a thousand beautiful things

I don't want to say the last two dinners were failures...but I can't say they were successes, either. I enjoyed the Cuban Black Bean Soup just as I imagined I would, and Mister grinned and bore it, just as I imagined he would. Mister didn't have have anything to say about last night's Saffron-Spiked Moroccan Stew aside from "what is this?" However, I think both of us really had to make an effort to remember how fortunate we were to find out that we aren't big saffron fans and muddle through our flower-scented dinner.

Tonight, I sought out the safety of the Pasta with Beans & Chard because one can rarely go wrong with pasta, especially where my husband is concerned. I guess that's why pasta seems like such a reliable meal to feed one of those crazy people who doesn't eat the preserved corpses you usually serve. By the way, I say things like that to point out the irony of people thinking I'm weird because I eat the bounty of the earth rather than glut myself on the bloodless bodies of the weak. Sorry - I couldn't even say that straight. The point is, I think it's funny that people are so taken off guard by vegans and vegetarians and resort to trying to make us feel inferior about what seems like such a natural choice, purely because our choices make them uncomfortable.

So, that was quite the tangent. The point here is that tonight's dinner didn't suck:
I had mentioned in one of the posts where I was still forming the idea of Operation Gratitude Attitude that my recent introspective pondering was partially owed to the influence of Annie Lennox. I would like to share some lyrics from the specific song with you now, so that you might ponder it as well and keep it close to your heart and mind when you help me build my list of blessings.

1000 Beautiful Things
Every day I write the list of reasons why I still believe they do exist
A thousand beautiful things
And even though it's hard to see, the glass is full and not half empty
A thousand beautiful things

I thank you for the air to breathe, the heart to beat, the eyes to see again
A thousand beautiful things
And all the things that's been and done, the battles won, the good and bad in everyone
This is mine to remember

So, then, here is today's list:
1. I am grateful that today is over and I feel the pieces of a very complicated puzzle coming together.

2. I am grateful for the opportunity to prove myself at work this week.

3. I am grateful that I woke up this morning with enough time to paint my nails - it's amazing what a shiny new coat of red can do for a girl.

4. I am grateful for this tasty elixir:

sometimes the obvious eludes me

For example, if you knew that saffron was the dried stigma of the crocus flower, wouldn't you expect it to emit a floral scent? You would, wouldn't you? Yeah, I didn't.

Tonight, I made Saffron-Spiked Moroccan Stew and it was my first experience cooking with the much exalted spice in the title. I mentioned in my menu post that I have substituted turmeric for saffron in the past. Why? They are not even remotely similar, aside from them both imparting a deep hue to whatever food they are sprinkled upon. Turmeric is a bitter spice that turns things (like scrambled tofu) yellow. Saffron is red, turns things red, and stinks. It has an inescapable and very strong floral odor that really made it hard for me to eat my stew. I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of it!

Dinner was very pretty, though and Mister and I managed to fill our bellies, with the help of some salt and a serious effort to ignore the fact that our dinner smelled like a spring bouquet.
Today has kind of been a day of nauseating scents. Dinner actually didn't taste bad, it just smelled weird, which was distracting. Earlier, I made more scrambled tofu and although it tasted as good as it did yesterday, I absolutely could not stand the smell today. I don't know if I did something different or if I just wasn't paying attention to the smell yesterday, though that's not likely. Moving on...
1. I am grateful that I have just spent 5 days relaxing and ignoring almost any sense of responsibility.

2. I am grateful for my sense of adventure when it comes to selecting my menu, even if it backfires sometimes.

3. I am grateful that I can see clearly out of both my eyes now that I got rid of that flawed right contact lens.

4. I am grateful that today is the first day of the Advent season, officially marking the beginning of Christmastime, my favorite time of year.

What are you grateful for?

not everyone likes fruit in soup

So....remember my hesitance about the Cuban Black Bean Soup? I never really went into detail, but I mentioned that the ingredients were a little off the wall. I also said that I had little doubt that I would love it, but at least a decent amount of doubt that Mister would. Well, it turns out the most tactful way Mister could find to describe the soup was, in fact, "weird." He ate it, God bless him, but I don't think I'll be able to get him to eat it again. I loved it, on the other hand, so we can just move that to the Wednesday file.

There will be no pictures, because they really didn't come out well and the soup really wasn't much to look at anyway, but here is a synopsis of our dinner experience:
The soup contains this bizarre mixture: hot sauce, black beans, coconut milk, and bananas. There are some other things, but those are the ones that make it weird. Specifically, the bananas are probably what lost Mister's vote (and won mine). I guess we can't all love fruit in soup. They added what can only be described as a buttery smell, which really confused me, even though I was the one who made the soup and therefore knew that there was not even Earth Balance in there, let alone butter. The immersion blender gave the coconut milk a bit of froth, as well as gently pulverizing just enough of the bananas, black beans, and peppers to thicken the broth a bit while still leaving chunks to satisfy Mister's desire to not feel like he could eat his dinner with a straw.

With that, we'll head right into Operation Gratitude Attitude.
1. I am grateful for the opportunity to play Christmas music at my piano for hours today, uninterrupted.

2. I am grateful for www.joshgroban.com and the opportunity to watch Josh sing one of the most powerful songs in musical theatre in the privacy of my own living room, so I could cry without shame.

3. I am grateful that facebook reunited me with a fellow JG-fan who told me that he played the part of Anatoly in a two-day performance of Chess, my favorite musical, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, directed my Tim Rice himself.

4. I am grateful that I still have one more day left before the insanity of the week starts.

omni-vegan feast

Where to begin? Thanksgiving was really an adventure, challenge, and delight. As it turns out, my mom and I were almost matched dish for dish on the dinner table. Representing the Omnivores, she had prepared a hunk of turkey, our family tradition - pineapple casserole, a sweet potato casserole, and a salad with some biscuits. On the Vegan team, I brought my tofu turkeys (absolute triumph), spiced potatoes and green beans, and chai applesauce. Mom also had pumpkin pie and chocolate ganache sandwich cookies for dessert. Buckle your seatbelts, folks, I think this is going to be a long, picture-filled post.

here's the dinner table, all decked out for the holiday and covered with more food than I think any of the four of us had anticipated.
here's the Chunky Chai Applesauce, looking quite regal in gold and ivory
Tofu Turkeys keeping the Sweet Potato Casserole company
Spiced Potatoes and Green Beans in front of Mom's traditional Pineapple Casserole
my happy little plate, with my tofu turkeys bathed in just a bit of the gravy I made from the leftover marinade...which my father liked so much he wanted to keep it to use on his turkey leftovers this week!
And here's Dad, showing the whole world that he DID eat a tofu turkey. He also liked it so much that he had a second turkey with no prompting! I'm so proud.

Speaking of tofu turkeys, I ended up with a bunch of tofu leftover after I cut out the cute little turkeys, so I packed all the pieces into tupperware, covered with water, and sealed those suckers in there. Today, around brunch-time, I thought, "What a perfect day to make scrambled tofu!" I have never actually made scrambled tofu, but the idea has been growing on me for a couple of months at least, but probably more like since I got my copy of Vegan Brunch. I didn't have any nutritional yeast, so I consulted How It All Vegan because I seemed to remember Sarah Kramer also having a love of scrambled tofu. Sorry, Isa, but hers is much easier... So I heated some oil in a fry pan, blotted some of the leftover tofu on a paper towel and then "crumbled" it into the fry pan. I let it sizzle for a little while, then I sprinkled it with some turmeric, cumin, and garlic powder. I stirred it for a good while (at least a minute), then I sprinkled in some tamari and let it soak in for a bit. I think the whole process took a little more than 5 minutes and the effort was so worth it that I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner...not that I frequently have scraps of leftover tofu lying around.

seriously - who needs eggs?

Tonight, then, we had the last thing on last week's menu - Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce. It didn't come together quite as smoothly as I would have liked, but I think I could have been a little more organized. I was rushing myself because I got a late start and because it is my opinion that stir-fries should be fast, adrenaline-pumping experiences. I got to use my new juicer to get the 1/3 cup orange juice I needed (2 oranges, if you care) for the sauce. It came out very delicious and looking much like its picture, which always thrills me.

Now, on to this week's menu:

1. Saffron-Spiked Moroccan Stew on couscous, from The Vegan Table. I have stayed away from things that call for saffron, since it is excessively expensive, or I just substitute turmeric if it's not a main ingredient. I have decided, upon reading this recipe, that it is worth the cost of the saffron to try it out.

2. Orzo Pilaf with Roasted Red Peppers & Peas, also from The Vegan Table. This looks like a fun and savory pasta risotto kind of dish.

3. Cuban Black Bean Soup, also from The Vegan Table. I read this recipe three times, mulling the ingredients over in my head before deciding I want to make it. It is really a weird soup if ever I've made one, which both intrigues me and worries me. I have little doubt that I will think it's fabulous, but I never know how Mister will react to some of my more adventurous dinners.

4. Hearty Stew, also from The Vegan Table. I have made this before, but I want to make it again now that I have discovered the amazingness of Ray's Seitan. Yes, I know amazingness is not a word - spell check told me so, but I don't care - it's the best way I can think to describe this stuff. If you've ever been to Horizons, you'll understand.

5. Chickpea Stew with Fried Polenta from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook. I love this enough to have made it a few times in recent history, and it'll make a fast, easy dinner on one of my insanely busy nights next week (which one? pick one).

6. Thai Pineapple Stir-Fried Rice from Vegan Express. I would be lost without this book. What amazes me is that I have been relying very heavily on his book since I got it and I still find new things to make every time I go in there! This looks fun. It looks like it may be a lot of work, but her recipes really never seem to take longer than a half an hour, so I think I can make it happen.

7. Pasta with Beans & Chard also from Vegan Express. Okay, so I've made this one before... I didn't say I never repeat a dish.

I didn't forget! Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I should have started then, but I was too fat to type. Today, then, is day one of Operation Gratitude Attitude. Remember our deal? I'll start with my four things:

1. I am grateful that I have enough money to keep my home as warm as I want it to be.

2. I am grateful my parents love me and support my crazy aspirations and experiments.

3. I am grateful that I have over 145,000 miles on my car and it hasn't given me any real trouble yet.

4. I am grateful to be able-bodied enough to walk to the grocery stores tomorrow.

Your turn! What one thing are you grateful for today?

'twas the night before feasting

This will likely be a two-part series, the follow-up obviously being about the Thanksgiving holiday itself, as well as the official start of Operation Gratitude Attitude. I actually kind of hate works-in-progress, but I am having so much fun with my Thanksgiving cooking contributions I couldn't wait to share.

I'm also having fun with a new favorite thing...
Definitely not a French Martini, but it is an adequate substitute. Apparently, a champagne flute is also an adequate substitute for a martini glass.

Anyway, after running around in the mist and muck all day, I returned home in triumph with the last turkey cookie cutter they had at the restaurant supply store across the street from my home. That store has saved me on prior thanksgivings, when I didn't have the right-sized casserole dish, for example. I played Christmas music on my piano for a little while, then set about chopping peppers and eggplant for my dinner: Cumin-Roasted Eggplant with Sweet Peppers and Chickpeas. The title doesn't really lead to a need for explanation - I think the more astute readers can figure out what was in it...
Since the whole shebang roasted for about a half an hour at the highest heat my oven makes, it definitely needed to sit a while and think about what it did, so while I waited for dinner to cool, I made my first applesauce ever! Chunky Chai Applesauce is not your standard applesauce, but it's still my attempt to bribe my father into willingly consuming a tofu turkey.

before 5 happy Grannies met their fate
after they spent some time with Apple Cider and Spices

It really blew my mind to uncover the pot after those cubes of apple were simmering with the apple cider for 20ish minutes and find that they needed no mashing. It also blew my mind that after adding 1 cup of brown sugar, as well as the chai spices, you can still taste the tartness of the Granny Smith apples.

While I waited for the applesauce to cool so I could store it in tupperware in the fridge, I got to carving my turkeys and heating the marinade. I am so excited to see how this all comes out, I can't even express myself. Of course, that could be the pomegranate martini, too. I will leave you with a picture of my little tofu turkey army and a promise to update on all fronts tomorrow.

Truly the coolest thing I have ever done with tofu

looks like we made it

By we, I mean me and my imaginary clones that helped me get all my work done these past two days. I can't believe I just used a Barry Manilow song as the title of my post.

Anyway, to celebrate the end of my very short but action-packed work week, I made Greek Orzo Stuffed Peppers.
Aren't they pretty? There were supposed to be four peppers, but I don't see how there would have been enough stuffing without gypping the three I did halve and fill. Also, I couldn't tolerate the thought of gutting that last pepper, so I'll eat it tomorrow with my eggplant.
Very tasty little dinner. It would only have been improved by the presence of a cocktail. I am presently obsessed with drinking a French Martini (vodka, chambord, pineapple juice). I suppose I could make one myself, but my martini glasses are at my parents' house and I don't have any of the necessary ingredients anyway.

I am so looking forward to my day off tomorrow. I plan to run all over Philadelphia, so I hope the weather is nice, or at least not crappy. I still need to get a few food ingredients and I realized the other day that making tofu turkeys will be very difficult without a turkey-shaped cookie cutter. I am not free-handing it. How hard can it be to find a turkey-shaped cookie cutter? I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

one down, one to go

Work days, that is. In a stroke of good fortune, as well as possibly the stupidest combination of responsibilities, there are only 2 [very very busy] days in my work week this week. I managed to get through today...well, I should rephrase that and let it read more like this: today completely took over and before I could blink I was 75% through my work day and upon completing aforementioned blink, the imaginary whistle was blowing and it was time to go home. I imagine tomorrow will be very much the same way and despite the joy it brings me to just work my normal workday, there is a part of me that thinks I should head in early tomorrow so I can leave on time, and I don't see HOW Monday will happen without overtime. Did I mention I was a little busy?

I was also kind of a babbling idiot by the time I got home from work tonight and my mind just stopped spinning with myriad thoughts about 15 minutes ago after forcing myself to focus on providing my sister with an answer to her question about Jews, Muslims, and pork (as well as their apparent mutual exclusivity). Fortunately, dinner required almost no thought and relatively little effort. I think the total hands-on time for the Lentil-Edamame Stew was approximately 5 minutes, including the time to put it in bowls and set them on the table. This is a great recipe for those days when you simply cannot focus on a dinner that requires constant attention.
Speaking of dinners which require all of your attention every minute - I made that one last night. The first meal of the "week" is always the hardest because I have everything I need for all of the recipes and can choose any one I want, really. Once you pick one, though, the rest are easy. I consulted with my tastebuds to see what we were feeling - the answer was a resounding "umami" so I decided to go with the Seitan Stirfry with Black Bean Garlic Sauce.
It was very good and quite simple as well = a pound of seitan, a pound of green beans (I'll admit, I used frozen), a wok. I added some bok choy because I had some leftover for reasons I'll probably never know. Also, I finally broke down and bought Cooking Rice Wine. I have dozens of recipes that call for it, which I have generally overlooked because I thought, "What an esoteric ingredient! I'll end up with a huge useless bottle to use only when I make that recipe....a few times a year." Somewhere along the line, though, I realized that I have a bunch of recipes like that, so it might not be quite as esoteric as I thought...it smells really good.

By the way, I'm still trying to figure out where November went. Anyone?

Finally, I did make cookies last night and I'm proud as hell that they made it to my work potluck because they smelled SO good baking. I think Mister and I deserve some serious kudos for only doing our quality analysis on two samples... I made Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from the July 2009 issue of Cooking Light.
I veganized the recipe very easily. I mean, seriously? Banana-anything cookies/muffins/cake beg for another banana to replace the eggs, so that was a no-brainer. I also replaced the butter with 1/4 cup canola oil. They were a big hit - they smelled just like banana bread, but had the toothsome texture of whole oats and the squishy sweet surprise of dark chocolate chips. Hopefully, they provided a healthful polemic to the Turducken one group brought in. The smell of the turducken = utterly revolting and at least somewhat nauseating. Not one, but 3 roasted corpses, each one crammed into the next size up...mmmm..... NO.

Actually, that is probably the best segue I'll have to throw out this little thought-nugget: my sister emailed me an article from the New York Times. It's an Op-Ed by Gary Steiner, a vegan professor at Bucknell University. In the [very well-written] article, Professor Steiner points out the stunning dichotomy present in the growing concern over how Thanksgiving turkeys lived prior to having their heads chopped off, feathers plucked out, and being roasted in an oven for a bunch of gluttonous Americans to eat. Free-range poultry is all the rage, as omnivores everywhere try to assuage their consciences of any guilt that might be associated with killing a big bird that you know you won't finish, so you make sandwiches and soups and other stuff from the plethora of recipes that come out about this time of year to help you use up the leftover turkey. How often, though, does someone stop and think about how little it matters whether the turkey was happy before you ate it because it was bred, born, and raised specifically to DIE and be roasted on the fourth Thursday of November?

That's enough from me - I'll let the good professor [angrily] make his point.