screw your rez

and eat cake for breakfast! i'm only half kidding. on the one hand, i respect that the beginning of each new calendar year is as good a time as any to re-evaluate your habits, priorities and decision-making logic. sometimes we get in routines and ruts without hardly noticing, and a shocking amount of time can go by without pausing to wonder why. maybe jan 1 is an arbitrary time to stop and take stock, but for for some reason - either manufactured or natural - it is cemented in our culture as the time to do just that.

on the other hand, the idea of a clean, refreshed slate is nice, especially after the holiday fetes and feasts that define december. and surely, setting new goals and tidying up one's physical and/or mental state is a healthy practice every now and again. but something about the way we even talk about "resolutions" seems to imply an inevitable tapering off of discipline and eventual failure. i've never been a fan of capital D diets or exercise fads, and the dawning of the new year spawns a nauseating number of both. seeing copious beautiful salad recipes and "7 Days of Juicing!" features gracing mainstream magazine covers is better than the ubiquitous glistening slab of protein, but i wish versions of these articles were written year round, not just during the be-a-better-you season.

thus, i appreciated this dose of sanity from our man mark bittman in the most recent issue of bon appetit, which seems to be a reaction to the extremism that dominates the resolution fervor. basically, he just proposes making small but meaningful changes in your diet and lifestyle, ones that you stick with consistently, and that over time, help you make lasting, sustainable progress. what sensible advice! everybody needs a level headed, Dad-like voice to talk them down from the ledge of carb-free crash diets and sugar-free sadness. mark bittman is The Dude of the food world (albeit, with a less bitchin head of hair), and i really admire him. in my dreams, we'll do a J together one day on a balcony overlooking new york city skyline.

an awesome, healthy diet doesn't have to be synonymous with an ascetic lifestyle that will be tempting to abandon every day. i'm pretty certain that both bittman and the dude would want you to take it easy, man. you can even have cake for breakfast! yeah, it's healthy and vegan, but cake is cake, dammit. and alongside a wedge of citrus and a cup of tea, this will kick the old metabolism into high gear. the gentle carbs and walnuts will keep you full until lunchtime, and the touch of whiskey will warm you for the morning commute through the frozen sludge.

Breakfast Cake with Boozy Currants
adapted from Sinfully Vegan by Lois Dieterly
~makes approx 12 slices of cake~
~takes 90 mins, largely unattended~

ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground flax
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
3/4 cup of currants
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (maybe a little less) whiskey, bourbon, or dark rum

- put the currants in a small bowl. pour in liquor almost to the top so that mostly all the currants can take a nice booze bath.

- preheat the oven to 350F. lightly coat a bundt pan with canola oil.

- in a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon (and ginger, if using), and salt.

- in another bowl, with an electric mixer, or briskly by hand, combine the oil and sugar until well mixed.

- in a separate bowl, combine the apple cider and flax powder. whisk with a fork until the flax is dissolved. add this mixture to the oil and sugar.

- beat the applesauce into the wet ingredients, and then work in the dry ingredients until just combined.

- fold in the currants with the liquor, and then the walnuts. stir to incorporate but do not overmix!

- pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for about 50 minutes. check the cake about 45 minutes in - gently stick a knife or a toothpick into the center part of the cake. if it comes out clean, it's done, and if there are little bits of batter stuck to it, it needs a few more minutes.

- cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. then, flip the bundt pan over and then gently shake to remove the cake from the pan and let cool more fully on a rack. sprinkle with powdered sugar for extra fancy points!


love,
emily

tortas sin carne

usually, the combining of two great food groups turns out all gross/wonky, prizing concept or "cleverness" over actual taste. baked ziti on a pizza? um...no. apple pie translated into a cocktail? NO. bacon flavored lip balm? vomit! i know lip balm isn't technically a food, but, well, it almost is.

well, the torta - basically taco + sandwich (2 of the holiest food groups in my book) - does not fall prey to this silly fate. i often see very delicious sounding but very meat-ful tortas on mexican menus around the city, and never a vegan, or even vegetarian option crosses my little plate. so psyched i was, when perusing the september issue of food & wine, to see that not only was there an entire article about interesting sandwiches, but a mexican torta was included! no matter how difficult, i was going to veganize that sucker...veganize it straight to hell.

this recipe was from the much loved rick bayless, from his new "street food"-centric restaurant in chicago, xoco, and he says it's meant to show people another side of mexico besides tacos. i accept yr challenge sir rick: BRING IT ON!

the recipe:
Mexican Tortas with Black Beans, Vegan Goat Cheese and Vegan Chorizo
adapted from Food & Wine magazine, Sept 2009 issue
makes 4 tortas

1 tsp vegetable oil for brushing the sammy rolls
1 order/0.5 pound of vegan chorizo (i made the TVP-based recipe from vegan with a vengeance)
1 15 oz. cans of drained, rinsed black beans
4 long hoagie rolls, i used portugese rolls from the supermarket - sooooo good
4 ounces vegan goat cheese (recipe to follow)
1 ripe avocado
shredded lettuce
lil tomatoes
pickled (or fresh if you're feeling wild) jalapenos
sprigs of fresh cilantro

vegan goat cheese (i made this up!):
1/2 cup almond or cashews, soaked in warm water for at least 15 minutes
1/3 block of mori nu firm tofu
6 fat green olives, pitted
olive oil
1 lemon
apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

- first, make the vegan cheese so you can let it chill for as long as possible. basically, throw the first three ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well mixed and thick. add a teaspoon or so of the olive oil, approx. 1/2 the lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest, and pulse some more. add a pinch of salt and pepper, and a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar if it's not sour enough for your taste. it should have a dense, chees-y texture. i didn't add anything else, since the tortas were going to have so much flavor, but if you're using this for another purpose, basil, sun dried tomatoes or black olives mixed in could be good. scrape out of the processor and into a small dish or ramekin. let it "set" in the fridge for as long as possible.

- if your chorizo is from another day, reheat it in a skillet. if you just made the chorizo, keep it warm over a low flame.

- add the black beans to the chorizo, and mash them with a potato masher until creamy. season with s&p, and cover to keep it warm.

- prep the sandwich fixins.


- cut the hoagie rolls in half, and pull out some of the bread from the inside to create a small cavity. brush the cut sides of each roll with vegetable oil and put the rolls, cut side down, on a skillet or griddle over a medium flame, and cook until toasted, about 2 minutes. turn and cook the tops for just a minute.


- spread the top of the hoagie roll with the gauxt cheese, and spread the bottoms with the delicious chorizo and black bean mixture.

- add the avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro and jalapenos.


served with a some chips and homemade roasted carrot salsa on the side:


party time! excellent!!

love,
emily