Bianca Phillips's Blog, page 215

Vegan Drinks, Part 3

It's the third month for Memphis Vegan Drinks, and we're having more fun than ever. Each month, we gather for happy hour at a different vegan-friendly bar. Tonight, we went to Slider Inn, a motorcycle-themed slider joint with good beer and three vegan tiny burger options.

Here's the group, minus a few stragglers who arrived later.


We even had a couple of awesome service dogs in attendance! Slider Inn has a dog-friendly patio. The server even gave them water bowls!


I started with a High Cotton Oolong Tea, a pale ale brewed with oolong tea! High Cotton is a new Memphis brewery.


A few people ordered cocktails. John had a lovely looking Margarita.


I had the Falafel Sliders — falafel patties, black bean hummus, cucumber, tomato, and sprouts (hold the yogurt sauce). They're served with the world's best fries. They use just a touch of sugar in their salty seasoning, and they taste a little like McDonald's fries (which are not vegan, by the way).


A few people got the Vegan Triple B Sliders — black bean, brown rice, and beet sliders with avocado. I've had these before, and they're really awesome.


I didn't get a picture, but a few people ordered the Veggae-Reggae (caramelized onions, mushrooms, and avocado on a bun ... make sure you ask them to leave off the cheese).

I finished out the night with a Wiseacre Tiny Bomb, a locally brewed pils from Wiseacre Brewery on Broad Avenue. Memphis has gone from having one local craft brewery last year to four this year!!

 
Cheers!

I Scream For Ice Cream Bars!

Summer may be over in a few days (sadness), but that doesn't mean we have to give up ice cream, y'all! Ice cream is for all seasons!

Tofutti sent me some samples of their ice cream bars to try before summer's end. But honestly, despite the official changing of the seasons this weekend, it will feel like summer in Memphis until at least early- to mid-November (goddess bless the south). And even when it's finally frosty outside, the inside of my house will be a toasty 75 to 78 degrees. I like it hot.


They sent the Hooray! Horray! Crispy Crunch Bars and the Chocolate Covered Flowers.

I'd never tried the Hooray bars, but I was excited to see that they are stevia-sweetened. I mean, they're practically guilt-free, right? A creamy vanilla ice cream is coated in dark chocolate and crispy bits. Yum.


I did sample the Chocolate Covered Flowers a few years back, and I really love these too. I'm not always crazy about flower-flavored foods. But the flower essences in these bars are really subtle, and since the ice cream is pink and covered in chocolate, it almost seems berry-like in flavor. Placebo? Probably. But delicious nonetheless. (Yes, I was in my car when I ate this one).


Can we just talk about Tofutti ice cream for a sec? When I first went vegan in 2004, Tofutti was the only brand of ice cream I could find at my local health food store, Square Foods (RIP Square Foods). It was so creamy, and I honestly loved it so much more than I ever loved dairy ice cream. But then all these newfangled ice creams came out — coconut milk ice cream, rice cream, raw nut-based ice creams, almond ice cream. And I've spent years eating those, and I've let my precious Tofutti fall by the wayside.

But these bars reminded me why I loved Tofutti ice cream from day one. It is, hands down, the creamiest vegan ice cream out there. The tubs of Tofutti are hard to find around here, but Cuties and ice cream bars are available at Whole Foods. And my favorite vegan restaurant, Imagine Vegan Cafe, uses Tofutti in their milkshakes and banana splits!

Perfect Protein Salad

There are some dishes that just make me feel so connected the vegans who came at least a generation or two before me. You know, that super 1960s and 1970s vegan food? The stuff people ate before Daiya cheese and Beyond Meat?

I'm talking about stuff like nut loaves, carob, nutritional yeast crepes, and all manner of whole beans and grains. One such dish is a long-time standard of mine — Perfect Protein Salad from The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.


I had hoped to spend much of Mofo recreating a few recipes that I cooked the most when I first went vegan and only had a handful of dishes under my belt. But Mofo is halfway gone, and this is the first such post about an old standby. But I've been making this soybean and wheat berry dish since at least 2005 or 2006. 

It's from the famous Moosewood vegetarian cookbook, written and published by Mollie Katzen in 1977. I got this book as a gift in college, when I was a vegetarian but not a vegan. The book isn't vegan, but many of the recipes include vegan instructions. For example, this recipe calls for cottage cheese, but Mollie suggest subbing out crumbled tofu. I also used vegan mayo for this. That's mixed with crunchy soybeans, chewy wheat berries, cucumbers, scallions, carrots, and dill.

In the recipe's intro, Mollie mentions making this one day when soybeans and wheat berries were the only foods in the pantry. How '70s vegan! Right?

Anyway, I love this dish so much. It's so cool and crisp and perfect for these last few dying days of summer. Because the book is not mine, I don't feel comfortable reprinting the recipe, but you can find an adapted version (that isn't vegan, but you know what to do) on The Parsley Thief blog.

Unsupersized

I've seen my share of vegan documentaries. Some are sad and filled with haunting-yet-powerful images of factory farm cruelty. Those can turn someone vegan overnight, but the hard part is convincing an omni to actually watch. Others are a little boring, perhaps from being overloaded with factual, educational information on veganism and not enough human interest stories.

And then there are films like Vegucated that suck you in and tug at your heartstrings. You become invested in the lives of the documentaries' subjects, whose health and wellness are transforming in from of your eyes. Unsupersize Me is also one of those films.


The film by Zen Fitness trainer Juan-Carlos Asse documents the radical health transformation of Tracy Ryan, who at the film's beginning weighs in at 345 pounds. She's always been big, and she admits she's never thought too much about her health.

Juan-Carlos, the filmmaker and Ryan's personal trainer, went vegan in prison, when he was serving time for selling club drugs in his youth. When he was released, his felony record made it hard for him to find work, so he founded his own personal training studio — Zen Fitness. Tracy became his biggest and most successful project, living proof that a healthy, whole foods-based vegan diet and a sensible exercise routine can turn a person's health completely around.

Tracy Ryan from Unsupersize Me
Imagine The Biggest Loser but without all the behind-the-scenes madness (former Biggest Loser contestants have said they did all sorts of unhealthy things to lose weight quickly). Tracy simply ate unprocessed, vegan food and worked out about an hour each day. In a year's time, she went from not being able to run more than a few steps to running a half-marathon.

Not to give away the film's ending, but you know how this story goes. Hell, if she hadn't been successful, the film probably never would have been made. But by the film's end, Tracy has lost 200 pounds! And you get to watch the whole transformation in a little over an hour. Not to mention that the film features interviews with all the vegan health and fitness gurus — Dr. Neal Bernard, T. Colin Campbell, Robert Cheeke, etc.

This is the kind of film you show to omnis as proof that a vegan diet isn't simply healthy and more humane but BETTER FOR YOU. I know I'll be screening this film with my local vegetarian club, Food Awareness, very soon. I hope, like Vegucated, that Unsupersize Me takes off and gets the acclaim it deserves. It's available for purchase on Juan-Carlos' website.

Power Hungry

I'm not running these days, thanks to a stupid stress fracture in my right foot. That means the half-marathon I was planning to run in October is probably off. And it means that I don't have carte blanche to eat dessert. I've been trying to eat extra healthily because I'm simply not burning the calories I do when I run.

But I am working out. I'd go crazy being totally sedentary since I spend most of my days working at a desk. Yoga, low-resistance on the stationary bike, arm weights, crunches, balance ball, and even bicycling around town are still on my can-do list. And even though I'm not burning even half the calories that I was before my injury, I still need power snacks to get me through workouts.

Enter Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook, a new mostly vegan/totally vegetarian cookbook by Camilla V. Saulsbury. There has to be about 100 or more homemade energy bar recipes in this book, and as someone who relies on multiple bars each week, this is a godsend. I used to spend SO MUCH on Larabars, Clif Bars, Vega Bars, you name it. For about a year, I've been making my own and stashing away that extra cash money.

But to be honest, I'd gotten into a homemade energy bar rut as of late, and I'd been relying solely on coconut butter-stuffed dates to fuel workouts. And while those are delicious, even stuffed dates can get boring after a time.

I had a hard time deciding what to make first from Power Hungry. I was especially intrigued by the Super Natural Knock-Offs chapter, which includes recipes for homemade facsimiles of the bars sold in stores. There's a recipe for Clif-style bars, Nature Valley-style bars, Larabar-style bars, and even a knock-off endurance chew similar to Clif Shot Bloks.

Other chapters feature recipes for between-meal snack bars (there's a recipe for Crispy Kale Bars!!) and bars for sustaining long endurance workouts (Quinoa Chia Apricot Bars, Pumpkin Pie Power Bars).

But I finally settled on a recipe from the protein bar chapter — 5-Minute Protein Truffles.


These are so easy and yet so delicious. They're made with nut butter (I used Justin's Maple Almond), agave (I used Wholesome Sweetener Maple Agave), and vanilla protein powder (I used Veggie Protein Vanilla). You roll that into a ball, and coat with all sorts of toppings. I went with sesame seeds on half the batch and raw cacao on the other half. These have a soft and slighty flaky texture (similar to that of sesame halva), and just one ball has been sufficient to power me through an afternoon workout at the gym. When I start running again (soon I hope!), I would guess I'd need two.

I've gotten permission to share the recipe for the 5-Minute Protein Truffles, so here ya go! Note that I only ran the vegan ingredient list. Though many of the recipes in Power Hungry are naturally vegan, some call for items like honey or whey protein, but Camilla always includes vegan variation instructions.

FIVE-MINUTE PROTEIN TRUFFLES 
from Power Hungry by Camilla V. Saulsberry
 
Ingredients
1/2 cup natural, unsweetened nut or seed butter (e.g., peanut, cashew, sunflower, or tahini)
3 Tbsp agave nectar or pure maple syrup
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup all-natural, sweetened vanilla or chocolate vegan protein

Suggested coatings for your truffles (optional)
— Miniature semisweet chocolate chips or cacao nibs
— Unsweetened, natural cocoa powder
— Unsweetened flake or shredded coconut, plain or toasted
— Finely chopped nuts, toasted or raw (think almonds, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts)
— Toasted or raw seeds, finely chopped if needed (sesame, chia, pepitas, hemp hearts, or sunflower are good options)
— Finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., cherries, raisins, apricots, or blueberries)
— Matcha powder
— Quick-cooking rolled oats

1. Mix the nut or seed butter, agave, and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Add the protein powder, stirring until completely combined (mixture will be firm).
2. Protein powders vary in terms of their dryness. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more protein powder (or ground oats or flaxseed meal) until it comes together as a dough. If the mixture seems too dry, add milk (non-dairy) or water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together as a dough. (Optional texture tip: Mix up to 3 tablespoons of any of the suggested coatings directly into the dough instead.)
3. Scoop about 1½ tablespoons of the mixture into your hands and shape into 1-inch balls.
4. If desired, place one or more of the suggested coatings in small shallow dishes. Roll each ball in the coating, gently pressing to adhere. Place the balls in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator (up to one week) or freezer (for up to three months). Thaw for 15 minutes.

Thrive Kitchen

Okay, remember way back in January when I did the Thrive Forward cleanse? No? Well, I spent all of January on a gluten-free, processed food-free, sugar-free, low-caffeine cleanse inspired by Vega founder/Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier's Thrive Forward program. And at the end of the month, I'd boosted my running distances and reset my system with clean, plant-based whole foods.

Thrive Forward is a FREE online program with videos that teach you all about macronutrients, probiotics, eating to improve immune function and digestion, and all sorts of stuff you probably need to know before you stuff your face. Well, now Thrive Forward has a new element — Thrive Kitchen!

It's another series of short, free videos about raw food, reinventing comfort foods, seasonality, and all things clean eating. And there are a ton of recipes created by raw vegan chef Matthew Kenney, Chef Susan Feniger, and Brendan's nutritionist sidekick, Peggy K. I haven't watched all the videos yet, but I can't wait to dig in. I really enjoyed the videos that went along with my Thrive Forward plan back in January.

Anyway, to celebrate the release of Thrive Kitchen, I made one of the recipes! Beet Spaghettini with Spinach Thyme Pesto.


This is a recipe from Matthew Kenney, which you can find here. It's so simple and so healthy. The noodles are made with spiralized beets (so glad I ordered that spiralizer off Groupon a few months ago) mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. And it's topped with a homemade pesto sauce made from pistachios, spinach, and fresh thyme.

I ate a giant plate of this with a side of steamed broccolini, and damn, I felt so clean afterward. As much as I adore vegan junk food, ramen noodles, and cupcakes, it's meals like this that I never regret.

Here's a fun teaser about Thrive Kitchen with the adorable Brendan Brazier.

Sippy Cups for Grown-Ups!

At Vida Vegan Con this year, the lovely folks from Vegan Cuts were handing out gift bags filled with samples of vegan snacks. But there was one item in the bag that wasn't edible, and it's changed my life. It was a Cuppow! Canning Jar Drinking Lid.

I'm a glass jar hoarder, which I'm certain is genetic because my Granny does it too. I use the jars for storing bulks grains and beans, nuts, dried fruit, whatever. And the jars that I've lost the lids to become drinking glasses. And thanks to the wide-mouth jar Cuppow lid from Vegan Cuts, I now use a giant jar as my reusable water bottle at work.

Using a wide jar means I can fit all sorts of fresh fruits and herbs inside for lightly flavored aqua fresca. My fave combo lately has been orange, lemon, and lime. The water looks so pretty in a clear glass jar, and for some reason, that makes me drink more water.


You simply replace the metal seal lid with the plastic Cuppow and screw in place. Instant drinking jar. I'd already grown to love this one when Cuppow asked me if I'd review their latest BNTO Canning Jar Lunchbox Adaptor. Well, of course! They sent me the BNTO (more on that in a few) and a regular mouth drinking lid in blue.


The blue lid was perfect for a smaller-sized jar. Here I have some iced vegan chai in a Cuppow sippy cup.


But the BNTO Canning Jar Lunchbox Adaptor is the best! It's a plastic cup that fits inside a wide-mouth jar to separate it into two compartments.


Great for hummus and veggies, spaghetti and marinara, chips and salsa, whatever. This morning, I used the BNTO to separate my marinated Italian veggies (beans, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a homemade vinaigrette) from the hummus I'd be eating some pita chips. I wish you could see if better in this picture, but the cup is hanging down from the top. The inside of my jar was a little foggy from moving from the cold fridge to the hot, hot Memphis morning.


It's so simple that I wish I'd thought of it first.

Betty's Meatloaf

I had a big ole Sunday dinner tonight, just for me. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad made with farmers market veggies, and Trader Joe's two-buck chuck cab sauv. All enjoyed while watching episodes from the third season of The Walking Dead. Nothing beats watching people stab zombies in the head over a good vegan dinner, right?

For the meatloaf, I used Annie and Dan Shannon's recipe for Vegan Bacon Cheese Meatloaf in Betty Goes Vegan.


Match sent me samples of so many of their vegan meats a few weeks ago. And I remembered that when I first flipped through Betty Goes Vegan seeing a lot of recipes that called for Match meat. But you can't buy Match meat in Memphis (a damn shame). Of course, many of those Annie and Dan recipes have alternatives in case Match isn't available.

But since I have Match meat in my freezer now, I wanted to try one of the Betty Goes Vegan recipes that use it. This vegan meatloaf is made with Match vegan ground beef, chickpeas, garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, fresh herbs (from my front porch herb garden), bacon bits (I used Phoney Baloney's coconut bacon), and vegan cheese (I used Teese cheddar). It's topped with a glazed made from A1 steak sauce and brown sugar.

The meatloaf was just like mama used to make. Okay, that's a lie. I can't remember my mama ever making meatloaf. Maybe she did a time or two, but you know how kids feel about meatloaf. But now that I'm all grown up (okay, not really), I love meatloaf, and this one did not disappoint. The Match meats are the most realistic vegan meats I've tried. This was really beefy. But the ground chickpeas added a wholesome hippie taste. The bacon and the Liquid Smoke in the recipe made it super-smoky. After snapping this picture, I topped the meatloaf with ketchup and served with a side of pickles.

Funny story (okay, not so funny): My oven has been acting crazy. Sometimes it will heat up, and sometimes the preheat light will stay on for 30 minutes or more, and the oven just doesn't heat. And that happened tonight. Luckily, three of my best friends live in the same neighborhood as me. So I "borrowed" an oven. Anyone else have an on-again/off-again oven problem? What should I do about this? Is there a such thing as an oven repair-person?

Anyway, the mashed potatoes were from my own basic recipe, which I'm including below because, hey, it's Mofo. I should stop being lazy and give you more recipes this month, right? Granted, this is a really easy recipe. I feel like I should apologize for how easy this is, so I'm sorry. As for gravy, I used Road's End Organics vegan savory herb gravy from a package, so .... you're on your own there.

Bianca's Vegan Mashed Potatoes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2 medium baking potatoes, washed and scrubbed
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbsp. vegan margarine
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Cube the potatoes, and place them in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Drain the water from the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher. Add the almond milk, margarine, and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Taste and season with as much salt and pepper as needed.

Freaky Friday with Katie of Vegan Noms!!

Okay, so I said I wasn't doing themes this Mofo (mostly because the idea of that much planning stresses me out). But one of the themes that came out of the Mofo workshop at Vida Vegan Con this year was Freaky Friday, where two bloggers swap posts. And my bloggy friend bestie Katie of Vegan Noms suggested we do a swap this year! The following is a post (and kale chip recipe!!!) she wrote for Vegan Crunk, and you can find my post on her blog on Friday (I posted hers a few hours early on Thursday because Friday is my blog day-off).


Hey, Crunkers and Crunkettes! Katie here from Vegan Noms. I have had the great fortune of spending two Vida Vegan Cons with the fabulous and fun-loving Bianca. We became fast buds over vegan cocktails, doughnuts, and corn dogs and I am SO psyched to provide a guest post on Vegan Crunk during this lovely month of MoFo.

Me and Katie have matching hoodies from Herbivore!!
I’m here to share with you a killer recipe for satisfying a craving that we all know and love — pizza. Yes, pizza. Is there anything better? Crust so chewy and fluffy (or crisp and crunchy), sauce so herby and vibrant, cheeze so creamy and tangy ... it is the ultimate comfort food.

Now, let’s look at a way to appease the need for a slice of pie without processed flours or cheezes and instead with a base of the ultimate vegan fan favorite: kale! We all know that kale is a powerhouse of essential nutrients, like calcium, Vitamins A, C, & K, right? And that we should be eating it on the reg in salads, smoothies, and bowls, right? Well, let’s dress this beauty up in a creamy, cheezy, herby sauce, dehydrate it, and fall in love all over again.

Kale chips are a great way to indulge in a craving for crunch, but also to reap the nutritional benefits of the veggie’s still mostly intact phytonutrients. And, you can make these chips without a dehydrator! With or without one, the recipe does take a few hours, but it is overwhelmingly filled with down time. Ready for some pizza? Let’s eat.


Pizza Kale Chips 
-----------------------
1 bunch kale, rinsed, destemmed and torn into chunks
1 container grape or cherry tomatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 1-2 hours in water and rinsed well (soaking is optional, yet it does make the sauce creamier)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic, pressed or crushed
spices to taste: basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, salt, black pepper
Heat stove to 350 degrees F.Rub baking tray with olive oil and spread tomatoes out. Roast for 30 minutes.Lower oven temperature to 200 degrees F.Mix roasted tomatoes and rest of the ingredients (except for the kale) in a high-speed blender until creamy.In a large bowl, mix the kale chunks with the sauce until evenly distributed.Spread the kale mixture onto as many as 3 baking sheets (lined with foil or parchment paper), making sure to leave space between each piece of kale so it will dehydrate evenly and quickly. Place baking sheets in the oven and leave the oven door slightly ajar.Check kale every 30 minutes or so, turning the pieces and removing those that have become perfectly crispy. Continue checking until all kale is crispy (between 2 & 3 hours).Storage tip: Let kale chips cool completely before storing, lest they become soggy. What works best to keep the chips crispy is placing one of those small silicone moisture absorbent packets (like those found in shoe boxes) in the sealed container you choose. OR, you can eat all of the kale chips immediately (preferred method, folks!). I hope you enjoy this recipe and share it with fellow pizza (and kale) lovers. Please drop by Vegan Noms and introduce yourself! And, don’t forget to keep it crunk.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: 2 Vegan Sistas (The Restaurant!!)

I interrupt this Vegan Mofo to bring some good news to Memphis vegans and anyone planning a trip to the Bluff City. But I have some bad news too.

First the bad news: Balewa's Vegan Gourmet, the raw food restaurant that was right across the street from my house in Crosstown, has closed. He was there for less than a year, and I'll greatly miss those Live Burgers and Phyre sprout salad. A sign on his door says he's looking for a new location, so keep your fingers crossed.

But Memphis is still home to four vegan restaurants, because as one place closed, another opened! A few months ago, I blogged about 2 Vegan Sistas, which operated a mostly raw/totally vegan food delivery service. The food was wonderful and so fresh, but the only caveat was you had to place an order a day in advance.

Well now the sistas have their very own brick-and-mortar restaurant on Summer Avenue near Bartlett!! And they have a new expanded menu!!! It's a far drive from my Midtown house, but it's a drive well worth it. My co-workers Susan and Hannah went there a couple weeks ago to check it out.

We started with the Cauliflower Poppers, seasoned with spirulina, kelp, herbs, and spices. You can also get an order of popcorn with the same seasonings.


I always loved the sistas' cashew-based mock chicken salad when they had the delivery service, so I was happy to see it offered in several ways on the new menu. I had the BB King BBQ Live Sandwich (named for Memphis' own Blues Boy). It's a BBQ version of their mock chicken salad on wheat bread. You can pick salad or sweet potato fries as a side, so duh, I chose fries!


Susan ordered the classic Bretta's Mock Chicken Salad Sandwich with a salad. The dressing on the salad was awesome. It had avocado in it!


Hannah ordered the Cashew Burger, a raw burger served in a lettuce leaf with ketchup, mustard, and fries.


I had a Groupon for 2 Vegan Sistas, so I needed to spend at least $20. So I got the Living Pizza and Kale Chips to go. I had this for lunch the next day, but I didn't think to take a picture until it was half gone. The pizza was made with a nut crust topped with nut mozzarella, marinara, and veggies. So good!


The entrees at 2 Vegan Sistas are delicious, but the desserts really shine. Nothing beats a dessert that's both scrumptious and healthy, right? I ordered the Raw Oreos made with carob-date-and-nut cookies and a cashew cream.

 
Hannah had the Reese's Raw Pie. This was my favorite dessert! It tasted like a Reese's peanut butter cup but healthy! Made with peanut butter and carob.

And Susan had the Crepes, raw flax pancakes with vegan whipped cream, date syrup, blueberries, and strawberries. Decadent. I loved how the date syrup made the dessert extra-sweet.

2 Vegan Sistas is located at 6343 Summer Avenue #110. They're open Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to noon. They are closed on Saturdays. Call 1-800-984-0379.