Feeding the Hungry Ghost Book Review

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the New World Library sent me a free review copy of Ellen Kanner’s new book Feeding the Hungry Ghost. In all honesty, I probably would never have thought to pick this book up and read it. First, I’ve never read a memior-style cookbook before and I didn’t know if I would like it. Second, the title didn’t really peak my interest and I wasn’t sure from the descriptions that this was the kind of book I would like.

However, I had a free copy, so I might as well give it a chance, right? And boy I’m glad I did! This book is a gem. The recipes she gives us, 50 in total, are wonderful. Most of her recipes seem fairly easy to make, use ingredients you probably have on hand, and vary in flavor. The most likely thing you are going to need to buy is a spice here or there. While many vegan cookbooks I have read try and tell us how we can re-create our favorites in a vegan version, this cookbook just gives you straight up hearty vegetarian food. Plus, I found that I could make quite a few of these things in Senegal. I’m happy I have this book, because I think it will give me ideas on how to make less expensive day-to-day vegan food.

The stories she told to go along with the recipes were also fun and interesting. She does a good job of describing the recipes and fitting them into a story. In fact, if you like reading food blogs, you will probably enjoy reading her book. My only complaint with this book is that sometimes her arguments seemed poorly supported. For example, she would talk about how important it is to eat local and the following recipe involved mangoes. Later in the book it became clear that she lives in a part of Florida where mangoes grow. However, for most of us in the U.S. mangos are not local, and if you don’t point out that they are local where you live, it is confusing.

In conclusion, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and check it out. In the meantime, let me give you a little teaser: I already talked about her fabulous Veggie Bhaji in my Vegan Valentine’s Day Feast post.

So today I will give you a recipe for what she calls “well-being in a bowl”. My friends describe it as a vegetarian chicken noodle soup. It is comforting and healthy feeling: the perfect bring a sick friend soup soup.

Harira (printed with permission from New World Library)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion

1 tsp turmeric

3 zucchini or yellow squash, or a mix of the two, chopped

2 red bell peppers, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped (I left this out)

Pinch of saffron or ras el hanout (optional but very nice)

One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes or 4 gorgeous ripe tomatoes, chopped

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

6 cups vegetable broth

1 small handful whole wheat vermicelli or angel hair pasta, broken into bite-size pieces (please substitute a gf version – I used rice pasta)

1 tablepsoon active dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm vegetable broth or water

Juice of 1 or 2 lemons

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Lemon wedges for serving (optional)

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and turmeric. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens and turns golden, a few minutes. Add the zucchini, red bell peppers, celery, and, if you’ve got it, the saffron or ras el hanout. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables become tender, 5 to 8 minutes more.

Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, and broth. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Add the broken pasta, yeast mixture, and lemon juice and stir to combine. Continue cooking 3 to 5 minutes more, until the angel hair softens, stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt and pepper. Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.

Serve with extra lemon wedges, if desired.

note: New World Library sent me a free copy of this book but the views expressed here are my own. In no way was I pressured or encouraged to write a certain way.

Birthday Chickens

For my birthday, Rachel bought me two female chickens: Rhianna (right) and Adele (left). She got them in the market from a Pulaar man who brought them from his village to sell as food. For now, they have a three month reprieve while they live with us. When I leave I will give them to my closest friends here and hope they can join their flock.

She also got this great chicken coop in built. It doesn’t have a bottom, so we can move it to different places in the yard when it starts to get dirty. We’ve covered the back area to provide them with a dark space to make them feel safe (this is where we put their nesting boxes).

Since reading Farm City (an amazing book) I have been yearning to raise chickens, and I’m so excited to finally have the chance! I don’t know much about it at all, but after talking to friends and advice from the internet, I am slowly finding my way. Our first week with the chickens we kept them in the coop to teach them where their new home is. Now, I let them out every afternoon (or all day if I’m home) and let them forage for bugs. It is very peaceful to watch them scratch, fly, and cluck all day long. Getting them in at night was quite difficult at first (we have some scratches from the barbed wire fence), but becomes easier each time we do it.

Although these ladies are able to forage for their food, I want to provide them with the best nutrition possible. I can’t buy commercial chicken feed where I live, so I’ve made up a concoction that I put in their house in the morning and evenings. I’ve been told if I burn old bones (fish bones for example) and pound them into a powder I could add it to this feed and they would be getting all the nutrients they need. I have yet to try this, but hopefully will in the coming weeks. In the meantime I am throwing them lots of kitchen scraps (carrot peels are their favorite), and treats (popcorn and watermelon), in addition to this “chicken feed” (see below).

Ingredients

1 kilo millet

1 kilo corn (slightly crushed)

1 kilo (sorghum- I’m thinking of taking this out bc they don’t seem to like it)

1/2 kilo ground peanuts

Combine in bucket – will last about 1 week.

Chickens are great fun and I hope you consider having some too! Just make sure you are getting them from a good place. In the U.S. buying chicks commercially can support some awful practices thus I recommend trying to get them from a friend or farm sanctuary. Also make sure you will have enough space for them to be happy and preferably a place to let them roam. Finally think about any animal friends that might become predators — my dog is definitely trying to eat the chickens but we are working through it.

If you have any experience with chicken raising please leave some advice in the comments!

Note: If these hens lay eggs I intend to eat the eggs however I  will not post those recipes on this blog because I would like this to be a strictly vegan space. I believe in eating in the most moral way possible in any situation you encounter. In this situation I believe these eggs make that cut.

I do not in any way endorse eating eggs from places where you don’t know or aren’t satisfied with 1. how the hens our treated 2. where the hens come from or 3. what happens to the hens when they are “done laying”.

We do not need to eat eggs, but if we do want to eat them let us only do so in a way that respects the animals, the planet, and ourselves.

Magazine Giveaway

Zinio would like to offer all of you, my wonderful blog readers, 10 free subscriptions to the magazines of your choosing. So, the first 10 people to comment with your first and last name, email, and magazine of your choosing will get a free subscription! They offer a lot of popular magazines, and you can browse their selection here.  UPDATE: I have given out the free subscriptions already, but please check out their discounts (below).

Zinio is also offering 50% off digital magazines, check the offer out here. Additionally, Better Homes and Gardens is offering 30% off their magazines. Check this offer out here.

Cookbook Review: Gluten-Free Vegan Comfort Food

Da Capo Press recently sent me a free review copy of Susan O’Brien’s latest cookbook: Gluten-Free Vegan Comfort Food. Thrilled to have a new cookbook to play with while home on vacation, I’ve been enjoying reading the book and trying out her recipes. This will be a bit of a long post, but if you scroll to the end there is a tasty recipe in store!

In her introduction Susan O’Brien says in writing this book she hopes to give us all inspiration to get creative, use her recipes as a starting place and then alter them to suit our needs, and I think that’s exactly what she has done. She provides 125 recipes spanning all meals and moods of the day from breakfast to ethnic food, family favorites, and desserts. For someone new to gluten-free vegan eating, this book could be a resource to help you find your footing as you think “so what can I eat?”. Not only is everything in the book gluten-free and vegan, O’Brien is also sensitive to other allergies. Meaning, while you will find some recipes with nuts and soy, she mixes it up so there is something in there for everyone.

For us veterans, it is always nice to read a quick book of food dedicated to what we like. I did find myself altering many of the recipes, but I enjoyed having them as a base to work from.

In the front of her book, O’Brien also gives us a nice run down of the different ingredients she uses in the cookbook and how she stocks her kitchen. My favorite part of this is the explanations behind different types of sweeteners, milks, wines, and the inclusion of places to go for more research on hot topics such as the pros and cons of agave nectar.

In her explanation of the vegan diet, she focuses on ways for vegans to find enough protein. Although useful, I think this reinforces the stereotype that most people have towards vegetarians — that they will be lacking in protein. Honestly, in my experience, if you are eating a healthy diet you are getting enough protein — check out this article for more information.  She doesn’t mention how vegans might need to try extra hard to make sure they have enough B12 in their diet. However, I am sensitive to this issue since I personally struggled with a B12 deficiency when I first switched over.

But now, to the most important part of any cookbook: the recipes.  So far, I’ve had a chance to try out five of her recipes, and I will review them here.

The first recipe I tried when receiving this book was her Millet Bread (pg. 101).

I have found gluten-free vegan bread incredibly difficult to make, and was excited to see that O’Brein has a recipe for bread that requires kneading!  I called up my friend and master bread maker from The Hungry Griffin to share my excitement and she came over to help me make it. The bread showed much promise in the beginning stages — it blended into a nice dough, was kneadable, and even rose beautifully.

Unfortunately, the final outcome was disappointing   The bread was a bit gooey on the inside, but I would have been afraid to let it cook longer.  The texture, even near the ends where it wasn’t gooey, was dense.  Plus, the flavor was a bit off. Anyway, I won’t be trying to make this bread again anytime soon.

 

 

The second recipe I tried was her Spinach Lentil Enchiladas (pg. 156).

 

 

I couldn’t find any commercial vegan cheese at the Trader Joe’s in New Jersey, so I made some without any cheese at all, and the other half I used a nut ricotta on the tortilla before adding the filling.  The half with no cheese at all was not very tasty, however the side with the nut ricotta was wonderful.  I had some difficulty with the lentils — she says to simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are ready.  After 40 minutes ours were still a bit crunchy, but I realized she didn’t specify what type of lentil so possibly we were using a crunchier kind.

 

 

Next, I tried O’Brien’s Black Bean Burgers (pg. 128).

 

 

I really liked these. I decided to serve them smothered in onions and mushrooms with a cucumber avocado salad on the side, and it was a perfect dinner!

My fourth recipe was her Meatless Meatballs (pg. 139).

These were amazing! Even my meat eating family wanted in on the action.  She says that her recipe is for 6 meatballs, I was able to make 12 medium meatballs with this much food.  Next time I might even make them a bit smaller.

Finally, my favorite recipe of the book so far is O’Brien’s Portobello Mushroom Steak with Smothered Onions (pg. 140).

I highly recommend this recipe, it was a winner with all of the mushroom eaters in my family. And, as a bonus, Da Capo Press was generous enough to let me share it here with all of you today!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 portobello mushrooms, stems removed, cleaned

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons tamarind sauce

1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, pealed and sliced thinly (about 2 cups)

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (optional)

1. In a casserole dish large enough to hold all four mushrooms  mix together the extra virgin olive oil, red wine, garlic, tamarind sauce, molasses, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Whisk the mixture together well.

2. Add the mushrooms to the marinade, gill side up. With a spoon, drizzle some of the marinade over the top of the mushrooms and let sit for about 15 minutes. Flip the mushrooms over and marinate on the other side for another 10 to 15 minutes. Do not discard the marinade when you grill the mushrooms, as you can use it as a sauce to finish the dish.

3. Heat a large skillet to medium-high, add a small amount of olive oil and saute the onion until soft and lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often. If the onions begin to stick to the skillet, add a bit more oil, or some veggie broth. If the onions do not all fit in your skillet, then saute them in batches until they are all cooked. You want to end up with nicely browned onions that will be draped over your mushroom steaks.

4. Heat a barbecue grill to high heat and when hot, set the mushrooms on the grill. Cook on each side about 3 to 5 minutes. The mushrooms will release their juices when they are cooked. Be sure they are fully cooked, but not mushy.

5. If you wish, you can heat the reserved marinade in a saucepan to medium-high heat. When the sauce comes to a boil, add n 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder and whisk briskly to incorporate. Reduce heat to low and cook for a minute or 2 until the mixture thickens slightly. You do not need to do this step if you don’t want to; the marinade is great drizzzled over top of the mushrooms just as is.

From the book Gluten-Free Vegan Comfort Food by Susan O’Brien. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group.  Copyright © 2012.www.dacapopresscookbooks.com

I didn’t have a barbecue, but grilling them on the stove worked well too.  I served this with fried squash and zucchini — what a great meal!

In conclusion, this is a fun book to get creative with. Although some recipes are off, others will knock your socks off. While I don’t trust the recipes enough to cook a blind meal for guests using this book, I can see I am going to try most of these recipes out because there are some real gems here.

If you’ve made it this far, I would like to note that Da Capo Press sent me a free copy of this book but the views expressed here are my own. In no way was I pressured or encouraged to write a certain way. If you are interested in more about this book, check out this great review I found.

Gluten-free, Soy-free, Vegan Meal Plans for Travelers and Busy Folks

Hi Everyone!  It’s been a while since I’ve been able to blog, being in Senegal limits my food experimentation.  But, I’m alive and well enjoying my adventure here in Peace Corps.  Thank you for all your support in following my blog, sending me emails, and your numerous comments.  Hearing from you keeps me going, and don’t fear my blogging will resume full time upon my return to the US.  In the meantime, today I have a guest post here for you all from Carolyn.  She has great recommendations for those of us on the go:

Just because you have a few dietary restrictions: no soy, gluten or animal products, doesn’t mean you have the time to cook from scratch every night of the week. What if you travel or like to camp?  The thought of concocting a vegan meal plan that doesn’t take any prep and has a shelf life can get exhausting.

The good news is that commerce is global, if you have access to the Internet you can find what you need. Here are a few options for the gluten-free, soy-free vegan eater at home or abroad.

Amy’s Kitchen is terrifically accessible. You can find these products in most stores and online if you need them to be shipped globally. Whether or not you have dietary restrictions Amy’s soups are super tasty and come in a variety of flavors. If you can shop at a store, they also make pasta and pizza options with rice flour and vegan cheese.

Allergaroo is another easy winner to check out. They make three styles of vegan, soy-free, rice-based pasta that can be microwaved or cooked on the stove top. Have them ship to you direct or find on most grocery store shelves in the gluten-free isle.

Energy bars are the easiest things to carry with you to munch on, but finding one that tastes decent and has non-soy protein is another story. NuGo, short for nutrition to go, has a line of ‘free bars’ that have 9 grams of protein without violating any of your dietary restrictions.

With just a can opener and a small pot, you can hike for a few days armed with a satchel full of these guys. The best thing is they can all last on the shelf for a good while and let you be location independent with your diet!  Vegan meal plans for the adventurer don’t have to be a struggle; you’re just a click away from finding what you need.

Favorite Places

Hi All!

This weekend I had the treat of visiting my best friend Anne.  We had lots of fun exploring, creating art, and eating great vegan food in NYC and Hoboken.  Well mostly, we explored and she created art while I ate great food.  Check out her blog: Griffin Dry Goods to see all the cool stuff she has been working on.

But back to the food: after being introduced to so many great restaurants/coffee shops I decided that I should start a whole page devoted to great places to eat (see “Favorite Places”).  But, one place in particular deserves a post here as well.

Now, for those of us, like me, who haven’t had ice cream in a really long time (and no, I’m not talking about rice dream ice cream, I mean old fashioned from a cow – eww – ice cream) you may not remember how good it tastes.  That’s why when Anne suggested we travel all the way into the city just to get ice cream I kind of rolled my eyes and said, well why don’t we just eat some coconut ice cream from the freezer?  She sighed and practically dragged me to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, and it has changed my world.   In fact, after dreaming about the double scoop cone, one of peanut butter fudge, one of pistachio, I insisted to go back every day.  It’s a good thing I did because the very next day they had blueberry ice cream made from fresh picked organic blueberries and it was out of this world!

Lula’s makes their own hand packed vegan ice cream in rotating flavors daily.  They have gluten free, soy free, and nut free options available (although I’m not sure they actually have a soy free, nut free option).  They even have gluten free cones (although they have soy lethicin in them)!  Not only that, remember the glory of watching your soft serve swirl onto a cone as you waited with eager anticipation?  Lula’s soft serve comes in three flavors although only the chocolate is both gluten and soy free.  If you ever get tired of cones (what?!?!) you can also get banana splits, floats, and flurries (with delicious mix ins like vegan gummies).  So, long story short: if you live anywhere remotely close to NYC you need to visit this ice cream shop.  You won’t be disappointed.

Exercise for a Healthier Heart

Hello All!

I am happy to report that I am thoroughly enjoying being a PCV in Senegal.  And while finding food here has its ups and downs, I am slowly finding a plethora of foods to keep me happy and healthy.  I’m sure you will see some of them posted once I have a chance to experiment.

In the meantime, I have a guest speaker for you today to talk about ways to lower your cholesterol.  Yes, we all know that being vegan is an excellent way, but adding exercise can only help.  Here is what she has to say.

Exercise for a Healthier Heart

One great way to lower one’s cholesterol is through a reliable exercise routine. If you want to get really good results, you need to engage in daily exercise. Daily exercise, however, can be difficult for people who juggle a lot of roles in life. Then again, regular exercise is still possible if you have tried and tested tips to get you to fit it in your life.

a. How You Can Start

It is best to take it slow if you have not exercised in a long time. Succumbing to a very intense schedule is not an advisable thing to do. Ideally, you should exercise five days a week. Usually, people get burned out if they plunge into a strenuous routine at once. One good thing to do is to get in touch with your doctor regarding health problems, as well as the kind of exercise necessary to improve one’s personal condition. It is best to view exercise as something that you really need to do. Always put it in your schedule in the same way you make time for your dentist or your doctor. It also helps to add a mix of varied exercises and activities spread out through your week so you do not get bored of doing the same thing over and over again.

b. More Must-Knows

If you do chores that allow you to move a lot and get your blood flowing, you can consider it as part of your exercise routine. Simple household chores like vacuuming and washing your car also counts as active additions to your exercise routine. Exercise exists in various forms which you should really look out for. You could try, for example, going up the stairs instead of riding an elevator as a form of exercise. You can strengthen your heart and build up on leg muscles by taking the stairs. As you do your daily activities, strive to take longer ways to get to your destinations. It is also best to wear those running shoes and go on foot to do errands instead of taking the car. Engaging in walking routines helps lose weight as well as lower cholesterol. When you are on your way to the store, it helps to park it a little further down to get walking mileage.

c. Making Time

Some people find it difficult to squeeze in thirty to sixty minutes of continuous exercise in their schedules. To still get results, you could break up your routine in ten to fifteen minute intervals. Plenty of research indicates that such is one effective way of exercising. Regular exercise, while lowering one’s cholesterol and strengthening the heart, can also be a lot of fun. If you add the benefits one gets from having a healthy emotional well-being, weight loss and strengthening, you will notice how great the results of exercising are.

Alana Richardson writes on the preservation of the Italian healthy eating traditions to inform people about the dangers of unhealthy eating habits. To learn more visit her website.

Senegal

Hi All!

I’m writing to let you all know that I am leaving the country tomorrow to go live in Senegal and serve in Peace Corps for 27months.  I will have limited internet access, and probably very little time/resources for blogging.  However, do not despair!  I will be back in 27months armed with brand new enthusiasm and recipes ready to blog with a vengeance;)

Cheers,

Camille

Soy Lethicin

Based on all the wonderful comments (which you should make sure to read), I’d like to present a caveat.  The following is true for me, and not everyone.  Read the comments and continue research to find out what is true for you.

Okay folks, here is the deal on soy lethicin.  For years (or at least a year) I have meticulously avoided this little bugger that they hide in everything.  However, recently my naturopath told me something amazing – I’m not allergic to soy lethicin.

“What?” “Why?” you might ask.  Well, let me tell you.  Apparently, just like lactose intolerant people aren’t allergic to butter because butter is only the fat of the milk product, soy lethicin is only the fat part of the soybean allowing us soy intolerant people to tolerate it.  Did you catch all that?

Now I don’t want to cause any stomach aches, so please, check with your naturopath.  But, do you realize the revolutionary results of this discovery?  Yes my friends.  Chocolate, chocolate covered ice cream bars, gluten free pretzels, and more…..not that we healthy people ever eat that stuff;)