Shay's Strawberry Tart

My little sous chef arrived the other day with a notebook in which she'd copied down recipes from a children's cookbook she'd checked out of the library. She was so excited to show me and to ask we could cook one. One problem... her notes didn't actually contain any measurements!

Rather than disappoint her, I decided to take the basic premise of one of the recipes and wing it. In the end, I was able to simplify it so much that this nine-year-old chef was able to do it entirely on her own (with careful supervision, of course).

Shay's Strawberry Tarts

Ingredients:
1 pkg mini graham cracker crusts (the Keebler ones are accidentally vegan)
1 qt fresh strawberries
1 sm jar all-fruit preserves

Directions:
Spray the crusts lightly with baking spray and pre-bake according to package directions. Cool five minutes. Slice strawberries and arrange in crusts. Place preserves in a saucepan over medium heat until melted. Pour into strawberry-filled crusts. Cool tarts in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes until preserves are set. Top with vegan whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Fool-proof no-fat vegan banana bread

I couldn't find my family recipe for banana bread, so I decided to wing it. This turned out awesome. It's less like a traditional crumbly quick bread and more like a nice dense breakfast bread, but with all the delicious banana bread flavor and none of the fat. (Well, there's a negligible amount of fat in the banana itself, but not enough to count - less than a quarter of a gram per slice. And you do spray the pan. Still, I'm comfortable calling this 'no-fat'.)

Fool-proof no-fat banana bread

4 over-ripe bananas, mashed

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas and add wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour batter into pan. Bake 55 minutes or until golden brown and pulling away from the sides. Cool in pan on a wire rack for five minutes, then remove from pan (or cool completely in pan).

Vegan MoFo: Antipasto Sub (a.k.a. Sub in a Jar)

You know how sometimes you don't feel like chopping? You just want to eat salty, briny stuff from a jar? No? Just me then. But still, you'll seriously love this delicious sandwich.

Antipasto Sub

Ingredients:
4 individual sub rolls or one large French or Cuban loaf.
1 small jar of mushrooms
1 small jar of artichokes
1 small jar of roasted red peppers
1 small jar of olives
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pesto (or herb spread, garlic spread, or Italian dressing) - optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split bread and spread with pesto or dressing, if using. Layer veggies and top with basil leaves. Wrap in aluminum foil and cook 8 - 10 min. or until heated through. Serve hot.

Vegan MoFo: Easiest Ever Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

You would think that by now I'd be through psyching myself out of trying new things in the kitchen. After all, being vegan is all about trying new things! I can't even count the new fruits, vegetables, grains, and new types of dishes that I've tried. Yet, it's been about 6 months since I bought the ingredients to try gluten-free vegan baking. I knew in theory that it shouldn't be that tough, but when push came to shove, I always resorted to the familiar.

Well, that's over now! I finally had a reason strong enough to motivate me to try, and you know what? It's utterly foolish to be intimidated by these things! It's absolutely no harder than conventional baking, which in the case of this recipe is just so easy.

Based on this fabulous recipe from Plant Based on a Budget with just a minor tweak, it only takes 3-5 minutes to prepare and a little more than 30 minutes in the oven. Cool for a few minutes and sprinkle with organic powdered sugar, and in under an hour you've got fresh-baked cake!

Easiest Ever Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients 
1 1/2 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (I use Bob's Red Mill)
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup organic sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or half vanilla, half almond)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
5 tbsp canola or other light-flavored oil
1 cup warm water
Organic confectioner's sugar for topping

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift first six ingredients into an ungreased 8x8 cake pan. Add sugar and mix. Create three wells in the dry ingredients. Add vanilla to one, oil to another, and vinegar to the third. Pour warm water and top and mix until well blended and reasonably smooth. There may still be some small lumps, but make sure when you scrape the bottom there's no dry flour showing. Bake 30-35 minutes, until center springs back when touched gently.

Cool 10 minutes and top with confectioner's sugar. Serve warm (or let cool completely and omit confectioners sugar topping if frosting).

Vegan MoFo: Nacho Salad

All the nacho taste, none of the bad-for-you stuff!

Mmmmm,nachos.

You love 'em, right? Everyone loves nachos. But conventional nachos don't love you back. With all that salt and fat, they're hypertension on a plate. So try this scrumptious salad for a tasty nacho flavor and crunch without the fat.

Nacho Salad

Ingredients
2-3 cups shredded romaine
1 cup shredded kale and/or spinach (I use half each)
1/3 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup Spanish rice (great use for leftovers!)
1/3 cup refried beans
1/4 cup taco sauce
1/4 cup crispy tortilla strips

Directions
Toss in a bowl, mix, and enjoy!

Vegan MoFo: Green Breakfast Smoothie of Champions!

Nutrition in a glass!

Awhile back, I reviewed a book on green smoothies for This Dish is Veg. I didn't realize it at the time, but I learned quite a lot from it. Chief among those things was the simple reason why blended fruit and vegetable drinks are better for you than juicing - you're not losing anything. It's whole nutrition in a cup.

The other thing I learned was the perfect ratio for taste in a green smoothie: 40% vegetables, 60% fruit. But sometimes it's hard to translate that into real terms, since we're comparing leaves to chunks, so to speak. So I find a recipe can be helpful.

This is my recipe for the ideal beginner's green smoothie. I know folks like to get fancy with it, adding everything from dandelion greens to cayenne pepper but that stuff is intimidating if all you want is a green drink that's palatable and maybe your kids would stomach.

So here is my non-vegan-kid (and husband) tested recipe for a delicious smoothie. It tastes of strawberry and banana, and that's pretty much it. It's a great place to start, or a great base to build from if you want to get adventurous.

Strawberry-Banana Green Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 large kale leaf, stemmed and torn (or two smaller ones - should equal about 2 loose cups in blender)
1/2 cup coconut water, chilled
1 small ripe banana (or half a large one)
4-5 frozen strawberries

Directions:
In a blender, add torn kale leaves and coconut water. Liquefy (about 10 seconds). Add banana and frozen strawberries and blend. Serve!

Notes:
How sweet this is will depend on the ripeness of the fruit. If it's not sweet enough for you, add 1 tsp agave.

The lesson here? Vegan food is never as hard as we make it.

For the celebration of my 20th anniversary working for the MSF, I had requested that all the food be cruelty-free. It was important to me, and even though it was going to be an added stress for the staff who were doing the planning, I figured I could be excused considering the occasion. I gave them the information for some vegan caterers and bakeries.

Yesterday at the party, after what I'm sure was extensive planning, we had a fabulous vegan meal. The menu was:

Spring green salad

Penne aglio e olio with broccoli
Grilled vegetable wraps
Cheese-free pizza with grilled vegetables
Garlic rolls
Fruit salad
A sorbet station with sprinkles and marshmallows
Thin mint cookies
Chocolate cake

It was marvelous... and it wasn't from a vegan restaurant at all. It was just from the gang's favorite Italian joint across the street and from Whole Foods and Publix.

The ladies had gone through all the options, trying to work within the budget (which, since we're a charity, is rightly minimal - we're super conscientious about what we spend) and were just having the hardest time, from what I heard. But that's because I had unnecessarily made it harder on them by steering them towards vegan restaurants.

The fact is that most restaurants today can and will accommodate vegans. Vegan food does not have to be outside the mainstream. It doesn't have to be difficult. And it doesn't have to be more expensive, either, despite the fact that many of us are used to paying more at all-vegan restaurants. Sometimes it's just as simple as the chef agreeing to leave off the cheese.

I'm really grateful that my colleagues figured that out, and I'm so grateful that they cared enough to make this happen for me. To me, watching that cheese-free pizza disappear and hearing people say about the cake, "But... it just tastes like cake!" was one of the best things that happened all day. Because the lesson they taught me with their solution to the catering problem is the same lesson I was trying to teach everyone there: eating vegan is never as hard as we make it out to be!

Vegan on the Road: Seattle, Washington

Everyone knows that Seattle is vegan-friendly, right? But the thing I discovered on this trip that I loved is that you don't have to go out of your way to find vegan food.

I happened to have been traveling with three non-vegan coworkers, and I was determined not to be a pain in their backsides. (Meanwhile, they were so lovely and determined to accommodate me. We were all four bending over backwards.) So rather than try to sort out where to eat on our arrival at lunch time, we opted for the food court at the Westlake Center mall. I figured a vegan can always find one decent option in a food court, huh? Well, honestly, I had half a dozen! Indian, Thai, Chinese, Greek, Mexican, Japanese... they all had something. But here was the greatest thing. When I walked up to the Greek joint, Mediterranean Avenue, and said that I'd like a Greek salad with falafel minus the feta, the counter person immediately asked if I was vegan and advised me on all my options. "The dressing has dairy. I'd recommend olive oil and lemon juice. Also, the pita bread has dairy, would you like some tabbouleh instead? The tahini sauce for the falafel is vegan." It was delightful not to have to ask all those questions!

One of the many gorgeous fruit stalls
at Pike Place Market.

When deciding on dinner that night, the ladies broke out their smartphones, determined to find someplace with good vegan options. We settled on Wild Ginger, a Pan-Asian restaurant specializing in satay, with a fairly extensive vegan breakout menu. I don't eat soy, so there were fewer options for me, but clearly there were enough to make a meal. In the end, I opted to keep it simple and ordered asparagus satay (four stalks of grilled local asparagus with orange teriyaki sauce and fresh pickles) and the market vegetable, which happened to be spinach served with brown rice. You know how sometimes you eat something simple and it just seems like a revelation? I left wondering how exactly you get spinach to taste that good... and I LOVE spinach. I eat it all the time! But there's just something about how perfectly they prepare these simple dishes that makes them transcend what you're used to. And the pickles! Oh my word, the pickles!

One note about Wild Ginger - if you go, call ahead. We were lucky to get seats at the counter. They were fully booked with reservations.

My final meal in Seattle was the next day's breakfast. We went to Pike Place Market, and I figured I'd grab some fruit. (Which I did. The most luscious peaches, oh my!) But as we were walking among the flower stalls, I heard a girl walking past say "vegan bakery" and got the impression she was speaking about someplace in the market. From that moment on, I was on a mission! Did I find it? Oh yes, I did!

Cinnamon Works,
across the street from the market proper.

Cinnamon Works is not an all-vegan bakery, but they did have a nice selection of vegan, gluten-free, and vegan/gluten-free options. I got an enormous marionberry scone that served as breakfast for not one, but two days for a mere $3.25. My coworker Gay bought a loaf of vegan banana bread for $4.00 that was to-die-for. While I enjoyed the other places we ate in Seattle, this is my Must Visit recommendation. (And you know you're going to the Market anyway. All roads lead.)

One day, I hope the rest of the country will be as vegan-friendly as Seattle!

Vegan Aboard: Eating Cruelty-free on Celebrity Cruise Lines

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the dearth of delicious food photos with this post. I was traveling for work and I just didn't think it was seemly to whip out my camera at meals. It's extra sad because the presentation of the food I'll be talking about was lovely! Now, on to the topic at hand.

A special buffet lunch in the Epernay dining room.

When I first was asked to spend a week aboard the Celebrity Solstice on a cruise to Alaska, of course I was delighted! But I was also worried about how difficult it might be to maintain a healthy vegan diet on-board. Cruise lines are famous for their extravagant but animal-laden menus. I immediately reached out to our company's travel agent, Gabriela from Aragon Travel, who knew exactly what I needed to do. She told me that she had noted it on my reservation, but advised me to make sure and attend the first seated dinner and speak to my waiter to make sure the kitchen was aware and would accommodate my requests. I felt confident after that conversation that dinner would be taken care of, but breakfast and lunch I wasn't so sure about.

My mind was set at ease the minute we arrived on the ship. We boarded the Solstice early, before the staterooms were ready, so the staff encouraged us to enjoy the buffet in the Oceanview Cafe. Immediately, I saw that I'd have no problem. The buffet included a stir-fry station and a pasta station where you could select your own ingredients for a cooked-to-order dish, a salad bar, an antipasto bar with a selection of marinated vegetables, a taco bar, as well as a variety of other rotating dishes. (The frequent appearance of Indian food was also helpful, and the samosas were delicious!)

They also had an ice cream bar, and I decided that it was a long-shot, but I would check to see if they had any dairy-free treats. I saw that they had sorbet and asked whether it was definitely dairy-free. The attendant immediately left the station to go find a supervisor and make certain. And it was! They then impressed me further with their excellent training about food sensitivities. When I mentioned that some of the mango sorbet had fallen into the raspberry and that I am allergic to mango, the attendant scooped off and disposed of any bits that may have been contaminated, then went and washed the scoop before serving me.

That evening at dinner, I spoke to my waiter as Gabriela recommended. He promptly went to speak to the chef. When he returned, he said that the chef would make a special dish just for me that evening, and that for each subsequent meal, I would be given the menu a day in advance to select a dish I would like them to veganize. That first night, he brought me an elegantly-plated and completely scrumptious ratatouille. From there on out, I got to choose.

Helpfully, their menus already indicated which dishes were vegetarian, lactose-free (which usually meant dairy-free), and gluten-free (which, while not an issue for me, helps when one is avoiding eggs as breadcrumbs can be hidden egg carriers). Of the five courses available each night (appetizer, salad, soup, entree, dessert), there were usually two - sometimes three - that were easily veganizable plus a sorbet for dessert. From the naturally vegan watermelon gazpacho or kale and pear salad, to the modified wild mushroom risotto or vegetable korma, the food was fresh and lovely every night.

If I had any questions about how carefully they were considering my requests, they were quickly done away with. On the second evening, I had requested a rigatoni dish sans cheese. When my plate arrived, the waiter explained that they had double-checked and found the rigatoni contained egg, so they had substituted rice-based pasta that was vegan. And one evening when I was visiting colleagues at another table, the waiter from my table tracked me down to take my order for the next day!

For breakfast, there were many choices that were probably vegan, but at that hour of the morning I could never be bothered to ask. I made a fine meal out of what I was sure of. There was plenty of fresh fruit, as well as home-fried potatoes with peppers and onions, grilled mushrooms, a variety of nuts and seeds (set out for the oatmeal, though I never asked if it was made with water or milk - I just grabbed the berries, nuts, and seeds). Also? Some really delicious hashbrowns.

The pinnacle of vegan-friendliness, however, was room service. Typically, room service in hotels is very rigid about what they will serve and won't make substitutions or alterations. But on the last night of the cruise when I was completely knackered from a day of working and packing, I decided to give room service on the ship a try. I could have ordered salad and crudites, but I really wanted a cheese-free pizza. When I asked if they would make one for me, it seemed like they were surprised I even had to ask! Within 20 minutes, a gorgeous veggie-packed cheese-free personal pizza was piping hot at my stateroom door.

I was tremendously impressed with how helpful, accommodating, and well-trained the kitchen staff and wait staff on the Solstice were, and can only imagine that they are a reflection of Celebrity's policies as a whole. I will have no hesitation about my ability to enjoy traveling with them in the future. They made my cruise a terrific experience!

"Self-Radicalization" and the Vegan View on Violence

Since the Boston Marathon bombings, the term "self-radicalization" has entered the common lexicon. It refers to someone who became radical without face-to-face interaction with those holding extremist views, basically someone who developed radical beliefs through viewing extremist material on the Internet. Frankly, the phrase is kind of silly. 

First of all, viewing extremist material on the internet is still being influenced by others. There is no Big Byte Bang happening where this content explodes into digital existence from nothingness; someone developed and posted it. So for starters, we can take the 'self' out of 'self-radicalization.' 

Second, 'radicalization' is something of a misnomer. One can hold radical beliefs without being a violent extremist. What does being 'radical' mean, after all? It simply means believing that drastic change is necessary in some element of society, be it political, social, financial, or environmental. The Founding Fathers of the United States were radicals in their rejection of the British monarchy, for example. Furthermore, to some degree being radical depends on your circumstances. While a person with communist views was considered radical in America in 1950, a person with democratic views would've been considered a radical in Russia. So clearly, (1) it's something of a subjective term and (2) there is nothing inherently wrong with being radical. 

Ethical vegans are, by definition, radicals. We believe that a drastic change must take place in our society for the sake of animals, the environment, and human health. Most of us are, by the silly definition, 'self-radicalized,' having adopted this belief through reading books and viewing material on the internet, rather than indoctrination. Again, nothing inherently wrong.

So where does the real problem lie? Not in radical thinking, but in violent thinking. Not in believing drastic change is necessary, but in believing that violence is justified to create that change. When an individual begins to believe committing violent acts is justified, they cross the line from radical to extremist; when they actually commit those acts, they cross the line from extremist to terrorist.

Unfortunately, there are certainly dark corners of the vegan world where this extremism exists. I was tremendously disappointed to learn that the oft-quoted, oft-promoted Gary Yourofsky (he of the "Best Speech You Will Ever Hear" viral video) actually publicly endorses violence, up to and including murder of vivisectionists. (I will not link to his essay here because I oppose violence, but a simple Google search will turn it up.) 

While I object to the term 'self-radicalization' to describe the process that led two young men to kill and maim in Boston, there clearly was a process that led them to become extremists, and then terrorists. It was a process that involved (1) finding people to blame, (2) finding validation of that blame and anger from a community of others - in this case, an online community, (3) feeding that negativity until it boiled over into hatred and violence.

And I suppose that's my point for my vegan friends: what are we feeding in ourselves? Hatred or compassion? 

A reporter who decided to investigate extremist groups online described the violent imagery they share as a sort of  pornography. 'Hate porn', if you will. In Muslim extremist groups, he found hate porn of children killed by Western military action. Had he examined vegan extremist groups, he would've found graphic images of slaughtered and abused animals. 

I'm not suggesting there isn't a place for these images. Yes, it's important to help others understand the inherent violence of a non-vegan diet. Yes, it's important for us to know what's really going on in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations, or factory farms). Yes, it's important to document and educate about animal abuse. But the constant viewing of these types of images is a red flag that you may be headed towards extremism. Logically, if you are a vegan who understands the truths these images represent, how often do you need to see them? How does it benefit you to see them again and again? You have to ask yourself, at what point does this only serve to feed my anger?

If you follow the so-called self-radicalization process and (1) find people to blame - in this case, non-vegans, (2) find validation of that blame and anger from a community of others who are equally angry and (3) continue to feed it with hate porn, the natural outcome is a justification of violence. The natural outcome is extremism at best and terrorism at worst.

So I think we have to beware. Beware of blaming, beware of hatred, beware of justifications of violence. Beware of feeding the negative. If you find yourself anywhere along that dangerous path that's being mistakenly called 'self-radicalization' - the path that goes from blame, to hatred, to justification of violence, to violent acts - just turn back. Feed compassion, understanding, and empathy instead.

The heart of veganism, the very essence of it, is a belief in the right of all creatures to live, free from unnecessary suffering. Violence toward any living creature is inconsistent with vegan tenets. That's a simple truth. Remember that veganism is, in it's refusal to kill or harm animals, radical nonviolence. That's a kind of self-radicalization that no one can condemn.