Chocolate Bark

To be fair, these were my X-mas treats. I made them for my friends, but even though it's belated I thought they were worth posting, because they are so delicious and super duper easy to make! Also perrty. When I saw Ina Garten make Chocolate bark on food network TV by simply melting some chocolate chips and sprinkling stuff on top, I thought it can’t be that easy! Oh, but it is.

I did use a double boiler to make sure I didn’t burn or chunk up the chocolate (just took a Pyrex bowl and put it on top of a pot of boiling water). I used one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips with a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips and melted them down. Then I just spread the mixture out on a baking pan and sprinkled on my treats. I took a special trip to the Ferry Building farmer’s market for the best dried fruit and nuts I could find. I ended up with dried figs, dried white nectarines, candied ginger, almonds that I roasted myself and a little sea salt for toppings. I just chopped them up and pressed them into the melted chocolate. I threw that in the fridge, and a few hours later, voila! Impressive and delicious treat to give my friends.

For pairing, I would definitely go for a port! There are so many wonderful ones out there and many made here in California that pair beautifully with dark chocolate.

Oh, how I wish I could eat some of this with a nice glass of port right now, but alas, I have embarked on a 3 week detox (a la Great American Detox Diet only compressed into 3 weeks instead of 6) where I eat completely vegan (der, not difficult), no refined grains, no refined sugars, no alcohol and worst of all noooooo caffeine, my most beloved and dearest drug of all. This is day 4 and I’m feeling a bit sluggish, but powering through. I’ll be sure to post some detox-friendly foods in the coming days.

Back with Easy Peasy Black Bean Soup

After taking a long hiatus (also known as a job that took up all of my time and energy), Veganlush is back to share more yummy food and wine pairings! For a long time I have neglected creative pursuits, healthy eating and exercising, but now I’m back on the wagon and ready to write up my epicurean adventures.

I’m starting out slow with an easy peasy black bean soup. This starts as usual by sautéing a few cloves of garlic in olive oil. Then, add some diced chilies (we used Serrano) and half an onion. After that, just toss in a can of black beans and a can of diced tomatoes. Pour in about a cup of no-chicken chicken broth, depending on how liquidy you want it. Then, chop up and add some veggies for nutrition and of course to add some flava. We used mushrooms, chard and a red bell pepper. For spicing, I added cumin, chili powder, salt and a bay leaf for good measure. Let that all cook up until the veggies are tender, but not mushy, and viola, you have a filling and low-fat winter soup. Garnish with some lime to add extra kick.

To pair, beans can be tricky for sho. A medium-bodied red with some tannins like a Cali Merlot or a French Côte due Rhône should be able to stand up to all that proteiny goodness in the beans

Summer Tips & Tidbits

Here are some super easy, fresh and yumtastic meals I’ve been making this summer.

First off, here is my favorite favoritist breakfast of all time or yunno of the past few weeks: bagels and hummus with veggies! I like to get the Alvarado Street sprouted bagels, because they help me pretend this is a healthy meal. I slather them with my favorite hummus (spicy flavor is the best) add chopped veggies (tomato, cucumber, avocado) and salt and pepper. Then I stuff it all into my face (nom nom nom!). To pair, I would suggest a nice glass of orange juice or a soy latté, or if you’re having it for lunch, perhaps a cold beer would do the trick.

Next up is my recent go-to lazy day meal; Thai curry. You can buy vegan Thai curry paste at most stores. I use Thai Kitchen red curry paste. It says “vegan” right on the jar, so no need to worry about hidden ground up fishy bits! Yay! Take some tofu or seitan and whatever fresh veggies you have on hand. I had green beans, red bell peppers and mushrooms. Sauté them with oil, garlic, chili peppers and fresh ginger if you have it. Then simply mix the curry paste with coconut milk to your liking and pour it over your tofu and veggies. Allow all the flavors to combine while you boil up some rice or soba noodles. Dish up some of the noodles and pour your curry mixture on top and you have a delicious meal that didn’t hurt your brain to make! To pair, you might want a wine with a little bit of residual sugar, because the coconut milk is lightly sweet. I suggest a Viognier or a Riesling with just a touch of sugar.

As a bonus, here is some food porn of my vegan bake sale submission. These are the Vegan Joy of Baking oatmeal raisin cookies with lots of chocolate chips added. They sold out! Woohoo!

Also, from my recent trip to Orange County, here are two fantastic dishes from native foods. The Philly Peppersteak Sandwich and my personal favorite the Chicken Run Ranch Burger. God that stuff is good! (Please, please, please open a restaurant in SF!) I went there twice in one long weekend! We paired these with their delicious Native tea and their special summer Watermelon Agua Fresca. They told us this was super easy to make at home by combining watermelon, agave and some mint in a blender. This is the perfect summer drink!

Seitan is My Friend: Stuff I’ve Been Cookin’ up Lately

My bf recently had a birthday, and since I have no trabajo and am subsisting on unemployment, I decided to make him a fancy pantsy dinner instead of taking him out to a nice resto (Although I did consider going to the new Plant Café on the Embarcadero, would make a nice date spot, veggie kids!). I knew he liked seitan and asparagus, so that was my outline. As I contemplated the two ingredients, a recent conversation about the types of meat I once liked as an omni (Yes, I still remember.) popped into my head. One of my favorite things was Steak Oscar (steak with hollandaise sauce and asparagus), and I thought, why not try to reproduce that in an elegant veggie dinner?
I did this by using packaged White Wave seitan (this stuff is the bestest best pre-made seitan ever). For this, I sautéed some garlic and chili peppers in olive oil, added the seitan and seasoned with some herbs de provence, a little extra thyme and salt and pepper. I then sautéed the asparagus in EB until just barely tender and sprinkled it with salt and pepper and a splash of lemon. To round out the meal, I made lemony potatoes from Veganomicon (I seriously think it’s a requirement for boys to love potatoes). Lastly, I used the recipe for hollandaise from VeganYumYum with some extra EB and fresh parsley added, which was well, yummy, but not terribly hollandaisish. I plan to do some experimenting and come up with my own recipe at some point (I’m thinking possible avocado or coconut milk based). The end product was an elegant veg meal that the bf seemed to enjoy a lot.

We paired it with bubbly, of course. Champagne can be a great counter to rich foods, and it made a nice complement to all the citrus in the meal. It cuts through the fats and cleanses the palate, readying it for the next bite of food.

I thought I’d share some photos of variations of this meal I’ve made in the past. First off, this is a veggie tube sausage I grilled up with pre-packaged vegan white gravy with mushrooms added.

Here is a version with roasted broccolini, which is super easy. Just toss it with olive oil, chili peppers, garlic, salt and pepper and maybe some lemon and roast until tender at about 360 degrees. I also made some canned beans on the side that I gussied up with some extra spices and a splash of lemon. To add some starch, I made brown rice in veggie broth.

For pairing, seitan is a versatile food that, like tofu, takes on the flavors of the things you cook it with. Although it is often used in a similar manner to red meat, it doesn’t overwhelm white wines in the same way many red meats can, so go ahead pair it with a nice chilled white or bottle of sparkling. You might even go for a blanc de noirs with a bit of light fruit and mouth watering acid. These can make great summer deals, especially if you stick to $20 Cali versions.

SF Vegan Bake Sale

This weekend is the lovely SF vegan bake sale! I’m thinking I’ll make some yummy oatmeal raisin cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking (photos will, of course, be posted). Here’s the info:

The writers behind the popular SF blogs The Urban Housewife and Vegansaurus! are putting on two exquisite vegan bake sales as part of the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale.
Sales will benefit two wonderful Bay Area non-profits: Animal Place (a sanctuary for abused and discarded farmed animals) and East Bay Animal Animal Advocates!

SATURDAY, JUNE 27th, 2009
Time: 11 am to 4 pm
Address: 3506 16th Street at Sanchez, in front of Ike's Place.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28th, 2009
Time: 11 am to 4 pm
Address: 800 block of Capp St. (near 24th St., about 1/2 block from 24th st BART!)

There will be cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pie, whoopie pies and much more. There will also be Gluten Free options & treats for dogs. Additionally, a selection of cupcakes will be provided by local vegan bakery Sugar Beat Sweets! The treats are sure to be fabulous, so stop by if you can!

Peanuts are Magical! Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk Shake

I thought I'd share this little treat with ya'll, because I haven't been terribly productive lately due to my recent unemployment. I know you would think that would free up more time for blogging, but I have found quite the opposite! I'm a super busy gal, now that I'm looking for a job. Anyway, here is a fabulous concoction that proves a theory I posed last time I was in NYC: Peanuts are magical! My apologies for the less than stellar pic.

For this delicious shake, just place two scoops of vegan ice cream (vanilla or chocolate chip or cookie dough) into your blender. Then add about a tablespoon of the magic ingredient; peanut butter. Throw in some chocolate chips (about ¼ cup) and just enough chocolate soy milk to make everything mix well. Put your blender on high and blend until the chocolate chips are no longer chunky, and voila! You have a rich and decadent chocolate peanut butter milk shake.

Vegan Cocktail Party

Vegan entertaining is not so different from omni entertaining, but sometimes it seems like you need to put a little extra effort in to completely dispel any preconceived negative ideas about vegan food and drinks. Here are a few tips on throwing a successful vegan cocktail party with examples from a recent bubbly and finger foods fête I threw.

Pick one or two impressive but not incredibly complicated recipes that are sure to be crowd pleasers. For this, I chose Candle Café’s meaty grilled seitan chimichurri in citrus herb marinade and lovely little corn fritters from VWAV. These recipes had about two cups of oil in them, but that brings up another one of my party rules: Indulge a little. Make that extra fatty recipe that you love. You’ll be sharing it amongst all your guests, so you don’t have to worry about eating the entire thing yourself and waking up five pounds heavier.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I asked my guests to bring an app if they could, and we ended up with a delicious bounty of eclectic dishes. Sadly, I don’t have a photo, but a friend of mine and her chef boyfriend made a beautiful trio of bruschetta; one traditional tomato, one made with beets and a third with chickpeas and fresh herbs. They were to die for.

Pepper the rest of your menu with simple, easy dishes and artisanal store-bought goods. I also served mango spring rolls, which are super easy to make, except for the julienning (Thanks, Marc!). To round things out, I bought hummus and set out bowls with nuts and chips.

Include one decadent sweet. I love to blow my friends away with rich baked goods that they would never guess were vegan. Because my party was spring-themed I made cute lemon cookies from VWAV with lemon frosting and blue sprinkles.
Set up the bar beforehand. Have your white and sparkling wines chilled. Uncork a red or two. Use a decanter for a nicer red, and have it waiting for guests. If you’re planning to serve mixed drinks, make sure all your fresh juices are squeezed, any herbs are chopped and ready and other mixers are chilled. And, of course, have a bucket of ice ready.

I love throwing parties for all of my friends, especially when they only include vegan food. This isn’t because I want to convert all of my friends to veganism (wouldn’t that be nice!) It’s because I like to show people that vegans can serve up gourmet hor d’ouvres and drinks just as well as any omni can. So, follow these tips and show your friends that the vegan life can be the lush life.