Playing With Fire

Tags

cooking, habanero, NaBloPoMo, pepper, pineapple, salsa, vegan, vegetarian

I’m a worrier. I worry a lot.

It often isn’t really for any good reason either.

Like, if I eat at this really popular restaurant by myself, are people going to notice and judge me? Of course they don’t give a shit, they’re there to have a nice time and enjoy their food. It’s also highly unlikely that I would be the only solo diner. I know this, but it’s like a battle between right and absurd.

Not every worry is socially-related, though, and I usually make myself go through with things anyway. Last week I acquired eight little habanero peppers from the farm. I can handle a decent amount of spice, but having never cooked with or even handled a habanero, I was sort of nervous. What if I made something and it was unbearably spicy? And what do I make with so many of them? They were part of my work-share, so it’s not like I’d be wasting money if I didn’t use them. Since I also received tomatoes and cilantro, I just decided to do the obvious and make some salsa. Seems like a pretty good way to gauge heat, right?

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Broth Bag

Tags

broth, cheap, easy, homemade, NaBloPoMo, stock, tip, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

Yeah, I started this bag a while ago…

A few years ago, I posted a recipe for vegetable broth. It wasn’t even based on my own. I used a cookbook as a guide and bought vegetables specifically to make broth.

Do you know how ridiculous that was? At some point since then, I ran across this idea for a broth bag.

What you do is save all the ends, peels, etc. when you cut up vegetables (avoiding starchy things like potatoes) and throw them in a big Ziploc bag that lives in your freezer.

Lopped off the tops of some green onions in a jar and added them. Why not?

25th Annual Lone Star Veggie Chili Championship

Tags

Austin, chili, Lone Star Veggie Chili Championship, Lonestar Vegetarian Chili Cookoff, NaBloPoMo, Texas, vegan, VegChili, vegetarian

Last year was my first time attending the Lone Star Veggie Chili Championship (they’ve changed the name, it seems), and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go back this year. This time it was held at the Green Space at Whole Foods Arbor Trails, which was much further south than the previous location. 22 teams were competing for prizes: nine in the Traditional Division (chili with meat substitute) and thirteen in the All-Veg Division (chili without meat substitute).

Naturally Sweet Cinnamon Applesauce

Tags

apples, applesauce, cinnamon, easy, fall, healthy, NaBloPoMo, recipe, sugar-free, vegan

As a girl with a baking blog, yes, I do have a bit of a sweet tooth. It’s usually pretty subtle, though. I’m never into the overly-sweet stuff and get cranky about sugary “coffee” drinks. I don’t really eat sweets on a regular basis either, but when I do, they’re all I want.

This recently occurred while spending a week at my folks’ house. My dad kept the freezer stocked with Ben & Jerry’s, and if there’s one thing I can’t resist, it’s ice cream. After I got back to Austin, I was faced with my ice cream-less freezer and a fierce sugar craving. This was when I decided to become the last person on the planet to make applesauce.

24th Annual Lone Star Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off!

Tags

Austin, chili, cookoff, Lonestar Vegetarian Chili Cookoff, NaBloPoMo, vegan, vegetarian

Today in Austin, the 24th Annual Lone Star Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off took place at the Burnet Road Farmers Market. If you’re from Texas, you may wonder what exactly goes into vegetarian chili when so many people here swear by one chili rule: NO BEANS. Well, this native Texan thinks that’s silly. Teams could enter into either category of chili: “Traditional” – chili made with a meat substitute (seitan, tempeh, etc.), or “All Veg” – chili made only of vegetables. This year there were nine Traditional and thirteen All Veg teams competing. Some were from restaurants and culinary schools!

I found out about this event through the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance because they wanted to have a team represent the group this year. Taylor Cook and James Seppi of Coseppi Kitchen (see what they did there?) volunteered to be that team. They are new to the group and have a great vegetarian blog!

Capital City Bakery Cupcake Polls!

Tags

Austin, bakery, Capital City Bakery, cupcakes, election, NaBloPoMo, vegan

In the spirit of today’s big event, Capital City Bakery held a cupcake poll! This vegan bakery on wheels has been on my mental bucket list of places to try, so this was an excellent excuse to head on over there. Only doing my civic duty, right?

The polls were open from 11am-6pm and the cupcakes were available at the special price of $2 if you showed your “I voted!” sticker. I forgot to do this.

Spicy Purple and Sweet Potato Gratin with Coconut Milk

Tags

chipotle, coconut milk, cooking, dairy-free, easy, gluten-free, healthy, kale, paleo, recipe, shallots, vegan, vegetarian

If I could go back in time to just last year, I would thank myself for one thing: coconut. I spent all my life hating it, but after putting myself through a year of trying it repeatedly, it’s quickly high-tailing it to my list of favorite things. I keep reminiscing about a recent coconut margarita, and have you experienced coconut ice cream? If not, change that ASAP.

Always seeking out new things to try, one of the most recent adventures involved the purple potato via a curry. Ever since then, I’ve been wanting to pair it with sweet potatoes. This may mostly be for aesthetic purposes because, come on, you know one of the main reasons you visit food blogs is for the food porn. However, the purple spuds are actually little antioxidant powerhouses which I thought would make an awesome duo with their also nutritious orange cousins.

Wordless Wednesday: Leap Smoothie

Tags

banana, flax milk, peanut butter, smoothie, vegan

[frozen banana + peanut butter + flax milk]

For more WW, click here.

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Quick Bread!

Tags

baking, banana, chocolate, Daring Bakers, easy, quick bread, vegan

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Goodness, it’s been quite dull around here! But what’s this? Today is the 27th. This is the Daring Bakers’ Challenge reveal date. I am posting on time! It’s highly possible that a pig just flew by.

Perhaps I was eager to give this Marbled Banana Bread a go. Banana + chocolate is always a winner, but this bread is special because it’s vegan! No eggs, milk, or butter were harmed in the making of this loaf, but I promise that they are not missed. The final product is very moist and flavorful, plus lower in fat and not too sweet. And my, what a looker!

The only vegan-y thing that the recipe calls for is almond milk which you can replace with any milk substitute (I used flax milk) or milk itself. All of the other ingredients are probably residing in your kitchen: ripe bananas, sugar, vanilla, oil, flour, baking soda, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder, and water. Convenient if you’re a non-vegan who has run out of eggs!

Spicy Almond Fudge Babies: My caveman self would totally scavenge for these.

Tags

almonds, chocolate, dates, dessert, easy, fruit, gluten-free, nut, paleo, quick, raw, recipes, snack, vegan

Years ago, my bro-in-law went on the Paleo diet. Years ago, a lot of people thought this sounded kooky. “Paleo, as in Paleolithic? What, do you hunt for your food and cook it over a fire?” It sounded like a good, healthy way to eat, but imagining a world without cheese or bread made me sad. And then I went the vegetarian route. Cavemen didn’t eat tofu, apparently.

Now it seems like everyone is jumping on the Paleo wagon. Rachel just threw an engagement party for her little brother and his fiancee. When I asked if there was anything I could make, she said that most of her relatives were eating like cavemen! Always up for a challenge, I said I’d make a Paleo-friendly dessert and set off googling. The first hit (maybe due to my location?) was from the Austin Post for things called Fudge Babies by Chocolate-Covered Katie. After reading a bunch (okay, that’s being generous) of other possible recipes, Fudge Babies it was.