But What DO Vegans Eat?

I was once at this breastfeeding support group, and this woman started talking to me and my veganism came up (I know what you are thinking, I probably introduced myself that way).  I only do that when I'm on the news though, usually.

Okay, that time I lead with "I'm a vegan!"  But it got me on the news...

Anyway, this other mom says to me, "But how do you get your daughter to eat vegetables?  Like if I make chicken, with potatoes and broccoli, my son will just eat the chicken and maybe a little broccoli."  I kind of thought she was joking, but she wasn't.

"Well, since I don't serve chicken, she eats the potatoes and broccoli...  My meal would be mostly potatoes and broccoli, so she might fill up a bit on potatoes, but she eats the broccoli too."

I realized she couldn't imagine the plate I was eating.  She was still somehow imagining that I had a plate of chicken, potatoes and broccoli.

This is how you would make a vegan version of that:

See?  That meal on the right is more like what a vegan would serve.

I hear it again and again, though.  Many omnivores want to know how you replace the meat in a meal, and sometimes we use analogs ("fake meat") to fill in a gap in one of our favorite meals from when we were younger and less vegan, but often, the plate is just different.  

It's not about putting a piece of tofu in place of the steak in your favorite steak and potatoes meal, it's about changing that meal (while sometimes maintaining a look or flavor profile) so that it's centered around vibrant, fresh, seasonal vegetables and wholesome whole grains.

You might keep the look of baked potato, vegetable, and protein source, but you might mix it up and make crazy loaded baked potatoes.

When we found out we were pregnant with my son, we called my in-laws and said how happy we were and that this was cause for celebration.  My mother-in-law asked, "Are you going to have a potato?"

We were a bit flabbergasted and it took a while before my husband finally said, over an hour later.  "It's shaped like a ham!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"A potato is round and shaped sort of like a ham.  My mom always serves a ham for big celebrations, and she was trying to think of what would look like a ham for us to celebrate with.  It's because it looks like a ham."

I'm not going to lie, we had some pretty boisterous laughter about this, but it's true!  Roasting and stuffing a big winter squash for Thanksgiving is because we grew up eating a food filled with stuffing on Thanksgiving.  It's okay to want familiarity in looks and flavor of the things you are used to eating.  It's okay to make a portobello steaks and and filet of tofu and eggplant burgers.  No judgement.

I'm just saying that when you start focusing on how to replace meat in your meals, your diet becomes about what you don't eat, rather than what you do eat, and then it feels restrictive.  

So here are two meals we make all the time.  They are both inspired by the idea of food we ate before being vegan, but without trying to exactly replicate it, we've created something way better!

Sushi.  We don't try to recreate fish, we work on flavors and use LOTS of veggies and sea vegetables and seasonings.  Vegan sushi is a favorite of everyone in our house and every guest who has tried it.

Creamy Peanut Noodles.  While we enjoy and use the endless vegan mac n cheese recipes out there, this instead touches on the magical rich creaminess with noodles inherent with mac n cheese, but doesn't even try to mimic the flavor.  Instead, I use a can of coconut milk mixed with 2-4 tablespoons of Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay sauce and reduce it until creamy and toss with cooked udon noodles.  Again, there is never any left over and we all love it.

I hope you have some ideas about what vegans eat, and I encourage you to search through vegan recipes on Pinterest (this is a link to my Pinterest board of favorite recipes.  Some are not vegan but I liked the idea and felt I could easily make them vegan), in great vegan cookbooks, and on vegan food blogs.  There's so much variety out there, and so much creativity, that you don't have to worry about what you will eat instead of the steak, just think about all the amazing things you will eat!

Collard Green Burritos and Black Bean stuffed Potatoes With a Vegan Queso Cheese

I posted a few pictures of my dinner on Facebook, because... well because my kids haven't done anything particularly cute today and that's what Facebook is for. The response was a resounding, "GIVE ME THAT."

 As one of the people who got to eat this tonight, I couldn't agree more.

 I kind of got myself into some trouble by saying to my husband as he was leaving for work this morning, "When you get home tonight, I will have a delicious dinner ready for you." This was unwise, A.) because we usually get take and bake pizza without cheese on Fridays and I get the night off cooking, and B.) because I set pretty high standards for myself on a regular dinner, and the added stress of saying it would be special was unbearable.

 The only thing to do was really blow the roof off dinner.

The finished product (before becoming the finished product in our bellies)

I began thinking about this nacho-y cheese that I learned how to make at a fun cooking class at Radical Eats on Wednesday.  If you live in Houston and you want to learn to make yummy vegan food, I highly recommend these free classes held on the last Wednesday of each month.  You go and order dinner, get a free class, and samples of all the good food.  This week was all vegan cheeses and she did the great cashew and nutritional yeast blend that most vegans are familiar with, then she did an unbelievably simple one from Daiya cheese, Tofutti sour cream, and a little red bell pepper and salt and water to blend it.  I keep thinking about this cheese...  I considered nachos but since my husband loves pototoes I opted for roasted red potato halves topped with refried black beans and then the cheese sauce and green onions.  I also wanted a collard green wrapped burrito, mostly because I had a ripe mango that needed to be salsa.

I halved my red pototoes, sprayed them with spray coconut oil, and sprinkled with salt.  I put them in a 400 degree oven face down (flat side down) for about 20 minutes, then turned them over, added a bit more salt, and baked for probably 15 minutes more.  

While my potatoes were cooking, I got to work on the burritos.  I made my general "mom pilaf" in that I take whaever veggies desire to be cooked and mix them with a grain.  I had some beautiful rainbow quinoa that I love and knew would cook quickly, so I started by looking for what veggies I'd like with it.  I had the stems from a bunch of kale since I had a batch of kale chips in the dehydrator, and I grabbed a carrot and the end of a red onion that was sitting in the refrigerator as well.  I had some fresh salsa that needed to be used as well.  

I chopped my kale stems, carrot, and onion in small pieces and put in a pot with a little olive oil and sauteed briefly before adding the quinoa, water, and salsa.  I also added some garlic salt and "Organic No-Salt" from Costco which has a good blend of Mexican flavor.  I let that boil and then covered and turned off and ignored it while I trimmed off the stems of the collard greens and steamed them.  I let both these things cool off while I made mango salsa.

My mango salsa was just a mango, a lime, an avocado, a little red onion, a quarter of poblano pepper, and a handful of cilantro with a bit of salt.  I chopped up everything but the lime and tossed together.  

My daughter "helped" assemble in that she told me the order to put the two ingredients on and sampled all parts for quality control.  Everything was up to snuff.  

Once the burritos were done, I finally scooped about a Tbsp of black beans on each one, put them back in the oven, and turned it off.  The potatoes were crispy and I didn't want my beans to dry out, just warm through.  

I mixed up my cheese sauce while the beans were warming through, and basically followed the recipe except I added some salsa instead of water.  That was added at the end for garnish.

It worked!  My husband came home from work to an amazing meal, we had a nice dinner, went for a swim, and now he's attempting to put our son to bed while I mess about with my blog.  I can't imagine it going better.

Some tips:

*The mango salsa recipe can be blended smooth and it makes a wonderful sauce that is sweet, spicy, and tangy.  It's good on stuff, but you'll probably just want to drink it.  

*Steam your collards just until they are flexible and bright green.  You loose flavor and nutrients once they turn brownish.

*When I do rolls in collard greens, I always trim the stem off, and slice the vein down the center so that it's flush with the leaf.  I also make a point to roll the bottom in first, so the outside just has the nice thin tip of the leaf and it sits flat and stays rolled much easier.

*Always save stems and bits for pilaf.  It's a great way to use up the parts that aren't pretty.  Broccoli stems are another great addition to a pilaf like this.  You could also just as easily skip the sautee part and leave out the oil.

*If you don't have plans for dinner except that someone else was going to take care of it for you, maybe don't talk up a big meal.

This meal was gluten free and I wasn't even trying!  Gluten free vegan is not an impossible task, it's a fun challenge!  We aren't gluten free, but just making some fun substitutions like collard greens for tortillas is a way healthier option and you get the benefit of simply making something GF.  

Vegan Potlucks

As a vegan parent, I try not to segregate myself and my daughter from those around us who eat animal products.  I smile as I chase my daughter around at every play group, as all the other parents pass out cheese, yogurt snacks, gummy candies with gelatin, and other treats that I don't want my toddler having.  It's just a necessary part of caring about what she eats.  I'm sure it's much harder for parents of kids with severe allergies, and I know that at the end of the day it might happen that Violet gets a taste of something I don't want her eating.  It's not the biggest deal in the world, it's not something I can really control, and it wears on me without me knowing.

For Thanksgiving Violet and I were on our own, so we went to a potluck hosted through our local vegetarian meetup group.  The group has vegetarians, vegans, and veg curious members, but our potlucks and events are all vegan.  So not only did we get our first vegan Thanksgiving, but we still got to be with other people and have fun.

There were so many people at the potluck that we ended up all eating in the living room, on the couch, the floor, on pillows.  It was wonderful and open and free.  Violet and her friend Rakim played while the adults chatted.  It wasn't until we started eating that I realized how much energy and stress occurs when we eat in mixed company.

Violet is a mooch.  That's just her way.  She loves food, loves feeding others (much to the dismay of the parents of tiny babies who Violet tries to share with), and she loves being fed (though not from a spoon like a civilized child).  Since everyone was low to the ground, Violet simply wandered around the room and people fed her.  She didn't want to sit with me and be fed, she wanted a taste from everyone.  I felt a familiar pang of anxiety when I saw her approach a plate, and saw someone feed her from their plate...
until I realized- Everything was vegan.

Peace.

Everything was vegan and everyone was feeding Violet and she was having such a great time and I was able to sit back and watch her interact with her new friends, asking for a bite or snack.  I didn't have to pull her away from someone else as soon as food was around.  I didn't have to load her with her favorite foods so that she wouldn't want to eat what others had.  She was free to sample and interact in the way she felt most comfortable.

I highly recommend vegan potlucks for any vegan parent.  I would add to that, if you have a child with allergies, I would suggest a potluck without those allergens, and maybe with those with similar allergies. As your local bounce house if they would do a "peanut free" day, or host a playgroup in your home with no gluten allowed.

We don't want to teach our kids to just eat anything that someone gives them, but we also don't want to teach them not to try new things.  It is liberating to be able to interact with others through food, and I believe that one of the most isolating things about being vegan is that you lose part of the social aspect of eating.  Either it's hard to sit and watch your friend eat a side of ribs, or you can't have people over without worry that they won't like what you are making.  You can't just go to someone's house without a list of things that you don't eat and finding a neutral location to go out to eat can be just as challenging.  It's lonely and it perpetuates both the stereotypes and realities of vegans not wanting to interact with others.  My grandpa always said that food is love, and I believe that.  Losing the part of your life where you dine with your friends and family in the same way you always have is one of the hardest parts of veganism.  The easiest part is when you feel the love of eating great foods that don't support the cruelty or killing of other living beings.

I wish I had pictures to share of the two vegan potlucks I went to this week, but I don't, so I'll post the menus for both instead.  Feel free to drool.

Thanksgiving:
2 Tofurkeys
Mashed pototoes
Gravy
Homemade rolls
Sweet potato casserole with prailine pecans
Green bean and mushroom casserole with almonds
Hazelnut and cherry stuffing made with homemade cornbread
Homemade and canned cranberry sauce
Acorn squash soup
Salad
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thanksgiving Part 2:
Pesto pasta with fresh tomatoes
Brussel sprouts with pine nuts, capers, and raisins
Salad with spicy chipotle dressing
Fresh peppers with a pea puree hummus dip
Leftover acorn squash soup
Southwest tabouli
Homemade vegan fudge
Molasses ginger cookies

Last Minute Lazy Vegan No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

Okay, I know this is such a cop-out and a lame recipe for someone who loves to bake as much as I do, but I don't care- it's DELICIOUS!  And as much as I love to bake, I love to grub on some tasty pie.

I got the ingredients by cruising the "I Can't Believe It's Vegan" list that PETA put out.  I love this list for when I'm being lazy.

This recipe is what to make when you realize you have an hour before heading to a Thanksgiving potluck and you need that hour to include shopping time.

Ingredients:
1 store-bought graham cracker crust (read the ingredients, but most are accidentally vegan)
1 small/regular box Jello vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup soy creamer or soy milk
2 cups pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, it will be too sweet)
1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning (could this be easier? no.)

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, or with serious energy and a whisk, mix everything but the crust for a couple minutes until it's a little fluffy, a little creamy, and firms up a bit.  Transfer mixture to crust and refrigerate for an 1-3 hours (you can make it and throw it in the fridge while everyone's eating, then have it ready for desert).

It tastes a little like pudding, a lot like pumpkin pie should, and the consistency is amazing.  I am going to try this with some tofutti mixed in for a cheesecake-like pie, but I don't want to vouch for the results until I've tried it.

Coconut Flour Blondies with Chocolate Chips

I got a bag of Let's Do... Organic Coconut Flour and could not wait a full day even to try it out. They have coconut cream too, which has the wheels in my head turning. I'll definitely post about that later. I have been experimenting with gluten-free recipes, and saw this recipe in Living Without a few months ago. I decided to adapt it and make it vegan. I also decided not to do gluten-free for this one, because I wanted all the other flavors to be familiar except the coconut flour. It tasted nutty and coconut-y just in the powder form, so I figured in a blondie it will be perfect.

Here's the recipe the way I did it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup SOFT dates (it took 6 for me)- if your dates are not soft, soak them in about 1/2 cup warm water, and use that water for your flax eggs
3 Tbsp flax mixed with 1/2 cup water (let it sit and gel)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8X8in pan with parchment paper. Spray oil over the parchment and pan. Put all the wet ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Try not to drink the resulting liquid (this may be the hardest part of this recipe). Blend the dry ingredients in a large bowl (not including chips) with a whisk or fork to break up any coconut flour clumps. Pour wet ingredient liquid into THE BOWL, not your mouth, and combine completely. Add chocolate chips and give it another spin with your spoon. It will look like cookie dough and taste like awesome. Don't eat it all, but go ahead and taste that. It's got hints of macaroon flavor, but the texture and chips bring you back to memories of chocolate chip cookies. Now fight the impulse to form this into balls and press it down into your pan evenly and bake it for 25-30 minutes. It will leave your hands feeling luscious with coconut oil, which is a really good moisturizer. You may lick the bowl now. And the spoon. And the inside of the food processor (watch for blade). Let them cool a bit before pulling it all out in your handy dandy parchment paper and cooling competely before cutting. The original recipe says this makes 16, but realistically, I'm going to get 9 portions from this.

These had a great chewy moist texture, a perfect flavor that just hinted at coconut, and a pretty slightly browned top.  I think next time I'll use a little more agave and fewer chocolate chips, but overall it was a success!  My husband who isn't a coconut fan ate them up and said they didn't have the coconut flavor he doesn't like.  I, on the other hand, got my hints of maccaroon flavor without it being overpowering.  I think these would also be great with shredded coconut and macadamia nuts instead of chocolate chips, because they already have a slight island flavor.

Vegan Smores Brownies aka I Love Dandies

I hosted a vegan cookie swap last weekend to kick off the holiday season early and start getting ideas for what to bake for friends and family gifts.  I wanted to do something unique for the exchange, and I recently discovered that my local natural foods store has Dandies vegan marshmallows.  I had only had Dandies once before, and they were well beyond dandy.  Oh sweet mother of all that is campfirey and delicious...  

You see, conventional marshmallows are made with ground up animal bones, which doesn't sound like candy for anyone, but especially not vegans.  I'm not really sure who's idea is was to make candy out of ground up bones, but it certainly wasn't a sweet kid sitting by a campfire, and it wasn't the kick ass creators of Dandies, Chicago Soy Dairy.  Dandies taste like a real candy, fluffy, sweet, no guilt ridden aftertaste, and just a hint of magic.  I say magic because I've tried to make my own vegan marshmallows twice to such hideous failure I don't even want to go into it.  I'll just say that if you plan on making your own vegan marshmallows, get a candy thermometer.  

So since I had some Dandies (I bought three bags as soon as I saw them- I was so overcome with excitement), I decided to make a 'smores brownie.  I have a favorite brownie recipe that I used quite often while pregnant, and I have a favorite vegan graham cracker, Health Valley.  I made a simple graham cracker crust, added marshmallows, topped with brownie mix, added more marshmallows, and then topped with graham cracker bits.  

Another excellent feature I discovered with the Dandies is that they puff up and brown just like the marshmallows of my childhood.  When the brownies were done, they not only had the components of the classic smore, but the browned and crisp-on-top marshmallows had been baked to really taste like roasted treats!  These were the favorite of almost every guest at the cookie swap (she says modestly).  

The other cookie I made was the pumpkin whoopie pies from Vegan Yum Yum with a double batch of filling to make them extra decadent.  

Here is a picture of the leftovers from the party:

Not a single type of cookie was repeated and there were no duds in the bunch!  I would call this swap a success!

Recipe Sources:

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Viva Vegan

Vegan Yum Yum

Roasted Beet and Horseradish Quinoa Risotto

My mom is visiting and I was so worried she'd feel like something was missing when I cooked for her.  She's a freegan (though she didn't know that word until I said it) for the most part, and lately the dumpster she frequents has had prime rib. Hence, she has been eating prime rib quite often.  I certainly wouldn't try to make a fake meat prime rib, but I did want to mirror some of the flavor, so I made this recipe using beets and horseradish for that great savory rich flavor, and quinoa to make sure she got all the protein she needed.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

3 cloves garlic

4 small beets (or 2 large beets) with greens 

2 Tbsp olive oil

5-6 cups veg broth

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1-2 Tbsp horseradish to taste

2 Tbsp- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash the beets and beet greens thoroughly.  Cut the tops off and half or quarter the beets and wrap them in aluminum foil with one of the garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp of oil, and salt and pepper.  Place package on middle rack and roast for about an hour.  Use the back of your knife to peel the beets and chop them into small cubes.  Turn the oven up to 400.   Chop the greens into small strips and toss with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until crispy (thanks for the idea Christina).

Once beets are cooked, begin the risotto.  Heat the veg broth to a simmer first and have a ladle ready.  In a large nonstick pan, heat the other Tbsp of oil.  Rough chop the garlic and saute quickly and add quinoa and stir to coat with oil.  Stir constantly and ladle enough broth to cover the quinoa.  Add broth as needed and stir in the horseradish and balsamic vinegar.  Continue stirring and adding broth until the quinoa is soft, about 30-40 minutes.  Stir in the beets and nutritional yeast until quinoa is all pretty red.  This will be very hot, so you might want to let it cool a little before serving.  Top with crispy greens and enjoy!

Tomato Ginger Lemongrass Simmer Sauce

My food processor is full of deliciousness that I want to drink directly from it through a straw. Mmmmm. I am already dreaming about dinner.

This was inspired by one of those jarred simmer sauces that you see occasionally and think, I could make that. You don't think that when you see jars of simmer sauce? I just prefer to make my own everything. The disclaimer with this is that I am no Indian food expert, so while it tastes great to me, there are probably about 5 more spices you could add to improve it. If you know those spices, go ahead and use them and enjoy!

Ingredients:
Large can of stewed tomatoes
Small can of coconut milk
1 tsp oil
1 yellow onion chopped into large cubes
2 carrots chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic
about 4 inches of lemongrass finely grated
2 tbsp ginger finely grated
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
4 dates (you may need more depending on the sweetness of your other ingredients and the size of your dates)
1/2 tsp coriander

Over medium high heat, saute the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and onion in the oil until the onions are slightly caramelized. Stir frequently to keep from burning anything. Next, add the grated ginger and lemongrass and toss once or twice. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, dates, coriander, and cilantro (go ahead and just tear the top off the bunch of cilantro because you are going to blend it all anyway). Let this all simmer together for 10-15 minutes. Carefully pour it into your food processor and blend everything together. After it's blended you can salt or more dates if needed. This can be simmered with tofu, seitan, tempeh, or with cubed zucchini. I'm thinking of making green lentils, then simmering them in the sauce and serving them over brown rice.

Enjoy.

**Edited an hour later: I made the lentils and brown rice and that was the perfect pairing with this sauce! This recipe makes a lot, so I froze two ziplock bags of leftover sauce and used about 1/4 cup.

Fishless Sticks: Take 1

Oh bother. I'm posting this because it is a cautionary tale for others. I would not recommend making this recipe as it stands, but the flavors are good, so feel free to steal the idea and improve upon it.

Fishless Sticks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup TVP (texturized vegetable protein)
1 cup hot water
1 tsp kelp granules (I used Braggs and found them in the spice section at the health food store)
1-2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 flax eggs (6 tbsp water and 2 tbsp flax meal left to set for a few minutes together)

Combine all ingredients but flax egg and let sit for about 10 minutes or until TVP is soft/chewy and has soaked up the water. While this is happening I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and thought about how I knew these wouldn't hold together, flax egg be damned. I thought that if I had some leftover mashed potatoes, that would make a great binder. But I didn't. I got out a cookie sheet with a silpat mat (foil would work too) and formed my mixture into fingers/sticks the size of a good puffy ladyfinger cookie. I got 6 sticks from this recipe. I baked them for 25 minutes until they were brown and crispy on the outside.

When I took them off the mat, they were a bit crumbly and aren't holding together well, but the flavor is nice. Next time I'll try it with potatoes or something to bind it. Feel free to comment with ideas.

Vegan Lasagna Veggie Style

I have seen plenty of recipes for "vegan" lasagna that instruct you to layer artificial meat with noodles and artificial cheese. Those are fine. I could easily add those things to this lasagna and it would be tasty, but different. I wanted a fresh veggies lasagna that celebrates the coming Spring. I live in Alaska and while I know Spring should be here any minute, the two feet of snow covering my garden taunt me and tell me it will never be Spring again until the White Witch is overthrown (I've been reading The Chronicles of Narnia to my daughter). Also, I just got my weekly CSA box and had a bounty to play with. My CSA provider is Full Circle Farms and I would recommend them to anyone in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

Vegan Lasagna Veggie Style
Serves 2 (this recipe could easily be doubled or stretched with other ingredients that I will mention along the way)

Tools:
Food Processor or Blender
Nonstick or cast iron pan
knife and cutting board
loaf pan (or if doubling use a nice big deep pan or your choosing)

Ingredients:
1 medium or large eggplant
1 medium or large zucchini
6 large crimini mushrooms or 2 portabellas
tablespoon sunflower seeds or pine nuts
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
about 1/2 cup fresh or defrosted frozen spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil plus some to oil loaf pan
garlic salt and red pepper flakes to taste

First, cut the eggplant lengthwise and salt. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. You want it nice and soft. Allow the eggplant to cool while you prepare other ingredients. In the food processor you can put parsley, 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and a tablespoon of oil. When the eggplant is cool, scoop it out of the skin with a spoon and add to the food processor and blend until smooth.

Next, chop mushrooms finely and place in medium high heat pan with about a tablespoon of oil. Add garlic salt and cook until browned. Add the sunflower seeds and let them quickly brown as well. Take this mixture from heat and set to the side. Now you can slice your zucchini into lengthwise strips as thinly as you can. A mandolin would be nice for this, but I don't have one so I just did my best with what I had.

Oil your pan and place down a layer of zucchini strips. On top of the zucchini, place a thin layer of your mushroom and sunflower seed mixture. On top of that, spread a thin layer of the eggplant mixture. I almost ran out of eggplant, so a large eggplant is recommended or using one of the add-ins listed below. After the eggplant, add a layer of spinach and then more zucchini, then mushroom and nuts, then a final eggplant layer. Top with nutritional yeast, salt and red pepper flakes if you like them. Cover with aluminum foil or tight fitting lid.

Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour or until everything is bubbly.

**Variations** You could use any or all of them.
To stretch this recipe and add more protein, you can do a few things:
1. Add a can of cannelini beans (drained) to your eggplant mixture when blending.
2. Add TVP (textured vegetable protein) that has been reconstituted, artificial ground beef, or an Italian Field Roast sausage to your mushroom mixture.
3. Add cooked lasagna noodles in layers throughout.

Field Roast Vegan Sausages

I have heard this term tossed around a lot lately, and I think it applies here: nom nom. I love the Field Roast sausages. And, what's more, they are easy for me to get in the regular grocery store. They don't require any special trip, but offer such a special taste.

So far I've tried the Italian and Chipotle flavors and both have been great. They have a lot of flavor going on, and I can just picture Guy Fieri saying, "That's out of bounds." I like to put the Chipotle ones in my "mom meal."
The mom meal is something I came up with toward the end of my pregnancy when I just couldn't really be bothered to think about what I was going to eat. The "mom meal" is when I take a Field Roast sausage and whatever veggies I have in the crisper (good choices include; onion, zucchini, broccoli stems, kale, etc.) and I saute these until nicely browned. Then, I add brown rice and coat with the oil and add a little more oil than is called for. I let it come to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover for about 40 minutes. When it's done, I add nutritional yeast liberally over the top and add chopped fresh tomato if available. The rich flavor of the sausage gives the whole pilaf-like meal so much flavor.

For the Italian sausage, I made vegan gnocci from the recipe in Vegan With a Vengeance and just made a simple red sauce using sausage and canned tomatoes with some capers and kalamata olives to make it putanesca-ish.

Both these sausages mimic the flavor, fat, and texture of real sausage incredibly well. The delightful difference is that these sausages have vegetable derived oils instead of animal fat in them. As my husband pointed out, they are still greasy. It's a great grease though, and it makes for better cooking.

I have the chicken apple flavor in the freezer waiting for me when I'm ready for more sampling.

Gardein BBQ Skewers

I was perusing Alicia's Silverstone's website and saw a chicken recipe that specifically called for Gardein chicken. I figured if it was suggested by name, it must be good. I got the chicken, the pulled pork, and the BBQ beef skewers. I have only tried the skewers so far...

The taste is beefy, I won't argue with that, but there is an aftertaste that I just can't get past. I tried a few preparations, so I feel like I gave this product every chance.

First, I cooked a skewer in a pan with a tiny bit of oil and browned all sides. I didn't add any sauce because I wanted to actually taste the flavors of my mockmeat. The texture was the first thing I notice, it's good. There's a chewiness that really replicates meat in a nice way. I also liked the forward flavor. The problem was this synthetic aftertaste that I can only compare to rubber, which then makes the texture seem gross in my mind when my taste buds tell my brain: "rubber."

I had hoped it something I could mask.

The second time I made these skewers, I cooked three in the broiler. I figured that would give it a rich flavor, and provide a nice base for some sauciness. I tried one with bbq sauce, one with teriyaki sauce, and one with steak sauce. The flavors again were great, and each matched well with the flavor of the meat, but there was still that aftertaste.

I would say that if you can get past the aftertaste, this is a great alternative, but you aren't going to fool any meat eaters with this. I have read reviews of the chicken where people said their meat-eating friends couldn't tell it wasn't chicken. This beef would not fit that description.

I am considering trying these one more time and using them in a stew with a red wine base. I'm thinking the bold flavors of a stew and long cooking time might overpower that plastic-like taste, but I am not ready to spend the money to try again just yet.

We'll see how the other flavors pan out.

Fake Meat: You've Come A Long Way Baby

When I was first a vegetarian, I worked at a Mexican restaurant. Being a foolish teenager, I would sometimes eat the delicious fresca beans that were made fresh every day and had a wonderful flavor that I have spent my adult life trying to recreate, but more often I ordered the "veggie meat." The cooks actually called me Veggie Meat as a nick name. The "veggie meat" came in frozen patties that looked and tasted pretty much like McDonald's hash browns. I have seen veggie burgers that still have this look, and I assume the same potato-y taste.

During this time, I dated a guy who was Buddist. I wish I had a picture of this guy and his family, because they look like the typical American family, so when I found out he was a Buddist is was very surprising to say the least. He introduced me to Morning Star Farms and their meaty non-meat. I suddenly realized that fake meat could taste... Well, it tasted meaty, almost to the point of repulsion at times. In college I would devour Morning Star corndogs like they were potato chips and make their hot dogs in my dorm room microwave daily. I didn't really think about sodium consumption or the fat that was in these items. Also, now that I am an expert label reader, I am saddened to see that Morning Star uses milk in most of their products. As does Garden Burger. Milk hasn't been an option for me for a few years when my body suddenly realized I wasn't a cow and started fighting back against my insistence that food for a baby cow was fine for an adult woman.

So now here I am without my go-to meat substitutes and navigating the labels and prices of what to eat and feed my family. Quite frankly, I would rather have quinoa, lentils, or beans than most meat substitutes, but I am having fun trying new things. I will post reviews of the "alternatives" that I try periodically and am open to suggestions as well.