Vegan MoFo 26: A Reason to Pay What I Did for Those Mushrooms

Once you've reached the point that you'll pay $11 for mushrooms, you may as well pay $14. Or so I've been told.

At the Baltimore Farmers' Market there is a really nice group of mushroom farmers that bring a nice variety every week. I've bought exciting new kinds of mushrooms there before, but never felt justified buying one of the mix trays.

That changed when I chose Mushroom Hash from How to Pick a Peach as one of my fall recipes to try. The recipe calls for a pound and a half of mixed mushrooms, and I figured I may as well go balls to the wall. Incidentally, that phrase is about airplane acceleration, so let's keep this clean, yeah?

I was looking over the $11 trays, but my companion pointed out that I may as well throw down the extra $3 dollars and experience the taste of "deluxe."

So I did.

Then I made Mushroom Hash for breakfast one day. The only changes I made were to substitute ingredients that I didn't have on hand. I used apple juice with a bit of vinegar to stand in for white wine, and almond milk instead of cream.

I was almost late to work because I was having seconds. This is a decadent breakfast option, and I won't hesitate to buy exotic mushrooms again if I'm entertaining and need to impress. It was an easy dish to make, and took under 45 minutes to do, start to finish. All of the ingredients seemed to work to bring out the flavor of the mushrooms, and then that was imparted to the potatoes.

I know I said that I'd wait to try recipes from all the seasons before reviewing the book, but I don't think I need to. I will, but really, just check out the book already.

More CSA Weeks

Yesterday marked week four of collecting CSA boxes. I dropped the ball on photographing the last two, but the recent weeks brought leeks, cauliflower and broccoli, which was a welcome departure from the radishes and greens onslaught.

Though I admit, I have a new fondness for roasted radishes.

And even the new-to-me white radishes are lovely.


The biggest issue so far is using the greens before they go bad. I get dandelion, spinach, radish, mustard, mixed, and a few unidentified greens. And then lettuce to top it off. I have to make it a point to prep them immediately and use them right away.

First thing now, I clean and pack them all in (reused) ziploc bags. My mom got me a salad spinner years ago, and I used it occasionally - I'm not actually one to eat a lot of salad - but now I'm gaining some serious arm strength spinning bags and bags of greens each week.


Second, I've employed some new cooking habits. I've double up the greens in the daily green smoothie. It means a lot less fruit, but fruit is easy for me to eat throughout the day, so no big loss.

I've come to love the Stir Fried Greens recipe from Veganomicon. It's a quick and flavorful bed for millet, barley, beans, rice and leftovers. The Vegan Brunch recipe for Swiss Chard Frittata is another easy way to get through some greens fast.

Of course, you can always throw a handful into any soup or pasta, but I'm on the lookout for more creative ideas. Vegan Burnout has a similar abundance of greens and linked a recipe for Green Mashed Potatoes that I'm going to have to try. I notice that it requires an oven temperature of 400°, just like roasted radishes. Extra points for efficiency!

CSA Week 1!

Every Saturday morning, I walk up to MOM's for breakfast supplies. I used to plan ahead, but now the morning walk has become part of the process and guarentees I won't spend the whole day as a laze-about. A few weeks ago, a woman had a table covered in greens with a sign that said "CSA." The one I've been eyeing for over a year now runs out of membership space almost instantly, but Allison assurred me that there were shares left from her farm AND that the pick up location was MOM's. Perfect!

I signed up and last night walked up to MOM to get my first share! It was like vegan Tuesday Christmas and the excitement was palpable. I pictured my rustic wooden box, overflowing with veggies every color of the rainbow. Perhaps a bunny waering a hat would poke his little head out and I'd pet him the whole way home.

The box was waxed cardboard and I could only see green peaking through just a bit. But I was not dissapointed, I knew my vision was a bit grand.

Upon getting home, I unloaded bunches of green - several bunches of greens, and a bag of greens and one bunch of radishes. Great! I love green smoothies and salads. But this was a lot of greens.



Today, for breakfast, I had the greenest smoothie I've ever had. Except for 1/3 cup each of mango and blueberries, and a tablespoon of hemp protein powder, the smoothie was all dandelions and spinach. Oh and one radish, just for some spice. It was pretty good too!



I'm looking forward to more smoothies, salads, SusanV's Roasted Radishes and Pearl Onions and VCON's Stir-fired Greens recipe.

From Awful to Waffle

This weekend I put my new waffle iron to use with the help of Vegan Brunch. I was nervous and justifiably so. Though I spent many a summer chomping my way through Eggo 48 packs with my sisters before graduating to smaller packs of vegan waffles, I have never made a waffle from scratch or otherwise. But I believe in getting my money's worth out of my books, even if it means dropping more money on the appliances to do so.



For my first batch, I decided to go simple and chose the Chelsea Waffles, since they required no rising time or ingredient trips. Of course, I'm lying, I was one cup short of almond milk and my hemp milk smelled and tasted off, so I made a quick trip to the local organic market. I returned twice more that day, just so you know.

I followed the instructions perfectly, but the first one came out a little ugly.



I made little adjustments to time and flipping, and each waffle looked a little better, but at the end, I had not produced a single perfect waffle. In fact, I didn't even manage a totally edible waffle. The dog and I shared the edible bits, dipped in maple syrup and ate the strawberries I had cut up in anticipation of splendid and photogenic waffles.

I believe that the closing the drafty window helped, but a certain kitty who likes to perch there to watch the birds did not agree.



Day two, things went a little better. Though I was unable to achieve perfect shape, my Peanut Butter Waffles were totally edible and I'll even go so far as to say delicious!



I had presoaked some cashews and had chocolate ganache left over from Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes, so I topped my breakfast/morning dessert accordingly. The whole affair was a success and half a leftover waffle was a perfect Monday morning breakfast.

Vegan Weekend: Cafe Green, WVBS, and more

Last weekend seems so far away, but it was a good one in terms of vegan life.

Friday night, I hit up DC's new Cafe Green. (The grand opening was the next day). The cafe only serves vegan foods, with a nice selection of raw offerings. My dining companion and I went a little wild, ordering three appetizers, two entrees, and three desserts.

The entrees largely cater to the faux meat crowd. Dishes like chicken wings, cheese steaks, and cheeseburgers offer vegan alternatives to typical American restaurant offerings. I'm not wild in general about meat analogues, so I was not in love, but the Massaman Curry was wicked spicy and I enjoyed it.

Dessert stole the show. We struck up a conversation with the couple seated next to us who said that they always eat dessert first there and convinced us to order the raw cheesecake and cacao shake. In addition to those, we ordered a berry coconut tart. The cheesecake was unreal. I've had many a raw cheesecake, but this was literally it. It was chocolaty, smooth, and ridiculously decadent. The shake was fabulous and left us feeling high. The berry tart was great, but couldn't compete with the cheesecake.

The manager came out to visit the table and asked if we had tried the raw coconut ice-cream. We had not, so he brought us a little complimentary dish to sample. If I hadn't been stuffed already, I would have ordered more.

Cafe Green is most definitely a win. I hope they'll continue to expand their menu to go beyond the fake meat fare.

Sunday, I ventured out to a Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale event. I found that Compassion for Animals was hosting one in Silver Spring, MD and it was worth the trip. I caught them right as they were setting up, but they were very helpful anyway. I wandered away to give them some time, and when I returned, the table was swamped! I came away with cheesecake brownies, mini cheesecakes, mac and cheese, and mango bread.

The mango bread caught my eye because I'd never heard of such a thing. It was most definitely a wise decision to buy it. The bread is beautifully orange, spicy, and moist, but the remarkable thing is the surprising mango flavor.

There was an email address affixed to the packaging and I tracked down the associated blog, Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes.















After the bake sale, I headed over to the nearby Berwyn Cafe. I'm on a quest to try and review as many of the restaurants in COK's Vegetarian Guide to Washington, D.C. and Surrounding Areas.

It was a laid back little cafe full of students on laptops sitting on mismatched furniture and drinking from recycled thrift-store mugs. Oddly though, the plates and flatware were disposable (paper and plastic) and that never sits well with me. The food was good though, and I really enjoyed my combo breakfast that included a tofu scramble and giant blueberry pancake. They also made a good cup of coffee and provided soy creamer. If it were close to my place, and they switched to reusable or compostable plates and forks, I could see myself going regularly for a lazy weekend breakfast.














The cafe is conveniently located by the Smile Herb Shop. I was finally able to get culinary-grade lavender, matcha a.k.a. green tea powder (Green Tea Cupcakes, here I come), and loose rooibos. I also picked up a box of Harmonaise Tea that's pretty good.

Finally, I obtained some new-to-me ingredients that I will cook with at some point this week, dinosaur kale and yucca! Very exciting!

Trying New Things

Subtitle: Something You Should Do

Sometimes I brag that, thanks to my veganism, I try so many great new foods. That's a bit of an oversimplification though. Sometimes I have to remind myself that my transformation to master chef happened less than a year ago. I spent the first couple years as a vegan lazily grazing on packaged and pre-prepared foods. So why am I now so involved in cooking and eating?

The real credit goes to effects of my diet on my health. I was healthy in that I had no diseases or medically diagnosed problems, but I began to suspect that my diet was the culprit in some specific problems I was having, so I decided to cut out some soy.

Soy is unfairly demonized, but it is also in everything. I cut soy as an ingredient in things I purchased, meaning that the Chik Patties and soy milk were out, but tofu and tempeh could stay. That meant that my options for standby meals were greatly diminished and that's when I decided it was time to start cooking.

So theoretically, I could have gotten really involved in cooking without being a vegan, but could I have stayed that way?

I don't know. What I do know is that as a vegan, food is about active and meaningful choice making and my cooking is encouraged by a community. I am extremely conscious of what I eat; fair-trade, organic, non-GMO, compostable and sustainable are all labels that mean something to me because compassion and justice for all are what my veganism is about. I read about food, I familiarize myself with the facts and numbers, and I select the best I can. It's not a difficult process, but it's one that involves me and draws me further into the eating experience. Rather than simply eating food at meals, I now feed myself.

And many of the ideas and information I read comes from the vegan community. I'm stuck online all day at work and between deadlines, I kill time reading a number of vegan blogs and threads on the Post Punk Kitchen. The more I see pictures of and read about other people's kitchen experiences, the more I want to have and share my own. It's like a delicious cult.

This past month has been full of new experiences; I've blogged about some, but in the past few days I tried the following new foods: Chia, Dulse, Arame, Soba Noodles, Millet, Bok Choy, and Dandelion Leaves. All but the dandelion leaves were because of Get It Ripe, which is fast becoming a favorite after less than a week of ownership.

For the record, the totally amazing dishes I made from it were: Sesame Kale Soba Noodles, White Bean Bowl with Pesto, and Barbecue Baked Tofu with Mushrooms and Bell Peppers. I used the Cilantro Pesto from the book and it is a keeper. Extra points for using pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

I also used Corona in a marinade and agar powder to botch a pudding (still delicious, but kind of oddly solid).

I also bought a cast iron pan. Viva Vegan showed up on my doorstep last week as well, and I figured it was about time to go cast iron. I also found this Have Cake entry and so I think it's time to dust off the bread machine and actually use it.

On the horizon, my sister is going to teach me to do some macro-inspired cooking and my journey with raw foods continues.

So while I can't let veganism take all of the credit, it deserves a good bit of it. It's a lifestyle that requires innovation and an open mind. I feel so fortunate that I almost never make the same thing for dinner twice and that my kitchen is cruelty free in the process. I'm a better and more interesting person and I'm also more satisfied. Eating is never a mere necessity, but a statement, an experience, and a joy.

What new things have you tried leately?

As for more new things to come, I am excited to whip up a batch of raw cupcakes for Raw Wednesday in my adorable new silicone cupcake moulds! Stay tuned!