Supper and the Single Girl

Vegan Meals and Random Thoughts

Monday, November 27, 2006

Bringing back an old favorite and maybe a new one.


Well, I'm cooking again. My boyfriend's mom came into town for Thanksgiving, and when she does, we tend to eat out. I'm usually along for the ride, so I don't get much cooking done.

My Thanksgiving was lovely. I went to VSDC's Life-Affirming Thanksgiving Celebration and had a really nice time. The food, for the most part, was really delicious -- the tofu with "spicy peanut sauce" was anything but and the pumpkin pie was a disappointment, but the stuffing and gravy were wonderful and there were lots of yummy veggies and butternut squash -- and it was a huge improvement over last year. I handed out the door prizes, as I did last year, and my boyfriend's mom won one, as did I. Someone else drew the surveys, so I wasn't fixing anything.

Saturday we went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Corteo." I have never seen Cirque, and I was mostly enthralled with the show. If you're going to a circus, make sure it's like Cirque, where every participant is there because they want to be and gets paid for their work. This means avoiding the animal circuses.

Anyway, onto my meal. I made the Tomato-Walnut Crusted Seitan from La Dolce Vegan I so love, adapted a dish of Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potatoes (from Garden of Vegan to include carrots and mushrooms (the recipe only calls for sweet potatoes, squash of your choice, balsamic vinegar, oil, and a few seasonings). And I heated up some haricot verts (a fancy way of saying green beans). Yes, I have discovered I love butternut squash--yay! I bought pre-cut squash for this time, next time, I buy the whole squash and figure out how to prepare it. I don't care for yellow squash, and I'm weird about zucchini (it has to be cooked properly for me to like it), but I want to learn to appreciate other types of squash.

The brighter and deeper the color of your fruits and vegetables, the better they are for you. The butternut was sort of pale, but it became a gorgeous yellowy-orange color after I cooked it. And I love the brilliant orange of yams, as well as the taste.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Stuff it!


Carol J. Adams says she loves foods stuffed into others because it conveys a sense of richness, of luxury. I have to agree. There is something nice about the combination. But as of yet, I had never attempted to make anything stuffed. Until today. I had some mushrooms that I needed to use and a block of tofu, so I decided to use a recipe from Robin Robertson's Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Don't look at me that way. I had a salad for lunch, okay?!

Anyway, this is tofu stuffed wtih mushrooms with hoisin sauce. I had a bottle of hoisin sauce that I'd gotten at Whole Foods and a few leftover scallions. The recipe also calls for garlic and ginger. Lazy woman that I am, I buy jars of minced ginger and if a recipe calls for, say, an inch of ginger, minced, I have to guesstimate. Luckily, this recipe called for a tablespoon.

It was quite tasty, even if the one of the other three portions (leftovers!!!) kind of collapsed. I wonder if I should either use less mushrooms or increase the tofu to really stuff it well. I would absolutely make this again.

Now, Thanksgiving is coming up. I have plans--the local vegetarian society has a Thanksgiving celebration at a hotel. There's a vegan buffet, entertainment, door prizes (which I am in my second year of coordinating), and an all-around relaxing time. I don't have to go nuts in the kitchen or worry about what to eat. Actually, since I went vegan, I've had an easy time. My boyfriend's mom always flies down for the holiday, and she's happy to have a vegan meal. In 2002, we cooked up a nice meal, and she said, almost awestruck, "My first vegan Thanksgiving." I said, "Hey, my first vegan Thanksgiving." There are plenty of rich foods to eat--I have a few fabulous stuffing recipes (or maybe they're really dressings, as they're not stuffed into anything) and a gravy recipe or two. I just couldn't find the right main dish recipe.

I have much to be thankful for this year, and I want to give the turkeys something to be grateful for as well, so I won't be contributing to their destruction. If you find a good main dish recipe, let me know. It might be a good Lonely Jew at Christmas dinner.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

I live in Washington, DC

I may not get a vote in Congress, and in my four times voting, I have yet to vote for more than city officials, our nonvoting delegate, and the president, but I am and always have been a political animal. And I would think that the city is very political. But I guess my neighborhood isn't. A friend of mine and I went out to try to find a place to watch the returns. Many places in our 'hood had their TVs on, but the sound was off and there was music playing. There were places that did have TV and the sound, but were very quiet, and we wanted a crowd to cheer with. Eventually, we headed to our separate homes.

In a few words: what the hell?! I know it's only a midterm. I know it's a rainy night, but for Gaia's sake, can a political feminist vegan please find a place in her neighborhood to watch the damn election returns and cheer as if she were watching a game at the sports bar.

Thank you.