Finally the final post in my vanilla cake series! Every time we have a family weekend at the cottage, my sister in law sends me recipe ideas that the whole family can enjoy (vegan and non). I was never that in to Twinkies, but it is a rather fun way to eat cake and frosting. She send me this recipe which looked good, but I wanted to make the traditional filling so it could be stable at room temperature.

There is a little bit of wiggle room with this recipe. The problem I had was getting the bleedin' cakes out of the pan. No amount of greasing, flouring, etc. made it any easier, so I had to go with a more durable cake so it could get it out of the pan in one piece. If you are better at getting cakes out of a pan than I am, you can add up to 2 tbsp more milk and up to 2 tbsp more sugar (see pic below).

INGREDIENTS Makes 8 Cake - 100g cake or pastry flour - 50g all purpose flour - 3/4 tsp baking soda - 1/2 tsp baking powder - 1/4 tsp salt - 1/2 cup soy milk - 1 tbsp lemon juice - 1 tbsp orange juice - 1/2 cup sugar - 1/3 cup oil - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp lemon extract - 1/4 tsp almond extract

Filling - 2 tbsp all purpose flour - 1/2 cup soy milk - 3/4 cup icing sugar - 1/4 cup cold margarine - 1/4 cup coconut oil, room temp - 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste) - 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD Preheat oven to 350 degrees Cake 1. Sift together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. 2. In a separate bowl, whisk together soy milk, orange juice, and lemon juice. Whisk in sugar, oil, and extracts until smooth and consistent. 3. Add wet ingredients to dry and gently whisk until smooth. Divide batter evenly in the separate sections in the pan (60g per section). 4. Bake for 16-20 mins, or until golden and baked through. 5. Allow cakes to fully cool before removing from pan.

Filling 1. While cakes are baking and cooling, make your filling. Whisk flour into the soy milk in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and whisk until thick and cooked through. Set aside to fully cool. 2. When flour mixture is cool, use a hand mixer to beat in the icing sugar, the margarine, coconut oil, and salt. When fluffy, beat in extract. Place in fridge to cool down for a least 30 mins. 3. Put filling into a piping bag fitted with a #5 tip (or similar). Poke the tip into the underside of the Twinkies in three or four spots along its length and gently squeeze in filling. You will feel the Twinkies swell. Don't over fill.

Read the original:
Vegan Dad - V e g a n D a d

Dinner 11/30

Pressed Rice Cakes filled with Eggplant Sofrito

The base uses glutenous rice (2 cups glutenous rice, 3 cups of water, 1 tsp. salt, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to low, cook 40 minutes).

While that's cooking, make a garlic oil (cook 2 tsp. minced garlic in 1 tbs. of Canola oil, until golden, let cool).

We love chile-eggplant sofrito from Ivan Orkin's book "Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint" and have used it for other dishes, but here it really shines.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion and eggplant and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, about 1 hour. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have almost melted, about 1 hour. Stir in the chipotle powder and cook for 15 minutes longer; season with salt. Transfer the sofrito to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Drain the sofrito in a sieve; discard the oil or reserve it for another use.

To assemble, use a loaf pan, put a layer of plastic wrap down, brush with the garlic oil, sprinkle about 2 Tbs. of sesame seeds and press half of the rice mixture in and flatten, add the center layer of the sofrito and top with the rest of the rice, brush the top with garlic oil and sprinkle another 2 Tbs. of sesame seeds. Finally, put a second pan or more plastic wrap on top and weigh it down with a couple of heavy cans for 20 minutes. At that point, cut them into triangles and eat it all in one bite at room temp or pan fry them for a few second to reheat and toast the sesame seeds.

Read the original:
what the hell _does_ a vegan eat anyway?

John Robbins was one of the first inspirational figures in my young adult life. His book Diet for a New Americahelped shape me into a young vegetarian and environmental activist, and as I've continued on through my life, his light has continued to shine and point me towards a life of greater compassion and kindness. Most recently, his books Healthy at 100and The New Good Life, have helped me to believe that it is possible to live a life of simplicity, purpose, health, and joy well into your later years.

So I was excited to hear about the free Food Revolution Summit happening this month, where John Robbins will be personally interviewing 21 people who are "leaders in movements for healthy, sustainable, humane and delicious food". The guests include a bunch of names I'm sure you'll recognize if you're part of the vegan/plant-based movement: Dr. Joel Fuhrman (one of my heroes interviewing another one of my heroes, I can't wait!), Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Dean Ornish, Morgan Spurlock, Gene Baur, Rory Freedman, and more.

From April 28-May 6 there will be three interviews broadcast daily, and you can listen for free. You can get more info on the summit speakers and register at foodrevolution.org.

Here's some more info from their website:

The summit will include focus on the latest thinking on preventing and reversing heart disease, cancer and diabetes; the truth about GMOs, soy, raw foods, and grass-fed beef; the social, ethical and environmental impact of what you eat; and how to inspire your family to join you in making healthy choices.

See the rest here:
Vegan Lunch Box

Vegetarian nutrition is the set of health-related challenges and advantages of vegetarian diets.

If well-planned and fortified to balance their deficiencies, vegetarian and vegan diets can become nutritionally adequate and can be appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.[1] When fortified, a vegetarian diet can provide adequate protein, iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and calcium intake, though these nutrients can be dangerously low and may compromise children's health and development in non fortified vegetarian diets, and when not enough calories are consumed.[1][2]

Evidence suggests that vegetarians have lower rates of coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes,[1] and osteoporosis.[3] Vegetarian diets tend to be rich in carbohydrates, omega-6 fatty acids, dietary fibre, carotenoids, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium. They are generally low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein.

The Oxford Vegetarian Study showed that the health of vegetarians compares favourably with that of meat-eaters (excluding pescetarians).[4] British vegetarians have lower death rates than non-vegetarians,[4] although this is at least partly due to non-dietary lifestyle factors, such as a low prevalence of smoking and the generally high socioeconomic status of vegetarians, or to aspects of the diet other than the avoidance of meat and fish.[5]

Loma Linda University School of Public Health has conducted three cohort studies that identify the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.[6] The University is a Seventh-day Adventist health science institution. The first study, funded by the US Public Health Service in 1958 and limited to Adventists in California, included many vegetarians. The next cohort of California Adventists, the Adventist Health Study-1 (AHS-1), collected data from 1974 to 1976. From 2002 to 2007 the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) collected dietary data from 96,000 church members from the United States and Canada. Many scientific articles have been published on the health and nutrition properties of a vegetarian diet from these cohort studies.[7] The most recent AHS-2 study includes findings on metabolic syndrome,[8]Vitamin D absorption[9] and type-2 diabetes[10]

The 2010 version of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services every five years, states that

In prospective studies of adults, compared to non-vegetarian eating patterns, vegetarian-style eating patterns have been associated with improved health outcomeslower levels of obesity, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower total mortality. Several clinical trials have documented that vegetarian eating patterns lower blood pressure.

On average, vegetarians consume a lower proportion of calories from fat (particularly saturated fatty acids); fewer overall calories; and more fiber, potassium, and vitamin C than do non-vegetarians. Vegetarians generally have a lower body mass index. These characteristics and other lifestyle factors associated with a vegetarian diet may contribute to the positive health outcomes that have been identified among vegetarians.[11]

Vegetarians may avoid the negative health effects of processed red meat: A 1999 meta-study of five studies comparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian mortality rates in Western countries found that in comparison with regular meat eaters, mortality from ischemic heart disease was 34% lower in people who ate fish but not meat (pescetarians), 34% lower in ovo-lacto vegetarians, 26% lower in vegans and 20% lower in occasional meat eaters.[12] A 2010 study found that heart disease is not linked with unprocessed red meat.[13]

Doctors Dean Ornish, T. Colin Campbell, John A. McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn and Neal D. Barnard claim that high animal fat and protein diets, such as the standard American diet, are detrimental to health.[14][15][16] They also state that a lifestyle change incorporating a low fat vegetarian or vegan diet could not only prevent various degenerative diseases, such as coronary artery disease, but reverse them.[17][18][19][20][21]

See original here:
Vegetarian nutrition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yotam Ottolenghi, who burst onto the American scene out of almost nowhere a few years ago, is back. He has a new cookbook, Plenty More, and is touring the country.

Ottolenghi, who has four restaurants in London, was virtually unknown in this country when his first book, Plenty, was published. A vibrantly flavored vegetarian cookbook based on the flavors of the Middle East, it was a runaway bestseller (to date it has more than 500 reviews on Amazon, with an average rating of 4 1/2 out of 5 stars).

He followed that up with the even-more popular Jerusalem. Ottolenghi, who was raised in a Jewish family in that city, co-wrote the book with his business partner Sami Tamimi, who was raised in a Palestinian family only a few miles away.

His newest book is Plenty More, another collection of vegetarian recipes.

I interviewed him for Live Talks LA in front of a crowd of almost 500 of his fans at All Saints Church in Beverly Hills. The full video podcast of that talk will be available soon on iTunes, but until then, here are seven takeaway moments, edited and abridged.

On the success of Plenty.

Plenty came at a time when many people were deciding to begin to cook more vegetables, and everybody knows how bad vegetarian food used to be. And also how exclusive the vegetarian movement was If youre not one of us, youre not anything. I think the vegetarian movement wasnt doing itself any favors by this attitude. Im happy to say that things have become more relaxed. A lot of people have realized that youre not going to get more people to eat more vegetables if you insist that they become exclusively vegetarian or if youre cooking food that is [vegetarian because it is] just void of something. That kind of attitude is all about self-denial and I dont think self-denial is very constructive or attractive.

On the Ottolenghi effect

Im a little bit a victim of my own success, in a sense. When I cook something that is slightly less, uh, noisy, I give it to tasters and they say, Yes, that is quite good, but it is not an Ottolenghi. We all know what it means. It means that there is a certain set of expectations that you need surprise in an Ottolenghi dish, there are layers of flavor that kind of come and go in the eating experience. And that is difficult sometimes. I made a really delicious pea soup a few months ago and we were tasting it and they said it was brilliant, its got this great color from the process, and it was really nice and fresh, but it didnt have that something that really distinguished it from other pea soups. We found a way around that, we made some specially flavored crumbs. But you know, thats just the way it is. There is a certain set of expectations and I go around trying to meet them.

On the visual presentation of the food in his books.

More:
Ottolenghi on vegetarian cooking, the Middle East, feeding a 2-year-old

By Joe Yonan Editor, Food and Travel October 27 at 8:00 AM

Plenty of writers more eloquent than I have weighed in on the Thug Kitchen controversy. If you havent been following, heres a shorthand version: A 20-something white couple in California have been writing an anonymous blog that marries the expletive-filled lingo of urban African American culture with vegan recipes. (The subtitle of the couples new cookbook by Rodale gives you an idea: Eat Like You Give a F---.)

They were unmasked as the publication date neared, and outcries of privilege, appropriation, racism and modern-day blackface hit the Internet. My favorite assessments were from two of my favorite writers on issues of African American food: culinary historian Michael Twitty and cookbook author Bryant Terry. On his blog, Afroculinaria, Twitty wrote, Thug Kitchen is as much now a part of American cultural history as the early cookbooks that used the language of former slaves to communicate authenticity and entertainment as a stamp of authority. On CNN.com, Terry wrote, If Guidos Kitchen were revealed to be the work not of a blue-collar, East Coast Italian-American, but of an Asian hipster living in the Bay Area, wouldnt his credibility be shattered?

Ultimately, Terry complained of a worse problem: The central joke in Thug Kitchen the idea of a thug browbeating you to make, say, tempeh with arugula is based on a lie. Whether or not the hipsters and health nuts charmed by Thug Kitchen realize this, vegetarian, vegan and plant-strong culture in the black experience predates pernicious thug stereotypes, he wrote.

My own Facebook feed blew up with, among other things, an exchange between one poster who defended her decision to buy their book with the statement, Thug Kitchens recipes were/are simple and easy to make with ingredients that easily adaptable to my picky palate and another who responded, If you choose to like something regardless of its origins in racism, oppression and appropriation ... then you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

If any of you consider food a frivolous subject, Ill give you a moment to reconsider.

To be honest, I hadnt given all that much thought to the blog, beyond editing an article that included it last year, long before the writers identities were revealed. In the midst of the latest controversy, though, I couldnt wait to page through the review copy of their book after it landed on the pile. As much as I was bothered by all the things that Twitty, Terry and others articulated, I wanted to see whether there was much culinary value behind the gimmick.

This is not a full-fledged cookbook review, because I tested exactly one Thug recipe: black bean tortas, the Mexican sandwiches. But boy, did I have trouble with it. A coconut chipotle mayo that was supposed to thicken from the addition of ground chia seeds did no such thing, leaving it the consistency of whipped Thousand Island dressing. I immediately replaced it with a much simpler idea: vegan mayo whisked with a little canned chipotle sauce. The black beans that were supposed to get all creamy and thick to be spooned by the f---ton on the rolls needed a good 20 minutes of cooking, a step that went unmentioned in the book. Without that step, they were soup. I heavily adapted the recipe for publication.

Whether or not you agree that Thug Kitchens gimmick is inappropriate and offensive, in the case of the tortas, at least, I think its safe to say that the authors might have needed to spend less time thinking up thuggish ways of writing recipes and more time making sure they work.

See more here:
Weeknight Vegetarian: Black bean tortas, hold the expletives (and the appropriation)

Community Media Lab is a public outreach project launched by Heritage.com providing a learning-based and collaborative environment where community contributors can experiment, learn and grow.

Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for http://www.theoaklandpress.com.

Jerry Wolffe works as the disability rights advocate for the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center and is a former reporter with The Oakland Press. He still writes the Voices of Disability column and created a blog for those who miss reading his articles in the paper. In his blog, he writes profiles of extraordinary people with disabilities, civil rights and inspires his readers and to help others find the way to a world where no one is judged by how they look or their talents but are loved because they are alive.

Pat Caputo is a sports columnist for The Oakland Press who covered the Tigers from 1986-98, and the Lions from 1998-2002.

See the original post:
Jiffy Mix launches vegetarian version of famous corn muffin mix