Flash Reuben, and a Dave's Killer Bread Halos Giveaway!

This is the Flash Reuben, which is all kinds of yum.

You make it like this:

1. Think about tonight's blog post. Inspiration in a thought bubble: reuben! Look at amount of daylight left. Panic.
2. Check pantry. Defrost Viva Vegan steamed red seitan and Dave's Killer Bread Rockin' Rye.
3. Dash to store to get sauerkraut (Bubbie's). Get accosted by kiwi-berry pusher in produce. Eat one kiwi-berry. Succumb to cajoling and agree to buy kiwi-berries. Dash home.
4. Slice seitan and preheat broiler.
5. Broil seitan slices three minutes per side.
6. While broiling, mix up thousand island dressing: 1-2 tablespoons each ketchup and Vegenaise, 1/2-1 teaspoons each capers and pickle relish, dash of black salt.
7. Toast rye bread.
8. Layer half the sauce on the bread. On go broiled seitan strips.
9. Remove about half a cup sauerkraut from jar. Squeeze moisture out over sink. Layer over seitan. Drizzle remaining sauce over, top with second piece of rye.
10. Look at daylight. Panic. Rush outside with camera, sandwich, and backdrop. Photograph from every angle, minimum 15 shots each.
11. Upload photos to computer. Choose least offensive, brighten, and crop.
12. Write post quickly so you don't forget what you did.
13. Schedule for publishing.
14. Hope that sandwich is not stone cold.

Variation: Skip steps 10-14. Eat hot.

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Of course I have another giveaway for you hungry vegans, and it's from Dave's Killer Bread!
Are you surprised? No, you are not. All of their bread is vegan, and it is the only bread I buy. Right now I have their Killer Cracked Wheat bread on my kitchen table, and Rockin' Rye (you know this already) and Blues Buns in my freezer. I dream about their Sin Dawgs--if you have access to them and are not buying them, I am concerned. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a regular purchaser of their newest product too. That product would be DKB Halos, aka Good Seed evolved bagels! One lucky winner will win a package of these gorgeous things upon their launch on November 14. Don't they look so good? They give seedy a new meaning.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite Dave's Killer Bread product, or what you like on your bagel, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Quick & Easy Vegan Bake Sale giveaway is Emmy! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Biscuits, Gravy, and a Vegan Soul Kitchen Giveaway!

Biscuits and gravy. Comfort food of the first order. For biscuits I like Tzippy's version, but I hear amazing things about Johnp's biscuits (can someone link me to these?) and also Bazu's. For gravy, mine, which riffs on Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipe for tempeh sausage crumbles.

Updated Tempeh Gravy for Biscuits

1 8 oz package tempeh, crumbled fine
1 onion, diced medium
2 T vegan butter
3 T flour
3/4 t marjoram
3/4 t rubbed sage
3/4 t fennel seeds
pinch nutmeg
pinch cayenne
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 c soy milk

Place tempeh in a large pan. Add water to nearly cover, and steam the tempeh for ten minutes. Allow to cool. Saute onion in butter till soft over medium heat. Add flour and allow to cook a couple of minutes, stirring, to get rid of the raw taste. Slowly add soy milk to the pan, stirring. If you get some lumps, whisk it. Add in tempeh and spices and allow to thicken. If it is not as thick as you would like, mix some arrowroot or cornstarch (corn flour) with a bit of broth and keep adding it in until you get your desired thickness.

This freezes well, and so do biscuits! I freeze it in portion sizes to cover two biscuit halves.

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Giveaway, you say? Riffs, say I? Biscuits? Gravy? Vegan Soul Kitchen. I am very pleased that Bryant Terry and Perseus Books have allowed me to host a giveaway! This cookbook is serious. Choirqueer loves it because it has a soundtrack. You will love it for recipes like Double Mustard Greens & Roasted Yam Soup, Cajun-Creole-Spiced Tempeh Pieces with Creamy Grits, and Sweet Cornmeal-Coconut Butter Drop Biscuits.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite southern food, your favorite soul music, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winners will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winners of yesterday's Quick & Easy Vegan Slow Cooking are Gumbootscatsandvegansnacks and Bobbie[The Vegan Crew]! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.) Remember, you'll receive this book in early January!

Harissa, and a Q & E Vegan Slow Cooking Giveaway!

Do you know about this Moroccan miracle condiment? I first read about it a few years ago, right around the time I went vegan. I was planning to make a Moroccan vegetable stew with fried almonds to serve over a lemony couscous, so I had a look around at harissa recipes. I happened across a great article in the LA Times, made the recipe, and fell in love. Harissa is a recipe you can tinker around with, so here is my version.Perhaps you would like to have it on farmer's market gado gado, like I did above. You could also stir it into a scramble, dip flatbread in it, use as a sandwich spread, try a Moroccan recipe, or try that vegetable stew and couscous.

Harissa

3 cloves garlic (large)
5 sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed
1 large red pepper, roasted, skin removed
1 t New Mexican chile powder
1 t chipotle powder
¾ t caraway seeds and ¾ t coriander seeds, pulverized in a coffee/spice grinder
3 T olive oil

Blend in food processor for two minutes or until smooth. Store in refrigerator covered with thin coating of olive oil.

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On to the giveaway! Today it's special, because I have two copies of a brand-spanking-new cookbook to give away. Or rather, the promise of two cookbooks to give away: the lovely Carla Kelly's Quick & Easy Vegan Slow Cooking, a title to be released just after New Year's. The Experiment is providing a copy for US residents, and the author is providing a copy for non-US residents. Two winners will receive a copy upon this book's release. January: what better time for a slow cooker book? Thanks to The Experiment (thank you, Ms. Molly!) and to Carla!

I have had the pleasure of testing a number of recipes from this book, and they are wonderful. Look for the kick-ass moussaka, and definitely make the beautiful poached garlic and garlic oil. Amazon's product description states, "Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking makes it easier than ever to plan ahead for healthy, comforting vegan main meals--including soups, stews, chilies, curries, casseroles, pasta bakes, grains, and more--that you can set, almost forget--then thoroughly enjoy! With just a little prep time in the morning, on-the-go vegans and others looking to eat more healthfully can come home hours later to a perfectly cooked meal loaded with vegetables and quality vegan protein. There are no tricky culinary skills or fancy ingredients here, just trouble-free recipes perfectly adjusted for discerning vegans and cooks on a schedule. The nutritious, straightforward recipes include Parsnip and Chickpea Soup, Smoky Mushroom and Tofu Stroganoff, Tempeh Tikka Masala, Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Chili, Roast Fennel and Red Pepper Crustless Quiche, Southwestern Pasta, Thai-Inspired Green Quinoa, and more—plus Carla Kelly offers kitchen tips and hints for success."

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below, and indicate US or outside US so I can separate the entrants! Tell me what you make in your slow cooker, or your favorite winter warm-up foods, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody everywhere, whether you are in Seoul, San Diego, or Sydney. The winners will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Japanese Cooking, Traditional and Contemporary giveaway is Mandi! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Summer Shepherd's Pie, and a Candle 79 Cookbook Giveaway!

You'll have to look at this photo of an adorable puppy-on-the-street instead of at my shepherd's pie. I can't for the life of me photograph it properly correctly. I tried just now to crop a photo and it looked terrifyingly pre-chewed no matter what I did. However, this is a beautiful, delicious semi-recipe, and I hope you will think about making it.

Summer Shepherd's Pie

fava beans, fresh, as many as you would like, maybe a few pounds still in the pod
1 sweet onion
rosemary, say 1 T fresh or 1 t dried
olive oil to taste
1 medium head of cauliflower
Earth Balance to taste, optional
unsweetened non-dairy milk to taste, optional
Tofutti cream cheese to taste, optional
Tofutti sour cream to taste, optional
truffle salt, optional but amazing
white pepper to taste

Prepare your fava beans. Shell them, then blanch them for 30 seconds and remove the skin. Place in a saucepan, fill to top bean level with water, and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the rosemary as well. Turn on burner to medium, bring to simmer, and simmer ten minutes. Cool, and drain slightly if you have a lot of liquid.

Dice the onion, saute until tender, and add to the favas.

Break the cauliflower into florets and steam until tender. Puree with optional Earth Balance, non-dairy milk (please don't use sweetened, ew!), cream cheese, and sour cream--you are making mashed potatoes with the cauliflower. Add the white pepper and salt or optional truffle salt.

Preheat the oven to 400. Spread the fava mixture in the bottom of a pie plate. Cover with the cauliflower puree. Bake for half an hour, or until top is golden. Eat even if it falls apart.

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I hope that is a recipe befitting what's coming next, because today's giveaway is special. It's so special you can't even buy it yet. I have for you today a giveaway from the generous proprietors of Candle 79 for the Candle 79 Cookbook. The winner will receive a copy of this book from Candle 79 upon its release November 1!


I don't really think I have to tell you about how amazing this cookbook will be. (Mine is already pre-ordered.) Says Mario Batali: The Candle Cafe defined sustainability and the green movement long before it was hip or even politically correct. More importantly, the Candle team has a track record of making delicious and beautiful food with explosive flavor and the heart and soul of a zen master. The Candle 79 Cookbook has everything anyone I know could want to eat, and each of these easy-to-make recipes drives (nay, cycles) me to the greenmarket again and again for the pure fun and deliciousness of it all. There is a recipe for paella on Amazon.com; go have a look.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me what you've eaten at Candle 79, or whether you like candles, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The giveaway for the Tofu XPress continues here!

The winner of Eat Vegan on $4 a day is supercarrot! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

We Begin! Fava-cado Dip and a Giveaway from Rishi Tea

Welcome to the first day of Vegan MoFo, the Vegan Month of Food blogging event! Click the logo to the right of this post to visit shenanigans at the main site and find hundreds of other bloggers. I hope you will stop by this blog often this month, because I will be continuing last year's MoFo theme: giveaways! Last year, I contacted companies which produce vegan food-related items and publishing houses that publish vegan (mostly cook)books in the hopes of doing a few giveaways. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and I was able to host at least one giveaway every day of the month. This year, I had a similarly positive response, and I think the giveaway items are possibly even better.

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Before I begin, I'm offering up a recipe I jerry-rigged one summer evening after visiting the farmer's market. I don't have a photo because I was hungry, but I'm sure you can picture it. I made it up on the spot, but you'll find a similar guacamole in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction. I was a tester for the cookbook so there may have been some subliminal crossover!

Fava-cado Dip

1 c. cooked fresh fava beans
1 large ripe avocado
Juice of one lime, about 2 ½ tablespoons
½ t salt
1/8 – ¼ c cilantro

Throw everything in the food processor and turn it on. Whirr until creamy. Add water a tablespoon at a time if ingredients aren't mixing nicely. Serve with baguette or other bread, or maybe with carrots. Cherry tomatoes are good with this also.

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To the giveaway! Once again this year, I have the pleasure of having the first giveaway of the month from Rishi Tea, multi-year award-winning manufacturers of my very favorite teas. I remain especially partial to their tangerine ginger blend, but last year cinnamon plum snuck into my heart as well. Rishi would like to provide one of you with a selection of loose leaf teas and a beautiful teapot. They haven't decided which one just yet, but last year it was the Tsuki, pictured below.

To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite tea, a favorite t-shirt, or anything at all! This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others throughout the month will be open to everyone everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

Tortilla Española, Plus an Animal Camp Giveaway from Skyhorse Publishing!

Chances are you've had tapas, right? If not, let me give you a little background. Tapas are Spanish appetizers or snacks. They can be hot or cold, and many are already vegan. You may be familiar with such tapas as patatas bravas, sherried garlic mushrooms, or chick peas with garlic and spinach. Pregan, my favorite tapas dish, and certainly one of my favorite dishes ever, was tortilla española, or Spanish omelet. I started obsessing about my memory of this simple, perfect recipe earlier today and I had to veganize it. It turned out really well, so I'm sharing the recipe. It's great hot, warm, room temperature, or cold. The secret to the eggy taste of the tortilla is the black salt, so try to get your hands on some if you don't already have it.

Tortilla Española

1 onion, thinly sliced
4 Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced (think 1/8 inch slices)
olive oil
12 oz. firm silken tofu
black salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Using a large frying pan, sauté the onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft, salting lightly to keep from sticking. This should take about five minutes. After the onion has softened, turn the heat down to medium-low and cover the pan. Stir every five minutes until the onions have caramelized, say another ten to fifteen minutes. Scrape the onions from the pan and set aside.

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Lay a single layer of potato slices down in the pan. Cook them for two or three minutes on each side and then test with a knife to see if they are soft. They don't have to be browned, although it's fine if they are. You just want them soft enough to eat. No crunch left. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Repeat with remaining slices, adding olive oil as desired. (I had five batches total.)

Empty the silken tofu into a large bowl, large enough to accommodate all of the potato slices. Whisk the tofu as smooth as you can, and add black salt and pepper to taste. Remember you're salting for the potato and onion here as well, so be a bit generous. Now mix the potatoes into the tofu. (You may also mix in the caramelized onion here if you like to save a step.)

Heat a bit of olive oil in a small (six to eight-inch) nonstick skillet over medium heat. Layer 1/4 of the potato-tofu mixture in the pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the caramelized onions. Layer additional layers, ending with potato-tofu mixture. You may add additional black salt to each layer if you like. Press the top down with a spatula, ensuring that the edges are touching the sides of the pan and that you have a pretty solid potato cake. Allow to cook for five minutes or so, until you see that there is quite a bit of potato browning along the sides of the pan.

Place a large plate over the frying pan and quickly flip the tortilla onto the plate. Shimmy the tortilla, uncooked side down, back into the pan. Cook for an additional five minutes, rinsing and drying that plate while you wait. Now do the same plate-pan flip. You should have a gorgeous tortilla steaming and waiting to be devoured.

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And now I have a great giveaway for you. The generous people over Skyhorse Publishing have kindly provided me with a copy of Animal Camp, by Kathy Stevens. This lovely follow-up book to Where the Blind Horse Sings continues the story of rescued farm animals at Catskill Animal Sanctuary. As a person who initially went vegan after hearing about the horrors of slaughterhouse conditions, and later about the treatment of factory-farmed animals, my heart is warmed whenever I can hear about the wonderful animals that have been saved. I am sure you will agree, and I hope lots of you want this beautiful book. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere, from the Catkills to Kathmandu to Catalina and all points in between. To enter, please leave a comment on this post. Tell me about an animal you love, a camp you went to, or anything at all. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted on the blog tomorrow.

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The winner of yesterday's Daiya giveaway is Sarah! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Mushroom "Scallop" Piccata Over Creamy Polenta, and a Viva Vegan Giveaway!

I would like to introduce you to my brunch today. King Trumpet mushrooms make a really good vegan scallop! I made an easy piccata sauce to serve them with and served them over some wonderful creamy polenta. I am a lemon freak, so know that this is really lemony. If you are not as crazy about lemon as I am, you might want to start with half the lemon juice and scale up from there. I didn't use the capers in my dish today, but they would be wonderful if you are a fan. You could also throw in some veggies. Spinach would be delicious, and so would red bell pepper.

Mushroom "Scallop" Piccata over Creamy Polenta

polenta

1 ½ c unsweetened non-dairy milk, water, broth, or a combination
½ c polenta
1 T vegan butter
1/4 t salt or truffle salt, or more to taste

Mushrooms and sauce

8 oz king trumpet mushrooms, cleaned, and stems sliced into scallops
olive oil
juice of a lemon, about ¼ c
1-2 T white wine
1 t capers in brine, optional
1 T vegan butter
Salt or truffle salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Green herbs of your choice to garnish (chives and parsley are good)

Sauté the mushrooms in a non-stick pan with a little oil over medium heat until soft, flipping, about five minutes. Set aside.

Now, make the polenta. In a small saucepan, heat the liquid and butter over medium heat. When it starts to steam, add the polenta in a steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir until the sides start to pull away from the pan. If you are using non-dairy milk in combination with other liquids or on its own, this should take about five minutes.

Heat the remaining vegan butter in the nonstick skillet with the wine, lemon juice, and optional capers. Bring to simmer and allow to simmer until reduced by half. Add the mushroom scallops to the sauce and gently heat. Add pepper and salt to taste. Garnish with herbs.

Spoon the polenta into two medium-sized bowls. Divide the mushrooms and sauce over the bowls and enjoy!

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Today I have for you a giveaway from Perseus Books. It's the VegNews Cookbook of the Year, Viva Vegan, by Terry Hope Romero! If somehow you have escaped the rave reviews this cookbook has been getting, head over to the PPK to read some Viva Vegan love.

To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me what you want to make from Viva Vegan, or tell me who you'd love to give a copy to, or tell me about a vegan cookbook you'd write if you had the chance . . . or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody, everywhere, from Austin to Vienna to Tijuana and all points in between! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway.

The winners of yesterday's Lightlife giveaway are vegga and Anne! Congratulations to you both! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)