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).

G Sandwich Shop by Mike Isabella

Located at 2201 14th Street NW, this new Mike Isabella concept, G, is a "sandwich shop by day, tasting menu by night." I wouldn't have known about the sandwich shop's vegan options, were it not for Angela at The Veracious Vegan blog, who scouted out the place and also Kapnos, its Greek sister spot.

From the sandwich shop's wall menu, it wasn't evident what menu items were vegan, or vegetarian even. So I asked the helpful counter staff to double check for me. The ordering process was quick. I got an unsweetened iced tea and was pleased to find free lemon and limes wedges. I also ordered a side of the marinated veggies, namely the Giardiniera. And I ordered the "vegan-as-is" sandwich: the Roasted Cauliflower.

The "Cauli"

The cauliflower was nicely roasted with a great Romesco sauce on an excellent sesame seed roll. The three roasted hot peppers on the top were the bomb. And the herbs were a nice touch, including flat leaf parsley and dill. But OMG, this was an oily sandwich. The whole thing was drenched in oil. I needed extra napkins just to mop it up. And I felt like I needed to wash afterwards because I was covered in oil--inside and out. So next time, I'm going to ask for no extra oil.

Giardiniera pickle

Meanwhile, the veggies in the Giardiniera weren't oily at all. They were a perfect pickle trifecta of spicy, sour, and sweet. Inside the tub were carrots, more cauliflower, onions, and what I think were baby white radishes. So good! I wish this pickle were a sandwich filling option.

I visited on a weekday for lunch and G wasn't too crowded. However it was loud, due to a combo of bad acoustics and blaring 90's rock. They played the Beastie Boys twice in a half hour. Is this a Pandora station thing?

G Sandwich Shop exterior

Green Juice Smoothie

This green smoothie has been my Moby Dick. I've been chasing it all month long. Here it is finally, just as Vegan MoFo is coming to a close. And the VegCookbook Club is moving on to another book. Looks like October will be devoted to Mouthwatering Vegan by Miriam Sorrell.

But first, the third and final smoothie from Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. (Free PDF version available here.)

Green Juice Smoothie - action shot

Green Juice Smoothie
There are 12 ingredients in this smoothie, not counting the ice and water. I scored them all with the exception of apple juice. I substituted coconut water instead. The actual blending was a breeze, thanks to my new blender. (I know that I need to pipe down about the Vitamix soon. The honeymoon glow will subside. Did I mention that it is chainsaw loud?)

How did it taste? Great. You could clearly pick out the citrus (lime, orange, and pineapple). The grapes, apple, banana, and cucumber were more subtle. My favorite ingredient was the ginger. (Wow, I need more ginger in my life!) The carrot and spinach provided the veg. And the chia seeds made it nicely thick.

Overall, a lovely juice-smoothie hybrid. Worth the wait and the blender purchase. I know that I enjoyed it because I forgot to photo it again until the cup was half empty full. 

Green Juice Smoothie - half full cup