole Foods makes their 365 Peanut Butter from only peanuts and salt (two ingredients, woohoo!), but it doesn't really taste like anything.  It does pair nicely with the apple butter I picked up forever ago, though.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my nightly posts as much as I enjoyed writing them!  Round-ups seem to be the popular way to end this month, so let me link back to some "special" posts, highlights if you will, in case you're just joining us (or just getting caught up on your reading, like me!).

Some recipes:
Breakfast Fried Rice 
Rotini with White Bean-Tomato Sauce
Banana Pecan Oatmeal


Food Zen:
Making Peace with Peas
A Whole World of Difference
Give me $5 and I'll Feed the World


and of course, The Chocolate Round-Up and the Epic VeganMoFo Survey!

That's all, folks!  I posted every single night of November and now I'm going to sleep.  See you in December!

five days of freedom

My boss must think I'm a complete lunatic.  At the end of today, I absolutely lost it - I started laughing uncontrollably and could not stop.  My eye is still twitching.  I was so tightly wound today that I almost couldn't focus.  I didn't realize exactly how high-strung I was, though, until the day ended and the magnificent realization that I was finished until Monday whether I wanted to be or not set in and I felt such incredible relief that all I could do was laugh like a maniac.

I'm blatantly ignoring that I still have obligations for the next two days - at least they are happy reunions with loved ones, which may require effort of travel and a bit of energy, but at least I'm not bent over my desk, frowning at my computer, and trying to map out this logistical nightmare.

Mister didn't feel like eating and I can't honestly say that I was all that interested in cooking by the time I got home, so I reheated my Cajun dinner and poured a glass of wine (surprised?  only if you're new...).  Mister gave me a present:

ironic, don't you think?

Now, before I pour my second glass of Centine SuperTuscan, I'm going to jump on an unfamiliar bandwagon.  Jess of Get Sconed! recently posted the "epic veganmofo survey" from the Post Punk Kitchen forums.  I enjoyed reading her responses, so I thought in the absence of some smarta$$ comments about how awesome my dinner was, I would publish the survey here with my responses.  Hopefully, I'm interesting enough that you'll read it, but otherwise, I'm sure I'll have some fun things to write about after Thanksgiving with the In-Laws tomorrow evening, so you can skip this and I'll see you tomorrow!

EPIC VeganMoFo survey

What's your favorite spice or spice blend? Unquestionably McCormicks Gourmet Garam Masala.  They have the blend of spices perfected to the point I would travel across the country to acquire more (even though there are apparently stores in Philadelphia that stock it...just not near me).

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). What do you buy?  2lb bag of carrots, bunch of kale, mixed olives, bananas, apples, a bunch of asparagus, and whatever's left goes to bell peppers.

What's your favorite way to make tofu?  marinated and pan-seared

Vegan guilty pleasure?  chocolate

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be?  my Father-in-law, because it would be a two-fer.  He and his wife have a very harmonious relationship and I believe if he became vegan, she would follow.  Also, he appreciates the finer things in life, so I can imagine the great conversations and shared meals we would appreciate together.

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be?  Oh no...I hate this question!  Even though it's subjective, I don't think there's a right answer!  probably Peas and Thank You.

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food?  I couldn't boil water without burning it before I stopped eating animals.  Veganism is one of two things that completely changed my interaction with food - Clean Eating Magazine (unfortunately, full of dead animals) is the other.

Excluding analogues, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn't have as an omni?  Good heavens - almost everything - french fries were my favorite vegetable as an omni - but I'm going to have to go with Brussels Sprouts, Delicata Squash, and eggplant.

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can't get behind?  mushrooms.  can't stand 'em.

What was your first "wow, I'm such a stereotypical vegan" moment?  when I started calling "meat" by its animal names to get a reaction and help omni-friends "see the light."

First recipe you veganized? I can't, in good conscience, say pasta sauce, since I think it should always be animal-free.  So, instead I'll say...well, probably Colleen's tofu lasagna, but I didn't actually veganize it, so instead I'll point to my mother's best friend's aunt's casserole.

What would you like to veganize, but haven't yet? I would like to successfully veganize my mother's best friend's aunt's casserole.  Also, I would like to completely veganize one holiday dinner, but that will have to wait until we have a home large enough to actually host a holiday dinner.

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance?  Favorite utensil? my garlic press.  Favorite appliance? definitely the food processor.

Most disastrous kitchen failure?  I don't like to fail, so even if a recipe seems to be going in a disastrous direction, I can usually turn it around since I'm an ultra-anal perfectionist, so I'm happy to say my biggest "failure" was a pizza that had no interest in behaving like pizza...since there was no cheese/Daiya to hold everything together.

First vegan cookbook?  How It All Vegan, given to me after my mother tried to use it and failed ;)  Love you, Mom!

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering?  But...what do you eat??

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be?  we aren't actually crazy - we just care about things outside ourselves.

Funniest vegetable?  umm...what does that mean??  I can't think of any that make me burst into uncontrolled laughter at the mere mention, but I guess phallic eggplants are kind of funny.

What is a family recipe you have veganized?  I was going to claim my family doesn't have any recipes, but then I remembered my mom's pineapple casserole.  I have not veganized it [yet], but going back a couple of questions, I think I will give it my best shot if I get to host Easter (like I'm hoping, though that is entirely dependent on a successful mid-winter move - fingers crossed!).

Weirdest food combination ?  normally, I would say this involves crossing cuisines, but I'm going to say caramel and seitan was a little bizarre.

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can't/couldn't?  rare filet mignon?  I can't think of anything else that would be difficult to veganize that I would actually want to eat.

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins?  I love to brown seitan until it gets a little crispy; I very rarely get to prepare tempeh, but I enjoy braising it when I do.

Are your pets vegan? if so, what do you feed them? Angst loves spinach, but Angst is an omnivore.

Favorite non-dairy milk?  Actually, if you're interested, I did a "milk" round-up not too long ago in response to my sister's desire to leave cows alone.  My favorite "milk" for actually drinking is Almond Milk - it has the most palatable flavor.  My favorite milk for everything else is a tie between soymilk and So Delicious Coconut Milk.

What’s one “vegan myth” you’d like to squash?  That mushrooms are the preferred meat replacement.  They are fungus; that is gross.

The Round-Up Returns (and a link party!)

I'm not sure I could honestly say there was any kind of mass uprising demanding the second round-up post I'm about to write, but I did get two pleasant requests and that's enough in my book, especially when dinner was nothing to write about.

We had Indian-Spiced Vegetables on Basmati Jasmine Rice.  It was tasty, but relatively unremarkable.  I substituted chard for the napa cabbage in the recipe for two reasons: one, Whole Foods did not have a single head of napa cabbage, and two, because I accidentally picked up a bunch of chard last week.

On to part one of the Round-Up!  Although I hope you found my first round-up (beauty and personal hygiene) edifying, we're going to concentrate on food this time around.  Ironically, Mama Pea has been focusing on the same thing in her Pea Mail segments, so for more general information, feel free to read her posts.

Question #1: What are some things I always have on hand, essentials, if you will?

In the fridge:
Earth Balance
unsweetened soymilk
flavored soy yogurts
coconut milk coffee creamer
multigrain bread
100% juices for Mister
an 11 oz box of Olivia's Organics mixed greens, at varying levels of fullness
pickles
ketchup and 3 different mustards (two for Mister and one for me to use in recipes)
olives
minced ginger
tamari
hummus and/or baba ganoush
various fruits and vegetables

In the freezer:
frozen veggies: broccoli, spinach (chopped and whole leaf), corn, peas, and cauliflower, sometimes green beans
frozen waffles and frozen berries in the winter
Tempt "ice cream" or some other non-dairy frozen dessert

Pantry essentials:
pasta in multiple shapes and lengths
bulghur
Basmati rice (as well as sometimes arborio, Jasmine, and brown)
whole oats
granola
canned tomatoes and beans
liquid smoke
vegan worcestershire sauce
agave nectar
maple syrup
peanut butter
coffee (regular, flavored, and decaf - we don't mess around)
a chest of teas for drinking and for recipes
kosher salt and sea salt
dried beans and lentils (red, French, and brown)
Clif bars and Luna bars, sometimes Larabars, Odwalla bars, and Clif C bars
dried fruits and shredded coconut
Oils: extra virgin olive, canola, peanut, and toasted sesame
Vinegars: balsamic, red wine, white wine, rice wine, apple cider
Cooking wines: Mirin and Rice Wine
My Herb and Spice Army - it would take a whole other post to give you their names.  Most commonly used herbs: organic basil, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, and parsley.  Most commonly used spices: cumin, curry powder, chili powder, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger.

Question #2: What are my favorite cookbooks/recipes?

There are three "tiers" of cookbook favoritism going on in my home: most favorite live on a bookshelf IN the kitchen, not quite as favorite but still awesome cookbooks live on a shelf just outside of the kitchen, and the ones I look at a time or two a year live on the bookshelf down the hall.


I love everything Isa Chandra Moskowitz has published, though I find it usually takes more than an hour to make the food contained in her books.  The recipes are always worth the time and effort, but I normally stay away from these books if I anticipate a particularly pressed-for-time week.

While I love all of Sarah Kramer's books as well, the one I find most useful is La Dolce Vegan, because the recipes cook faster and the portions are generally intended for her and her husband... Which is perfect, because that's who I'm cooking for - Me and My husband.  You can test-drive my favorite recipe from that book here.

I have three cookbooks exclusively devoted to getting dinner on the table in 45 minutes or less, without which I would be lost:

Vegan Express by Nava Atlas is absolutely Queen of these three.  I don't think I have ever come back to this blog after making one of her recipes and said, "Well, that sucked."  Not only do her entrees come equipped with suggested side dishes, you can also normally get from washing the vegetables to table in about 30 minutes, sometimes less.  See my full review of this book here.

The 30 Minute Vegan by Jennifer Murray and Mark Reinfeld.  This is my only cookbook that also deals with the Raw Food movement, so it gets a little fruity at times.  I am not as big a fan of the "diversity" of recipes presented in this book as I am of those offered by Nava, but there are certainly a decent number of great recipes.  See my full review here.

Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy, a compilation of recipes featured in the eponymous magazine.  The recipes in this book are marked as taking 15, 30, or 45 minutes from the first slice to the first bite - helpful, but not always accurate.  The meals are tasty, if not a little tofu-centric.  When I first got the book, Mister and I weren't all that fond of tofu, so we've grown to like the book more as we have found tofu a more reasonable part of our dinner.  It would not be a good "starter" book for someone looking into a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle because there is just too much tofu.  I think it's better to focus on grains, beans, and vegetables in the beginning, but that's just me.

I am more or less in love with Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, a collection of recipes served at the aforementioned restaurant in Ithaca, New York.  The cookbook is divided into countries of culinary origin and it is an absolute treasure, given to me a long time ago by my mother-in-law, before I even knew I could cook.  In fact, I'm pretty sure most of my education came from that book.  Unfortunately, I don't think I have ever made a recipe from that book that took less than hours, so I reserve it for special occasions and holiday dinners.

Final Round/Link Party:  What are my favorite [speedy] recipes?

A short disclaimer: you may have noticed from the abundant use of links in my posts that I'm pretty big on citing sources and giving credit where it is due.  Consequently, I have a real problem sharing other people's recipes.  I have provided several cookbook recommendations, as well as links to amazon.com in the hopes that you will purchase at least one of these cookbooks and try your hand at the recipes I've mentioned.  All the links I share here will be to pages in my blog which contain self-composed recipes.

Toasted Quinoa Salad comes together in about 20-30 minutes, tastes great, provides a complete protein (all 15 essential amino acids), as well as plenty of greens and healthy fat from the almonds and coconut.

Broccoli Pasta with Savory Sauce takes about as much time as it does to boil the pasta - everything else goes on "meanwhile."  Just about everything can be speedy when you use frozen vegetables, but if you're quick with a knife, you can still chop up the broccoli before you need it to be ready.

Greek Quesadillas are easy to make, fun to eat, and give you great garlic breath.  For my spinach-allergic readers, you can easily sub out the baby spinach for arugula or a couple of leaves of chard, cut into ribbons.  If you're really slow it might take you 20 minutes to make these, including preheating the oven.  For a stovetop tortilla-based version, try Fiestadillas.

Pea and Pepper Risotto cooks quickly because of the arborio rice, which will absorb the broth even more quickly if it's at room temperature or heated up slightly.  I love how savory the broth makes it, while the red peppers and peas provide a complementary spark of sweetness.  The recipe, as written, will provide two adequate servings (adequate means you're eating a side dish and a salad as well).

Pear and Carrot "Fried" Rice is a quick side dish, provided you have some leftover cooked rice sitting around.  It would probably be a nice accompaniment to...

Pineapple-Tamari Braised Seitan with Vegetables.  Depending on what kind of rice you use (Basmati/Jasmine cook in about 25 minutes, long-grain brown cooks in 45...they say), this recipe will certainly push the limit of a 30 minute time-frame, but it tasted too good to be excluded from my little round-up.  The sweet-n-savory nature of the broth-turned-sauce is one of my favorite things about Asian-style cooking and I was very pleased I figured out how to replicate it.

There are a bunch of other recipes, but most of them take closer to an hour (or more, on occasion) to make, so I've left them out.  You can access every recipe I've ever posted by clicking on the "recipes" link at the bottom of this post.  That way you can also access my dessert recipes...