Vegan Week - Day 4

Squash soup with ciabatta toasts.

Well, it wasn't the most exciting start to the day's menu, but breakfast was a simple 'n' sweet pb&j (the "j" was raspberry jam) with a side of applesauce. Some protein, some fruit, something substantial to last the morning.

I had a lunch meeting today with my friend Carolyn, whom I've known practically since I arrived in town two years ago, and my new friend Whitney; we were discussing the upcoming Mobile Meals Chili Cook-Off, so I can write a preview story about the event. We'd originally picked a different place, but then I blundered into this little vegan adventure. So we switched to Grumpy's precisely so I could order a very specific menu item: the Homemade Sweet Potato Vegan Burger.

Homemade Sweet Potato Vegan Burger at Grumpy's in Toledo.

The burger was huge, and the avocado made it slippery, but it tasted good! And avocado, of course, contains the so-called "good" fats. This was fun food, rather than the sterile stereotype of vegan fare.

Personally, I'd have served regular ol' potato chips instead of the kale chips, since they'd be vegan if they only had potatoes, oil, and salt. (Or, even better, salt and freshly ground black pepper ... ooh!) Please note that this is not a criticism of Grumpy's, which I love; rather, it is an indictment of kale. I can eat it, though when it's made into chips it reminds me of little wisps of burnt paper floating away from a bonfire. Kale chips ... potato chips. Which would you choose???

Having had such a generous lunch (of course, I ate the garlicky dill pickle, too!), I only needed a light dinner. So I made a squash soup with a splash of hard apple cider, and I served it with a couple of lightly-toasted ciabatta toasts.

Dessert was one I'd anticipated all week, but had to wait for. Craig eats bananas when they've still got some green on them, when they're not even ripe. I eat them when they're just starting to speckle. I cook with them when they've got a few more spots, and I bake with them when they're close to mush.

Bourbon and Brown Sugar Bananas with Toasted Coconut.

So, to get a better caramelization, I couldn't make this dish until the bananas had reached the perfect point of ripeness ... and today was the day! (This dessert was going to be my reward, last night, for filing Tuesday's feature story for the Food page; but it was better to wait 'til today, to make dinner seem less sparse.)

A pat of butter substitute, a splash of bourbon, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and some crispy toasted coconut - such simple ingredients, but such fabulous flavors to pair with the fruit! And don't forget the chocolate syrup which, believe it or not, is vegan. Not a speck of milk or whey or any other dairy product to be found!

So, the lesson for today is this: you don't need to eat anything elaborate, sophisticated, or complicated to enjoy good food. And you can still eat hearty food and sweet treats while eating as a vegan.


Squash Soup with Ciabatta Toasts

1 12-ounce package frozen squash
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup hard apple cider
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 slices ciabatta bread
Earth Balance butter substitute

Place the squash, stock, cider, applesauce, salt, and pepper into a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir until squash is defrosted and soup is thoroughly heated.

Toast the bread, then spread with butter substitute.

Yield: 2 servings
Source: Mary Bilyeu


Bourbon and Brown Sugar Bananas with Toasted Coconut

2 tablespoons shredded coconut
1/2 tablespoon Earth Balance butter substitute
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large banana
Chocolate syrup

Toast the coconut over low heat in a small skillet until just golden; set aside.

In the same skillet, melt the butter substitute, bourbon, and brown sugar together over medium-low heat. Slice the banana in half cross-wise, then slice each piece in half vertically. Place the banana pieces into the skillet and cook briefly on each side, just until golden.

Place the banana onto a serving plate, being sure to pour the caramelized syrup from the skillet over the fruit. Drizzle with syrup, then top with coconut.

Yield: 1 serving
Source: Mary Bilyeu

Squash from Squares

On Thursdays, my co-workers Beth and Michele are usually the only ones who are in the office besides me; because so many people work through the weekend, they tend to take Thursday off. So the three of us often order lunch in, as a treat for ourselves.

We usually order from Pizza House, which offers an astoundingly wide variety of items from the obvious to sandwiches and salads and appetizers and pasta. But because our office is a vegetarian one, we can't have pepperoni or sausage on our pizza, or eat fried chicken, or even have a simple bowl of chili; that still leaves us with options from Greek salad to macaroni and cheese to tuna subs, so we definitely do okay!

But one gets a bit tired of the same ol' stuff ... at least, *I* do. And so, when we received a flyer for a new place called Squares which offered salads and sandwiches and delivery service -- not to mention providing some nice coupons -- we thought we'd try it.

This past week, Michele ordered the Fun Salad which came with both green and red lettuces, apples and pineapple; broasted potatoes, which were salted/seasoned potato wedges; and the vegetarian minestrone. I, feeding only 1-2 people now (and only occasionally feeding Jeremy and his attendant 20-year-old male appetite), find myself inundated with leftovers on a regular basis; so I had brought a sandwich, but ordered the roasted squash side dish because I love squash, it was nutritious, and it intrigued me that this was available from a chain-like restaurant.

True to form, Michele picked out the red lettuces; and she'd asked if she could also try the gingery Asian dressing in addition to the red wine vinaigrette that normally accompanies the Fun Salad. She's a notoriously picky eater, but was very pleased with the gracious accommodations that Squares made at her request, and she thoroughly enjoyed her meal (with the exception of finding spinach and zucchini and tomato chunks in her soup ... but she ate around those).

As for the squash, it was just perfect! It was very slightly sweet, rather than overly sugared. It was pureed, but still had some tidbits of texture. The dried cranberries in it were perfectly tender rather than crunchy. And the portion -- normally $1.99, but charged at only .99 and included as a side dish to Michele's order rather than as a separate meal -- was generous enough that it would have made a perfect lunch with a cup of soup. I will remember this, happily!

The service, in addition to being friendly, was also quite efficient ... an important point when one is hungry and waiting for food!

And so, Beth (who'd eaten while running errands at her usual lunchtime), Michele and I have found a new place to patronize and support, providing some variation in our routine. But the tradition of spending some "down time" together on Thursdays and catching up on each other's lives continues and thrives ....

iCarly's Spaghetti Tacos ... Spaghetti SQUASH Tacos, That Is

Back in October, I read an article in The New York Times about legions of iCarly fans who were begging their parents to make a dish that had been featured on the show, which is a colossal tween favorite: Spaghetti Tacos.

Dan Schneider, the creator of Nickelodeon's iCarly, is the genius (no, I'm not kidding -- consider what a phenomenon all of this is!) behind the joke of the spaghetti tacos as a dinner option. They've now become all the rage at birthday and slumber parties, and are precisely what you think they'd be -- taco shells filled with noodles à la Chef Boyardee.

Bleah.

But in reading further about variations on the dish -- some with meat, some with oversized shells, and some (like those of my blogging buddy Dan, of The Haggis and The Herring) using linguine and cheese sauce to accommodate family preferences -- the notion of somehow making them appetizing and edible kept gnawing at me. There had to be a way! There had to be some way to make these less repulsive, more nutritious, and something that adults could eat, as well.

And then my epiphany struck: spaghetti squash. I'll use spaghetti squash!!! That still makes it a spaghetti taco, right???


So I baked up a squash, then coated the spaghetti-like strands with taco seasoning to make the basis of the filling. Top it all off with the usual accoutrements of lettuce, cheese, salsa, etc., and you've actually got yourself a nutritious vegetarian meal.

And so, now for the big question: how did the tacos taste ...?

They were pretty good! I can't promise that I'd ever make them again, as I'm a pretty big fan of beef and chicken tacos and I don't have any iCarly fans in my house clamoring to eat like their favorite t.v. star. But they definitely made an excellent, though messy, dinner.

I had bought Trader Joe's taco seasoning, which was heavy on the cumin and not as high in sodium as other mixes; it had a very good flavor which was exceptionally well suited to the sweetness of the squash. The squash didn't overpower any of the other parts of the dish, but every so often there was just a hint of it shining through. With the exception of the filling being so different from the norm, otherwise these were just good ol'-fashioned familiar comfort food, falling apart as they were bitten into ... part of the joy of tacos!

Spaghetti Squash Tacos

1 spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
12 taco shells
shredded lettuce
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped tomatoes
chopped scallions
fresh salsa
guacamole
sour cream

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan.

Cut the squash in half horizontally, and scrape out the seeds.


Place the squash cut-side down into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes until very tender.




Scrape out the flesh of the squash, and place it into the dish you just baked it in, discarding the shell. (Who needs another bowl to wash??? The baking pan is already dirty.) Combine the oil and the taco seasoning to make a paste.


Spread the seasoning over the squash, then use 2 forks to toss the squash with the mixture until the squash is coated evenly.

Meanwhile, heat the taco shells according to package directions.

Place some of the squash into the taco shells; top with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, salsa, guacamole and sour cream as desired.


Makes 12 tacos, and you may have some extra squash left over for burritos or nachos or quesadillas or anything else your little heart desires.

Eating My Vegetables

As mentioned last week, Chanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, one which celebrates a miracle with oil. So it is traditional among the Ashkenazim (Jews of Eastern European heritage) to eat fried foods, especially latkes.

But just because you're cooking with oil, eating oil and worshipping the beauty of the oil doesn't mean that you have to destroy your arteries in the process. It is possible to eat nutritious food that's utilizes oil, too!

And here is one of the ways to do so: bake some spaghetti squash on an oiled sheet, saute some spinach and tomato in oil, and then serve some good bread alongside the vegetables and provide a lovely spiced dipping oil for it, as well.

This is a ridiculously easy meal, one packed with nutrition, and certainly a warm and colorful dinner to enjoy at the end of a long day of work or holiday shopping or errand running or snow shovelling, or whatever your life might bring to you ....

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach

1 large spaghetti squash
3 tablespoons oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1 tomato, diced
2 cup chopped fresh spinach
parmesan, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and place it on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it's very tender and golden at the edges.

Near the end of the cooking time, heat the oil in a large skillet. Cook the red pepper flakes over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and almonds; cook for 1 minute or so, until the almonds become fragrant.

Add the tomato and the spinach; cook until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.


Scrape the flesh from the squash and place it onto a serving dish.


Top with the spinach mixture, then serve with parmesan.

Serves 2-4, depending on size of serving.

Dipping Oil for Bread

1/3 cup olive oil, the greener the better
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon Savory Spice Shop Tarragon Shallot Citrus seasoning mix
1/8 teaspoon Mrs. Dash original seasoning mix

Mix all of the ingredients together and place into a serving bowl. Let flavors blend for at least 30 minutes before serving with good, crusty bread.