One of my favorite portable lunches or quick snacks to share with my kids is an udon
sushi roll. It's made the same way you would prepare regular maki sushi except thick, chewy udon noodles are subsituted
for rice.
My local natural foods supermarket sells these rolls in the deli case and they are delicious, but
they are not hard to make at home. My favorite version includes cooked udon noodles tossed with a little sesame oil (or
peanut oil for milder flavor), a shmear of umeboshi paste (or wasabi), sliced avocado, some shredded carrots, sliced
green onions, and a sprinkling of nori furikake or toasted sesame seeds for crunch.
Roll ingredients up in a
sheet of nori then wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill. (The chilling helps with slicing later.) Serve sliced or
eat temaki-style (like a burrito!).
Last weekend, my family and I visited Portland. This
added a new twist to my vegan challenge: how was I going find tasty things to eat in airports and hotels? Because I was
traveling with my children, I didn't have the luxury of scouting out the hottest vegan restaurants in Portland. I
had to be able to eat where my kids ate. Thank goodness for Gardenburgers. I ate a lot of them this past
weekend.
In the airport I was able to track down places that sold veggie sandwiches, lentil soup, vegan
pastries, and fruit cups. Granted, I was traveling from San Francisco to Portland, Ore., two vegan-friendly
cities. I don't know how I would have fared if I had traveled elsewhere. (I did keep an apple and some pretzels
with me, just in case.)
Once we arrived in Portland, the brew pubs (O, how we love the Portland
microbrews!) we chose for dinner both had Gardenburgers as vegan options. One of the restaurants also had a veggie
pasta, but unless I'm makin' it, I just don't trust it. Soggy vegetables and over-cooked pasta? No
thanks. I stuck to the known quantity: the Gardenburger.
We ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant
and there were also plenty of choices from home fries to cereals with milk alternatives. No problem there.
My Spring/Summer 2006 Chef's Catalog arrived today, did yours? Even though I could go online
anytime and peruse their site, I love sitting down with a good culinary catalog and poring over every page. Here
are eight items I wouldn't mind adding to my kitchen arsenal:
Delonghi Roto Fryer:
I've been wanting one for a couple of years, now. It has a motorized basket that rotates the frying food so it absorbs
less oil than in conventional deep-frying. What's not to love about fried...anything, really. $99.99
Falcon Double Burner Griddle: Half griddle, half grill. Cast iron. Cook bacon and eggs or sausage and pancakes at
the same time. $249.99
Le Creuset Risotto pot: A shallow, wide-mouthed, enameled cast iron pot. Angled
sides for easy stirring. $199.99
Jumbo Floursack Towels: Extra-large, absorbent cotton dish towels. $15.99
set of six
Butterfly Step Trash Can: I hate having to touch trash can lids when throwing scraps away. The
thin profile on this can saves space. It even has an "air-dampener" for quiet close. $179.00
Lagioule Flatware: It's just so cool-looking. Old-timey yet contemporary at the same time. Dishwasher safe,
too. $189.99 for 20 piece set.
Pie Keeper: Protects pie so you can store and transport them with ease.
Also seals to keep pies fresh. $8.99
Bistecca plates: Plates big enough to accomodate a double-cut
porterhouse steak. Oh, yeah. $39.99 set of four.
Hmmm. Mother's Day is coming up, and I am a
mother... Forward. Husband.
When going vegan, it helps to be able to shop at a grocery
store that works with you. In San Francisco, that store is Rainbow
Grocery. The grocery store contains no meat, poultry, or fish so there are no "temptations of the flesh",
as it were. It does carry dairy products and eggs, but along side those are an abundance of vegetarian and vegan
alternatives. Rainbow Grocery is more than a supermarket. It's sort of a "healthy lifestyle mercantile"
selling everything from yoga mats to vitamins to juicers and sprouting kits.
Rainbow Grocery is where I
found my favorite cookbook right now, Vegan Planet. I've been cooking from it for the past two weeks, and the recipes
haven't disappointed me yet. One I particularly enjoyed was the Pesto Polenta with Mushrooms (recipe follows). It was
bursting with bold flavors, although I have to admit that the polenta was crying out for a little butter and cheese.
Aside from that, though, I enjoyed the dish and it would make a tasty and impressive dish for entertaining, vegan or
not.
Heading into week two of my veganchallenge, I've successfully managed to
entertain twice and it wasn't any harder or any less tasty than if I had included animal products in my menu.
Over the weekend, I had a friend over for brunch and I served assorted bagels with two different spreads: cream cheese
for the omnivores and buttery Fuerte avocadoes (my personal preference) mashed with lime juice and nutritional yeast for
me. I set out a big platter of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and spicy radish sprouts, and I only missed the
lox a little. (Sigh!) I also served a big bowl of mixed berries, and to drink I offered chilled fruit juice and
coffee.
A few days later, friends came to dinner and after perusing through my new, favorite cookbook,
Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson, I decided on a menu of lemon risotto with peas and a "Pseudo"
Caesar salad. For starters I sliced up a chewy Judy's Breadstick (a staple in
my house) and served that with Annie's
cashew-sesame-pimento spread. The spread is made locally in Santa Cruz, California and it was sublime.
Wondering what to do with your surplus of hard-boiled eggs?
How about making a delicious and satisfying Salade Niçoise?
Sear some salt and peppered tuna
steaks (or if you are "going
vegan" omit the eggs and tuna, or substitute with Tuna Chunk, seitan, or baked tofu). Arrange some sliced or
wedged boiled waxy potatoes, crisp-cooked green beans, tomato wedges, hard-boiled egg wedges, and salad greens on a
large platter.
Scatter with capers, niçoise olives, and flat-leaf parsley. Top with the tuna steaks.
Pass some mustardy, tarragon vinaigrette. Or do what I do, and toss each ingredient [except tuna] with some vinaigrette
before arranging on the plate.
For a week now, I've been challenging myself to eat as close
to vegan as possible. It's part of my month-long, "Going
Vegan" experiment. So far, I have to say, it hasn't been hugely difficult. The hardest part has been not
drinking milk with my coffee. I have given up my beloved double cappuccinos for plain drip coffee. (Hmph. Maybe that's why I've been so grouchy lately...)
So what have I
been eating? Lots of salads. I eat a salad everyday anyway, but I've been making them more substantial mixing in baked
tofu, roasted veggies, nuts, and/or beans. I roasted sweet potatoes and spring onions and tossed them with balsamic
vinaigrette to make a warm salad (recipe follows). Another day I roasted some fingerling potatoes and tossed those with
an olive oil-horseradish emulsion and served them on a bed of baby watercress.
I've made two soups. One an "every-kind of vegetable" soup.
The other a simple, comforting puree of leeks and garbanzos enriched with a little soy milk and margarine. I'll have
bread shmeared with mashed avocado and sprinkled with sea salt. I've made paninis with veggies and Tofurkey deli slices which, I'm surprised to admit, are
pretty good.
I was in my local Whole Foods Market yesterday looking at
the selection of hot and cold deli items for purchase, and it got me to thinking, "Is this food ever good?"
Haven't we all been there? We are in the market wanting something quick and easy for lunch or dinner so we get sucked
into buying the prepared food. More often than not, don't we get burned? (...unless we're buying a sandwich, that is.)
I think it's safe to say that the deli salads in most chain supermarkets are disgusting. The macaroni and
potato salads (and things like ravioli and spaghetti) generally aren't made on-site. They are made by companies like Reser's and are shipped in bulk to market delis. They're often sickly sweet,
packed with preservatives, and just plain not good.
But even at specialty markets like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and New Seasons, I find that deli food items to be sub par. (Especially at Wild
Oats.) Grilled salmon and chicken breasts always look dried out, cold salads look soggy, curled squares of lasagne
always look like they've been sitting awhile, and everything has that refrigerator-y taste from being in the cold case
all day uncovered.
Have you experienced a market that gets it right? Where prepared food is fresh and
tasty? If so, please share.
By the way, the lemon quinoa that I chose at Whole Foods? It was good.
Brenda Hyde posts lovely recipes for tea sandwiches at Seeds of Knowledge. Tea sandwiches are one of my
long-standing obsessions. When I was in elementary school, I used to make tea sandwich filling recipes out of the
Joy of Cooking until I had worked my way through them all.
I began making nasturtium sandwiches when we moved to a flat in San Francisco with a nasturtium-covered back fence.
When they were in bloom, nasturtium leaves and flowers made their way into my green and fruit salads, sandwiches, and,
of course, garnished my platters.
For a twist-on-the-usual sandwich, why not try this simple recipe at your next garden party?
I love making and serving punches (both alcoholic and non) out of my antique depression glass punch
bowl. It was a garage sale find: punch bowl, stand, and twenty cups for...$5. I know! Score!
Here
are some of my favorite recipes:
Ginger-Apple Punch—Combine in punch bowl: a two inch
section of fresh ginger, grated; 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed key lime (or limoncito) juice; one 48 ounce bottle of natural
(cloudy) apple juice. Combine in punch bowl and float ice ring and lime slices. We serve this at our daughters' birthday
parties.
Champagne punch—Combine in a bowl: one bottle chilled brut or rosé
champagne; 2 ounces cassis; 1 pint whole rasperries; 20 torn mint leaves. (For mock champagne punch substitute ginger
ale or sparkling peach juice for champagne)
White Sangria—Combine in pitcher or punch
bowl: 3 tablespoons of sugar; 3-4 ounces of Grand Marnier, Calvados, or Poire William; 1 sliced key lime; 1 sliced
lemon; 1 bunch of green grapes, halved; 2 white peaches, skin removed and cut into thin slices;
1-2 bottles very dry white wine; 1 pint white or pale pink raspberries. Let sit for several hours. Before serving add
plenty of crushed ice (or ice ring) to bowl.
Whenever I'm at Costco, I pick up one of
their New Zealand boneless legs of lamb. One of the reasons why I love this particular item is that the lamb has been
de-boned, and is then formed into a compact roll (like a tenderloin), secured with netting and ready to roast. Without
the bone, it'll cook much faster.
But, the best thing I like about the Costco lamb is that you can remove
the netting, then stuff the lamb, re-roll it, and then stretch the netting back over the lamb before sticking it into
the oven. The netting surrounding the lamb is elasticized so it's easily removable. (Just be careful not to let it snap
back or else you and your immediate surroundings will be spattered with raw lamb juice.) Could you tie it with butcher's
twine instead? Sure. But I'm lazy and I like re-using the netting. Plus it holds the lamb leg more evenly and snugly
than twine would.
I like to stuff my leg of lamb with a combination of olive oil, garlic, rosemary, parsley,
sage, marjoram, Meyer lemon zest, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper that has been whizzed into a thick paste. I
simply shmear the paste all over the lamb, roll it up, and secure with netting. Salt and pepper the outside before
roasting and cook to an internal temperature of 160º.
If you are cooking lamb for Easter, why not give
this a try? There are endless possibilities for stuffing— perhaps fresh bread crumbs and dried apricots or a
simple-yet-flavorful dry rub. What ever you choose it's sure to be easy-peasy, and deeelicious.
Okay, perhaps this is not a typical first food memory,
but it's one of my favorites. I've been watching the box set of Freaks and
Geeks and during one of the episodes, the "geeks" dare each other to drink a disgusting combination of
ingredients (salt, sardines, pickle juice...) for money. O how the memories came flooding back.
When my
brother and I were in elementary school, we used to do the exact. same. thing. We used to stand at the refrigerator and
goad each other into drinking conconctions we created. Our rules were that you could only use three ingredients (to cut
down on disgust-osity) and we could only pick items from the fridge.
Just like on the TV show, pickle juice
was a favorite starter liquid.
Thinking back on it, the experience was actually very helpful. It taught us
about flavor combinations, and we certainly drank enough MSG-laced brine to learn about umami at an early age. In fact, both my brother and I went on to have
food-related jobs. Bro was a line cook at restaurants in San Francisco and Germany. I dabbled in catering and now write
about food. Maybe it all started with a little kimchi juice-mayo-grape jam cocktail.
I don't know why, but I have decided to try and eat vegan (or as close to it as
possible) for the next month. It's not for political or religious or animal rights reasons, it's just to see if I can
do it. A personal challenge, if you will. And, I figure blogging about it will keep me honest.
Over the next
month, I'll be sharing my experience with you on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I'll tell you what worked and what didn't. I'll
share my recipes sucesses and failures. I'll tell you what vegan products are edible and what products taste like
sheiss. I wouldn't lie to you.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than cooking, so my focus will be on
trying to create delicious vegan dishes with lots of variety and flavor. I also have a family to feed, so I whatever I
cook has to appeal to my toddler and preschooler as well.
Though we are not Jewish, my daughter attends a Jewish preschool.
This week, in preparation for Passover, her school has been sending home wonderful hand-outs full of activities on how
to celebrate and honor this holiday.
My favorite hand-out, of course, was the one with five pages of
Passover recipes including these matzah recipes. These would be fun to do with kids if you've got 'em.
Melt chocolate and margarine over low heat. Stir to prevent burning. Break matzah into pieces and stir into
chocolate. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Pour chocolate matzah mixture onto waxed paper. Cover with another
sheet of waxed paper and flatten with a rolling pin. Refrigerate. When mixture hardens, peel off waxed paper and break
chocolate into pieces.
This recipe is taken from the New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer
Greene. You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the delicious recipes in this book. It's a wonderful addition to my
cookbook collection.
Green says one of the best things about this recipce is that "it makes a lot of
servings in a minimum of space." It can also be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen. It is one of
Greene's favorite Seder dishes.
Orange-Glazed Chicken Breasts
Greene's note:
Orange marmalade is generally available kosher.
1 1/2 cups matzah meal 3 tablespoons finely chopped
fresh parsley 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 3/4 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3
to 4 extra-large egg whiles or 2 large eggs or 1/2 cup pareve egg substitute 3-4 pounds boned and skinned chicken
breast halves (about 12) 1 12 ounce jar orange marmalade 1 cup white table wine (the type is your choice) 3 tablespoons canola or safflower oil
One of my favorite portable lunches or quick snacks to share with my kids is an udon
sushi roll. It's made the same way you would prepare regular maki sushi except thick, chewy udon noodles are subsituted
for rice.
Last weekend, my family and I visited Portland. This
added a new twist to my vegan challenge: how was I going find tasty things to eat in airports and hotels? Because I was
traveling with my children, I didn't have the luxury of scouting out the hottest vegan restaurants in Portland. I
had to be able to eat where my kids ate. Thank goodness for Gardenburgers. I ate a lot of them this past
weekend.
My Spring/Summer 2006 
When going vegan, it helps to be able to shop at a grocery
store that works with you. In San Francisco, that store is 
Heading into week two of my 
Wondering what to do with your surplus of hard-boiled eggs?
How about making a delicious and satisfying Salade Niçoise?
For a week now, I've been challenging myself to eat as close
to vegan as possible. It's part of my month-long, "
I was in my local Whole Foods Market yesterday looking at
the selection of hot and cold deli items for purchase, and it got me to thinking, "Is this food ever good?"
Haven't we all been there? We are in the market wanting something quick and easy for lunch or dinner so we get sucked
into buying the prepared food. More often than not, don't we get burned? (...unless we're 
Brenda Hyde posts lovely recipes for tea sandwiches at 
I love making and serving punches (both alcoholic and non) out of my antique depression glass punch
bowl. It was a garage sale find: punch bowl, stand, and twenty cups for...$5. I know! Score!
Whenever I'm at Costco, I pick up one of
their New Zealand boneless legs of lamb. One of the reasons why I love this particular item is that the lamb has been
de-boned, and is then formed into a compact roll (like a tenderloin), secured with netting and ready to roast. Without
the bone, it'll cook much faster.
Okay, perhaps this is not a typical first food memory,
but it's one of my favorites. I've been watching the box set of 
I don't know why, but I have decided to try and eat vegan (or as close to it as
possible) for the next month. It's not for political or religious or animal rights reasons, it's just to see if I can
do it. A personal challenge, if you will. And, I figure blogging about it will keep me honest.
Though we are not Jewish, my daughter attends a Jewish preschool.
This week, in preparation for Passover, her school has been sending home wonderful hand-outs full of activities on how
to celebrate and honor this holiday.
This recipe is taken from the New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer
Greene. You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the delicious recipes in this book. It's a wonderful addition to my
cookbook collection.
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