A Visual Tour of My Saturday Morning in Ann Arbor

Okay, this has nothing at all to do with being vegan.  However, wouldn’t it be nice if all these Mud Bowl participants and spectators were vegan?

Giant Rutabagas at Farmer’s Market!  My mother-in-law introduced me to the delights of eating these monster vegetables.  So, so good!  By the time I saw these, I already had too many veggies to cook up so I checked with the farmer to make sure she would have some next week and the answer was Yes!

Have you been to the Spice Merchants at Kerrytown Market yet?  They carry an amazing array of spices, teas and grains as well as artisan crafted sea salts beyond your imagination.  All of their offerings are arranged in such an aesthetically pleasing display that invites you to look into each jar and be surprised by what it holds.  Yes, that’s Wild Porcini Sea Salt, Vintage Merlot Sea Salt and Spanish Rosemary Sea Salt.

Black Lava Sea Salt, White Cypress Sea Salt and Pink Hawaiian Sea Salt

Habanero Sea Salt, Chile Verde Sea Salt and Chipotle Sea Salt

Those pictured are just a few samples of the varieties of sea salt offered at this treasure of a shop.  I’m going to attempt to make some vegan candy and caramels so I bought some Fleur de Sel Sea Salt and some Candied Ginger.

After shopping for my sweet nephew, Gianni’s, birthday gift, I headed home with my goodies.  I didn’t even show you the tomatoes, kale, spinach, radishes or spicy salad mix I bought!

Here, however, is my giant parsnip!  All ready to be peeled and chopped to go into……..

Quinoa, White Bean and Kale Stew from Appetite for Reduction. Healthy, Delicious, Comfort Food!  Mine looks very pretty with the red quinoa I bought at Spice Merchants!

Luscious Lasagna from VegNews

I love getting VegNews.  I am in general, surrounded  by mostly omnivores.  When I flip through my VegNews Magazine, being vegan feels like the new “normal”.  In these pages, I am treated to a global community of like-minded individuals sharing their resources, recipes, wisdom and compassion.  I feel so much less alone in my vegan living and very supported.  So I send a heartfelt Thank You! to VegNews for making my world a better place!

The new issue (Nov./Dec.) has a recipe for this Luscious Lasagna in the VeganizeIt column by Allison Rivers Samson.  I was looking for something like this to take to a friend who has just moved into a new home.  This is her special housewarming gift, along with a delicious salad, some Zingerman’s Paesano Bread, Coconut Bliss and double chocolate cookies for dessert.  She’s not vegan so I feel like I’m doing my little part by sharing with nonvegans how good vegan food can be!

Hoisin -Braised Baby Bok Choy and Crimini Mushrooms

This was only slightly changed from a recipe from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson.  The sauce ingredients include hoisin sauce, tamari, sake, water, ginger, garlic and dried chiles. Cooking slowly over a low heat allows the sauce to be absorbed by the bok choy and mushrooms.  It called for fresh shiitake mushrooms and I only had baby bellas on hand, so that’s what I used.  I also added some savory baked tofu from Trader Joe’s to make it a little heartier meal served with brown basmati rice.  It was scrumpdillyicious!

As a side note, check out all the possible vegan food your local Trader Joe’s might carry!

Vegan Fare at the Jolly Pumpkin

I was walking around downtown Ann Arbor last week on my assignment from VegMichigan to help update their website of Ann Arbor Restaurants with vegan fare.  I passed by the Jolly Pumpkin and was delighted to notice several vegan options on their menu including a vegan chocolate cake!  So, of course, I invited my dear husband out to dinner last Saturday night, our long-standing date night.  We hadn’t been to the Jolly Pumpkin for many months and only a handful of times since their opening in September of 2009.  It was hopping busy at 8:30 when we arrived so we hovered near the bar hoping for a couple of bar stools to open up.  About 15 minutes later we had prime seats and were happy to see the television sets at the bar tuned to the MSU vs Wisconsin game.  I don’t follow football much but my husband let me know these were two of the best teams to watch.  If you missed this game, try to find the highlights.  It was amazing!

Anyway, back to the food!  I was feeling like a sandwich so after my husband ordered the Truffled French Fries for his appetizer, I ordered the Red Thai Tofu sandwich.  I subbed out the fries for a nice green salad instead.  It was all so delicious!  The grilled bread was a bit too oily but otherwise I loved the flavors and texture of this sandwich. It also came with a pickled zucchini wedge that was a surprise treat.  Forgive the picture above as it does the fabulous taste an injustice.  I also had a Oro de Calabaza, the Belgian-style ale the New York Times had voted their number one favorite in February 2010.  It was yummy and refreshing with a luscious citrus taste.

Other options on the menu for vegans included an appetizer of Grilled flatbread with Three Spreads.  They also had a Smoked Tofu Salad and an Asian Layered Salad.   Several of the items seem like they could be easily veganized by leaving off the cheese, including the pizzas.  I was too full to try the Vegan Chocolate Cake, which it turns out seems to be provided by Avalon International Bakery in Detroit.  I will definitely be back again soon and be sure to save some room in my belly!  Check out the Jolly Pumpkin’s menu here.

Cranberry Walnut Tabbouleh

I found some fresh mint at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday and wanted to use more of the parsley that is still overflowing in my herb pot on the deck.  The first thing I think of when I think of parsley and mint is tabbouleh.   This tabbouleh is not your traditional one with tomatoes and cucumbers but a little sweeter and chewier with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts that have been toasted.  It’s become a family favorite.  I hope you enjoy it, too!

Cranberry Walnut Tabbouleh

1 cup bulgur wheat

1 cup boiling water

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries (I used dried instead and added it to the bulgur before I added the hot water)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 minced red onion

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, toasted

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 1/2 tablespoons walnut oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine bulgur and 1 cup boiling water in a large bowl.  Cover and let stand 30 minutes or until water is absorbed.  Fluff bulgur mixture with a fork.  Stir in rest of ingredients and toss gently to combine.

Lightly Steamed Kale with Tahini Sauce is My Latest Addiction

So, I’m imagining you’ve heard or read about the wonders of kale.  Much has been written in the last few years about it’s “power food” status and how it’s insanely good for you. It’s packed with Vitamins A & C, and is also rich in beta carotene, potassium, calcium, and phytonutrients that are believed to help fight cancer and repair cells.  I personally never ate kale before I became vegan, except maybe to add it to some soups occasionally.  So getting to know a new food and discovering tasty ways to prepare it has been a fun learning edge for me, especially when I land on a recipe that is so delightfully delicious, like the raw kale salad I posted about awhile back.  I never would have thought that I would end up craving kale on a daily basis.

This last week I went through my farmer’s market  kale stash faster than ever so I was determined to get plenty today.  I usually buy Dino (Lacinato) Kale or Curly Kale but today I bought Curly Kale, Russian Kale (which I’ve learned is a type of Curly Kale) and a new (to my taste buds) variety called White Russian Kale (a flat leaf variety).

                                                                          Curly Kale

                                                                          Russian Kale

                                                                          White Russian Kale

So, as I said in my post title, I’m lately addicted to lightly steamed kale with this Tahini Sauce from Vegan Coach.

Here’s some links to some other great kale recipe and resource blogs.

Carrot and Tahini Soup

This recipe is adapted from one posted in the New York Times Dining and Wine Section.  It calls for leeks which I didn’t have so I substituted a chopped sweet onion.  It also called for fresh cilantro or mint for garnishing but I was fresh out of mint and my husband thinks cilantro tastes like burnt rubber.  I often just substitute fresh parsley but this time I let the turmeric and coriander and fresh carrots speak for themselves.  The tahini and lemon juice increased the depth and mellowness.  My dear husband said “This is the kind of soup I would eat whether or not I was hungry.  Don’t know if that’s good or bad.”  All I can say is yum!

Those cute little puffy things pictured in the soup are pita crisps made with whole wheat mini pita rounds.  They sort of look like donuts to me in this picture.  Speaks to my skills or lack thereof in food photography!  Or maybe donuts in your carrot soup sound appealing?

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

All these delicious Vegan MoFo posts about pumpkin recipes made me orange with desire. I had good reasons to give in and make some pumpkin spice muffins (as if I need a “good” reason).  My husband loves pumpkin (pumpkin pie is always his preferred birthday cake!) and  my daughter is coming home for a long weekend tomorrow and bringing four new college friends.  So, I figure they will want to eat some sumptuous homemade food that is better than what they are getting at the school cafeteria.  What better than muffins that are healthy and sweet and savory all at once?

Since I have yet to go wrong using my Babycakes Cookbook by Erin McKenna, I used it yet again.  It’s wonderful to have a reliably tasty vegan baking resource like this.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free, All-Purpose Baking Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 cup coconut oil, plus more for the pan (I was a little short of coconut oil so topped it off with organic canola, plus I sprayed the muffin tins with this also)

2/3 cup agave nectar

2/3 cup rice milk

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe’s Organic pumpkin)

1/2 cup hot water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients.

3. Add all the wet ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth and thick.

4. Fold in the pumpkin and hot water until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

5. Use 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill greased muffin cup.  (I filled it to the top to get big muffin tops).

6. Bake on center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the muffin tin after 10 minutes.

7. The finished muffins will be springy and soft and a toothpick inserted will come clean.

8. Let stand in tin f or 15 minutes before placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.

9. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Dipping Sauce

Every time we go to Seva for dinner, my family finds it irresistible to pass up the yam fries appetizer.  They are served with a mildly spicy dipping sauce that we all want to lick right out of the bowl.  I asked the server what was in it and wouldn’t you know, mayonnaise(of course) and Clancy’s Fancy Sauce, made right here in Ann Arbor.  Unfortunately, even though Seva is a vegetarian restaurant with many vegan options, they don’t offer a vegan option for this particular dip.  When I asked for a vegan dip, they gave me salsa!  Definitely not the same!

So, of course, now I make these at home, with the dip veganized using Veganaise (my favorite vegan mayo).  These are a family favorite!  Everyone loves them and there are never any left over.  Just by themselves they are delicious but with the dipping sauce, they are over the top for us.

While writing this post, I went to the company’s website and found that the sauce contains honey!  I didn’t know that, I hadn’t read the ingredients because I assumed it was vegan.  (You know what they say about assuming!)  I then found myself wondering about why honey is not vegan.  It’s something I’ve wondered about and had never gotten around to researching.

So, I mistakenly used a non-vegan ingredient last night, but now I know.  I’d love to create a sauce like Clancy’s Fancy that uses agave instead of honey.  Either that, or I will look for a substitute sweet and spicy vegan sauce to mix with my Vegenaise!

Ann Arbor’s Farmer’s Market: A Vegan’s Heaven

What do vegans eat?  Plants, not animals.  That’s how simple it is.  Veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, grains.  There is no shortage of ideas, recipes or creativity involved in crafting vegan fare.  I send out a huge appreciation to all the wonderful vegan cookbook writers, bloggers and chefs who have reignited my passion for cooking.  I am sparked daily to prepare delicious vegan food and share it with my family and friends.

So, where does an Ann Arbor vegan start?  At Ann Arbor’s Farmer’s Market, of course!  We have a busy market, fortunately, as many folks here want to support local farmers.  I head straight to the organic farm booths: Tantre Farms, Frog Holler Farms, Garden Works Farm and Renaissance Acres Farm.  The bounty is overflowing!  Collard greens, napa cabbage, kale, spinach, arugula, eggplant, kabocha squash, tomatoes, butternut squash, garlic, green beans, mint, sage, dill and salad greens!  Oh, and beeeauutiful dahlias!

The only question now is what do we feel like having for dinner tonight?