Happy Halloween! Learn How to Melt Yo' Vegan Cheese!

Hello everyone! It's Halloween today, which this year, has fallen on my day off! I'm going to celebrate by cleaning the kitchen, stuffing my face, lounging around til 5pm, drinking wine and NOT DONNING A COSTUME. What a party pooper, I know. Whatever, I'm doing me today.
In the spirit of trick or treating (or, in reality, keeping up with a vegan blog) I'm going to give you a treat. A new blog post! Best Halloween eva, I know.

All jokes aside, I'm here to present a very serious issue - how to melt your vegan cheese. Much celebrating has been done since Daiya has come onto the market, by myself included, because OMG IT'S A VEGAN CHEESE THAT MELTS (easily).  Personally, I really like the taste of Daiya, but I've noticed not everyone does. Actually, many vegans I know don't like the taste, they eat it for the texture alone. Crazy, right? Let's not even get into what omni's have to say about the taste.

Honestly, I LOVE  Follow Your Heart Soy Mozz. It was there for me when I made the transition to veganism and it seems like a vegan cheese most people can get into. BUT, nobody knows how to melt it. So it gets shunned. Super sad, right?

Follow Your Heart can be melted! I know this because I worked in a restaurant that served it in it's melted form.

It takes a little extra time, a pot and a metal bowl, but it can be done!

Shred your soy mozz.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
Put soy mozz into metal bowl, and place on top of pot of water.
Turn water to medium or low, depending on whether you feel like hovering over your cheese or not.
Whisk continuously, or occasionally, depending on how high the heat is.
Watch it melt.
Make something delicious. I made pizza.

This is called a double boiler or Bain Marie. You can buy a fancy one if you so desire, or...just make it. Works the same. And when I'm melting chocolate at my fancy baking jobs, do you think I'm using some extravagant piece of equipment or this? (The latter, yo.)

Shredded cheese

Melted! As you can see, I need to clean the stove more regularly for these photo shoots, but for real you guys, I had just made my pizza sauce AND you should really try to keep the cheese away from the sides and top of the bowl, because it will brown, thus making it useless. Let's be real, vegan cheese is not cheap.

Pizza time! My roommate Dan, whom I shared my pizza with, was all "I like this cheese so much more than that other stuff!" and my roommate Crystal was all "How'd you get your pizza to look so normal?".

Spotted at Whole Foods!

There is a Whole Foods across the street from my pad in the Upper Haight, and I often spend way too much money there.

I spotted a newish (new to my local Whole Foods, that is!) product that will increase my grocery bill.

Food For Lovers Vegan Queso! I'm so excited! I love this stuff!

FUCK THIS WAR

When I was 25, I moved to Chicago. The first year I lived out there, I worked at a very well known vegan restaurant. I wasn't vegan when I got hired. Eventually, after about 6 months of working there, I went vegan. Cold turkey, no pun intended. I had been an avid meat and cheese eater.
I owe my ex a thank you, for the help in my conversion to veganism. He was vegan and he was my coworker. He was also a political activist. He didn't have much time for me back then, and believe me, I was needy. I didn't have that many/any friends and I didn't understand why he didn't make more time for meeeee.
Now I understand. He worked for the IVAW - Iraq Vets Against the War (also Food Not Bombs and some shit about boycotting Boeing). He was doing things bigger than him, bigger than me, bigger than our relationship. I have the utmost respect for him now, I've actually had it the whole time, but unfortunately, our relationship disintegrated  under the pressure of his passion for his activism.
He's met Scott Olsen. His facebook status two days ago* was the reason I looked into who Scott Olsen is and what happened in Oakland.

How does one serve two fucking tours in Iraq, before the age of 24, only to be brutalized by our domestic police force? In a city that is only mere miles from where I live? In a city where I lived when I first moved back from Chicago, to the Bay Area?
The Afghanistan/Iraq war started when I was 19, maybe barley 20. And it's still going on. 10 fucking years. I've been desensitized, by this war. At 22, I could (morbid curiosity, what can I say?) watch beheadings on youtube (Did youtube exist back then? Maybe just on shitty modem dial up internet pages that hosted videos). How does one recover from that? How do you trust humans after that? I don't watch PETA videos, because I have seen what humans are capable of doing to each other, let alone defenseless animals.
On that note, obviously I am no advocate of war.Young men and women join the military for a variety of reasons.  My own father was in the military, though at a time when there was no war he was called in to fight for. There are many horror stories I have heard second hand, via IVAW members, and I hugely respect the young men that come back from Iraq to stand up to fight against the war. I am 30 now, and it was so painful to me as a 22, 23, 24 year old, to see on the news, pictures of soldiers younger than I, who had died in combat.
On that note - I am sick and horrified that Scott Olsen is 24 years old and now lies in critical condition after police brutality at Occupy Oakland. . He almost died and he may be brain damaged thanks to our domestic police force, while participating in what was to be a peaceful protest against the crooks at Wall Street. After surviving two tours of duty in Iraq. You have got to be fucking kidding me.
I want to believe that people are good at heart. I want to believe that somehow, someway, I am doing something bigger than myself by going vegan. That if I can't stop this war, I can stop some kind of slaughter, in some way.

I am angry and I feel helpless to the horrors of humanity.

*RJ's status - The indignation I feel is hard to express. A member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, someone I have personally met, was shot in the head for peacefully protesting. People have not idea what it means to be a Veteran. My thoughts are with Scott Olsen, IVAW and the entire occupy movement. Thank you to the many I know who have worked and sacrificed to make this movement happen. Let the struggle continue!

Gross or Awesome?

Peanuts in a 25 cent 'vending' machine in a bar in Alameda. Gross or awesome? The consensus of the group was gross, and that 'the sides look greasy' (Christina).
Vegan options in dive bars!

It's Always Foggy in the Upper Haight

My roommates and I have gotten together and birthed...a blog baby. So far we are raising it with two dads and a mom. We'll see where this goes. I'm excited about having an outlet concerning the eccentric street that I live on. It's not the 1970's anymore, though everyone outside our apt right now wishes that it were!

It's Always Foggy in the Upper Haight

It's a work in progress. Like everyone I know!

Rocky's Frybread in San Francisco. Get It!

 My friends and I have this ongoing Monday Night Happy Hour thing, where basically, we meet early evenings on Mondays and try different bars around the city. One of my besties, Christina, just happened to be playing at the El Rio on Monday night, so El Rio for Happy Hour it was!
Who else happened to be there? Rocky Yazzie, who sets up shop in El Rio's backyard to make and sell his delicious Navajo frybread! He assured us that his fry bread is vegan, as well as the bean stew he uses. So we (my roommate Dan and myself) ordered our Navajo 'taco' sans cheese and OMG. I'm going back to El Rio next Monday for more frybread!. Actually the whole Monday Night Crew is going back to El Rio because we are having a welcome home party there for our (other) friend Dan, but that's beside the point!

Rocky! Plus my flash. Sorry guys.

The taco.

I call this series 'Eating Frybread at El Rio'

 Myself

 Dan the Roommate

Britney

Get it!

Sometimes I Invite People Over to Watch TV and Stuff Our Faces With Vegan Food

The New Girl wasn't on last night, I guess it's on hiatus til November. Like that Wyclef Jean song! It's gone til November. Well, I had invited a few peeps over to watch it, but BASEBALL HAS TAKEN OVER FOX, so we watched Arrested Development on DVD instead. Talk about a win-win situation, right? And since I want everyone to like me all the time and always want to come over, I made some food.

BBQ Seitan Wings and Raw Ranch Dressing. I think I'm going to be popular for life! What -NO! I don't still have high school issues after 12 years, why do you ask?

My boss told me I couldn't plate for shit. This was my attempt. It's minimalist. You either get it or you don't, bitches.

The Best Cornbread EVA (With Gluten Free Option!)

Cornbread, yes please! You know why I really ever make chili? So I have a reason to make cornbread! Not like anyone ever really needs a reason to make cornbread, right? I found this recipe on the internetz, while I was living in Chicago. I imagine it was winter and I wanted something to go with my huge pot of chili. Done and done. I've made a few changes. By the way, can we talk about how it was created by an 11 year old?! I'm sure that girl has gone places! Bravo, Dana, bravo!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

You will need:
     *2 TBS ground flax seeds
     *1/4 cup + 2TBS hot water
     *1 cup all purpose unbleached flour*
     *1 cup cornmeal
     *1/4 cup agave nectar
     *4 tsp baking powder
     *1 tsp salt
     *1 cup soymilk or water
     *1/4 cup vegetable oil
     *1/4 - 1/2 bag frozen corn + small red and green bell peppers, sauteed

The ground flax seeds and hot water act as 'eggs' in this recipe. You will need very hot water for this, so you can boil it, but I just use water from my tap, as it's hot enough. I put the ground flax and hot water in a mug, whisk them together, with a fork, for a couple beats and let it sit while I get the rest of my stuff together. It should make a gelatinous substance.

Add all dry ingredients together and whisk with a fork or....whisk. Add wet, including flax seed mixture. Mix until smooth, being careful not to over do it. Basically, just whisk until your dry is incorporated into the wet. Fold in sauteed veggies.

Grease a baking pan. Find one that the batter will fill about halfway. It rises quite a bit, and you don't want the outside to burn while the inside is still raw! Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes. The top should be ever so slightly golden brown.


*You can make a gluten free version SO EASILY! Instead of unbleached flour, I use 1/3 cup corn flour, 1/3 garfava flour and 1/3 cup rice flour and  1 tsp xantham gum! I add a little more salt, about 1 1/2 tsp and and 1/3 cup agave nectar. Also, I notice gluten free baked goods have a shorter baking time, so check it out around the 15 minute mark.

Rosemary Chick'n Patties

This recipe is adapted from Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I like to think of Veganomicon as THE VEGAN BIBLE. Because it is. That's all you need to know. So let's do this.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You will need:
     *2 cans of chickpeas
     *2 -8 cloves of garlic (or the whole bulb, wherever you stand on garlic....)
     *1 TBS lemon juice
     *1 cup vital wheat gluten
     *1 cup almond flour (grind up some almonds or buy it pre-ground at Trader Joes)
     *1 TBS olive oil
     *1 TBS rosemary
     *1/2 cup warm water
     *1 cube veggie bouillon (dissolve in warm water)
     *1/4 cup soy sauce, Braggs or Coconut Aminos

I used to make this by hand, and then I was all "I have a food processor! YES!" So you can mash your chickpeas, minced garlic, lemon juice, rosemary, wheat gluten and almond flour, with YOUR HANDS AND KNUCKLES until it becomes a paste-like mess. Then add the wet ingredients and knead until you see strands forming from the gluten.

OR

Put chickpeas, whole garlic cloves, olive oil, lemon juice, and almond flour in the food processor with 'S' blade and let it go until completely pulverized. In a bowl add your bean mix to the wheat gluten and rosemary - combine. Add wet ingredients and knead until you see strands forming from the gluten.

I used to make little chicken nugget shapes out of the the 'batter', which I'd then place on a greased oven tray and bake. 7 - 10 minutes on one side, flip and continue until nicely browned, about another 5 -7.  Lately though, I've been making them a little bit bigger, more of a dinner kind of size. Which means the cooking time is just a little longer. Oh! It's best to make them on the thinner size, as the outside will brown and the inside will be a raw wheat gluten mess if they are too thick.

Food Processor

Here is a prime example of making the patties too thick. What can I say? I'd been at happy hour all afternoon.

Considering art with Travis while the patties are baking. Photo by Rurik Schtaklef.

Finito! Goes extraordinarily well with brown gravy and Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms. Photo by Rurik Schtaklef.

The Faux Meat Dilemma

I have to admit, I am on the fence about my feelings towards faux meat.

On one hand, I didn't go vegan because I didn't like the taste or texture of meat. I went vegan because it's a responsible ethical choice for the times we live in and the damage we are wreaking on our planet. So, bring on the soy protein! The seitan! The combination of both in one delectable vegan chicken nugget! On the other hand, fake meat is starting to turn up in everything. It shouldn't bother me how other vegans eat, but it seems like the new vegan diet is turning into a parallel meat and cheese universe. I think that's why I sometimes prefer eating places were I can veganize a pizza or burrito or whatever dish (instead of having a list of processed vegan options), because I get back to the basics - enjoying an unprocessed plant based diet. The right salsa and guacamole overrides Daiya and seitan carne asada any day!
I do love faux meat and cheese, and for myself, I want them to be a treat. They are expensive and I don't even know what half of the ingredients are sometimes (hella preservatives). This too, is coming from someone who has been vegan for 4 years. I don't want to forget what that first year is like: I think it's incredible that there are items out there that can help a new vegan wean herself off of meat and cheese. That is exactly what I had to do. Whatever it takes!

That being said, I think it's completely acceptable to make your own faux meats and cheeses from scratch! Right? And so I give you.....Rosemary Chick'n Patties.

Viva Las Vegas, Yo!

(This is my Vegansaurus post about Vegas, before the edits and posting on their website/blog. You'll understand why I am making this disclaimer towards the bottom, because this blog is SO about the adventures of Jenny Bradley. View the Vegansaurus post here.)

Hey everyone! Two weeks ago I went to Sin City and OMG, what happened there is between my roommates, my close friends, my twitter followers, everyone on Facebook and myself. Even though the idea of Las Vegas depresses me (casinos in the middle of the desert, half naked girls dancing, gambling addictions, etc) I always end up having a blast! Probably because I’m like, the most fun person I know. You can take me anywhere (except to meet your parents, I can be really awkward).
Anyway, everyone keeps asking me what I possibly could have eaten there. I’m like, guys, it’s super easy to be vegan in Vegas when you subsist on margaritas and Bud Light for 2.5 days. In the paraphrased words of my idol, Chelsea Handler “I prefer to be on a liquid diet on my vacations” (written somewhere in Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang). Half kidding! I had at least three meals while there.
The first night was not about eating—I ate before I left cause I knew finding vegan food at 9p.m. in Vegas was not something I would be up for. I did buy some vegan power bar type thing and wasabi edamame in the airport, cause I like eating while doing everything, especially waiting to board a plane. The Southwest terminal at SFO is not nearly as exciting or vegan friendly as the Virgin America terminal (PLANT CAFE!).
The next day began with a Bud Light (seriously, I’ve never had so much Bud Light in my life and I can’t even bear to look at another bottle right now. I’m not a frat boy stuck in a socially awkward yet very adorable chick’s body, I promise) and then lunch at Chipotle!

I got my standard, which is a veggie burrito bowl: black beans, fajita veggies, NO RICE, both tomato and corn salsa, guacamole and lettuce.

Dessert came in the form of a Margarita at a bar stand outside of Caesar’s Palace. Now, normally I don’t drink margaritas because of the sugar content in the mixes, but this little tent-bar made theirs with straight up lime juice, AGAVE NECTAR, Tequila and Cointreau. Delicious! So worth the $12.

Statue of naked dude, not margarita.

Now, I know you are all wondering, DID SHE HIT UP LA CAVE?? Of course. The second I made my plane reservation I knew I’d be eating there. After many hours and many Bud Lights (did I mention we stayed at Hooters Hotel and Casino? $30 rooms and $1.50 Bud Lights. SCORE.) I put on one of the thirty dresses I brought for my three night stay and headed to The Wynn with my roommates (we like to take family vacays together).

 Waterfall at Hooters. The pool and the hot tub are open 24/7! Drinking in them is totally acceptable. Even spilling a shot of tequila in the hot tub, on your roommates and a dudebro that is hitting on you, is fine!

Walking into La Cave, I felt like a vegan Kardashian. It’s so fancy! Now, one thing I didn’t know about the place is that it’s small plates/tapas style. I did get a dirty look from one of my roommates (“I’m paying $15 for a tapas plate?!?!”) but once we got our food, everyone was stoked/evil stares dissipated.

 The most important section of the menu, obvi.

 Gardien Chick’n, Celery Root Puree, Lemon Caper Sauce.

 Mushroom Tortellini, Arugula, Tomato ‘Cream’ Sauce

You guys, go to Vegas just to eat at La Cave. I have to warn you, it’s the kind of place where a pint of PBR costs $8. After drowning in $1.50 Bud Lights, that price seemed like blasphemy. Apparently, being fancy does not come cheap! Even if it’s PBR we’re talking about….

After some more Vegas-style shenanigans (Old Vegas is super fun. It’s like being in an episode of Mad Men, the casinos are sooo retro!), we ended up back at Hooters. You know, because it’s where we were staying. The boys wanted wings (so gross boys, SO GROSS.) and luckily for me, there was totally a sandwich I could veganize on the Mad Onion menu. It just so happened to be the ‘Sassy San Franciscan’. Fucking fitting, yo.

 Take out the cheese and mayo, sub mustard on this veggie sammie, please and thank you!

On our final day in Vegas, I simply could not be bothered to leave the poolside, so I ordered the sandwich AGAIN! There were plans to go to Ronald’s Donuts, but in the end: pool > donuts. I know, you guys are all “WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU”, but the thing is, I didn’t eat donuts before I was vegan and I’m not going to go out of my way to eat them now, just cause they’re vegan. There. I said it. Sorry I’m not sorry!

Since this blog is not called ‘The Adventures of Jenny Bradley’, I believe this is where we part ways. That’s all the vegan-ning I did in Vegas. I know there’s a lot of places I missed (drinking Bud Light all day really kills motivation) so let me know what to hit up next time! Because even though I don’t think I ‘get’ Vegas, for some reason I always miss it when I leave. I’m already itching to go back. Sin City, I might love you.

More pics that will not be posted on Vegansaurus, but showcase how attractive my roommates and I are, include:

 Old Vegas! Crystal, Dan, Rurik.

OMG I love the Golden Nugget! The drinks are strong and super cheap! Photo by Rurik Schtaklef.

Bling Bling Photo by Rurik Schtaklef.

Rurik, Dan and Crystal lounging by the Hooters pool.

 Rurik, myself and Dan. Photo by Dudebro.

Myself and Dan. Bad angle, but good picture! It's exhausting being so photogenic. Photo by Rurik Schtaklef.

Salt Is Yo' Friend

Hey peeps! Man, I've been tired lately. And by tired I mean, I've been having tons of fun and not writing because I actually feel like leaving the house on a regular basis. Crazy, right?
Anyway, I just thought I'd drop in and let you know that salt, though it does have a bad rap, is a very good thing. Unless your Doc tells you not to eat it anymore cause of high blood pressure, then, you know, disregard this post.
The right amount of salt brings out FLAVOR. Unfortunately for myself, I've been taking that advice a little too heavy hand-ed-ly. Does that make sense? No? I PUT TOO MUCH SALT IN MY FOOD. Ooops. Silly me. Seriously though, you don't have to over-season your food, just try adding a little more salt. It will bring out the flavor of everything else! Same goes for dessert. It totally brings out the sweetness of sugar (ahem, agave nectar) and for some reason, the flavor of chocolate! Rule of thumb: add a little at a time, cause you can put it in but you can't take it out.
Is there a dirty joke in there?