Green monsters and ToB X

Classic green monsters

Yesterday was a snow day in DC, so I began March right with a recipe from the Oh She Glows website, the Classic Green Monster. This green smoothie was delicious--sweet and creamy. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, as suggested. Also a mix of spinach and kale for the greens and peanut butter for the nut butter. The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon is the VegCookbook Club's March selection. This brand spanking new cookbook launched today and is sure to be the buzz all over social media.

Speaking of bookish things, I enjoyed my Green Monster with the opening of The Tournament of Books X. It's March Madness for books and this year I've read 10 of the contenders. I was pulling for Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, which won its prelim match yesterday. However for the win, I'm madly in love with Long Division by Kiese Laymon. It's an underdog and could be this year's Skippy Dies for me. Aka, the beloved book that dies in its first round and doesn't even come back as a zombie. (Yes, there are zombie books. This tourney is too fun.) Here's the full list of contenders with links to my Goodreads reviews.

Finalists for the The Morning News' 2014 Tournament of Books:

At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Hill William by Scott McClanahan
The Son by Philipp Meyer
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel

Tourney time

Tea and cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking in February

Ginger Tea and Cookbooks

February has been a full month, as I moved to a new apartment in wintry weather conditions. Then promptly got sick with a nasty cold. When I finally unpacked my VegCookbook Club books, the cookbooks of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, all I could manage in my sickly state was tea. Luckily The Joy of Vegan Baking has two excellent and medicinal tea recipes that I brewed up repeatedly.

Pictured above is the Ginger Tea, which uses fresh ginger root. I made it hot and strong, sweetening with agave nectar, as suggested. I think this tea healed me. Below is the spicy Chai. This recipe let me dig out lots of spices, like I was cooking. (Man, I need more spice in my life!) This richly-flavored brew calls for cardamom, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla.

Chai

Eventually I did manage to bake, after much drooling over Patrick-Goudreau's lovely cookbooks. The cornbread recipe below is also from The Joy of Vegan Baking. (I never cracked my copy of The Vegan Table but will cook from it come spring.) To me this cornbread was perfect, not overly sweet or oily. I swapped white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose. And I left out the whole corn kernels but might try blueberries as an addition next time. The cornbread was served with hot soup but it would be great at any meal, any time of day. 

Meanwhile, the oven at my new apartment bakes like a champ! However the oven light doesn't work. (I wonder if I can replace it?) This kitchen is smaller than my last one, but I'm sure it'll produce lots of good vegan food. The March VegCookbook Club has been announced. It's The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon, from the popular and beautifully designed blog, Oh She Glows.

Cornbread

Cooking with Lindsay S. Nixon for January

This month's VegCookbook Club featured author is Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the "Happy Herbivore." I don't own any of her cookbooks but was able to borrow The Happy Herbivore Cookbook through my public library on Overdrive. I find the Overdrive app a little cumbersome for cookbooks. It's hard to navigate to a specific recipe; I usually start in the index but am plunged into random locations from there. However Lindsay Nixon has a number of well-designed print books and many recipes available on her user-friendly blog.

Here's what I've made so far this month. I'm not sure how much more I'll cook up, as I'm moving to a new apartment in February and my energy is shifting to those non-foodie preparations. All of these recipes are highly recommend for fast, uncomplicated, and healthy eats.

Baked Onion Rings
I never thought I'd be able to make healthy onion rings at home but these oil-free versions--made with whole-wheat bread crumbs, cornmeal, garbanzo flour, vegan milk, and spices--are the bomb. You get all the fun of onion rings without feeling gross from deep frying. I served these with a trio of condiments: ketchup, mustard, and Sriracha vegan mayo.

Quick Queso Sauce
This is a nutritional yeast sauce more than a "queso" or cheese-flavored spread. That said, it is a cinch to make and really livened up my leftover burritos this week. It calls for whole wheat flour, vegan milk, spices, and "nooch." You heat it on the stove top, taking care not to burn the bottom. Maybe next time I'll add tomatoes and green chilies.

Single-Serving Brownie
Another quick and easy recipe, this time it's a dessert. This single-serving brownie is a cinch to throw together. I cooked it in a metal measuring cup in my toaster oven, one of the suggested methods. An intense chocolate fix in 15 minutes without firing up the oven; how cool is that?

Tofu Ricotta Cheese and Low-Country Cucumbers

I made these two recipes on a Sunday to use on salads throughout the week. The tofu ricotta cheese recipe tastes less like cheese than herby tofu, which is fine by me. The cucumbers were simple and spicy. They disappeared faster than the tofu.

NYC bites

It seems to take holiday weekends for me to update my blog. Here are some food highlights from a pre-holiday trip to NYC. My boyfriend and I ate lots of sandwiches during this visit, as it was a balmy December weekend. We also enjoyed some dim sum, a seasonal favorite, in Chinatown. My favorite thing was the bowl of steamed spinach that we had at the handy midtown Loving Hut before catching the bus back to DC. It was nice to eat something simple and healthy in the midst of our holiday binge.

Grilled Nama Gori panini and home fries at Sacred Chow, the best sandwich of our trip!

Dim Sum at Buddha Bodai, includes turnip cake, mushroom congee, meatballs, veg spare ribs, and spinach roll.

Mushroom panini at Peacefood Cafe 

Udon Thai Curry at Loving Hut

Sauteéd Spinach at Loving Hut

Favorite 2013 VegCookbook Club Recipes

It's New Year's Day and I realized that I didn't post about VegCookbook Club for December but I have been revisiting my favorite recipes from 2013. Below are some photos, largely from Instagram, with links to my initial reviews from earlier in the year. Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan got my vote for cookbook of the year, but all of the books that I sampled were winners. I didn't get my hands on Isa Does It, the November book, which won the popular favorite. However I will be cooking from the January selection, the books of author Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the Happy Herbivore.

Top Smoothie: Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie, I posted about this amazing smoothie twice!

Top Dressing: Dijon Vinaigrette. Okay, I really like making salad dressings. This one is classy.

Top Baked Good (savory): Cornbread Biscuits

Top Baked Good (sweet): "You Got Peanutbutter in my Chocolate" Cookies, also from EDBV. Oops, I never posted about this one. But it was good enough for my office holiday potluck.

Top Dessert: Sinful Chocolate Pudding. So easy to make.

Booze and burgers at Sticky Fingers

In my previous post I endorsed the new liquor license at Sticky Fingers Sweet and Eats, which I sampled last month in the form of a mudslide (above). Here's the lowdown on that drink. The mudslide was a blend of vodka, Kahlúa, So Delicious, and chocolate syrup. It was an enjoyable, messy treat and a super-sweet cocktail.

I was less impressed with Sticky Fingers' beer selection. So far they seem to carry only two seasonal beers--Anderson Valley from CA and Founders from MI. While these are two respectable microbrews, I find it sad that there are no local options, especially knowing that DC is having a beer renaissance. Sticky Fingers has employed the excellent DC Brau in their stout cupcakes. Why not offer it up on the drinks menu too? (The café also carries wine but I'm a beer advocate, not a wine enthusiast, so can't offer opinions there.)

Asian burger

To balance out the boozy mudslide, my boyfriend and I revisited Sticky Fingers' burger options. We tried the Asian burger (top) and the Texas burger (bottom). Both featured Gardein's beefless burgers, which I had not experienced before. The Gardein patty provided a thick, "meaty" consistency but didn't have much flavor on its own. In terms of toppings, I preferred the slaw and aioli on the Asian burger to the the Daiya, tempeh, and ranch on the Texas burger. I also put Sriracha on the Asian burger, natch. The Lyon Bakery buns were very sturdy and I enjoyed the open-faced presentation.

Texas burger

Finally, we split a side of the sweet potato fries, a new menu item. These were a great burger accompaniment, affordable and nicely portioned. Plus, I love getting fast food in colorful baskets. It's another cheap thrill for vegans.

For these offerings and more, visit 1370 Park Rd NW, Washington, DC. It looks like Sticky Fingers is even planning a special New Year's Day brunch. I hope there are cocktails and sauerkraut.

Sweet potato fries

Returning to blogging and VegCookbook Club for December

Sticky Fingers' Mudslide

I'm writing this on Thanksgiving Eve, soon to head to PA for the holiday. And I'm noting that it's been eight weeks since my last post! I completely fell off the Internet after VeganMoFo ended in September. In addition to a blogging hiatus, I took a long break from the VegCookbook Club and from Instagram. But I'm planning to return in December, as the VegCookbook Club is planning a celebration of 2013 favorites. Plus, I need to post about Sticky Fingers' new liquor license, which I have enjoyed experiencing recently (see above photo).