December » 2011 » VeggieGirl

A Very Chocolately Christmas

It’s no secret that I love chocolate. I think it’s strange when people say they don’t like it. How can someone not like chocolate? It’s one of the most delicious foods on the planet! And studies have shown dark chocolate in moderation is really good for you. It’s clear that my friends are familiar with my love of chocolate, because I got plenty of it for Christmas. Occasionally when I tell people that I’m vegan, their response is “so you can’t eat chocolate?” And for those people, I present the array of chocolates I received over the past week:

It all started with this little box of delicious raw chocolate from Dean and Deluca.

Then my printer gave me a little goodie bag with a few different types of chocolate, and some kale chips for good measure.

My dad sent me this box of fancy chocolates from Pangea. The little ones shaped like walnuts are my favorite.

Santa stuffed my stocking with these yummy treats from Chocolate Decadence.

I was so excited about these chocolate covered potato chips that Dennis gave me that I ripped the bag open and started eating them before it occurred to me that I should take a picture for posterity. They only thing wrong with them was that the bag was so small!

Back to V Note

As I mentioned yesterday, December 24th was Dennis’s birthday. I usually buy him theater tickets and we spend a day in New York City. This year I bought him tickets to see Alan Rickman in The Seminar. The play was excellent, and I’m really glad we got to see Alan preform live, since he’s such an excellent actor. I made the mistake of getting tickets for December 26th, which is apparently one of the biggest tourist days in the city, resulting in standing room only on the NJ Transit train in, totally jam packed subway cars and pedestrian grid lock on the streets. Note to self for next year: buy tickets for the 27th or 28th.

After the play, we got in a cab and headed over to V Note. V Note is on First Avenue between 79th and 80th Street, which makes it difficult to get to, but the food is so amazing that it’s totally worth the trek. It has quickly become one of my favorite New York City restaurants!

Battling the crowds gave us hearty appetites, so we split two appetizers to start with. We ordered the Seitan Schnitzel, which is so good that I’ve been thinking about it since the last time we ate there. It comes really with a really tasty potato salad. The people at the table next to us asked us what it was and ordered a plate for themselves too!

We also had the Lentil Rings, which consist of lentils and veggies wrapped in phyllo dough and served in a light mustard sauce.

I’ve had my eye on the Crispy Thai Tofu on the menu for a while, so I finally ordered it. I’m still wondering how they got that wonderful crispy coating to stay on the tofu so nicely. This came with a really delicious tomato and coconut sauce.

Dennis had Seitan Piccata. I was torn between this dish and the crispy tofu, so I was glad that he ordered it and I could have some. This was wonderful and I’m hoping to get back to V Note soon so I can have my own plate of it!

Celebrating Vegan Style

Dennis’s birthday is December 24th. Because Christmas Eve is not a good day to have a birthday party, our tradition is a nice homemade brunch, a movie, dinner at Veggie Heaven Denville and then dessert at home.

For brunch I made rosemary potatoes with vegan sausages and spinach tofu scramble, which was super yummy!

Dennis is not a big fan of cakey cake, so I made a cheesecake. He IS a big fan of fruity desserts, especially lime, so I made a raspberry lime ricky cheesecake.

After dessert, I made hot buttered rum (using Earth Balance in place of butter, of course!). I used hot tea instead of water. I had a sore throat and was worried about getting sick, but this drink knocked it out of me!

Christmas dinner the next day was a delicious feast! We had a Field Roast en Croute with Tofurky gravy, polenta and mushroom stuffing, mustard roasted potatoes and red wine roasted Brussels sprouts.

I’m so amazed at how many vegan “nog” options are on the market now! I wanted to try So Delishious’s new coconut milk nog. I had some gingerbread liqueur in the fridge, and I decided to mix the two together with a splash of vodka for a Christmasy version of a white Russian. Yum!

And after dinner, of course there was more cheesecake! Along with a few chocolate covered pretzels and the in my pretty new tea set.

Dennis and I had two wonderful days of celebrating and eating delicious vegan food. Now I’m looking forward to New Year’s Eve!

Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays from all of us to all of you!

The Triumph of the Lentil

The weeks leading up to Christmas are always super busy for me. I never shop at the mall – instead I like to make my own Christmas cards, bake, make crafty things and buy gifts from local shops, which tends to take up a little more time than one stop shopping at the mall would. The cards have all been mailed and all of the gifts are wrapped and ready to go, so I can relax and enjoy some hot cocoa in front of the yule log on the TV in between bouts of pulling Archie out of the Christmas tree. And I’ve finally had time to crack open The Triumph of the Lentil and start cooking! These recipes are all very hearty and warming, so they’re perfect for this time of year.

This Red Lentil Bolognese was super simple to make and was equally delicious! Why have I never thought to cook lentils and pasta together before? Add some kale and you have a complete meal! I love that most of the recipes in this book include greens!

This Penne Pasta Bake was similar to the pasta bolognese in that it’s made with pasta, marinara sauce and red lentils, but it’s baked with broccoli, a layer of creamy ricotta and a crunchy breadcrumb topping. I made this with sunflower seed ricotta, which was excellent. The flavors of the ricotta, marinara and broccoli mixed together really well. This dish just might make an appearance at an upcoming potluck!

This Lentil and Mushroom Pie is a nice take on shepherd’s pie using greens, mushrooms and brown lentils with a biscuit-like crust.

This Two Lentil Dahl uses both brown and red lentils. I served it with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

And because I couldn’t leave out my dear friend the wonderful chickpea, I made Tibetan Potato and Chickpea Curry. What’s really great about all of these recipes is that they require very little prep time, and once the food is cooking, you can just set a timer and leave the kitchen until it’s done. They’re perfect for busy weeknights!

Christmas Cookie Swap

Last week Montclair Vegans had a Christmas cookie swap at my house. Cookie swaps are always a fun way to gather with friends at the holidays, and they’re a good excuse to hit the kitchen and start baking. Last year about 14 people came to my cookie swap, and I was expecting the same amount of people this year, but to my surprise 22 people showed up! That’s a lot of cookies! Everyone sat around drinking tea, munching cookies, chatting with each other and watching my cats try to climb my Christmas tree. People took home containers of cookies at the end of the party, but there was quite a lot leftover for me. I delivered them to my vet’s office, my hair dresser, my building’s super, the staff at Veggie Heaven and some friends who couldn’t make it to the swap. Here are pictures of just some of the cookies we had:

I made Peanut Pretzel Apple Drops from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Thumbprint cookies

Gingerbread cookies

Sugar cookies

Snickerdoodles

Oatmeal cookies

Ginger snaps

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate covered peanut butter cookies

Frosted gingerbread cookies

Chocolate almond cookies

Peanut butter and jelly thumbprint cookies

Sugar cookies

And because you asked for it, here’s a picture of Archie pretending to be a Christmas ornament!

New Year’s Group Program

Is your New Year’s resolution to lose weight? Eat healthier? Take better care of yourself? Did you know that New Year’s resolutions tend to last just a few weeks? Sometimes all we need is a little assistance to keep us on track. My New Year’s Resolution Group Program will give you the support you need to keep your resolution going all year long!

In this program you will learn how to develop a new relationship with food and your body for the rest of your life. I will support you while you work through emotional blocks in your personal relationship with food, as well as provide you with practical tips to optimize your health. You will benefit from the group setting by getting extra support from other members.

In This Program You Will:

• Set and accomplish goals

• Understand and reduce cravings

• Increase energy

• Feel better in your body

• Learn how to effectively deal with stress

• Improve your overall well being

The Program Includes:

• One 90-minute session every week for six weeks

• Handouts that cover the meeting’s topics

• On-line group support

• Email support with Dianne between sessions

The group will meet every Monday at 7:00pm starting January 9th:

• January 9th

• January 16th

• January 23rd

• January 30th

• February 6th

• January 13th

The group will meet in my home office in Montclair, NJ. The address will be sent to you after enrollment.

The cost of this group program is just $250. Sign up before January 1st and receive 20% off, for a savings of $50! Contact me today to sign up!

A Visit to the Asian Market

Last weekend, my friend Jessica and I went to the local Asian market in search of vegan wonton wrappers. Instead of running in and buying the wrappers, we wandered each aisle like tourists. We picked up just about every product in the store, starring at the contents, trying to decipher the ingredients, and gawking at the packaging like it was first time we had seen a box of tea or a tub of tofu. After taking well over an hour to walk around the store, we went back and picked up some things to take home. Jessica got her wonton wrappers along with a few other items, and I bought three kinds of tofu, black sesame seeds, bok choy, a giant jar of peeled garlic, rice noodles and a package of dried shittake mushrooms. My bag of groceries cost me less than $20, which is much, much less than I would have spent at Whole Foods or a health food store.

So what did I make with my Asian store booty? I started off with a spicy shittake, bok choy and tofu stir-fry with rice noodles. I sprinkled it with chopped scallions and black sesame seeds right before serving.

And then I made a yummy spicy Ma Po Tofu in my slow cooker. I’m happy to say that I still have a lot of rice noodles, garlic and sesame seeds left!

If you’re looking for unusual items that regular grocery stores don’t carry or inexpensive staples such as rice and noodles, I suggest trying your local Asian market. Jessica and I are already planning our next trip and making lists of what we want to buy next!

The Tipsy Vegan

I’ve been vegan for over 10 years now, and I’m well aware of all of the vegan stereotypes. Vegans are boring, vegans don’t like to eat, vegan food is bland and tasteless, there’s nothing to eat on a vegan diet, blah, blah blah. I’ve also been vegan long enough to know that none of that is true. John Schlimm’s new book The Tipsy Vegan is here to squash those stereotypes and show people who are unfamiliar with vegan cooking how fun it can be.

The dishes in this book are fun, flavorful and easy to make, and John’s sense of humor shines through with recipe names such as “Cocky Coconut Rice” and “Oh Snap! Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas”. The recipes are divided in to sections such as party starters, soups, salads and lunches, and each section starts off with a cocktail recipes to get you started. I love that the book is well organized and has a nice clean layout with one recipe to a page, which makes it easy to follow directions, and there are lots of mouthwatering photos spread throughout. Any lover of good food – vegan or omnivore – will love the dishes you cook up with this book, so crack open a bottle and get cooking!

The leeks used in this Screwy Fusilli with Broccoli are what give the dish so much delicious flavor. I made a few alterations and swapped out cashews for pine nuts and olives for raisins.

I was a little impatient when cooking this Penne alla Vodka Martini, and I didn’t cook the sauce as long as the recipe called for. It was still really tasty though!

I made Splish Slash Pepper Roasted Cauliflower to go with the penne. Roasting cauliflower is the perfect way to bring out it’s flavor and adding jalapenos gives it a nice kick.

I really love shittakes and tofu together, so this Hot Toddy Tofu and Shittakes was a perfect dish. I served it over yummy Cocky Coconut Rice.

This Buxom Broccoli Sesame was the perfect compliment to the tofu and shittakes.

These Rockin’ Roasted Potatoes with Racy Rosemary and Mustard were the perfect warming dish for a cold autumn evening! When I do eat french fries, I like to dip them in mustard instead of ketchup, so mustard and roasted potatoes seems like the perfect combination to me.

I bought a pretty stalk of Brussels sprouts at Trader Joe’s, so I had to make Blitzed Brussels Sprouts Moutarde. The stalk had so many sprouts on it that I had to double the recipe, which was a good thing because it was so yummy that we wanted to keep eating it! I baked this dish rather than microwaving it as the recipe suggests.

Spiral Diner

Dennis never has to travel for work, but his company has been telling him that they would probably have to send him to Texas for a while. He was not looking forward to it, mainly because the words “Texas” and “Vegan” aren’t usually used in the same sentence together. But when I told him about the Spiral Diner, he didn’t mind the idea too much. The trip finally happened last week – he left before the sun came up on Tuesday and came home really, really late on Wednesday night. So late that it was actually Thursday. He was so excited by the idea of eating at the Spiral Diner that he drove himself straight there from the airport. Everything he ate for the duration of his short stay came from the diner, including the apple pie he bought on Tuesday night to take back to his hotel room for breakfast on Wednesday morning. Fortunately for us, he took photos of just about everything he ate.