Veggie Going Vegan

(Mostly) Vegan beauty products featured in LA Times

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:00:25 -0800

Sigh.

While I'm glad that the LA Times is featuring vegan beauty products, and that it's becoming more mainstream to talk about things like carmine (the crushed up beetles that provide the red color to many beauty products) and collagen (comes from cows), I do wish that when they say it's going to be a feature on vegan beauty products they wouldn't include a brand that is self-described as "mostly vegan." Or feature Origins which, again, is mostly vegan except their use of (self-described) "cruelty-free beeswax and honey".

I mean, there are lots of brands that say they're vegan and are vegan, not just mostly vegan. Alternative Outfitters is one source.

It reminds me when they had a feature on awesome vegan accessories/clothes, but one of the items was cashmere, I think.

I just think that sometimes "vegan" should just mean "vegan". Is that so wrong?

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Two Photos of Awesome Food, nom nom nom

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:43:31 -0800

No, not yesterday's Thanksgiving meal, but some great vegan meals I've had lately, sometimes in unexpected places.

Like in the bar of some random hotel in NYC. We had stepped in for a drink. (I honestly don't even remember what street we were on or what hotel it was.) Eventually, getting hungry, we looked at the menu. Typical hotel steakhouse fare. But I asked the waiter if the chef could whip up something fabulous and vegan, using my favorite vegetables on the menu: Brussels Sprouts, Mushrooms, Spinach. This is what I got:

Hotel Pub Vegan Fare

A couple of weeks later we took a good friend to dinner at Amber India in Santana Row. Upscale Indian Food, and yes, veggie choices are always abundant at Indian restaurants. But most places don't present a salad quite this lovely:

DSC00684

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I try to remember to take pictures of the creative, tasty vegan food restaurants come up with for me. (Or have on their menu already.)

Enjoy :)

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The White House goes veg

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:37:43 -0800

For one night anyway.

The Prime Minister of India is the guest of honor, and is also a vegetarian, so I love it that everyone will follow suit, per this piece on ecorazzi.

The menu does sound yummy (if not 100% vegan):

First

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula with Onion Seed Vinaigrette

Red Lentil Soup with Fresh Cheese

Entree

Roasted Potato Dumplings with Tomato Chutney, Chick Peas and Okra

Green Curry Prawns, Caramelized Salsify with smoked Collard Greens and Coconut Aged Basmati

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie Tart
Pear Tatin
Whipped Cream and Caramel Sauce

Petis Fours and Coffee

Cashew Brittle
Pecan Pralines
Passion Fruit and Vanilla Glaces
Chocolate-Dipped Fruit

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My recipe for vegan gravy

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:02:15 -0800

BlogHer contributing editor Alanna Kellogg has posted about making gravy this Thanksgiving, and asked for recipes. This finally motivated me to post my favorite gravy recipe...vegan of course...so I could link to it in the comments of Alanna's post.

So, here's it is:

Golden Gravy

Attribution: This recipe came from PETA, in one of their regular periodicals in the snail mail. Yes, I've had this recipe so long I got it via snail mail and have an actual little perforated recipe card I tore out of the mailer. I've since looked on the PETA site to see if they have this exact recipe posted, and I've never found it. I love this gravy so much, I have become a nutritional yeast addict, and I gravy up just about everything I cook up in a pan with it.

Ingredients:

¼ c. flour (I use soy flour typically)

½ c. nutritional yeast flakes (Available at Whole Foods. Make sure to use nutritional yeast, not brewer's yeast)

1/3 c. oil or margarine (Oil works better.)

1 ½ c. water (You can use vegetable stock for part of this, but I find it gets too savory for my taste)

2 to 3 TB soy sauce or tamari

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Toast the flour and nutritional yeast flakes in a pan, until the mixture gives off a nutty aroma.
Add oil and stir until bubbly.
Add water and cook until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Makes approx. 2 c. of gravy.

Nom nom nom!

I will even confess that I've made this right in the pan over vegetables and seitan I've already stir-fried...just dump some yeast in the pan, add a little liquid, it stirs up great!

Enjoy!

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Quick Link: PETA announces most veg-friendly football stadiums

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:27:43 -0800

And my hometown stadium, Candlestick Park, is 2nd on the list. I've had a veggie dog or two at Candlestick myself, back when following the Niners wasn't an exercise in frustration and futility!

Find the full list here at PETA.

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Restaurant review: Kokkari Estiatoria in San Francisco

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:02:10 -0800

Cross-posted to SF Bay Style

Kokkari

Friday night, after what can only be called an arduous drive into San Francisco, I landed gratefully at a small table at Kokkari Estiatorio. A Hellenic restaurant, and sister to one of my favorite places on the Peninsula, Evvia, Kokkari is dark and intimate, the kind of ambiance that gives you a warm glow, especially after you've spent 40 minutes battling the last five miles to get to valet parking attendants you have never been so grateful to see before.

Kokkari is also extremely veg-friendly, as are most Mediterranean-based restaurants.

As I typically recommend, I called out to our waiter right at the start that I was a vegan, and luckily this was a waiter who not only reacted to my questions, but proactively pointed out various things on the menu and how, even if they were not vegan as typically served, they could be prepared vegan for me. This is always so helpful, because it eliminates that slightly forlorn feeling of having such limited choices from a menu, compared to your non-veg friends.

I've been at this long enough, that I often do that kind of proactive probing of the menu myself, but it's always nice to have the waiter do so...signaling the kitchen's willingness to be flexible.

So what did I have?

Well, we started, as every table does with a plate of marinated olives. I love olives, so I loved this little perk. I moved on to have a most intriguing-sounding Persimmon Salad, one of the night's specials. It included cucumbers, Belgian endive and nuts, with a light lemon-based dressing. It was a visually attractive dish, with a good and subtle mix of flavors. The persimmons were a bit harder than I've usually had them, but on the other hand, I wouldn't call myself a regular and experienced persimmon-eater, so not sure what that means!

For an entree I combined two small plates, both from the wood-fire roasting oven. Another special was a small plate of various mushrooms, fire-roasted and with just a hint of olive oil and parsley. My dining companion ordered this too, and with the haloumi cheese that was part of the dish's default preparation. I, o course, got it sans cheese. Lest you worry that without cheese the dish would be bland, the combination of mushrooms were sufficient on their own to create a dish of varying flavors and textures. These were mouthwatering morsels of earthy, rich delight! Seriously a piece of mushroom heaven.

Mushroom heaven (my new name for the dish, seriously @Kokkari, you're welcome!) was joined by another plate of grilled vegetables, this time mostly artichokes and eggplant on skewers. This also came with a light lemon and olive oil dressing. I can run hot and cold on eggplant, but the roasted skins/edges and soft interiors hit just the right texture combination to win me over.

Finally, despite a lack of any vegan desserts on the menu, they brought me a little bowl of fruit granita (intended as a side accompaniment to another dessert on the menu). It was pomegranate-flavored, which provided the kind of tart dessert I tend to prefer. A nice, fresh, clean way to end the meal.

I heartily recommend Kokkari to any vegan looking for a place to go with your carnivorous friends. There is something for everyone, including vegans. And nothing beats a wood oven!

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A replacement for my fave discontinued Morningstar Farms product

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:38:30 -0800

I was as disappointed as the next vegan when I learned that Morningstar Farms had discontinued their Meal Starters "Steak" Strips.

But thanks to QuarryGirl, I have learned that the company that Morningstar Farms used as a source for those steak strips is now releasing the same product under their own brand name.

I can only hope that Gardein Beefless Tips are distributed locally and can be found in my local Whole Foods.

So, just in case you too were mourning the loss of a tasty convenience food, perhaps there is hope for us :)

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VegNews releases vegan holiday cookie recipe e-book

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:42:57 -0800

Yesterday the lovely folks at VegNews Magazine gave me a free peek at their new Holiday Cookie Collection e-book, available for $3 online.

I blogged here how last Christmas my family bravely let me make vegan desserts for the family dinner. I relied on Colleen Patrick-Godreau's The Joy of Vegan Baking, and both my chocolate cake and my lemon cake were big successes.

Checking out this slim cookie collection, I see quite a number I have always loved...and love to see veganized, including:

Mexican Wedding Cookies (Although, as I asked on Twitter, I am curious if these are really made in Mexico...and for weddings.)
Peppermint Crush Cholcate Chip Cookies...Um, YUM!
Toasted Almond Toffee Bars (Because I really have missed See's Candy Toffee-ettess)
A recipe for SoyNog.

I may have to break out those beautiful William-Sonoma cookie pans I registered for before my wedding (two years ago) and have still never used!

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An excellent vegan meal at a non-vegan restaurant

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:11:25 -0800

IMG_0141

Yesterday was World Vegan Day, so of course I had to veganize a meal at a local non-vegan restaurant!

Have I hammered home the point about *asking* enough for you lately? No? Well, then let me tell you another story.

After an early evening of theatre (6PM curtain), we were out on the street in downtown San Jose at about 8:30 looking to stay out of trouble and calm the stomach grumbles.

The closest reasonable restaurant with table service (my S.O.'s only requirement) was Il Fornaio in the Sainte Claire Hotel. There are several Il Fornaio's in the Bay Area, and they are a reliable go-to Italian place with a bakery on site.

The first promising sign was that they had a butternut squash soup that called out being made with vegetable stock. When asked, the waitress also confirmed no cream, so I was very excited about that. The soup was savory and really well-seasoned. It was squash-y, but not only squash-y, if you know what I mean.

But in the entree department, they were a little sadly lacking...one capellini pomodoro dish didn't exactly set me on fire. (That's just a fancier way of preparing pasta marinara, you know?)

So, instead, I turned to one of the clearly non-veg pasta dishes and asked. Could they make me this dish, but no chicken, no cheese, no butter.

Why of course, yes they could.

And simple as that, I got a little more oomph and had a lovely, perfect meal.

Ask and ye shall receive!

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Today is World Vegan Day

nobody@vox.com(Elisa) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:18:27 -0800

Learn more about it here.

How are you celebrating?

I ate leftover vegan pizza from Amici's...yay Amici's!!

I spent more time flipping through Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook.

That's about it. What about you?

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