Three Strikes

And I'm out. I've tried to make this recipe three times and ruined it every time. The first two were totally due to my own carelessness, I realized it when it happened and I never even got to taste this stuff. The third time, I thought I finally had it, but as you'll see below the jump (the photo is so gross I can't bring myself to put it before), I still botched it.

Today's plant: Sea Moss
Used in: Sea Moss Punch from Caribbean Vegan

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Coo Coo for Cou Cou!

One of my closest friends lives in Barbados. I know very little about the Caribbean, so when we first met, she'd tell me all about their culture and (more importantly) food. She told me about her national dish, cou cou with flying fish, many times, but I just couldn't get a mental picture of it until I made it myself while testing for Caribbean Vegan. Please note this is one of the few recipes in the book that works better with special equipment: a cou cou stick. I got mine when I visited my friend in Barbados, but if you can't find one anywhere, you can also use a big wooden spoon.


Today's plant: Nori
Used in: Cou Cou and Tofish from Caribbean Vegan

 

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Picatta!

One of the (many) good things about living in New York is that when it comes to vegan food options, you're pretty much spoiled for choice. No matter what kind of food you want, we have it. And we usually have more than one option for it. And no two people will ever agree on which option is the best. Every place is someone's favorite. Fine dining is no exception. Some people prefer Pure Food and Wine, some Blossom and others Candle 79. One thing almost every can agree on, though, is that the best thing to get at Candle 79 is the seitan picatta (but if you're there for brunch, get the tofu scramble. Seriously). So eating picatta always makes me feel fancy. Even when I make it myself, it looks like this and I'm eating it in my pajamas:

(how did I never notice how ugly this bowl is?)

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Its Here!

Caribbean Vegan is here! And it's GORGEOUS!

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This is a Test

Of the Emergency Deliciousness System. If this had been an actual Deliciousness Emergency, the post you are viewing would include many healthy recipes to shock, amaze and astound. This blog serves the Greater Veganistan area. This concludes this test of the Emergency Deliciousness System.

Sorry, I'm in a silly mood today. That's my longwinded way of saying today's post is going to be all about tester recipes from Isa Chandra Moskowtiz's upcoming low fat and whole foods book, Appetite for Reduction.

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Caribbean Vegan

Good news! We are done testing for Caribbean Vegan! I got to taste so many delicious new dishes and I can't wait for the book to come out and try the rest. Here's a quick preview of what to expect (NOTE: For pretty pictures of the food that will make you drool, check out the author's blog, linked above. For pictures that prove you can make these yummy foods with almost no hand-eye coordination, keep reading):

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News!

I've been babbling about the fun I've been having testing for Vegan in the Sun over the past few months, and, awesomely, I was just told T got a book deal. So now we can all expect a vegan Caribbean cookbook on the shelves sooner or later. Woohoo! This is great because so many of these recipes have been really new to me, and I expect they'd be new to a lot of you, too.

Now that she's got the deal, T hopes to be making three recipes per day for the month of February and needs some more testers. If you'd like to try your hand at some recipes, please drop her a line at barbadianvegan @ yahoo . com.

Wooha!

Pack it Up, Pack it In

Of all the food I ate in Barbados, I think my favorite (non-homemade) things were conkies and doubles. So I was super excited when T posted her conkies recipe and I got to test it for her upcoming cookbook, Vegan in the Sun.

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Sunday. Sunday! SUNDAY!

This is where I was Sunday, December 20:

This is where I was Sunday, December 27:

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This is a Post...

...In which I prattle about my Caribbean vacation and what I ate there.
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Barbados is beautiful.

Moving on!

Their system of agriculture is VERY different from that of the US. I had a whole list of fruits I wanted to try, but only got to some because my host's friends and family didn't have any at the time. And we couldn't just go to the store and buy some. According to my friend, if you want breadfruit, soursopp, etc. you don't go to the store. You go to your neighbor, who cuts some off the tree for you. One person seemed offended we went to the coconut guy (below) instead of getting our coconut water from him.

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Quiche Me, You Fool!

I love quiche. Now. I don't know if I ever had quiche, pregan. If I did, it would have been about sixteen years ago, and I probably didn't like it at all because I didn't like eggs. Tofu quiche, on the other hand is the stuff dreams are made of. In fact, the quiche section is one of the most awesome parts of Vegan Brunch (which has lots of awesome parts). So when a quiche recipe was posted to test for Vegan in the Sun, my excitement was palpable (to me).

In my excitement, I may have overcooked it a bit, but hell, no one's perfect.

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Looking Forward to Leftovers

One thing the veg-friendly of NYC look forward to this time of year is the Thanksgiving Leftovers Sandwich from 'SNice (which now has two locations). This year, I was inspired to make my own.

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The Morning After

What do you do after you've spent days in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner for your whole family? If you're me, you get up early (relatively) and make brunch.

Back when I first learned to cook (and had stopped eating all animal products, though I still thought of myself as a vegetarian, not vegan) and my family was still eating turkey during Thanksgiving dinner, we came up with Flesh Free Friday: the day after Thanksgiving, I make brunch and dinner and the whole family goes vegan for the day. This year, the main attraction was the Coconut Orange Dessert Pancakes with Candied Spiced Coconut and chocolate ganche from Vegan in the Sun:

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Thanksthieving

Oh, holidays! Hope everyone had a lovely day.

This was my first time trying to do a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving (apparently, chili and a cornbread boat aren't traditional for Thanksgiving. Who knew?). My family doesn't really have many traditions (the only thing that seems to happen with any regularity in my house around Thanksgiving is the basement flooding), so I stole some from my friends and the Internet (and my friends on the Internet). Here's what I came up with:

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Ginger Beer Three Ways

No, I haven't been getting up to bizarre hijinks with Caribbean beverages. I just made three different types of ginger beer while testing for Vegan in the Sun.

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A Moveable Feast

I have a confession to make: Sometimes, when I'm going someplace, I look more forward to packing something to eat than to what I'll be doing. This is especially true of going to work. And so, here's a post dedicated to the food I've been packing myself for the last few days.

Behold! Today's lunch!

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Macaroni Pie

Back in my pregan days, when I would discuss food with my Bajan friend, she would tell me all about the wonders of macaroni pie and how I have to try it. She would sing its praises, telling me how great it is, "It's just like macaroni and cheese, but better!" and I'd smile and nod and think "Better than macaroni and cheese?! Inconceivable!" Then I went vegan and never got to try her macaroni pie. Sadness abounded. But, thanks to Vegan in the Sun, all is not lost! Last night, I tested Tay's recipe for Bajan Vegan Macaroni Pie and it's so good, maybe I'll make it for my friend when I go to Barbados, instead of the other way around.

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It's Always Better on Holiday

I am very excited. In December, I'm going to Barbados to visit one of my closest friends (JetBlue had amazing introductory rates from JFK). This will be my first time leaving the country since 1998 and my first straight up vacation (as opposed to traveling for an event) since 2000ish.

Just when I thought I couldn't get more excited about this, I found out about Vegan in the Sun, an upcoming vegan Caribbean cookbook. All those pictures look so delicious, I just want to hop on a plane right now and go to the islands just to eat. I can't do that, but I can test for the book, which is almost as exciting. The first recipe I tried was roti:

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