Taraxacum officinale

Has this ever happened to you?  You're in the grocery store or farmer's market, and you spot something.  "Hmm..", you think to yourself, "I've never had that before, I wonder what I could make with it!" This time, that something was dandelion greens.  As a biologist, I knew that the latin name for dandelion is Taraxacum officinale, and any plant with the species name officinale, officinalis, or officinarum indicates that it is a medicinal plant.  I figured that there must be something special about dandelion greens to have afforded it such a long-standing medicinal status.  Although often viewed as a pesky weed, it is undeniably a tenacious survivor, a quality that is indeed admirable.

After returning home with my greenery, a quick internet search revealed that dandelions are an incredible herb.  Traditionally they are used as a diuretic, improve kidney and liver function, aid digestion, stimulate appetite, act as a mild laxative, and the list goes on.  Recent research indicates dandelion can be used for weight loss, normalizing blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, and as a disinfectant. [1, 2, 3].  Nutritionally, they are an excellent source of calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, vitamins A, B3, B6, C, E, K, thiamine, riboflavin, and folate [4, 5].  That only scratches the surface.  Take home message: eat more dandelions!

Problem being, dandelion greens are really quite bitter.  Young greens aren't so bad, and are often found in "spring mix" salad greens.  The greens I bought were older, and when I sauteed them up with some garlic salt &  pepper like I would normally do with spinach, kale, or collards, they were much more bitter than I would like.  I figured to make them more palatable, they would need to be paired with something sweet.  Tonight's dinner was an overwhelming success!

Sweet Potato and Dandelion Saute

1 sweet potato

1 tsp rosemary

1 cup dandelion greens

1 cup other greens (I used beet greens)

1/4 cup diced red onion

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Roast the sweet potato with the rosemary in the oven until soft.

Saute onion for a few minutes in a bit of olive oil.  Add garlic, saute for 30 seconds.  Add greens and cooked sweet potatoes, toss until greens have wilted.  Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Peachy Green

I love smoothies.  They're hard not to love - delicious, healthy, filling, and can be consumed on your commute to work (unless you cycle, that would be tough).  But lately I feel like I've been in a smoothie rut, making the same couple of smoothies every day.  I needed to branch out!  Shake it up a bit!  So yesterday, while at the grocery store, I spied the box of spinach and thought to myself - it's time to go GREEN.

No one will argue the benefits of leafy greens.  In them you'll find vitamins A, C, K, folate, fiber, calcium and iron.  Wait a sec.... just what is vitamin K?  It's not one of those vitamins you hear a lot about.  But like all vitamins, it's extremely important.  It plays a major role in healthy blood clotting and it is also vitally important to bone health.  Post-menopausal women who are experiencing bone loss can help prevent fractures by consuming adequate amounts of vitamin K.  Vitamin K also inhibits calcification (aka "hardening") of the arteries that is commonly associated with heart disease.  Vitamin K deficiencies can lead to heavy menstrual bleeding, gum bleeding, nose bleeds, easy bruising, anemia, bone fractures and osteoporosis. [1] The best source of vitamin K?  Leafy greens.

Don't worry, you don't need to gorge yourself on leafy greens for fear that your blood will stop clotting and your bones will break.  One cup of cooked spinach has over 1000% of your required daily intake of vitamin K.  Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard (you get the idea) all have whopping amounts of vitamin K.  So as long as you make some leafy greens a part of your regular diet, you'll be just fine.

Back to the smoothies.   I have made a green smoothie or two in the past.  Search google for "green smoothie" and you will turn up over 1.8 million hits.  After a little searching and a few of my own attempts I have a few tips for my fellow green smoothie noobs:

1. Adding berries to a green smoothie will produce an unappealing brown smoothie.
2. Use well-ripened bananas for creaminess and sweetness.
3. Spinach has a mild flavour and is a good "starter green"
4. Blend like hell - you don't want leafy chunks in your smoothie.

Peachy Green Smoothie

1 banana (frozen)

1-2 peaches

1 tbsp ground flax seed

a handful of baby spinach 

Enough water or soymilk to make it blendable

Throw it all in a blender, blend on a high setting for at least a few minutes (or until the leaf chunks disappear)

The verdict: really quite tasty!!  The spinach flavour is barely perceptible, and I have to admit, I enjoy the green colour.  This will definitely join the regular smoothie rotation.

For whom the Bhel tolls

Back in November I visited Burnaby, B.C. (that's British Columbia, not Before Christ for any Americans who may be reading this). While I was there I ate at a terrific Indian restaurant, the Bombay Bhel. I've had Indian food many times before, but this time I had something I'd never tried before. It's an appetizer called "bhel poori" (or bhel puri as it's sometimes written). Not technically a salad, but a "chaat". A chaat is a savoury snack usually consisting of crunchy bits, chutneys and cilantro. There are many variations on this theme, as I've come to learn. Bhel poori is essentially puffed rice, sev (crunchy noodle shaped bits made of chickpea flour), onion, tomato, cilantro, and tamarind chutney. A quick internet search reveals that no two recipes are exactly the same but those basic ingredients seem to be the standards that define this dish.

As I've said, bhel poori is a chaat, not a salad. But what is a salad, really? We cannot define it based on its ingredients, since a caesar salad, bean salad, and potato salad hardly share any of the same ingredients, and yet, we all know them to be salad. The word salad comes from the Latin word salata meaning "salty". Merriam-Webster defines a salad as:

1 : any of various usually cold dishes: as a : raw greens (as lettuce) often combined with other vegetables and toppings and served especially with dressing b : small pieces of food (as pasta, meat, fruit, or vegetables) usually mixed with a dressing (as mayonnaise) or set in gelatin

This definition, particularly part b, suits my concept of salad quite nicely. Let's think back to bhel poori: Usually cold? check. Small pieces of food? check. Mixed with a dressing? Hmmm... what constitutes a dressing? Merriam-Webster tells me that a dressing is "a sauce for adding to a dish". Well, I'd say that chutney counts as a sauce for adding to a dish. Thus, I deem that bhel poori meets the criteria qualifying it to be a salad, and thus, a valid entry in the Salad Challenge!

The recipe I more or less followed is found (ironically) at No Recipes. Funny that one should find recipes on a blog entitled No Recipes, but I'm not one to judge. It's actually an excellent blog with beautiful photography, I suggest you give it a browse.

The unfortunate thing about bhel poori is that proper ingredients are not always easy to find. The local superstore only carried mango chutney, and I couldn't find any sev. I did find a snack mix called "Jaffna mix" at the local bulk barn, and it did list the main ingredient as chick pea flour, so one can only assume that the little noodle-like sticks in this snack mix is indeed sev. I did come across the occasional bhel poori recipe that called for mango, so I thought the mango chutney would suffice, especially given the loose definition the dish has to begin with. With that, I give you my very own take on bhel poori.

Ash's Bhel Poori

Serves 1

1 small potato, cooked & coarsely mashed

1/2 roma tomato, chopped

2 tbsp red onion, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup Jaffna mix

2 tbsp mango chutney (or enough to coat all the ingredients)

Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately. This recipe won't keep (the rice & sev will go all soggy). I really liked this recipe, it was quick and easy, but I would really like to try it again with tamarind chutney (this seems to be pretty important and I get the feeling that without it I'm sort of missing the mark a bit). Maybe I'll try to hunt some down in Ottawa sometime, cause I doubt I'll find it anywhere in Brockville.

Salad Challenge Countdown

Salads made: 18 Salads left: 34

Double Whammy

I'm blogging to you now from

Brockville, Ontario, my new home base for the next 6 months. In case you were wondering why I dropped the ball again and missed yet another week of my salad challenge, I will use the excuses of moving to a new city, and starting a new job (which means adjusting to a new sleep schedule). So this post will be a 2 for 1 deal of salad fabulousness.

Earlier this week I decided to try my hand at veganizing the Caesar salad. Perhaps one of the most popular salads around, and decidedly not vegan, this dressing traditionally contains egg, anchovies, and parmesan cheese. Needless to say, making this salad animal-product free is no easy task. I started by searching what else was out there on the internet. I came across several variations, but the one I decided to go with was found on Recipezaar. I chose this recipe since conveniently the recipes on this site are rated by those who have tried them, and this one was given a nearly perfect score.

Vegan Caesar I: Julius

Greenery of choice (romaine is traditional, but all I had was spinach)

croutons

Veggie Bacon - fried and crumbled

Vegan Ceaser dressing

This salad was definitely tasty, and the dressing had some zing (and Caesar style garlic breath) but I'm going to have to classify this as a food fail because it really tasted nothing like a real Caesar salad. It didn't even look like Caesar dressing on account of the soy sauce. On the up side, it tasted really good on roasted potatoes!

Tonight's salad was anything but traditional. I'm not sure why, but I started thinking of how I could incorporate chocolate into a salad. I remembered that Susan over at FatFree Vegan Kitchen has made balsamic chocolate cookies before. She explained that balsamic vinegar actually enhances chocolate flavour, and so I figured that a chocolate balsamic vinaigrette would have to be delicious. When I was in the grocery store I spotted raspberry flavoured balsamic vinegar, and I was sold. I'm sure that you could make this recipe with regular balsamic vinegar, but I highly recommend this raspberry flavoured vinegar if you can find it.

Strawberry Salad with Chocolate Vinaigrette

Serves 1

4 or 5 strawberries, sliced

2 tbsp sliced almonds

greenery (I recommend baby spinach)

Dressing

1 tsp cocoa

1 tsp raspberry balsamic vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp honey/agave nectar

This salad was seriously decadent. Seriously. Go out and make it.

Salad Challenge Countdown

Salads made: 15 Salads left: 37

Heaps of Ruination

You know when you make weight loss or diet goals and everything is going well, you feel great about yourself and your excellent will-power, and then something happens. It can be any number of things - you injure your foot, derailing your running regimen, or you go through a busy spell causing you to eat entirely too much falafel. These set-backs can often be overcome after an undetermined period of moping and regret. Sometimes something happens that threatens your entire future health, no end in sight, no foreseeable solution, and you feel that you might as well give in to a life of muffin tops and flabby arms. This has happened to me.

What could possibly have occurred to ruin years of hard earned health and fitness? What could be so epic so as to cause a blog entry of such extreme melodrama? A part of me warns me not to tell you, for it will no doubt destroy you as well, but like those who sucked me into the swirling void of diet-ruining bliss, I must share this bittersweet epiphany. It can be none other than...

THE 5-MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE!!!!

Yes folks, just 5 minutes stands between you and chocolate cake at almost any moment. I was infected with this affliction via it's facebook page. I tried it later that night, and at that moment I knew, it would take all my will power to avert obesity. 4 days and 4 warm, melty, chocolate mug cakes later, my will power has yet to even show up for battle.

The accused is pictured here, accompanied by SO Good vanilla soy ice cream, and a dollop of coconut whip. Take note of the still melty chocolate chips. I already have a head full of ideas of different variations that I want to try out. I'm doomed. At least by sharing it with my mom I'm only ever eating half a mug each time... that justifies it right?

Edit: So obviously on facebook this is not vegan, so I used soy milk and commercial egg replacer. I have also discovered that nuking it for 3 minutes and 20 seconds is perfect in my microwave. Your microwave may be different still.

"Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom." Thomas Carlyle

You may not believe it, but we really wouldn't survive without fungi. Often unseen, fungi are all around us and exert a powerful influence on the world. They are the major driving force of the nutrient cycle, they possess the necessary enzymes to break down tough plant material, returning the nutrients to the soil. There's hardly a natural molecule in the world for which there isn't a fungus that can break it down. Mighty trees are no match for these potent decomposers. Many plants form important symbioses with fungi, known as mycorrhizae, without which they could not get all the nutrients they need to survive.

Mushroom overlooking UWO campus, London

We are no exception. Yeasts are fungi too, and they make up an important part of our intestinal flora. You know all those Activia commercials with the happy bellies? They're happy because they're getting good yeasts that help them digest food. Yeasts are used to ferment soy to create soy sauce, miso, and tempeh. Yeast is used to ferment beer and wine. It is added to bread to make it rise. It is grown on a nutrient medium to produce nutritional yeast, an important food additive for vegans with no other means of obtaining vitamin B12.

Factoid: Fungi produce awesome antibiotics, including penicillin, which is often celebrated as one of the greatest discoveries of all time. Millions of people owe their lives to the everyday genius of a simple fungus.

Many fungi produce fruiting bodies, commonly known as mushrooms. These fruiting bodies are like the tip of the iceberg. The mushroom is used only for reproduction, the main "body" of the fungus stays in the soil, and the mushroom is akin to a flower bearing pollen. There are major biological differences in the life cycle, and the life cycles of fungi are very complex, but this analogy will do for the purposes of a food blog. Mushrooms are quite beautiful and fascinating structures. When I photograph mushrooms I often feel that I am stealing a glimpse at a magical world that is hidden away from us. Some mushrooms are so tiny, and yet to some organisms, they would seem like towering trees. Mushrooms always serve as a reminder to me that there are millions of organisms in a teaspoon of soil, a thought I find very humbling.

Sunlit Mushrooms, Ojibway Park, Windsor

It may or may not surprise you to know that only 1% of the mushrooms we know of are edible. Most of the rest are actually poisonous. According to my mycology textbook, The Fifth Kingdom, all mushrooms contain carcinogens, even the ones we eat all the time. Lucky for us these are easily destroyed by cooking them. The author warns to always thoroughly cook all mushrooms before consumption, even though they are routinely served raw. Sorry raw foodists, but it turns out there is at least one thing out there that isn't better for you raw.

Not surprisingly, mushrooms are quite nutritious. Because they are soil organisms, they are good sources of many trace minerals. They are an excellent source of selenium, an element necessary for DNA repair, thus making mushrooms a good member of your cancer prevention roster. Mushrooms are also good sources of copper, manganese, zinc, potassium, and iron [1]. And they're a good source of B vitamins to boot.

Agaricus bisporus is the species to which button, crimini and portobello mushrooms belong. Portobellos are my personal favourite because of their large cap and rich savory flavour. They easily stand in for beef in many situations because of their flavour and texture. They also pair well with the same bold seasonings usually used with beef, such as Montreal steak spice. And it just so happens that these are the focus of this weeks salad challenge.

Entrée salads became popular a little while ago when the western world became obese and realized that it needed to eat healthier. So what did they do? They created the steak salad, often smothered in blue cheese dressing. Somehow people convince themselves that since it's served atop lettuce this is a health food. But you and I know otherwise. The thing that steak salads do have going for them is that they are bold and hearty, and those are good things. I've taken that inspiration and created a healthy and vegan alternative to this entrée salad favourite.

Week 7: Montreal Spiced Portobello Steak Salad

Serves 1 for a main, 2 for a side

1 large portobello mushroom

1 roma tomato

Robust greenery such as romaine and radicchio

cucumber, radish and green or red onion slices

Dressing

2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce

(or roughly: 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp cider vinegar, pinch brown sugar, dash garlic & onion powder)

1 tsp montreal steak spice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp olive oil

Remove mushroom stem. Heat up a lightly oiled pan or grill to medium-high. Fry or grill mushroom cap, about 10-15 minutes per side with a splash of balsamic vinegar or worcestershire sauce. Slice tomato into 4 thick slices, add to pan/grill during last 5 minutes. Slice portobello into thin strips. Assemble salad portobello and tomato slices arranged on top.

Whisk together dressing ingredients and drizzle over salad. Top with some freshly ground pepper. Enjoy with a glass of red wine and a clear conscience.

Salad Challenge Countdown

Salads made: 7 Salads left: 45

More Thai Peanutty Goodness

My spicy Thai peanut dressing from last night put me in mind of spicy peanut dipping sauce, and my favourite thing to dip in that sauce is Thai fresh rolls (aka summer rolls). They are crunchy, fresh (as the name

suggests), snazzy looking and super easy. If you want to wow a date or dinner party, whip up some of these babies. They can be made up to a day ahead if you store them covered with a damp cloth (don't use terrycloth, the little loops and fluffs will stick to the wrappers), but they're such a snap to make, I would just get all my veggies sliced ahead of time and assemble right before serving.

The other great thing is that fresh rolls are easy to make only as much as you want at the time, with one exception - the noodles. Fresh rolls usually contain rice noodles, which usually come in bundles fit to feed a family of four, and are impossible to separate into smaller bunches without getting dry noodles in every corner of your kitchen, only to linger there and poke your bare feet for weeks afterward even though you've swept the floor several times. I may be speaking from experience. An excellent option is to plan your meals around noodles. The cooked noodles store well in the fridge and you can use them the next day for a noodley stir-fry, or in a delicious soup like the one I made tonight with my fresh rolls.

Thai Fresh Rolls

Makes as many as you want!

-slivered veggies such as peppers, carrots, cucumber, green onion, sprouts, avocado

-cooked & cooled rice noodles

-rice papers

Cook your noodles according to the package directions. When they're cooked, pour them out into a colander and rinse well with cold water til the noodles are totally cold. Slice all your veggies and have them ready. If you're using avocado, brush them with a little lemon juice to keep them from browning.

Fill a large bowl with the hottest water that will come out of your tap. Dip a rice paper sheet in the hot water, count 3 steamboats and take it out. It will still be firm, but don't worry it will continue to soften while you're assembling your roll. Line your toppings up neatly in the middle, leaving enough room on the ends and sides for proper rolling. Start bundling by folding over the two ends, then fold over one side, then roll up burrito style. It should be a pretty tight bundle, but if you roll it too tight the rice paper will tear.

*Alternatively you can skip the noodles and it can be rolled up in lettuce or other flexible leafy green leaf for a truly raw dish.*

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

This will make enough for about 4 rolls

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/2 clove garlic minced

Hot sauce or chili flakes (optional)

1-2 tbsp water to give desired sauce consistency

Stir ferociously til well blended and smooth.

The soup I made with this meal has pretty typical Asian elements and would go well with any type of meal, or all by itself as a quick lunch. The nori sheets in this recipe impart the flavour of the sea, as soups from Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and the like often are made with fish broth or other fish/seafood flavourings. You can leave it out if you're not partial to the flavour of nori. This soup is also very adaptable - you can add any number of vegetables you want. I think shredded carrot, peppers, and sprouts would be wonderful additions. Tiny cubes of tofu would also be great in this soup, and make it a more complete meal. I've given you the basics, and my personal favourite way of preparing it, it is now yours to personalize.

Super Easy Asian Noodle Soup

Makes 1 big bowl

4 or 5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional)

1 strip* toasted nori, broken into small pieces

1 green onion, sliced

1 baby bok choy, chopped

handful of cooked rice noodles*

In a hot pot, saute shiitakes, garlic, and ginger with soy sauce for a few minutes. Add vegetable broth, chili flakes and nori. *Nori is often perforated into about 6 or 8 strips, use only one of these strips, NOT a whole sheet. Let the broth simmer for about 5 minutes to let the flavours mingle. Remove from heat and add onion, bok choy and rice noodles. *If you happen to have single serving rice noodle "nests" add them in a few minutes before removing from heat. Serve in a big bowl.

Thai me up and make it hot

The winning ice sculpture at this year's international ice carving competition at Winterlude

I've been distracted this week by statistics homework, winterlude, and a kickass show featuring two fantastic Canadian bands, the Sadies and Young Rival. With all this fun, I almost forgot about my salad of the week! This does not bode well seeing as how I almost dropped the ball only 6 weeks in.

That being said, I did make a delicious salad tonight. As the title suggests, it is inspired by Thai cuisine. The things I love about Thai food? Peanutty goodness, ginger, and heat. This salad has all of those elements. My goal for this dish was to take a spicy peanut sauce stir-fry and turn it into a salad. I think I succeeded.

The salad dressing has fresh grated ginger in it. A few years ago I learned a really great tip for ginger from Rachel Ray on her "30 minute meals" show. I'm not really a big fan of hers, (I think she's a little over the top) but she makes some good food. She suggested peeling the ginger root and putting them in a ziplock baggy in the freezer. When you need some just pull it out and grate from frozen. I tried it and I can tell you it makes grating ginger SO much easier. Give it a try, you'll never go back.

Week 6: Thai Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Makes 1 salad

Greenery of choice

Sliced red bell peppers

snow peas

sliced green onion

cucumber

unsalted peanuts

dressing:

1 tsp peanut butter

1 tsp soy sauce*

1/2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1/4 tsp red chili flakes

*To make this gluten free make sure you're using gluten-free soy sauce or tamari

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Assemble salad, top with dressing, peanuts, and a squirt of fresh lime juice. I think sliced avocado would be an excellent addition to this salad, but unfortunately, I have recently learned that I may have an oral allergy to avocado and was told by my allergist to avoid it. So sad.

Salad Challenge Countdown

Salads made: 6 Salads left: 46

"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes" - Douglas Adams

That is, of course, unless your problem is hunger or scurvy (more on this later). It's been a while since I've posted a soup recipe, which is quite unfortunate because soup truly is the perfect winter food. It is the ultimate comfort food, made all the more comforting by the addition of the humble potato.

As a Canadian and descendant of some collection of Celts and Brits, I am obliged to adore the potato. And really, why wouldn't I? It is delicious, worldly, versatile, and surprisingly good for you! Proponents of the Atkins diet and other equally foolish anti-carb schools of thought have made an enemy of the potato, but it will always be an ally in my kitchen. An average sized potato has about 4 grams of protein, nearly no fat, almost half your recommended daily intake of vitamin C, and they're a good source of thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium and iron. Bet you didn't know this beige tuber was as good for you as it is delicious, did you?

More than just delicious and nutritious, the potato has been an important part of history and has shaped our society in ways many of us do not realize. Potatoes were domesticated in Peru between 3000 and 2000 BC. They grew thousands of varieties of potato, though much of this diversity has never been experienced by the "first world". Spanish explorers brought the potato back to Europe in the 1500s, where it became one of the most important food crops. Potatoes helped save Spanish sailors from scurvy due to their high vitamin C content. It was a staple crop in the 18th century among peasants, a fact that would forever change history.

Factoid: The 'bottleneck effect' occurs after a die-off, migration or other such event where a small proportion of the population is left to carry on or create a new population, which is left genetically impoverished due to the loss of genetic diversity in the gene pool.

Because European potatoes lacked the genetic diversity that the Andean potatoes possessed, they were more susceptible to disease, such as the fungus Phytophthora infestans, which lead to the Great Irish Potato famine that you've most likely all heard of. It is estimated that over 1 million deaths can be attributed to the potato famine in Ireland, while around 1 million more emigrated from Ireland around this time due to the famine and other hardships, most of whom came to Canada and the United states. In the 1851 census it was revealed that over half the population of Toronto was Irish. In Statistics Canada's 2006 census, 14% of Canadians claimed to have Irish ancestry, no doubt thanks to the potato.

So I, like many of my fellow North Americans, owe my very existence and current circumstance to the unfortunate ills of the 19th century Irish people. And what better way to honour such an important food than by putting it in a soup? One of the things I love about soup is that it is possible to make a delicious home-cooked meal with minimal ingredients, dishes, and time.

Easiest Ever Potato Soup

Serves 1

1 Medium potato, skin on, diced

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup vegetable broth

Salt & Pepper

In a pot sauté onion and garlic til soft. Add diced potatoes and broth. Tip: the smaller you dice the potatoes, the faster they will cook! Bring to a boil and simmer til potatoes are soft. Blend and serve topped with some freshly ground pepper.

Thanksgiving and Glorious Mornings

Well I've done it again! Over a month has gone by without a post, though I've been thinking about blogging all the while, alas, I never found the time to get on here and write about the delicious foods I've discovered since our last meeting.

During my absence, Canadian Thanksgiving came and went. Holidays often pose problems to vegans and vegetarians, especially when their families cannot conceive of celebrating a holiday without the slaughter of millions of unsuspecting turkeys.

Factoid: According to PETA over 45 million turkeys are killed each year at Thanksgiving(I assume in the USA), and over 22 million are killed at Christmas time.

But fear not, fellow herbivores! There are many delicious foods that you can make that you and your family will enjoy. During holiday season I like to make VegCooking.com's Cashew Nut Roast. The nut roast is very rich and takes the place of turkey well. I like to add a bit of poultry seasoning to it as well, and I make it all in one instead of adding the stuffing layer in the middle. Even my staunchly omnivorous brother once said "It's not bad". I'll take that as a good review from him! Served along side my mom's stuffing and the usual veggie sides, this will be a dinner you can really give thanks for!

Thanksgiving dessert in my family has always been pumpkin pie. We always use E.D. Smith's canned pumpkin pie filling, which always turns out delicious and perfectly spiced. However, the recipe calls for evaporated milk and an egg. This year I decided to go out on a limb and veganize this classic. I know there are many vegan pumpkin pie recipes out there, but I really wanted to make a version so that my family would not even notice the difference. So I made my own evaporated milk by simmering soymilk in a saucepan until it was reduced by half, and putting a couple of tablespoons of ground flaxseed into the pie instead of the egg. I put it in an all vegetable shortening pie crust, and voila! vegan pumpkin pie from a can! I expected it to be runny and not set properly, but no, it was perfect! It was just like the real thing. I don't know why anyone would go through the fuss of making tofu pumpkin pie!

Another exciting event that occurred during my absence was the opening of a new coffee shop beside campus, the Green Bean. Better yet, they have a few delicious vegetarian options that are easily veganized. One of my favourites is their Morning Glory breakfast wrap. It is a simple recipe you can easily make at home, but something that had never occurred to me before trying it there. It is sinfully delicious, and one of my new favourite foods.

the Green Bean's (veganized) Morning Glory wrap

1 tortilla

1 banana

Peanut Butter

Granola

Honey (or agave, maple syrup or other non-honey syrupy sweetness if you're anti-honey)

Spread a generous amount of peanut butter on your wrap of choice. Slice bananas and arrange on top of peanut butter. Sprinkle a handful of granola and drizzle honey on top. Roll up tightly and you have yourself an easy, nutritious, and filling breakfast that you can take with you on the bus, in the car, or on your walk to school or work!

Note: I advise wrapping wrap in some waxed paper or something if you are taking it on the run so you don't end up with honey dribbling down your hand or into your lap!

"Only the pure of heart can make good soup" - Beethoven

It has been a mighty long time since my last post, I shall try not to make a habit of it. I spent the end of August in my home and native land, the Ottawa Valley. While I was there the weather took a turn for the worse, as it does every time I visit. It seems hurricane Bill (seriously? Bill? Could they have come up with a more benign name?) brought some cold weather and rain inland, and it downright felt like fall.

Although I am a die-hard summer fan, there is one thing that I look forward to with the coming chill in the air - soup season!! Living in Canada one has to find a silver lining in our seemingly endless winters. Some people play hockey, others ski, but not me. I make soup.

Though the weather has once again warmed, it's too late, I've caught the soup bug. Lucky for me, this early start to soup season has coincided with end of summer produce harvest, the makings of very delicious soup to be sure! The last time I was at the farmer's market I picked up some celery, then foolishly picked some up at the grocery store on Monday. With all this extra celery I just had to make a celery soup.

"Canada is the essence of not being. Not English, not American, it is the mathematic of not being. And a subtle flavour - we're more like celery as a flavour. " - Mike Myers

Celery's flavour may be subtle, but it is also a lovely flavour, that, with a little encouragement, can add great depth to a soup. I simply adore celery. My uncle despises it and I think he's crazy. It belongs to the family Umbelliferae (or Apiaceae, depending on your preference), a family that also includes carrots, and savory spices such as caraway, fennel, dill, parsley and cilantro. Not only is celery delicious, but very healthy. With only 10 calories per 100 grams, it is a guilt free source of vitamin C, calcium, fiber, and iron. It is a food that has been with us for ages. In the eighth century BC, Homer wrote in the second book of The Iliad: "Their horses stood each by his own chariot, champing lotus and wild celery." Lucky horses.

Celery Soup

Makes 1 serving - double, triple or quadruple if you're cooking for more than yourself!

3 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp celery seed

3 mini potatoes, or 1 smallish potato, chopped

1 1/2 cups veggie stock

Saute celery and onion until softened. Add garlic and celery seed and saute 1 minute more. Add potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer until potatoes are softened. Puree with a hand blender (or transfer carefully into a normal blender). Top with some freshly ground pepper, and a celery leaf if you want a little extra somethin-somethin.

Factoid: Celery seed should be avoided by pregnant women as it stimulates the uterus and is rumored promote miscarriage!!

I ate this with a toasted mock tuna salad sandwich (which I made using only 2 spoonfuls of veganaise, I totally agree with Lindy Loo that 1/4 cup is way too much). They paired very well and made for a satisfying and healthy dinner.

Cool beans and naughty fruit

I had plans on making vegan empanadas for my Latin America inspired dish, when who should come by the lab but Luis, a colleague who just so happened to come with us to the conference in Miami. Having read my blog (and critiquing my spelling) and learned of my culinary intentions, he decided to share with me one of his favourite recipes. I will attempt to recreate this dish and do it justice, although I will no doubt screw something up and hear about it in the lab tomorrow.

The thing that makes this really authentic is the bean. Luis is from El Salvador, and there the bean of choice is the "Frijol Rojo De Seda Salvadoreno" or the Salvadoran red bean. It is a variety of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, a species which also includes many of the other beans commonly associated with South American cooking such as black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans. I needn't belabor how good for you beans are, I feel that this ought to be common knowledge, especially if you are a vegan or vegetarian.

Luis didn't know what this dish was called, and the closest approximation of what he described that I can find is a Salvadoran dish called a "pupusa", which is basically a flat stuffed corn tortilla. It is usually stuffed with meat, refried beans, cheese, or a mix of all three in the case of "pupusas revueltas". To take this meal to the next level, he tops his pupusas with sliced avocado and chimole. Chimole is a fresh salsa made with tomato, onion, cilantro and lemon juice.

Avocados are a wondrous fruit, chock full of
goodness. They have the most fiber of any fruit, are high in potassium, folate, B vitamins, and vitamin E. In addition to it's well known benefits to the skin and hair, avocados are also excellent for reducing cholesterol when eaten regularly. This odd fruit with its large pit is believed to have co-evolved with now extinct large animals that would have eaten the fruit and dispersed the pit by excreting it. Lucky for us, cultivation by humans has likely prevented this species from going extinct with its natural disperser.

Factoid: According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the name avocado comes from Nahuatl word "ahuakatl" which means "testicle". The fruit was also believed to boost fertility.

Midway through describing the recipe, Luis stops and asks me "Do you know how to choose an avocado, or do you just think you do?" Feeling slightly intimidated, I let him describe how to correctly select a ripe avocado. Not too dark and squishy, that's past good, not rock hard, this isn't ripe yet. It should be dark on one end, still green on the other, soft but still slightly firm. Fortunately there were only 5 to choose from at the grocery store so the pressure was off, but I think I got a pretty good one. He goes on to warn me to never scoop the avocado from the skin with a spoon, claiming this to be bad etiquette. I'm not so sure about that one, but he will be pleased to know that no spoons were used in the making of this recipe!

Now, let's get on with the recipe! If you can't find seda beans, I'm sure pinto beans will do just fine, though I'm sure the recipe's creator would disagree with me. This recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce, which isn't often vegan, but there is a very good recipe in the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook that is fast and easy to make of you cannot find a store bought vegan brand in your area.


Luis' Seda Bean Pupusas with Avocado & Chimole


(the below quantities are meant to feed one, but you will have some leftover beans, which I put in a wrap the next day!)

the beans
1/2 cup dry Salvadoran red beans
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
seasoned salt & cayenne pepper to taste

the chimole
1 roma tomato
1 green onion
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 avocado, sliced
tortillas, use corn to make this dish gluten free

Rinse the beans, and cover with lots of water in a pot with oregano, season salt, and garlic clove. Boil until soft. This took about 2 hours for me. Pour off liquid & blend beans into a puree. Set aside.

In a skillet, saute onion in olive oil until brown and caramelized. Remove onion, leaving oil in the pan. Discard onion (it is only used to flavour the oil). Add bean puree, Worcestershire, and season to taste. Fry the beans over medium heat until they form a thick paste (about 10 min).

For the chimole, chop tomato (removing the gooey seeds), green onion and cilantro and mix together in a bowl. Squeeze the lemon into a separate bowl until a few minutes before plating.

Spread bean paste on tortilla of choice and cover with either another tortilla (if using small ones), or folding in half (if using large tortillas). Bake in a hot oven until tortilla becomes crispy.

Slice the avocado and arrange on top of pupusa. Top with chimole and enjoy!

This was a delicious and fresh summer recipe, however it was less than refreshing to prepare. The hours of bean boiling and the oven being on left my kitchen hot and sweaty. Regardless of whether or not this would meet my friend's discerning palate, it was a satisfying meal that I will be sure to make again.

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello to anyone who happens upon my blog! This isn't the first time I've started a blog, not even the first time I've started a vegan blog. My first attempt at blogging didn't go so well. I started one to talk about all the science, psychology, nutrition and other knowledgey type things regarding veganism, but I found that I just didn't have the time to do the research. You see, I'm a graduate student, in biology, and I don't believe in talking about facts without solid references to back it up. As a result, each blog became like a mini research paper. So sadly, it fell by the wayside. Who knows, maybe someday, if I ever have "free time" again, I'll start it back up.

This brings me to my current blog. It occurred to me that not only do I love knowledge, but I also just love food in general. I am always reading vegan food blogs and trying new recipes I find, veganizing old favourites, or plain old experimenting with food. So I decided that perhaps a more holistic blog was in order that dealt with all of these things, including a little science sprinkled in.

To start things off, let's talk a bit about one of my favourite blogs: the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. I adore this website for a number of reasons. First, not only is it vegan (obviously), but it also focuses on healthy vegan cooking. So many people assume that just because it's vegan, it MUST be healthy, which is just not so. The second thing I love about this blog is the beautiful photography. The only thing better than good food is good food that looks good too! But the most important thing about this blog is how reliably good the food is. I have never been disappointed, indeed things often surprise me at just how good they are. The ingredients are usually easy to come by at any well stocked supermarket or Bulk Barn (which is the best place on earth for you non-Canadians who may have never experienced it. All the things you would find in a health food store plus candy and chocolate and snacks. It's the bomb).

For dinner tonight I made one of her recipes. I made her Eggplant Pancakes Florentine and let me tell you, it was to die for. I like eggplant, but I firmly believe that eggplant haters would even like it, so if you're feeling a touch trepidacious, take that leap and give it a try. Not only was it delicious, it was surprisingly easy. Sure it looks snazzy, but it was so easy that I made this after coming home from an afternoon of rock climbing and never thought to myself "Ugh, I should have just grilled up a veggie burger".

One of my favourite parts about this recipe is that it was so easily made into a "for one" meal, which is a very important criteria for me since my cat doesn't like eggplant so much. I used a smallish eggplant, and half amounts of the other ingredients listed. To add to the speed of my meal I also cheated a little and instead of making the tomato sauce Susan posted, I opened a can of "Aylmer Accents Spicy Red Pepper" diced tomatoes and spooned it on top. I know that fresh is better, but this eliminated an extra step and an extra pan. As you can see, I served this with some steamed asparagus (fresh, local, and delightfully in season!).

Another thing I like about this recipe, is that it uses chickpea flour, which is a recent obsession of mine, but this is a subject for another day's post.