Farmer's Market

Posted on July 26, 2008 by jodie

Today is just one of those beautiful summer days.  It’s warm but not humid, I have the windows open instead of the AC on, it’s sunny, and a great day for a walk.  Therefore, I stopped at the Farmer’s Market this morning.  I hadn’t been in a few weeks, as I haven’t had much time to cook.  I was shocked by how much more they had this week than a month ago!  For weeks it was just lettuce and bread, with an occasional few early spring fruits and vegetables, but this was another story!

Here’s a shot of the market itself:  

farmer's market

And here’s one of what I bought:

farmer's market haul

Kale, carrots, green beans, cucumber, beets, scallions and mesculin mix.  I have to tell you, there is NOTHING like fresh picked carrots.  The orange things I use for cooking and put on my salads all winter are a pale imitation of the goodness of fresh picked carrots.

I also see Kale Soup in my very near future, possibly even tomorrow.  Or tonight.  We’ll see!
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I’m a Believer!

Posted on July 25, 2008 by jodie

It is my birthday today.   It is also the day that The X-Files: I Want to Believe, is released.  I saw it at a midnight showing, and it was wonderful.  You should go see it immediately, because I need to see more Mulder, and it ain’t gonna happen unless this movie makes money!  I am also certain that the release date was specifically meant to coincide with my birthday, because I am a huge fan.  I have a shrine and everything.  I am a believer.

But you didn’t come here to read a movie review, I’m sure.  You might not have even wanted to know that much about me.  🙂  So I will tell you what else I now believe:  vegan mac & cheese can be made without fake cheese and without nutritional yeast.
Yes, it’s true.  I have just made the mac & cheese recipe from the January/February 2008 issue of VegNews, a recipe they conveniently have up in .pdf on their website.  The taste reminds me of a recipe I used to make that I found in Food & Wine magazine several years ago, for a mac & cheese made with goat cheese.  It has that same tang.  Forget that the “cheese” is made with potatoes and carrots and cashews.  You will love it.  
I added parsley, lemon zest, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to the topping to tie in with some of the other ingredients.  It was a good move!
vegan mac & cheese
Instead of cake this year, I picked up some vegan chocolates from Divine Treasures, which is located here in Connecticut.  I actually picked them up at Whole Foods, though I think they’re only available at ones in CT.  You can order online.
I’m not a huge fan of really rich, deep chocolate, the byproduct of being raised thinking that Hershey’s Kisses were good.  These are definitely meant to be savored, and should be eaten by someone who truly enjoys good chocolate.  A definite indulgence!   

chocolate

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Food on a Stick

Posted on July 21, 2008 by jodie

I gave my new grill pan a spin today.  Aside from nearly setting off the smoke detectors, it worked out beautifully!  

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The seitan is from the Veganomicon recipe, with a couple of minor modifications, as I ran out of soy sauce.  Other than that, there’s not much “recipe” here- it’s just cut up veggies, seitan and potatoes.  I did make a marinade that everything went in as well- I didn’t really pay attention to how I did that, but it was oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt pepper, garlic, parsley and some grill seasoning.  Other than that, the big thing to note is that you probably want to par-boil the potatoes, or they’ll take forever.  Coat them with some leftover marinade (and add a little oil if necessary), and then you can throw them right on!  I had some pieces of purple onion in with the potatoes, which is what burned and caused a whole lot of smoke.  But it was okay, because they rocked.  
This was most awesome.  And you’ll note, I even grilled some cherry tomatoes.  I even ate them.  Well, some of them.  Not my favorite, but I’m working on it!

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Ahimsa

Posted on July 20, 2008 by jodie

To celebrate the last day of school for this year, I took myself out to lunch at Ahimsa, New Haven’s all-vegan restaurant.  I’ve been there a number of times, but I’ve never taken pictures. While it’s a wonderful place and I love it, it’s not ideal for taking pictures, with low-lighting.  Maybe next time I’ll sit next to a window.  🙂

At lunchtime, they offer a buffet for only $10.  It’s great food, and it’s so nice to be able to go to a buffet and be able to eat anything there!
For starters, a salad:

Ahimsa

Then the main course:

Mung lentils with brown rice, couscous salad, pasta with marinara, and flatbread.

Ahimsa

And because I could, butternut squash soup:

Ahimsa

And for dessert, rice pudding:

Ahimsa

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In which I learn it is difficult to photograph a quickly melting desert at sunset.

Posted on July 13, 2008 by jodie

In an effort to do something with all the fruit I have hanging around besides eating it plain, I made the lemon-yogurt pound cake from Veganomicon.  

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I served a slice grilled on my new grill pan, along with some grilled pineapple, coated in sugar and cinnamon, and topped with some Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean Frozen Dessert.

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I think maybe when real food photographers take a picture of such a dessert, they wait until the grilled things are cold and perhaps don’t wait until after dinner, if they’re trying to take advantage of natural light . . .
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It’s Only Natural . . .

Posted on July 10, 2008 by jodie

. . . Restaurant, that is.  This lovely Veg restaurant in Middletown, CT is most awesome.  Middletown is probably best known as the home to Wesleyan University (which is the alma mater of my musical hero, Dar Williams).  The college atmosphere in the town lends itself very nicely to the It’s Only Natural Restaurant.  It’s a sit down/table service restaurant with a beer and wine menu (I wasn’t drinking this afternoon, so I didn’t get around to asking if all of their beer and wine is vegan, so I can’t vouch for that).  All of their food is vegan except for the cheese (including the soy cheese- it’s one with caesin), though very few of the items on their menu included cheese.  All the desserts are vegan.

It’s very cute inside the restaurant.  The atmosphere is very soothing (Bebel Gilberto music was playing overhead).  There’s an outdoor patio, but my fair skin had already exceeded its limit for sun exposure for the day, so I sat inside, lest I leave very burned.

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I skipped over the appetizers (though they all looked really good), and ordered a Cajun Tempeh Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries.

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Excellent.  I’m not generally a huge fan of sweet potato fries- I often find them to be rather dry- but these were great.  They were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.  Plus they had bits of parsley on them, which is always a plus in my book.
Note:  I could not finish this.  
As I said before, all the desserts are vegan.  That made choosing a dessert difficult!

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I chose the chocolate hazelnut cake à la mode.  The ice cream was vanilla Rice Dream, which I’m not crazy about, but I have to have some sort of ice cream with a cake like this!  I have not had a dessert like this since I was vegetarian, so it was most welcome.  And delicious!
Note:  I could not finish this, either.
Prices were maybe a little high for students, but I suppose in the grand scheme of things these days, it’s not so bad.  I actually thought dessert prices were pretty reasonable.  You also get  a lot of food (though I’d prefer to get less food and be charged less, but hey, what do I know?).
I will definitely go back the next time my travels take me up that way!
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Fettucini Alfredo

Posted on July 8, 2008 by jodie

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After several tries, I think I got it right this time.  This is meant to be modeled after a Weight Watchers or Lean Cuisine type meal- so it won’t taste any more like real Fettucini Alfredo than they do.   It is however, creamy and tasty all on its own.  I haven’t bothered to do a calorie count, but calorie-wise it’s better than making it with a roux!

Fettucini Alfredo

12 oz Whole Wheat Fettucini Pasta
1 lb Low-Fat silken tofu (water-packed)
1 tsp white miso
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs Better than Cream Cheese (only 60 calories- who knew?)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
5 drops stevia
pepper to taste
6 oz frozen broccoli

Bring water for pasta to a boil.  Cook pasta according to package directions; add broccoli during last 4 minutes of cooking time.  Drain.
While bringing the water to a boil, add the other ingredients to a blender, blend throughly.  Remove to a sauce pan, heat.  At this point, you could add some shredded Teese or Follow Your Heart and melt, but it’s not necessary.

Combine pasta, broccoli and sauce in a bowl, throughly coat pasta with sauce.  2-4 servings, depending on how hungry you are.

Note:  I don’t know how entirely necessary it is to use two different vinegars.  It’s just what I happened to do.
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This one’s not about food. It’s about teh environment.

Posted on July 7, 2008 by jodie

One of the reasons I feel good about being vegan is because it’s a way to be more environmentally conscious.  It’s certainly not the answer to all the environmental issues we face, and arguments can be made for instances where veganism is not environmentally friendly.  But I find it an important issue, and every now and then I might blog about something environmental that has nothing to do with veganism.  Like now.

Sometime this month before my birthday, I have to go to Massachusetts to renew my driver’s license (alternately, I could get a license in Connecticut instead, but since I have no intention of staying in CT once I’m done with school, I’m not going to.  I am still a tax-paying resident of MA, and changing things is more trouble than it’s worth).  The closest Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to New Haven is in Springfield.  It’s about 67 miles.  It also happens to be .5 miles from the train station.  I live in walking distance of the train station in New Haven, as well.  Clearly, it’s a better environmental choice to walk to the New Haven train station, take the train to Springfield, walk to the RMV and then reverse the trip.  It’s a no-brainer.  I don’t have any errands that I was planning to make the trip more worthwhile, either, so it is definitely the better choice for the environment.
Except, even with the ridiculous cost of gas (CT has the second highest price for gas in the US right now), it’s way more expensive to take the train.  Assuming that I get 30 miles to the gallon, it’s less than $20 to drive.  It’s $34 to take the train.  If I spring for a Student Advantage card, it would still be $29.  Plus in this case, driving is faster.  And more convenient.
I may well take the train anyway.  By the week of my birthday I’ll be done with school, which means I have more time to play around with for work, so I’ll have the time.  And honestly, even as a student, an extra $9-14 this one time isn’t going to “break the bank” (it broke a long time ago, anyway).  But how can we convince other people to take public transportation instead when driving is so much more enticing?  Faster, cheaper, more convenient… plus I can belt out the soundtrack to Wicked while I’m driving.  I don’t think my fellow passengers would take too kindly to that on a train.
It’s a definite issue.
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Tempeh Salad and Stuck in a Rut

Posted on July 7, 2008 by jodie

No pictures today, but I’ll give a quick recipe at the end.  Between finishing up the end of the semester (just two weeks left of this whole very long school year), work, and the heat, I haven’t been doing very much cooking.  You see, in most aspects of my life, food being no exception, I am a creature of habit.  I like something: I eat it.  Or watch it.  Or go there… you get the picture.  The past week or so, I’ve mostly been eating the same types of dishes: baba ganoush from Mamoun’s (which, I’ve never taken a picture of, and probably should), pasta, salads, sandwiches.  The most recent sandwich is the one I’ll give you the recipe for.

It is time for me to really challenge myself to get out of this rut, but for now I leave you with a tempeh salad sandwich filling.

Tempeh Salad

1- 8 oz package Tempeh
2 Tbs Veganaise
diced onion and celery
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tempeh into 1-inch cubes, put in a microwave-safe covered casserole with enough water to cover the bottom of the dish.  No need to cover the tempeh completely with water.  Microwave (covered) for 4 minutes, drain any remaining water.  Mash up the rest of the tempeh with a fork.  Add to a bowl along with the remaining ingredients, mix well, chill and serve on your favorite sandwich starch or over a leafy salad.
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Vegan New Haven

Posted on June 25, 2008 by jodie

In the most recent issue of VegNews, there’s a little text box with a list of some of the worst places to get a vegan meal- and New Haven was among them. Having moved to New Haven from Cape Cod, MA, I thought I died and went to vegan paradise- especially when I made my first trip to my current apartment. I had rented the place site-unseen because I couldn’t take the time off from work to go check out apartments. Low and behold as I’m driving up my street, I spot an all-vegan restaurant! I’ve started a Google Map to show just some of the places to get a vegan meal around here or do some vegan-friendly shopping. Check it out! Better yet, start one of your own in your area and make it public: show the world where to get a good vegan meal!


View Larger Map

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