Let’s just get the rain out of the way. The weather here is like a three year old tap dancing; completely spastic, rain falls in jerks and starts, the temperature drops ten degrees, you pull down your hoodie, then five minutes later you need to take it off completely, it dries out wrapped around your waist. Then comes the hail. And my feet have been consistently freezing since I arrived. But there’s a reason everyone lies to you and tells you it’s not that bad, something that makes Portland worth it. And that reason, dear reader, is unicorns. The unicorns here in Portland are phenomenal. And everyone gets one.

I don’t know if it’s the unicorn magic (we’re not supposed to talk about it) or the chilly weather, but my cooking has gotten a new lease on life. In Brooklyn I was feeling cramped physically and mentally, unable to roll out a dough or a new recipe. I was relying on my stand-bys, which often included Chinese food from the number on my kitchen calendar. But since I’ve arrived in Portland I’ve cooked every night, and not just to blog about it (which is why you’ll find no recipes or overly staged photos) but to cook. Just to cook! That was something I had lost in the mix. And the last thing I need is for this thing I love to become a source of stress, or worse yet, a chore.

Everything changes when you are cooking to make a recipe, and since I started with this cookbook business I realize how naive I was to not see the difference immediately. There’s an art to recipe writing that isn’t necessarily apparent when you are merely cooking. When you cook you can rely wholly on your senses. A steamy inhale, blowing down a spoon for a taste. A little of this, a splash, a sprinkle, a shake. The music’s on, the window is open, the cats are at your feet and you can smell the garlic two flights down when you walk into the building. “What’s in it?” My friends used to make fun of me when I would answer, “Spices and things.” But that’s how it was, who knows? Why talk about it? Why ruin things with the mundane drabbery of this earthly plane? Just eat. Who wants to break the magic by bringing in modern technology like teaspoons, blenders and google searches? No, just eat.

Enter Amazon stats and kiss it all goodbye. A scrapped piece of printer paper taped to the fridge, a sharpie that seems to never hold enough ink, and an ever watchful eye on the kitchen timer: that’s recipe writing. Gone is “a little of this” and in comes “how the hell many tablespoons was that?” Forget plopping everything onto a plate with a serving spoon and a come and get it. Now it’s straight to the photo set up, pastel backdrop in place. Then to the computer to type it all out, lest you forget just how long you left the lid on and a recipe is lost. And there is fun in that, there is satisfaction and of course, it’s a small price to pay for, god, all your dreams coming true. But.

It hurts your cooking. It changes everything. It tames you. It makes your already tiny kitchen tinier still. And (I’ll switch from second person narration into first now) I need to be free. I guess that’s what I’m saying. Mel Gibson didn’t completely kill freedom, did he?

A completely unstaged photo of a white lasagna I made, with gingered lime sweet potatoes and a cashew cream sauce. Garnished in a completely realistic manner with cilantro.

An inside shot and a side of garlicky kale, it’s easy to eat local in Portland.

Julie Hasson’s steamed seitan sausages have been calling my name for weeks now and who am I to deny a sausage? I actually purchased a new (and needed) steamer just for the occasion. And wow, just wow. What a great method steaming turned out to be!

This is one of the reasons that I sometimes get frustrated with “vegan secrets.” I’ve written about it a little before and I know it comes across as bisque-y, but the reason behind it is nothing but nice. When you have a great new method for, oh, I don’t know, meringue or frosting or mayo- why not share it? I mean, for free - the way Julie has in her video. People will still support you and buy your cookbook, in fact, they might be more apt to buy your cookbook because of recipes they’ve tried from a blog or where ever. My book sales aren’t hurting because the chickpea cutlet recipe is all over the internet.

But besides just increasing book sales, the experience of collaboration can be rewarding as you watch the recipe morph with every kitchen it passes through. It’s like a game of telephone, except at the end you’ll hopefully have an awesome sausage and not a sentence like “You have titty owls on your head.” But what I’m saying is that in collaboration there is community, in community there is strength. In strength there is…I don’t know. But you get the idea, don’t you? Sharing can only help vegan cuisine.

Speaking of morphing, I did deviate from the original recipe to reflect the way I usually cook. Since my steamer could only fit 4 sausages, I had to change the quantities. I also wanted to try to get a little more texture out of them, so I added some mashed pinto beans for a little Mexican flair. The result is a really nice, slightly spicy sausage that would go well with chorizo type dishes. Really, as Julie says in her cooking video, the variations you could come up with are endless. People on the PPK forums have had good luck with their own variations, including an Apple Sage one that I’d like to hit up someday soon.

Spicy Pinto Sausages

Makes 4 big sausages

1/2 cup pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, grated (with a microplane, or very finely minced)

1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Several dashes fresh black pepper

Before mixing your ingredients, get your steaming apparatus ready, bring water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.

Have ready 4 sheets of tin foil. In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork. Divide dough into 4 even parts (an easy way to do this: split the dough in half and then into quarters). Place one part of dough into tin foil and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.

Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes. That’s it! You can unwrap and enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. I refrigerated some of mine in wrappers and some out of wrappers to see if there would be a difference, but there really wasn’t. They’re really great sliced up and lightly sauteed, and this weekend I’ll be trying them on pizzas.

Check out Julie’s video and see just how easy these are. Thank you, Julie! I love you! <3<3<3 Also - you have titty owls on your head.

Sure, maybe the french fry is the vegan french fry, but roasted brussel sprouts are a near second. And Brussels is really close to France, so it makes sense. I know I don’t shut up about roasted brussels, I’ve blogged about them and they are in VwaV as well as Veganomicon, but they deserve it. They smell like popcorn while they’re roasting and you can kind of mindlessly eat them while watching TV or studying - they are the perfect snack food.

To roast them, preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice off the knobby bottoms and peel off any out of shape leaves. Slice in half, place on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping once. Easy as pie. Actually, much much much easier than pie.

Say hello to my little friend 

I feel like a horrible secular Jew and a horrible non-secular vegan. It’s the middle of Hannukah and I haven’t posted a latkes recipes yet. Well, better late than never. These are in Veganomicon and are the most irresistible fried potato concoction  there is. Serve with apple sauce, if you’ve got VwaV the roasted applesauce in there is great with these. But any apple sauce will do, really.

Potato Latkes

Makes about 18

Image stolen from Tofu666 

2 1/2 pounds starchy white potatoes, peeled (russets, idaho, et al)
1 small yellow onion, peeled
1/4 cup potato or corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups matzoh meal

Lots of vegetable oil

If using a food processor:
Use the grating blade to shredd the potatoes and the onion.

If shredding by hand, use a grater to shred all the potatoes. Dice the onion as finely as possible.

Have ready brown paper shopping bags or paper towels for draining the oil from the latkes. You may also want to have the oven on at 200 F to keep the latkes warm until you’re ready to serve. If serving immediately then just have a baking pan covered with tin foil ready to keep the finished ones warm after they’ve been drained.

In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon or your hands (I use my hands, it’s faster)  mix the potatoes and onions with the potato starch until the potatoes have released some moisture and the sornstarch is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper to combine. Add the matzoh meal and mix well. Set aside for about 10 minutes. The mixture should get liquid-y but sticky.

In the meantime, preheat a large preferable cast iron but definitely non-stick skillet over medium heat, a little bit on the high side. Add about 1/4 inch layer of vegetable oil to the pan. The oil is hot enough when you throw a bit of batter in and bubbles rapidly form around it. If it immediately smokes then the heat is too high and you should lower it a bit. If the bubbles are really lazy then give it a few more minutes or turn the heat up a bit.

With wet hands (so that the mixture doesn’t stick) roll into small golf ball sized balls. Flatten into thin round patties. I do about 4 to six at a time. Fry on one side for about 4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip over and fry for another 3 minutes.

Transfer to the paper towels and proceed with the remaining latkes. Once latkes have drained on both sides, place in a baking pan to keep warm.

When I do a low-fat or fat free recipe I feel like it needs to come with a disclaimer. I’m a feminist. I love how women look in all shapes in sizes. I don’t think women should spend their lives constantly counting calories and striving for society’s idea of perfection. To be blunt, I like fat girls!

That said. I gained a lot of weight over the past 2 years. I’m at a point where I’m not feeling healthy and getting winded walking up my stairs. None of my clothes fit and I am feeling kind of crappy. This doesn’t mean that I hate myself or think I’m ugly, it just means it’s time to lose some weight.

What I do to lose weight is a bastardized version of the Weight Watchers Core program. In a nut shell, it’s limiting refined carbohydrates and fat, and eating high fiber whole foods like grains, legumes, fruits and veggies. Easy enough if you’re vegan, but my biggest issue is baked sweets. I love apples and cantelope as much as the next girl, but I love to bake. I need the smell of brownies in my apartment at least a few times a week or I feel deprived, especially during these dreary gray winter months.

These Brownie Bites are perfect because they are portioned in mini muffin sizes so that when you eat too many, you know exactly how many that is. They’re ready to eat in about 45 minutes, so your craving can be met almost immediately. To bolster their health factor without giving too much of a “health food” taste, I use whole wheat pastry flour. Prunes are pureed with coffee to give the brownies moisture, gooeyness and depth of flavor as well as extra fiber. The prunes give the brownies a backdrop of fruitiness that I think complements the chocolate nicely, and using coffee as the liquid is not only fat and calorie free, but it accentuates the chocolaty-ness as well. I do still use regular sugar because I make them often and agave or maple syrup would be really expensive and I don’t like stevia or splenda so don’t even try to sell me on it. The point for me is not to be a perfect little angel, but to be a perfect little angel that can still eat brownies.

Low Fat Brownie Bites

Makes 24 

1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup prunes (about 12)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine coffee, prunes and flax seeds in a blender. Blend until relatively smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Mix in sugar, canola oil and vanilla until well combined. I just use a fork for this.

Sift in pastry flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each tin most of the way.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, tops should be firm to the touch and rounded.

Remove from oven and serve when cool enough to handle.

I used recipezaar to get the nutritional info.

The first time I had pasta puttanesca I was waitressing at a restaurant in Park Slope. A fellow waitress told me that it was the pasta that Italian whores ate. She was always saying things like, “I spilled ketchup all over my tits,” and pronouncing “mimosa” in a really suggestive way. I just figured she was telling me that so she could say the word “whore” while slurping down linguine, but it is actually true, pasta putanesca is the pasta of whores. And I can see why.

If you’re anything like me you always have a gigantic thing of capers and olives in your fridge (not to mention great bone structure and an impressive unicorn collection.) Puttanesca is a really quick way to put together a complex tasting - passionate even - dish with pantry staples. Succulent, salty and a little spicy, the ingredients and method are simple enough that you can prep it, cook it and clean up after yourself in a leisurely 30 minutes, and then get back to the matter at hand, whether that be sex with strangers for money or updating your blog.

I’m always on the look out for ways to incorporate quinoa and other grains into my lunches, so it’s pretty brainless to just make a traditional pasta sauce and toss it on a grain instead. I like to make a big batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week and store it for a few days. If you don’t have a few cups of cooked quinoa around then see directions below* and start your quinoa before starting your sauce.

Quinoa Puttanesca - The Quinoa of Whores

Serves 4

2 to 3 cups cooked quinoa

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

generous pinch each tarragon and marjoram

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped (sliced in half is great)

1/2 cup capers

20 ounce can crushed tomatoes

fresh black pepper

Preheat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic and stir for about a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add herbs, spices and wine; cook for about a minute.

Add olives, capers and tomatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes. You can serve either by scooping quinoa into individual bowls and pouring the sauce over it, but my way is to just mix everything into a bowl together and reserve a little sauce to pour over my serving, because I like it extra whore-y. There is no rosemary in the recipe, but my food porn was looking a little naked so I garnished it with some.

For some reason, Jason Das named all the capers in the photo on my FlickR, so if that thought entertains you then you can go check that out.

*Mix one cup dry quinoa with 2 cups water, bring to a boil then lower heat and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until grain is tender and water has been absorbed.

You know how with sex there’s a couple of things that you simply won’t do? That’s how I am with cooking, although sometimes my “rules” feel like they have a lot more to do with ethical objections than personal preference. I’m not talking about vegan ethical objections, which are obvious, I’m talking about culinary ones. I’m talking about including Gimme Lean Sausage or Tofutti Sour Supreme as part of a recipe. And I am conscious of being just a little ridiculous in calling it ethical but that’s just how it feels.

My main problem with that kind of cooking, is that it stops being “cuisine.” It starts being 30 minute meals or semi-homemade cooking. And that is fine for a weeknight in front of the TV or just to get something on the table, but it doesn’t foster respect for vegan cuisine. And there is a difference between cuisine and food; cuisine is a style of cooking and food is stuff we eat. I don’t want vegan cuisine to be thought of as fake, or as that stuff that comes from the freezer section next to the frozen hamburgers or the weird dairy case. (Every supermarket has that weird dairy case filled with stunt meats and casein cheese, right?) I want vegan cuisine to be a real force, a real style - a contender.

When it comes to vegan cream sauces my “won’t” list expands. I won’t use soymilk, because it tastes like soymilk, not cream. I won’t use coconut milk in something savory unless I want it to be a bit sweet. I won’t use nooch for everything. I won’t use Tofutti brand anything because that is just plain cheating. So, my options are limited. But I am trying to broaden them.

The thing I will use is nuts; cashews, pine nuts, almonds, sometimes walnuts. But I still try to be careful, because even though vegans know not to exactly expect cream when they hear the word cream, omnivores don’t. And I really, for the most part, try to make my recipes omnivore-friendly. This usually means not using the word cream at all, unless it’s a dessert thing where I completely cheat and use Earth Balance, but that’s another story.

So when I set out to make Tofu Paprikas in honor of my friend Jason Das’ Hungarian heritage, I was a little nervous. Paprikas is nothing if not creamy, and god am I sick of everything tasting like nutritional yeast. I knew that I was going to have to work with the dreaded tofu cream sauce.

Silken tofu is great for texture but the taste has ruined many an otherwise scrumptious sauce for me. Some people describe the taste as bean-y, but it just translates as bitter for me. At some point in working on Veganomicon I stumbled on a possible solution that I used in a couple of dips and sauces; Horseradish Dill Sourcream, Cilantro Cream and Creamy Kalamata Spread. If you look at the titles of those recipes I bet you can figure out what the trick it. I suppose it isn’t such a trick at all, it’s simply overpowering the tofu with flavors that are strong enough to cover up the bitter taste, basically beating the tofu into submission.

Another thing I learned is to use the silken tofu that comes in a fresh package (like Nasoya) and not the vacuum packed kind (like Mori-Nu). It has a better taste and the beaniness isn’t as apparant. I also prefer the texture. As a bonus, it’s easier to find.

Finally, it needs a little heat and a little sweet. No heat and it tastes like blended tofu. Too much heat and it tastes like rubber. I found that sauteeing garlic in oil and adding it still hot to the sauce gave just enough warmth, with a little wiggle room for a gentle heat through at serving time. And since sweetness counteracts bitterness, just a touch of agave or maple syrup will do the trick. Although I didn’t actually end up using any in this recipe because the sweetness of the onions worked wonders.

From looking at a few Paprikas recipes, I deduced that the dish was really rich, calling for not just cream but sourcream as well. I decided to toast a few pine nuts to blend into the sauce, not only because I have 5 pounds of pine nuts in my freezer but I thought that would give the sauce some body and “depth of flavor.”

Justin and I ended up really enjoying this, maybe a little too much as there were no leftovers. I honestly meant to save some that I could give to Jason the next day. He lives only a few blocks away so I could even have walked it over. But I didn’t! I would consider it a cream sauce success, although I think there are a few more things I’d like to try before I declare it perfect. It’s definitely good enough to share, though!

I made this with frozen thawed tofu for a chewier texture, and I really wanna’ get to the recipe so let me just quickly tell you what I do for frozen tofu. Freeze overnight then thaw on the counter the next day. Don’t heat it up to thaw, just leave it out. It usually takes 10 hours to thaw. Once completely thawed, wrap it in a kitchen table towel and press it overnight in the fridge. That makes it really nice and chewy but without the freezer burn, discolorization or sponginess sometimes associated with frozen tofu.

Click below for the recipe. And damn you VeganMoFo, for making me write so much!

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Why is it Peruvian? Maybe because purple potatoes are from Peru or maybe because I love alliteration. Either way, this soup made me feel like I was somewhere exotic, or at least anywhere besides my torn up corduroy couch in front of the TV. This is the kind of soup you can only really make after visiting a farmers market because although it’s super simple, regular supermarkets just don’t carry the ingredients. But I suggested some substitutes if you would like to try it.

I get big eyes at the Union Square Farmers market and tend to lug home more than I can use in a week, so because they stay fresh, tubers and squash are good (albeit heavy) choices for me. Last week I bought these gorgeous “purple beauty” potatoes. When I sliced them open I expected the color to be a little faded, but they were a vibrant Prince purple. The kind of purple you want to paint your room on a Saturday evening when you’re 15 and have no Cure concert to go to.

I also came into some Delfino cilantro. It’s a little different than the common parsley-looking cilantro, it looks sort of like dill, with thin stubby leaves. The taste was a bit different, too - more lemon-y and stronger. Pick some up if you can find it, but use regular cilantro for this recipe if you can’t.

The last hard to find ingredient was Czech black chili peppers. They were mild and fruity and absolutely gorgeous, but I think that jalapenos would be a fine substitute.

After boiling the potatoes the color did fade just a tad, so I cheated and grated in some beet. Unless you’re a food photographer that probably isn’t exactly necessary.

Peruvian Purple Potato Soup

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

6 czech black peppers, seeded and thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups water

2 pounds purple potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks

1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

1/4 cup Delfino cilantro, chopped

Juice 1/2 a lime, or to taste

Optional: a little grated beet for color

Preheat soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, chilies and bay leaves for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and saute 3 minute more.

Add potatoes, water and salt. Cover and bring the heat up to boil. Once boiling, lower heat a bit to a slow simmer and cook until potatoes are tender - usually 15 to 18 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to puree half the soup, or transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and puree. Be sure to let the steam escape in between pulses so that the steam doesn’t build up and explode all over you. But get an immersion blender, it is so worth it. Return pureed soup to pot and mix.

Add cilantro and lime and taste for salt. Grate a little bit of beet in, using a microplane grater if you’ve got one. I used maybe a tablespoon, maybe a little less. Let sit for at least 5 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve!

Way to straighten up for the media. Also, nice dirty apron.

This article features just about everyone in the vegan baking world, but the picture is of me so that’s all that matters. Because I am narcissistic to compensate for my low self esteem. In any case, even without me, it is a really nice article about vegan baking for the Associated Press, which will get lots of exposure. So yay.

That’s quite a manicure, Moskowitz.

There’s also a recipe for Orange Chocolate Chip Biscotti that goes along with the article, but strangely they aren’t in the same news pieces.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope to see you at the NYC Walk For Farm Animals on Sunday. And visit the blog on Monday for the next Veganomicon giveaway!

These are for Jill, who was looking for a gluten-free Thanksgiving main dish, and she specifically requested something that could be “molded.” Since I guess vegans are compelled to mold stuff on Thanksgiving.

I think this recipe fits all the vegan stereotypes that we’ll start seeing in the “funnies” over the next couple of weeks, gearing up towards the holidays. It’s made of chickpeas, tempeh and tofu. The texture is meaty but with that characteristically vegan mushiness we all love so much. It’s spiced with fennel, sage and just a little hint of liquid smoke. I couldn’t think of a good name for it but then Verdura on the PPK message boards suggested loaffins, and how can that be denied?

It was a fun meal to make because while creating recipes for Veganomicon we were very careful to make things supermarket and omnivore friendly, so we often had to show restraint with things like tempeh and nutritional yeast. But this recipe was like all-out swinging from the chandelier vegan.

I’ll put the recipe up in a bit, I have to go take these x-rays down to the lab. (That’s what people in soap operas say when they need to end the scene and don’t feel like panning in on the actress’s face.)