Cream of Tomato Soup and an Earth Balance Giveaway

Who needs dairy cream? This soup is rich and luscious with a cashew-based cream. Here it's garnished with a sprinkle of chives (the only thing the whiteflies left in my container garden!) and served with sourdough rosemary-olive toasts.

Cream of Tomato Soup

1 ¾ c raw cashew pieces
5 to 6 pounds plum tomatoes
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced medium
2 shallots, sliced
2 carrots, diced medium
4 cloves garlic, sliced thick
4 c unsalted vegetable broth (if salted, cut salt in recipe by at least 1/3)
Bay leaf
1/8 – ¼ c packed whole basil leaves
Pinch nutmeg
1½ t salt
½ t freshly ground white pepper

Soak the cashew pieces in water, at least three hours, and preferably overnight. Rinse and place in a blender. Cover with water to the top of the nuts. Blend at least five minutes over time, giving the blender motor a rest at least twice. You want the cashews as smoothly blended as possible. Set aside.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Immerse the tomatoes in the water, working in batches so you can keep an eye on each one. After thirty seconds to one minute, the skins should burst open. Remove from the boiling water and set aside. Repeat until all the skins have split. Slip the skins off of the tomatoes and core them. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion, shallots, and carrots for ten minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté two additional minutes. Add the broth. Now add the tomatoes, one at a time, tearing each tomato roughly as you add it to the pot. Take care to tear them away from you or wear an apron! Add the bay leaf, basil, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer one hour.

Puree soup using an immersion blender and add cashew puree. Let the soup sit for twenty minutes and serve.

And now for a giveaway! Today I have for you a coupon for a free Earth Balance product. Buttery deliciousness for baking, fun on your toast! Did you know they make peanut butter and soy milk as well? To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about your favorite use for Earth Balance, what brings balance to your life, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Earth Balance products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Earth Balance where you live!


The winner of yesterday's Coconut Bliss giveaway is Stephen! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. Congratulations!

Why hello there, artichoke! Plus a Coconut Bliss giveaway!

I love steamed artichokes with vinaigrette or with lemon and melted Earth Balance so much that I never in my life deviated from eating them this way until a few nights ago. I had always vaguely thought they would be super messy, and that all the stuffing would fall out when I pulled the leaves off. For some reason, I decided to try them anyway, and I'm glad I did.

Stuffed Artichokes

2 large globe artichokes, trimmed
¼ c walnut pieces
2 cloves garlic
1 c sourdough bread crumbs
¼ c nicoise olives
2 T nutritional yeast
¼ c grape tomatoes
Zest of one lemon
½ t salt
Olive oil

Steam artichokes until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool, pull out central leaves and scrape out choke. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place walnuts and garlic in bowl of food processor. Pulse till finely minced. Add crumbs, olives, nooch, tomatoes, zest, and salt. Pulse to mix. Using a spoon, fill center of artichokes lightly . Stuff remaining filling between leaves--and a little goes a long way.Try to get a little stuffing by the base of each leaf. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Bake till browned, about 25 minutes.


And now for a giveaway! Today I have for you a coupon for a pint of delicious Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss ice cream. Have you tried it? I think it's better than dairy ice cream every was. Most recently I am liking the cherry amaretto flavor. To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about your favorite flavor of (nondairy!) ice cream, or something that blisses you out, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Coconut Bliss products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Coconut Bliss where you live!

The winner of yesterday's fabulous giveaway, The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, is falovi! Congratulations, falovi! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. veganf, VeggieAmanda, and Michelle, I have been trying to track you down, but no luck so far. Please send me your addresses so I can send you your free product coupons!

Chipotle Hominy Stew from The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, and a Giveaway from Skyhorse Publishing!

Yum.

I'm doing a giveaway for Melisser Elliott's brand new book today, so I asked her to recommend a recipe. I present to you a bowl of chipotle hominy stew. Let me tell you how delicious this is. It's also dead easy and comes together in a flash. Highly recommended, and I highly recommend using all of the suggested garnishes.

The giveaway details are down below, and please note that Melisser is currently undertaking a book tour in the eastern US, France, and England, so you may be able to buy a copy directly from her! Dates, times, and locations follow.

Chipotle Hominy Stew
from The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life,
with permission from Melisser Elliott

This warmly spiced Mexican stew gets a bit of zip from the chipotle peppers, and is full of chewy hominy and beans with a kick of lime. It’s a great dish to feed to anyone, vegan or not, and can be dressed up with an array of delicious toppings!

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 medium red onion, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon epazote or oregano
* 1 to 3 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles, based on your spice preference
* 1 chipotle chili, finely diced
* 1 (29 ounce) can of prepared hominy, drained and rinsed
* 1 (14 ounce) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 (28 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, preferably in juice
* 28 ounces of water
* Juice of 1 lime, 3 to 4 tablespoons

Garnish options:

* Chopped cilantro
* Radishes, thinly sliced
* Diced avocado
* Shredded lettuce
* Crushed tortilla chips
* Non-dairy sour cream

In a 5-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic, cook for 2 minutes, then add salt, pepper, cumin, epazote, chipotle in adobo, and diced chipotle. Stir to combine. Add the pinto beans and hominy, and then add the can of diced tomatoes. Fill the can with water, add it to the pot, and stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, partially covered. After 10 minutes, add the lime juice. Allow the stew to sit for 5 to 10 minutes to combine the flavors. Taste for seasoning, then divide among soup bowls and garnish as desired.


Tour dates! The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life! Go say hi to Melisser and buy some books!

• November 6th Jacksonville, FL Northeast Florida VegFest, talk at 1:30pm
• November 7th Washington DC at Cafe Green, 4pm to 6pm
• November 10th Philadelphia, PA at Grindcore House, 6pm to 8pm
• November 12th Manhattan, NY at MooShoes, 7pm to 9pm
• November 16th Syracuse, NY at Strong Hearts Cafe, 7pm to 9pm
• November 17th Boston, MA at Peace O' Pie, 7pm to 9pm
• November 20th Brooklyn, NY at Champs Bakery, 7pm to 9pm
• November 21st Montclair, NJ at Go Lightly Eco Store 1pm to 3pm
• November 28th Paris, FR at Paris Vegan Day, book signing and talk
• November 30th Manchester, UK at The Thirsty Scholar, 6pm to 8pm
• December 2nd Brighton, UK TBA
• December 4th London, UK at Vx, book signing and talk 2pm to 6pm - 5% off all Vx purchases at the event!
• December 5th London, UK at the Animal Aid Christmas Fayre, talk at 3:15pm, signing to follow

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And now, the giveaway itself! Your very own copy of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life from the generous people over at Skyhorse Publishing. I want this and am having a hard time giving this book up. I'm trying not to stick my nose in your book, but it is seriously fabulous, and if you are on the PPK, you know a bunch of contributors, bonus! To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me a vegan tip of your own, or something you love about Melisser, or anything you like. This giveaway is open to everybody, everywhere, from Baton Rouge to Brighton to Seoul and all points in between!

The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you have won a bigger giveaway from this blog already, please consider being kind and not entering further bigger giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible! However, if you enter, please do check back. Michelle, email me regarding the Tofurky pizza coupon--your profile is private so I can't contact you! If I don't hear back from you, I'll add it to a later giveaway.

The winners of yesterday's Amy's giveaway are VeggieAmanda, Luciana, and Laura S. Noll! Nine, seven, eight, weird, right? Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. Congratulations to you three!

A Little Bowl of Little Kiwiberries, and a Giveaway from Amy's!

I've never heard of these or seen them before! They are a tiny variety of kiwi, greeny-red with smooth edible skin. You can see that the interior looks fairly like a mini-kiwi (mini-wi?). The flavor is tart kiwi, the texture is sort of peachy. They are great for snacking, and I think that once trimmed they would be perfect in fruit salads.

Here they are with a quarter, for scale. Novelty!


Today's giveaway is brought to you buy the generous people at Amy's Kitchen. Three lucky winners will win a coupon good for any Amy's product, and another coupon for a free canned product. To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about your favorite Amy's product, or a person you know named Amy, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Amy's products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Amy's where you live!

The winners of yesterday's Turtle Island Foods free pizza coupons are Michelle and Meredith!

and the winners of the free product coupons are almiragoesvegan, louzilla, and veganf!

Please email me your address at miso...@yahoo.com. Congratulations!

Spaghetti Squash Autumnvera, and a Giveaway from Turtle Island

Today, a recipe. It started out as a primavera, but took a turn for the different. I suppose I should call it Spaghetti Squash Autonno, but that sort of sounded like tuna, and I somehow like the sound of autumnvera.


Spaghetti Squash Autumnvera

½ c raw unsalted cashew pieces
1 medium to large spaghetti squash
1 shallot, finely diced
1 c spinach leaves
2 roma tomatoes, finely diced
1 clove garlic, microplaned or minced
½ t sage
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
½ c cooked winter squash (I used kabocha)

Soak ½ c cashews in water overnight. Drain, place in a blender, fill water just to over the cashews and whizz for a few minutes, under very creamy. (This is a Tal Ronnen method.) Set aside.

Pierce the spaghetti squash with a knife in five or six places, and bake at 400 degrees until it is very soft, maybe an hour. Set aside to cool enough to handle. You could bake it the night that you soak cashews to be ready to go the next day. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds and slimy center. (You can also do this before baking; just cut the squash in half and scrape out the pulp and seeds.) Scrape the squash strings into a bowl and fluff with a fork. You may want to use your fingers to pull through and further separate them.

Sauté the shallot until translucent and soft. Add the tomato, spinach, and garlic. Cook down until the spinach is wilted and there is no water visible. Add the sage, salt, pepper, cashew cream, and winter squash and warm for a bit. It will be thick. Add the spaghetti squash and stir to mix, and heat gently for a few minutes. Serve warm.

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Today's giveaway is brought to you buy the generous people at Turtle Island Foods! Two lucky winners will win a coupon good for a Tofurky pizza (have you been curious?), and three others will win a coupon good for almost any other Turtle Island product (Yum, Jurky! Peppered Slices!). To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about your favorite Turtle Island product, or a turtle you saw once, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Turtle Island Foods products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Turtle Island/Tofurky products where you live! If you've already won a bigger giveaway from me this month, please consider not entering again so that lots of people have a good chance!

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I have used the random.org widget, but no luck yet on getting it to post the way I want. I will keep on working on this. The winner of yesterday's generous giveaway, Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations by Alicia Simpson, is Bobbi Nummers! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. Congratulations!

The Last of Summer and a Giveaway from The Experiment Publishing

On the last day of the Cannon Beach Farmers Market last year, I snapped up every vegetable I could, especially those that might keep a while. I wasn't really blogging at that point, and never posted them. So! You get to enjoy these fabulous veggies now. Above, clockwise from top left: green and red peppers, pattypan squash, cherry tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, and tiny white and purple Japanese eggplant.

Dinosaur kale, aka cavolo nero.

Chard and carrots. See the white one?


Red celery, celebration squash, fresh garlic, shallots, pumpkin, delicata, and pink banana. Incidentally, the CBFM is really cute, so if you're heading out to Oregon's north coast next summer, try to have it include a Tuesday. Be on the lookout for JP's hummus, which is sold in little pint containers, and head over to the Blue Scorcher book for yummy vegan sourdough or kalamata olive bread to eat alongside.

And now, a giveaway for November 2nd! Today's giveaway is brought to you by the generous folks over at The Experiment. I offer to you a copy of Alicia Simpson's second cookbook, Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations!



The Experiment says, "From Seitan Parmesan and Sweetheart Sangria for Valentine's Day, to Tourkey Cutlets and Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving, Alicia serves up all your holiday favorites — with complete menus for New Year's Eve • Valentine's Day • Game Day • Mardi Gras • St. Patrick's Day • Easter • Cinco de Mayo • Independence Day • Halloween • Thanksgiving • Hanukkah • Christmas • Kwanzaa • … Plus Birthday Sweets! Not a gourmet chef? Not to worry! Everything from Naw-Fish Étouffée to Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is quick and easy to prepare. "

Seitan parmesan and étouffée calling my name for sure! The book looks wonderful.

To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me what you've been making or what you think of MoFo so far, or tell me what you made for your last celebration, or anything you want. This giveaway is open to everybody, everywhere, from Seattle to Vienna to Sydney, and all points in between! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you won yesterday's giveaway, please consider being kind and not entering further biggish giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!


The winner of yesterday's wonderful Rishi tea giveaway is number three, SoNotCool, http://justnotcool.blogspot.com! I have a random.org widget, but I'm confused about how to use it; please bear with me for the moment. Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com, and I'll see that your package is sent to you ASAP.

Happy Vegan MoFo! Day One and a Giveaway: Rishi Tea

Remember summer? When you had gorgeous heirloom tomatoes to your heart's content? Sigh. For your viewing pleasure: my favorite sandwich.



Anatomy: German jogger roll, locally made hummus, walnuts, sprouts, and perfect heirloom tomato slices. This doesn't need a recipe.

Plated:



Now to the very first of my entire month of vegan giveaways. (Yes, that is right, I will be having a food- or drink-related giveaway every single day this month, because vegan and vegan-friendly companies have been so very generous!) This really lovely giveaway is from Rishi Tea, multi-year award-winning manufacturers of my very favorite teas. Tangerine ginger is my preferred variety, but every single one I have tried has been excellent. Rishi would like to provide one of you with a selection of five loose leaf teas and this beautiful little teapot, The Tsuki.

To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite tea, your favorite teapot, or anything at all! This giveaway is open to US residents only, but lots of others this 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 larger 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!