Vegan MoFo

Did y'all know that November in the food blogosphere is Vegan MoFo, or Vegan Month of Food? Well, I remembered a little too late to officially register Soul Food for the challenge of posting every weekday with some recipe or tip or tidbit about vegan food and how much I love it, but I'm observing this holiday anyway, along with all the others that seem to pop up this time of year.

As a matter of fact, a dear friend's birthday was yesterday, so to celebrate, she hosted what is known as a food orgy. (Here I go again with the suggestive party names!) There's lots of food to eat, BUT you cannot feed yourself - you must have someone else feed you! It was really a lot of fun. Seeing as it was potluck-style, I made these roasted veggies and a big pot of yummy cranberry sauce, which I paired with some Dr. Cow's Tree Nut cheese in Macadamia and Cashew-Brazil Nut I got on sale over at Vegan Essentials.



Today, I was brainstorming ways to try my cheezes in other gustatory contexts, and landed on a salad. So I roasted a big, beautiful chioggia beet, crumbled some of the macademia over a bed of spinach, and topped it all off with a Dijon mustard viniagrette. Looks tasty, eh?!

Anyhow, if you're in need of a sugar-free, yet uber-delicious cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year, I'd recommend giving this one a try.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce
makes a lottt

12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 lemon's zest and juice
30 drops liquid stevia
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon xantham gum

Combine all ingredients except xantham gum in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the fruit, then heat over medium-high until boiling. Lower the heat slightly and simmer until the fresh berries start to pop. At this point, get out your potato masher and start smushin'. After about 5 minutes, most berries should be crushed and the mixture beginning to gel a bit. Stir in the xantham gum, turn off the heat, and BAM! Done.

Salad Day

Yesterday, I indulged. As a vegan, it's pretty easy to do so when you want to in Gainesville. Had a very messy chili dawg from Gator Dawgs, then went next door for a brownie sundae at Karma Cream. My lord, I had been away for too long! Vegan whipped cream and hot fudge and Triple Chocolate Threat ice cream...I'm feeling nostalgic already.

So after all that, I wanted something easy and relatively light for dinner at home. A salad certainly fit the bill, at least until I drenched it with the vegan mayo-laced dressing. Still, it was ready in a half hour, and it was deeeelicious!



Tempeh Caesar Salad
serves 4

[Tempeh]
2 pounds tempeh
frying oil
s&p

Boil the tempeh in a pot of water for ten minutes. Drain and transfer to a hot skillet with your oil in it. Sprinkle the upside with salt and pepper and fry for 7-8 minutes before flipping. Fry for another 7-8 on the other side before slicing.

[Vegan Caesar Dressing]
1 ginormous clove elephant garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or powerful blender and blend until smooth. Taste it, see how you like the proportions, play with them if you feel so inclined.

Top each of four piles of mixed greens (or romaine) with a quarter of the sliced tempeh, then overdress with caesar - believe me, if you're into garlicky stuff, you're gonna wanna lick your plate. :)

Back to it.

Semi-unfortunately, school starts tomorrow, so I'm relishing my last few hours of winter-y freedom. I made a very simple French-inspired dinner for my almost-brother, Tommy, who escorted me back to Gainesville yesterday evening and is visiting for a day or so.



We ate this lovely salad composed of spring mix, Florida avocado, green apple and pepitas with a...

Red Wine Vinaigrette

olive oil
red wine vinegar
s&p
agave nectar
garlic, minced
Herbes de Provence

The oil and vinegar are the main components of this dressing, with the rest of the ingredients added to your particular taste. I know this is a rather vague recipe, but it's pretty hard to mess up. Just eyeball it.

Herbes de Provence were the secret ingredient of the evening - they're my new favorite. I also sprinkled some onto thick slices of fresh, crusty bread that I brushed with olive oil, then tossed into the oven at 400 degrees for a few minutes. REALLY good.

This dinner happens to precede a viewing of the film, Metropolitan, what I've read is a witty comedy about a kid getting mixed up with some NYC debutantes. Me and my roomies are about to crack open a bottle of red, cuddle up on the couch, and attempt to forget how early we have to wake up in the morning. Laterrr.