Vegan Mofo #6

So! I have not yet talked about what the seitan was for. It was for the Vegetable stew with Beef.

The stew didn't call for exact amounts of vegetable broth or most of the veggies. It didn't have any spices. I ended up frying two onions, a tiny pepper and some carrots before adding a whole lot of cumin and then veggie broth, peas and lima beans.

I boiled a bunch of cubed 'batata' (version of a sweet potato that I've never had before-it was delicious), made some rice and fried up the seitan in long slices. I served the stew over the batata mash and the seitan over the rice. Delicious. Will totally make this again.

Vegan mofo #5 breaking news-west Collins eats raw kale by the handful

Hello from Toronto Canada! This will be a post not at all related to Bolivian food and I'm sorry!

I've had a trip planned to Toronto for the last two months and I knew signing up for vegan mofo would become interesting because of it. I'm at the supernatural convention being held here this weekend and haven't really gotten a chance to go see nice vegan restaurants. I'm also spending time with omni friends so the food I've eaten this weekend has been your standard vegan options at non vegan restaurants. Oatmeal for breakfast, which I really liked actually. It had a much more toothsome texture than my quick cooking oats I eat at work every day. Lunch ended up being a really good veggie burger at a steakhouse. We didn't have dinner so much as junk food and alcohol, so I was pretty good on that front.

In need veg friendly news, a fan questioned misha Collins about his love for kale and misha expounded upon his love for massaged kale salads. He asked the audience if anyone else loved kale and I was so startled by no one else responding that I didn't. (I do adore kale although I have not yet had a massaged kale salad). Also his 2 year old son will eat raw kale while they're in the grocery store which I thought was adorable.

MoFo Fo' Sho' #4

I'm having qualms about my titles picked out of my amusement. So you may see them change at some point.

First tidbit that could be useful to know (since it's in the title of the recipe I'm veganizing for this post):

Internado

a supervised residence for students. The Internado in Sorata provides secondary students (grades 6-12) from outlying villages with a home-like residence to sleep, eat, and study Sunday evening through Friday afternoon while they take classes in the public school.

 (Found Here)

I made Viva Vegan's Red Seitan to put in the "Vegetable Beef Stew from the Internado" This is probably the third time I've actually successfully made seitan. The second time I ever made Seitan it became Braaaiiinss which scared me off. Since I tried the Seitan O' Greatness a couple months back I've gotten a bit more daring. I followed the recipe as closely as possible (I didn't have some of the specific tools/ingredients). When it was all together, it seemed really soft/too full of liquid to be good, but I left it alone as instructed and kept going. I steamed it and they came out of the make shift steamer and they were still way softer than the Seitan o Greatness. I let it cool off and it hardened up a little and then I pan fried it the next day after it had been in the fridge and it was excellent. Exactly what I needed (I might work on the flavorings a little), to my delighted surprise!

(Pictures later when I blog about the meal I used these in)

Vegan Mofo Post #3

Quakers, as you might know from my earlier posts (or maybe not!), come in several different branches-'Conservative,' 'Liberal,' and 'Evangelical.' There are more Evangelical Quakers because, you guessed it, they evangelize. Most of the Quakers in the world are Evangelical Quakers. There are very small pockets of Conservative (Conservative in the traditional/true sense of the word, meaning they haven't changed much from the original form of Quakerism) and some larger pockets of Liberal Quakers (who tend to be liberal in politics. I usually equate them/us somewhat to UUs, but we don't have a sermon of any kind.)

One of the shared tenets is a belief in that of God in everyone (or light. Or whatever. I'm not a devout Christian but nor am I an Atheist. The closest easy definition is Atheist but to really explain my belief system I'd have to have a little longer than I wish to devote here.) and you'll find some kind of recognizance of that in each. Perhaps more so in Conservative and Liberal than evangelical-who have pastors, but do have some silent worship during the regular hour of prayer filled gathering. So. Most Quakers in the world are Evangelical. But there are Quakers who feel lead to visit with other Quakers of all kinds and there was one called a Quaker Study Tour. When Friends gathered together, Friends from the US felt lead to better support our fellow Friends in Bolivia, which was how the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund was started. They say it better, so I'm quoting:

Dona Manoukian (Langley Hill Meeting) and Newton Garver (Buffalo Meeting) arranged for two young Bolivian teachers, Cecilia Paco and Loida Cutipa, to visit the US for seven weeks in June and July of 2001. They spoke to ten different Friends gatherings in the eastern states (interest groups at FCE, FGC, PYM and BYM, as well as informal groups at two Quaker retirement communities, two monthly meetings, and gatherings at AFSC and USFW) about Quaker schools in Bolivia. 

The plan's original focus was on scholarships for post-secondary education of Bolivian Friends, an urgent need because of the large number of qualified but impoverished young Friends in Bolivia.

It was soon apparent, however, that there were also other needs and desires. In response to those needs, four dimensions of the BQEF program were established:

• Scholarships for post-secondary education
• Exchanges between Quaker schools in Bolivia and the US
• Instructional enhancement in English, science and computer literacy
• Infrastructure development in support of needs ranging from books to buildings

Quakers have a strong affinity for education-there are Quaker based schools all over (Some colleges you've definitely heard of: Earlham, Guilford, Haverford, and a whole lot of elementary-high school schools).

As I've said this zine was created in order to raise money for Quakers in Bolivia to better increase their access to education. One of the recipes I've made was the Cucumber Potato Salad. I made it as a side to the Saltenas. While I was super impressed with the Saltenas, I found myself underwhelmed by this recipe. Low on flavor. I like cucumber tomato salads (that's essentially what this is) far better when it's simply cucumbers and tomatoes. Instead, this one called for cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, cilantro, potatoes and olive oil and white wine vinegar as the dressing.

I made a substitute 'feta' (and honestly, you would find way better vegan subs out there by googling. I just made do with what I had) with pressed crumbled firm tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast chopped up everything else and tossed it together. Here it is:

MoFo #2

Back in...I don't even know when. Some time. Not now, my brother got back form Chile and decided to make us all Empanadas like his host family had made him. He even made me some vegan ones. They were delicious. I semi recreated them a couple times.

Fact about BQEF for the Day: Many of the students live far away so they stay in a temporary residence called the Internado. Here's a quote from Bolivian Quaker Education Fund:

The Quaker village of Pallcapampa is committed to educating its boys and girls, but the 90-minute walk to high school, and two hours back, has been a serious obstacle. So an internado (supervised student residence) was established near the public secondary school in Sorata in February 2006, with 13 students staying in a safe and supportive environment during the school week.

In March 2007, the Internado moved to a larger, healthier building, a move made possible by very substantial gifts from Irish Friends.

This zine has a recipe for Saltenas and only when I was three quarters of the way through did I realize that it in fact was pretty much the same thing only better. Potatoes and seitan and green and white onions and spices and sriracha instead of a quarter cup of cayenne powder. I'm still pretty sure that has to be a typo. (I mean, mix a quarter cup of cayenne powder with water and then boil in the margarine? Does that really make it edible? Really? Someone, please enlighten me!)

Add caption

Anyways. The Saltenas (there's a curly thingy over the n that you see in some spanish words?) have a couple components-the filling and the dough.

The original recipe for the dough reads as such:
(excuse the non-vegan ingredients. The awesomer vegan version comes next!)
3 Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Margarine
2 small eggs
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup lukewarm water

Vegan Version:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
4 tsp ground flax seed mixed in luke warm water maybe a 1/3 of a cup? maybe a quarter? something like that.
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1/3 cup luke warm water

Filling, nonvegan
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp each cumin pepper oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cubed white onion
1/2 cup cubed green onion
3/4 lb cooked lean meat-chicken or ground turkey
1 small potato peeled, cooked, cubed
1/4 cup cooked green peas
2 T each sugar & parsley
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp unflavored gelatin dissolved in 3/4 cup water

Filling Vegan(changed ingredients only:
1/4 cup earth balance (or other vegan margarine)
White Seitan from Viva Vegan
OMITTED: Gelatin

ADDED: Tofu soaked in water & black salt then pan fried

Basically it comes down to this: Melt the eb and boil the cayenne in that (I added sriracha after making the rest of the filling) then add the other spices. Add the onions followed by the potatoes, green peas sugar and parsely (I used cilantro). Add the vinegar. Ignore the step about boiling the meat in the gelatin mixed into water. Psh. Pan fry the seitan! (I used store bought because I didn't have time to make the Steamed White Seitan from Viva Vegan) Then add into the rest of the ingredients once they're all...mushy and mixed together. Well sort of mushy. Filling like, y'know?

For the dough: Melt the EB and pour into the flour mix it up and then add the rest of the ingredients. Knead. Let sit for several minutes and then knead a little more before dividing into 12 equal pieces. Roll flat.

PUT TOGETHER: Place a piece of panfried tofu (to replace the suggested hard boiled egg slice) then top with filling. Pinch sides together at the top. Repeat until all dough used up. You'll probably have a little filling left over.

Bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden on the tips and the bottom. Eat. (Devour).

MoFo Fo' Sho' Post #1

Hello fellow Vegan MoFoers! (And anyone else who happens to read this blog!) In case you were (unlikely) unaware, it is, again, time for the Vegan Month of Food (Mofo). Last year I got through about half before failing miserably. This year, I hope to do better! I even have a theme! It's very exciting. I'll get to the food in a few moments but first, let me introduce you to the first part of the background. (I'll probably include a wee tidbit each day to round out posts. Maybe not every day if I'm being truthful)

There is an organization called the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund that helps with education in (obviously) Bolivia for Quakers there (obviously). They are starting to have a presence in the New England Yearly meeting (the regional oversight type group/community for Quakers in New England). In order to raise money for Quakers in this program/education/whatever in Bolivia, they made a zine.

The zine is full of meat and eggs and dairy and all these things I no longer eat! So this month I will be veganizing as much as I can from this zine. I have hopes of posting through out October although I have my doubts of actually fulfilling the 'requirements' of Vegan Mofo (probably won't post 5 times each week, but I'm going to do my best to do so!).

Bolivian Food and Friends, a Bolivian food zine

I've already made a few of the dishes vegan and I have to say... Bolivians are onto something. Even if they're so attached to their meat and dairy. Because despite the lack of clarity...What I've made so far has been gooood. (See tomorrow with the Saltenas) I'll leave you with a teaser picture!

Saltenas

The November project asked yesterday for their members to post pictures that show what they do to stay active on the weekends. My answer is all over the place and not very well demonstrated by pictures (but kind of sort of, as long as I explain). Hence this blogpost! 

So, November Project people, I do lots of things. Today I (as I discovered on my short bike ride) was still recovering from my 50 mile ride on thursday in the afternoon heat and getting started running the Brookline hills again. So I just did my (very short) ride at a pretty chill pace (though I still arrived at Marathon sports disgustingly covered in sweat, thank you very much) and bought new running shoes (woo, first ever that fit really well!)

 And walked from my place over to Porter square for a new (sadly already broken, need to return) fan before joining a friend for dinner. (Chana Masala! Yummmyyyyy!)

Tomorrow I'll probably pack up my computer, bike to meeting (think like church only not quite-it's Quaker) and then bike somewhere else to park my butt in a coffee shop for a couple hours to get some writing done. 

This is a pretty darn chill weekend. Other weekends are super awesome and more what you're interested in. Two saturdays ago, I biked 60 miles total, going from my apartment in somerville to the Boston Common and from there down to Bryant University in North Smithfield RI and from there over to Wildflour Bakery (the closest all vegan bakery-cafe. Veggie Galaxy has all vegan baked goods, but it's a diner, not a bakery cafe) where I got coffee cake. COFFEE CAKE. Such a great reward for the bike ride! I haven't had coffee cake since I went vegan (mostly because I don't usually make it in the first place, don't think about it until it's there as an option and then I just crave it). 

Don't believe me? Here's photographic proof of Bryant: 

And here's that coffee cake I was just bragging about (I took the commuter rail back-pro tip: If you're not ready for 120 miles of riding but you want to go a really far distance, go somewhere the commuter rail runs (during the time you're riding your bike of course, otherwise you're shit out of luck). 

Other weekends, I go for hikes in the white mountains (and I was down in the smokies over memorial day weekend): 

That was the view form the trail! I carried about 25 pounds including food and water and it was pretty freaking awesome. (30 miles in two days)

In june, I did a presidential traverse (19 miles over the entire presidential ridge line) in 13 hours (which is faster than book time-and people warn that fast people should expect book time. I guess that means that two ex-thru hikers should pretty much expect to always beat the pants off almost everyone else...)

Beet-pink Tropical cookies. With Rice Crisp cereal. Otherwise known as the PPK Vegan Chopped dessert challenge.

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a brilliant lady. Which she already knows. Anyways, she and a few others set up this Vegan!Chopped series and this round is the dessert. (I didn't participate in the entree round-I wasn't sure what to do and I was also away most of the weekend)

But dessert? Dessert is totally my thing. I mean.. I made up brownies but screwed up and it somehow became a delicious cake. Still not sure how I managed that. But I can do dessert. At least on the baked good side. Ask me about pudding or parfaits or I dunno, something else like that, you're going to get a blank look. I can do cake. I can do cookies, I can do brownies.

Especially cookies.

So! On to the ingredients! The four needed ingredients are:

Beets
Crisped Rice cereal
Fresh mango
and unsweetened flaked coconut.

I made, well, I don't have a name for them, but I suppose you could come up with one. Let it not be Beet-Coconut-Mango-Rice Cookies. That'd be booring.

But really kind of what I did. I got a 'banana mango' according to the little sticker on it from Market basket and it was actually ripe. Which I was really glad about because I didn't really have time tomorrow to do this. I peeled it with my potato peeler cut all the ripe bits up and tossed them in the blender. I blenderized for a minute or two until was basically mango puree. Smooth, delicious sweet mango puree. I mean. Uh.. I totally didn't sneak tastes of it. Not at all!  

I had two rather old tiny soft beets in the fridge. I think they were ok. I'll let you know if I get sick or something. Anyways, I used the finest grater I had and grated them up until I had about two tablespoons full of shredded beet, tossed them in a bowl, added about a quarter cup of melted earth balance, a quarter cup of applesauce and a quarter cup of unsweetened almond milk, stirred it all up until it looked like this:

I added brown sugar, cane sugar and a little over a cup of crispy rice cereal, stirred it up (If I were doing it differently, I might add the crispy rice cereal at the end instead) and then added the dry ingredients-king arthur white flour (approximately 2.5 cups), baking powder (probably could have added another half teaspoon) and salt, as well as about 2 tablespoons of crunched up coconut flakes (unsweetened of course). When the mix was the right ish consistency for cookies, I rolled/dropped them onto my cookie sheet. They looked like this: 

While they baked, I made the frosting with about 2 tablespoons melted earth balance, a whole lot of confectioner's sugar and another quarter cup of the mango puree. Nom. I made it rather thick and then let it sit while the cookies finished baking and cooling. Then I moved over to the table so that I could frost the cookies with the mango frosting and dust them with the unsweetened coconut. 

I frosted and then pressed the frosted cookie into the coconut and out they came. Beautiful. Here's some food porn shots of them:

I have had two so far and I find that they are quite delicious. I think they're a little on the tough side, though I'm not quite positive about how to fix that. I might leave a little of the flour out and a little less crispy rice (as well as add it at the end rather than the middle). I was a little worried before they baked that they'd be *too* sweet, but the cookie itself was sweet, but not overly so and the frosting and coconut really complimented the flavors. I don't the beet flavor really shone through and it'd be neat to more prominently favor that flavor, though, again, I'm not quite sure how. The crispy rice definitely made the cookie a little bit more interesting (good interesting, as in multiple) texture wise, although I think it would've gone better if I'd added them at the end so they didn't sog up and break down as much. The things we learn on the first time 'round. Anyways! I hope you enjoyed my photo tour of my attempt at combining these ingredients!

Beans + Blondies=delicious

Oh. Hello! I have all these things I've wanted to talk about here, but.. well.. I've been lazy. And forgotten. But! That's all changed. At least, for today. Because today (and yesterday, really) is different! I have had inspiration. There has been inspiration in the form of Navy Beans: 

See those pretty little beans? They're delicious in lots of things. (And by lots of things, I mean Isa & Terry's Leek & Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon. *ahem*) And they're good for you. And shit. 

We all know (assumption! Maybe we don't?) that black beans go into brownies and make them healthy. So, what about white beans? Can they go in Blondies? A google search informed they could & did. I may or may not have spent some time at work investigating the various recipes posted. I ended up making my own version. Using bits and pieces of those recipes and some of my own ideas. 

I am so glad I did and could. Just look at them: 

They were delicious, although I need to work on the texture a bit. Maybe someday I will post the recipe.  In the meantime, I just want to make you jealous.

The Holidays! Just like everyone else!

I'm going to go ahead and call my first Vegan christmas a complete success. I mean, how could I not? With  Fat Free Vegan's Sweet Potato Casserole, Vegan Dad's Pumpkin Pull Apart Rolls, Acorn Squash with Sage-Apple Rice from Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, and Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's Maple Pecan pie, how could I go wrong?

The correct answer is: Only if I burn everything. Or miss crucial ingredients.

I didn't. So it didn't go wrong.

Also? It snowed today. Sortof. I tried to get a picture of the flakes:

See the snowflakes? See them? 

That didn't really work (and this is the best attempt). But that's ok, because I veganized this recipe for breakfast. (Tradition to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on christmas in my family)

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread with Butter Rum Glaze

I look a little insane while my mother teaches me how to make pie crust (again-I really can't pick it up and I don't know why)

Making Pie Crust

Bought in a yoga store in RI

 When the 2nd iteration of the Teal Cat project came out, I had to get one for my sister. It was her christmas gift, plus a donation to an animal rescue nonprofit in the area.

Teal Cat #231

 This is the third time I've made the pull apart pumpkin rolls and the third time they've come out fantastically.

Vegan Dad's Pull Apart Pumpkin Rolls

 I made pecan pie for Thanksgiving and was drooling over it for Christmas too!

Maple Pecan Pie

Burnout on writing, but not on cooking

Sorry guys. The end of october gets RIDICULOUSLY busy for me. (Birthday and all)

So, I was supposed to go to a vegan potluck (organized via ThePPK) but something happened and it ended up not happening (but it will! At some point! Somewhere!). I'd spent a while thinking of what I wanted to make for this potluck-one person who was going to attend has a nightshade allergy so I was trying to brainstorm things to make that were friendly towards this person. I had Celery Root in my refrigerator from the farmer's market and I google searched to see if celery root went with Sweet Potato. Supposedly it did.

I remembered the Quesadillas I made previously (which I have yet to blog about. Whoops!) Yuca quesadillas from Veganomicon. They were incredibly good. So. Good.  So, I figured, if I could do a mash of that and put it in a tortilla and call it a quesadilla, why couldn't I mash Sweet Potato and Celery Root together with some spices and onion and garlic and call it a Quesadilla?

Well? Why Not?

I did:

Sweet Potato Celeriac Quesadilla with kale

I did half on a cast iron skillet on the stove and the other half in a George Foreman (can you tell which one this came from? You're very smart, so I bet you can).

I had to add a bunch of spices to the mash, but after frying, these babies tasted delicious-indian spiced but wholly my own creation.

Breakfast!

I've been... slacking recently. Posting pictures of food with no back story. As such, I have a wee little one for you today.

I've been dating a boy for a month. Back when we first met (from the internet, of all places), he would go on about how we ought to go to brunch sometime. It was not to be for our first date (turns out thankfully), but several weeks later. Overall, it sounded like a good plan to me, though I was slightly concerned with the places that he suggested. On one of their websites' however, the one restaurant claimed to be able to cater to any dietary preference/style. I figured that meant vegan-friendly. Or at least, there was probably something I could eat. I had high hopes that they might be able to make vegan pancakes. I knew I should have called ahead of time, but work was busy, so I didn't.

We get there and there is a [short] line and the boy was already waiting there. There's a man gladhanding (if I use the term correctly) and I asked him about vegan options. he said anything and if the server gave me a hard time, come to him.

So I ask if I could get vegan pancakes. Turns out, not really. SO! I had a bagel toasted with jam:

Bagel with strawberry preserves

And a giant plate of fruit with granola (I didn't actually really like the granola..I never really have, so I'm not sure what I was thinking-but the fruit was fantastic!):

Fruit Plate with Granola

As it turns out, something in this breakfast didn't agree with me as I started having...severe....digestion issues that lasted into the next morning. I think it was probably the amount of fruit I ate (almost the whole plate) plus the fact that I didn't let my body just flush it out. I had to eat more food later... But it tasted so good while I was there! :)

Soup and the accompanying awful picture

Ever since I moved in the beginning of September (and really before, in conversations my then-meat eater roommate and I had about food/sharing food), my roommate has been talking about this chili that he loves. He makes it with a base of peppers instead of tomatoes and sweetens it with honey (not this time!). I was vaguely intrigued but cautious. Chili is not my favorite in the first place, so it didn't seem like something I'd necessarily want to try..

It's quite good at first go, with some daiya on it plus some vegan sour cream. I learned in eating the leftovers, however, that it should be warmed up again and have more vegan cheez & sour cream in it, plus maybe some bread or something. Potatoes might go nicely in it..

One of my favorites

I'm a (veggie) burger kind of gal. I love making burgers out of beans/legumes/veggies. Stuffing my nutritional needs into one little patty? Best thing. Plus I can put ketchup on it. I like ketchup on my burgers, no matter what they're made of. So. Good.

Anyways. I made these a little while back with sauteed kale and tomatoes (I have got to find a better recipe for kale... Like peanut sauce or something!). From Color Me Vegan, the Cashew Red Lentil burgers. (Curried) They are to die for. (Well.... maybe not. But they're really good! I promise!)

And a little shout out to Occupy Boston! Love them. So well organized.

Chickpeas & Kale with Vegan Dad's pumpkin Rolls

It appears I have several days to make up for. Whoops. (for the record, here's what kept me from posting-Rock Climbing with a work friend + spending a night at the boy's, having work thursday night as well as during the day and being exhausted/forgetful when I got home)

So! Moving on! On Sunday night, after I was foiled by the local indian restaurant in my quest to have spinach and chickpeas as dinner (darn you ghee) the previous night, I made Isa Chandra's Chickpeas & Kale indian spiced dish from Appetite For Reduction. If you have AFR, I'm sure you can figure out the real title of the dish. If not... well, if you ever borrow the book or see it, I'm sure it will become obvious what I'm talking about-it's in the stews section.

Last week, when I saw Vegan Dad's Pumpkin pull apart rolls,  I lusted after them. Lusted, yearned for, and any other descriptors that you can think of along those lines. So, I made them on Sunday. YUM. I'd picked up Pumpkin butter from the same place I bought a bushel of apples and smeared it all over. So. Good. I can't recommend that recipe enough.

Indian Chickpeas & Kale

(PS, Sorry for the random elbow/dish in the background. I'm still figuring out photography and the boy hadn't moved his elbow in time.)

I know, I know.

Everytime I say I know, now, I have to say it twice. (I think it comes from listening to the Wicked soundtrack one too many times)

Mea Culpa. I know [I know]. I am incredibly incredibly lucky to have so many vegan/veg friendly restaurants in the near Boston area and that my whining the other day was taken the wrong way. I am sorry.

Anyways. I'm skipping a few days worth of food to give you last night's dish, which was... very interesting. As you may remember, I am following the Cookbook challenge from The PPK. This week is Vegan Soul Kitchen and it has quickly earned a place in my heart. I will probably be buying the cookbook at some point. Last night, I made a bbq tempeh over flat bread and topped it with the Apple Beet Currant salad instead of the Carrot Cayenne Coleslaw (somehow, cabbage didn't appeal to me-I've never really been a fan). Guys. The Apple Beet Currant Salad? SO. GOOD. Unbelievable. The flavors together were a little wonky, but tasted good over all.

Beets!

I love the way beets dye everything they touch.

(We had a beet and apple salad last night on top bbq marinated tempeh (both from Vegan Soul Kitchen) and homemade flat bread). Blog post to come on that. 

Surrounded by a bounty and unable to partake

I live outside Boston, MA. A place not exactly known for it's dearth of vegan restaurants-we have two in Somerville, two vegetarian in Cambridge, one vegetarian in Watertown, three in Boston... Yeah.

So, I was on a date with the boy last night. Instead of visiting Veggie Galaxy (the vegetarian restaurant newly opened in Central Square) as would have been the smart move, I decided we could probably chance it somewhere in Inman or Union Square. They seemed like urban enough places that they'd be vegan friendly.

We failed. There was a Sandwich shop that I now know is veg friendly-but based on my stomach, I was pretty sure I should have something a little beans & greens like.. So we left Inman Square having failed miserably and walked on to Union to see if Machu picchu would be at all veg friendly. (Peruvian food)

Not so much. I had thought since it wasn't american, it might be more friendly towards veg people. But it seemed like most of the dishes had meat. So, in the end, we went to the Indian restaurant. I got Chana Masala after being foiled on another chickpea & spinach dish that had butter in it.

It was good, a little hot & spicy, but good. Except all of a sudden the cilantro tasted like soap! What the fizzle?

I've never had an issue with cilantro before. Ever. Of course, maybe I hadn't used it enough to realize? But it seems kind of strange, because I have certainly eaten cilantro in things before and not had issues...

Anyways, here's the pic (I keep taking pictures once it's dark outside, sorry! And sorry for the poor iPhone quality):

As you can see, I started eating before I remembered to take the picture. Whoops.

Day 6! (MoFo'in it up)

Remember a couple days ago how I had a really crap day? Well, I was planning on making this new recipe that night-coconut rice with quick curried swiss chard and some sort of bean-y side for the protein. I soaked pinto beans since I don't work with them much. Of course, I forgot that I soaked pinto beans at work. I also didn't make sure to soak just over a half cup (which usually ends up being pretty close to the 15 oz can amount). So I had less than a 15oz can's worth of soaked pinto beans by the end of the day. Anyways.

As I was saying-I forgot that they were pinto beans. I thought they were navy beans. So. this shit day where the main thing was going to be coconut rice that I'd never made before? Quickly became White bean rosemary burgers. Only I got home to less than a can's worth of beans and them being pinto at that.

I told myself it was ok, cooked the beans, reduced the amount of onion, but otherwise followed the instructions. (From What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyways-see previous posts for a link) I ended up having to add some water to hold it together, but they still tasted decent and they were really fast. Done by the time my roommate got back from picking up more ketchup. (Somehow, we go through a ton of ketchup) 

I still made the quick curried swiss chard from Color Me Vegan. That was great the second time around. Really really lovely. The first time too, for that matter! Anyways, the burgers turned out quite well even if the combination of tastes between the chard and the burgers was a little on the strange side...

Rosemary Bean Burgers with Quick Curried Swiss Chard

Well....

At least they aren't solely using non-human animals in studies....


Tonight, the boy came over. Which means I have a lot less time to put together a blog post. Which means that I'm just going to show you what my roommate (an omni) made for dinner! It was delicious (though he used more oil/fat than I ever do). A stir fry of vegetables and nuts and sauces. Yum. Also, pan fried sweet potatoes. (Also, more fat than I ever use, but that made them more delicious)