Bean Burger, Shepherd's Pie, a Porch Party, and a Bento (sort of)

Okay, a few things to catch up on over the last ... however many months. New template with no dates makes me look like less of a slacker, I guess.

Here are some things I've made in the interim that I took pictures of. First, shepherd's pie with tempeh, local veggies, and local (dairy) cheese.


Nom. Next, homemade bean burgers. One shot of the patty cooking and one shot of the complete burger.



Finally, a shot of a few dishes from a big porch party we had this summer. Zatar bread, hummus, veggie roll ups, and a few other things I can't recall.


Not gonna lie, I love a potluck.

Now for something new. I've decided to try making a few bentos for lunch, and I attempted my first one last night. It's sort of a bento fail, but I'm posting it here hoping that the failure is at least a little bit endearing.


Steamed broccoli, veggie dog, baked tofu, sliced carrots, snow peas, prunes, a banana, and some graham crackers. Sauces and seasonings on the side, there.

We had a huge sushi party a couple of weeks ago, and made a big pot of chili this weekend. It's not that I'm not cooking, it's that I'm not taking pictures and, obviously, food posts without pictures are kind of like tits on a boar hog. But I am working on correcting this. I primrose.

VeganMofo 23: Baba Ghanoush

I had an eggplant that was about to be at death's door (pictured in the pantry below) so I decided to make some baba ghanoush. I've never been a big eggplant fan, but lately I've been trying to work on expanding my palate. I think people view vegans and vegetarians as picky enough as it is, and when you start excluding more foods it just gets overwhelming for people trying to cook for you.

I never have made it baba ghanoush before, but I've tried it at restaurants and thought it was okay. Jay smoked the eggplant on a fire in the backyard, then I blended it with tahini, olive oil, salt, pepper, a little curry, and lemon juice. I forgot to put garlic in it, but it was good anyway. Nevertheless, I'll remedy that tonight.

VeganMofo 18: Guacamole

I'm always mystified by those packets of powdered guacamole mix they have in the grocery store. Guacamole is not difficult and shouldn't requite a packet of any sort of powder. Jay made this one with two avocados, a small tomato, a bunch of minced garlic, minced fresh jalapenos, fresh cilantro, a whole lot of fresh lime juice, and some salt. We tried it on several types of condiment conduits (because you know whatever you're scooping with is just a vehicle for transporting the guacamole) and we both preferred the olive oil and cracked pepper triscuits.

In general, Jay really prefers snacks to actual food. One of the first weekends he spent at my house, I left one Saturday morning for brunch with my mom. When I came home he was sitting at the dining table with literally every condiment in the house spread out on the table along with various chips and crackers and tortillas. I was a little startled. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Having a dip fest!" he replied, as if it were obvious. His strength in the kitchen really is in making fantastic dips, probably due to his affinity for them. He made a great asparagus aioli a few weeks ago that I'm drying to have him duplicate once I get more vegenaise. Yesterday for the picnic he made a garlic butter spread with the smart balance and garlic and salt that we spread on my focaccia (which was better than the previous one, if that's even possible). His other kitchen adventures are good, I'm not saying he's a one trick pony, but for some reason condiments are where he really shines. That's really good, since creamy delicious vegan condiments aren't so easy to come by here in Little Rock, and I've seldom had the inclination and skills to make them.

VeganMofo 11: Taquito Thingies

After spending all morning and afternoon at a church leadership retreat, I'm actually in a much better mood. And I still love my deep fryer. Jay had made some pinto bean dip the other day and it was stored in the fridge for future innovations. I decided to roll it up in some flour tortillas and drop it in hot oil. This was the result, and it's delicious and crispy and flaky.

Tonight I'm singing in public for the first time in ages. I'm a little nervous. I love singing, but singing or any kind of creative expression is very vulnerable for me. The good thing is I'm singing with two friends, in a bar where I know most of the audience. Still, a little nervous, so that means you have another entry to look forward to: vegan cocktails.

VeganMofo 5: Butternut Squash Spring Rolls, Take 2

Last time I blogged these, I followed Isa and Terry's recipe from V'con pretty precisely. This time I sort of winged it and used whatever I had laying around. I roasted half a cubed butternut squash in the oven this morning and managed to not eat all of it before lunch time. I had some leftover tofu so I diced it and deep fried it to a nice chewy consistency. We also threw in some raw spinach, rice noodles, and tempura portobello mushrooms. I made a peanut sauce with apple cider vinegar, homemade peanut butter, tamari, sriracha, oil, sugar, and cayenne pepper.

I just realized I don't really have much else to say. It's nice to be with someone who not only can appreciate my cooking but actually contribute and make it better, and has the same kinds of values I have when it comes to food.

VeganMofo 2: Sweet Potato Fries

I have an obscene number of kitchen appliances. I have a food processor, a blender, a toaster, a toaster oven, a crock pot, and a microwave. I think those are all pretty standard. I also have a bread machine, a waffle iron, a deep fryer, and a rice cooker. I used to have a stand mixer but I lost custody in a messy break up and I don't like to talk about it.

At any rate, it takes a while for a new appliance to really work its way into the rotation. The deep fryer was a gift from my older brother in 2005, and it's really just now coming into its own with the debut of these sweet potato fries. I think the first time I had sweet potato fries was in Charlottesville, VA when I went to visit Jett during his MFA program. I was instantly in love, but I think they're more of a coastal south food because they're a little scarce here. Now I can make them myself.

Since sweet potatoes are kind of hard, I cut and boiled these before deep frying them. You could probably just parboil them but I got distracted so they got a full boil. The deep fryer is alarmingly simple, so after the boil I loaded them into the basket, set the thing to 375 and, after some preheating time, lowered the basket into the canola oil to the tune of a satisfying hiss. The ones in Charlottesville came with a brown sugar dipping sauce, but I went slightly less cloying and dipped these in bbq sauce. Served here with baked beans and tempeh bacon.

Spinach Dip

So, here comes another admission that I've succumbed to the ease of a canned vegetable. Again, it's the kind of vegetable that in some ways is best when it's cooked until it's beyond soggy and well into the territory of almost-disintegrating. Spinach is, of course, also great fresh or steamed, but for purposes of a dip I like it easy to mix. Frozen spinach, the cut up kind not the whole leaf kind, would probably also work here. To the drained can of spinach I added about 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) Vegenaise and 1/4 cup Tofutti cream cheese, then added a chopped up tomato as an afterthought (which is helpful because the vitamin C makes you more able to absorb the iron in the spinach). I've been going crazy with the Vegenaise lately. I saw an episode of PPK where they talk about the grapeseed kind being superior and I finally got around to trying it. It's AMAZING. I don't even like mayonnaise really but I could eat this stuff straight. The spinach dip is pictured with some pita flat bread that has an alarming number of calories but is so worth it when you toast it a little.

Soft Pretzels

These are the afore- mentioned whole wheat pretzels, which is really sort of a misnomer. I used the recipe here but just used 2 cups white and 2 cups wheat flour. I also decided to forgo the pumpkin seeds. They don't taste pumpkin-y at all, which is nice. I think next time I'll use more white flour and actually invest in some coarse salt. In this picture I'm about to eat that one with horseradish mustard, which I really can't get enough of. These were best right out of the oven, but they perk right back up when I toast them.