New Orleans, Part Deux, and a Little Biloxi

[Click here for Part Une]

For dinner on our second night in New Orleans, we decided to get in our car and leave the French Quarter for a little Chinese restaurant uptown, August Moon. The Chinese restaurants here in Jackson are sadly lacking in the vegan (and taste) departments, so D. and I were really looking forward to this meal.

The restaurant was clean and pleasant, but we were the only customers. Perhaps that's because we were there around 9:00, though nine on a Saturday night in New Orleans doesn't really sound that late to me. (Insert plea here for more people to visit New Orleans. Restaurants like this need your business!)



We started out with Tofu Spring Rolls, and being new to this photography-in-restaurants thing, we dove right in and started to eat them before remembering that I needed to get a photo. As you can see from my broken roll in front, they consisted of a slab of fried tofu, lettuce, and noodles wrapped up in rice paper. I thought the large piece of tofu was a delicious change from the more delicate rolls I usually make, but the sauce was just so-so. It was too heavy on the hoisin sauce, but I'm really not complaining; I would be happy to see these rolls on a menu here in Jackson.



We chose two tofu dishes as our main courses--I wanted the General Tao's tofu and D. wanted the Kung Bo, so we decided to get them both. (In hindsight, I wish we'd opted for the eggplant, but if it was on the menu that night, I didn't notice it.) I liked that the Kung Bo had a variety of vegetables--bok choy, mushrooms, and snow peas, among others--but the sauce on the General Tao's (in foreground) was tastier to me. D. said that the Kung Bo sauce grew on him after a few minutes.

It was pretty late (at least for these old people) by the time we made our way back to the Quarter, but we decided to drop in on a small bar near our hotel. This was more of a local bar, not a tourist spot, and we enjoyed the drinks our bartender "THC" mixed up. (I almost stumped him by ordering a drink he'd never heard of, but he was able to recreate it perfectly from my description.)

The next morning, I had high hopes for something that non-vegans take for granted: breakfast. When you're traveling, the hardest meal for a vegan to find is breakfast. Sure, you can often get toast or a bagel or grits, if you're in the South, but a really satisfying vegan breakfast is hard to come by unless you're lucky enough to find a vegetarian restaurant. I'm not a morning person, but ever since I'd seen the Slim Goodies Diner menu online, I'd become obsessed with trying their Vegan Slammer or Vegan Breakfast (or both, since I would have my partner there to share his with me). There was even a Vegetable Napoleon that looked good, if we decided to venture away from the traditional breakfast options.

Unfortunately, Slim Goodies was packed, the waiting list was long, and their menu was abbreviated to their "Brunch and Bizzy Day" menu, which did not include any of the vegan options. We would have stayed and seen if they could accommodate our veganness, but our plans had changed and we had to be somewhere soon. So, hungry and in a hurry, we left Slim Goodies and went down the street to a CC's where we had some good coffee (soy latte for me) and a couple of dry bagels. Story of my vegan life!

Now, we hadn't planned on having to be anywhere. Our original intention was to check out of the hotel, have a leisurely breakfast, and spend the rest of the day and night at D.'s mother's house, where E. and Jazzy, our dog, were waiting for us. But, D's sister and his cousins had come up with another idea--to drive over to Biloxi and spend a night at the beach. Even though it was somewhat inconvenient having Jazzy in tow, we made a reservation at a motel that takes pets, picked up Jazzy from my in-laws, and headed east toward the Gulf Coast, where we were to meet up with E. and the others. After all, could you turn down this child's plea to swim in the ocean?



We met up at the beach with D's mom and 14 other family members. (Seriously, his family travels in a pack; I've never heard of any of them going away alone for a vacation or even a weekend, which probably explains why it's taken my husband 5 years to arrange a little alone time for us--it's just not in his blood.) E. had a great time playing in the water with her cousins, though Jazzy wasn't so thrilled with her first visit to the beach. After finding the water salty and scary, this was about as close as she wanted to get:



She did love all the attention she got from everyone, including our niece A., who enjoyed playing with her outside of the hotel swimming pool.



Unfortunately, if Biloxi offers any opportunities for vegan dining, we didn't try to find them. No one wanted to venture away from the hotel, so we ordered perhaps the worst cheeseless pizza ever and ate it (or tried to) in the room. Many of the restaurants we used to visit on the coast are now gone, and driving down the beach road is an exercise in depression; so many of the beautiful old houses and trees have simply vanished, washed completely away. The fact that we were able to get hotel rooms at the last minute on Memorial Day is evidence that recovery is going to be a long time in coming to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. (Insert plea for tourists to visit the Gulf Coast: The sand on the beaches is nice and white and the crowds are light. Stock your little motel fridge with vegan food and cook it in your tiny microwave. It's doable! )

The next day we made our way home. Though the trip had been wonderful and the food good, I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and my stomach was rumbling for less-fatty, more veggie-centric fare. It's going to take a lot of exercising to work off all that fried tofu!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

New Orleans, Part Une

In my last post I mentioned that I was looking forward to taking a break, and this past weekend, I got one. To celebrate our 11th anniversary, D. and I dropped E. off at his mother's house and headed across town to a hotel in the French Quarter:

While E. was spending time with her grandmother, aunts, and cousins, D. and I planned to spend two nights blissfully alone. This is only the second time since E. was born that we've been childless for the weekend. The last time was exactly 5 years ago, when we left E. with my parents and retreated to New Orleans. So you can probably figure that we've been looking forward to this little getaway for a long, long time.

Our basic plans were simple: to eat, drink, and relax. We spent a good amount of time just sipping wine on the balcony of our room or martinis in the courtyard of the hotel, which featured fountains and plenty of blooming flowers:

For dinner the first night, we wanted to stay close to the hotel, so we consulted the best source of info on eating vegan in New Orleans, Eating Out New Orleans, and found several restaurants within walking distance. We decided on Sekisui, an uncrowded sushi restaurant with a cozy atmosphere.

[Let me pause here and tell you that I did something that I've never done; after a year and a half of writing a food blog, I finally broke down and took photos of our restaurant food. I even bought a cheap, pocket-sized camera so that I wouldn't have to lug my big Canon Rebel around with me. I still felt pretty conspicuous, though no one said a thing about it. Except for D., that is!]

Our edamame appetizer came quickly, followed in just a few minutes by the Vegetarian Plate that we decided to split:


It was a fairly tasty dish of fried tofu with vegetables and sauce on top. Two slices of tempura sweet potato came with it; unfortunately, they were both undercooked. A few minutes later, our sushi order arrived:


The vegetable rolls and avocado rolls were standard fare; the only really outstanding part of the meal were the Double 'Shroom rolls you see on the left. Believe me, I'm going to be trying to make these at home, though I don't know for sure what the two types of mushrooms were. (Vegans, be sure to tell your waitperson to hold any sauce that might contain dairy or eggs; I think these normally contain a mayo-based sauce.)

We spent the next couple of hours walking around the Quarter, watching the tourists (which we were now 2 of) and drinking some pretty bad frozen drinks. Then it was back to our hotel to sit on the balcony and count the number of men (5) who stepped behind the dumpster across the street to urinate. (I say this to you in all seriousness: Never walk behind a dumpster in the French Quarter! And fratboys on vacation, New Orleans is not your toilet. Find a (rest) room!)

The next morning we slept late and decided on an early lunch at Tandoori Chicken, just a couple of blocks from our hotel.



In fact, we got there too early, before the lunch buffet was set out. We were invited to come on in and sit down in the dining room overlooking Canal Street. We sat drinking water and taking photos of the street cars that passed every few minutes.



Finally the lunch buffet was ready, and we filled our plates with pakoras, dal, bangain aloo, and curried vegetables. You really can't tell much from this photo, except what an absolute glutton I was:


Everything was delicious, and we completely stuffed ourselves. Afterward, we talked with the owner for a few minutes about business in post-Katrina New Orleans. He says it's been slow going (we'd noticed that there were only 3 other customers in the restaurant that Saturday) because many of the businesses that provided them with customers have not re-opened yet. So let me say this for any future New Orleans tourists or Googlers: If you're looking for Indian food in New Orleans, check out Tandoori Chicken, 115 University Pl., in the heart of the business district, right across the street from the Quarter. The lunch buffet is a real bargain!

To work off that huge lunch, we spent the afternoon strolling around the French Quarter, popping into shops like this bookstore, where we spent a long time browsing the crowded shelves:



We bought so many books that we had to take them back to the hotel before we could continue on with our sightseeing. Next, we stopped in at Cafe Du Monde for an afternoon pick-me-up of Cafe au (soy) Lait:



No, you can't get soymilk at the Cafe du Monde, and I probably committed some kind of sacrilege by bringing in my own Silk milk. But maybe if enough of us vegans start bringing our soymilk and posting photos on the interweb, they will get the message and one day there'll be soymilk at the Cafe du Monde. (Yeah, right. And world peace, an end to the death penalty and no more global warming. But I can dream.)

After we got all caffeinated, we listened to some music by the river...

...and strolled around Jackson Square past the cathedral.

In my next post, I'll continue with the very good dinner we had that night and the surprise trip we took the next day. Until then, keep away from those dumpsters!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Seitan Baked in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce

Yippee! Today is finally the last day of school! You'd think I was still in school (or teaching freshman comp) the way I get so excited. (Though to be honest, when I was teaching I was much, much happier to be finished; there are some of us who were born not to teach!)

Anyway, E. is finished with 4th grade today at noon, and the two weeks leading up to this day have been hell...for the parents! I swear, I have spent more time at the school during these last two weeks than I have at home. There have been awards ceremonies, lunch with the grandparents, performances, and recitals (she's in an arts magnet school). And then outside of school there have been more recitals and the eye doctor, dentist and orthodontist check-ups which all seem to need to be scheduled right at the end of the school year. Right now, I'm looking forward to a little break. (And I'm taking one, but more about that in my next post.)

This all has absolutely nothing to do with today's recipe; I'm just bubbling over with so much excitement that I can't help sharing. No, today's recipe stems from another kind of excitement--my newfound passion for baked seitan.

I've been a little obsessed with baking gluten (which is what it technically should be called, since seitan is by definition simmered in broth) ever since the Veggeroni. My success with that recipe led me to try making Ribz on the grill, and my whole family loved them so much that I knew I'd have to start working on variations of the recipe. So a couple of nights ago, with no grill at hand, I decided to rework the Ribz recipe with a sweet and sour pineapple-based sauce. I had the gluten in the oven and was ready to make the sauce when I discovered that I was all out of pineapple chunks. So I racked my brain for about 5 seconds and came up with orange juice as a substitute.

The seitan came out delicious, though I have to say that I like it better on the grill. (You have to be careful not to over-cook it because it can dry out along the edges.) Otherwise it and the sauce were a big hit. And once again, I should have doubled the recipe, but didn't. The three of us devoured it in record time!



Seitan Baked in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce
(click for printer-friendly version)

This isn't as complicated as it appears at first glance. Get your gluten in the oven and then make your sauce and, if you want, your vegetables. By the time the seitan is done, the vegetables should be ready too.

If you make this recipe, please drop me a comment telling me how long you baked it; I'm still looking for the optimum cooking time, though individual ovens will vary.

For the seitan:

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger paste or minced ginger
1/2 recipe Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce, below

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with canola oil. Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly for a couple of minutes.

Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces.

Put it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. While it's baking, prepare the sauce, below. After 20 minutes, pour half of the sauce over the top of the seitan, spreading it to cover completely, and return the seitan to the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cut apart to serve.

Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger paste or minced ginger
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons brown sugar or demerara sugar
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2-1 teaspoon chili sauce (more to taste)
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/3 cup vegetable broth or water

Spray the bottom of a non-stick sauce pan lightly with canola oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 2 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except the cornstarch and broth and heat until boiling.

Mix the cornstarch with the vegetable broth until smooth and stir it into the sauce. Cook, stirring, until mixture thickens. Keep warm on lowest heat until needed.

For the vegetables:

You can use the remaining sauce for dipping, or you can do as I did and use it to season some "steam-fried" veggies. Use your choice of veggies or try my "what-I-needed-to-use-up" combo:

1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 recipe of Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce
vegetable broth

Heat a large, covered wok or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and sauté until translucent and beginning to brown. Add the garlic and ginger paste and sauté for one more minute.

Add the cauliflower and about 1/4 cup of water. Cover immediately and steam for 4 minutes. Add the bell pepper and a little more water if necessary; cover and cook for about 2 more minutes, until cauliflower is tender but still crisp.

Add the sauce to the vegetables and use a little vegetable broth to deglaze the pan and get all of the sauce out. Stir and cook until warm throughout, about 5 minutes. Serve over noodles or grain with seitan strips.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw

I had a problem coming up with a name for this salad. Though technically accurate, "Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw" sounds a little bizarre. Plus, since the grapefruit and the spicy wasabi paste are both optional ingredients, you could make this and come up with a coleslaw that is neither spicy nor grapefruity, but personally I think you'd be missing out on a unique but wonderful taste.

I really love coleslaw, and I'm not a stickler for one type of dressing or another. When I'm in a creamy dressing kind of mood, I'll make coleslaw with Bryanna's poppyseed dressing or my mayo-based herb dressing; when I want something lighter, I turn to Asian-inspired vinaigrettes like Sesame-Orange Coleslaw or the coconut-ginger dressing I've used on broccoli slaw. This coleslaw falls into the latter category, but it's a much simpler version, suitable for tossing together at the last minute for a light lunch.



Spicy Grapefruit Coleslaw

I note that the grapefruit is optional because my husband prefers his without it (he's not a grapefruit fan). You could also substitute orange or tangerine sections for grapefruit--or use any other fruit that sounds appetizing (I was very close to adding raspberries!) Omit the wasabi if you don't like the hint of spiciness it gives or just use a little less (or more for you hot-lovers).

4 cups bagged, pre-cut coleslaw or a combination of shredded cabbage and carrots
1 red grapefruit, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
2 tablespoons walnuts, optional
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ume plum vinegar (or try seasoned rice vinegar and salt to taste)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1/2 teaspoon prepared wasabi paste (or to taste)

Put the coleslaw and grapefruit into a mixing bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients in a cup and pour over the coleslaw. Mix well. For best taste, allow to marinate for 15 minutes before serving.

I have to admit to eating the entire recipe all by myself! But if you count this as 4 servings, each one, without walnuts, contains 64 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (18% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 21mg Sodium; 3g Fiber. With walnuts, it comes out to 87 Calories (kcal); 4g Total Fat; (33% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 21mg Sodium; 3g Fiber.

Special Update:

There is a completely outrageous attack on veganism in today's New York Times, and though I hate to post a link to it, I think it's important that vegans see it and let the NYT know how completely devoid of fact that it is. The editorial, by anti-vegetarian propagandist Nina Planck, is here.

Eric Marcus is organizing a letter write-in, and you can listen to his podcast today for details:

http://www.vegan.com/diner/2007/diner-2007-05-21.mp3

As a woman who was vegan before, during, and after her pregnancy and who raised an extremely healthy daughter on a vegan diet, I am appalled at the misinformation in this editorial. That it is presented in such a respected newspaper is going to lend credence to a lot of its ridiculous statements. Even if you don't write a letter, it's important to know what it says in order to be ready when people challenge your veganism. For the (real) facts about children and veganism, check out Jack Norris' Pregnancy, Infants, and Children and the ADA's position paper on vegetarian diets.

Some excellent responses:

When I get angry, I tend to sputter and swear a lot, so I left it to others to take on the editorial in a more articulate fashion. Here are a few of the many great responses I've read to date.

Isa jumped in right away on her blog. And people began posting photos of their healthy vegan kids, too!

I knew we wouldn't have to wait long for Dr. John McDougall's Reply.

I have to admit that I mostly stopped reading Tigers and Strawberries after Barbara lauded Nina Planck's book last year, but she has turned me back into a regular reader with this articulate rebuttal of the NY Times editorial.

A very well thought-out Response to "Death by Veganism" by Emilie of The Conscious Kitchen

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Strawberry Shortcake

When my parents visited this past weekend, they came bearing a box full of the last Louisiana strawberries of the season. (My parents never visit anyone without bringing a sample of whatever fruit is in season. This makes them very welcome in my house.) I'm a little prejudiced about strawberries, but I think that late season Louisiana berries are the best in the world. My home town was actually known as the "Strawberry Capital of the World" until a neighboring town got the idea to host a yearly strawberry festival in the early 1970's and appropriated the title for itself. But anyone who knows strawberries knows that Hammond, La., is really the strawberry capital, not that other town which I will not deign to mention.

See? Just a little prejudiced! But our local strawberries truly are deep, dark, juicy, and sweet, and the berries my parents brought with them were no exception.

My parents, being the dessert fanatics that they are, figured that my mother could slice the strawberries up, I could make a vegan cake, and we could all enjoy some delicious strawberry shortcake. I don't believe in biscuit-like shortcake; I grew up eating regular vanilla cake with strawberries, so that's what I made--or at least I tried. My cake came out much tougher and chewier than I'd like, and it really wouldn't have been a success at all except that the juice of the strawberries tenderized it. I probably just tried to healthify this dessert a little too much. (I used half white whole wheat flour and made it fat-free on top of being vegan.) I'm not going to post the cake recipe until I've done some heavy revising to make it meet my standards, but you can make this using your favorite vanilla cake recipe. In fact, feel free to leave links and recipes in the comments.



Strawberry Shortcake

2-3 pints strawberries
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla cake
1-2 pints vanilla soy or rice "ice cream"

At least an hour before serving, hull and slice the strawberries and mix them with sugar (use more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries). Let them sit at room temperature for about an hour or in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until strawberries are softened and juicy (macerated).

Once the strawberries are ready and the cake is made, place a slice of cake on a serving plate, spoon some strawberries and juice over it, and top with a scoop of ice cream. Or, for big appetites, build a "tower o'shortcake" using two slices of cake and extra strawberries and ice cream. Be careful not to let it topple over on you!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Palak Tofu (Tofu in Curried Spinach Sauce)

Let me take a moment to wish a belated happy Mothers' Day to all you moms and kids. I was very lucky this year to be able to spend the day with my own mother, which happens very rarely even though we live only a few hours apart. The older I get, the more grateful I am to have been raised by this generous, good-hearted woman who never met a person--or a vegetable--she didn't like.

Which is a not-so-smooth way to segue into a recipe that contains one of my favorite vegetables. Years ago, I discovered Palak Paneer at the Indian restaurant in Columbia, S.C., and it quickly became one of my favorite dishes. Well, it was a very short-lived favorite because I became vegan just after I'd discovered it and almost wished I had never even tasted it. Over the years, I've tried to make a tofu version that's just as good as what I remember, but all my attempts seem to fall flat. Without the ghee (clarified butter) and other dairy products (including the homemade paneer cheese), my spinach dish just never quite lives up to the palak paneer of my memories.

I'd love to say that this is the version that finally succeeds in surpassing the dairy version, but I'd be lying. Though it's very good in its own right, delicious and richly spiced, this rendition still lacks the creaminess that probably can be accomplished only through the generous use of margarine. So I'll keep working on the formula, but I think that this healthier recipe is a tasty replacement in the meantime.



Palak Tofu (Tofu in Curried Spinach Sauce)

1 package firm tofu (about 1 pound)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 tsp. chopped ginger)
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (or garam masala)
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
5 ounces fresh baby spinach (1 pre-washed bag)
3 tablespoons soy yogurt
generous pinch ground fenugreek (optional)
salt to taste

Cut the tofu into cubes about 1/2-1 inch in size. Spray or brush a non-stick skillet lightly with oil and heat it on medium-high. Add the tofu in a single layer, and cook it, turning often, until it is lightly golden on all sides. Remove it from the skillet and set aside.

Add the onions to the skillet and cook until golden. Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another minute. Add the tomato, curry powder, coriander, cumin, and turmeric and cook until tomatoes begin to break down.

Add the spinach, stir well, and cover. Cook until the spinach is completely wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and blend until almost smooth. Pour it back into the skillet, add the yogurt and fenugreek and salt to taste. Add the tofu to the skillet, and cook on low for about 15 minutes. Serve over rice or with Indian flatbread.

Since D. and I ate the whole recipe, I'm saying that this makes 2 servings, though if you are not piggy like we are and include side dishes, this may serve 4. Based on 2 servings, this provides: 274 Calories (kcal); 12g Total Fat; (36% calories from fat); 23g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 81mg Sodium; 8g Fiber.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

300th Post and a Confession

A Louisiana Iris in Mississippi

Two-hundred and ninety-nine posts ago I started this blog on a whim. Today, it has come to be a valuable part of my life, and I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who, through your comments and emails, make blogging so much fun!

I'm sorry that new posts have been so scarce lately, but I'm hoping that that's about to change. I've been busy cooking someone else's food and taking photos for that writer's next cookbook. I'm not a superstitious person, but I'm unwilling to risk jinxing what has been the best opportunity ever by giving you any more details. I'll let you know more as soon as I'm comfortable. Meanwhile, if there are any vegan cookbook writers who need a photographer for their books, I'm available!

And I think it's time I confessed to a hidden agenda. For months I've been planning on publishing my own cookbook, but something always manages to get in the way. So I'm hoping that putting it in writing here will make me buckle down and get to work. I've never written a book before and I have no idea of the time required to write it, design it, take the photos, and edit it, but I would like to have it printed and ready for purchase by Christmas. You can help me out by letting me know which of the recipes in the archives you think should be included and what kinds of recipes you'd like to see more of. I'll keep adding new recipes to the blog, but every now and then expect a "teaser" photo of a dish from the book. (I promise not to do that too often, though!) Maybe with your help (i.e. pressure) I can get the book finished on time.

Coming in the 301^st post, this mystery dish:

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Southern-Style Banana Pudding

A few weeks ago, E. and I had lunch together at a local restaurant that serves "Southern Style" food. At the end of the meal, E. spied the dessert cart, which contained, among other tempting dishes, banana pudding. E. had never seen banana pudding layered between vanilla wafers before, but I told her that my mother had made it a lot when I was growing up. She looked at me as though I must be the worst mom on earth and said, "Why haven't you ever made it for me?"

Poor deprived E! Her mother is so busy trying to cook healthy foods that she forgets to make the traditional childhood desserts. In my own defense, I had pretty much forgotten about banana pudding until E. pointed it out. But once she'd seen it, I had to promise her that we'd make a vegan version of it soon.



So at the grocery store yesterday, when I found a huge bag of overripe bananas for a dollar, I knew just what I wanted to do with some of them. The only trouble was finding vegan vanilla wafers; I looked through all six of the different brands in the store, and every one of them contained either eggs or milk or both. I finally settled on using something a little less traditional, but apparently vegan: Earth's Best Organic "Letter of the Day" Cookies:



When E. got home from school, we got to work making this delicious dessert together. Of course, I just had to try to make it a little more healthy: I reduced the sugar and used a little pure stevia powder, an herbal sweetener with no calories. To make up for the bulk of the sugar, I had E. mash half a banana and add it to the pudding. If you'd like to make this using the full amount of sugar, I've included instructions at the end.



Southern-Style Banana Pudding
(click for printer-friendly version)

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder
3 cups soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/2 banana, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon rum extract (optional)

about 5 ounces vanilla cookies
2-3 bananas

Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and stevia in a medium saucepan. Stir in the soymilk and begin heating on medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Add in the mashed banana and cook, stirring, for one more minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and rum extracts.

Line the bottom of a 1 1/2-quart baking dish with vanilla cookies. Slice one of the bananas to cover the cookies. Pour about half of the pudding over the bananas. Repeat the layers of cookies, bananas, and pudding, reserving some of the cookies and placing them around the edge of the dish. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Serve and enjoy!



To make the full-sugar version, make the following changes: Use 3/4 cup of sugar and do not add a mashed banana to the pudding.

You may also use artificial sweeteners; just add the amount that equals 1/4 cup of sugar and proceed with the regular directions.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving, using Earth's Best cookies, fat-free soymilk, and reduced sugar, contains 290 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (15% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 61g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 132mg Sodium; 1g Fiber.

If you'd like to lighten this up even more, you can leave out the cookies or reduce them to a single layer. Each serving, without cookies and with reduced sugar and fat-free soymilk, contains 184 Calories (kcal); trace Total Fat; (1% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 44mg Sodium; 1g Fiber.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Eggplant Pancakes Florentine

Mothers and fathers, you know how it is. You rarely get that time alone together that all couples crave. Most every night, your children are right there with you, so you have to behave yourself. You can't break loose and do anything that might offend their delicate sensibilities or expose them to something that they'd rather not see. You might send yearning glances at your partner across the dinner table, but you know that that's all you can do. But when the children get out of the house, that's when it's time to go wild, to rip free of the restraints, to...cook something your children won't eat!

Wednesday night is when my husband and I go a little crazy. E. often attends church with our neighbors, so D. and I take that opportunity to indulge in foods that we know she just won't eat. Often it's Indian food or spicy food or, in the case of Pav Bhaji, both. Last Wednesday, I seized the opportunity to make something that D. and I love but E. won't even try: eggplant pancakes. In a way, I can't blame her. After all, they're made of eggplant, a vegetable she has trouble with under the best of circumstances, but to add insult to injury, the eggplant is pureed and made up to resemble an ugly, gray version of one of her favorite foods, pancakes. It's no good telling her that these are savory pancakes, not meant to be eaten with syrup like her favorite breakfast. She just won't touch them. Which is fine, really—more for us!

In this recipe, plain old eggplant pancakes get the fancy treatment: I layered them with spinach and topped them with a simple fresh tomato sauce. Be aware that this makes only three servings—and they're not huge servings, at that. Consider adding a salad and a grain or bean dish to your menu to complete the meal.



Eggplant Pancakes Florentine

Pancakes:

1 medium-large eggplant
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup chickpea flour (or other flour)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground flax
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
generous grating black pepper
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 375 F. Trim off the end and cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. Place the two halves cut-side down on a baking sheet. Bake until completely soft, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool until easy to handle.

Scoop the pulp from the eggplant halves into a food processor. Add all remaining ingredients and puree until fairly smooth.

Spray a non-stick skillet with olive oil and heat to medium-high. When it's hot, spoon in the eggplant batter using about 3 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until the bottoms are browned and pancakes appear firm. (There's really no way to tell this but to try to turn one over; if it crumples, it's not ready.) Turn over carefully and brown the other side, pressing lightly with a spatula from time to time. Place on a platter and keep warm.

Tomato Sauce:

3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust spiciness to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Spray a non-stick saucepan lightly with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté just until barely golden. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and cook until tomatoes soften. Keep warm.

Spinach Filling:

1/8 cup pine nuts
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons water or vegetable broth

Over medium heat, toast the pine nuts in a skillet until they start to become golden. Add the garlic and sauté for one more minute. Add the spinach, basil, and water, cover the pan, and cook just until spinach wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.

To assemble, place a pancake on a plate. Put 1/3 of the spinach on top of it and top with another pancake. Spoon 1/3 of the tomato sauce over the top and serve.

Makes 3 servings. Each serving (with pine nuts) contains: 172 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (25% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 848mg Sodium; 9g Fiber.

Without pine nuts: 140 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (14% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 848mg Sodium; 8g Fiber.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free

Barbecued Seitan Ribz

Sunday was such a beautiful day that I had to get outside, away from the kitchen and the computer, and just enjoy the sunshine and flowers. I spent all of last week closeted in my office trying to copy files and programs to a new computer and set up a new home network. By Sunday I had had enough. I wanted to spend as much of the day outside as I could.

For a few weeks I've been planning on cooking this barbecued seitan, but the timing and weather were never quite right. Though it's started in the kitchen, it's finished up on the grill, giving it the smoky taste that only grilling can impart. I've found that cooking outside is much less stressful if most of the foods are pre-cooked at least a little in the kitchen; long grilling times, different foods finishing at different times, and potential burning all can be avoided with a little strategic pre-cooking in the microwave or oven.

Update: Thanks to Julie Hasson for featuring this recipe on Everyday Dish. Be sure to check out her video!



Barbecued Seitan Ribz
(click for printer-friendly version)

Like Veggeroni, this seitan is baked dry rather than boiled. The results are a little spongier than Veggeroni, less dense, but I think the texture is perfect for absorbing the flavor of the barbecue sauce. You'll be amazed at how easy this recipe comes together using your favorite bottled sauce.

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon soy sauce
about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with canola oil. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the nut butter, Liquid Smoke, and soy sauce and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly in the bowl for a couple of minutes.

Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces:



Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. While it's cooking prepare your grill.

Remove it from the oven and carefully re-cut each strip, going over each cut to make sure that the ribz will pull apart easily later. Generously brush the top with barbecue sauce. Take it to the grill and invert the whole baking dish onto the grill (or use a large spatula to lift the seitan out, placing it sauce-side down on the grill). Brush the top of the seitan with more sauce:



Watch it closely to make sure that it doesn't burn. When it's sufficiently brown on one side, turn over and cook the other side, adding more sauce, if necessary. When done, remove to a platter and cut or pull apart the individual ribs to serve.

Serves 4

Nutrition Facts
1/4 of a recipe without barbecue sauce


Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Note: Nutritional info is calculated without barbecue sauce so that you can add the figures for the brand of barbecue sauce you use.



We ate this outside with steamed broccoli and grilled/baked potatoes. The potatoes were pre-cooked in the microwave until almost done and then cooked on the back of the grill while the seitan was cooking. The whole meal was a complete success. The potatoes had that delicious grilled taste without the long cooking time baked potatoes usually require. And the seitan was succulent and tasty. In fact, the three of us probably could have eaten another entire pan of this stuff, so in the future I will double the recipe and hope for leftovers. E. says to tell you that this is "way, way kid-friendly."

Note: The cooking method is based on this recipe, which uses the oven rather than the grill. If you don't have a grill, you might try following the directions in that recipe.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free