Why you should join a CSA next year!

Mmm, purple carrots!

Quick and Easy Vegan Meals

Urban Vegan posted an incredible blog entry called "summer express :: 101 simple vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less". Definitely check it out, especially if you are sitting around right now wondering what to make for dinner!

I'm printing it out and putting it on my fridge for quick reference.

8 true things - an annoying meme

Animal Friendly tagged me so I must comply. But, not before changing the intent. :) I was tagged with a meme called 8 true things where I am supposed to tell you 8 true things about me. I'm going to tell you 8 true things, but not about me. And then I am going to further break the rules and not tag anyone.

The Meme:
First, the rules
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random facts/habits:
1. Milk contains pus. And therefore cheese, yogurt, and butter all contain pus.
2. Eggs are the byproduct of a chicken's menstual cycle.
3. Over 10 billion animals are killed for food in the US every year (not including fish).
4. Your dog/cat is no different from a pig or cow. You just find them to be cuddlier. In some countries people eat dogs and cats. Pigs are smarter than your dog.
5. Dairy cows are killed after they no longer produce enough milk (about 4 years old).
6. Baby male cows are taken from their dairy cow mothers almost immediately after they are born and either sent to slaughter or to a veal farm. They are fed a formula made from cow's blood because humans drink their milk.
7. When breeding chickens for eggs, the male chicks are ground up alive into fertilizer or suffocated in trash bags because they are not useful in egg production (and they won't grow big enough to be used as a "fryer" chicken).
8. Going vegan is not hard. It is acutally very easy.

Mike's Almond Poppyseed Scones

My husband Mike is the best baker ever (flattery gets you more baked goods!). Here is his veganized recipe for almond poppyseed scones. The poppy seeds can be left out and they are just as good. We have also made them with blueberries folded in at the end of mixing, but that is a little trickier because the dough gets really wet if you are not careful.



ALMOND-POPPY SEED SCONES
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
3 Tbsp water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unrefinded sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into bits
1/4 cup earth balance vegan margarine; chilled and cut into bits
1/3 cup tofutti sour cream
2 teaspoons almond extract
sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix ground flax seeds and water with a fork in a small bowl and set aside. This is the egg replacement.

Mix the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the shortening and the margarine and cut in using a pastry cutter or fingers until you get a coarse meal (avoid using hands as it heats up the margarine).

Whisk tofutti sour cream, flax/water mixture and almond extract in a small bowl to blend. Add to the flour mixture and combine with hands until incorporated, be careful not to overwork the dough or you will have bricks.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough in half. Press the dough into two rounds about 3/4" thick (about 6" across). Cut into quarters and sprinkle with sugar. Place the scones on a heavy baking sheet, spacing about 1-inch apart.

Bake in 400 degree F oven until lightly browned, about 17-18 minutes.

Servings: 8

Pesto Kale Pizza

Someone on a forum I read wanted to know if they could put kale on a pizza which got me thinking about it. Then Animal Friendly Eric told me about a pizza that he had in LA from Native Foods that had greens and pesto on it. I looked it up on the web and it says "Creamy pesto, grilled veggies, steamed greens, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a balsamic drizzle". Well, I had to try that! So here it goes. This was more time consuming than expected because I forgot to take the frozen pizza dough out of the freezer and had to make a fresh batch, and because I also had to make some pesto. It was really good and we plan to make it again and again and again, esp once the zucchini from the CSA starts pouring in.



Breadmaker Pizza Crust (makes 2)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup warm water (plus more as needed)
2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Place ingredients in breadmaker according to manufacturer instructions and set it to Pizza Dough. Meanwhile preheat the pizza stone to 500 degrees. Pull out the dough, punch it down, cut it in half. Place half in an oiled ziploc bag and throw it in the freezer for another day. Roll out the dough some, let it rest for 10 minutes, and then roll it out some more.

I used Peter Berley's Almond Pesto recipe as a base but used all the CSA green garlic, garlic scapes, and added one clove of garlic. The original recipe called for 2 cloves of garlic instead of the mixture below.

Garlic Scape Green Garlic Almond Pesto
1 1/2 cups toasted blanched almonds
3 garlic scapes
4 green garlic bulbs and stems
1 clove garlic
2 cups packed basil leaves (or more)
3/4 to 1 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
salt to taste

Grind the almonds in a food processor. Add the various forms of garlic, lemon juice, water, lemon zest, basil and puree. Add the olive oil gradually. Add salt to taste. Place in a container and cover with a light film of olive oil. Store in the refrigerator.


Pesto Kale Pizza
1 bunch of kale, middle ribs removed, cut, steamed and salted
pesto
2 small zucchini, sliced in 1/4" slices, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grilled in a grill basket
1/4 cup toasted salted pumkin seeds
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
semolina

Preheat pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for about an hour. Roll out the pizza dough and place in on a peel with semolina to prevent sticking. Drizzle with olive oil and brush to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Add some pesto as a base layer. Mix the greens with some pesto and add it to the pizza. Top with zucchini slices and pumkin seeds. Drizzle on some balsamic vinegar. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Veggie Burger Pic

I found a picture of the veggie burger on the camera.



The fries in the pic are just a russet potato roasted at 425 with salt, pepper, and olive oil for about 40 minutes (turning every 10-15 minutes).

Almond Butter Chip Ice Cream

Summer is here and we decided to experiment with the old ice cream maker. You may see a few ice cream recipes over the next few months. Here is one that I have been wanting to make for a while:

Almond Butter Chip Ice Cream


2 c. French vanilla soy creamer

1 1/2 c. almond milk

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. fresh ground almond butter

2 T. arrowroot powder

1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds
1 bar dark chocolate bar, in shavings or ground up in the food processor
1/4-1/2 cup additional almond butter to swirl in.

Mix ¼ cup of almond milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Combine soy creamer, remaining almond milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat. When hot, whisk in almond butter so it is thoroughly incorporated. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add chopped nuts and chocolate shavings in the last five minutes of freezing.

As you put the ice cream into a container to store in the freezer, occasionally add some dollops of almond butter into the mix.