All That Vegan Jazz

The Healthiest Starch/Pre-Race Meal

2009-07-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

This spud's for you.

Pasta is the traditional answer to the question of what's the best carb-loading, pre-race meal. But that's really not the best you can do. Remember, pre-race you want to build up vitamins and minerals - especially electrolytes like potassium.

If you were just after simple carbs, you could just eat candy and wash it down with full-sugar soda. That would add carbs just as easily as pasta. But it wouldn't be very long lasting carbs, and wouldn't add anything nutritionally.

For quality, complex carbs you need grains or other starches. Pasta certainly fills the bill as far as that's concerned, but as I said it's not as good as you can do.

Among grains, quinoa has more protein, but it's not about that either.

Rice is certainly the most popular grain in the world, and marathoners from Asia swear by it. But rice doesn't give the most nutrition for the bang, either.

The winner is potatoes. Don't believe me? Check this out. I'll even compare ENRICHED rice and pasta, and BEFORE cooking. Here's 200 calories worth of... (sorry about the crummy formatting - blogspot doesn't hold tables well).

................White Potato .....White Rice ....White Pasta

Calories .......... 198 .................201 ...........200
Carbs ................ 44 .................44 ..............40
Fiber ................ 4.4 ................0.7 ............ 1.7
Calcium ............ 21 .................15 .............. 11
Potassium ....... 1,142 .................63 ............120
Copper ........... 0.27 ..............0.12 ........... 0.16
Vit. C ................. 27 .............. 0 ................0
Pantothenic Acid.. 0.80 ....... 0.56 ............ 0.23
Vit. B-6 ............ 0.44 ......... 0.09 ........... 0.08

Oh, you want to compare sweet potatoes, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta? Like before, this is rice and pasta BEFORE cooking.

------------------------ Sweet Potato --- Brown Rice -- Whole Wheat Pasta

Calories .........................198 ................. 200 ............... 198
Carbs ............................ 46 ................... 42 .................. 43
Fiber ............................. 7.3 .................. 1.9 ................. 5.0
Calcium ........................ 84 ...................12 .................... 23
Potassium .................. 1,045 .................120 ................. 123
Copper ........................ 0.35 ................. 0.15 ................ 0.26
Vit. C ............................ 43 ....................0 .....................0
Pantothenic Acid .......... 1.95 ..................0.81 ................ 0.56
Vit. B-6 ....................... 0.63 ................. 0.27 ............... 0.13

So the next time you're thinking night-before-race meal, don't think pasta. Think potatoes, especially sweet potatoes.

Homemade Soup is Fast Food!

2009-06-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

The other night I came home wanting to cook something quick and use up my carrots and potatoes I still had.

When speed is of the essence, I pull out my pressure cooker. Mine's not a fancy one, but it cooks veggies great and soup is done quick as a snap.

I peeled some carrots and potatoes and tossed them in covering them with water - maybe double or triple the amount of veggies.

While that was coming up to pressure I cut up an onion - not too finely because of my later trick - and a couple of garlic cloves with some fresh basil.

Seven minutes of pressure cooking later, I ran the pot under running water to release the pressure quickly. I opened the top, tossed in the onion, garlic and basil and cooked it down for about 10 minutes while adding some Creole Seasoning. I didn't measure anything. I just seasoned to taste.

I also had maybe an ounce of coconut milk left in a can in the fridge so I tossed that in for a touch of creaminess.

When it was all done I grabbed the immersion blender and let it rip at slow speed to just mix it a bit. I left some small pieces of carrot and potato just for fun. It was good with a salad and some pita bread I had.

Homemade Carrot Potato Soup done in less than 30 minutes.

The carrots were left over from another great recipe I tested for Julie Hasson's upcoming "Vegan Diner" cookbook. I've been cooking lots of new recipes from it.

This is really going to be an awesome cookbook. Here are some shots (from my lousy camera, sorry) I took of some test recipes (note: some of these recipes are still in development, but they're all great.)

Carrot Pineapple Loaf Cake - also great with a schmear of Tofutti Cream Cheese.

Grace's favorite - a rack of Banana Biscuits, which are almost like scones.

Smoky Potato Scramble, which stars an amazing ingredient I had never tried before.

My FAVORITE - Orange Cornbread Waffles. I can't tell you how many of these I've eaten. Incredible!

And Now, a Word About Running in New Orleans from June through September

2009-06-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

ATROCIOUS!

Except for my right calf injury at the time, running in April was nice.

Heat indexes (indices? let's just call it HI) are climbing up to 110 every day. To make it less miserable, I run at the coolest time of day - 5:30 in the morning.

At that time, the HI during my runs can still hit 95, peaking in early August. What does an HI of 95 mean?

Imagine walking outside, it's still a little dark, the temperature is already 80, there's no wind whatsoever, and the humidity is 95 percent. Feel like hitting the road for a few miles as the sun comes out and heats up the morning? Not likely.

Yet there I am, several days a week, putting on my running shoes and getting in my regular six-miler. Yes, I must be sick.

The earliest in the Fall I ever ran a Marathon was October 29th (in Washington, DC). To accomplish a Marathon that early in the season I had to train with some long runs in July, August, and September.

I know I came close to heat exhaustion during some of those runs and definitely suffered with some dehydration. And that was despite dousing my head with water from a hose on the side of my house every three miles and drinking tons of water, sport drinks, and energy gels during those breaks.

Allow me to describe what it was like. Do you know that feeling you get when you step in a big puddle of water and your socks are saturated, every step squeezes water between your toes, and your shoes make an audible "squish, squish" sound with every step thereafter?

You can get that at just 10 miles. Not from rain or puddles, but from your own sweat which has accumulated on your feet and has also run down your legs into your shoes. And I'm 5-8, just 130 pounds, and don't sweat any more than any average guy. By the end of some of those particularly long 2 1/2 or 3-hour runs the HI was 100, even starting that early in the morning.

Just walking out the door to hit that noticeably heavy, humid air dampens your spirits and drains your will to live. Sure it's sea level and oxygen rich, but it feels as though you're carrying extra weight from your first step that will only get heavier as the morning heats up.

Forget running for time. Those normally easy, lazy 8:30 miles become horrible 10+'s by the end. Despite the dragging pace, your heart rate monitor is showing a tempo run heart beat, not a slow, easy-paced one. You're afraid to look up off the pavement because the bright sun in the thick air reminds you of the heat. You're on automatic pilot.

Why would you do such a thing? Because you promised someone in Washington, DC that you would run that Marathon, and you don't want to let that person down.

That's also why the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon (now the Rock and Roll Mardi Gras Marathon) is run during the beautiful month of February.

So there's really no excuse for me not qualifying for my first Boston Marathon when I've got all winter to train in nice weather, and a rockin', fast-course, local Marathon race to run it. Well, maybe one excuse.

I'm still 20 minutes too slow to qualify for Boston. Sigh...

Well, it's nice to dream about anyway. Maybe I can get serious about my training this winter and improve by nearly a minute per mile. Right.

Maybe the New Orleans Saints will win the Super Bowl, peace will reign in the Middle East, and I'll win the Powerball lottery, too.

Breakfast Benedicts

2009-06-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting lately. I have been cooking new recipes, but all I can share are pictures so far because I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be a recipe tester for an upcoming cookbook called "Vegan Diner" by Julie Hasson.

Julie is the incredible video chef and baker at Everyday Dish TV so I was thrilled at being chosen to help test her recipes for her next cookbook.

I can tell you beyond any doubt this will be her best ever. If you haven't seen her making her wonderful recipes on the videos at her website, check them out. She also has a subscription option for some of her more incredible recipes, but many are free.

I wrote about one of those a few posts ago when I mentioned her Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages recipe. This was the one that was so good and yet easy to make that it swept the internet when she posted it last year.

This is Julie's first all-vegan cookbook, and will use comfort/diner food as the theme. How fun is that!

So far I've made two different kinds of pancakes using variations as Julie has refined them with her testers' input, breakfast sausage patties, and these Breakfast Benedicts, which have no eggs (natch) and I made using three of her recipes.

First, I started by making her Fluffy Biscuits, an option she gives in the recipe.

This batch was pretty fluffy, but I've since learned to follow her guideline on dough thickness before I cut them with a glass turned upside down. Her recipes are FULL of tricks and hints like that.

With the biscuits finished, I moved on to the making the bennies and one of her simple and healthy Hollandaise sauces (this was a Lemon Garlic one before I thinned it out a bit) to top it off. Here's the final product:

This was so good I ate two of them.

Bird Update:

On my last post I wrote about our back patio dartboard cabinet that had been used by at least two bird families so far this Spring. Grace told me it was actually four by that time and a fifth was looking at moving in on the nest.

She described as though it was bird house hunting. One day, the empty nest was spotted and looked at by one bird. Shortly thereafter, we cleaned the empty nest off and the dartboard inside to make it usable again. For us, I mean.

The next day, she swears she saw the same bird come back with another bird and it was like, "I swear, Alice, the nest was right here!" "Sure, Ralph, you made me come all this way to see an empty lot with no improvements. Honest, you have the worst sense of direction! And you call yourself a bird?"

- The Honeymooners as played by doves.

It Happens Every Spring

2009-05-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

A momma and her babies on our dart board cabinet

A little different post this time...

We have a dart board on our covered, but open back patio. Every spring, birds, like this gray dove, see the flat top and build a nest.

For several weeks, Grace and I watch as eggs are laid and the momma perches on top to keep them warm until they're hatched.

When we go out the back door, the bird may first fly away while building the nest. When they realize we are no harm, they eventually just sit there and watch what's going on.

Talk about dedication, too - the momma never leaves her eggs. And amazingly, after a couple of weeks, the eggs hatch and we watch as the babies get strong enough to fly away.

The daddy bird (I assume) helps out by bringing food to the momma while she's sitting and helps feed the babies later as well.

After the birds fly away so do the parents, but within days - minutes, it seems sometimes - another momma has found the nest left behind and it starts all over again.

We've had at least two families there already this year, but I think we're all done as the season winds down.

It's good to know that during this struggling housing market our home is going to the birds.

Yogurt: High Culture

2009-05-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

It's creamy. It's healthy. I think it can even be raw!

It's Little Miss Muffet's favorite dish - yogurt. (Well, what did you think curds and whey was anyway?) Turn it into yochee (yogurt cheese) and it will even be healthier, tastier, and more versatile.

I know you're used to buying non-dairy yogurt for a dollar or more per 6-ounce carton, but you can make it yourself for less than half that cost.

Yogurt contains very healthy bacteria (probiotics) used in the digestive system, it's high in protein, and it concentrates the vitamins and minerals present in whatever milk you use.

I use this yogurt maker to make a quart at a time, but you can do the same thing by wrapping a heating pad set to low or medium around a one quart mason jar and holding it in place with rubber bands.

It's just a warmer that holds a container.

To begin with you need a starter yogurt. You can use the yogurt you make to start the next batch though it will lose its potency after two batches. Put three or four tablespoons into your very clean measuring cup (wash very well if you used anti-bacterial soap).

Make sure your starter yogurt has active, live cultures.

You can use any milk. I used a combination almond and soy milk for this batch. You need to warm one quart of milk up to 110 to 120F, then thicken it with powdered milk equivalent to another two cups (2/3 cup powder).

I use powdered soy milk to thicken.

When I was making this I realized raw foodists can use almond nut milk if they make it very thick. It will stay raw because the temperature will remain between 105F and 120F. You'll need a yogurt starter, but the "live" part of yogurt is in the active cultures so I'm guessing that allows it to technically remain a living food. (My apologies to raw foodists if I've got this wrong.)

Now that I'm thinking about it, I suppose an Excalibur dehydrator would be perfect for this!

The milk, once brought up to temperature, gets the powdered milk and yogurt mixed in.

The mixture is poured into the very clean container...

...and the container goes into the warming unit overnight.

In the morning, yogurt is born!

Well, technically, it's yogurt, but it's so warm that it's still kind of runny. It needs to refrigerate several hours so it can firm up.

Once chilled it's hard enough to eat as yogurt, but it's not quite the same as the store bought stuff because it has no additives like gelatin to firm it up. However, there's a trick to making it not only thicker, but also tastier.

Strain it using a yogurt strainer.

Here are two types of yogurt strainers.

The box type of strainer is a lot more convenient in having a cover and holding so much more, but they both accomplish the same task. They get covered and refrigerated to strain out the whey.

After just three hours, quite a lot of whey has drained out.

Whey is a component of yogurt that has very little nutritional value and has the bulk of the sour flavor. Drain it out and the yogurt is much smoother tasting.

Three hours is the max if you want to keep it the usual yogurt consistency, but I recommend waiting at least 12 - 24 hours and letting it thicken to yochee, or yogurt cheese.

Yochee is a yogurt equivalent of cream cheese and can be used in much the same way. You can flavor it up in any number of ways or use it straight.

I even have this book dedicated to yochee uses. For instance, top a potato, make a spinach dip, or cook up a pesto sauce. (The Yochee pesto sauce eliminated 50 percent of the fat, 40 percent of the calories, and tasted great.)

Remember, you already added extra protein, vitamins, and other nutrients by making it 50 percent stronger than plain milk. By straining the whey, you're throwing out almost all of the carbs and doubling the concentration once again. Even just one heaping tablespoon of homemade yochee probably adds as much as 4 grams of protein to a smoothie (my favorite use). It also makes it smoother!

Two Easy Pieces

2009-04-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

I can follow a complicated recipe okay, but I really love simple cooking.

It's so much easier when I can put all the ingredients in a pot or an oven, and let the cooking do all the work. Here's are a couple of easy dishes from two of my favorite websites that I recently put together.

First, I used Abbie's Roasted Veggies recipe from Foods That Fit. This is just as simple and wonderful a dinner as you can make. Cut up veggies and toss it with a sauce (teriyaki, spaghetti, or enchilada sauces work great) in a large mixing bowl.

I often use Kikkoman's regular teriyaki, but sometimes use the spicy miso for a little extra kick.

I just use my hands to toss the veggies with the sauce.

Then roast it in a pan lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes at 450F. Abbie usually adds cubed tofu or tempeh for the protein, but I had a different idea this time.

In the top photo, you'll notice some cut up vegan sausage. This isn't just any store-bought sausage, however. It's the famous "Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages (aka 'Julie's Sausage')" from another one of my favorite websites, Everyday Dish TV.

Julie's Sausage hit the internet and spread through the vegan world like wildfire about a year ago for its authentic flavor, texture, and ease of making.

You simply mix the ingredients in a bowl, scoop it out into aluminum foil to roll them up into links (or patties), then steam them for 30 minutes. Easy and just amazing. I like them after they've been refrigerated. It makes the texture a little firmer like authentic Italian sausage.

I love them with pasta dinners, but this time I added it to some roasted sweet potatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and zucchini.

Two easy dishes combined for a bunch of healthy meals all week.

No Need To Knead

2009-04-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, The New York Times created a foodie sensation when they published an article about creating Artisan Bread without kneading.

Since then it has been slightly refined here and there, and this is the version I have found best.

Mix the following into a bowl:
2 1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1/4 t yeast (yes, just 1/4 teaspoon!)

...so that it looks like this.

Add 1 1/2 c warm water to it and stir. You're going to think this is WAYYY too much water because it will be a gloopy mess that sticks to everything - the bowl, the spoon, you name it.

Cover it in plastic wrap and let it sit for 12-24 hours.

Hey, I didn't say it wasn't going to take some time, just that it wouldn't need kneading. I usually shoot for 18 hours. Keep it in a warm place so the yeast can do its thing until it looks like this:

Here's the part where things get really sticky and gooey. Flour a board thus:
and dump that wet lump of dough onto it. (No pictures here because my hands were full of wet, doughy yecchhh.) Sprinkle some flour on top. Fold the sides over a few times. I generally do it from all four sides. This isn't kneading, it's just knocking a bit of air out of the dough and remixing the stuff so the yeast gets active again.

Put a well-floured, cotton (non-terrycloth) tea towel in a bowl (or just on the counter if you want) and toss the lump o' dough in it.
Drop the corners of the towel over the dough to cover and let it sit for two more hours.

With 30 minutes of rising left, put a covered, enameled cast-iron, dutch oven in a 450 degree oven to heat up. Anything from 3 1/2-quart size on up is fine. I've read the perfect pot is a French-made, Le Creuset, 5 1/2-quart size, but that's like a $225 pot! No thanks. I and my bank account are perfectly satisfied with my $39, 6 1/2-quart one.

Carefully toss the ridiculously sticky blob into the VERY HOT dutch oven, cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes. It will look something like this:

It doesn't stick to the pot at all. Remove it carefully to a cooling rack.

This may be the coolest part of all! LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE BREAD. IT'S CRACKLING! Because the crust is so hard, it condenses as it cools allowing the molecular structure of the crust to slightly break down.

Let it completely cool before trying to slice it. It's going to be sticky no matter what, but if it's warm the job will be even tougher.

The crust will be difficult to crack, so I recommend using an electric knife or a very good, serrated, bread knife. Also, because of the high water content the crust won't always stay hard so I slightly toast my slices before eating.

I've made lots of bread machine bread before, but it's NOTHING like real, artisan bread. This bread is holey and chewy and "rugged" in both its taste and appearance.

I made some creamy, creole white beans while baking the bread today and ate them together. Talk about good!

Crescent City Classic: More Of A Fun Than Serious Race For Me This Year

2009-04-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here's how the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper photographed the start of today's 20,000-runner Crescent City Classic 10K race. Do you see me there? ;-)

I suppose it's all how you look at it.

Three weeks ago I was limping with a Grade II Right Calf strain, threatening to keep me from running today's Crescent City Classic - not my longest race at only 10K, but my favorite race of the year because of the no-other-race-like-it, carnival-like atmosphere. I wrote about my injury here.

I took a full two weeks off from running hoping it would heal on its own. It got somewhat better, but it didn't heal completely.

I made it through three runs this week just to get some blood flowing through my legs and hoping that I wouldn't re-injure myself.

Well, I made it through the race today, but the lack of recent running and the tenderness of my hurt calf showed. I was hoping I could still run something around 45 minutes (7:15 per mile). In fact, I was on pace for that through the first two miles, but as I felt the tenderness growing in the third mile I couldn't maintain it.

For miles 4, 5, and 6.2, I had to drop to about 8 minutes per mile finishing around a disappointing 48 minutes (7:44 per mile average). I was afraid to push it to a painful re-injury so I just maintained that 8-minute pace to the end.

I know, I know. I should be happy I was able to participate at all. And I am.

But since going vegan in May '08, every race I've run has been a PR (personal record) or very close to it, and with no different training than I had ever done. A month ago I had high hopes for this, my first 10K race since then, but instead this one broke the streak.

With the disgustingly sweltering New Orleans summer heat and humidity coming soon, I won't be able to do any fun long runs for quite awhile. That's probably a good thing as it will let me heal. And as area races soon dwindle down to 5K, 3 miles, and during the worst months, just 2 miles, I'll still have some fun times ahead.

Several people have suggested over the past three weeks I look at taking up biking. It's low-impact, easier from an endurance standpoint, and uses different muscles to allow for healthy cross training. New Orleans had a Half-Ironman Triathlon (swim, bike, run) last week. I suppose Triathlons, or more likely for me, Duathlons (run, bike, run) are things to think about for the future.

I guess I'd need to get some kind of road bike though, huh? Well, we'll see.

VitaMix vs. Blendtec: Comparing the High-End Blenders (Part 2 of 2 Blender Showdown Articles)

2009-04-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

Having tried and been disappointed with the so-called "best" of the moderately-priced blenders, I knew the choice was clear – VitaMix or Blendtec. These were clearly the two best known and heavily marketed high-end blenders available. In fairness to both, the major smoothie chains – Jamba Juice, Planet Smoothie, Smoothie King, and Starbucks to name a few – use one or the other of these machines so I knew there was no going wrong with either.

A good friend of mine who had unfortunately just moved away had gotten a VitaMix as he ventured into the raw food movement – an interesting idea I have read quite a bit about, but have yet to try.

There was no question the VitaMix was a good machine, but Blendtec’s “Will It Blend” videos and “Today Show” demonstrations caught my eye as they directly named and compared their blender to the VitaMix.

Here are the truthful comparisons as stated by Blendtec:

The Blendtec has a 3 horsepower (HP) motor. The VitaMix has a 2 HP motor.

The Blendtec is 5 inches shorter allowing it to fit under most cabinets. The Vitamix does not fit under most cabinets, although a smaller, optional wet-jar does fit under cabinets fine.

The Blendtec fit under the glass shelf easily.

The Blendtec weighs 4 pounds less. The VitaMix at 11 pounds is more difficult to move.

The Blendtec draws 13 amps on a 1500-watt motor. The VitaMix draws 11.5 amps on a 1200-watt motor. (Note: not really an advantage - see below.)

The Blendtec has 30 automatic cycles and shuts itself off at the end of the cycles. The VitaMix must be manually run and shut off.

The Blendtec has two prongs on its blade allowing it the versatility of blending wet and dry ingredients. The less cluttered bottom also makes it easier to wipe clean and dry. The VitaMix has a four-prong blade design that requires the additional purchase of a jar with a slightly different blade design for dry ingredient blending (grinding wheat, coffee beans, etc.).

The VitaMix has four pointed prongs on its standard, round, wet-jar container while the Blendtec has two blunt-end blades in its one, square-jar container.

The Blendtec warranty on the coupling and blade is for a lifetime. The VitaMix warranty on the coupling and blade is for seven years.

The Blendtec was slightly cheaper. The VitaMix is currently $50 more expensive and that’s without the optional dry ingredient jar purchase costing up to an additional $99.

The Blendtec square jar allows pouring in three directions (any corner except on your hand!) while the VitaMix only has its one spout.

I also found the black printed measuring markings on the Blendtec jar easy to read. The VitaMix uses transparent raised markings that aren't as obvious. The optional, smaller VitaMix jar does have easy to read, black, printed measuring markings

When I found the Blendtec on a special sale for $75 off their already lower price I was sold.

For two years I have used and enjoyed the Blendtec. It has blended the toughest frozen smoothies and nothing has ever gone wrong with it. It has performed admirably, but, as you’ll see, I wasn’t convinced it was the perfect blender either.

BLENDTEC RATING – a stellar 9 / 10.

Last week, I went to the New Orleans Home and Garden Show in the Superdome where VitaMix had a demonstration booth. After talking to the people there, checking it out for myself, and getting their “show-only” deal I bought the VitaMix knowing that one of the blenders would be immediately be sold or returned.

After the first smoothie in the VitaMix, I knew I would put the Blendtec on ebay.

Because Blendtec directly compared the two machines to show its advantages, it's only reasonable that I list the VitaMix advantages that swung me to their side.

First and foremost, the VitaMix is fairly loud, but noticeably less so than the Blendtec. Do you remember the ear protection I needed with the Oster blender? I still needed it for the Blendtec, but I’m comfortable without it for the VitaMix. Obviously, this was something I sensed immediately at the demonstration booth.

When I wanted to run the Blendtec and my wife was watching TV nearby, I would warn her and make sure it was OK to blend so it didn’t interfere. She hated the noise! If the dogs were in the room where I blend, I would make them leave because I feared it might hurt their sensitive ears.

The VitaMix isn’t nearly as much of a problem. Blendtec falsely claims in their comparison chart that the VitaMix is louder, but it most assuredly is not.

The “show-only” deal for the VitaMix (brand new models, not refurbished) sold them with a special, longer, eight-year warranty (instead of seven) while the Blendtec’s warranty (except for the blade and coupling) is only three years. I had one year left on the Blendtec warranty.

The “show-only” deal also included a coupon for $40 off any blending jar accessory, bringing the optional dry blade container cost down to $59.

The “show-only” deal also included an extra book not even offered on the Vita-Mix website called, “Beating Cancer With Nutrition” – not a big deal, but a nice lagniappe anyway.

Speaking of books, Blendtec’s recipe guide is rather lackluster while VitaMix’s is more complete.

I had long ago discovered Vita-Mix’s excellent smoothie web page at VitaMix Smoothie Recipes. Blendtec has more recently added a smoothie page at Blendtec Smoothie Recipes, but it’s not as good (an orange juice smoothie without fresh oranges?).

Also, it’s just a marketing decision, but Blendtec appears to have largely ignored the raw food community whereas VitaMix actively encourages its use for those practicing a raw, live-food diet. I'm not often a raw-foodist and I'm sure Blendtec will change this in time, but it is a bit surprising.

Besides the noise factor, the Blendtec also named some “advantages” in their advertising I mentioned above that aren’t really advantages at all. The amp and wattage “advantage” only means that the Blendtec uses more electricity to run than the VitaMix does, and has no performance boost as a result.

The 3 HP versus 2 HP is true regarding the higher top strength of the Blendtec motor, but the higher strength doesn’t mean better blending because of other factors, such as blade speed, blade design, and jar design.

The Blendtec has automatic cycles that shut off by themselves when they’re completed, but how often will you need or even want to walk away for some period of time after turning on a blender? And if you do, how will you know the blending finished without needing to be run some more to complete the job?

The Blendtec advertising claims that its 2-prong blade and square jar construction mean that the ingredients are always drawn into the center and that cavitation (the blade running with cold ingredients not getting mixed) won’t occur. This, they claim, means it doesn’t need a tamper to move ingredients around while it’s running like the VitaMix. This is not true. Their instruction booklet even mentions what to do when it happens. When it occasionally occurred, I had to shift the contents (usually by lifting up and shaking the air bubble out) and run some additional time in the Blendtec after the smoothie cycle ran.

The tamper makes the VitaMix even taller, but it easily pushes ingredients safely into the spinning blades below.

The Blendtec experiences cold ingredients freezing up and staying away from a fast spinning blade just as any blender, including the VitaMix, does, but the designed inclusion of the VitaMix tamper is an essential addition and a huge advantage over the Blendtec. Third party manufacturers of tampers (strongly recommended) for the Blendtec offer them for sale on ebay to even this out, but Blendtec’s claim that they’re unnecessary is decidedly incorrect.

The tall VitaMix blender jar also means that there is a reduced chance of ingredients being thrown against the capped lid than on the shorter, wider Blendtec’s, which keeps things a little cleaner. The Blendtec’s wide, airy, jar bottom maintains a very slight edge in cleanup of the bottom around the blades. Even on the VitaMix, it’s just a slightly tighter rinse and wipe operation, though.

The manual, 10 speed setting on my model of the Blendtec was sometimes awkward if you wanted to stop it on a specific number under 10, say, speed number 8, because the numbers ramp up rather quickly and you pick the speed by releasing the button when it reaches the number you want. More recent models have a speed up and speed down option to make this easier to accomplish. The VitaMix, on the other hand, has a variable-speed knob and a special high setting above the top knob setting which is used to work on tough blending jobs like frozen smoothies. I strongly prefer the easy manual control of the VitaMix.

Blendtec’s smoothie cycle is pre-set (listed as button #3 on some models like mine) on its front, but that cycle only goes up to speed number 8 and for only 6 seconds at the end of the cycle. This isn’t enough for many frozen smoothies even if cavitation hasn’t occurred at the earlier, slower speeds programmed into the smoothie cycle. It sometimes takes a few more seconds holding in the pulse button at the end.

Blendtec’s top speed of “10” spins its two, wide blades at 28,000 RPM. VitaMix’s top speed of “High” spins its four blades at 37,000 RPM. This, more than anything, provides faster and better blending ability by the VitaMix despite Blendtec’s additional horsepower motor. Blendtec’s 3 HP motor may provide additional strength, but I’m not trying to blend hot tar or congealed glue so VitaMix’s still awesome 2 HP motor is perfectly adequate for my tasks.

Again, don’t consider this a put-down of the Blendtec’s ability. It is an awesome blender and has some advantages, but simply not as many as the VitaMix. The excellent reputation of the Blendtec was shown by me nearly getting my original purchase price back in selling the two-year-old machine because of the great sale price I found when I bought it.

Having now bought the VitaMix means I will have no further significant blender investments for the next eight years of my warranty, and have not found any major drawback to the VitaMix’s performance whatsoever. Sure, it’s a significant cash outlay, but I’ve compared it for myself and found the investment worthwhile.

12 –CATEGORY SHOWDOWN

(The first five categories scored are rather minor, the next three can be important for some, and the last four are the most important to me.)

Cleanup – Even (but Blendtec with VitaMix's smaller blender jar.)

Strength of Motor – Blendtec slightly, though I couldn't tell

Speed of Blade – VitaMix slightly, though I couldn't tell

Measuring Markings - Blendtec (but Even with VitaMix's smaller blending jar)

Accessories/Extras – VitaMix (especially if purchased at a Live Demonstration)

Size – Blendtec

Versatility – Blendtec (but Even with VitaMix’s dry jar added)

Cost – Blendtec

Noise – VitaMix

Control – VitaMix

Warranty – VitaMix

Blending – VitaMix (but Even if the Blendtec is used with an added Third Party Tamper, especially on the Manual settings)

If the cost factor or the size of fitting a blender under a cabinet or shelf were in your most important category section, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Blendtec and get a Third Party Tamper. Otherwise, for me, the VitaMix clearly wins.

VITAMIX RATING – an almost perfect 9.9 / 10 (improve the visibility of the measuring markings on the regular blender jar to make it perfect).

Product Review: Blender Showdown, Part 1 of 2 - The Moderately-Priced Oster Beehive vs. Braun PowerMax

2009-04-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

As a longtime smoothie drinker, I have searched liquefy and stir (that’s “high” and “low” in blender-talk) for the perfect blender.

I began this search by reading what others had professionally researched, and they – Consumer Reports and America’s Test Kitchen – each decided on a “Best Buy” - a wonderful blender, they said, for a fraction of the cost of the high end blenders.

That consensus pick was the Braun PowerMax. – a 525-watt blender with a glass jar that is uniquely triangular in shape down to its base. As I recall it was $50 - $60.

Immediately upon using it I was totally underwhelmed. It simply wouldn’t blend ice well enough. How can you possibly make a smoothie with frozen ingredients (as I always do) if it won’t chop the ice thoroughly?

Although it was very quiet, another drawback was its plastic gear drive. Plastic gears wear out far too easily, so I moved on after a few frustrating months. I gave the Braun to my sister who didn’t have a blender at all.

I can only assume that Consumer Reports and America’s Test Kitchen must have only been testing for the easiest blender tasks.

BRAUN POWERMAX RATING – 2/10 due to poor motor design and insufficient blending capability despite the excellent sound design.

The Oster Beehive was about $50 – $60, had a metal gear drive and some good reviews behind it as well. One cool thing I learned about Oster is that it can take a regular mason jar on its base if you want to blend right into a drinking vessel.

Be forewarned, though, that regular mason jars are not approved for that type of use. Still, I tried it with simple tasks and it worked.

The Oster also was unique in that it only had two speeds. I came to realize that, as long as the high speed was sufficient, two speeds was probably enough!

The Oster featured a square glass blending jar atop the metal-driven, 500-watt motor.

The Oster was a bit of an improvement over the Braun regarding frozen ingredients as long as you had enough liquid included and stirred things up a bit while it was running, but it still had some major problems.

Problem #1 – NOISE!!!!!

The Oster company does not do a very good job of sound insulation on this model. I literally had to wear ear protection when using this blender.

I’m not kidding. I kept foam earplugs in the drawer underneath the bar counter where the blender sat to put in my ears before I turned the machine on.

Problem #2 – The blending jar has a rubber gasket between the glass and the plastic base. The base has to be unscrewed after each use or else grimy things start growing. The jar, base, and gasket have to be separately rinsed and cleaned, then put back together every time you use it.

This was a major pain.

Problem #3 – The rubber gasket has to be seated perfectly and not overtightened when the base is screwed back on the jar or else it will get drawn up into the contents and blended causing a ruined smoothie and a broken seal which causes leakage.

After the third time I had to order a three-pack of gaskets, I was ready to move on to a new blender. The Oster went to my sister-in-law who didn’t have a blender yet.

(How can these people not have blenders? Oh yeah – because they, unlike you, my brilliant readers, have yet to discover smoothie greatness.)

OSTER BEEHIVE RATING - 4/10 due to poor noise and blender jar design despite a little better blending ability.

These were supposed to be the Best Buys, the darlings of the professional reviewers, the "just as good as the pricy ones." Having tried the best of these supposedly top-rated, moderately-priced blenders and been completely disappointed I knew I had to throw in the towel, spend some major cash, and get a high-end blender.

It would come down to two models that I would also come to personally own and test - the Blendtec/Ktec Total Blender/HP3 and the VitaMix 5200 - the subjects of the finale of this series.

A Real Smoothie

2009-04-02T17:20:00.001-07:00

What? A blog post about smoothies? What’s the big deal about smoothies?

1. Throw fruit and liquid in a blender.

2. Turn on blender.

Isn’t that all there is to it? NO!

Several important questions need to be answered before you begin with step 1.

First and foremost, is this smoothie going to be creamy?

If so, you need to choose a special ingredient to make it so. My favorites are:

non-dairy milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.);
non-dairy yogurt;
non-dairy ice cream;
silken tofu; or
banana.

For me this is almost always a yes, and I generally start with soy or almond milk and use one of the others, usually a banana.

If creaminess is not part of your smoothie, some of the alternatives to use as your base can include:

water;
juice;
watermelon;
grapes;
orange; or
carbonated water/soda/diet soda (betcha never thought of making a smoothie with 7-Up or Cherry Fresca before, did ya?).

Water adds hydration, but nothing nutritionally and it can dilute your smoothie so I’d only recommend it if your blender needs it.

Watermelon produces more liquid than any other fruit so that alone can work wonders. Grapes will tend to make a thicker, pulpy (pulpy is the smoothie opposite of creamy) smoothie and a peeled orange is somewhere in between.

My next question is whether you want protein to be part of the smoothie. If you are using this as a meal replacement, it really should be added.

Some of the best protein enhancers include:

protein powder;
non-dairy milk;
non-dairy yogurt; or
silken tofu.

I make my own soy yogurt, so tofu is clearly the most expensive alternative for me. As I said, I generally start with a milk and add something else if I want the protein boost. Usually, it’s protein powder.

Moving right along, we come to temperature. Do you want this to be a semi-frozen concoction, or just plain liquid?

If it’s going to be semi-frozen, you’ll need either frozen fruit/veggies or ice cubes. I prefer frozen fruit because too many ice cubes can dilute the smoothie, especially when the ice particles melt - providing it lasts that long, that is.

In other words, don’t use water as the liquid base if you’re going to add ice cubes.

The next question to decide is if this will be a “green” smoothie. By green, I don’t mean it has to have that as a final color, but it does require a green (the most nutritionally dense), leafy vegetable.

If so, you’ll want to consider:

spinach, raw or frozen;
kale;
collard/mustard/turnip greens; or
romaine lettuce.

Kale is the most nutritionally dense, but imparts a strong flavor. Spinach is less harsh while almost as nutritious as kale, but I don’t like to use raw spinach because it a) is expensive, and b) can inhibit the absorption of calcium.

A 10-ounce block of frozen spinach has already been blanched to neutralize the calcium inhibiting action, is very cheap, and is much more densely packed (5 ounces frozen = 1 cup raw spinach).

When I make a green smoothie with spinach, I simply put in a giant spoonful (or two) of the thawed out frozen stuff. If keeping raw, I prefer kale or romaine lettuce, which also has the benefit of being the green, leafy veggie with the least intrusive flavor.

Another great vegetable to consider is canned pumpkin. Use plain pumpkin if you want to avoid the added sugar in pumpkin pie filling.

What if you’re thinking about the healthiest possible smoothie? I already mentioned kale as the healthiest veggie, but there are some especially healthy fruits as well.

If health benefits are your number one concern, try to include one or more of these:

blueberries;
citrus;
papaya (best at aiding digestion, along with pineapple);
mango;
kiwi; or
red or black seedless grapes.

As with frozen spinach, bagged frozen fruit is very cost-effective especially if you buy it at the bulk/club stores.

My final options for smoothies are simply miscellaneous additions. Some you may consider include:

chocolate syrup / cocoa powder;
espresso / coffee / ground coffee / instant coffee;
extract (e.g. vanilla, almond, mint, coconut, etc.);
peanut butter or other nut butter;
spices like nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon.
ground flax seed (or whole with the proper blender);
tea (especially green or herb);
wheat germ / wheat bran / oat bran / oatmeal;
maple syrup;
molasses;
sugar / sugar-substitute;
powdered non-dairy milk;
non-dairy creamer;
thickener (e.g. carageenan / xanthan gum / pectin);
agave nectar / brown rice syrup; or, oh what the hell...
rum / vodka / you name it.

I’ll be posting several of my all-time favorite smoothie recipes soon, but here’s my #1 favorite as pictured above:

DON'S CHOCOLATE-BANANA-STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE

1 c chocolate soy milk (or regular soy milk with chocolate syrup)

1 small frozen banana (or 3/4 medium banana, or 2/3 giant-size)

2 handfuls frozen sliced strawberries (about 6 large whole)

How simple is that?

Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal

2009-03-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Not all oatmeal is created equal. The rule of thumb is that the longer it takes to cook, the better the oatmeal.

For me, the best (and longest cooking) oatmeal is steel-cut oats. You can see in the picture here that it's more like little nuggets than the rolled out and flattened flakes you're most used to seeing.

Cook it through and it creams up like any other oatmeal, but with a better flavor and more interesting texture. Unfortunately, steel cut oats generally take about 30 minutes in a pot on a stove to get it to the soft consistency you want in oatmeal.

My favorite way to make the cooking easier is to put it in a slow cooker or a rice cooker with a porridge or slow cook cycle.

"Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal" from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Book is my favorite recipe for steel-cut oats.

There's not much simpler than loading a cooker with ingredients and pressing a button, but that's about it for this one. Here's what I put in:

2/3 c steel-cut oats
1 3/4 c vanilla soymilk (or regular soymilk plus 1 t vanilla extract)
1 1/4 t cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
2 T maple syrup
1/4 c golden raisins

And here's what it produces...

The consistency is still creamy, but the little nuggets of oats remain somewhat chewy. It's absolutely a fun and delicious way to eat hot cereal.

Upon refrigeration, the oats harden up a bit so re-heating with a little added liquid is necessary.

Another way to speed up the cooking of steel-cut oats is to soak the oats overnight. Abbie from Foods That Fit very cleverly adds an herbal tea bag or two to soak with the oats for added infused flavor.

Following the overnight soak, normal pot cooking drops to seven or eight minutes. For this soymilk based recipe, just soak it in the refrigerator.

CREAMY BREAKFAST OATMEAL RATING - 9

Abbie also has a new blog post about another breakfast item she came across on the web - granola custom made to your specifications. Check it out here.

Running Injured

2009-03-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have to vent.

You may have noticed in my profile that I'm a long-distance runner. I run the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon or Half-Marathon every year. I have also run the 26.2-mile distance in other states as well. Here's a picture around Mile 7 from this year's race in February.

But the biggest race (in terms of number of runners and the excitement generated) I run each year is the Crescent City Classic, a 10K race in New Orleans. At its peak it had nearly 30,000 runners, but post-Katrina it's about 17,500.

The only race I have run with more runners was the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, which had about 29,000 entrants.

I've never made the top 500 finishers in the CCC, which would get my name in the newspaper and win a free race poster. My best finish was last year when I came in 628th.

But since I went vegan in May 2008, all of my race times have improved. I don't think that's coincidental at all.

I very nearly set a PR (personal record) in a 5K race in November while qualifying for a forward spot in the CCC. It would have been a PR if I hadn't run into a truck - yes, a parked truck. Don't ask.

The Half-Marathon in the picture above was the second fastest Half-Marathon I ever ran, second only to the first half of my fastest full Marathon ever, which was a decade earlier. In short, I've been cooking since going vegan.

With the Crescent City Classic just three weeks away, I reinjured both strained calves today that had semi-healed, but lingered for awhile now.

It all started about six weeks ago with my attempt to refine my running form biomechanically. Without knowing what I was doing I strained my calves. Since I realized what I did wrong, I have corrected my form and taken it easy with more rest days, massages, etc. The soreness never went away completely, but I was managing.

Unfortunately, I should have just shut it down and let it totally heal. I have had to cut my last two runs short because of extremely sharp pains - first in my left calf three days ago (followed by a couple of off days to let it rest), and then in my right calf today.

I'm hoping that if I have to give it two weeks rest, I can heal enough to let me get a couple of training runs in before the race. Even then I certainly won't be at my best.

I know - if I can't do it there's always next year. But it's so frustrating.

Product Review - Nate's Meatless Meatballs

2009-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't often tried to imitate omni food with vegan faux-meats, but I have one major exception. I have yet to find a recipe for the perfect meatless meatball.

I know a great vegan meatless meatball exists. It's called Nate's Zesty Italian Meatless Meatballs. It looks and tastes like the omni version and has a gentle texture when heated in spaghetti sauce as I did the photo above.

That one used whole wheat spaghetti with sliced zucchini also cooked into the sauce and topped with vegan parmesan.

I always dump my pasta into the sauce when it's finished cooking (the Italian way as in my photo) as opposed to spooning sauce over plain spaghetti (the American way as in the Nate's package photo). The flavor is much more saturated when going traditional.

Nate's Meatballs are a little too delicate to mix up with the spaghetti and sauce so they must be spooned on after. That's OK though because it allows other uses for the meatballs besides the pasta meal - like meatball sammiches, for instance.

Nate's is pretty healthy, too. Three meatballs have 90 calories, 9 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fiber.

The ingredients list textured soy protein, water, wheat gluten, pressed canola oil, bread crumbs, Italian spices, evaporated cane juice, garlic, celery, and parsley. That shouldn't be too difficult to duplicate, but I haven't seen a recipe doing it yet.

I admit it - I'm too lazy to figure out the right proportions. I'm hoping someone will read this and try it for themselves.

Then let us all know, OK?

Until then, we have...

NATE'S ZESTY ITALIAN MEATLESS MEATBALLS RATING - 10!

Tempeh Shepherdess Pie

2009-03-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

And hey, speaking of comfort foods, which I was in my last post a couple of weeks ago...

Note - sorry about the delay in posting, but meals have been really routine lately - beans and rice, stir-fry with store-bought stir-fry sauce featuring a tofu attempt that didn't work out right, and baked potatoes with peas and carrots cooked in a ginger-sesame sauce (oops - I suppose I should have blogged and photo'd that last one).

... here's a veganized old favorite that I found when looking up tempeh recipes in my favorite cookbook - Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon.

Who doesn't like Shepherd's Pie - mashed potatoes with good fillings? And who doesn't like one-dish casseroles? I don't see any hands raised, so I must be right.

Put those two ideas together and you've got an oldie, but a goodie. Veganize it and the fillings include cremini mushrooms, tempeh simmered in a soy sauce, peas, corn and spices.

Being a casserole, the recipe makes its own mushroom gravy. I used yellow mashed taters - my favorite being Klondike Gold. Talk about a creamy tater - even when just baked plain - wow!

This one was another creative winner from Veganomicon. I'll definitely be making it again.

TEMPEH SHEPHERDESS PIE RATING - 8

Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

2009-03-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I think about my pregan (pre-vegan) days, or more accurately in this case, my pre-vegetarian days and the foods I ate.

Not that I miss any of it, but that's been over 10 years now and a lot of foods I don't eat anymore are because I haven't thought to veganize them.

Skimming through Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan With A Vengeance got me to thinking of Stuffed Bell Peppers when coming across this Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers recipe (note: the picture they put on that website appears to be for a completely different rice-based stuffed pepper dish. Weird, huh?!).

I don't use a lot of faux-meats anymore, but it would be easy to veganize stuffed peppers by using faux-ground meat in the usual recipe. This one doesn't go that route.

Instead, Moskowitz created a truly different dish that uses chopped mushrooms instead of meat. Quinoa is the grain that substitutes for oatmeal or breadcrumbs, and black beans fills out the insides about as well could be done.

Vegans often get asked the where-do-you-get-your-protein-from question. Quinoa is a grain very high in protein, as are the black beans so there's no faux meat needed here.

I chopped the 'shrooms in a food processor to make it quick and easy. 5 minutes of sauteeing with onions and garlic released any moisture they had.

As you can see in the recipe, just add in some spices, the quinoa, some tomato sauce and black beans and you're ready to stuff.

Blanched red bell peppers are a nice mild touch instead of the spicier green ones. I've done this recipe with both, and the green ones are cheaper and just as fine. Topped off with tomato sauce and they're ready for baking.

I've made this recipe several times now. You have to be a mushroom fan to love it, but I think it's my favorite recipe I've tried so far from this book.

BLACK BEAN, MUSHROOM, AND QUINOA-STUFFED PEPPERS RATING - 9

...and now a note for you healthy recipe creators!!!

One of my favorite blogs is Foods that Fit from a fellow marathon runner and almost-vegan named Abbie in Maryland (soon to be Utah). You can see it in my blog roll on the right.

Abbie is putting together a healthy, almost-vegan e-cookbook and will give a copy free to anyone who gives her five healthy recipes by March 15, 2009 and posts a link to it from their blog. I sent my five (Homemade Soy Milk, Mocha Ice Cream, Easy Spinach Enchiladas, Cajun Hummus and Okara/Bean Burgers) and here's the link with the details!

Wrap Artist

2009-02-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

I think wraps are the best sandwiches you can make. They’re easy to hold, fun to eat, and don’t spill their contents easily.

You can make them with cold ingredients, like the Curried Chickenless Salad Sandwiches I recently made, or they can be hot like these Enchiladas pictured here (before the extra sauce was poured on top).

OK, technically Enchiladas aren’t wraps because you eat them with a fork, but as hot burritos the concept is similar. Like all wraps, Enchiladas are especially great for improvisation because they are so capable of handling whatever you have on hand.

Dona Z. Meilach's Wraps and Roll-Ups (non-vegan) names four components needed to make the perfect wrap: filling, binder, flavoring, and crunch.

One ingredient can cover more than one component and one component can be covered by more than one ingredient. Here’s how it breaks down.

Filling - This is the main component. In my Enchiladas, this was covered by spinach. I used a 10.5 ounce frozen chopped spinach, squeezed of all water, as the main ingredient for this one. In Veganland, this is generally covered by the main vegetable, but can also be beans or tofu.

Binder - This holds everything together. I usually use grains or beans, but even soft potato or pumpkin could work. In my Enchiladas, I used brown rice. I didn’t measure how much. It was whatever was left over.

Flavoring - This is usually covered by a sauce. It can be enchilada sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, chutney, guacamole, peanut sauce, BBQ sauce, you name it. In my Enchiladas, I used leftover cheesy sauce. Again, I didn’t measure how much. I just added to taste.

Crunch - This is most overlooked component of wraps. Crunch adds texture, which prevents your wrap from being another mushy bean burrito. In my Enchiladas, I added some chopped celery. Nuts (I like slivered almonds for Asian wraps) and fresh vegetables (especially chopped, sliced, or matchstick carrots) are my favorite addition for crunch. Others include broccoli, cabbage, sunflower seeds or even thick potato chips if they don’t get dampened by the sauce.

As I mentioned, some ingredients can be used for several components. Tofu can be a binder and a filling. Raw carrots can be a filling and a crunch. Cooked carrots can be a filling and a binder. Thick sauces can be a binder and a flavoring. Peanut butter can be a binder, a filling, and a flavoring, though not all three at once. Add jelly as the flavoring and you’ve got it made.

SPINACH ENCHILADAS RATING - 8

Throwing Stuff Together

2009-02-21T17:58:00.001-08:00

One of the fun things about browsing through cookbooks - new ones, especially - is picking out things you want to try even if you don't want to do them in the combinations they suggest.

For instance, one recent dinner (pictured above) had Baked Tofu, which I adapted from a different recipe in Isa Chandra Moskwitz and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon, Mushroom Gravy from Joanna Vaught's Yellow Rose Recipes, and a Cheesy Sauce from here (which is also somewhat similar to Gee Whiz Spread from Jo Stepaniak's The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook).

The brown basmati rice and the sauteed squash were pretty straightforward.

It was mix and match, but still came together great. The Mushroom Gravy was savory and marsala-like. This must be one of her favorite flavors because she has another recipe in the book specified as a marsala sauce, which I haven't yet tried.

The cheesy sauce was like a mild queso. The baked tofu was chewy without any of the stereotypical jelliness, and it turned out to be a knockout dinner.

I'm going to be trying more from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, including the Gee Whiz Spread. Cheese is hard to duplicate when going vegan, but this book even shows to make hard cheeses.

I've found several uses throughout the week for this generic cheese sauce besides just topping on the rice, and I'm going to blog about my favorite one next.

MUSHROOM GRAVY RATING - 8
CHEESY SAUCE RATING (not Gee Whiz Spread) - 7

A Couple of Vegan Burgers

2009-02-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

A vegan burger is a great thing, a quick thing, and, at times, the only thing that can quickly satisfy hunger when it's meal time and there's nothing else ready to eat.

When you do have time to cook, though, there are some amazing recipes that really make it something special. One of the classic "burger" sandwiches involve portobello mushrooms. These big 'shrooms have a naturally chewy texture and can be plain old grilled, or made fancy like I did recently.

The picture above is Roasted Portobellos from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon, my favorite cookbook. Anyone can grill a portobello sprayed with oil and dusted with salt and pepper, but this recipe involves a wonderful marinade the 'shrooms stay seated in while roasting in the oven.

Note the Veganaise on the buns. Besides adding a nice touch, it also provides a layer of fat that protects the bun from sogginess that could result from the juicy, marinated 'shrooms.

In this version I added some lettuce and red onion, but another nice touch is wasabi mustard that makes a nice compliment to the soy sauce flavor in the marinade.

One drawback I noticed in preparing this recipe is that the portobellos shrunk a little when roasting to make for a smallish "burger", albeit one still full of flavor.

If you had some bland store-bought burger, you could add a roasted protobello to upgrade it into something really special.

Of course, you don't have to buy some pre-fab burger by Boca, Amy's or one of the other companies who put frozen veggie burgers in a box. After all, they're expensive and usually don't have just what you want in a burger.

By making it yourself ahead of time, you get a burger that's cheap, delicious, and you can make it taste exactly how you like it.

Here are some that I made recently.

They are made from okara, the remnants from soybeans after you've squeezed out the soy milk from them. They have kind of a mashed potato consistency. See my blog list for "Okara Mountain", a website dedicated to finding uses for the okara left after making soy milk.

Mashed or blended white beans would be even better than okara because they would contain their full nutrient base whereas okara has had some of it steeped out for soy milk.

I usually grate some carrots and other veggies into the okara, but a recent juicing of carrots, apples, and celery left pulp in my juicer very similar in texture to okara.

I mixed by hand (and I mean literally squeezing it between my fingers for a couple of minutes) 1 cup of okara, 1 cup of carrot, apple, and celery mush, 1 cup of gluten flour, 3/4 cup of bread crumbs, and 2.5 t of Tony Chacherie's Creole Seasoning. After forming patties I baked them at 375F for 25 minutes, flipping them after 15 minutes.

I used to include more flour or oats instead of bread crumbs in the mix and then simply dipped to coat them in bread crumbs, but I like the texture better this way.

With less seasoning in the okara burgers, those roasted portobellos would be a great way to combine them into Deluxe Portobello Okara Burgers.

ROASTED PORTOBELLO RATING - 8
CREOLE OKARA BURGER RATING - 7

Curried Chickenless Salad Sandwiches

2009-02-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

One of my new cookbooks (thank you, holiday gift cards) is Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. After reading the recommendation of my good friend, Pixiepine (see her "Palace" on my Blog List at right), I chose Curried Chickenless Salad Sandwiches as my first recipe to try.

This has two ingredients that are considered totally love or totally hate - curry powder and tempeh. I'm fine with both of them.

Curry powder is the essence of Indian food and tempeh, which is a chewy, fermented soy product, can be bitter if not poached or steamed a bit. After 10 minutes in simmering water tempeh is much better.

I don't see the recipe posted online so you'll have to get the book for this one, but what I especially like about it is the contrasts of both flavors and textures.

The flavors combine savory ones like tempeh and curry with sweet ones like golden raisins and sweet pickle relish. The textures include chewy ones like tempeh, red peppers, and scallions with crunchy ones like chopped celery and slivered almonds.

After making the sandwich as pictured above, I realized this followed one of my own guidelines for perfect wraps (a future blog post) for having multiple textures.

Although the recipe just says to put it on bread, I say roll that baby up in a large tortilla and you'll enjoy one incredible wrap.

CURRIED CHICKENLESS SALAD SANDWICHES RATING - 8

Cajun Hummus

2009-01-31T17:25:00.001-08:00

There's not much to making hummus. It's just basically chickpea dip.

Blend some chickpeas with some flavoring and there you are. Pick the right flavorings, though, and you can turn it into something unique.

My recipe is pretty standard except for the added twist of a little Louisiana Hot Sauce to give it a subtle punch.

Blend or food process the following:

2 15.5-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 T olive oil
Juice of 1/2 - 1 lime (or lemon), depending on size (I don't like it too citrus-y)
2 cloves of garlic
4 T tahini
2 T Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids or 1 T reduced-sodium soy sauce (adds flavor and saltiness)
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cumin
3 - 6 shakes of Tobasco or other Louisiana Hot Sauce (maybe 1/8 - 1/4t?)
6 to 10 oz. water depending on how thick you want it (it will thicken upon refrigeration)

ALTERNATIVE - Eliminate the Bragg's, paprika, and Tobasco, and instead add 1 - 1.5 t Creole Seaoning (e.g. Tony Chachere's). This adds more spiciness, but not quite the same subtle heat the Tobasco version has. Of course, you can always add a little of each.

Start with about 4 ounces of water and add as desired. You may have to stop the blender or food processor intermittently to scrape down the sides, but that also allows you to taste and adjust the spices how you like it.

We go through a lot of hummus at our house and this is our favorite.

CAJUN HUMMUS RATING - 9

Taco Soup

2009-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Through the magic of holiday gift cards, I recently added a few cookbooks to my collection including the just-released 4th edition of Nava Atlas' Soup Book, retitled Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons.

I didn't have any other Nava Atlas cookbooks to compare it to, but this one got me by the title alone.

Soups and stews are usually meals unto themselves. Add a salad and some bread and you're there.

The book order arrived shortly after I had cooked up a pound of pinto beans intending to turn them into a week's worth of taco salads, but I never got past the first one of those when I looked through the book and found Taco Soup on page 70 (and, as you can see by the link, is also featured in the January 2009 VegNews Magazine).

What luck! After seeing the soup called for 4 cups of pinto beans I knew I would have this one made in a shade.

My only changes were to use regular crushed tomatoes in lieu of salt-free (but not adding any salt to taste), and to dispense with the optional garnishes.

The spiciness thermostat in my mouth is usually set at mild, but I probably went medium on this one to give it a decent amount of heat. Even in New Orleans it can be cool in January.

I'd have to say this one is a keeper. The bulgar gives it a good whole wheat density, but rice or corn could easily be substituted to make it gluten free.

I hope the rest of the recipes in the book are as good.

TACO SOUP RATING - 8

Vegan Mocha Ice Cream

2009-01-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Mocha is the wonderful marriage of chocolate and coffee, and this, my all-time favorite dessert, is the honeymoon I created for it.

I've seen several cream bases for vegan ice cream - cashews, soy, coconut, vegetable oil, and alcohol (it works by lowering the freezing point). Coconut cream is my favorite. It has a good flavor, a good texture, and keeps everything smooth.

Coconut cream is also the basis for the ice cream in Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon, my favorite cookbook. Their ice cream recipes are out of this world.

The measures of ingredients are those I use for a Cuisinart 1.5 quart ice cream maker I was lucky enough to find on closeout for under $15 awhile back. It requires freezing the bowl at least 24 hours ahead of time, so I just keep it in the freezer 24/7. If you have a 2-quart ice cream maker, you can probably just make up the difference with more soymilk. You'll also need a blender. Any cheap one will do.

INGREDIENTS:
1 c coconut cream *
12-ounce Silken tofu (e.g. Mori-Nu firm)
12 oz. chocolate soy milk
2 T cocoa powder
1 1/3 c sugar
1 T vanilla extract
1 -2 double shots (2 to 3 oz. each) of espresso, regular (preferably) or decaf **

* If you don't see unsweetened coconut cream for sale, then just refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight. The next day the cream will have risen to the top and slightly hardened so you can scoop it out with a spoon if you are VERY GENTLE when you remove it from the refrigerator and take off the top.

** IMPORTANT - By "espresso", I mean REAL espresso, not simply strong coffee produced by a small pot on your stove that is sometimes incorrectly called espresso. Also, it is not the strong coffee produced by a steam machine selling for about $50. It has to be an actual, minimum 9-bar pressure, pump driven espresso. If you don't have an espresso machine, go to a coffee shop and get a double-shot of espresso to go. It doesn't have to stay hot because, well, we're making ice cream for crying out loud! I use one double shot for a mild, underlying coffee flavor, but you can use two to make it stronger.

Blend all ingredients. The lowest speed is fine, but let it mix awhile because it's thick. Pour it into your ice cream maker as per the instructions for your machine.

After a day or so in the freezer, it may get very hard. Just microwave the whole batch for 30 seconds or so and it will soften up for scooping, although, like any ice cream, it will form ice crystals the more you do that.

Like any homemade ice cream, the best time to eat it is a few hours after the batch has gone into the freezer. By that time, it hasn't solidified completely, but it's also not the loose consistency it has right out of the machine.

VEGAN MOCHA ICE CREAM RATING - 10!

Better soymilk, part 2

2009-01-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

A short addendum to my "Much, much better soy milk" previously posted here. To get your soy milk even more like the commercial processors you would have to get all of the hulls off the soybeans while they are hot - a difficult task to say the least. The commercial processors use giant blow dryers to get them off, but we can't really get to that perfect level. I think it's good enough anyway, and a marked improvement over the usual soaked soybean home process.

To get a thicker consistency, the commercial processors add carrageenan (Silk, Soy Dream) or xantham gum (Rice Dream, 8th Continent, and most others), at approximately 1/8 t per quart. You can do this with your completed (strained) soy milk, but it will require a blender. Spoon stirring won't do it. Blending, on the other hand, creates more foam so you may have to spoon some of that off after letting it settle.

Eden uses barley malt, and that can be spoon stirred, but it also adds a flavoring you may not want. I don't mind a little malted milk flavor, though.

I use a couple of tablespoons of oats and/or rice as per Julie Hasson at everydaydish.tv to give a little heavier mouthfeel to the soy milk. To my completed batch of soy milk I add 2 T sugar or other sweetener, 1 T barley malt powder, and a heaping 1/4 t salt.

Alternatively, you can ditch the oats/rice before making the soy milk, and blend 1/8 t carrageenan or xantham gum instead of the barley malt after straining to make it a little more like the commercial stuff.

I have found it is best to use your soy milk machine's "dry bean" cycle if it has one because my blanching method doesn't soften the beans as much as the soaking method does. On the SoyQuick Premier 930P soy milk maker, that would be the "Mung Bean" button.

Not Your Mama's Pot Roast

2009-01-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give this slow cooker recipe a shot because I had purchased some Seitan Quick Mix awhile back to try. The recipe I chose to use it in is called, "Not Your Mama's Pot Roast" from Robin Robertson's Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker, but I got the recipe here.

I don't have the book to try out other recipes, but Robin Robertson can always be counted on for some well-thought out vegan dishes. This veganized Pot Roast recipe has a nice, rich, traditional flavor and aroma.

The texture of the seitan is spongier than most due to its sitting in liquid and steam for eight hours. That made it somewhat softer than I'm used to, but extremely easy to slice. Still, it stayed firm enough to hold together fine when moved to a plate.

I like seitan firmer and more sausage like so I'd probably like a baked Vegan Pot Roast recipe more than a slow cooked one. It's hard, though, to beat the convenience of throwing some dry ingredients in a bowl to mix for a few minutes, tossing it in a slow cooker with some quartered onions and potatoes, a bag of baby carrots, and some broth, then finding a complete meal eight hours later.

NOT YOUR MAMA'S POT ROAST RATING - 6

Much, Much Better Homemade Soy Milk!!!

2009-01-03T12:47:00.001-08:00

There are a lot of advantages making your own soy milk:

You know what goes in it.
You can customize the flavor to your own tastes.
It costs something like 25 cents a quart to make.
It's a lot of fun.

Here's what's NOT so great about homemade soy milk:

The strong, sour, "beany" smell and taste.

What's with that? Commercial soy milk isn't like that at all.

Don't worry. That disadvantage ends today.

EQUIPMENT/INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR UNSWEETENED SOY MILK:

A soy milk machine.
2 pots each filled with 3 cups of water and 1/4 t baking soda
dry soy beans

(Technically, you don't need a soy milk machine, but it's going to be dangerous putting boiling hot liquids in a blender, so do yourself a favor and get a soy milk machine. I wholeheartedly recommend the SoyQuick Premier 930P. I don't make any money from this recommendation. In my opinion, it's simply the most versatile and best designed soy milk maker available.)

The instructions for soy milk machines tell you to soak the soy beans overnight, then put them in the machine, add water, and then turn the machine on to do its thing.

The taste problem arises in the soaking. The sour, beany taste comes from an activated enzyme - a trypsin inhibitor called lipoxygenase - that is activated when the dry beans interact with moisture. However, if the pH level and temperature are above normal, the enzyme is not activated.

The disadvantage of this method is a nominal blanching step that must be added, but has the benefit that you don't have to soak the soybeans, nor do you have to de-hull them by rubbing them between your hands to get to the "insides" of the beans, called the "cotyledons" (though removing as many hulls as possible helps even more).

Put two small pots on your stove with 3 cups of water and 1/4 t baking soda in each.
Boil the first pot, then throw in your unsoaked soybeans.
Reduce the first pot to a simmering boil, and turn the heat up on the second pot.
After 5 minutes, strain out the water from the first pot, rinse the beans with hot tap water, strain the rinse water, and put the beans in the now boiling 2nd pot for another 5 minute simmer.
When the 2nd 5-minute simmer is done, strain, rinse with hot tap water, strain the rinse water, and put the blanched soybeans in the 930P with hot water to your fill line to proceed as usual.
You'll notice many of the hulls come off during the blanching, but the beans are too hot to rub the rest off. Trust me, it doesn't really matter that you can't get them all off.

I experimented with a lazier method - namely by just using one 10-minute blanching, but it was a little less de-flavorizing. As a comparison, on a beaniness scale from 1 to 10 with commercial soy milk at a 1 and the usual soy milk in the 930P at a 10, here's how I rate the beaniness level in the methods I have tried:

Soaking, no de-hulling: 10.
Soaking, completely de-hulling: 8.5. And that was spending an hour de-hulling every single bean! Generally this would be a 9, not really much improvement.
No soaking, with one lazy 10-minute blanch, no hull removal: 4.
No soaking, with one lazy 10-minute blanch, some hulls removed: 3.5.
No soaking, with two 5-minute blanches, no hull removal: 2.
No soaking, with two 5-minute blanches, some hulls removed: 1.5.

Honest, it's practically perfect and a giant leap forward in making your own soy milk.

NEW "TWO BLANCHES" HOMEMADE SOY MILK RATING - 8
(OLD "SOAKING" HOMEMADE SOY MILK RATING - 2)

All That Vegan Jazz

2009-01-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

"So what is all that vegan jazz about anyway?"

In one form or another, I get this question a lot. Most vegans do, I suppose.

It's about a lot of things really...

Caring about animals.
Caring about the environment.
Caring about the planet.

All true, but really it just comes down to not needing to prove our species' evolutionary superiority over other animal life forms by being their caretakers instead of their conquerors.

Otherwise, how have we really evolved from our primitive ancestors?

And even beyond the inhumanity of our treatment of animals used for slaughter and consumption, this is particularly true in learning of the waste and the environmental disaster that occurs to our planet due to our industrial exploitation of animals.

It's time for human beings to evolve another step; or to put it another way, it's time for people to grow up.

As for the "jazz" part of this, cooking in a way that is out of the usual mainstream allows us to create, invent, and improvise. I know no other word that can better describe this than the creativity, invention, and improvisation of jazz.

Whether it's music or food, it is my goal to share my jazz with you.

Enjoy.