Tag: vegan

Spaghetti Squash – An Adventure

Cooking vegan isn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done. In fact, it ranks right up there with flossing and unloading the dishwasher. It just wasn’t an easy thing to start doing. The thing that helps me is visiting farmers markets and buying fresh produce to cook with. Ever since I noticed that much of the produce I was purchasing from grocery stores was being imported from Mexico, I have made a huge effort to buy local. Something about buying kiwis in December just doesn’t seem right to me.

Stephanie and I visited the Ypsilanti Farmers’ Market at the Corner Brewery the other night, and I came across something I never had any urge whatsoever to try. Spaghetti Squash. In fact, I had never even seen a spaghetti squash before. I’m sure I’ve walked past them in the grocery store on my way to the meat department, but I always had other things on my mind. Namely, pork. I just wasn’t sure what to think. Spaghetti squash? What the hell is it? Does it really shred like spaghetti noodles? Have I ever even had squash before? Do I like it? Ok, enough questions..

I wasn’t sure what to think about eating a Rugby ball, but I had to give it a shot. The thing was only a dollar. How could I lose? I worked up some courage(which was aided by a pint or two at the brewery) and began my prep. I figured the only way to cook the thing was to bake it until it got soft. I had to make sure didn’t my Rugby ball to explode, so I poked holes in it before cooking. Apparently this was a good idea. Large vegetables are known to explode in high temperatures. Is that common knowledge? I sure didn’t know.

About an hour in the oven on 350 degrees, and you get your squash looking like this. Nice and soft. No longer any resemblence to a ball used in any kind of a contact sport. It looked more like Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Check it out.

I let Dr. Honeydew sit out on the counter for about 10 mins and the juices leaked all over the counter. That was kind of gross. Going to have to figure that one out for next time. I cut the thing in half and what’s inside is crazy. It’s not like you have to grab a spoon and scrape out big chunks of squash. It just flows out in strands that look exactly like spaghetti. To be honest I was a little creeped out. Why was this vegetable trying to impersonate one of my favorite childhood foods? I decided to overlook this and give it a chance. Frankly, I was just curious at this point.

I threw some Bove’s Roasted Garlic Marinara on top, sautéed some broccoli in garlic, and made some gigantic homemade garlic bread, and we had ourselves a meal. Simple, nothing special, but absolutely delicious. This stuff is legit. It has the same texture as spaghetti and tastes pretty similar, but has a slightly different flavor. When I say different flavor here, I mean a delicious different flavor. I’m getting pretty good at this whole vegan thing. I don’t prefer it over my usual meat filled dinners, but it’s just nice to share a meal with my lady every now and then.

I’m trying to figure out why that garlic bread looks so big….

December 10, 2009
Woodbridge Pub – Detroit, MI

Put together a meat lover like myself and a vegan like Stephanie, and it gets a little interesting when we want to go out to eat. This past Saturday, we decided to head to Detroit to see Dan Auerbach at the Majestic Theater and required dinner and drinks before the show. Going to concerts on an empty stomach just isn’t an option for me. In fact, doing anything with an empty stomach isn’t for me. Normally in Detroit the obvious choice is either Mexican Town or Greek Town. Not an option anymore for this couple. Gotta find a place that has respectable veggie dishes. In our search for a joint with good food and beer we came across the Woodbridge Pub, which promises vegan friendly eats and quality beer. This place came through, for sure.

On the way, the neighborhood looked a little sketchy after we got off the freeway. The thing about Detroit is you can be in a very nice area, make a wrong turn, and you’ll find yourself right in the middle of the ‘hood. Turns out this place is in a pretty good area right on Trumbull av. across from Wayne State University. The Pub looks great from the outside. Huge windows on the front of the building make this place look very inviting, which is what Detroit really needs more of. Walking in, you notice the decor right away. It’s obvious the owner has really put a lot of time getting the place looking completely unique. The bar is all recycled hard wood from an old church, while the rest of the place is a collision of new materials and salvaged goods from other buildings throughout the Detroit area. It has all of the prerequisite amenities: the recycled materials, the awesome bar, good food, affordable beer, art showcase on the walls, and a TV. It’s only been open since September, but it has the comfortable feel of a place that I have been going to for years.

The menu had a nice range of items for both meat eaters like me and for Stephanie who only eats the green stuff. It focuses on salads, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, and burgers, and offers a good variety of flavors to choose from. Before dinner, I had to grab a pint of locally brewed Ghettoblaster. From there we moved onto a bottle of house wine, which is only $10 after 5:00 PM on Fridays. Not bad stuff.

For starters I decided to go with the queso fundido dip which was pretty basic blend of cheese and chorizo, which happen to be two of my favorite things in the world. It turned out to be a very rich and delicious dip which came with tortilla chips from Mexican Town. A bit much for one person, but I’m not your average eater.

Stephanie had been looking forward to trying one of their vegan soups, so she was excited to see the harvest grain and portabella soup. From what we could tell, this a potato and vegetable broth based soup with lentils, corn, carrots, and chunks of portabella. Beyond that, it was a mystery to us. Honestly, this was some of the best soup I’ve ever had. They’ve really succeeded in creating a hearty soup using all vegan ingredients. It’s become our mission to try and re-create it. We’re currently plotting to break in and steal the recipe. Maybe writing that on a public forum isn’t a good idea.

For dinner I had to go with one of the pizzas which come on a 10″ extra thin crust. I said before that I was looking for meat but the artichoke, spinach, and brie just looked too good to pass up. There’s just something about creative uses of brie cheese that gets me every time. This pizza was solid, but not great. Definitely a good amount of food for one person, but it was missing something(chicken). The crust is good, the brie tastes fresh, the spinach was a little light, and the artichoke hearts were tasty. They drizzle a garlic infused olive oil over top which adds a little extra taste, but I think a little fresh garlic on top would’ve worked well.

Stephanie went with the “Stevers McFever” black bean burger, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-meat dishes. This was by far the most interesting black bean burger I have ever seen. The huge patty is surrounded by two giant pieces ciabatta bread, and topped with avocado, marinated tomato, caramelized onion, and a balsamic glaze. The combination of the bread, the vegetables, the spice of the patty, and the sweetness of the glaze really created an incredible flavor. I’ve only been eating black bean burgers for a few months now, but I will say that this is the best I have had. There may be a credibility issue here, but you’re just going to have to take my word for it.

It’s nice to find a gem like this in Detroit, especially one this accessible. I’ve written before about all of the great food in the city before, and this is a perfect example of it. Not only can you find great bars, authentic eats, and entertainment, but also a friendly neighborhood pub or two. Woodbridge Pub definitely gets a recommendation from me.

November 13, 2009
Vegan Cooking…..?????

Vegan cooking. The only thing that’s more unfamiliar to me than cooking without the addition of cheese or meat are the rules of soccer. I’ve always wondered why I would watch soccer when I have football, the same way I’ve wondered why I would cook with vegetables when I have meat. Recently I’ve taken a shot at a few vegan dinners for Stephanie, my vegan girlfriend, and things have turned out pretty well so far. I’m someone who has a genuine interest in anything having to do with cooking and food, so trying to cook with ingredients that do not involve my two favorite things in the world (meat and dairy) has actually become a pretty fun challenge for me. I often spend over an hour at the grocery store visiting every aisle twice, so actually reading through ingredient labels only extends my shopping time. Great success.

When I first started attempting to cook vegan, I relied too much on imitation meats and trying to create alternate versions of meat based dishes.. While I give Morningstar and other vegetarian/vegan food companies credit on some of their stuff, the majority of it tastes like complete shit. It was a little creepy to me how much the vegetarian chicken tenders tasted like actually chicken tenders, and also creepy how much the grilled chicken strips tasted exactly like tofu. I’ve learned that being creative with ingredients and ideas is the best way to come up with a dish, rather than trying to rely on someone else’s meatless version of meat.

Let me stress again that I love meat and cheese. They are like my best friends that happen to be edible. I was not receptive to the idea of the vegan lifestyle, but like I said before it’s been fun for me. I still eat my bacon, but I’ve added about 100 new things to the list of foods that enter my stomach.

My most recent endeavor was Cajun chickpea patties, dairy free mashed potatoes, a little side salad, and homemade garlic bread. This was the first time I had ever made mashed potatoes without adding some sort of dairy product, so I was a little nervous. To me, perfect mashed potatoes achieve a perfect balance of chunkiness and creaminess. That’s why I always like to hand mash my taters. No fancy mixer in this kitchen. Also, I tend to just buy garlic bread from the store instead of making it myself. I’ve never been able to make garlic bread that’s better than store bought, so I have always just stuck with that. Shocker, every store bought garlic bread contains some form of dairy. Had to get creative.

The chickpea patties don’t look too amazing, but I promise you that they are absolutely delicious. Chickpeas have always been in my diet, due to my frequent flafel consumption, but I had never cooked with them. They are very filling, even for a heavy meat eater like myself, and very nutritious. I can’t believe I just said that. They contain a very high amount of protein, and almost as much calcium as milk.

The mashed potatoes turned out incredibly well. I used a margarine replacement product which oddly tastes better than actual butter. To make up for the lack of creaminess, I roasted some garlic, smashed it up, and mixed it into the potatoes. Don’t know how to roast garlic? Well, heat your oven up to about 475, drizzle oil over a head of garlic, cover in tin foil, and leave in the oven until soft. I often roast garlic in my apartment just for the smell. Actually, I don’t ever do that. It just sounds nice. But yeah, the potatoes were delicious with only garlic, salt, and pepper.

The garlic bread is just a store bought loaf baked at 375 until crispy. I cut it up, put the pieces in a pan heated up with olive oil for about 30-45 seconds on each side to add a little crispyess, and rubbed with a clove of garlic. If you’re a fan of garlic like I am, this is a great way to make your own garlic bread with as much garlic flavor as you like.

If you’re interested in trying these out, he’s my recipe. I don’t usually eat anything resembling this meal, but if you’re interested in trying something new this is a good way to start. If you would’ve told me a few months ago that I would be attempting to cook vegan, I would’ve laughed at you. Buuuut, the ladies will make you do weird things.

Oh, and for the first time I actually measured everything.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 12 small patties, or 4 large ones.

– 1 tbsp olive oil

– 1/4 cup diced onion

– 1/4 cup diced green pepper

– 1 celery stalk, diced

– 2 cloves minced garlic

– 1 280z can chickpeas (drained)

– 1 tsp thyme

– 1 tsp paprika

– 1 tsp cumin

– cayenne pepper – I used about 2 tsp, but I like things spicy.

– dash hot sauce – Again, I used more but I like things spicy

– 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

– 2 tbsp flour

– 1 tbsp cornstarch

– salt and pepper to taste

– olive oil for cooking

COOKING

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, garlic and celery until softened/browned. Enjoy the smell of your home. Remove from heat.

2. Place the chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but don’t process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins or so.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat. Shape chickpea mixture into 12 or 4 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.

One thing I should mention is that if you have trouble with the inside being a bit too mushy, cook the patties in the oven on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes before frying. This will give you guaranteed even cooking all the way through.

November 5, 2009