The Best Laid PLans

Often go awry.

So there we were, all ready to cook our way through Appetite for Reduction, when Terry started testing for her upcoming international cookbook: Vegan Eats World (working title). So I told my mother I'd like to incorporate some of Terry's new recipes into our plan and if she was disappointed by the idea of supplementing her diet of Low Fat Healthy Vegan Food with dishes from the person who brought her Sancocho and Quinoa Roasted Pumpkin Risotto, she hid it well.

At this point, we'd already had the AFR Sanctuary Dressing (kind of like ranch, but better), Spinach Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta (delicious, but my mother thought the dressing was too thymey), and the Quinoa, White Bean and Kale Stew (perfect for a chilly fall night). The Ginger Bok Choy Soba was up next, so we topped it with Terry's Pressed Baked Tofu.

Terry suggests pressing the tofu after slicing, which is way faster than doing it before. 35 minutes was more than enough for perfect firm, chewy tofu. The marinade was delicious, too. It was a bit too spicy for me to eat the tofu alone (I'm a huge baby), but it was perfect over noodles and on toast with a bit of Veganaise (so perfect that I wanted to make another sandwich today, but didn't want to hog all the tofu because my mother really liked it).

In other news, my tester copy of Vegan Pie in the Sky arrived this weekend. It's beautiful. Lowfatcookingwhat?

Oh, Hello!

Are you still here? Sorry about that. I've got two important things to talk about today.

Thing the first: PIE. Yes, pie. Vegan Pie in the Sky is due out next month and it's amazing. If you have tastebuds, you should go preorder it. Go on. I'll wait.

Got it? Good. You're welcome. All the recipes are delicious, most of them are easy and some of them are fast enough to make after work (maybe with a bit of advance prep work). Here's a small sampling of the ones I tested. Do not judge them by my photos, because if there's anything I'm worse at than baking pretty things, it's photography.

Blueberry cheesecake

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Awesome: It's What's for Dinner

When it's not a special occasion, my meals usually consist of enough whatever I can throw into one bowl or plate to fill me up, whether it's a vat of homemade soup or 674832910 microwaved vegan nuggets (yes, I know that's gross, but when I'm hungry and tired...don't judge). I know this isn't really the best way to go about doing things and have gotten a lot better about putting together real meals while testing for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming Appetite for Reduction.

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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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Passing on the Meat

My family recently celebrated Passover and we tried a little experiment: I would cook two vegan Seders (big, traditional dinners) and my family would go vegetarian for the rest of the holiday. Eight days without any meat in the house. My plan was to cook as much as possible, since the more I cooked, the less matzo with cream cheese they ate.

I'm pleased to report that even though the holiday ended a week ago, no meat has been consumed in our house yet and both of my parents are considering going vegetarian on a more permanent basis (they're both totally cool with keeping meat out of the house, but right now, they'd still like to eat it at restaurants on occasion). Also, I think my mother now has a bigger AR soapbox than I do. It's pretty rad.

Here's a small sample of what we ate:

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Salad Daze

Right now, I love salad. To people who think vegans eat nothing but piles of raw vegetables all day, that might seem like a silly thing to say; if you don't like salad, being vegan would totally suck. But, as we all know, there are loads of vegan options that don't resemble salads in the slightest. And during the winter, that's what I thrive on. It's months of soups, curries, stews and other hearty (and hot!) foods. But spring may have finally sprung in NYC, so I'm all about the salad. Here are a few awesome ones from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming Appetite for Reduction (do you love that title half as much as I do? It makes me so happy it's almost stupid).

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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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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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Currying Favor

I love curry. I say this despite knowing most of the curries I eat are not authentic and most authentic ones burn my face off. So far, none of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipes have burnt my face off, for which I'm grateful. I most recently tested her potato spinach curry and tamarind quinoa recipes.

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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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Closing MoFo

If you just pay attention to the name, you might thing VeganMoFo is all about the food. And, to an extent, it is. But really, when over 500 people get together (whether it's online or in real life) with a common goal, I think it's even more about community. So what better way is there to wrap up VeganMoFo than with a potluck?

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Quinotto

I have a confession: I've never made risotto. Not because of intimidation by all the stirring and the waiting and the stirring (and the stirring), but because whenever I decide to make it, I get distracted by a recipe that sounds even better. Usually quinoa. So imagine how thrilled I was when I saw that Terry posted Quinoa Roasted Pumpkin Risotto to test for her upcoming book.

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I Knew I Forgot Something

Welcome to today's VeganMoFo trip down Memory Lane. Back in 2008, I offered to bake for everyone who sponsored me in that year's AIDS Walk. It ended up taking me ages to make something for everyone and even longer to remember to blog about it. Even longer = until today = over a year. Oops. Sorry, Internet! Better late than never, here's a small sample of what I made to thank the people who contributed.

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