It's been a busy weekend, but I managed to get a hot meal on the table to match the cooler weather. Dreena's Monkey Minestrone soup from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan has been a favorite ever since Mr. PLV made it for me when I was sick. I was hankering for a good soup and for some greens when I saw a minestrone recipe in Better Homes and Gardens. When I compared their recipe to Dreena's, I knew there was no comparison! Hers has so much more flavor and spice! Anyway, I did take BH&G's advice and added zucchini (well, summer squash) in lieu of the green beans, and several cups of kale instead of one of the cans of beans. I did use some great gluten-free elbow macaroni. The results? A huge pot of delicious comfort, ready to sustain me throughout the week! Four stars **** and one of my fav soups of all time. Just bursting with veggies (carrots, onion, garlic, corn, squash, kale), plus the pasta and kidney beans. A meal in a bowl!
Meanwhile, Mr. PLV was craving a chili, so we opened up Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes by Robertson and found this West Coast Chili. It was delicious! I left off the olives - that was just too weird for me - but the avocado and sourdough bread on the side were perfect! Nice and filling and very easy. Four stars ****.
Finally, I was trying to use up a box of seitan I had accidentally bought (I rarely buy it because it's so expensive - over $4 for an eight-ounce box! Compare that to a couple of bucks for about 5 pounds homemade...). Thus, our own seitan stir fry was born. Just browned the seitan (yum!), stir fried the veggies in toughness order (i.e. broccoli first, mushrooms last) and added some Bragg's for flavor! I also added some hoisin sauce at the end on my portion. Served atop brown rice, although Mr. PLV prefers white! 
Some older photos from the month...these are from the presentation I did for Vegetarian Month, back in early October. These are just some of the books that our library system owns! All vegan or vegetarian cookbooks and some animal rights stuff, too.
Of course, you have to lead them into temptation with dessert! This chocolate peanut butter pie with peanut butter pretzels on top is a cinch to make. Recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine.
This coconut fudge is a mainstay at any sweet gathering for me. Wicked easy and so rich! From My Sweet Vegan.
I also made Snickerdoodles, Cookies and Cream cupcakes, Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies, and Macadamia Nut Blondies. Phew! Some people went home with stomachaches, they ate so much :)
And last but not least, it was thrilling to attend the D.C. Green Festival, sponsored by Green America and various other great organizations. It's a yearly event, held throughout the U.S., featuring speakers and tons of booths with fair trade, organic, sustainable, earth-conscious groups and businesses. All the food there was vegetarian or vegan (because it's the best for the planet - yeah!), and there were no trash cans - just recycling, compost (all plates, etc, were biodegradable), etc. There were tons of great groups there, including Food Not Bombs. I had an amazing piece of Hemp Baklava - wow!- among other things. This restaurant here is Soul Vegetarian, which features southern-style home cooking. I opted for Nirvana's Indian fare and it was hot but excellent! Can't wait for next year - I'm going to go both days this time instead of one, because there was just so much to see! Happy Halloween!
Yes, it is mid-October and yes, that is snow. No, it's not in Virginia, but it actually did snow in VA this weekend! The snow would have been fun and pretty if we hadn't spent the entire day driving in rain/snow. We were heading to Watkins Glen, NY, home of Farm Sanctuary, to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. If you're not familiar with this incredible organization, I urge you to check out the link above (OK - the link is not taking in Blogger...it's: www.farmsanctuary.org). We awoke to this scene the next morning. This is the gorgeous view from our cabin (they run a small B&B as well). You can see all the animal shelters/barns in the distance and maybe even that dark spot in the fields. That was a pig. 
After an all-vegan(!) continental breakfast of pastries, muffins, bagels, fresh fruit, juice, tea, coffee, etc. (along with vegan cream cheese/butter/jam!), we had a personal tour of the farm. (We were the only visitors at that time, so it was really one guide and us two - cool!). This is a shot from one of the hills overlooking the People Barn (education center/visitors center) and cabins. I only had 18 pictures left in my camera, so I couldn't take photos of the inside of the People Barn. It was fabulous, with a whole wall of celebrity photos supporting the Farm and veganism, and life size gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages. Lots of interactive things for kids and adults to learn about health and the (sad) lives of animals on factory farms. But really, an overall loving and positive message. The store was great, too! :)
The first animals we met were the cows (actually, "cattle." Cows are the girls and steers are the boys - bulls are un-neutered. All the animals on the farm have been spayed or neutered, as it is the mission to rescue animals in need, not create more). I wish we could post the great photo of Mr. PLV, me and Snickers! Anyway, they were really beautiful and silent and large! They are huge because that is the way that they are bred. Sadly, they don't live as long because of this, and many develop weakened or broken legs because of the abnormal weight of their bodies.
Speaking of abnormal weight...the turkeys are in the same condition. They are bred to be huge especially in the breast area, and their legs can't support the weight. They are also artificially inseminated because they cannot mate naturally, they are so overweight. Happily, despite the debeaking and de-toeing, these turkeys will live out their lives at the farm in a peaceful way. Here is a great shot of one of the turkeys "submitting" itself to be petted. It just stood there, waiting to be stroked!
We learned that most turkeys are also bred white, because the darker feathers leave dark marks on their flesh and people like their meat to be "clean-looking." Yuck.
We met the goats and sheep next. They were the friendliest of all! The goats nibbled at our jackets and some of the sheep pressed up against us to be petted. This adorable guy is called "Jerry Lee," I think, and is a pygmy goat. Check out his cool horns! Horns are "living" parts of these animals, much like our teeth, which have blood flowing through them. When they are cut off, it is very painful.
This elderly goat was lucky enough to get a special jacket to help keep him warm.
The rabbits were sheltered away, so we couldn't see those that day. The geese are apparently not the petting-type of animals, so we left those alone, too.
The ducks were happy to be in their warm shed...
or out in the cold, playing in their pool! Brrr!!
Of course, with the H1N1 scare, we had to stay pretty far away from the pigs, but they were cool all the same. Although it is a misnomer that they are dirty animals (they prefer to be clean and swim in water to cool off (they don't have sweat glands), but mud works very well, too!), it is unfortunately true that they love to eat (thus the phrase, "eat like a pig."). They are bred to have huge appetites.
After some more farm walking, we headed into town for lunch. We ate some cheese-less pizza at the local pizza joint (very good!). Then we headed to Good Groceries. If you are in Watkins Glen, you have to check this place out! It's on 4th street, just off of the main drag (N. Franklin St.). It has all kinds of cool vegan and earth-friendly stuff. We tasted some Daiya cheese - very good! - and I bought some cool raw nuggets (one was fruit, the other a mix of veggies). Mr. PLV bought a vegan cookie. The owners are very friendly and know their stuff! They also have a lending library including videos - cool!
Finally, we headed to the nearby Watkins Glen State Park, for a walk along this incredible natural gorge, carved by glaciers, melting glaciers, and running water. The park people put in these very natural-looking stairs that blended right in with the rocks. It was quite a hike up! If you look closely, you can see the people on the path down below.
There were also tons of beautiful waterfalls. 
We ate lots of great vegan food on this trip, including a yummy seitan rib sandwhich and a plate of pasta primavera at the RoosterFish (formerly the Crooked Rooster) which were both decent but over-priced. The cheeseless pizza at Jerlando's Pizza Co. was amazing despite the waitress' surly attitude when I asked about vegan cheese. We had decent Chinese at The House of Hong, although we were seated next to the cash register, facing the kitchen's swinging doors, and were rushed through our meal a bit. They have a separate vegetarian menu, but you have to ask for it. Why couldn't they just add it to their regular menu? But last and certainly best, we stopped by Glen Mountain Market on the way home for some sandwiches for the road. We both got seitan bacon type sandwiches, his on homemade French baguette, mine on a spinach wrap. The girl who made our sandwiches was very, very nice and the whole place was very vegan-friendly! She knew automatically what was vegan. The homemade seitan slices were delicious and definitely four star lunches all around with chips and a pickle! The only sad part was the Styrofoam boxes :P This excellent place also has the wonderful pastries that the Farm Sanctuary B&B served us in the morning, and much of their place is "greened." Overall, a cold but pleasant trip! Next time, we'll try to make it over to Ithaca.
I had to start the post off with this photo. Orange-Rum Cake from Vegan with a Vengeance. Can I tell you something? I don't normally brag about recipes, especially desserts, out loud and in person, at least. On this blog, sure, but usually I just smile and say thank you. Well, this cake was made for our monthly Veg Group meeting. I wasn't sure how it tasted before we cut into it, as you really can't sample a cake like you can cookies, if you're planning on serving it to others. Also, the batter wasn't anything to go crazy for (sometimes, you can tell right away by the batter). But this cake HOLY COW. It was freakin' amazing. Moist, fluffy, yet with a great crumb (due to some cornmeal), the slivered almonds setting off the orange glaze (which was supposed to be orange-rum, but it was just too early in the day for that). It was by far the best cake I've had in ages. I was worried that it was a little flat, but no - that was just right for the perfect little slice to melt in your mouth. Wow. Go make this! (and if you don't have the book yet, go get that, too!). If this could get five stars, it would ****
Another shocker was this simple recipe, from no place in particular. We had shiitake mushrooms from our last CSA pick up of the year (boohoo!), and some broccoli leftover from salad fixings, and Mr. PLV wanted a tofu stir fry. So this was born. Just stir fried the tofu, took it out, stir fried the broccoli (both in sesame oil and water), then added some soy sauce and the mushrooms and combined everything back into the pan again with a dab or two of hoisin sauce! Amazing! One of the best stir fries I've ever made. Yum, yum, yum. Alongside some great brown rice, it was just perfect in my new dragon bowl :) Four stars ****.
Meanwhile, another dish I've made before with success....Aloo Gobi. This time, it was from The Vegan Table. It was pretty quick and easy to make, but as we were eating it I had several thoughts:
1) this should be spicier
2) this shouldn't have tomatoes in it
3) this should have peas!
So, this was very disappointing. Not in-edible, but just two and a half stars **1/2. I like the version in La Dolce Vegan much better.
To go with the Aloo Gobi, this Red Lentil Dal (dal means "bean") was similarly disappointing. Not spicy enough and it was really watery. It also got way too mushy, although I was trying to cook some of the water out of it. Nothing like the photo (same cookbook as the previous dish). Two and a half stars **1/2. Better w/more cayenne and some salt.
One surprising dish that did not disappoint was this Leek-Spaghetti Squash Polenta from Vegan Yum-Yum. You cook the leeks and spaghetti squash, chop it up a bit, and put it into the polenta as it cooks! An amazing mix of flavors and nice and spicy! Yum-Yum is right! Ate this with the Hurry Up Alfredo sauce (which didn't taste much like alfredo but was very good!) over a nice big bed of lettuce. Mr. PLV, as much as fan of polenta as he is, didn't care for this
much, but I gave it four yummy stars! ****.
Another four-star dish last week was the Braised Figs Over Arugula from The Vegan Table. This was simply amazing and also pretty simple to make! I'm not a big fan of fresh figs (I love dried ones, though!) but braising them in a little butter and sugar, then putting them atop bitter arugula with a balsamic-reduction sauce - wow! 
Using up some of our many CSA squashes, I made an old standby: Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili from Vegan Planet. I loved the sweetness of the squash, Mr. PLV did not, but funny enough, he went back for thirds AND asked about it for leftovers during the week! He, he! Three solid stars ***, maybe more.
The last of our eggplant and zucchini (well I might get more eggplant but I'm kinda' burnt out on it) went into making these Zucchini and Eggplant Chips with Roasted Tomato Sauce. The sauce was homemade, using up some of the last tomatoes. These were breaded with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and baked, and were just so nice and crunchy! The sauce was also good on the aforementioned polenta, which we ate alongside this appetizer. Good stuff! I think this was a Veg News magazine online recipe - yup, it was, so I don't have a link for you...The sauce was from Vegetarian Times Oct 09 issue but it's not online yet. Three and a half stars ***1/2.
After baking the spaghetti squash for the polenta, I had these seeds on hand. I thought, "they look like pumpkin seeds and really, a pumpkin is just a squash!" So into the oven they went. Well, OK, so I pan fried them, being short on time, following a couple of different recipes, with some vegan Worcestershire sauce (regular kind has anchovies - yuck!). They were sooo good! Four stars ****. Lots of great surprises this week and further proof that you don't need to eat meat to eat amazing food! Happy World Vegetarian Month everyone! See you at my presentation on Wed! :)
No major disappointments this week - in fact - I've six "wicked awesome" recipes to share! First off, I've been wanting to make these Olive-Millet Stuffed Zucchini from Vw/aV for years - seriously. They were pretty darn awesome and Mr. PLV went back for seconds! With a mixture of millet, tomatoes, capers and kalamata olives, they were salty and not sweet at all, so they were right up his alley. I loved them, too. They aren't too difficult to make, except there was a lot of liquid left in the stuffing mixture that I had to drain off. Also, there was a huge amount of stuffing left over! Oh well - lunch for the week - yeah! Four stars for these babies ****.
Next up...Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (vegan, of course!) from VCTOTW. I still have yet to make all the cupcakes in this book, but I'm wondering if October being Vegetarian Month would be a good time to meet that challenge? Anyhow, these were really easy to make, although there was barely enough batter to fill all 12 tins, they didn't rise very high, and I had to make a double batch of frosting in order to have enough to pipe on with my frosting gun! However, they were moist, full of raisins, walnuts and of course lots of carrot, and certainly delectable! Luckily, I made these for a friend, so they didn't lurk in the house very long. :) Four stars, easy! **** (Oh, I made a second batch for work, so I snuck one cupcake into my mouth, that's how I know how awesome they taste!).
On a slightly healthier note, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Cookbook gave me the recipe for these delicious Strawberry Coconut Shake! Three and a half delicious stars ***1/2. I sprinkled a little unsweetened coconut on top for presentation. Purty! Filling enough for three lunches and of course very easy to make!
I am very proud of my own veganized recipe, Moroccan Seitan on Flatbread with Carrot-Almond Salad. Originally a chicken recipe from Keep It Seasonal, I just used seitan for the chicken, and cut it into bite sized strips. The spice rub was a little watery, but it was delish! Mr. PLV even ate the carrot salad, which had raisins in it - ahhh! We didn't have time or energy to make the Coriander Flatbread, so whole wheat pita breads (unsplit) made nice sandwich wraps. Four great stars! ****
And last but certainly not least, The Joy of Vegan Baking brought us Peanut Butter Cookies with the ubiquitous cross-hatch on top. Mr. PLV had asked for these and they came out perfectly! Easy, too.
The sixth recipe this week was from Vegetarian Times, modified slightly. In the most recent October 2009 issue, there was a recipe for Slow-Roasted Tomato Sauce, which I sped up (quick-roasted!) using Dreena's ED&BV tip: 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 mins. I used the same herbs, though, and I used my handy-dandy immersion blender to turn the finished product into a sauce to use later this week. As summer has ended, so has our abundance of tomatoes, and the ones we're getting from the CSA now are kind of lacking flavor. So, in order to avoid getting more fruit flies in the house while they sat around (really! the flies are so bad! any tips on getting rid of them?), this recipe was key.
Well, that's all for this past week! I'm off to do some reading and think about dinner, which will probably be Leek-Squash Polenta with a creamy white sauce, or if I'm too tired, "just" leftovers :)
I can't believe that fall is nearly here. Two more days, well just barely, and we will officially be over with summer! In my garden, I'm ready for changes. I am already tired of my tomatoes, have frozen some pesto from the basil, and recently planted some kale and lettuce, both of which should do well in the cooler temps.
With the weather just slightly dipping into fall-like temperatures, I've been feeling more like hearty, cold weather meals. This Sweet and Sour Tempeh with Sweet Potatoes from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan certainly fit the bill! Although a bit on the too-sweet side, even for me, I loved this recipe for its ease. Just chop, toss with the sauce, and bake! With pineapple and peppers and onions and topped with cashews , this was a great one-bowl dish. I could've had this over rice, but with a recent viral infection, I wasn't feeling like I needed more carbs after lying on the couch for days....However, three and a half stars for this delicious dish ***1/2.
Tonight, despite some sore losses in the NFL, I got around to making this wicked easy Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance. I picked this out for Mr. PLV, who is a big fan of potatoes and all things comfort-food, and then matched it with Krispy Kale from my newest cookbook, Vegan Yum Yum ("my" meaning I own it, not that I wrote it of course). The kale was still a bit bitter for me, so I drizzled it with my favorite tahini sauce, but the meal itself was certainly easy and comforting. Unfortunately, my miso was way out-dated, and I had to leave that key ingredient out! It would have been so much yummier with the miso. However, I noted that the recipe also called for the miso early on, and then had it simmering for half an hour, so some of the benefits of the miso would have been null anyway (if you boil miso, it kills the probiotics). Three stars for this one ***. Will definitely try again on a night when I'm feeling lazy and want some yummy miso.
Chow Mein Memory from The Complete Book of Raw Food may be the last raw food dish I make for a while, only because of the seasonal change and my mental shift towards chilis and such. This consisted of raw butternut squash noodles (which were wicked hard to put through my spiralizer, due to the awkward shape of the peeled bulb), along with shiitake mushrooms soaked in Bragg's, pine nuts, green onions and some other things I can't remember. Not much, really. This was a fantastic, light lunch, w/lots of nutrients! Three stars ***. I love mushrooms...
These Chipotle Seitan and Roasted Potato Tacos were from the latest Veg News magazine issue, but I can't wait for the cookbook from which they came! Terry Hope Romero, co-author of Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (VCTOTW) and the soon to be released Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar, will be coming out with her own book, Latin Vegan. I think it's not going to be published until April 2010, but based on this recipe, I'm already gettin' in line! These were pretty easy, super spicy, and wow! I loved the roasted potatoes, which were then cooked again briefly in the seitan marinade (that's what I love about vegan cooking - not only can you eat raw cookie dough, but you can reuse marinade!). Four stars - I loved, loved, loved this dish ****. 
Meanwhile, our bookshelf project progresses. I'm not sure if I posted about them in the past, but basically my father came to visit and created these by hand (well, with a template). Here, you can see the frames, which I painted "White Hyacinth" last weekend, with the backs painted "Hubbard Squash" this weekend by Mr. PLV. Can't wait to get the shelves painted and put them in!
Of course, Hobbes had to come help out with the touch-ups...
Well, that's it in Vegan Land today! Leftovers the next couple of nights and then hopefully I'll get to my stuffed zucchini sometime this century if not this week...
I nearly choked on my green tea the other morning. I was actually home with a bit of a fever, so I was flipping through the TV channels for the first time in ages. I ended up with the Today Show, although I was disappointed that they didn't mention anything about the 9/11 anniversary until much later in the program.
It was when they mentioned fall food trends that I perked up. And guess what made me nearly choke? They presented agave nectar, millet, quinoa, bulgar, smoked paprika, and dinosaur kale. Many of these seemingly strange or exotic foods (a show host actually tried the agave with pleasant surprise) are all ones I use on a daily basis. Dinosaur kale is excellent in green smoothies, agave nectar is my tea sweetener of choice for just about anything, and millet and quinoa are both wonderful grains. I have yet to buy smoked paprika yet, just because it's so expensive.
My point being, becoming vegetarian or vegan doesn't mean that you eat nuts and seeds, or salads every day. You don't get bored and you never EVER run out of foods, recipes or meal ideas to try. I have nearly 50 vegan cookbooks, almost 100 total cookbooks, and have made nearly 700 new recipes (meaning, I had never tried them before) over the past three years since starting this blog. It saddens me sometimes, to think that I'll never get to make all the recipes in those books (well, not unless I quit my job and cooked full time, all day, which doesn't sound too bad, hmmm....) At any rate, here's to being TRENDY! :)
Meanwhile, here's what delicious things we've been noshing on lately. Many of them are potato and squash based, since that's what we got from the CSA this past week. 
First up, we were surprisingly impressed by the Potato-Fennel Pizza with Tempeh Sausage Crumbles from Vegan with a Vengeance. This is definitely my favorite cookbook of all time, since it was my first introduction to vegan cooking, and Isa's writing always gives me an excuse to laugh out loud! Even my husband, who loves sausage and potatoes, was skeptical of this combination on a pizza. However, he commented that it was one of his all time favs AND was really impressed with the tempeh sausage (which basically, is tempeh, which you crumble, boil to release bitterness and soften, and stir fry with some spices). On a side note, I think we (meaning I) have finally perfected the homemade pizza crust. I found that you just have to roll it really thin, to avoid thick, uncooked parts. Three and a half stars! ***1/2
The next night, while I munched on a salad covered with CSA produce (beets, carrots, my own tomatoes, arugula, shiitake mushrooms, to name a few), Mr. PLV made something more up his alley. These Beer Bratwurst Pepper and Onion Sandwiches were his own creation, based on a typical PA meal. They were Tofurky brand sausages and his only comment was that perhaps they could be seasoned as well as our homemade tempeh crumbles! :)
We wandered back a bit in time to Dreena Burton's first cookbook, The Everyday Vegan, which has some great basic recipes in it, good for the first-time vegan but not quite as original and exciting as her later books. This Spicy Thai Stew was a great way to use up some CSA carrots, sweet potatoes, swiss chard and red bell peppers. The almond butter really gave it a unique flavor! You could use peanut butter if you're being more frugal, and it would be just as good (I think peanuts are a typical flavor in this cuisine). Yum, yum, yum! Three and a half stars *** 1/2 and easy to boot.
Finally, as I've been receiving squash after squash from the CSA every week (butternut, delicata, acorn, and some others I can't name), I decided to try another stuffed squash this week, this time an acorn one (delicata one was last week- see previous post). This one had brown rice, tomatoes, corn, currants, pine nuts, and a few spices and herbs. Pretty darn good! Three stars *** only because I liked the other one better. I was sooo full, after eating this plateful of sauteed kale with my favorite tahini sauce, and then that entire stuffed squash! But a nice, Thanksgiving-type full, like, "ahhh! now that was a filling meal!" Looking forward to fall in about a week (wow! a week!) so we can really enjoy our stews, squashes, and chilis!
I never thought I'd say this, but I think I am tired of cooking.....ha, ha - gotcha! Still, ten recipes in less than two weeks can wear anyone out, especially when you're cooking for so many different diets and tastes!
But let me back up a little....I have to share this gorgeous photo first, because I just made it last night and want everyone to go make it now!! Or, go buy Vegan Yum Yum, my newest cookbook acquisition by Lauren Ulm.
This was her Stuffed Delicata Squash with Cherry-Apple-Almond Couscous. I was blown away by the flavors (sweet, sour), textures (crumbly, creamy, crunchy) and simplicity of this dish. Basically, you just halve and bake a squash (she states that you can do other squashes) and fill them afterwards with a hot stuffing of cherries, apple, almonds and couscous (I used an organic, whole wheat kind). The dressing is a VERY simple agave-mustard thing.....This was by far the easiest and yummiest meal I made all week. Four stars out of this world! ****
I actually did happen to have a delicata squash on hand, from the CSA. I didn't even know what kind it was until I was browsing through Lauren's book. This one little squash was quite a filling dinner for me and there was tons of "stuffing" leftover for lunch or to stuff other squashes this week. 
What I love about Vegan Yum Yum is that there are many meals that serve 2. That works out perfectly for Mr. PLV and me, especially when he doesn't want the leftovers or he wouldn't touch the dish with a ten foot pole and it's up to me to eat it all week long....Mr. PLV has a thing for fruit in his hot meals (in other words, it better not be there) so this second dish, Tamarind Tofu Cabbage Bowl (also from Yum Yum) was a hopeful second try.
Actually, he turned his nose up at the name but after tasting the melange of crisp tofu bites, crunchy almonds and sour tamarind sauce, decided it was pretty good! I gave it three stars, but I think it could be three and a half as leftovers.... *** The only problem I had was with the tamarind. I bought a block of it, and when I put it into the sauce, although boiling merrily away for quite a while, it didn't dissolve very well, and we were left with hard chunks that I couldn't break down even with my trusty immersion blender. Advice anyone?
Like I said before, serving four different people with different needs and tastes was quite a challenge (my parents were in town to help build some giant bookshelves in our living room) ! My mother is vegan thank goodness(!), but is "watching her carbs," and, "doesn't really like fresh fruit." My father is on an Atkins-Blood-Type diet (total crap, but he's lost a TON of weight because it's high in protein and he now eats salads every day and no refined bread- woohoo!), and Mr. PLV has decided that he no longer cares for tempeh, my homemade seitan, salads, or grilled summer squash. Meanwhile, I will eat absolutely any vegetable, fruit, or vegan/vegetarian dish you put in front of me. Argh, is putting it nicely.
Anyhoo, we did settle on stuffed peppers, which I've made several times in the past. This particular recipe from 366 Ways to Cook Tofu and other Meat Alternatives by Robin Robertson was not my personal favorite ever, but the other three (esp meat-eating dad and picky hubby) commented enthusiastically on it! Three stars *** Funny thing was....I realized that I don't really care for stuffed peppers....
After mum and dad left, I was left with a ton of tomatoes bought on accident (organic, local), some peppers from dad's salad days, and two eggplants from the CSA. Mr. PLV is not a huge fan of eggplant (sensing a theme here?) but eagerly ate this Ratatouille with White Beans from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook, including the leftovers! It made quite a ton, and my only critique was that it called for 1 to 1/2 inch cubes of the veggies. I used an actual ruler, and found that that is actually quite huge! I didn't think they would cook down quickly enough (and were a bit too big for a comfortable bite) so I cut them in half and it all turned out quite nicely. Not spicy enough for me, so only three stars. ***
I'm going to speed through the rest of this post, since I've been rather blabby up to now....
Shiitake-Seitan Stir Fry adapted from a tofu-shiitake mushroom stir from in 366 Ways. Delish, quick, easy and spicy enough even for Mr. PLV who ate all the leftovers! Three and a half stars ***1/2.
I ate my portion in my beautiful new bowl, bought a local artists' shop. Handmade pottery never ceases to amaze me! Our own bowls from China are chipping, so I'm slowly replacing them with better stuff...
A raw food dessert kick was kick-started by Ani's Raw Food Desserts, by Ani Phyo.
These Trail Mix Cookies were raw and scrumptious! Three solid stars...
But these Pecan Pie Cookies were simply amazing! Close your eyes while you eat one, and just see if you can taste the pie! Basically, pecans, dates, cinnamon and a hint of OJ. Sooo easy to make and even easier to eat! Four stars **** and beyond...
Latest Veg Group meeting had me bringing the above cookies but also some non-raw cookies from a recent Veg News magazine. These were by cookbook author Hannah Kaminsky, of My Sweet Vegan but they're not in her book. Coconut Drops were three and a half stars, maybe four! They only made about 9 cookies total, and the batter hardly stuck together and they were kind of heavy-feeling after baking but the taste!! Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy in the inside. Good think I made them for the potluck!
From Rawvolution came this quick and easy Thai Coleslaw. Excellent, even after several days. Peanuts make all the difference! Three and a half stars ***1/2.
Ending with another sweet but very healthy raw dish, this time from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. This delicious, sweet and thick, Peachy Kream was shake-like in consistency and filling enough to drink over four days! I subbed pecans for the Brazil nuts and it was amazing. Yum. Four stars ****. I also made a small version of the Peach and Pistachio Cobbler from her dessert book, but it wasn't pretty enough for a photo (OK, it was so incredible, I ate it all up before I had a chance to pick up the camera!). Four stars and beyond! **** The sweet and salty and crunchy and smooth were textures and flavors that rival any baked good. Try a raw dessert today!
It's been a busy weekend, but I managed to get a hot meal on the table to match the cooler weather. Dreena's Monkey Minestrone soup from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan has been a favorite ever since Mr. PLV made it for me when I was sick. I was hankering for a good soup and for some greens when I saw a minestrone recipe in Better Homes and Gardens. When I compared their recipe to Dreena's, I knew there was no comparison! Hers has so much more flavor and spice! Anyway, I did take BH&G's advice and added zucchini (well, summer squash) in lieu of the green beans, and several cups of kale instead of one of the cans of beans. I did use some great gluten-free elbow macaroni. The results? A huge pot of delicious comfort, ready to sustain me throughout the week! Four stars **** and one of my fav soups of all time. Just bursting with veggies (carrots, onion, garlic, corn, squash, kale), plus the pasta and kidney beans. A meal in a bowl!
Finally, I was trying to use up a box of seitan I had accidentally bought (I rarely buy it because it's so expensive - over $4 for an eight-ounce box! Compare that to a couple of bucks for about 5 pounds homemade...). Thus, our own seitan stir fry was born. Just browned the seitan (yum!), stir fried the veggies in toughness order (i.e. broccoli first, mushrooms last) and added some Bragg's for flavor! I also added some hoisin sauce at the end on my portion. Served atop brown rice, although Mr. PLV prefers white! 
Some older photos from the month...these are from the presentation I did for Vegetarian Month, back in early October. These are just some of the books that our library system owns! All vegan or vegetarian cookbooks and some animal rights stuff, too.
Of course, you have to lead them into temptation with dessert! This chocolate peanut butter pie with peanut butter pretzels on top is a cinch to make. Recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine.
This coconut fudge is a mainstay at any sweet gathering for me. Wicked easy and so rich! From My Sweet Vegan.
I also made Snickerdoodles, Cookies and Cream cupcakes, Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies, and Macadamia Nut Blondies. Phew! Some people went home with stomachaches, they ate so much :)
And last but not least, it was thrilling to attend the D.C. Green Festival, sponsored by Green America and various other great organizations. It's a yearly event, held throughout the U.S., featuring speakers and tons of booths with fair trade, organic, sustainable, earth-conscious groups and businesses. All the food there was vegetarian or vegan (because it's the best for the planet - yeah!), and there were no trash cans - just recycling, compost (all plates, etc, were biodegradable), etc. There were tons of great groups there, including Food Not Bombs. I had an amazing piece of Hemp Baklava - wow!- among other things. This restaurant here is Soul Vegetarian, which features southern-style home cooking. I opted for Nirvana's Indian fare and it was hot but excellent! Can't wait for next year - I'm going to go both days this time instead of one, because there was just so much to see! Happy Halloween!
