Vegan with a Vengeance - A Review

So for the past week... well few weeks, I have been trying out recipes in a recent cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Overall I did like this book. unlike Veganomicon, this book was a little more into the realm of comfort food and focused on recipes that a novice cook could complete successfully.

Like most vegan cook books, Vegan with a Vengeance begins with a nice introduction on why she wrote this book and where she came from and how she got to being the Post Punk. She tells you what the essential tools are for the vegan cook and what she thinks should be stocked in a vegan pantry. Well-written and does a very good job at telling the story, not just telling you what to do.

Some of the recipes are for beginners, she even goes so far as to tell you how to chop tofu. However, these staple items are a really good foundation for vegan cooking. I kind of wish this was my first vegan cookbook or at least one of my firsts.

Isa also brings her flavour and spice combos into this dish, I personally think she is a master at the sweet, salty, spicy, sour combo. I think it really takes someone talented and trained in matching and combining flavour to produce some of the items in her book.

I think my biggest criticism of this book is that I wish there was more variety in the flavours. I think Isa has her favourites and her books reflect them. It's not fully a bad thing, but I think I would use the book even more if there was a bit more, especially in the entrees. I am not even sure how to articulate this one in words. I think that there are a lot of similar spices in many of the main course dishes (cumin, coriander, curry etc)

Anyways, in summary, I highly recommend this book for the beginner vegan, the flirt (part time vegan), vegan curious etc. There are recipes in this book that I will be going back to and altering to make them my own.

Here is what I tried:

Fronch Toast

Tofu Salad

No-Bake Black Bottom Peanut Butter Silk Pie

Homemade Seitan

Double Wammy: Jerk Seitan and Coconut Rice







So, the bottom line: Highly recommend this book. This is just a small snapshot of what she has to offer.

No Bake Black Bottom - Peanut Butter Silk Pie

Well, as some of you may know, I have managed to kill my oven about 10 days ago and in true ADD style, I have yet to get around to calling the landlord about it. Instead, I planned my week sans oven. I am working my way through a variety of recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I have never let the lack of an oven or any kitchen appliance stop me from having dessert and this week was no exception. I scanned through her book and found something perfect for testing - A no bake pie.

These sort of recipes scare me a bit. I get a little nervous when the instructions are to dump in a package of tofu into anything that is meant as dessert. Combine that with my fear of gelatinous sea vegetables and got a recipe full of fear! Some use love as a secret ingredient... not me!

Agar Agar anyone?

So it is time to get over this silly fear. What's to be scared of? Luckily this recipe is going to drown the scary ingredients with chocolate, peanut butter, and more chocolate. Besides, I think the animal derived alternative should be considered much scarier. I mean it is made of cartilage and connective tissue of animals... ew.

So here is the recipe and my review of it below:

No-Bake, Black Bottom-Peanut Butter Silk Pie
For the crust:

• 1 1/2 half cups of chocolate cookies, crushed
• 2 Tbsp of granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp of rice or soy milk

For the chocolate bottom:

• 4 oz of bakers chocolate
• 1/4 cup soy milk

For the filling:

• 12 oz  extra firm tofu silken tofu
• 3/4 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup of coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cup of boiling water
• 3 Tbsp agar

Prepare the crust:
Combine the sugar and the wafers in a food processor and blend until it is fine crumbs. Pour into a pie plate and add the oil and mix with your fingers. Add the milk and mix again and press into the bottom of the pan. Put in the fridge to chill.

Chocolate bottom:
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. When the chocolate has melted, add the soy milk and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat. Pour most of this mixture on to the crust reserving a couple tablespoons for drizzling on the pie. Put the pie crust in the fridge.

Make the filling:
In a blender combine the silken tofu, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla and blend until smooth. In a sauce pan boil the water and add the agar. Stir constantly until it is completely dissolved (about 10 min). Pour it into a glass measuring cup (not plastic). There should be about 1/3 of a cup or so. Add this to the blender and then add enough coconut milk to make a cup (i.e. if you have a 1/3 agar, you will need 2/3 cup of milk). Pour the milk in the blend and blend until smooth and combined.

Slowly pour the filling into the pie crust. pour the remaining chocolate on top and make a pretty design. Put it back in the fridge and cool for three hours.

So when I made this recipe, my chocolate did not turn out ok. I wonder if maybe the recipe has a typo and really it should have half the amount of baker's chocolate. It still worked, but the chocolate layer I had was too thick and it over powered the peanut butter filling. Other than that, this recipe, was easy and super yummy! I recommend for a hot day when you don't want to use an oven.

Sorry about the lack of pictures on this one, I forgot to put my memory card in while I was snapping away, so all I was able to get were pictures of the proof that I did eat a quarter of the pie for dinner. :)

Battle of the Tofu Salad

My apartment is stifling and the thought of cooking anything at the moment really just wasn't happening. So I did a switch instead of making curry and made a tofu salad from my cookbook of the week, Vegan with a Vengeance. This is not the first time I have made a tofu salad. The last one I tried came from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. My best surprise with tofu salad is that it is a great example of how tofu can be combined with other things and really not taste like tofu.

Both of the salads are great, easy to make and filling. I think it really just depends on what ingredients you have and what your taste preference is. If you like a fresh, simple tart salad Isa Chandra Moskowitz's salad is the way to go. If you like pickle and salt, go with Alicia Silverstone's version.

To see Alicia's recipe - Click Here...Isa's recipe, see below:

Tofu Salad Sammiches

• 1 block of firm tofu, pressed
• 3 Tbsp Vegenaise
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup of fresh dill
• 3 Tbsp Onion (I used shallots)
• Bread and sammich fixings

First press your tofu and then crumble into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the sammich fixings) and mix really well. Put it in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes or so and then serve on fresh bread or on iceberg or romaine lettuce.

Easiest recipe ever. Much easier than Alicia's, but I really wish this had some other ingredients like pickle or capers. I think then it would be amazing.

Try it for yourself and see what you think. It takes no time to make and no stove or oven. Cheers to that!

Fronch Toast

Good morning, or maybe afternoon! I got a bit lazy this week with testing recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance after making a delicious risotto, I lived off of that and salad for the remainder of the week. Now that the long weekend is finally here, I figured I would start it off right with a little brunch.

Isa Chandra Moskowitz has a very simple recipe in her book that promises to make a Fronch toast that looks and tastes great. This is a brunch staple I have not tried since switching to a vegan diet; despite the fact that it was always my favourite.

Fronch Toast

• 1/2 loaf of somewhat stale french bread or baguette
• 1/2 cup soy creamer (I used soy milk with some soy milk powder mixed in for extra creaminess)
• 1/2 cup milk (I used soy)
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup chick pea flour
• Oil (I didn't use)

Preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. After cutting up the french bread mix together the soy creamer and milk then add the corn starch. Stir until it is mixed. Next add the flour and stir. It is OK if it is a little lumpy. I added a bit of vanilla to this recipe and if I made it again I would add salt and cinnamon as well. I can't believe I forgot that was my favourite addition to a regular french toast recipe. Vanilla, Cinnamon and Salt... perfect brunch combo.

If you are using a skillet, the recipe says to add a few table spoons of oil until the bottom of the pan is coated. I used my griddle, so I just used a little bit of cooking spray. I mean, I am already eating a half loaf of french bread, I figured I should scale it back where I can. Cook for about two minutes a side and top with syrup, powdered sugar and berries.

My thoughts on this recipe? It looked just like french toast and is smelled like french toast and it had the texture of a french toast, but I found something was a bit off with the taste. It was good, but just didn't taste as I expected. I do think you should try this recipe and keep an open mind. It is a really basic formula so I think it really could be altered to suit your tastes.

Vegan Risotto - Success!

This week, I am cooking up a selection of recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance a cook book by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She is also the author of Veganomicon, a book which I use all the time and consider one of my most useful tools in figuring out the art of vegan cooking.

Starting off the week, I was planning for two recipes. Unfortunately, I can't find my agar agar, so I just have one for now. as usual, I took a few liberties in the recipe based on what I had, but I kept pretty true to the book this time since my last attempt at risotto was ho hum - See here for my first attempt

So here is the recipe:

Sun dried Tomato and Mushroom Risotto

• 6 cups of veggie broth - Make your own - Click here!
• 1 cup of shitake mushrooms (recipe called for dried, I used fresh)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 cups of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes
• 1 cup of shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg, ground
• 1 1/2 cups of aborio (or other short grain) rice
• Salt and Pepper
• Nutrition yeast (not in the recipe, but I added it)
• Black truffle oil (I didn't have this, but I bet it'd be good!)

First things first, if you are going to use you're own broth, make it the day before (or a few days before) so that you are now cooking all day. Prep all the ingredients and get two pots: one for the broth and one for the risotto. Pour the veggie broth into one of the pots and bring to a simmer. If you have dried shitake mushrooms, put them in the broth to rehydrate. Remove and let cool then coarsely chop them.

Next, add the oil to the pot for the risotto. Add the shallots and cool for about five minutes. Add the cremini mushrooms and the sun-dried tomato and cook for seven more minutes or until the moisture is rehydrated in the pan. Now add in the shitake mushrooms, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and nutmeg and a pinch of salt and cook for a few more minutes. Add in the rice and stir really well to combine or about two minutes.

Now, get the music or a good podcast on because you are going to be stuck in the kitchen for a bit. Start ladling in the broth, one ladle or cup at a time. Stir until it is almost all dissolved (the book says that takes about 5-6 minutes) and then add another ladle. Repeat until all the broth is absorbed. This should take about 30 minutes, and mine was just over that.

Serve with the truffle oil or stir in about an 1/8 cup of nutritional yeast.

I served mine with BBQ tofu and some steamed collards. You know, this recipe is really similar to my last risotto recipe, yet so different. I guess it is the difference between my recipe experiments and a professional. Using a homemade broth I think was a really good move. In fact, if you use a store-bought broth, you may want to consider using 4 cups broth and two cups water. I would be worried that it would be too salty otherwise. Use your best judgement.

As for the recipe, this was an easy to follow and tasty recipe. It has such an earthy taste with all the mushrooms, I think my only change next time might be to add some carrot and celery with the onions. I think that would had a bit of depth and a bit of colour.

If anyone out there tries this with the truffle oil, let me know what you think? I may have to go splurge for some if it is worth it! Isa promises that it is.