Tofu Queen

I’ve been running an awful lot lately. Despite downgrading my aspirations to run a marathon to running a half marathon this year, which is still a lofty goal for someone who has been running seriously less than a year I think, I have to say I’m rather proud of myself and my stick-to-it-iveness (that’s some neo-logism that I have no fucking clue how to spell). I’m running over twenty miles a week now, adding about 10% mileage every week, and have had some really amazing long runs on the last two Sundays. Feb 1st was a particularly challenging and hilly run. Here’s what it looked like:

So I realize I’ve sort of abandoned this blog thing. I keep telling myself that I will blog again, and start blogging every day even if I really don’t think I have much to say. I’ve been running a lot, eating a lot - though it’s mostly been extremely healthy, drinking too much, and just carrying on.  And now I’m another year older.

I don’t have much to complain about. I’m employed at a stable enough job and happier than I’ve been in years (maybe not particularly happy with work, but it’s nice to know I have a check coming every two weeks, even a modest one); I have actual goals and have just finished with the consumer credit portion of my nasty debt; I finally get to travel again (heads up Chi-Town, I’m lookin’ at you)!

So going forward (awww, corporate lingo, I love to hate you) I pledge to blog more, let’s say three days a week at least. That could mean a recipe, a news article with or without commentary, a ridiculous youtube link, or the result of my run that day, or maybe just another pledge.

Is it possible to have too many books? Maybe not, but it certainly is possible to have too few bookshelves, which is precisely why the floor of my room is decorated with little literary towers, and precisely why nearly every day for the past several months I’ve had the beaming face of Madhur Jaffrey offering me a gorgeous serving of stuffed eggplant every time I step out of bed in the morning.

The book in question is Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, which I picked up for a song at the Fort Mason Book Bay, a clearing house for The Friends of The San Francisco Library. They offer everything from local ephemera (ever wanted a handful of poetry chapbooks from the 1960s? - this is the place) to CDs, and of course lots and lots of dirt cheap books.

I had looked at this cover so many times and always just sort of put it in the back of my mind as something to make “later”, but with eggplants being offerred dirt cheap at the farmers’ market this past weekend, I could wait no longer. The original recipe calls for a basic stuffing of onions and tomatoes, but I had some chickpeas to use so I made a simple, but fairly thick curry out of them and used that as a stuffing instead.

Eggplant Stuffed with Curried Chickpeas

Just when I found myself feeling incredibly lazy these frighteningly realistic looking “Beef-Less Strips” from Trader Joes called my name. I’m not a huge fake meat eater, but every now and then I find myself morbidly fascinated with a certain piece of artificial flesh and the photograph of glistening unbeef strips on this box was just a little too scary not to buy.

Despite having some gluten in them along with Soy Protein Isolate, they really taste just like TVP, which is not exactly my favorite unmeat of the vegan world.

The Annie Chun noodles were okay too (the sauce was a bit too salty and I usually love salt). I added some chopped bok choy and green onions. Not too bad for a lazy, lazy meal.

lazy ingredients

lazy results

Quinoa Nori Roll

I admit, I’m not a sushi master, but I do love nori for all of it’s “of-the-sea” greatness, and use it quite a bit to wrap some lunches in. Here is a Nori roll with red quinoa instead of rice, avocado, and bullshit pickled carrots and ginger (ginger and carrot strips marinated in Apple Cider Vinegar for about an hour).

Guerilla Gardening?

It’s occurred to me that I’m not all that great at keeping up with the vegan mofo mission (that mission being to post about 20 entries on food during the month of October), but that’s okay. I’m very new to blogging and have been busy doing a bit of volunteer work and also busy being broke (it’s okay, I just got paid) and way too horribly preoccupied with the upcoming election to really even be thinking about food all that much. I also got news this morning that my grandmother passed away at 1am. She was a tough old bird and a sweet old lady and will be greatly missed.

On the plus side, someone planted some tomatoes around the tree in front of my apartment building.

Raw Pear Tartlet With Almond Crust

For the Crust:

• 1/3 cup almonds
• 2 large, fresh dates (I used Medjool)
• pinch cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch of sea salt

For the topping:

• 1 pear
• 3 tbsp agave nectar
• pinch of cardamom
• 2 tbsp chopped pistachios

Place almonds in a food processor and process until mealy/grainy (I have a pretty crappy food processor and can’t get a fine meal, but it would probably work well). Add dates and spices and process until the dates are completely mixed in and some lumps form.

Dump mixture out onto a cutting board lined with waxed paper and shape into a flat, thin circle. You could also use a tartlet pan or small ramekin (just use the topping as a filling if you are going to build into more of a traditional crust shape). Set aside.

Peel and chop 1/2 of the pear and put into the food processor with the agave syrup and cardamom. process until you have a fairly uniform sauce. Thickness will vary due to moisture content of the fruit.

Set crust onto a serving plate and slice the rest of the pear into thin slices. Spread the pear/agave mixture on top the crust and top with the pear slices, arranging in a fan pattern. Garnish with the chopped pistachios.

Because I could not go to the south, the south kindly came to me.

For as long as i can remember the internet has been a great place for exchanging things with random strangers. As a teenager, I used to trade mixtapes with people I met via usenet newsgroups, a sort of low tech slower version of p2p.

Thanks to vegan forums, I’ve had the opportunity to swap foodstuffs with all kinds of random folks. I recently received a package, a fantastic mix of bbq sauce, grits, chow chow relish, hot pepper jelly, sassafras tea and sorghum, from the wonderful JohnP.

The bbq sauce, Bar-B-Cutie, had quite a reputation. I was warned of its addictive qualities, but did not heed. And I’ve got to say, its reputation is well deserved. I have never, in all my years as a Californian (I mean yeah I’ve had plenty of arugula and blood oranges and heirloom everything but we don’t quite have the same flair for barbecue here or at least I don’t imagine that we do), had such a seriously kick-ass bbq sauce. Here I slathered the sweet version on some fat-free vegan seitan ribz (recipe here) and added some sorghum sweetened cornbread and collards with chow chow relish (a hot but not too hot relish of peppers and I think onions that I’ve been devouring) to the mix. With the hot Bar-B-Cutie on the side I was able to really experience the full spectrum of transcendental bar-b-cue sauce. Now I just need to figure out how to mainline it.

PS- John, I’ll get your package out on Tuesday - I just need to get one more thing.

If I had to pick one legume to eat for the rest of my life, I’d pick black-eyed peas. It would be tough, mostly because of chickpeas and their relationship to hummus, but damn! Black-eyed are just so: easy, earthy, creamy, and cute with their little black eye peeking my way. They don’t even need pre-soaking when using the pressure cooker.

This recipe is a nice mix of the creamy/earthy texture of black eyed peas vs. the spicy and rich flavor of Pasilla Chiles. Pasillas are a bit spicier than bell peppers (but not quite as hot as jalapeños) and much more dense. They have a fairly thin skin and are about the same size as longer red bell peppers. While bell peppers have a nice, bright flavor and a higher water content, Pasillas deliver a good bit of heat and some really deep flavors.

I used a pressure cooker, but you could easily do without and just simmer slowly accordingly. It might make for an even deeper, more developed pepper taste.

Black-Eyed Peas with Pasilla Chiles

Ingredients:

• 1-2 TBSP. Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion, chopped
• 3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Pasilla Chile, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups dried black eyed peas, picked over and rinsed
• 5 cups water
• about 1 lb fresh or 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes.
• 1 1/2 TBSP. Chipotle Powder (or Chile Powder if Chipotle Powder is not available)
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. Salt (or to taste)

In a pressure cooker, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until it just starts to brown (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes more, until soft. Add chile and saute until soft. Add black eyed peas, spices, and water. Put on the lid and bring to pressure.

Bring to high pressure and cook for about 12 minutes (cooking times can vary anywhere from 10-14 minutes; if you like your beans a little toothier, cook for less time). Using the quick-release method, bring the pressure down and remove the lid. Add the tomatoes.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes, or until you’ve achieved a stew like consistency and are satisfied that the flavors have infused.

Serve over short or medium grain brown rice.

Credit: this recipe is inspired by Creole Black Eyed Peas from Fat-Free Vegan.

I need more zest, I need a “fuck yeah!” moment, and that’s exactly why I’ve decided to run the San Francisco Marathon next July. I’m an okay but lazy runner; jogger is really a more apt title, but I’ve decided that it’s time to really set a concrete goal with regards to fitness, and why not make it an athletic achievement instead of merely looking hot in a pair of pants? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In terms of nutrition, I want healthy eating to be about what I do eat instead of what I don’t eat, food as a means to an end. When I still ate meat and read a lot of men’s fitness magazines, their answer to achieving fitness was always the same: protein protein protein. This is something I’ve often had a hard time getting away from. I’ll occasionally see a great looking recipe in a cookbook or online that’s healthy and full of a variety of vegetables and end up passing because there isn’t an obvious high protein source. I even ignored a lot of my body’s natural cravings and what it was telling me in an effort to shove as much protein down my throat as possible.

I’ve certainly discovered recently that eating a much wider variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and beans has boosted my energy and made workouts a lot more enjoyable, and can’t wait to experiment more as my fitness level increases.