vegoftheweek

Inside The Oven: Delicious Tofu Lettuce Wraps thanks to Chinese 5-spice seasoning. Week Links: How would you react if someone “slipped you the shrimp?”

For a good time…

Try naming all 5 spices that go into Chinese 5-Spice Seasoning the next time you go to the grocery store. I attempted this and failed, but it was still a Saturday morning mental exercise to enjoy.

I was browsing through the spice section and noticed the 5-Spice Seasoning was missing from the rack. After summoning a worker, who verified they were out, we both tried to come up with the 5 spices I would need to make it myself.  After estimating the price to do this versus just going elsewhere where Chinese 5-Spice was in stock, I decided the latter was a better option no matter how much of a good time I would be promised if I mixed it myself.

Star Anise could have brought me a million dollars if that was the million dollar question. We both had no problem naming cinnamon.  For this reason, I think cinnamon is the number one response that will get you the most points on Family Feud when people are polled and asked their favorite Chinese 5-Spice ingredient. If you and your family are ever on the show and get that question, please remember who to thank. Get recipe for Lettuce Wraps and learn what the other ingredients are in case there’s a Family Feud question you’ll need to answer after the break…   Read the rest of this entry »

• Spinach Ricotta Manicotti (Vegan Verve)

• Capanota-Sweet and Sour Eggplant (The Veggie Table)

• Double Tomato Tartines (Cottages Small Holder)

• Italian Roasted Squash (Thrifty Fun)

“Wildman” Steve Brill is known as one of America’s Best Known Foragers. He gives park tours primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, instructing people how to find edible plants, wild mushrooms, and weeds. His best known book, “The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook”, contains dozens of recipes from Sassafras Peanut Sauce to Mashed Potatoes with Daylily Shoots. A longtime vegetarian, who jokes that he still eats “chicken mushrooms” and “sheep sorrel,” he agreed to chat with me while tending to some mulberries he had collected earlier that morning.

On His Decision To Go Veg:
3 Reasons-health, environment, and humane. My mother died of cancer at the age of 57. I’m now 59. My father, his brother and sister all died of heart disease in their early 60s. And my cardiovascular system is in apparently good health. I swim a mile in 36 minutes, run around to all these parks with kids…keep very active. So I think the genetics (of me and my family) are the same. It has to be the lifestyle.

I don’t like the way the animals are treated-the cruelty is quite upsetting. And all of the waste-from what goes into the waterways to all of the large carbon footprint of being involved with the meat industry-is also quite objectionable.

What he’s eaten for the week:
At this point, it’s mulberries and juneberries-those are in season. I’m going to make some jam. I’m going to put some of the jam into a vegan ice cream. I’m going to make a Juneberry cobbler. I’m also making salads with all of the early summer greens.

Tofu or Tempeh:
Tofu. I just don’t really care for the flavor of tempeh. (It’s) one thing I just don’t have an affinity for making taste delicious. And I can make a hell of a lot of things taste delicious.

Bok Choy or Cabbage:
I prefer Bok Choy.

Morel Mushroom or Chanterelle Mushroom:
That’s a hard one. I guess the morel…I’m not good at finding morels and when I do, all the people in my group get them all.

Dandelion Fried Rice or Cattail Fried Rice (from “The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook”):
I think I prefer the Cattail Fried Rice. I love cattails. I love dandelions too, but cattails are something special.

On Being Stuck In A Food Monotony:
I guess in the cafeteria in college the first year when you’re forced to live in the dormitory. That was probably the worst.

What he wouldn’t mind eating over and over again:
Oysters Newburgh-made with Oyster mushrooms.

On The Dave Letterman Show And The Media In General:
Letterman was a real exception. A lot of media people are really nice-Regis Philbin loves cracking jokes, Al Roker is incredibly intelligent and was very into all the science relating to what I was showing him. There are lots of people that are into cooking. And Letterman was just plain unfriendly, obnoxious, and self-involved. His entire staff was the same way. (But) I had a good experience…I watched the show and I knew ahead of time, this was not going to be supportive situation. And I thought for a while and I came up with a plan. Learn about the plan to take care of Letterman and Wildman’s advice on how to find love after the break… Read the rest of this entry »

Inside The Oven: Make model home with chow mein noodles. Week Links: What’s Vegan Momma Up To These Days?

A. A creative model of a future TLC “Trading Spaces” project.
B. One of Donald Trump’s toupees.
C. My chow mein noodle hut before it’s broken down into smaller chow mein noodle pieces.

If you guessed C, you’re not only a genius, but also recognize good art. You see, I must admit, the model chow mein noodle hut was not completely my idea. Rather, I was inspired by an interesting and beautiful photo stock pic of rice noodles. The noodles were stacked high in an elegant fashion as if they were ascending to a veggie heaven only the purest of vegan, raw foodies, and greenies could ever dream of. Go ahead, take a look. But come back.

Now that you’re back, you don’t have to smother on the compliments. I know, I know. I am quite the sculptor. Really, it’s nothing but a natural gift that I couldn’t possibly take any excessive pride in…

Regular chow mein noodles I’ve seen in the grocer’s Asian or ethnic section will often have one of the 7 deadliest sins, “Trans-fat.” (I don’t know what the other six are, but I was hoping we could have a contest one day and decide.) These homemade noodles nix that problem and allow you to have a unique experience with udon. Recipe for Chow Mein Noodles after the break… Read the rest of this entry »