food for thought: staying healthy on the road

I’ve been in Chicago this week for my day job. This trip was super fun because I got to meet up with fellow blogger, Liz from DC. Liz and I met last summer at the Healthy Living Summit in Chicago. It was so great to see her again and get caught up in person about our similar passions – healthy living and fitness. She’s a rad runner and she was also in need of oatmeal sans dairy so we were a perfect pair. We met at Cosi where they have steel-cut oats made with water and you get to choose your toppings. I love toppings. I opted for granola and strawberries.

Hello squinty eyes!

Between my work travels and my personal travels, I feel I’ve created some pretty solid strategies for staying healthy while on the road.

I want to share with you what works best for me to stick to a healthy plan. Plan is the key word here. If you do not plan correctly, you are setting yourself up to fail. There is no way around that. You can’t expect that being healthy on the road is just magically going to happen. Most of the tips below are geared toward work travel. I am not nearly as diligent when I’m truly on vacation.

• If you are traveling to a conference, let them know if you have any specific food needs. I actually did not do this this time (fail!), so no one new I was vegan. Thankfully, I work with awesome people and the hotel I stayed at was extremely accommodating. I find that if you let people know, they really do want to help. However, if you don’t ask and are rude about it, don’t expect them to bend over backwards for you.
• Pack snacks. I always bring a pile of snacks with me on every trip. Typically this includes larabars, mini bags of almonds and dried fruit, apples (they travel well), baby carrots and other cut up veggies (mainly for the plane ride) and sample packs of protein powder or super food. These come in handy for your actual travel time and if you are attending a conference where the food does not fit your dietary needs.
• Stay hydrated. I find that if I’m at a conference, it is difficult to get enough water in as the rooms I’m in are usually freezing. When I’m freezing, water does not sound good. However, I try to take advantage of hot water when it’s available and force myself to down water throughout the day. Staying hydrated will help you not attack the lunch buffet and will just make you feel better.
• Many hotel rooms have fridges that you can store things in (call ahead and ask). Many times I will find a grocery store as soon as I arrive and pick up things like fruit, yogurt, etc. to ensure healthy options.
• You will not work out unless you bring workout clothes. Pack them. To me it’s worth having to bring all the extra gear and check a bag if I need to.
• Use the workout gear you have. Just having it in your suitcase doesn’t count.  Almost every hotel has a fitness center. It may not be as nice as what you’re used to in all cases, but hey, you have to take what you can get. I find that staying on my regular workout schedule makes me feel better during my travels.
• If you are traveling to a nice climate, ask the hotel if there is a safe place to run or walk outdoors. You want to make sure you’re in safe area. Please carry a phone and ID with you.
• Yoga podcasts are awesome. I’ve downloaded a few Dave Farmar podcasts (they’re free!) and done yoga right in my hotel room.
• Explore on foot. The best way to get to know a city (most of them anyway) is on foot.  Throw on the sneakers and get some fresh air!
• Most conferences I go to have big meals plus treats during the breaks. I fill up as much as possible on fruits and veggies when they are available. I do my best to skip the desserts. I mean, I don’t eat dessert for every meal when I’m at home, so why would I at a conference? I’ll cave if it’s something that looks fabulous and that I can’t live without. More often than not, the desserts served in hotels or at conferences are not that great.
• Limit the alcohol.  For me, this is key. Having more than one drink messes with my sleep and it makes me want to eat more. Plus, it makes it harder to get up and workout in the morning. If  I am feeling the pressure (why is there so much pressure?), I typically sweet talk the bartender to make a club soda and lime look like a fancier drink. Or I make one glass of wine last a looooong time. Sometimes, I may not even finish it.
• If you have free time to eat out, research great restaurants in the area. Don’t settle for a chain or even worse, fast food, if you don’t have to. This past trip, I totally took advantage of the salad and hot bar at a nearby Whole Foods. That was dinner for me two nights in a row as I was working in my hotel room. I know…I lead a super exciting life.

Traveling during vegan lent was interesting. The hotel I was at had great food and almost always had something I could eat at meals. The one plated meal was the only difficult one. I picked the cheese off my salad so that was easy enough. The main course was either chicken or the vegetarian option which was cheese ravioli. I asked very nicely if they would be able to steam some vegetables for me (seemed like something that wouldn’t be do difficult so maybe they’d be willing) and I was presented with steamed asparagus and carrots – score! That coupled with some bread held me until the next break where I grabbed my packed snack of almonds and dried cherries.

Breakfast was more difficult. I tried the nearby Corner Bakery and they down right refused to make oatmeal with water. Seems to me a funny thing to have such a firm stance on but whatevs. From then on I stuck with my standby, Starbucks. Starbucks make their oatmeal with water and it comes with nuts and fruit and they always have bananas. Thank you Starbucks. Vegans appreciate you.

I was lucky to be in a big city. Traveling to more rural areas as a vegan, or even a vegetarian would be much more difficult. I would to have to pack an extra bag just for snacks.

Do you have any tips on staying healthy while on the road? I’d love to hear them!

broken bones and other bits

The following post is written by vegan lent participant, Jon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The man has some wit.

It’s been a painfully interesting few weeks since my last vegan post. Here’s the abridged version: I biked out to meet friends for a St. Patrick’s day bump when a shoelace tightened around a pedal and pulled a foot through some front spokes. I have a shoelace, a pedal, a foot and some spokes. And since I don’t particularly remember otherwise, I can only assume my set of items is the same set of items that hurled me shoulder-first into dry pavement. Now there’s a 7-inch gash from my throat over my left shoulder through which a metal plate was inserted to bolt my clavicle back together. The pre-op x-ray shows four splintered bits of bone floating among muscle and lung. The wreckage can easily be imagined into a soup stock for cannibals, which I couldn’t possibly enjoy because this is the vegan challenge and food derived from animals is unfortunately off limits.

I’m healing quickly and my convalescence as afforded the opportunity to relax, a rare vacation form myself. My buddy Tilley lent me Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential.” I’m only 100 pages in, but am thoroughly entertained. It’s not the quality of the prose or the uniqueness of voice that get me hot because the prose is nonexistent and the voice is average. The book is great because there’s a bipolar flow to the narration that leaves me hating it but needing more. As a reader, I equally admire Bourdain’s appreciation of individual contribution to culinary culture, want to ingest diverse intoxicants with the guy, and give him a fist sandwich. But again, I digress.

In the last few vegan lent posts fellow challenge-takers Willa and Meghan discussed —among other things — what they eat and what they miss eating, and I’ll agree with them on all points. It takes a degree of preparation and foresight to be good at most things, veganese is no different. It also helps to be prepared when people ask, “What do you eat?” Before vegan lent nobody asked, which is sort of a shame. Maybe they’d be more shocked by my former answer: a routine weekly grocery shopping list contained four frozen cheese pizzas, a red onion and two bags of barbecue potato chips. I have no clue how the onion was used. I do know that the pizza and chips were washed down with too much beer. And while my waistline hasn’t increased in 17 years since high school given a fortunate genetic predisposition and an active lifestyle, the fat in my diet was hiding somewhere on my frame. At weigh-in before the surgery, I was surprised to see I had lost 15 pounds through the winter. While I’m not intensely sure vegan lent was the only reason for the loss, eating clean-burning food certainly helped. And now with 500 grams of titanium in my left shoulder weighing me down, I’m going to need all the help I can get.

As I might have mentioned Harrisburg isn’t known for diversity in cuisine. And unlike everyone else who contributes to this blog, that’s perfectly fine by me. Different is good, but as long as brew pubs exist and I have pulse, they unarguably provide the meaning to life. Unique food is a far second to quality beer on my list of personal musts. So imagine my happy surprise last week when a different friend (Scott) with a different injury (torn tricep) from a different sporting accident (snowboarding) invited me lunch and the local brew pub (Appalachian Brewing Company), which had vegan pub food. We swaggered through the door in arm braces, slings, stitches, bandages and scabs — very much looking worse for wear. The waiter asked which us of won the fight, and I think I did because the ABC vegan menu fares better than the standard pub-grub. That afternoon I had a sun-dried tomato and roasted red pepper hummus wrap. Even though it wasn’t a regular menu item, I don’t think the waiter had many requests because he pronounced hummus, “hue-mas.” Again this is a Central PA brew pub and I’m not that into food. So in my colorful imagination I said, “yes, that’s what I’ll have, thank you. The hume-ASS.” Then Scott and I snort and giggle like pre-pubes on acid. Except we’re not. Two beat up white, middle aged guys in the middle of a Wednesday enjoying each other’s company at a place that serves more beer than food … as life is.

So the wrap was all right but my happy surprise in finding a vegan brew pub was quickly unrequited last night when Henriët and I returned to the ABC for a second course. I had hoped there would be more of a selection, but was sadly confronted with only a pale black-bean, quinoa and curry patty surrounded by lettuce and rolled into a sloppily thawed tortilla. The redeeming part of the meal was more an after thought. I ordered onion rings and halfway through the eleventh of a dozen I realized the batter likely contained egg. In that moment it all became clear. The choices we make invariably deny us the alternative and that’s frequently for the best. Otherwise one might add hume-ASS to their clavicle stew and no one would mind.

 

Looking to catch up on other vegan lent updates?

a brief guide to making friends as a vegan in a country of cheese

The incredible edible egg

What do you eat?

a little bit of blog love

This weekend was pretty dang awesome. How was yours?

Apparently I needed to complain about my spring training for it to turn around. Willa and I had a fantastic 10 mile run on Saturday that was really key to get both us back into being enthusiastic about training. The 50 degree and sunny weather was key in our spirit lifting run. Yay for spring!

In addition to the great run, I also helped out at a Triathlon 101 clinic put on by Trinona (I’m completely biased, but this is the best triathlon MN has to offer). It is so fun to see newbies to the sport. They are so excited/nervous/anxious and are so fun to talk to.

I also got a much needed massage, finished the taxes and managed to relax with Brette. And as I write this, I’m enjoying pizza (sans meat and cheese) and some red wine. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect weekend.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some recipes and articles that caught my eye recently on other blogs. In addition to reading cookbooks and multiple cooking magazines, I read a LOT of food blogs. It’s a little ridiculous. There is just so much great content out there. So here are a few things you might like.

Articles

• Dana (from Dana Treat) did a great post on the Vegetarian Dilemma trying to figure out “why does it feel like the perception of vegetarianism is stuck in the 1970’s?” I agree with her thoughts.
• Jennie (from In Jennie’s Kitchen) wrote a great piece on the obligation to eat locally and organically if you can. I couldn’t agree more. Included is a yummy looking recipe for a french onion tart.
• Matt (from No Meat Athlete) recently went vegan and posted his grocery list and his thoughts on vegan junk food. He posted this right after Willa’s post on the “What do you eat?” question. Kind of funny.
• Speaking of No Meat Athlete, contributor Susan Lacke did a review of some Pear iZUMi apparel and shoes. Part of the post included a giveaway for a pair of Pear iZUMi shoes of your choice. Guess who won? Yep, that would be me. I’m supper pumped. I’m trying the isotranisitions which will make me super fast in the duathlon I’m doing in May.
• Gena (from Chosing Raw) did a very interesting guest post on JL goes Vegan on the ethics of being a vegan. This angle was not why I’m doing vegan lent, but I thought it was very well written and thought provoking.

Recipes

• I’ve been making Emily’s (from the Daily Garnish) Homemade Energy Drink for every long run and I feel so much better about making my own than buying Gatorade. Plus, it’s delish. I prefer to use grape juice in mine, but I’m sure any juice would work.
• Heidi (from 101 Cookbooks) is responsible for my absolute favorite recipe for tempeh to date. Brette loves it too. It’s quick, easy and delicious.
• I can’t wait to make these no bake vegan date squares from Angela at Oh She Glows. I have a serious crush on medjool dates.

 

That’s a good list for now. If this is something you like, I’d be happy to post links to things I find interesting more often…just let me know.

 

What have you been reading lately that you found thought provoking or appetite arousing?

What do you eat?

The following post is written by Willa – a Featured Contributor and vegan lent participant.

It’s hard to believe that we are at the halfway point in our vegan lent challenge. The week before vegan lent started I ate out a lot. To my great fortune, it coincided perfectly with Restaurant Week and my birthday. Not that I ever need them, I found myself with multiple reasons to go out and enjoy tons of amazing food.

I assumed that eating out would come to a screeching halt, but that has not been the case. Many restaurants already have a vegan option on the menu or they are willing to work with “special dietary considerations.” While I have put the latter to test with great success, I am not going to make a habit of it. I will leave the menu design and dish creation to the chefs.

Which restaurants are vegan friendly? More than you would think. While I haven’t personally eaten at all of these restaurants, I’d like to provide a short list that might appeal to all likings: Au Bon Pain, Shish Cafe, Chipotle, Pizza Luce, Triple Rock Social Club, California Pizza Kitchen, Ecopolitan, Everest on Grand, Turtle Bread, Red Stag Supperclub, and French Meadow Cafe.

An interesting predicament has arisen from my vegan experience. At this point, I don’t miss any particular foods eggs. While I have not found it hard to be vegan, I do not plan on being vegan forever. That said, I feel incredibly defensive when asked, “But, what do you eat?” or told that it is impossible to eat well as a vegan.

Modesty is going out the window. I am defensive because I know a lot about food. It is an obsession of mine, both for the better and worse. I cook great, healthy food. Prepackaged convenience food-like items with 50 ingredients that I can’t pronounce do not make an appearance in my kitchen.

I love to cook. It is not a burden for me. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. But, if you want to talk food and health with me I am well equipped for the discussion.

There are two very important factors that can’t be overlooked: 1) we can afford to eat well and 2) I am cooking for 2 people, not a family of 4 or more. I have the time and monetary luxury of making the food decisions that I do.

So, back to the original question, what do I eat? I seriously considered recording every single morsel of food that I put into my mouth and attaching it as an addendum to the blog. Really? Who wants to read about what I ate for every meal, every day, for forty days? I know I don’t.

Here is an idea of what I typically eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. In case you’re wondering, I am not starving nor deprived. I have not been eating a bunch of weird foods that you can’t find at the regular grocery store. You might agree or disagree with me. I know I am putting myself out there for critique but it is something we can all learn from.

Breakfast

Grape Nuts cereal, soymilk, blueberries or blackberries, chia seed; coffee

Ezekiel or sourdough toast, almond butter, banana; coffee

Oatmeal with banana, soymilk, and peanut butter (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it)

Snack

Handful of cashews and an apple

Cherry Pie Lara Bar and a pear

Peanut butter granola bar and a banana

Soy latte and a banana

Lunch and/or Dinner

Whole wheat penne with kale, garlic, cherry tomatoes, cannelini beans, kalamata olives, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil

Giant salad with mixed greens, shredded carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, garbanzos, edamame, pepita seeds and vinaigrette

Lentil soup, bread, salad

Stir fry with tofu, carrot, onion, red bell pepper, celery,  and spinach served with basmati or jasmine rice

Black bean chili, rice, salad

Whole wheat noodles with peanut sauce, red bell pepper, onion, carrot, cilantro, and tofu

I try to fill our plates with delicious fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and healthy fats (sounds a little like the Mediterranean diet to me, sans fish of course). Some days I eat more, some days I eat less. I typically eat a lot on Saturdays because that is our long run day. I always eat a lot on long run days because running 10+ miles makes me really hungry.

It’s funny, so many people have cautiously asked, “How’s it going?” I can see the disappointment when I don’t have any vegan horror stories to tell. All in all, I basically eat the same things that I did before vegan lent.  Anticlimactic, I know but it is a good example of how livable a vegetable based diet can be.

Are you willing to tip the seesaw of balance on your plate from primarily meat to primarily vegetables?

What do you think would be the biggest change, or the food that you would miss most?

coconut cranberry pecan balls

These are the new favorite food in our house.

They are also from my new favorite cookbook and vegan lent inspiration, Clean Food by Terry Waters.

Willa actually made them first and brought them to the gym as a post-run snack. They made the best snack ever!

They remind me a lot of Larabars….but even better since you can make them in your own home.

They beg to be played with. I think dried cherries would be delicious and dates would be tasty too. For the nuts, cashews might be an interesting option. I’m sure you could swap out nut butters, but I really like the almond butter in this one. I actually made my own almond butter. I used this recipe as my inspiration, but I just used plain roasted almonds and salt.  Ashley’s other nut butters are delicious though – you should check them out.

Maybe some chunks of chocolate would be welcomed? Hmmm…

I have found it’s hard to eat just one of these. However, I’m always completely satisfied after two. They are full of satiating ingredients and do a great job of taming my sweet tooth and my growling stomach.

These treats are a great afternoon snack or a healthy dessert. They taste even better after a hard workout, but I won’t hold it against you if you eat one for breakfast or just because.

Enjoy!

Coconut Cranberry Pecan Balls

from Clean Food by Terry Waters

Makes 20-24 balls

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut

1 1/2 cups toasted pecans

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

To toast the pecans, you can either put them in a dry skillet on the stovetop on medium low heat until fragrant or pop them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. I suggest toasting a few extras for your oatmeal in the morning – it’s awesome.

Place the coconut in a small bowl and set aside.

Add all of the other ingredients to a food processor and process to form a stiff paste.  Taking a heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, form into balls with your hands and roll in the coconut.  Store in an airtight container.

I kept them in the fridge for more than a week and they’re still good!

Oh, and they’re vegan! Shhh….

restaurant review: ecopolitan

I’ve been aware of the uptown restaurant Ecopolitan for quite some time. I always wrote it off as “way to hippy for me”. I knew they were a raw vegan restaurant and to me that was scary.

Meghan has been trying to get me to go there for awhile and somehow I managed not to schedule that gathering. However, with vegan lent , I knew it was bound to happen. So, Meghan, Willa and I (the MN vegan lent briggade) made a date to go check it out.

Ecopolitan is more than just a restaurant. It is also a Juice Bar, Wine bar and an Eco-shop. It’s a non-profit organization which promotes Eco-Raw Living, which according to their web site is an “educated lifestyle that harmonizes health science, nutrition, ecology, and community to promote a sustainable future on Earth” They provide many different Health Services, “uncooking” classes, lectures, eco-stay retreats and more.  You can check out their website for more details, as I’m going to just focus on the food.

Meghan had eaten there before and couldn’t say enough about it. As a long time vegetarian, she loves that she can order anything on the menu without haveing to ask for modifications. I totally get that. I, however, was still skeptical. Mainly that I was going to stick out as a sore thumb.

So, how did it go?

Pretty well, actually. I’m not saying that I’m going to be going there on a weekly basis, but overall, the experience was better than I expected. The company helped, of course.

So, let me break this down….

Atmosphere: Ecopolitan is in an old house so that’s kind of cute. The two front rooms serve as the dining room and the kitchen and pre-made items and smoothie bar are in the back. The table and chairs reminded me of what I picked up at a garage sale to furnish my first apartment, but they seemed to fit well for this place. It was full the whole time we were there (on a Monday), but it wasn’t overly loud. It definitely has a laid back vibe.

Service: Here’s where they lost me. Our waitress was very nice and gave excellent recommendations. Can you sense a but coming your way? It’s a big one. Everything there literally moves at a snails pace. Maybe that’s supposed to be part of the charm, but it did not work on me. It took forever to get our main courses. In fact, in total our meal took 2 1/2 hours – and it wasn’t because we were gabbing away like crazy…it just took that long to get our food. What doesn’t make sense to me about this is that this is a RAW restaurant. Meaning – they didn’t have to actually cook my food, just assemble it. And, it seemed like many of the components of our dishes were likely made ahead of time. So, what gives? Does this laid back vibe mean slow-mo in the kitchen? Apparently. I probably wouldn’t mind had it been a Friday or Saturday night. But it was a Monday and I turn into a pumpkin at 9 p.m., so this really got on my nerves.

Food:

The food was tasty and very different. I really want you to be able to see what it looked like, but my photos are horrible. I’m going to show them to you anyway so you get the gist. Apparently the cough and cold I was suffering from made me forget the basic functions of a camera.

We ordered the Cashew “Cheese” Log for an appetizer. Here is the description: Rolled in sun-dried tomatoes, olives, & fresh basil. Served with balsamic onions & flax crackers. It tasted a lot like a vegetable cream cheese spread and it was pretty tasty with the flax crackers. I would have never known it was made with cashews.

We each ordered a different entree so we could all sample a few things.

My dish was the favorite of the evening and was a recommendation of our waitress:

ECO-SAUSAGE PIZZA – Macadamia-cashew “cheese”, walnut eco-sausage, bell pepper, marinated mushrooms, onion, & ginger marinara sauce.

It was so good and tasted and smelled a heck of a lot like pizza. If I go back, I’ll be ordering that again.

Meghan had the next best at the table:

PESTO PASTA – Pine nut pesto on zucchini noodles with tomato, bell pepper, marinated mushrooms, & walnuts. Served on balsamic- vinaigrette-dressed spinach.

The zucchini noodles were very fun and came with a lot less guilt than a pile full of pasta and we all really enjoyed the dish. It had plenty of flavor….thought not as much as my pizza.

Then there was Willa’s dish:

NOT-CHO “CHEESE” PLATE – Pine nut “cheese” on greens with bell pepper, cucumber, marinated mushrooms, onion, cilantro, cashew “sour cream,” & hot sauce. Served with eco-chips.

I think we were all most intrigued about this dish. It is served over kale so to me it looked more like a salad with a few chips on the side. More chips would’ve been welcomed at the table. My main issue with the dish was the spice. Now, I know I’m a wuss when it comes to spice, but I have gotten so much better the past few years. This, however, was way to much for me. One bite was all I could handle. Willa, the who has the ability to eat habaneros as a snack, didn’t have a problem with the spice, but it wasn’t her (or Meghan’s) favorite either. I don’t think any of us would order it again.

While we were eating we saw a gigantic sundae-type dish come out, so we immediately asked about it and then ordered it. Eating a raw food meal I think automatically means you get dessert.

We did check out the pre-made desserts in the case, but nothing really looked that great. Plus, I think we were sold on the sundae as soon as we saw it.

The parfait was whipped frozen bananas and strawberries that were served in a glass coated with a coconut-date spread and nuts. We all really liked it, but weren’t necessarily blown away. You could make something just as tasty (and maybe better) at home following this recipe as your base.

So, what’s the overall opinion?

Some may find it a bit spendy compared to other restaurants (my two pieces of pizza were $15), but they used quality ingredients so that certainly didn’t bother me at all.

I think if you are a vegetarian or vegan you will love this place and appreciate the options. You might like it on a more regular basis. I think it’s an interesting experience for others to try as well – especially if you’re an adventuresome eater. I would go back if invited, but because of the sloooooowwwwww service, I won’t be running there every week. Though if Meghan figures out how to make their pizza at home, I would be really happy.

I also realized I’m far from anyone giving me a “hippy” label, but I can happily be a guest among them.

Have you been to Ecopolitan or a similar type restaurant? What did you think?

the incredible edible egg

The following post is by Meghan. She is one of the four people participating in vegan lent.

You know how everyone says bacon is THE reason they could never possibly be vegetarian? Pretty sure eggs are THE reason I may not be able to be full time vegan. I don’t even miss them much yet but I miss how easy and quick they are.

Vegan lent rules. I’m beyond stoked about it but I’m not gonna lie – this past week was a challenge. I was starving pretty much all week, but it is my fault. I didn’t plan well. And as we all know, eating healthy is an act of thoughtful preparation.

Lent conveniently coincides with my hell time at work which means I am working some intense hours leaving little room for much else. Between trying to get in a few gym sessions and hoping to sleep a little, my diet was mildly ignored which left me hungry. Everyday. This is typically where eggs come in as my saving grace – chock full o’ protein and oh so delicious with even just a little salt and pepper. I will save any moral commentary here because yes, I am painfully aware of the implications of eating eggs and believe it or not, think about those every time I eat them. Doesn’t mean I don’t still love ‘em.

So this weekend we planned. Big time. We cooked. Big time. And now I am ready to face a week full of healthy, delicious, homemade vegan food. Bring it on.

Until lent is over my favorite go to protein source is now Seitan. But not the weird, salty, over processed goop at the store. I finally made my own. With a little help from T-dogg of course. I actually view seitan as my “meat” in that it still doesn’t feel like the most healthy food ever. I can’t eat it everyday but for my next “I’m starving” moment, I have a supply of homemade yummy goodness to throw into just about anything.

Steamed Red Seitan ~ Adapted from Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

For my homies who know the amazingness of Horizon’s – this doesn’t even come close but it’ll do. For those who don’t know the magical heaven that is Horizon’s I will say this, if I were rich I would make special arrangements to fly to Philly on the regular solely to eat there. Nuff said.

She makes a red and white version – I like the red best so whoop here it is…

1 ½ C cold vegetable broth

4 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed

3 T soy sauce

4 T tomato paste

2 T olive oil

1 ½ C vital wheat gluten flour

¼ C chickpea (garbanzo flour)

¼ C nutritional yeast

1 t dried oregano

½ t ground cumin

1) In measuring cup, whisk together the broth, garlic, soy sauce, tomato paste, and olive oil.2) In large bowl, combine wheat gluten, chickpea flower, nutritional yeast, oregano, and cumin. Form a well in the center.

3) Pour liquid ingredients into the well and stir with rubber spatula until dough leaves the side of the bowl.

4) Knead dough for 2-3 minutes to develop the gluten (it will get kinda stringy and mushy).

5) Let dough rest for 10 minutes; knead again for 30 seconds.

6) Place dough on cutting board, cut into four equal pieces with sharp knife then lightly knead each piece a few times.

7) Shape each into a roughly oblong loaf shape.

8) Tear off four 12-inch square sheets of aluminum foil. Place a piece of dough in the of a piece of foil. Fold the short sides of foil over the loaf, then fold the long ends over. The foil should be secure but you want a lil loose space around the dough so it can expand while cooking. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

9) Place wrapped dough in a steamer basket and steam for 30 minutes. Unwrap and let cool while sitting on foil.

She says for best texture and flavor to prepare a day or two in advance. I agree. Just make sure it cools completely before you store it. To store it, wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap. It stores up to two weeks in fridge but can also be frozen (wrap tightly) then thawed in fridge. I used the loaves after both storing methods and it was great. I’ve learned sautéing it in peanut oil gives it some awesome crunch but I’m sure cooking it up in any oil will work. We served it with homemade tortilla’s, sautéed onions and peppers in Mexican red sauce.

Are you veg or vegan? What are your favorite go to sources of protein in a pinch?

friday highlights

Since I’m lacking the time and the brainpower to put together an in-depth meaningful post, I thought I’d share some highlights of my week. Some of which I will expound on in later posts.

Friday is a good day for bullets, don’t ya think?

• I ate at the all-raw restaurant, Ecopolitan, Monday night with Meghan and Willa. It confirmed that I’m not completely hippy, but I can survive among them happily.

• I got a flat tire one block from my house. Be careful of large puddles of water. There are pot holes underneath them just waiting to bite you.
• Thanks to Liza, the local vegan lent participants participated in a meal swap. It was awesome.
• I ran….outside! I’m very hopeful that spring has finally sprung and the rest of this snow will disappear quickly.
• I have very strange leg pain going on that is either concerning or a sign that I’m aging.
• I made this dish in the Corner Table Kitchen with Kate. I will definitely expound on this evening. Holy crap was it cool.

• Aside from the above, I haven’t cooked anything all week. It was awesome and sad all at the same time.
• I am very excited for my weekend as it includes running outside and Gourmet Dinner Club: Mexican style. I’m attempting vegan enchiladas. Wish me luck.

Did you have any highlights of the week? Anything you’re looking forward to this weekend?

a brief guide to making friends as a vegan in a country of cheese

The following is a guest post from fellow vegan lent participant and my dear friend, Jon.

If you’re the kind of person who’s inclined to revel in the ridiculous, you likely have friends who are equally entertained by absurd undertakings. That’s why you and your friends are fun. You’ve also undoubtedly been so disposed for long enough to have a family who accepts your idiosyncrasies as essential to your character. You are you, and you are awesome. These are the things I tell myself to justify my role on this part of planet and it works pretty well. I’m generally content with myself, and provided I attempt to keep life choices on the better side of the balance, most people are content with me too. There are specific times, however, when family and friends are not quite my own and downward-inflected “Ohs” are a sure sign an observer does not share my propensity for good-natured, old-fashioned impulsiveness. Such rare occurrences typically transpire something like this:

JON: “I work from home.”

CRITIC: “That must be nice.”

JON: “Yeah, it’s a rare day when I wear pants to work.”

CRITIC: “Oh.” Dropping off to chirping crickets.

Self-imposed veganese could have gone either way, especially since an impromptu trip to the Netherlands put me on my Lenten diet in a land that was built on cheese and sausage. To their credit, dinner hosts and restaurant-venturing companions alike understood of my discretionary limitations. This is probably a result of a Dutch tradition of compromise. It’s been explained as a necessity when your country is no bigger than a postage stamp with almost no resources of your own. You hone negotiating skills for trade, which necessitates a degree of tolerance unknown on this side of the ocean. Anyway, many thanks to .NL residents for helping me through my first animal-less days. I don’t recall any “Ohs” … at least not resulting from my menu choices.

So what does a vegan eat in a country that prides itself on a heritage of dairy supremacy? Especially when menus are in a language that only a handful of people speak.

In this regard my eating habits have helped tremendously. I’m a nibbler throughout the day and typically sustain myself on a few handfuls of nuts and fruit. The trouble comes with the evening meal, when I fill myself to the gills. I therefore only needed to be overly concerned for dinner from Wednesday to Saturday. (Although my last minute travel plans neglected to include an airline meal request verification. Thankfully I was able to trade a mushy lump of lasagna for some sparse greens and a pasty cracker.)

It appears American cuisine is unique in its longevity. Where citizens of other countries typically enjoy fresh food, Americans are more inclined to consume food that’s chemically embalmed. There’s a certain pride in our resourcefulness … that we can outsmart nature with food that will never decompose. Have you ever gone into your cupboard and noticed a dusty box of indestructible sustenance and smiled when you realized – even though you can’t recall the day the box entered the darkness of your cupboard – the best-if-used-by-date is still several decades away. Well, people in other countries are not of that disposition and trying to describe it might render a few well-targeted “Ohs.” And it was nice to enjoy some simple dishes comprised mostly of vegetables and grains.

Wednesday dinner was at H’s very old friend’s home on the other side of the rivers … where people celebrate Carnival and dress like Smurfs and “Sexy Midgets.” Dinner was a delicious green coconut curry with rice and tofu. Rather than dusting off a box of Hamburger Helper, the Dutch have ingenious spice packets that measure the spices for favorite flavors. I believe it in my head to be a remnant of the spice trade, one thing the Dutch might have excelled at … what with their negotiation skills and all. The packages require cutting and mixing, but it’s remarkably easy to produce some very nutritious meals. And while it takes 30 seconds longer than instant mashed potatoes, the result is far superior. They also take no space in a suitcase … and you don’t need to be an expert at trade to get them through customs.

Thursday I made dinner with my future mother-in-law. It was protein deficient, but none the less tasty. Bulgur boiled in vegetable stock under stir-fried kale and onion under pan-roasted pine nuts.

Friday we were guests at a dinner party with some of Amsterdam’s most warm, inviting and genuinely beautiful-to-the-core people. I had a carrot soup that was ornately layered with flavor from potato to orange to ginger to cayenne. It was the best thing I’ve eaten as a vegan … the best thing I’ve eaten in weeks. The only things that would have made it better were the bacon bits and soft cheese that everyone but me raved about.

Saturday was our last night in .NL and we were able to spend a quiet dinner for three at a Moroccan deli. Aside from hints of saffron, which is too expensive for me to buy for home use, the only memorable item was a grilled artichoke that reminded me barbecue season is starting and I can’t eat meat (INSERT EXPLATIVE). At least I can try to replicate the artichoke. To the best my uneducated palate can discern, it was brushed with some sort of nut oil and fired until the insides turned to mush. It was extra nutty and really smoky … 33 days to perfect it.

Thanks again to everyone in the Netherlands for helping me though the first couple days. But more importantly, thank you for being you and being awesome.

current inspirations

Have you entered the giveaway? Ends tonight at 5 p.m.!

I’m all of 5 days into vegan lent. So far, I’m loving it. I haven’t had any “cravings” and I’m certainly not starving.

I have shared before my love of cookbooks. In case you need a recap…

I love cookbooks. I own a lot of them. I read them like novels.

You are now caught up.

I thought I’d share the cookbooks that are my inspiration and go-to’s for this vegan challenge.

Clean Food by Terry Waters

This is my newest cookbook and I can’t wait to make just about everything in it. All of the recipes are vegan, but she doesn’t call it a vegan cookbook. It’s really about great recipes made from whole foods that are good for you. Genius.

I recently sampled the coconut pecan cranberry balls (thanks Willa!) and they made the best post-run snack.

Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson

Heidi is the author of one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. This is her first cookbook and she has a second one coming out next month that I’ve already pre-ordered. I’ve never been disappointed with her recipes. Seriously, they’ve all been fantastic. This cookbook has both vegetarian and vegan options. I’m only bummed I didn’t order it sooner!

Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

This has been a favorite of mine for awhile. I’ve made a lot of great recipes from this book. Most recently the Spanish Stew with Romesco Sauce. Talk about making vegan sound sexy!  There are many other winning recipes in here.

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero

I don’t make nearly as many recipes in here as I’d hoped because many of them tend to be complicated. However, there are many gems and when I have more time, I love diving into this one. I’ve featured a couple recipes from the book here: chickpea cutlets and the cashew pineapple quinoa stir-fry. Both are family favorites. This cookbook is also a really fun read as the authors have a great sense of humor.

What are you reading? What cookbook inspires you?