Pulp Non-Fiction

My first pulp-waste-not-want-not experiment was a fail -- no, a hazardous debacle. I didn't take a photo (I was disappointed in the result, so -- grouchy), but the jungle photo of Curacao, above, looks pretty much like the bean soup I created yesterday from a couple of day's worth of juicing pulp, a whole box of veggie broth, an onion, some garlic and a can of beans. The soup tasted like a bland granny smith apple, and the texture was awful. But I am getting ahead of myself . . .

My idea was to transform the pulp into a smooth, creamy consistency, so I dug out my HealthMaster blender by Montel Williams that I received two years ago. This machine, able to turn a cinderblock to dust in the infomercial, has provided me with many satisfying soups, dips and smoothies, and I was sure it was up to the task of transforming pulp into soup. I knew I'd need to add plenty of liquid so as not to overtax the motor, so I did. I used the lowest setting for about four minutes as I sauteed the onion and garlic to add later. I began smelling smoke, so I went over to the stove, thinking I was burning the onion, but then realized the HealthMaster WAS ON FIRE! I ran back across the kitchen and pulled the plug as smoke billowed forth, filling my kitchen. My brave husband quickly picked up the smoking machinery and placed it in the middle of our driveway, away from anything flammable.

Defeated, I pulled out my old-as-the-hills food processor (it's at least 25 years old, and missing most of its parts) and attempted to improve the texture of the above mess. My ancient food processor did not burst into flames, so my mood improved a little. I put a bit of the mixture aside in a tupperware for future experimentation and put the rest of it in a pot on the stove. I added some shoyu. I added some liquid smoke. I added some salt. It still tasted exactly like a grainy apple. Finally I gave up on my initial idea and decided to turn it into chili. I added a McCormick's chili packet. It still tasted like a granny smith apple, but worse.  Sorry -- "waste not want not" didn't work this time. The soup went down the drain, to nourish the enzymes in our septic tank. The bit in the tupperware I will attempt to utilize in a tomato spaghetti sauce, but if that is no good I'm going to quit losing good food after bad, and go straight to plan C -- the compost heap.

Truthfully, the only flavorful part of the pulp was the apple. The kale, romaine, celery, even the carrot had lost every bit of flavor with the absence of juices, and likely most of the vitamins and minerals as well. So I don't feel I am wasting after all as much as I initially did.

Heed my cautionary tale, pulp aficionados, lest your HealthMaster also burst into flame.

Odds-n-Ends, Random Eats

Without a cohesive theme today, since life has been flying past at breakneck speed, I nevertheless want to share with you some pretty fantastic, if simple, food I've been eating.

You know what the above photo represents -- peach season in Georgia! Mmmmm. Here I enjoyed an overripe fruit on Ancient Grains cereal, topped with organic granola and almond milk.

This is what I did with my Macaroni Grill leftovers. Have you tried their "Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables" appetizer? Well, that's what I ordered as my entree last week on a night out with the family. I had my husband take a photo of the appetizer since it was so pretty and I had not brought my camera. I've yet to see the photo, but will share it if I do. The appetizer was so large I could only eat half of it, so I brought the rest home and put it on top of Tinkyada brown rice pasta with a bit of olive oil and some freshly torn herbs from the garden. Don't get too excited about the appetizer. Our waiter excitedly informed us that the new menu comes out soon at Macaroni Grill. To me that means higher prices and a likely deletion of some of my favorites, but maybe I'll be happily surprised. I'll keep you posted.

This rice dish does not look too different from the above pasta dish, and I'm guessing I created it becaused I missed the pasta dish so much after it went away. This was lighter in flavor though, with only  my garden veggies and a can of navy beans. My grape tomatoes have been in full swing since mid-June, since Georgia has been Sahara-hot for months now. Normally I see nary a tomato before July. I will post a full garden update soon, since we are starting to become prolific.

I roasted a head of cauliflower and ate it all by myself over the course of a couple of days. These folks around here don't know what they are missing! It was just cauliflower, olive oil, salt, pepper at 450 for 20 minutes. I ate it hot, cold, covered in nutritional yeast and added to canned soup. Cruciferous veggies represented!

Speaking of cruciferous veggies, awww! Isn't that just the cutest little baby bok choy you have ever seen? I bought a huge carton of about 60 of these little guys (no joke) at Costco for $4.99. I used the first 20 of them last night in a repeat performance of my decadent baby bock choy with mushrooms and black truffle oil. This time, since these tiny things were so tender, I did not steam them. I just added them at the end to the sautee pan full of funghi, "butter" and truffle oil. It was delicious and very impressive. We have out-of-town guests, so I have been cooking a lot, but unfortunately not remembering to take a lot of photos. Sorry. This dish was beautiful, but you will have to take my word for it. Also featured at this meal was a wonderful green salad with cucumbers, avocados and tender lettuces, and the fabulous "Caesar Chavez Dressing" from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Appetite For Reduction. My non-vegan guests LOVED the vegan dressing! Sorry again for no photo.

As hostess to our guests -- the lovely and talented sister-in-law, Liana, and her wonderful friend, J.P., I have just been putting piles of food on the table, especially for breakfast -- breads, bagels, every kind of topping one can imagine, potatoes, fruit, scrambled eggs, juices, coffee, etc. It has been fun, but I really wish I had thought to take more photos. No matter, I'll work with what I've got here. This is my plateful, since I'm not an egg-eater. It sort of reminds me of Alicia's "Full English Breakfast" from The Kind Diet.
Of course I didn't prepare any meats, real or vegan, since there was already so much on the table, but the important part here is the bread with beans. On artisanal rosemary bread slices I layered a smear of earth balance, a dollop of hummus and a bean and corn salsa. If you have never tried good bread with beans, you must go do it right now. The result is so much more shockingly delicious than one would expect! I actually put a little Italian twist on my "English Breakfast", featuring succulent tuscan melons (crazy-good!) and a "Florentine" treatment to the eggs I didn't eat -- I threw a handful of spinach and parmesan cheese in there. Everyone loved it and nothing got wasted.

Summer can feel lazy and easy for many folks, but not so much for a full-time mom. The house is always full of people and animals, which I love, but darned if I can finish a train of thought. This is "plate-spinning" season, folks. I've got to keep looking up, no matter what I am trying to accomplish, to see which spinning plate on a dowel rod is getting a bit wobbly and about to topple. If I deliver the proper spin, I can avert disaster  until the next plate starts slowing, and so on. Is anyone else out there in my shoes? If so, how do you handle it?

Thanks for bearing with me in this season of discombobulation! I'll try to remember to take more photos, since the season is flying by too fast.

Odds-n-Ends, Avocado Season

I love avocados. Packed with nutrition and healthy fat, these beautiful fruits afford a lovely, creamy "mouthfeel" which never fails to satisfy. I eat avocados in many ways. Here are some of my recent indulgences. Above, I topped warm, leftover rice pasta with raw kale, avocado and a sprinkle of mozzerella daiya. The warmth of the pasta wilted the kale ever so slightly and made the avocado all slippery. Topped with a sprinkle of kosher salt, this was delicious.

Here's one of my favorite smoothies -- I know, how many green smoothies do we have to see on vegan blogs? But seriously, this one is soooo good, and imparts a healthful, peaceful energy. You've got to try it! Here are the contents:

An avocado, a peeled cucumber, a frozen banana, a large handful of kale, about an inch of peeled ginger, and my secret ingredient:

Coconut water! There are so many beneficial enzymes and electrolytes in this, you will have an energy charge for hours. The smoothie is delicious to me with only these ingredients, but if you want it sweeter, just add a drizzle of agave nectar.

Here's a recent breakfast -- Eziekiel toast topped with tofutti cream cheese, avocado and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Look at how the salt has begun to draw beads of moisture from the luscious avocado. Mmmmm.

Here are recent tacos I made for my husband and myself. They really began as a vehicle for him to use up a rotisserie chicken. Here, on my vegan version, is leftover wild rice with lentils, garlicky black eyed peas (I used earth balance and about 5 cloves of garlic, chopped), an amazing avocado-lime coleslaw (half a cabbage, half a lime, a tablespoon of vegenaisse and half an avocado), and a delicious onion confit (half a red onion, three spring onions, sauteed in olive oil). This was a remarkable flavor combination. I ate two tacos and am still loving the rice and slaw leftovers. The black eyed peas went away very quickly, since I love garlic so much.

In my mind, when I am writing an "odds-n-ends" post, I take licence to veer wildly off topic. So here is my wild veering: this little baby bunny first came to my attention when my daughter noticed him about a month ago.

"Mom -- you've got to see this little guy -- he's microscopic!"

Well, while my daughter's assesment was a bit of an exaggeration, as he was actually visible to the human eye, I got the spirit of her enthusiasm. At the time, the bunny was only about three inches long, but perfectly proportionately formed except for his large innocent eyes, of course. The precious little thing only eats the weeds in the creeping juniper which must be his home. Now he has grown to about 7 inches long and he still chooses his food wisely.

The photo stinks since I had to be quick and zoom in before he noticed me. When I've tried to snap him before, the shy little thing has scurried away. So there you have it -- avocados and a baby bunny!  What could be better than that?

A Tale of Two Turkeys

No, you're right, those aren't turkeys. Bear with me . . . Before I was thinking of turkeys at all today, I was ruminating on how my tastebuds seem to be "off" lately. I've not enjoyed arugula or radicchio very much recently, which is disappointing, as they are normally "eye-rolling delicious" to me. As I was engaged in this rumination, and wishing for a spare loaf of Eziekiel bread to fill my confused belly, I reached into the garage freezer for something else and found . . . Eziekiel! You know how it feels when you find a $20 in the pocket of a jacket you haven't worn in 6 months? Yeah, that's what it felt like! Score! I moved Eziekiel to the fridge and went out on my errands.

I'm currently doing my son's cat-sitting job for him since his doctor determined the cat dander exacerbates his migraines, so I did that first. Then I drove into town to make a deposit and pick up my compounded medicine. As I was driving on North Main Street, right here in downtown Alpharetta Georgia, on the sidewalk across from the church where Wynne went to preschool was a turkey. Yes -- a turkey. Not a Butterball, not even the fat white lucky one who is pardoned by the President. This was a very out-of-context, wild Tom Turkey, lovely and brown with a bit of blue iridescence around the neck and a handsome red gobbly-thing (I'm fairly certain this is not the technical term for this part of a turkey's anatomy, but you get the picture). I'm guestimating he was about 15-20 lbs. Tom was busying himself chowing down on something that was on the sidewalk (seeds?). He looked proud and unfazed by the incredulous drivers passing by. I said a small prayer that he wouldn't venture off the sidewalk, and then I was swept along with the other traffic to complete my errands.  Driving back home, I realized I had forgotten all about the turkey when I saw him again, thankfully still in one piece, thankfully still happily munching whatever he was munching.

Why am I telling you this? I don't know! I'm sure I'd have forgotten about him altogether if not for one of my stream-of-consciuosness sessions that followed as I was attempting to find something that would satisfy my unfamiliar tastes lately. I'm not sure what is up with my tastebuds, but suspect the Spring pollen. I am, for the second Spring in a row (both vegan Springs) undaunted by seasonal allergies. By undaunted, I mean I am not flattened by a Spring sinus infection, which was my prior pattern. But that doesn't mean I am necessarily totally unaffected. Maybe the pollen is changing the way things taste to me. It's fine -- I'll take that any day over an infection!

So back to lunch -- I lazily microwaved an Amy's Black Bean Burrito, with some Spinach and Daiya on the side, and it was great, but I was still hungy for sweets!  This is WEIRD for me. I never want sweets. So I toasted some Eziekiel bread and spread it with Almond butter, fresh pear slices and slices of dried figs. So delicious, and just what I wanted! Here comes the other turkey:  as I was slicing the dried figs, I remembered the year I had overzealously (without reading the tag on the plants about space requirements) bought a couple of fig trees to fill some spaces in a flower bed up at the curb in our front yard. I was actually thinking of the potted fiddle-leaf fig trees I have indoors (the leaves do look like "fiddles" or violins) My indoor figs are ornamental and do not bear fruit and take up no horizontal space,  growing vertically.

The figs by the street were so happy with the sunny spot I chose that they quickly bullied all the other plants and spread across the bed with large scary leaves (shaped not like a fiddle, but like the one Adam wore). The effect was swamp creature-like. The bushes were flat on the ground and creeping with large luscious fruit that was most often found first by the wildlife so the intoxicating fragrance of the bitten and crushed figs drew swarms of wasps. I could often be found on my way to the bus stop to meet the kids, squatting, flailing and screaming as I tried to find a few unmolested fruits without being stung. The figs were luscious. I had inadvertently chosen two different monster fig breeds: Black Mission and Brown Turkey (there's the other turkey!) I loved both, but preferred the Black Mission. I was a bit of a laughing stock of the cul-de-sac for a while as I tried to find a way to live with my plant/beasts. I pruned severely and repeatedly, only to find the figs had otherwordly regenerative powers akin to Harry Potter's hair. Eventually I had to admit my folly and submit to the winch on my husband's jeep to pull the plants out. But I sure ate high on the Black Mission and Brown Turkey that year (I was the only one brave enough to eat the fruit of the plant/beasts).

As I savored the storebought dried figs, I enjoyed remembering this Brown Turkey Fig chapter, and sent some more good vibes to Tom Turkey of North Main Street, for his well-being.

Irish Oats

I love Irish oats! Those are the kind that are chopped once cross-wise instead of completely slivered. The Irish oats retain more of the bran of the grain and are more chewy and nutty.  I love reading about how folks put a cup of oats and some water in their slow-cooker and then wake to aromatic and tender grains. I tried it and my slow cooker is not cut out for this idea. I started the oats out on low, but when I saw they were bubbling up a storm I turned the setting to "keep warm" An hour later I noticed there was not enough water and I added more. by 9:00 when I went to bed, visions of a house fire were dancing in my head so I unplugged the oats and left them in the scalding hot pot on the counter overnight. I still had ready oatmeal in the morning, albeit room-temperature at that point. Thank you, microwave! I have to say, the Irish oats do take a bit more time, but not hours. I think 30-45 minutes would be just fine. The slow cooking left them very similar to quick-cooking oats, which seems to be a waste of a good Irish oat. But my bowlful was saved and enhanced by my fabulous homemade applesauce!  Allspice and ginger and not much agave are my secret ingredients! LOVED this breakfast!

I'd get a different crock pot, but I'd rather save up for a Breville Juicer like Kris Carr uses -- I love my smoothies that I make with the high-powered blender, but the green ones turn out a bit, er, chewier than I'd like, so green juice over ice would be lovely. I know, I'm an oddball in my preferences -- I like my oats chewy, but not my juice!

What a Wonderful Surprise!

Being under 4-5 inches of snow + a crust of an inch of ice all week has had me in the kitchen and on the computer a lot more than usual, which is just fine for a blog, it turns out. Seriously, the kids are on their 4th snow day out of school, and I'm beginning to wonder about the curriculum, but . . . not my problem.

So --- part of my kitchen time has been taking stock of what is rotten or on its way out, and cleaning up my larder a bit. About 2 months ago I bought a huge flat of Honey Crisp apples from Costco. I've kept them in our garage fridge since I have found that I really enjoy apples more when they are cold. The refrigeration has served to lengthen their shelf life, of course, but 2 months? After the first couple of weeks I only had 6 of them left and forgot to look at them for a while, assuming they wouldn't be in good shape. Well, after two months, I finally went into that part of the fridge and pulled them out and, no they were not in the best shape, a little softer, a few bad spots, but I thought they were worth cutting into. I peeled and chopped the apples, removing the soft spots (there weren't many) and I put them in a pot with a couple of tablespoons of earth balance. I know that sounds like a lot of "butter" but it was a lot of apples, and I was not inspired to add water. I let them cook on the range on low for several hours. It would have been a good thing to make in a crock pot, but that was still dirty from the hoppin' john (lots of people stuck in the house eating lots of home-cookin' = a backlog at the dishwasher).

I know it is disappointing to some of you when I don't create formal recipes, but I honestly wasn't expecting much from this experiment, so I didn't measure or record anything. The only reason I know the amount of earth balance is that it was the end of a stick, and it had the markings on the foil, and I was just using it up. From memory, to the pot I also added a couple of grinds of fresh nutmeg, a shake or two of cinnamon (about half a teaspoon, I guess), same amount of allspice, and a tiny drizzle of agave syrup -- less than a teaspoon. I considered squeezing a little lemon, but am so glad I didn't. The applesauce was perfectly sweet/tart as it was. I kept the heat very low and stirred every half hour or so. I was making other food too for dinner so I am not sure how long I let this cook, just until most of the apples fell apart.

Can I just say that this is just about the best thing I have ever made? I realize I sound over-the-top here, but I am serious. It's delicious! And to think I was considering throwing the apples away! After dinner, I curled up in my favorite chair with a little, warm bowlful of it and decided my applesauce was up there as the best dessert I've eaten -- ever (and I used to be a creme brulee chick pre-vegan!) This applesauce was that good. No kidding.

This morning I put some in my morning oatmeal and almond milk, with a tiny sprinkle of pumpkin seed granola on top:

Good grief! It was like apple pie a la mode, no, better than that -- just heaven!

I've loved being snowed in here, but now I'm out of apples! Gotta make another batch of this applesauce!  Snow/ice, it's time to start melting! What a Wonderful Surprise!

Now This Fundraiser I Like!

I'm not sure how many of you young vegans out there live in the 'burbs, but this midlife vegan does. Yes, we decided to move into a suburb on purpose, ten years ago when our kids were 6 and 2. We figured we were tired of working so hard to only be able to afford a tiny little patch of land in the city with no privacy and no yard. I love our neighborhood, but it's more because we lucked out with the wonderful people all around us than for the reasons we originally thought. In any case, we are where we are, and that means that every kid and his mother (literally) go door to door each season selling all manner of items for sports teams, orchestra, ballet, etc. We like to help the kids and wouldn't want to extinguish that entrepreneurial spark, so we normally buy something. Many of the coupon books go unused, and the cases of sports drinks or popcorn are usually no bargain. But the other day a young man showed up at my doorstep with this lovely package that I had forgotten I'd bought:

What a nice surprise! I didn't actually know the boy, but there are new neighbors moving in all the time, and I now recall that he was very polite and respectful in his sales pitch. I was happy to give him the business. I have no idea what this cost me, but I guess it's beside the point now -- sunk costs. I appreciate this beautiful citrus and I also appreciate the timing of the delivery of this boxful, right before Thanksgiving, when we will have my parents visiting for a few days. I bet we will consume most of these, but I ran out and bought a little plastic hand-juicer just in case we get any soft ones that need to be juiced instead of bitten.

I love food in it's simplest form, with little or no embellishment. Above is my refreshing breakfast of a halved grapefruit, segments sliced for scooping, with a sprinkle of organic sugar on top. I have also enjoyed these topped with brown sugar and then broiled briefly too -- but that was way too fancy for a school day.

Nutrition note -- grapefruit can interfere with the absorption of certain medications and supplements. My Integrative Medicine physician prescribes many supplements that help keep my MS silent, so I just had to wait about 45 minutes or so before taking them with some toast after I ate the fruit.  It just takes a little planning, but we can still eat every delicious thing we want!

Citrus fruit says the beginning of Christmas to me. It's ironic, actually, but I guess that's when the Florida fruit seems so "special". 'Tis the season!

Wow -- I Like Fruit Now!

I never understood the appeal of fresh fruit. Even as a child, when kids all around me were opting for a shiny red apple over, say, split pea soup, I didn't get it. Although as I put it that way, I begin to understand what an odd child I was. Actually, the idea of fresh fruit was tantalizing to me, the bright, shiny colors, the pretty shapes, the promise of sweetness .  .  .  but the disappointment of biting into something so lovely to find it mealy and flavorless or hard as a rock and bitter was a turnoff.  Honestly, over the course of my life I can count the times I enjoyed fresh fruit on only one hand. Each time I was surprised by a flavorful fruit, I hoped to replicate the experience and was, again, disappointed. I caught on pretty quickly that I just had different taste buds from most other folks, who continued to ooh and aah over food I ate only because I knew I should.

What has always appealed most to me (pre-vegan) is the savory (like creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms) the starchy (macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumplings), the fatty (fish and chips), the piquant (capers, pickles), the spicy (Mexican, Thai, Indian).  Growing up, our special occasion food, our comfort food, was usually rich with fresh vegetables from the garden, which have never been a disappointment to me. When I grocery shop now, the bountiful greens and root veggies are what delight my eye. But the other day at the store, I smelled something -- something sweet and rich, seductive and mysterious. I smelled peaches. I had never smelled peaches before, unless it was one of the notes in someone's perfume. This is very strange, I realize, since I live in Georgia! The peaches have been there all along, but they didn't call to me, my chemistry was not compatible with them. I am 5 months into being dairy- and meat-free, so I believe it is as if layers of sludge (most likely dairy -- I am sure now that I am lactose intolerant) have been sloughed off and I have taste buds that are like new, and able to process certain fresh flavors that were heretofore masked. I put several of these lovelies in a bag and took them home.

Since purchasing the peaches, in our busy summer household a couple of days have gone by. This morning, as I was sipping my coffee, I noticed there were only two left, and they were both in the very early stages of rot. Overripe, the fruits had begun to shrink in slightly upon themselves. Very soft, but not yet mushy, the velvety surface had tiny wrinkles forming, not unlike parts of my own middle-aged face. The scent had become intoxicating. Those rotting peaches were so appealing to me, I had to have them right away!! Like a woman possessed, I quickly cut them from the pits, and (don't ask me why -- I had no reason to think this was a good idea) I grabbed a handful of fresh mint from a glass of water on the counter and roughly tore it into pieces, enhancing what turned out to be a very pretty picture and an amazing flavor.  Pausing only long enough to snap a photo, I then chose a comfy chair with an ottoman, put my feet up and had the most satisfying fruit experience of my life.

Now, I notice the little voice in my head, out of habit, saying, "Well, that was great, but don't get your hopes up, you know how it goes with fruit," But I suspect there will be a difference for me from here on out. I did SMELL the fruit for the first time, did I not?  I'll keep you posted.