Blackstrap Latte

So my latest bloodwork, while otherwise stellar (go go gadget vegan cholesterol!), shows me as anemic. Which is odd, because a) I donate blood regularly, and they'll turn you away if your iron's too low, and b) the last time I got bloodwork done, my iron was almost three times what it was in this most current batch. I'm thinking something's a little wonky, but hey. Whatever.

The doctor recommends I take two iron pills a day, but me and the iron pills don't get along so well. So while I'm taking one with my morning orange juice, I'm going to try two tablespoons of blackstrap molasses a day to make up the difference. It's a food, after all. And I always prefer to get my vitamins from food where I can. Problem is, I hate the taste blackstrap molasses. Seriously. It's nasty. It's so nasty, I've been referring to it as the Black Oil of Death.

But I got on the internets today, and I found that many people like it better when it's dissolved in vanilla soy milk. So tonight, before bed, I heated up a mugful of vanilla Silk and stirred in the blackstrap. Lo! It's actually tasty! Mild, creamy and kind of chocolatey. Score one for the internets!

Kale-a-kopita

1 tsp olive oil
10 oz kale (1 large bunch)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp dried dill
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

8 oz. (1/2 block) firm tofu
1 tsp grainy mustard
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/8 tsp salt
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp vegetable broth powder (optional)

1 sheet puff pastry


Set the puff pastry out to thaw. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mash the tofu. Add the mustard, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice and veggie broth powder and mix well. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and kale and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the dill, shake in some salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Spread the kale-mushroom mixture in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Spread the tofu mixture on top (or mix it in). Top with the puff pastry sheet, smear with olive oil and bake for 40 minutes or until golden and puffed up.

The Day of Vegan Decadence

The boy and I are in Los Angeles for a few days, and since he is the greatest husband in the history of all mankind, he offered to spend the day taking me to vegan restaurants and seeing just how much vegan food we can possibly stuff ourselves with. I think we've done an admirable job, all things considered. We're both practically comatose. (Of course, some of that is due to the fact that it's midnight back home... but I think the food has a lot to do with it, really.)



Breakfast: Swingers
Swingers is attached to our hotel, but we've been known to make trips way out of our way to eat here in the past. So breakfast was a no-brainer. We both got hot tea (me: green, him: earl grey). I had the soyrizo scramble: tofu, soyrizo, black beans and fresh salsa with sourdough toast smeared with agave syrup. DH had the organic eggs with veggie bacon, potatoes and toast. I think the veggie bacon is directly responsible for his intense love of all things Swingers.

After breakfast, we hit Whole Foods to stock up on staples, wandered through the Farmers' Market and headed out to Golden Apple and Secret Headquarters, two of L.A.'s many fine comic book shops.





Lunch: Flore Vegan Cuisine
Two things sold me on this location: 1) it's located right across the street from Secret Headquarters, and 2) they have a tempeh reuben. Ever since Beggar's Banquet closed in DSM, I've been without the joys of a tempeh reuben. Flore did not disappoint. We got hot twig tea to drink, the crispy kale as an appetizer (never knew kale could be so tasty! And crispy!). I got the tempeh reuben, of course, which was delectable. DH got the tempeh bacon and mushroom pizza with vegan mozzarella, which he pronounced scrumptious. I can't be totally certain, but I'm pretty sure I saw Flea, the bassist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, at the table next to us.



Snack: Scoops
Two words for you: vegan gelato. Even though we were filled to bursting after lunch, we dashed in here quickly to share a scoop of the vegan orange-basil gelato. I would never have believed it didn't have dairy if I hadn't seen it clearly labeled 'vegan.' Freaking amazing.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, where I changed and ran back out to do an hour and a half of yoga at Liberation Yoga, on La Brea. (Have to burn off the gelato somehow!) Yoga left me exhausted and slightly sore, so it took some effort to decide where to go for dinner. Exhausted though we were, we decided to head out to Soul Vegetarian on Pico. Alas, their supposed location seemed to be occupied by a disco. Not to be deterred, we ventured forth.

Dinner: Rahel's Vegan Ethiopian Cuisine
At this point, I was seriously craving some curry, so I almost derailed us to Electric Karma (billed as 'the most romantic Indian restaurant in L.A.'). But neither of us had ever tasted Ethiopian food, so we stopped here instead. The place was small, dimly lit, interestingly decorated, and presumably authentic. I got a traditional drink made from barley, flax seed and sunflower seed, all blended up and mixed with agave. It tasted a little like a cereal milkshake. I ordered one of the combos, and DH got a single vegetable stew. When it came out, we were both boggled. Way too much food, especially considering our already-stuffed state. We made a good go of it, but there was only so much we could accomplish, being absolutely full and exhausted.



Which brings us to now, curled up in our delightfully decorated room in the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel and trying not to fall into instant slumber.

Tomorrow we do it again!

Limoncella Amaretto Sour

My transition to an all-Iowa liquor cabinet is nearly complete (rubs hands together, cackling gleefully). I stopped by Ingersoll Wine & Spirits tonight to look for Cedar Ridge's spirits. No luck on the Clearheart Gin or Rum, but they do stock the Clearheart vodka, as well as the limoncella, apple brandy and grappa. Since I have the vodka already and I don't know what grappa is for, I picked up the apple brandy and the limoncella.

Which led to, naturally, a limoncella amaretto sour.

1/2 shot limoncella
1/2 shot amaretto
1/2 cup club soda
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Baked Mushrooms, Potatoes and Tempeh in Gravy

This is based on a recipe in Peter Berley's Fresh Food Fast, but it eliminates the standing over the stove part.

2 cups baby portobella mushrooms, quartered
2 pounds small potatoes, halved
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz. package tempeh, cut into small dice
2 Tbsp arrowroot powder OR flour
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup water

Toss the tempeh with the arrowroot, garlic powder and yeast. Mix the mushrooms, potatoes, onion and garlic in a baking dish. Add the olive oil, soy sauce and water. Add the tempeh mixture and mix well to combine. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Best Ever Cinnamon King Cake

This got rave reviews from party guests and my coworkers. It's pretty darn perfect.

Make a batch of the dough for the Overnight Cinnamon Sticky Buns. Instead of slicing the rolled-up dough into rolls, however, touch the ends of the rolls to each other to form the roll into an oval shape. Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes (or in the fridge overnight). Bake the cake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Mix together the following ingredients:
2 Tbsp melted margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanillla extract
4 Tbsp soy milk
2 tsp light corn syrup

Pour the glaze over the top of the cake. Sprinkle the cake with equal parts of yellow, green and purple sugar.

Once the cake has cooled, insert a dried bean, nut or plastic baby into the bottom of the cake.

Jambalaya/Dirty Rice

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 vegan Italian sausage, diced and/or crumbled
10-15 mild jalepenos, diced
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp file powder
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 can braised wheat gluten, drained and chopped
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
2 cans finely diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tbsp salsa
2 dashes each liquid smoke and Tobasco
1 cup cooked rice

Heat the olive oil. Add the onion, sausage and diced jalepenos. Cook on medium-high for 5 minutes, or until the onions start to get translucent. Add the garlic, file powder and Cajun seasoning and cook for another minute, or until fragrant. Add the wheat gluten, beans, tomatoes, salsa and liquid smoke and cook for another few minutes, or until most of the moisture has evaporated. Mix in the rice and serve hot.

Italian Veggeroni

2/3 cup firm tofu (I used Wildwood sprouted tofu)
4 Tbsp pesto
5-7 sundried tomatoes packed in oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Siracha (or other garlic chili sauce)
2 Tbsp red wine
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp tahini
1/4 tsp liquid smoke

1-1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano

Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl, blending with the stick blender until the tomatoes are pureed. Combine the dry ingredients in a larger bowl. Combine the wet with the dry and knead for a few minutes, or until the gluten starts to develop. Split the dough into two pieces, roll into log shopes approximately 8 inches long, and wrap tightly in foil, twisting at the ends. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes, turning once. Let cool completely before serving.