Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is notorious for putting vegans into uncomfortable positions. The American sociocultural identity is more or less defined by the turkey on the table, as well as side dishes laden with other animal-derived foods; so, vegans invited to a traditional dinner party usually face:

1) Very few (if any) dishes they can enjoy.

2) Odd stares and awkward questions when other guests notice their empty plates.

3) Sometimes, defensive debates can stir, too, when the topic of veganism is brought up.

4) Or, they’re forced to bring food of their own, which can, again, lead to points 2 and 3 above.

During my childhood, Thanksgiving was very much traditional. My meat-and-potatoes Iowan grandmother cooked a HUGE feast, which included turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, baked sweet potatoes with marshmallows, creamed corn, cranberry sauce, garlic bread, and usually two pies. And this was completely fine . . . until my diet changed. I was suddenly excluded from this special family get-together, and I’ll admit, I’m still a little frustrated and quite hurt that no one was even willing to provide foods I, too, could eat—no one asked me my opinion or researched alternatives for butter, eggs, and the like. I was left to fend for myself, and eventually, I stopped going to the dinners altogether because I felt so alienated, so judged, so misunderstood, even though I had never (and still haven’t) forced the veganism card into any of my family members’ faces.

And that is the end of my little rant. Ahem.

So, this year, I’m actually celebrating Thanksgiving alone. A couple issues made it difficult to return home, so I opted to stick around at university and be a hermit for 5 days–true quality time with myself, you know. I questioned whether or not I wanted to cook much, but I finally did decide to recreate a traditional dinner (well, actually, lunch) for myself, plant-based style. Because anyone in the know is well aware than all the usual holiday dishes can easily be veganized. And of course, I cooked in bulk, because few things are tastier than leftovers the next day for several days after.

A seitan roast with rye-caraway stuffing. The roast was truly the highlight of the entire meal. Wow!

Mashed rutabagas with mushroom-miso gravy. Wasn't so much a fan of the former, but the latter was AMAZING!

Smoked Maple-Mustard Kale & Green Beans with Caramelized Onions & Walnuts

Cranberry Relish, based on a old recipe from my mother.

Delicious, nutritious, and nourishes body, mind, and soul! <3

Recipes to come tomorrow, I promise! Now, I must attend my kitchen, which looks like a hurricane whirled through. Though, I will say, I pulled this whole meal together in less than 2 hours!

“Do all the good you can

By all the means you can

In all the ways you can

In all the places you can

To all the people you can

As long as ever you can.” ~ John Wesley

What I Ate Wednesday (12)

If only Thanksgiving were today! What an exciting day of eats all of us would enjoy and, in turn, blog about! But Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesdays are always such fun, holiday or no!

Breakfast

This, my friends, is the definition of a gourmet parfait. Every bite is, in my tastebuds’ opinion, pure heaven.

Autumn Parfait with Coconut Yoghurt & Chai-Spiced Carrots

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 carrot, shredded (about ½ cup)

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of cardamom

Pinch of ginger

Pinch of coriander

Pinch of cloves

Couple cracks of pepper*

¼ cup granola of choice (I used my Groovy Ancient Grain Granola)

½ cup puffed whole grain cereal (I used puffed kamut from Arrowhead Mills)

Chia seeds or ground flaxseed

½ cup coconut-flavoured non-dairy yoghurt (or add some coconut extract to vanilla yoghurt)

½ pear, chopped

Raisins or dried cranberries

Pecans or walnuts

Flaked coconut

*If you have a store-bought chai blend, use about ½ tsp.

Directions

1. In a small bowl, toss together shredded carrot with spices.

2. Then, to assemble, layer half the granola, half the cereal, half the chia or flax seeds, half the carrot mixture, half the yoghurt, half of the chopped pear and other goodies, then repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Morning Snack

An apple, followed by I treat I convinced myself I deserved—a kombucha to celebrate the holiday, you could say! Cheers!

Lunch

Lunch was a special date with two girlfriends at the local Indian restaurant, which I’ve visited several times before. I order the today’s special, my favourite Indian dish: Baingan Bharta.

Accompanied by some unpictured roti (a whole wheat version of naan). I never eat the rice--I wish they served brown basmati.

After I finally learned how to properly re-create Indian cuisine, I immediately put Baingan Bharta near the top of the list of dishes to make—and I have, in fact, done just that and succeeded! But the recipe will have to wait for now . . .

Afternoon Snack

I had a horrible case of the afternoon sleepies after I drove home, so I sought an energy boost from none other than a hunk of gooey, golden, roasted-until-the-edges-char squash (today’s variety = buttercup)! Seriously, people, I’ve embraced my passion for this amazing quasi-fruit/quasi-veggie thingie, despite friends’ weird looks, teasing jokes, and worries that I’ll turn orange. If squash were a person, it would be my soulmate. It energizes me, makes me happy, helps me stay nourished and healthy—what more could I ask for from a food?

Dinner

Simple, but gooooooooood.

Broccoli, kale, and tempeh stir-fried in some garlic, lemon juice, and Bragg's Liquid Aminos, accompanied by bulghur with walnuts and pomegranate arils.

And tomorrow is the big day! I’ll be preparing a feast tomorrow morning, and naturally, I’ll post photos of delicious food porn. In the meantime, here’s another blessing:

“May suffering ones be suffering free

And the fear struck fearless be.

May the grieving shed all grief—

And the sick find health relief.”

~Zen chant

In Search of Balance

Well, I’m feeling stagnant. Again. Yet, I also wonder if, after my last detox, I ever truly found the “balance” I’ve been searching for for, well, nearly four years now (if not longer).

Perhaps I’m just destined to be a pessimistic, depressed, emotional-roller-coaster of a girl.

Or perhaps not. I believe that, beneath this outer shell of negativity, there thrives the girl I want to be, know I’m capable of being, and at times, I feel so close to finally metamorphosing into that beautiful being . . . but something always holds me back, whether its resentment about past injustices, not being mindful in the present, or harbouring fears about my hazy future.

Back in March, I discovered macrobiotics, and for a few weeks, I felt more balanced, more Zen, than I ever had. And it was incredible! I vividly remember how calm I was, how attuned I was to my body, my stomach, my physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. But then, I voyaged to France, and the experience broke me down, weakened me, nearly destroyed me in some ways. I returned home a Pandora’s Box of emotions, which I’m still sorting out. But of course, Fate wouldn’t let me peacefully recuperate this summer. I never blogged about it before, but my father passed away at the end of June (a mere four days before I flew home) and my mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer reoccurrence the day after I got back.

My reaction: FML.

So, yeah, 2011 hasn’t been great. It’s easily been the worst year of my life, and dealing with all the tragedy alongside battling old demons, juggling academic and extracurricular commitments, and managing stress (quite unsuccessfully, might I add) has been a cumbersome challenge.

As we approach the end of the year, I am relieved, yet worried. Will 2012 be another atrocity? I hope not. I feel like the Universe has slapped me around the last six months, which makes me wonder what I did (if anything) to deserve such bad karma. I loathe feeling so helpless, feeling like I have absolutely no control over my life or my happiness.

I’ve starved myself. I’ve binged in search of comfort and to qualm anxiety. I’ve, in turn, detoxed multiple times.

And nothing has worked.

But now, I’m considering reviving a macrobiotic regime (without the fish, of course, so I should say macro-vegan), because I remember how liberated and enlightened I felt for that one month.

There are some cons, though, and I’m in search of opinions from you, dear readers:

1) Macrobiotics limits fruit intake to 2-3 times a week. One woman I know did mention I could consume 1 piece per day at the very most, but this is a girl who eats 3-4 servings everyday! So, I’m in a bit of a bind there.

2) Eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes are all excluded because they are nightshade vegetables, which supposedly can exacerbate certain health problems due to the alkaloid content. Unfortunately, eggplant is probably my favourite vegetable, and I cook with tomatoes . . . a lot . . .

3) Eating greens with breakfast isn’t the most appealing thought, at the moment.

4) And then, there’s the whole “chew every bite 50 to 100 times” technique, and boy, is that a toughie! Either I lose count, forget, or rush through a meal because I’m pressed for time and/or my dining partner has already finished and is eyeing my only half-empty plate as if I’m a crazy snail.

5) Some staple ingredients are either hard to find or relatively (if not ridiculously) expensive, i.e., umeboshi plums.

So, I’m thoroughly examining my options. One friend recommended I tailor the diet as needed, not worrying about indulging in more fruit or the occasional eggplant, and I certainly liked that idea; but unsurprisingly, I’m a major perfectionist, an all-or-nothing sort of girl. Therefore, your comments would be very much appreciated as I reconsider my lifestyle. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a couple of my favourite macrobiotic meals and another blessing from A Grateful Heart.

Lentils; brown rice with scallions & sesame seeds; sauerkraut; steamed carrots, greens, broccoli, and mushrooms; and braised daikon radish.

Sautéed bok choy; roasted broccoli, beets, and carrots with walnuts; millet; and Chinese five-spice tofu with cilantro & sesame seeds.

Sautéed beet greens; braised daikon radish; lentils with buttercup squash, green beans, walnuts, and pomegranate seeds; and brown rice.

“So When Life Fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.” ~Native American prayer

Too Much squash?

Is there such a thing? Probably, though I will still argue that there is, in fact, no such thing as too much squash.

Why am I contemplating this?

Because I’ve eaten roughly 4 pounds of squash in the last 3 days.

That’s right, you read correctly.

4 pounds.

All by myself.

My mum says I’m risking turning yellow, thanks to all that beta-carotene, but the delights of roasted hubbard and kabocha squash were just too tempting to ignore. Thank god there aren’t any carnival squashes around, or else that’s probably all I’d be eating.

By the by, a delicious wrap combination includes hummus, pesto, spinach, apple, and roasted winter squash of choice.

Speaking of eating, are you getting excited for Thanksgiving? I certainly am! I’m already planning out all the dishes I want to make—I’m still pondering whether I’ll veganize traditional dishes or if I’ll create an unconventional theme and allow my creativity to soar from there. I have a couple more weeks to decide. If you have any ideas or requests (something you’d like to see veganized/healthified/whatever), feel free to let me know! I’m always open to brainstorming!

Tonight, our campus vegetarian club met for our monthly potluck, our own Thanksgiving feast, per se, powered by plants instead of poultry. It was a smaller gathering than usual, but as always, the company and cuisine were delicious! Here are some photos of our eats.

An appetizer platter with raw carrots, green peppers, and Ants on a Log (peanut butter, celery, raisins)

It may not look like much (my fault for poor photo quality), but this hearty vegetable stew was delicious! It contained carrots, peas, parsnips, brussel sprouts, and 2 types of mushrooms.

Homemade dinner rolls for dipping into the stew.

Someone also brought some beans and rice, but he arrived 30 minutes late, and I “forgot” to snap a photo because, well, I was in the middle of enjoying dessert, which I provided . . . pumpkin pie, of course!

Perfection. <3

I was so pleased everyone LOVED the pie. One guy even commented that it was as good as any non-vegan pumpkin pie! The ultimate compliment for a vegan cook/baker! Unfortunately, I can’t take really any credit for the recipe, which can be found here.

And tomorrow, one last piece of this delectable pie awaits me . . . can’t wait!

“Today, today, today. Bless us . . . and help us to grow.”

~From the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Surprisingly, I’ve never mentioned here that I’m the founder and current president of a vegetarian club at my university. A couple years ago, one of my friends (and a fellow vegetarian) suggested I start an organization so fellow veg-heads could meet each other, eat together, and promote plant-based power on campus. And I did just that, and I must say we have quite a lot of fun!

Once a month, we host a potluck, and these are truly the highlights of our extracurricular calendar! Last night was our first potluck of the autumn semester—and I’m here to highlight some of the dishes we enjoyed.

Raw Cucumber-Avocado-Cilantro Soup & (Cooked) Butternut Squash-Leek Soup

Marinated Greek salad with feta on the side for anyone who wanted it

Roasted Butternut Squash-Chickpea Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Perfectly roasted root vegetables

A spicy twist on traditional ratatouille, thanks to serrano peppers

Brown rice maki with tofu, carrot, and green beans

Finally, I provided dessert—a raw apple pie! I’m becoming quite the raw dessert enthusiast! After scouring raw pie recipes all over the blog world, I bravely concocted a recipe of my own, and may I say that it’s . . . RAW-mazing!

Raw Apple Pie

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 cup pecans

1 cup walnuts

2 cups dried dates

For the filling:

3 red apples (such as red delicious, gala, or braeburn), cored and coarsely sliced

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbs. maple syrup or 2 dropper-fulls liquid stevia*

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup raisins

2 Tbs. ground flaxseed

Thin apple slices, for garnish

*I find that NuNaturals Vanilla Liquid Stevia is a wonderful sugar-free sweetener without that weird aftertaste common to some other brands. If you don’t have stevia on hand, feel free to use whatever sweetener you desire, such as maple syrup as suggested.

Directions

1. Soak pecans, walnuts, and dates for at least 3 hours. Drain, then blend all three in a food processor until a slightly chunky consistency is reached. Transfer to a pie dish, and press down firmly to form the crust. Chill in refrigerator.
2. Meanwhile, combine sliced apples, cinnamon and nutmeg, sweetener, and extract in the food processor, and process until apples are very finely shredded, but not quite to an applesauce consistency. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in raisins and flaxseed, allowing it to sit for about 15-20 minutes before pouring filling into the crust, gently pressing everything down to compact it. Chill overnight, garnishing with apple slices right before serving.

Perfect autumnal flavours. <3

What I Ate Wednesday–First Edition!

I’ve decided to jump on the WIAW bandwagon at last—it’s an easy way to keep posting regularly despite my busy schedule and connect with other foodie bloggers, thanks to Jenn at Peas & Crayons. So, here we go!

Breakfast

Ahhhh, my favourite meal of the day! I’m always rather devastated when I arrive at the bottom of my bowl of oats and breakfast is over for another day. Am I weird? Just a wee bit, most definitely.

As you may have noticed, I tend to cram my breakfasts with nutrition and variety. I try to concoct something that will “stick to the ribs,” as the old saying goes, and few things do that better than oatmeal.

Overnight oats topped with 1/2 peach, 1 dried fig, goji berries, roasted peanuts & cashews, and chia seeds. Fabulous, and stuck with me for 5 whole hours!

Lunch

My schedule allows me to come home for lunch everyday, and I like something fresh and veggie-tastic—hence, usually salads with a grain or crackers on the side, followed by fruit and a little sweet treat.

Spinach salad topped with celery, cucumber, chickpeas, craisins, sunflower seeds, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, accompanied by couscous, a serving of dried dates, and some super dark chocolate.

Today’s chocolate was a brand I’ve never had before, The Tea Room, and the flavour was Yerba Maté & Cacao Nibs, two superfoods! It was quite enjoyable indeed.

[Source]

Afternoon Snack

This honestly depends on my mood and whether or not I’m in class, but I try to stick with a combination of protein, complex carbohydrate, and healthy fat. Today, I was really craving a Trio Bar from Mrs. May’s Naturals, specifically the Blueberry variety.

[Source]

Dinner

Dinners usually consist of beans, grains or pasta, and cooked vegetables, whether in stews, curries, casseroles, or just all jumbled up together. Sandwiches sometimes make an appearance, too.

Tonight's meal featured a pocket pita stuffed with chickpea, apple, beet salad--recipe to come soon! I topped the pitas with alfalfa sprouts I grew here at home (HUGE money saver), and I had some extra beets and apple slices on the side.

Night-Night Snack <–That’s what I called it when I was little! And obviously I still do!

In order to prevent waking up too early with a HANGRY tummy, I like to eat something right before I go to bed—something soothing and sleep-inducing, so no garlicky hummus for this hummus fiend. Tonight, I’m craving granola, but we’ve none on hand at the moment, so I’m thinking some peanut butter and celery will have to do. Or perhaps some more of those horribly addictive dried figs. We shall see!

Eating Out with Ease

One of the best parts of traveling is sampling new restaurants. Sometimes, though, as a vegan, it can be difficult to find restaurants that are conscious of and/or will cater to your plant-based preferences. I’m a meat-and-potatoes-Midwest native; I literally cannot eat at ANY of the restaurants in my tiny hometown, and the nearest strictly vegetarian restaurant (though it does offer a couple of dishes with free-range/organic chicken and salmon) is an hour away (and well worth the drive, might I add. Check it out for yourself!). Nevertheless, thanks to the ever-blossoming vegan movement and subsequently heightened awareness about diverse dietary needs, maneuvering menus is progressively becoming less of a hassle.

Add a cultural and a language barrier to that, though, and the idea of eating out can seem rather daunting. In France, vegetarianism, let alone veganism, has definitely not spread as broadly as it has in the States; yet, this is not to say that you won’t be able to enjoy the dining experience! If you still eat eggs and dairy, you’ll have no problem eating pretty much anywhere, but even vegans can find delicious fare. After conducting some online research, I was able to locate a couple restaurants advertised as very vegetarian-friendly here in Pau, France, where I’ve been studying since the beginning of April. Of course, the foodie that I am, I just had to photograph what I ordered, so for today’s post, I thought I’d share some serious French food porn:

My first culinary excursion was to Pau's exclusively vegetarian & 100% organic restaurant Les Amants du Marché.

Here's a detailed shot of the sign. Too cool! I knew I was in for a treat.

This was my first course, and oh, my, was it delicious! A bed of pureed avocado topped with apple, pineapple, cabbage coleslaw and a toasted sesame pappadum. Wow! There was also a little blue flower on top, but I took a bite and ate it before I remembered to take a picture. I will definitely be duplicating this dish once I return home.

My main course consisted of a North African sweet-and-savoury date tagine accompanied my poppyseed basmati rice and a simple, but tasty greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette and toasted sunflower seeds. I had planned on getting dessert, a macadamia-nut-cookie-dough milkshade (whoa!), but my tummy was quite content after finishing this plate.

The second restaurant I visited was Pau's second acclaimed vegetarian & organic restaurant, Asphodèle, though it also served a couple meat dishes as well. For my main course, I enjoyed a fresh salad with little blue flowers, stir-fried mixed veggies, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds, sauteed mushrooms, and gingery quinoa. Simple, but delicious!

After craving something dessert-like for several days beforehand, I asked the waiter (who was also the chef) at Asphodèle if any of the desserts were vegan. He said no, but he said he would be happy to make me something special! I was delighted, and the result was delicious--a rhubarb and prickly pear compote topped with creamy vegan vanilla mousse, accompanied by fresh strawberries.

My third dining experience was at a cute little café called La Fourchette à Soupe, which translates as "The Soup Fork," funnily enough. It was by no means a vegetarian restaurant, but it was still veg-friendly. For my first course, I enjoyed steamed white asparagus with olive oil and fresh dill, accompanied by a fresh baguette, of course. It was tasty, but I prefer green asparagus, I think.

This main course was absolutely. delicious. Seriously, it was so simple, but it was probably the best meal I've had so far here in France--sesame-crusted tofu, two types of lentils, brown rice, sauteed zucchini and carrots, a braised mini-leek, and fresh beets, all sprinked with fresh parsley. Amazing! I was both physically and spiritually satiated.

A couple of weekends ago, I took a daytrip to San Sebastian, Spain, where I went to an EXCLUSIVELY VEGAN restaurant called Landare! I discovered it thanks to happycow.net, my go-to resource for eating out.

Unfortunately, the natural lighting in the restaurant was pretty poor, so the following photos are not the best. But anyway, my dining partner and I received free appetizers--pureed avocado "cream" with tortilla chips for dipping on the left, and classic tomato gazpacho on the right.

For my first course, I enjoyed this incredible Vietnamese spring roll stuffed with fresh veggies, seaweed, tofu, and rice noodles, and the toasted sesame seeds were to die for!

My main course was just okay, unfortunately, but still healthy and filling--seitan with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and peas, and it was served in the weirdest cracker bread thing, which I decided not to eat because a) it didn't have much flavour, and b) I didn't know whether or not I was supposed to eat it! XD

Of course, at an all-vegan restaurant, I just HAD to get dessert--fresh and wonderfully creamy raspberry mousse! My friend ordered Indian rice pudding, which was also delicious!

And that, my friends and dear readers, concludes my culinary adventures thus far! This weekend, I’ll be traveling to Bordeaux, where I can choose from one of two vegetarian restaurants, and of course, I’ll snap photos! Just wait until the end of June and the beginning of July, when I’ll be in Paris—according to HappyCow, there are 5 vegan restaurants and 21 vegetarian restaurants! If only I had the time and money to try them all . . .