Dashboard Cookies

Posted on July 23, 2011 by jodie

That sounds gross, right? Like being car sick?

It’s not, I promise!

Have you ever gotten into your car on a really hot day and thought to yourself, “it’s like an oven in here!” It basically is!

This week has been incredibly hot, and yesterday (Friday) it was up to about 100F in my area. The day before, I had seen several tweets from @snarkyvegan, depicting how she made cookies in her car that day. I thought that seemed pretty awesome, so I thought I would try. My results were not quite the same as hers, but that may be a difference in temperature or the recipe- I’m not sure which.

You can use any vegan cookie recipe to bake cookies in your car when it is hotter than 95F outside. Omnivores, if you’re reading this- it HAS to be a vegan cookie recipe. It will not get hot enough in the car to kill bacteria from salmonella, or other delightful little creatures, so do not use eggs. Dairy is not really a good idea, either, due to bacteria concerns.

I used the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I think that the problem I had is that this recipe uses oil, not margarine for the fat. The cookies were a bit oiler than usual. It worked, but you might get better results with a different recipe.

So here’s what I did! Of course, this was a work day, but I didn’t let that stop me!

Thursday night, I laid out all my dry ingredients, for fast mixing in the morning.

Here they are, on my dashboard, just before 9AM. I flattened the dough out with my hands. Make sure to put something under your tray!

I checked on them an hour later. They’re looking oily on top.

And again, at 11AM. I didn’t see much change. I was in a meeting until almost 1PM after this, so I didn’t see them again for a while.

I checked on them around 1PM, and they were starting to get hard, though they looked much like they had 2 hours earlier. At 2PM, I pulled one out! It tasted slightly underdone.

I left the cookies in the car for the rest of the day. At 4:30PM I left, and brought the cookies inside. Once they cooled, they firmed up. Notice how white they are?

Bonus! Dashboard Zucchini!

I had some zucchini on hand, so I thought I’d try making that in the car, too! Here is is, being wrapped in foil, with some seasoning sprinkled on. You might have noticed the package on the dash next to the cookie tray in the above pictures.

It came out very nicely- just about perfectly cooked! I pulled it out of the car just before 1PM.

So what did I learn?

  • The temperature does make a difference. At 9AM, it was still only about 87F outside. By noon, it was 99F. That’s when they actually started to harden.
  • Co-workers will find this experiment very amusing. Mine did anyway- your mileage may vary.
  • I know why the cookies didn’t brown. Do you? Scroll to the bottom of the post to find out!
  • I would consider this more of a science experiment than a way to seriously bake cookies. On the other hand, if I were doing this at home and started later in the day, my results may have been more like Snarky Vegan’s.
  • They develop a really delicate flaky layer on top, like a pastry! This may have been a result of the oily recipe.
  • Anything metal will get really hot. I brought a potholder with me- and I was glad that I did.
  • I would definitely do the zucchini again, but I’d do a lot less. That was way too much to eat at lunch!
  • A lot of water will precipitate out of the zucchini. Make sure you have something underneath both in the car and when you take it out!
  • This would probably be really fun to do with kids. Just make sure you’re using a vegan recipe to reduce bacteria risk!

This was also really fun to share in real time with my Twitter and Facebook followers. It seemed like a lot of my friends were really interested in how this turned out! I work in a fairly laid-back setting, and it was a Friday, so there wasn’t a big issue with me doing this at work. Plus, my office is very close to the parking lot, making it easy to go and check periodically. It being a Friday didn’t hurt, either. I know that many of you may not be so fortunate at your jobs to be able to do this while you’re working, but if you get the opportunity on the weekend, try it out! I think it’s also an awesome way to cook veggies!

Answer: The cookies didn’t brown because the car does not get hot enough to caramelize the sugar. See, you learned something!

Posted in Food | 1 Comment

Barbecued Beans, Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Greens

Posted on July 15, 2011 by jodie
IMG_3475

Barbecued kidney beans, mashed sweet potato, and spinach and arugula sauteed with onions

Sometimes you just have to look in your fridge and cabinets and figure out what you have to make dinner, you know? I’m in the bad habit of not really planning ahead for meals, so I often have to improvise. There’s something to be said about that, but it would be nice if I could think ahead, too. 🙂

I had a quickly wilting bunch of parsley, some nice looking scallions, containers of baby spinach and arugula, a tired looking knob of ginger, and sweet potatoes… but what to have them with? I had a number of cans of beans, and they’re not difficult to use, so they seemed an easy choice. How to have them? Well, I had a bottle of barbecue sauce!

And thus, a recipe was born.

Barbecued Beans, Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Greens

  • 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup vegan barbecue sauce of choice
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • splash of almond or other non-dairy milk
  • 1 tsp grated ginger (or more if you like)
  • Several large handfuls of greens
  • powdered garlic
  • chopped scallions and parsley for garnish
  1. Combine the beans and the sauce in a small pan over low heat. Stir occasionally. You can also add a handful of scallions.
  2. Cook the sweet potato any way you choose- cut up in chunks and boil, or do what I did, and poke a few holes in the still whole and unpeeled potato and nuke about 4-5 minutes. Cut open and scoop out flesh when cool enough to handle.
  3. Mash up the sweet potato with the splash of almond milk and ginger.
  4. Toss the greens in a pan with a little water or broth, and sauté until wilted. Sprinkle with garlic and stir.
  5. Put the greens on the bottom of the plate, mashed sweet potato above that, and half the beans/sauce on top. Garnish with parsley and scallions.

There you have it, quick and easy! Certainly, you can use half a can of beans and 2 tbs of sauce, but those seem like weird directions. If you want to make this for two, just double the sweet potato, ginger and greens! I just ended up eating the extra beans out of a bowl for dinner later in the week. They were tasty!

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Cinnamon Snail

Posted on July 10, 2011 by jodie

I have a new favorite food truck, and its name is The Cinnamon Snail.

IMG_3456

Look at that truck! Is it not cool?

I was really looking forward to going. I had had a doughnut from them once before at Kaya’s Kitchen, and I started reading about them everywhere, like in a recent issue of VegNews. Plus, I knew that it made a weekly stop at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market, in Red Bank, NJ.

It took some convincing, but I got vegan boyfriend to agree to go up to Red Bank last Sunday, over the long weekend. I’m pretty sure that he was glad I convinced him. 🙂 Look at what we had!

IMG_0542

Red Curry Grilled Tofu Bahn Mi- spicy and awesome!

IMG_0545

That’s a Cinnamon Snail!

We got a few other treats to take with us as well. They were mostly awesome- but the cinnamon roll and the doughnuts are my favorites. I think we will definitely be going back another Sunday! And hey, maybe if I have a free Saturday, I’ll go visit them in Hoboken…

Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment

Packing Lunches

Posted on July 4, 2011 by jodie

Where I work, lunch is provided to staff free of charge, but the only thing that’s ever vegan is the salad bar (and fruit). The salad bar can be kind of hit or miss as far as there being anything good. I usually treat it as a backup for when I don’t have the time to make a lunch or haven’t been shopping. I’m glad it’s there, but I prefer to take something I’ve made.

Then again, I know that I’m fortunate to have that option at all!

I talk a lot about eating healthier, and how I want to fix my eating habits. Right now I’m just doing good, old fashioned calorie counting. I started the same week that I packed this lunch.

IMG_0537

Vegan Vidalia Onion Mini-Quiche with Garden Salad, Grapes, Kiwi and Cherries

I was a little horrified to figure out how many calories are in that mini-quiche- in the neighborhood of 700, though it would be perfectly reasonable if I made it without a crust next time. But it looks healthy and appetizing!

If you’re looking to save money or watch your food intake, bringing a lunch with you to work (or school) is essential. I’m not saying it’s not okay to ever go out to lunch- that has its place- but packing your lunch makes a huge difference.

So what do you want to keep in mind when packing?

  • Make it look appetizing! If your lunch looks pretty and draws lots of oohs and ahs from your coworkers, you’ll be more likely to pack it on a regular basis.
  • Keep portion sizes reasonable. While it might not make a big dent in your monetary budget if you’re bringing a lot of food, you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew, so to speak. Although the bento box that I’m using is designed for kids, it holds a lot of food- and can be misleading, depending on what you put inside. I don’t actually eat all of that at lunchtime- much of the fruit I’ll eat later in the afternoon.
  • Try fun and different things! Grab some fruit or a vegetable that you might not otherwise eat and stick it in there. I like kiwis, but it’s not exactly what I reach for when I’m watching TV in the evening. But at lunch, it feels like a special treat!
  • Plan ahead. Unless you’re someone who is up super early, don’t try to do this in the morning. Put as much as you can together the night before, and make it a habit to do so. For this meal, everything can be placed in the box the night before. In one like this, I wouldn’t put in things that would get soggy (like chips) or turn brown (like guacamole) until I’m close to ready to leave in the morning.
  • Make things that you like! There’s no sense in packing something for lunch just because it would look pretty or seem more healthy, if you’re not going to eat it. A lot of people make beautifully decorated bento boxes that look amazing- but are garnished with all kinds of things that I wouldn’t eat, in the name of being cute. Doesn’t seem worth it to me, unless it’s a food that you want to try- or at least try to acquire a taste for. 🙂

Bringing your lunch can be pretty rewarding, and I like the ritual of making my lunch each night before I go to bed. It feels familiar and nice. I may have issues with food, but I eat way better when I pack my lunch than when I don’t- because I’m likely to go to the drug store and pick up Oreos and Diet Coke for lunch with a little salad on the side to make myself feel a little healthier. I know I can do better than that!

Looking for some other lunch ideas?

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Brunch at Kaya’s Kitchen

Posted on June 19, 2011 by jodie

From Memorial Day until around Labor Day, Kaya’s Kitchen in Belmar, NJ serves an awesome vegan brunch! I’ve blogged about Kaya’s before with some pictures of breakfast, but I think it deserves a post all its own!

Last year at the end of the season brunch ended abruptly, so don’t wait until Labor Day-ish- go now! If you’ve been before, there were a few changes to the menu- still serving the same things with a few extras, but now you order the sides as sides, rather than as a combo meal.

New on the menu: Potato Pancakes!

More pancake-y than potato-y, I thought. Vegan boyfriend thought not.

I’m not sure if this was on the menu last year or not:

Hawaiian French Toast

This was definitely there before:

IMG_0534

French toast with strawberries!

There’s just something cool about brunch, and when you can do an all vegan one, it’s even better! Make sure you check it out over the summer, or you might be very sad by fall. 🙂

Oh, and did I mention that they now have donuts from The Cinnamon Snail?

Posted in Restaurants | 4 Comments

Forks Over Knives

Posted on June 2, 2011 by jodie

Are you afraid to see Forks Over Knives?

A recent review of the movie seemed to belie the author’s fear over change. Some people like to stick with what they know, and what a lot of Americans know is a diet full of fast food, junk and animal products. The idea of leaving those things behind- especially if you think that you’re eating relatively healthy can be frightening.

The V-word can scare people, too.

This isn’t a film about veganism. It’s a film about health, which happens to include a vegan, or at least mostly vegan diet.

It’s not a movie about animal rights. There are mentions of factory farming, but in the context of how it is bad for us, not from the perspective of if being terrible for animals. There are lots of scenes with animals in them, but nothing graphic. Most of the animal scenes are more or less animals just being animals.

It’s not a movie about environmentalism. There have been a number of parallels made between this movie and An Inconvenient Truth, but mentions of environmentalism are not at all the focus of this film. Those comparisons have more to do with how the message is delivered and that people may not want to hear it, rather than the actual message.

It’s a film about health. Health through diet.

There’s a scene in the movie that has been talked about in the media lately. In it, the researchers talk about Occupied Norway during World War II, when livestock was confiscated to feed the German troops, and the subsequent changes in Norwegian health both while animal products weren’t available and when they were available again. There were audible gasps in the audience during the showing I attended.

It’s powerful stuff.

The bulk of the information talked about is from the work of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, and Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn. It’s solid research on the benefits of a plant based diet. Even if you’ve read The China Study, this is still worth seeing- and if you haven’t read the book, well, then you should definitely see the film!

It’s no longer playing in NYC, but it’s playing in many other places across the country!

Posted in Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

Could You Eat Real Food for 100 Days?

Posted on May 7, 2011 by jodie

It’s a legitimate question.

I came across this through Civil Eats the other day. This family of two adults and two young children ate only “real food” for 100 days, and there website encourages others to do it for 10 days. They are omnivores, so of course animal products are on the list, though the mom says they don’t eat meat often.

I’m pretty sure that I could do 10 days standing on my head- the hardest part would be going without Diet Coke for 10 days, but I’ve done that many times before. In fact, the 11 days I lasted on Eat to Live would qualify me for the 10 days already. So that I know I can do.

Since then, I’ve had some trouble eating well. Some weeks I do awesome, others are a pretty poor example of a vegan diet. I want to change that, and I’ve been thinking that whole foods are the way to go.

Most of the 100 Days of Real Food rules can be easily applied to a vegan diet, with the obvious exception of the animal products. But there are a few other foods that I wonder about.

  • Tofu
  • Tempeh
  • Seitan
  • Agave
  • Brown Rice Syrup

I don’t mean to go all out on the sweeteners, and clearly agave and brown rice syrup are processed from plants, but on that same token, so are the whole grain flours that are “allowed” on the 100 Days of Real Food. I’m thinking they’re okay.

I’m also thinking that fermented foods, while processed, are processed in a good way. I’m guessing that her family doesn’t eat their meat raw, so some degree of processing must be okay. So I think tempeh should be in.

Tofu is also processed. It’s not in the rules per se, but that appears more to be because she doesn’t like it, not an actual issue with tofu itself. I say leave tofu in!

Seitan. This one is a little tougher. You can make seitan from a whole grain flour, but you’re stripping away part of the whole grain, so it would not count under her rules. On the other hand, you’re left with an awesome protein source, and it’s not full of unpronounceable chemicals, either. With the dairy that is on the list, even from a local dairy farm, neither the milk nor the cheese they eat are exactly the same by the time one eats/drinks it as how it comes out of the cow. I’m going to reserve judgment on seitan.

This of course leaves out things like vegan mayo, fake meats and cheeses, microwavable meals, and store-bought vegan ice creams, cookies and other assorted things. That would be the plus side to this. 🙂 I also just bought an ice cream maker to use with homemade almond milk (sweetened with dates), so that would be an awesome addition.

There are some other hidden things that would be problematic, however.

IMG_3407

Can you tell what’s not real food about this?

That’s actually a homemade eggplant and seitan burger. Now, while the jury is out on the seitan being a real food, it’s otherwise perfectly healthy. Except for the non-whole wheat bread crumbs, but that could be easily remedied.

The roll is advertised as “whole wheat” but has way more than 5 ingredients. I think that too could be easily fixed. I’m no stranger to making my own bread!

It’s covered in Daiya cheese, but that was because I had it. I could definitely do without, and there are plenty of homemade nut cheeses that would work well.

I could leave off the vegan mayo, and use a slice of avocado if I really want something creamy…

But I don’t know how I would do without the ketchup!

I hate raw tomatoes, so that wouldn’t be a good substitute. I could use tomato paste, which might be okay, but I want real ketchup. It just doesn’t feel like a burger without that to me! The ketchup on there happens to be agave -sweetened, so maybe it’ s okay. I think I may have a recipe or two for homemade ketchup in some of the cookbooks I have. Then again, the ketchup I use isn’t so bad, if you don’t count spices individually in the ingredient count.

I’m contemplating seeing if I can really do 100 days of real food. I wouldn’t start for another month or so, as I have a few things I’d like to use up first (plus I may want to do some freezing of meals ahead of time).

What additions or subtractions would you make in terms of “real food?”

Could you eat real food for 100 days?

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Jolo’s Kitchen

Posted on May 1, 2011 by jodie
IMG_0450

Mac & Cheese, “Beef” with Veggies and Greens

I went to Jolo’s Kitchen, and all-vegan restaurant in New Rochelle, back in January with one of my friends. I hadn’t been to New Rochelle yet, so it was a little tricky to find, but that’s only because I don’t know the area. Parking is street only.

The restaurant is very cute! The food is served cafeteria style, with a couple of different types of “beef” (seitan), veggie dishes and sides. The mac & cheese wasn’t out, but they had some out back. I almost always choose a vegan mac & cheese when it’s available at a restaurant!

The food was okay, and the staff was really nice. My friend also ordered a smoothie, and since they made more than what would fit in the cup, they gave me the extra to try (blueberry and banana- yum!). They also had a small selection of desserts.

To the best of my knowledge, this is one of only two all-vegan restaurants in Westchester County, so I’m very glad for its existence. I think I might go back, if I were looking for a place to eat with a friend somewhere in the area, but it probably wouldn’t be my first choice.

I really, really wanted to like this place more than I did. The staff was so nice! The food wasn’t bad, and if I lived in New Rochelle, I might be more likely to go back. In fact, if I lived in New Rochelle, I would definitely go back. JL of JL Goes Vegan gave it a much better review– so it may be worth another look!

Posted in Restaurants | 2 Comments

Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli

Posted on April 29, 2011 by jodie

If you’re reading this on my website, look up at the top of the page. Notice the last picture in the banner? Looks tasty, right? It totally was.

Except I never posted an entry for that picture! It was just over a year ago I took that picture- just when I was trying to finish up school and look for a job. It was a scary and stressful time. So scary, I forgot to blog most of the time!

This was a delicious dish, and quite easy to make. The recipe comes from Michael Chiarello, and guess what? It’s already vegan, provided you leave off the parmesan cheese, or use a vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast).

Let’s talk nutrition in this recipe.

First, I always use whole grain (usually whole wheat) pasta instead of white pasta. It works just fine in this recipe. Whole wheat pasta gives you way more fiber, plus a healthy dose of protein. It is a food that should generally be eaten in moderation though, as it is a processed food.

Olive oil. Olive oil isn’t bad for you per se, but given the amount called for in this recipe it would work out to a little less then a tablespoon of oil per serving. That’s a lot of calories that aren’t doing anything for you, other than enhancing flavor. I say use just enough to brown your garlic and get the vegetables/spices moving in the pan, and use a little extra pasta water to loosen it up and make it into a “sauce.” Try a well-seasoned cast iron skillet and about a teaspoon of oil to make this dish low-fat. Or, use the well-seasoned cast iron skillet and a little vegetable broth instead to make it no added fat, which would be even better!

Red wine. There are some dubious health benefits associated with red wine, but I must say, I don’t think you’re going to get any of them here, as the wine will be cooked, and may lose some of the antioxidants. However, it’s really what makes this dish, and it’s adding much less in terms of calories that the olive oil would add. Don’t worry about alcohol content; it will cook off. Want some antioxidants? How about some grapes for dessert?

For ease, I used frozen broccoli instead of the broccoli rabe. I usually have a package or two hanging out in my freezer. Broccoli is chock full of vitamins and minerals, with little in terms of calories or fats.

Want to up your nutritional content? Serve this with a salad!

red wine spaghetti with salad in background

I love these colors!

bento of leftovers

Served with Gardein Scallopini and a mini-salad.

It makes for a pretty lunch the next day, too. I remember eating that particular lunch between classes! Frozen broccoli, at least, does not hold up well to reheating- but you can always bring some frozen broccoli separately, heat it up, and then add it to the dish.

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Terri NYC

Posted on April 27, 2011 by jodie

I completely forgot to add this when I made my NYC Vegetarian Food Festival post!

Prior to heading over to the Vegetarian Food Festival, I stopped at Terri NYC. I had seen their menu before, and decided it would be important for me to get over there one of these times! Fortunately, it was close to the NYC Food Festival. It also happens to be close to Natural Gourmet Institute, so if you’re going to have a meal before taking a class there, this might be a good place to get it!

Terri serves vegan fast food, mainly sandwiches, wraps and salads. Seating is very limited. On this particular Sunday afternoon (1ish, perhaps?) it was standing room only. In the future, I might order my meal to go, and enjoy it outside. 🙂

I got myself a totally decadent sounding sandwich: The Bacon Cheddar Chicken Ranch, made with soy bacon, vegan chicken, cheddar Daiya, ranch sauce and lettuce. It did not disappoint!

IMG_0483

Bacon Cheddar Chicken Ranch

This is definitely a place to check out! While I chose a decadent sandwich, you can definitely make healthier choices- which is probably what I’ll do next time. And there will most definitely be a next time!

Posted in Restaurants | Leave a comment