Veganizing is so much fun!!

Okay, I got a little overenthusiastic there. But I do love taking cruel recipes and making them animal friendly. If you make your own seitan--and as I've said before, I recommend that you do--you can adapt just about any recipe that calls for boneless pieces of meat by using seitan. So I dragged out my American Heart Association cookbook, found a recipe for rosemary turkey with mushrooms. The only changes I made? Instead of turkey, I used seitan. Instead of chicken broth, I used vegetable broth. And since I was out of the shallots the recipe called for, I used half an onion. Oh, and since I didn't have cornstarch, I used arrowroot instead. I made the Seeds of Nature Seven Grain Pilaf, heated up some frozen green beans and had myself a tasty little dinner. Depending on how the leftovers go (sorry to say, but sometimes it's best when it's freshly cooked), I may just make this again. It would go best with a grain pilaf instead of potatoes, so I'll have to make another make some more.

And if you don't subscribe to Ms. magazine, check out the latest issue. In the banging-my-own-drum category, I had my letter published. Their last issue, in the spring (it's a quarterly magazine), had an article on global warming. After reading the articles, I was chagrined to see there was no mention of how what we eat affects the state of the planet. I found several big stats that would hopefully make people think and fired off a letter. Sadly, most of those stats were excised, but I'd like to think my point will get across to the readers. When I checked the website early this week--it just came out on the newsstand Monday--the new issue hadn't yet been put up. But, really, buy the magazine. Better yet, consider subscribing!

And when you see an article in a magazine or newspaper that affects you, that angers you, or an issue comes up that you feel needs to be addressed, write a letter to the magazine/paper. If you don't feel confident about the letter, get a friend to review it before you send it off. And even if your letter doesn't get published--and many letters I've written haven't, although a handful have in various magazines on various issues--editors (hopefully) have taken your views into account. I have read that for every letter the newspaper or magazine receives, there are dozens of people who feel the way you do.

So get writing!

Oh, what a beautiful day

On the third Saturday of every month, a local restaurant Java Green has a funding day for a wonderful local organization, Compassion Over Killing. Basically, 10 percent of sales go to COK. Another local place, Vegetable Garden, has funding days on the first Thursday of every month. Recently, COK has started leafleting near well-trafficked areas before going to eat at the funding restaurant. I can't help them hand out Easy Vegan Recipe guides and veg-dining guides on Thursdays, but I can do it on Saturday, after which we go to eat at the supporting restaurant. So I met up with the woman running the leafleting, grabbed some stuff and went to the entrance of a Metro station a couple of blocks away. Almost everyone was polite, whether or not they accepted the guides I was handing out. One man said that his wife was vay-gun (this after I'd said "vegan"), and I said that the guide was a restaurant guide. He took it. I don't know if running to catch people counts as exercise--it should.

Afterwards, we all gathered to eat, and I had my usual "chicken" rice bowl (really chunks of soy protein in a delicious sauce) and Cricket Cola, a green tea cola I love. With us was someone new to activism, but apparently has been vegetarian for a few years, so the organizer and I explained the environmental damages wrought by the animal foods industries. I did a bit of research to send a letter to Ms. magazine in response to an article they did on global warming, plus I've read numerous books on the subject, so I felt I could talk with some authority. COK focuses primarily on the animal rights issues, but I like to touch on health, animals, and environment because you never know what may get through to a person.

The weather has been manic depressive this week, going as low as the 50s Thursday and Friday and up into the 80s today. It was beautiful today--the complete opposite of grey, chilly, rainy Friday--but if I was in the shade, I needed my hoodie, and when I was in the sun, it was too hot for my hoodie. I sat in the sun while we ate and basked in the warmth. I even splurged on a chocolate vegan milkshake (ohhhhhh) while my boyfriend got a create-your-own smoothie with banana, mango, and coconut milk. A few other friends showed up, and we chatted and just hung out.

After everything broke up, my boyfriend and I made our way to my place, where I collapsed in bed and napped for an hour. I don't know if it was the running around, sitting in the sun, or a combination of both, but I was sacked out. I think I recall having spent days at the beach as a kid, and being in the sun would just put me to sleep. I didn't want to nap too long--I do have to get to bed tonight so I can work Sunday--but I was very reluctant to drag myself out of bed, which my cat supported wholeheartedly.

But I did get up and do the laundry and eventually cook dinner, another recipe adapted from the Heart Association cookbook, this one a lemon seitan dish (the original dish called for lamb and chicken broth; I used seitan and vegetable broth). I veganized it, of course, and added capers to the sauce. I'm trying to decide if I like the mustard in the sauce, or if I should remove it and add more lemon juice or something else, maybe garlic or tamari. I think it's mostly good, but I will be tinkering with the recipe to try to perfect it.

And like a good girl, I did have a salad with it, although it isn't pictured here. I made the same type salad and the same Sesame Ginger dressing I did last time, but instead of olive oil, I used half flax oil and half sesame oil, and I think that enhanced the flavor. If you want a sesame or Asian flavor, get yourself some toasted sesame oil, and keep it in the fridge once opened. If you want to add omega-3 fatty acids, get some flax oil, and absolutely keep that refrigerated. I once read somewhere that all oils, except for olive, should be refrigerated once opened. Flax oil should be refrigerated always, although you can't really do that between the grocery store and your home. Don't buy flax products from a store that doesn't keep them in a refrigerated case, just to be on the safe side. Flax is very delicate and can go bad very easily. I actually freeze my flax seeds because they stay fresher longer. And because I have more than enough stuff in my fridge.

Quick and Easy

There are times you need a recipe that doesn't take more than a few minutes to throw together.

I found a simple recipe in the Amerian Heart Association cookbook and veganized it. I cut up a large hunk of seitan (if you're really lazy, I suppose you could get a couple of packages of the premade stuff, but I find making my own works better) into bite-size pieces and sauted it, tossed in some bottled teriyaki sauce, added some frozen peaches, pineapple, and mango, and threw in some almonds. Did I tell you that I think frozen fruit is awesome? If you can't get fresh organic fruit, you usually can get frozen organic fruit, and it works just fine in recipes. I also heated up some frozen green beans and used some leftover saffron rice from the other night, although I think brown rice would have worked much better. But I was feeling a little lazy and didn't really want to delay my dinner any longer.

I submitted my recipe for Puckery Pomegranate Seitan to the VegWeb site, and hopefully I'll see it up there soon. It's adapted from a fessenjen recipe, but I really didn't feel like calling it Seitan Fessenjen since I've never had the meat version and I never will. So I invented a new name for it with a made-up word (although Microsoft Word also redlines "seitan" and "tempeh"). I fixed the problem that made the recipe fail to show up legibly, so you should be able to make it yourself. Let me know what you serve it with--I wonder if a nice wheat berry pilaf would go with it or I should just prepare the brown-and-wild-rice pilaf I made last month. And maybe some roasted veggies like mushrooms, zucchini, onions, and bell peppers. I can eat zucchini if it's cooked right, but I just can't get into yellow squash. A lot of vegetables most people dislike they just haven't had cooked properly. When it comes to broccoli, though, it doesn't matter. I still hate the stuff.

A simple entree

It's been a while since I made this--my Puckery Pomegranate Seitan. I guess you could say it's like a vegan fessenjen--I adapted a meat recipe to seitan. Ever since it became popular, I've fallen in love with pomegranate flavoring. A bottle of pomegranate molasses lasts a good long time, but I used the last of mine tonight :(.

Anyway, here's the recipe--it's pretty simple:

2 tbsp oil

1 lb seitan, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

4 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2/3 C vegetable stock

dash of sugar

1/4 cup walnuts

Saute seitan in oil on both sides until it starts to brown. Remove from the pan and keep in a warm place. Add onions, garlic, pepper, and salt and saute until onion softens. Add pomegranatet molasses, stock, salt, pepper, sugar, and walnuts and bring to boil. Add seitan back to pan and coat with sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens then serve.

If there's a Middle Eastern store in your area, you can find pomegranate molasses there. My local Whole Foods also carries it. It's actually thickened pomegranate juice, so you could technically make your own, but it's cheaper and easier to buy a bottle of the stuff. Next time I go grocery shopping, I've got to get me another bottle of that stuff.