Vegan with jam

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  • Mark Bittman on Not Eating Fish

    Here are a few thoughts from Mr. Mark Bittman, food critic for the Times on why you should not eat fish.

  • Vegan Cheese!

    This just in: Vegan Cheese! I had this on a pizza for lunch (Waldo Pizza, Kansas City) and it was great!
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  • And Some Veggies with Rice

    This was great! And so simple!
    beans and rice

  • 888

    I found a “new” (to me…) place to buy all kinds of Asian food. It is huge! Near the intersection of 119th Street and 69 Highway (Kansas City Metro). I think the place is called, International Market, 888.
    Tofu at 888

  • The Same, But Different

    Though these look like the same bagels as those I baked the other day, they are substantially different. After reading the book, ahem, I decided I’d actually follow Mr. Reinhart’s directions. He recommends performing the “float test” prior to boiling. The idea, I expect, is to see if the dough has sufficiently proofed. If the “test bagel” doesn’t float, then it needs a little more time to rise.
    So, I did the float test, and sure enough, the bagel sank right to the bottom. I waited another 20 minutes, with the formed bagels under plastic, and that did the trick.
    These are much better than the last batch. Mary says they “look like grown-up bagels!” Ha!
    We’re going eat one in a few minutes!
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  • Today’s Bagel

    You just can’t beat the flavour of fresh sesame bagels.

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  • Bagels

    These bagels just came out of the oven. I followed a recipe in Peter Reinhart’s, “Artisan Breads Every Day” and was reasonably OK with it. I followed the baker’s measurements in the back of the book and the only comment I have is that maybe there are too many raisins, if that is possible. Such a high percentage made it somewhat difficult to form the dough into bagels. This is a very stiff dough. I might try a mixer next time, but have some doubts that it will be powerful enough for 1.6 kg of dough. Maybe.

    Overall, they’re great! In fact, if spite of the odd shapes and misforming, they’re the best I’ve ever had. And of course, they’re mine! All mine! Moohaahaa…

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  • Zero Oils – As in Zero Oils

    I subscribe to an email update from The Real Food Channel, a very worthy site for anyone interested in good health and good food. The other day I received a link to a Vegsource presentation by Caldwell Esselstyn, MD on how to eliminate heart disease. His ideas are radical in the extreme as they fly in the face of everything we think we know about eating, cooking, living, dining out, and the fabric of American life. Think EVOO is a good thing? Rachael? Emeril? Are you listening? Think not! Watch the presentation here. As a result, I’ve bought and read his book and decided to make a pot of soup to celebrate!

    Here is how it goes:
    • You need a big pot. 16 quart is fine, 20 is better.
    • There is absolutely no oil in this soup. Needless to say, no meat or dairy either.
    Here are the ingredients:
    • Two or three diced onions
    • A handful of minced or diced garlic to taste
    • A large bag of clean fresh spinich, enough to fill the pot
    • A mix of any of these available greens: collards, mustard greens, kale (cut out any hard stems and reserve for stock pot) – about a half pot full
    • Two or three cans of black beans. Or you can used dried beans but it takes a LOT longer to cook.
    • Two or three cans of diced tomatoes.
    • Spices – I’ve used an “Italian Spice” mix which includes primarily basil and oregano. For what will be about 6 to 8 quarts of soup, I used about two or three tablespoons. But this is up to you. Also, some fresh ground black pepper. And salt to taste. Careful with that.
    • Add your favorite “heat”. I use Sambal Ulek regularly – enough to go through a gallon in a couple of months. Try it!
    Here is what you do:
    • Fill the pot with greens and cook on medium heat until they start to whilt down. Then add more until they are all whilted.
    • Turn up the heat to medium-high for faster cooking. The pot should be at a low boil.
    • Add garlic and onions
    • Add beans and tomatoes. Do not drain beans first. Add the whole can.
    • Add spices
    • Season to taste
    • Cook for a long time
    • Taste frequently and adjust seasoning
    • You may wish to add either more beans or tomatoes or veggies to suit your tastes
    • If available, add fresh basil near the end of the cooking
    • You may wish to add some (one or two tablespoons) sweetener: Use either agave syrup or cane sugar. I used the agave syrup.
    The soup can be as soupy or stewy as you want. Add water or reduce as you see fit.
    I served this with a side of fresh green salad mix and brown short grain rice. You could, and I did, put the rice in the soup upon serving. (Short grain rice is stickier than long grain – it makes a chewy texture.)
    This meal is essentially zero points on the WW scale, cept for the rice. We had our fill for less than three points including the rice. It is so rich in nutrients that it is nearly off the charts, including protein.
    This is also essentially what I started with to make stuffed bell peppers the other night which I ended up baking in a cast iron dutch oven for an hour. It is a different twist on nearly the same meal, but makes for a new presentation altogether.
    Make lots. Put in meal sized containers for lunch and dinner. It should last a week at least in the frig. You can freeze it too.

  • But wait! There’s more!

    As anyone can see, my last post was fraught with despair and frustration over the lack of progress on the home project list. But the day was still young! After a few cups of coffee, I decided I’d at least get some branches trimmed from the big Pin Oak in the backyard. They have been scrapping on the roof for some time, and it seemed like a simple enough thing to remedy. And it involved buying a new Stihl chainsaw! Oh, boy!

    Once I got it to work, that being another story, the trimming went fairly well. The saw worked flawlessly, and of course, that is what I expect from a Stihl.

    However, as I was getting ready to come down from the roof, my foot went right through it. Yes, through the roof. Not the ceiling underneath, thank goodness. But now there is a hole the size of a loaf of bread right there in the middle of the roof.

    So alas, it just had to be another spaghetti and wine day. Due to consuming a low point breakfast and lunch, my weight is staying pretty much even. Next month we’ll do better, I’m sure!

    BTW – my friend the carpenter, not the philosopher carpenter, came over Monday evening and we’re making plans to repair the roof on the weekend of July 18th.

  • Lost Weekend

    Though it sure seems I tried this weekend to get something checked off the list, it just doesn’t seem to be coming together.

    A carpenter once told me, “Life is about moving things around.” He wasn’t your everyday when-the-only-tool-you-have-is-a-hammer-then-everything-looks-like-a-nail carpenter. He was educated at the University, and married to a doctor lady. So, by virtue of me having moved all kinds of things around this weekend, maybe I did get something done. But not checked off.
    This garage door project is a bear. The actual thermometer temperature was 100+. And there was no avoiding it while I uncrated the opener out on the driveway. The driveway was too hot to touch with bare skin. The sun too bright to see. The directions are printed in six languages and no language like an enormous comic book. The parts are all in translucent plastic bags, each a different color of pastel. Pink, green, gray, blue… or six different shades of gray to the color blind assembler.
    Then there is the tension bar that keeps the door from slamming shut and does what it can to assist in the lift. It needed adjusting, an operation best left to professionals. Adjusting the tension on this is like trying to add bait to a rat trap after it has already been cocked. That project concluded with the Kansas summer thunderstorms close behind.
    For the past two days, we’ve indulged in the comfort of spaghetti and wine. Not a great weight loss program. For the week, I’m down about 4 lbs. Good by any measure. But not meeting my expectations, which are clearly out of whack with reality.
    Next week we begin again and life goes on…