Vegtastic!

I dined at Thrive for the first time last week.

Thrive a seat-yourself establishment, and the afternoon was wonderfully busy enough that there was a wait. I love seeing vegan restaurants, umm… thriving, but my blood sugar was pretty low and my mood depended on getting some food into my system.

I nabbed a spot at a large communal table after standing around about 20 minutes, and when a couple of other women joined me and talked with each other about nothing but the mundane details of their upcoming weddings, I resigned myself to a miserable meal.

I wasn’t digging the whole Thrive experience until my marinated kale salad and chai arrived.

My tastebuds overwhelmed all other senses until I could no longer hear the banal ramblings of DJs and bridesmaids dresses, and my annoyance at lack of personal space vaporized as a sank my teeth into crunchy kale balanced with a creamy spiced zucchini hummus, walnuts, ocean-fresh nori, and smoky coconut bacon, washed down with just-right sweet almond milk tea. The contrast between the kale and kale chips was natural yet brilliant — the variety of vegan dining.

The meal had “replicate me” spelled all over it.

I’ll be returning to Thrive later this month with a group of vegan ladies, and I can’t wait to try more. Until then, I’ll eat this mostly raw take on their marinated kale salad. It’s requires a spiral slicer, a mandoline slicer, a blender, a bit of oven time, and some chopping, but is worth the effort.

Marinated kale salad

serves 2 for a meal, or 4 as a side

Ingredients

• 1 batch dinosaur kale, stems removed and ripped into small pieces
• 2 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• red sea salt, to taste
• 1 cucumber, julienned thinly and cut into half moons
• 1 carrot, spiral sliced and cut into short, thin strips
• Zucchini hummus: blend 1 small zucchini, 1 tbs tahini, a very small garlic clove, juice of 1/2 lemon, and a handful of cilantro
• ≈2 TBS  Vegan Good Things’ coconut bacon or more to taste (I make it in much smaller portions: 1/2 cup thinly shredded unsweetened coconut, 1 tsp liquid smoke, 2 tsp tamari, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1 tsp water; bake it at 300 for 15 minutes, and there will be plenty left over for BLTs)
• ≈2 TBS walnuts or more to taste
• 1 cup seasoned kale chips (like House of the Sun’s Kale-Collard-Zucchini Chips) or to taste
• 1/2 sheet nori, ripped into small pieces

Instructions

1. Place kale, lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt in a large bowl; mix well and let sit at least 10 minutes.
2. Add cucumber, carrot, and zucchini hummus and mix well.
3. Plate salad and top with coconut bacon, walnuts, nori and kale chips.

My formula for which team to root for in any given American professional sporting event is as follows:

1. A Bay Area sports team, as that is my native turf. In the rare, earthquake-inducing instance of two Bay Area sports team playing one another, the hierarchy is: Oakland for baseball, San Francisco for football. You’re not supposed to “switch sides,” but I prefer the American League (because that’s the league the Red Sox play in– see #3) and the Raiders are terrifying. This rule can be adjusted if a player on the formula-defined opposing team is especially cute. If no Bay Area sports teams are playing in a particular match, then:
2. A Seattle sports team. This is generally the losing choice for every non-soccer sport, but, if crappy sports are one of the few downsides to living somewhere awesome, so be it. If no Seattle sports teams are playing in a particular match, then:
3. Any team competing against any New England sports team because Boston fans are obnoxious. If a New England team is not playing in a particular match, then:
4. The team a friend is rooting for or a team whose win or loss will impact my life (i.e., the Big Boss is in a better mood when the Packers or Cubs win; therefore, I want these teams to win). If two friends are rooting for competing teams, judge based on #’s 5 and 6, or by which is the better friend. If the outcome does not affect my life or a friend’s’ life, then:
5. The team with the most aesthetically pleasing player. If all players are equally unattractive, then:
6. The team with the best uniform, colors, mascot, city, QB not being a probable rapist, or some other arbitrary qualification.

I obviously don’t give the proverbial damn about sports, and only watch major athletic events because they’re an excuse to get drunk during the day and nibble on unhealthy foods.

But, with the playoffs upon us (49ers!) and the Super Bowl approaching, I’ve been asking myself, “what can vegans eat while the omnis gnaw on pizza and wings?”

7 layer dip is my favorite for idle game time munching: it’s the ooey-gooey good parts of man’s most perfect food, the burrito, minus the carbs.

My mom always made 7 layer dip for pool parties and gatherings with friends when I was growing up. Hers had refried beans, diced tomatoes and white onions, store-bought guacamole, canned chopped black olives, sour cream, and cheddar cheese.

Back then, I used to eat around the guacamole layer — kids are so silly.

This vegan version has vegetarian refried beans, Tofutti non-hydrogenated Sour Supreme, and Wayfare’s We Can’t Say It’s Cheese Cheddar spread; you could sub out the Sour Supreme with cashew sour cream to make this soy-free, and if you can’t find Wayfare at the local veg-friendly store, well, I feel sorry for you. My recipe also calls for salsa instead of fresh tomatoes and onions, purely for ease.

It’s just as cool, creamy, flavorful, and decadent as what Mom used to make, and will turn your living room into a tailgate party in 5 minutes.

Easy vegan 7 layer dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz) can vegetarian refried beans
• 1 (4.25 oz) can chopped olives
• 8 oz (1/2 jar) salsa
• 2 avocados, mashed with garlic powder, lime or lemon juice, and salt (e.g., easy guac)
• 2 (8 oz) tubs Wayfare cheddar spread
• 1 (12 oz) tub vegan sour cream
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped

Instructions:

1. Layer ingredients in an 8-cup baking dish in the order listed above. Or, in another order of your choosing — layer order will not affect flavor. Hell, put it all in a blender and it will taste just about the same.

Serve with tortilla chips and a healthy dose of willpower, because you’re going to need it. And, seriously: don’t waste your time with Tostitos. Cabo Loco and Juanita’s are the only way to go.

The woman I lived with during my junior year abroad in Russia was many things: large, gruff, tough, grandmotherly, not particularly fond of Americans or wearing pants around the apartment, professional (she still worked as a gynecologist), and all around pretty terrifying. She had an awesomely foul mouth, and even my fellow American students’ Russian host moms were afraid of her.

I’m pretty sure she saw me as the human equivalent of a houseplant: feed it, talk to it a bit, generally leave it alone.

However, she was a great cook. Many Americans claim to not like Russian food, but I think they’d change their minds if they ate hers.

While grating beets for this Russian-inspired raw vegan salad, I was nervous that my favorite jeans would soon be covered in flecks of red, so I took them off.

Immediately, I flashed back to sitting on a stool in Marina Stepanovna’s small, cozy kitchen, watching her stand by the stove in her undies and a t-shirt, swearing loudly as she nearly burned my dinner (though she never did — again, great cook).

There’s nothing to burn in this dish, but careful while you’re grating the beets. You’ll definitely curse if you shred a finger.

Creamy raw beet salad with walnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 large beet, grated
• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight and drained
• 3 small garlic cloves
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup walnuts
• sea salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Place cashews in a VitaMix with enough water to almost cover them. Add lemon juice and garlic, and combine until well-blended.
2. Place grated beets, walnuts and salt in a bowl; stir in cashew cream.

Serve chilled, with black tea and intimidation.

Did you know that the first season of “Portlandia” is available on Netflix?

That’s pretty much how my over-celebrated self spent New Year’s Morning: sipping coconut water, eating cold vegan pizza, and watching everyone’s favorite satire of the crazy antics of Seattle’s wacky neighbor to the south.

Two of the characters are a pair of dumpster-diving freegans. Here’s their story — you should probably watch it for the rest of this post to make sense.

While I’m not going to use a metal tube as a sleeve or cuddle a dirty crochet doll, the curry lentil cabbage cumin stew they made for their dinner party from their finds actually sounded kinda… good.

So I made some — with ingredients entirely from the supermarket.

Here’s my version. Adorable miniature stuffed koala optional.

Curry lentil cabbage cumin stew

Ingredients:

• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/2 head cabbage, shredded/chopped
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 TBS lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.
2. Add cabbage, curry powder and ground cumin and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add lentils, broth and salt and pepper, to taste, cover, and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until lentils are soft.
4. Stir in lemon juice.

Serve with crusty bread and a grating derision of the wasteful mainstream world.

What’s your go-to snack? Mine is definitely herbal popcorn.

Back in college, the campus coffee shop would serve the herbal popcorn from Little Lad’s bakery — nutritional yeast and spices bound to fluffy kernels with a healthy blanket of soybean oil — in cruelly small little plastic bowls.

Seriously, this stuff is too addictive to be dolled out in 1-cup portions — you eat it by the fistful.

I make a healthier version with the ingredients above.

Here’s how it goes: pop a bag of oil-free popcorn, pour into a large tupperware with a lid, spray with cooking spray (make sure you mix it up to get it evenly coated), sprinkle with salt, nutritional yeast, dried dill, onion powder, garlic powder, and maybe some paprika or hot pepper, and shake to coat.

Or, pop 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels in the greatest popcorn popper ever (I got mine at Value Village for $2; you can get one online), spray with cooking spray (again make sure you mix it up to get it evenly coated) or instead pop the kernels in a TBS of oil, pour into a large tupperware with a lid, sprinkle with salt, nutritional yeast, dried dill, onion powder, garlic powder, and maybe some paprika or hot pepper, and shake to coat.

It’s that simple.

Daphne Oz has a recipe if you’re one of those people who abso-posi-lutely need direction, though the flavors are different from my Little Lad’s rip-off (no onion powder — which is a must — and the addition of parsley and oregano).

Great for movie time or shoving in your face any time.

Don’t go in there!!!

Kelly, who used to work with me and is now doing some very cool projects, recently found out that her food allergies have limited her to essentially a gluten-free, soy-free vegan diet. We met for coffee the other day and she asked whether I knew of any good gluten-free vegan blogs.

Oh, do I ever.

Now, my body can tolerate the large amounts of gluten I regularly put in it, but it seems like there’s always one person in any given social circle who can’t eat my favorite grains. Since I try to cook for the lowest common denominator and believe you can eat deliciously on any diet, I end up baking sans wheat on occasion.

Plus, there are a lot of gorgeous blogs and cookbooks out there with delicious recipes that just happen to be vegan, gluten- and soy-free.

A few excellent blogs:

• Gluten free, Soy free, Vegan
• Gluten-free vegan family
• Manifest Vegan
• Gluten-free Goddess
• Choosing Raw
• Spa Bettie
• Green Vegan Living
• The Gluten-free Vegan
• Raw on $10 a day (or less)
• Fresh Young Coconut
• The Blissful Chef’s blog (and Blissful Bites)
• Freshly Vegetarian
• Air Eater
• Cupcake Kitteh
• Veg-am

Other resources:

• The Allergen-free Baker’s Handbook by Cybele Pascale is full of entirely vegan, gluten-, soy-, and every other common allergen-free recipes.
• Jennifer Cornbleet’s Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 people really does take the intimidation out of raw food.
• xgfx is a great online source of gluten-free vegan recipes.
• I don’t own this and have never cooked from it, but The Gluten-Free Vegan gets good reviews on Amazon, and supposedly has minimal soy, corn, etc.
• Again, I don’t have it, but The Food Allergy Survival Guide looks promising.
• While not entirely gluten- and soy-free, my favorite cookbook du jour, Appetite for Reduction, has a number of clearly labeled gluten-free and soy-free recipes. Also, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World has, hands down, the best gluten-free/soy-free chocolate cupcake on the face of the planet.

Local goodies:

• Skydottir Epic Cookies — these delectable bite-sized gluten-free vegan confections currently have soy lecithin in the chocolate chips, but I have on good account (from baker Alison via Twitter) that they will be soy-free in 2012. Sweet!
• Maninis is a local company that sells gluten-free, soy-free flours. They also have a gluten-free baking blog, though not all recipes are vegan (though easily soy-free veganizable if you sub out Ener-G or flax for eggs, 1/3 cup oil for every 1/2 cup butter, and hemp or rice milk for dairy milk).
• Katy swears by Wheatless in Seattle. Their website proclaims “EVERTHING we serve is Gluten-Free and Wheat-Free, and many items are soy free, dairy-free and/or vegan.” I’ve had their muffins, and while I don’t know whether these were soy-free, they were certainly delicious.
• Flying Apron is all gluten-free and vegan, and it looks like many (if not all) options are soy-free! Some of their baked goods are a bit dense and grainy for my taste, but their oreo-like brownies and Macaroni and Chez are to die for.
• Thrive is a vegan restaurant which I am ashamed to say I have never visited. I hear really, really good things, and they have a large raw menu.
• Chaco Canyon is all vegan, and has plenty of gluten-free and raw options, as well as a list of ingredients on hand at the counter. I am a little in love with it.
• Healeo’s pizza is gluten-free and soy-free (and delicious!). They undoubtably serve other gluten- and soy-free delights as well. (added 12/28/11)

Gluten-free, soy-free vegans in Seattle and beyond — what are your favorite resources, recipes and places to eat?

image by Geoff Peters 604 via Creative Commons

My coworker Josh made an incredible sweet potato chili for our company’s Halloween potluck. It simmered all morning in a crockpot, and filled the entire office with its Southwest-inspired aroma. We were salivating by lunchtime.

After much begging, pleading, and some threats on my part, Josh gave me the recipe. Which isn’t true at all — he very obligingly shared it. He’s a nice guy.

The recipe is actually his girlfriend Clara’s (she’s a very talented photographer), who got it from her mom, who got it from a friend, who may have thought it up herself or may have found it somewhere else. Like a tall tale, no one really knows the origins. Actually, the friend of the mother of the girlfriend of the coworker might — you’ll have to ask her.

My version is mostly the same, though because I thought I knew exactly what I was doing and recreated it from memory, what I present to you today differs slightly from the original crockpot-based recipe (doc) in a few ingredients and in that I made mine on the stove. You have options.

May I present to you Helen’s take on Josh’s girlfriend’s mom’s friend’s Sweet Potato Chili. The bonus of my version is that it’s super-duper rainbow colorful.

Fun sweet potato fact: both the sweet potatoes and yams sold on the American market are actually sweet potatoes. So, buy the white (like Josh and I did) or buy the yellow — it’s all good.

Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

• 1 medium chopped onion
• 1 each red and green bell pepper
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• olive oil, to saute onion and garlic
• 1 can (28 oz) undrained diced tomatoes
• 1 cup mild or medium green salsa
• 2 medium peeled cubed sweet potatoes
• 2 small or 1 large purple potato, peeled and diced
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 (11 oz) can corn, drained
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 TBS molasses (secret ingredient)

Instructions

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until brown and fragrant.
2. Add all other ingredients and simmer until vegetables are cooked, about an hour.
3. Serve with cashew cream and chips.

Soup, soup — sweet, simple soup.

This soup may exhibit the exotic flavors of coconut and curry, but it’s really just hearty fall peasant fare: a bunch of orange veggies blended together with some purple kale, which ends up looking sort of black when cooked, which would have made it perfect for Halloween, which has now passed.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Here’s to Halloween 2012!

Curried butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot and kale soup

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 jumbo clove garlic (or two regular-sized cloves), pressed
• Olive oil
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 bunch small carrots (or a couple large ones), peeled and diced
• 6 cups water + 1 TBS un-beef broth (or 6 cups broth)
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 bunch purple or green kale, chopped
• cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until browned.
2. Add sweet potato, squash, and carrots and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add broth, coconut milk, curry powder and salt and pepper (to taste). Cook until veggies are soft.
4. Puree about 3/4 of the mixture with an immersion blender or in a regular blender; return to pot, if using regular blender.
5. Add kale and cook for a minute or two longer.
6. Serve with chopped cilantro (optional)

Prepare yourself for the most delicious dessert you’ve (maybe) never heard of: karioka (also spelled kareoka, not to be confused with karaoke, and just as fun). Or maybe karioka are old hat to you — I just assume that my thoughts and experiences reflect everyone else’s in this world.

Something about deep-fried dough balls on a stick, glistening with syrup, caught my fancy one day at Uwajimaya. Looking at the ingredients, I noted that they were vegan.

Madeline shared with me a recipe from Art of Dessert, which provides a thorough and foolproof walk-through of preparing karioka. Rianne’s version is crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, with a coconut-brown sugar glaze you will want to eat by the spoonful.

I don’t have a deep-fryer, but a emptying a bottle of canola oil into a deep frying pan did the trick — I’d never deep-fried before, and found it to be frighteningly easy. Hellooooo, chicken-fried chickpea cutlets!

Just be careful not to overknead the dough (this isn’t seitan, folks) — this will make the insides cakier. Still delicious though.

The next time you visit the farmers market, talk to the vendors.

Pay attention to what they have to say on the differences between certain varieties of potatoes, which hot peppers are sweet (in addition to being spicy) and which are not, and what kinds of apples go best in a pie and which ones should be consumed raw. Tell them what you’re cooking, and ask for recommendations.

You’ll probably try some new foods, and learn more about how to prepare what you’re already eating. You’ll also get to know some of the people who produce your food, which is really one of the best reasons to shop at farmers markets in the first place.

This soup is made entirely from the produce available at farmer’s markets in mid-September in Western Washington, inspired by conversations with the people selling the veggies. One red jalapeño makes this soup very spicy, so look for a milder pepper if you’re adverse to heat.

Corn is naturally creamy, and this soup is even more so due to the addition of pureed white beans and nutritional yeast. Serve with crusty bread.

While I wasn’t trying to copy, my corn chowder ended up being somewhat similar to The Spicy Vegan’s Mexican Corn Chowder, which looks delicious!

Southwestern corn chowder

serves 4-6

Ingredients

Instructions

1. In a strong blender, puree the beans and nutritional yeast with about a cup of broth; set aside.
2. Saute onion and jalapeño in just enough oil to keep from sticking to the pan until onion is browned.
3. Pour in remaining broth; stir in bean/nooch mixture.
4. Add potatoes, corn, zucchini, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, and simmer for ≈10 minutes. Add roasted red peppers, and continue to simmer until potatoes are fully cooked.

*Heat oven to 500 degrees. De-seed and halve peppers, and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. Spray peppers with oil, and roast for 10-12 minutes, flipping once.