In the time that has passed since the last update here we’ve been cooking alot. I owe a recipe for cornbread to Lesley. That will have its own post and I have been promising it to her for some time. The garden is yielding goodies, zucchini and okra so far with potatoes and cucumbers coming along. I have been frying what little okra we have had to this point. Boiled okra never did it for me, kind of like slurping and chewing snot. If you do grow okra then you probably know not to let the pods get very large, no larger that 3-4 inches and not too big. When they get too long they get tough and almost inedible. I use a mixture of vegan mayonnaise and soymilk to dip the pieces then dredge them in a corn meal/flour/spice mixture and fry them in a iron skillet until the coating is lightly crisp. I have done the same with zucchini but also sauteed it with olive oil and some fresh basil and oregano from our herb garden and served over spaghetti.
I’m not the greatest baker of sweets. I leave that to Elizabeth and she’s great at it. She recently got “My Sweet Vegan” and has baked a few things from it. The book includes nice pictures of each item but of what has been baked it is easy to see some recipes were not tested very well. Even reading some of the recipes makes you think a bit about what the author was thinking when she included the ingredients she did. Overall it is an OK book but by far not in the same class as “Veganomicon” or “Joy Of Vegan Baking”.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with Soy Whipped Cream
Cocoa Crumble
Cocoa Crumble
We went to Atlanta last week for a short two-day trip. Nothing really notable about the trip, the usual eats (Veggieland, Sweet Tomatoes and Eats.) as well as lunch one day from the food bar at Whole Foods. The Whole Foods on Ponce in Atlanta has so much more in the vegan category on its bar compared to both Whole Foods (Wild Oats) in Nashville. There was Barbecued tofu, Teriyaki Tofu, Tofu Cacciatore, Jerk Tempeh, Eggplant and Tempeh Casserole and Coconut Curry Tofu to choose from as well as the veggies. All I ever see on the food bars in the local Whole Foods is Chik’n Fried Tofu, which I can easily make at home cheaper and better, and the occasional sauteed kale or spinach. I am slowly losing my love for the local Whole Foods, especially the Green Hills location. Whomever planned that store and laid out the design for the inside seriously needs some help. The aisles are too close together to fit two carts side by side when passing mid-aisle and the aisles even meet an end-cap in the section near the coldcase, you would think hey would make them free-flowing from aisle to aisle. I still get rude looks from the cashiers when I bring my Trader Joe’s bags in, do they feel threatened by a bag?
