At long last! It’s finally tomato harvesting time! We got tons of lettuce, are still getting kale, and have been getting green beans and cucumbers for a few weeks now, but there’s something momentous about that first big batch of tomatoes. Something that says, “your garden has arrived.” Everything leads up to tomatoes; they’re the climax. The winter squash and fall kale are the denouement, with canning, perhaps, as an additional baby climax.

My friend Simon (fellow vegan, drummer for Ineffable Robot [new tracks up soon!]) was in over the weekend and we ate largely from the garden. The first night, we had Shells al Pomodoro and Cucumber Salad.

Shells al Pomodoro

• 4ish medium-sized tomatoes, gutted and diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 fresno chili, seeded and diced (optional)
• 1 large handful of fresh basil, chopped
• cooked shells (or noodle of choice)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• olive oil

In a medium-large pan, saute the garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, until it just starts to brown. Toss in the tomatoes and peppers, cooking until tender. Salt and pepper to taste. A minute or two before serving, stir in the basil. Serve over pasta. Easy! Delicious!

Cucumber Salad

• 2 – 3 cucumbers, cubed
• 1 tomato, gutted and cut into medium-sized pieces
• rooster (Sriracha) sauce (to taste)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 – 2 tbsp olive oil
• toasted pita or tortilla, chopped (optional)
• salt & pepper, to taste

Toss everything together. That’s it.

Be forewarned: this was not one of my best efforts. We had something similar a few weeks ago at an Indian restaurant and I really liked it, so I thought I’d attempt my own version, what with all of those cucumbers to use up. It was a little spicy, because I went overboard with the rooster sauce. I think I also over-soy-sauced it, so add everything little by little. I’ll have to return to this at some point to perfect it. We have a LOT of cucumbers.

The next day, we biked 20 miles (and 20 miles back) to a neighboring town to try out the Red Pepper, a raw vegan restaurant. After the ride there, we were mighty hungry. We got the Italian Pizza and the Raw Tacos, both of which were quite good. The pizza’s crust was probably its standout feature. The tacos were made with a seasoned walnut “meat”. It was pretty amazing. The “shells” were just lettuce, though, so this was a bit more like a salad than tacos. We got some energy shakes for the ride home, which were also good, though I was a little over-full, and thus kinda sluggish for the ride. 40 miles of super hilly terrain is a lot harder than I thought it would be (we biked 25 flat miles two days later, and it was a cinch, comparatively). We were so pooped when we got home that we couldn’t be bothered to cook, so it was vegan pizza time.

We made homemade brats (the best batch ever!) the next night, but that post, friends, is forthcoming.

The next night we rocked this Tempeh & Kale Stew (we’ve also got tons of kale right now):

This stew is very much like the Spicy Potato & Kale Soup, but with carrots, and minus the spicy and parsley. It was pouring out, so this was something of a summer rarity, but very appropriate.

Slimetime’s since hit the road, but I still have lots of maters to use up, so last night I rocked a chili.

There’s no chili better than one made from your heirloom tomatoes, especially if you’re growing multiple varieties. The freshness and variation in flavor really take the flavor in interesting, often inimitable, directions. This particular batch was made with Black Krim (our favorite–dense, not too sweet, not too acidic, very flavorful), Supersonic Orange (a new one this year–very tangy), and Oaxacan Pink (gigantic, fairly sweet). It made for a somewhat sharp, but slightly sweet chili–a perfect chili for crackers. Outstanding!

As Mark mentioned I am currently at a residency at the Philadelphia Art Hotel, run by two amazing people, artists Krista Peel and Zak Starer. I am all set up in a the top floor of a row-house in the East Kensington neighborhood in a studio room adjacent to a kitchenette where, thankfully, I can once again prepare all of my own food. My fellow resident, Danielle Rante, and I are becoming fast friends, along with our other roomie, her dog Kanga.

Lo and behold, Danielle is vegan and Zak and Krista are vegetarian, so it was easy for us all to agree on a local eatery the other evening–the Memphis Taproom–which is in our neighborhood. They serve local beers on tap and have a great selection of vegan food on the menu, as the lady half of their operation is vegan. Danielle and I each got the yummy Smoked (Tofu) Coconut Club with fries.

As great as that meal was, it’s not really representative of how I’m eating here. I love getting to see how other (foodie) vegans prepare food for themselves, and Danielle is teaching me a lot in the health realm. At our house, we tend to eat a lot of starches- regular noodles and breads and decent quantities of them. I think of starch as one of my small indulgences. However, since Danielle and I have prepared some simple meals together–of mostly fresh produce and whole wheat pasta, for example–I realized how great (and how much better for me) whole wheat pasta, or sprouted grain bread can be.  One of my favorite new snacks I’ve learned from her is simply lightly toasted sprouted grain bread with part of an avocado smooshed on top, drizzled with some honey (we’re honey eaters) with a sprinkle of salt.

The (Mostly) Raw Kale Salad above was my lunch today.  I learned from Danielle to rub the kale with a bit of olive oil and salt and let it sit to soften it a bit while preparing the other veggies. This makes it easier to eat. This salad also has an herbed salad mix stirred in with the kale, chickpeas (the not-raw part), diced green onions, blueberries, shredded purple cabbage, half an avocado- chopped, carrots and some hummus on the side. In addition to the oil and salt, it has a dash of balsamic vinegar and some cranks from a pepper mill. It was perfect!

Last night our good friend Blue stopped in for dinner, and brought a giant picnic basket full of fresh zucchini, summer squash, kale, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes from the local community garden, who he’d been doing some work for (he’s a carpenter/artist). Amy and I had been wracking our brains for something interesting to make and she pointed out that we had a big jar of israeli couscous that we’d yet to try. Putting two and two together…

We used an onion and some garlic as well (of course), and added some black-eyed peas for some protein and to round out the sort of Southern feel the sauteed kale provided. The couscous was really interesting–much more like orzo than standard couscous, like small fluffy noodles. Apparently, it’s also awesome nutritionally.

Garden Israeli Couscous

• 3 small zucchinis, cut into discs or semi-circles
• 2 small summer squashes, cut into discs or semi-circles
• 1 large bunch of kale, de-boned (optional) and chopped coarsely
• 1 medium-sized white or yellow onion, chopped coarsely
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 4 cups (2 cans) of black-eyed peas
• 2 cups israeli couscous
• 3 cups veggie stock (we used our leftover chik’n seitan broth)
• 1 large handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 2 stalks of thyme, de-stemmed
• 1 small handful of fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the veggie stock to a boil, then add the couscous. Cover and remove from heat.

In a large skillet, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. After a few minutes, add in the zucchini and squash. When everything is tender, add in the kale and fresh herbs (and probably more oil), stirring well. Add in the black-eyed peas, also stirring well. Stir in the nutritional yeast, then salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over the couscous. Consider Palestinian couscous tomorrow for a two-plate solution.

I don’t know where I first came across this recipe (if you can call it that; it’s so simple), but grapefruit and avocado has been one of my favorite hot weather treats for a while now.  Chop a chilled ripe grapefruit and chilled avocado half (I like it when it’s still slightly firm) and mix them together.  I top them with seasalt and pepper because I put salt and pepper on everything.  I find that duo actually brings out the sweetness in the grapefruit.  Enjoy!

I’m curious what everyone else’s favorite hot weather snack is?  I know there are a bunch of good ones out there, so let’s share the wealth.  If you have a foodie blog, you could link to your vegan recipes in the comments.  Thanks everybody…and stay cool!

A couple years ago, after eating a delicious dinner with our friends Bei Li and Blue, Blue treated us to a fantastic frozen, creamy, berry-laden dessert. It was a lot like ice cream, but subtly different. Blue challenged us to figure out what was in it. Title of this post notwithstanding, what would you make of something like this:

Or perhaps this:

Most of the way through finishing this delicious treat, we established that the secret ingredient was bananas; Blue used frozen bananas in his juicer to make a frozen dessert.

For those of you lucky enough to have a juicer (we have the Omega 8005), this is a deceptively easy treat, and a great way to use up those bananas that are about to go bad. When your bananas are just starting to brown, peel them and put them in a sealed container or bag in the freezer. On a hot summer morning, run the bananas through your juicer–with its non-juicing/grinding attachment–in thirds. Drop a strawberry and/or a couple of blueberries/raspberries/small-edible-berries-of-some-sort into the juicer before each piece of banana. Freeze the berries ahead of time (and be sure to cut the stems off the strawberries!) for a smoother, cooler yumyum.

Alternatively, on a hot summer night, this makes a great dessert. Try the same method as above, subbing almonds or peanuts, along with some chocolate chips, for the berries. Again, this will be smoother if you freeze all of the ingredients ahead of time. This is perfect if you want to steer clear of store-bought ice cream and don’t have the time make your own or are eating raw.

With the 4th of July right around the corner, the summer grilling season’s about to hit its peak. The 4th may very well be the actual peak for lots of people.

For vegans and vegetarians fortunate enough to have a largely veg friend group, or a veg party/event to attend, this is always a great time. For those of us with a more “diverse” social group, this can sometimes be a source of stress or anxiety. Amy and I are lucky enough to have a really supportive group of friends, who not only respect our lifestyle, not only cater to our lifestyle when they have parties, but many of whom are happy to eat vegan themselves some or most of the time.

Still, any time you’re in the minority and your beliefs are openly available to public scrutiny–in this case eating–there’s bound to be some conflict, question, or exchange. Over the years, I’ve noticed one really good way to keep this positive is to bring something homemade to grill. Here’s why:

• People are far less likely to criticize something that you made yourself. They may not agree with your beliefs, but they’re your friends, and it’s a bold move to call bullshit on something someone made. It’s a like a personal attack. Invariably, of course, someone will tell you that your homemade brats look like poop. To which you should reply: “That’s funny. So funny that the first time I heard it, I fell off my dinosaur I laughed so hard.”
• In my experience, folks are more curious about homemade grillables. On many occasions they’re even tried our homemade burgers, brats, and patties.
• If you can name all the ingredients in something, it’s not so mysterious. People often ask, “What’s in that?” If you can tell them, it becomes less foreign, more acceptable.
• If you’ve used local, organic ingredients, it’s almost ethically unassailable. The conversation doesn’t always have to be about animal rights. It can be about supporting the local economy, reducing environmental impact, not eating stuff that’s processed, avoiding packaging, steering clear of hormones, food safety, etc. They’re your friends, right? So they’re probably awesome and smart. They like to talk about these things. Any discussion that raises or brings to focus our awareness of the food that we eat is a good discussion. You’re also bound to pick up a few advocates along the way. There are plenty of meat eaters who support local and organic.
• You can vary how “meaty” your burgers/brats/patties are. This ranges from, say, a black bean burger at one end (most people are omnivores, so they do eat beans)–which makes no pretense of being meat–to a seitan brat or barbecued seitan on the other. In the middle, you’ve got stuff like breaded chick(pea) patties, which have a aspire to something chicken-y, but do so in the form of a pretty familiar bean. Generally, the less your grillable aspires to be meat, the less others are likely to criticize and the more likely they are to try one themselves. Small victories, right?

Of course, this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t get pumped about grilling veggies and such (in fact, you probably should have some veggies)–asparagus, squash, zucchini, shish-ka-bobs, portabellas, etc–just that there’s something kind of nostalgic and satisfying about having a “traditional” grillable. So why not kick it the fresh, homemade, vegan way?

Some of our favorites are:

Black Bean Burgers

Chick Patties

Vegan Dad’s version of Isa’s Seitan Brats

Memphis BBQ Seitan

Seitan Chik’n Cutlet

Happy grilling!

Well, okay, this isn’t really about Earth Day. In fact, I rarely pay attention to Earth day. It’s like a Hallmark holiday for the planet–telling us that if we can just pay attention one day a year, we’re great people and everything will be okay. Most readers will already be attuned to the fact that adopting a vegan diet is one of the biggest things you can do for the environment.

Adopting a vegan diet has a greater impact in the fight against global warming than switching to a hybrid car does.

-  GoVeg.com, Eating Your Way to a Smaller ‘Ecological Footprint’

That being said, we’re always trying to challenge ourselves. Or, in this case, Amy’s mom helped to challenge us; last summer she bought us a push mower for our yard. The push mower is the bike of lawn mowers.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that gas-powered push mowers emit as much nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons per hour as 11 cars. Riding mowers emit as much as 34 cars.

- Union of Concerned Scientists, Low-Cost, Low-Impact Landscaping

One of the key reasons for this is the lack of regulation for lawn mowers. As slow as it’s going, the fight for better vehicle fuel standards is moving along. But what about lawn mowers? As bad as 11 cars?! Granted you’re probably only mowing 1 -2 hours a week, if that. But that’s 11 – 22 car hours–which isn’t trivial, by any stretch of the imagination.

Now, like biking, this is probably only a feasible option for folks with a sufficiently small lawn (well, you can bike if you have a big lawn, but not too big of a commute). Push mowing doesn’t take any more time, but does require a substantially greater amount of energy. But look on the bright side–after a few weeks, you’ll be able to crush a human skull with one hand.

It may also be worth noting that our mower is quite old; Amy’s mom found it at a garage sale and had the blades sharpened at a local hardware store. It’s very heavy. There are new mowers available that are as light as 20 lbs.

You’re already committed to the environment–why not take another small step?

Remember the days before awesome vegan cheese? When you were mocked at every turn by faux-ass non-vegan soy cheese? Or the days of terrible vegan cheese perhaps? After myriad pizza disasters, Amy and I discovered that just leaving out the cheese could be awesome–especially if you leave out the processed sauce and use fresh tomatoes.

This li’l guy has way more in common with the thin, fresh Italian-style Pizza Marinara than with traditional American pizza (except Pizza Marinara usually has–not surprisingly–sauce). This is a really nice break from standard pizza–it totally scratches the pizza itch, but is much lighter and fresher, without any processed ingredients.

We used:

• 3 tomatoes, de-boogered and sliced thinly
• 4 cloves of diced garlic
• 1/2 a zucchini, sliced into thin half-moons
• a handful of crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly
• a handful of spinach, diced
• a small handful of fresh basil, diced
• 1/8 – 1/4 purple onion, sliced thinly and chopped
• oregano
• thyme
• salt & pepper
• pizza crust of choice

So that last one is a bit of a cop out. We would love to know your pizza crust of choice, as we’ve had mixed luck with lots of crusts and have yet to settle on one we really love. While the one we used for this recipe turned out pretty tasty with a lot of doctoring, it was so far off the mark in its original form that I’d be hard pressed to tell you how to replicate it (add way more flour, for one). Now is the time to give back: share your favorite crust recipes!

Meanwhile, salivate:

This recipe used to involve eggplant.

Eggplant does not GROW LIKE CRAZY.

Zucchini and summer squash GROW LIKE CRAZY.

__________________________________

This recipe involves zucchini and summer squash.

And tomatoes (it always involved tomatoes, which GROW LIKE CRAZY).

And potatoes (not the marble-sized guys from our garden…but they needed to get used up…you don’t want to make Ralph Nader cry do you?)

Squashed & Mashed Bake ‘Em Up

• 6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 large summer squash
• olive oil
• 3 tbsp buttery substance
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup milky substance
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup nu yeast
• 2 tsp herbs d’provence
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic
• half a palmful of rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste

This recipe is pretty simple. You start of by making smashed potatoes:

In a large-ish pot, boil the potatoes until they’re soft. In a large-ish bowl, add the milk and butter, garlic, rosemary, and some salt and pepper. Mash it! Mash it up. You want these pretty thick and fluffy, so don’t overdo it on the milk. I’m serious.

At some point in this process, you should preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Now. Cut the ends of the zucchini and squash. Cut the zucchini into 4 pieces, width-wise. Cut each of these length-wise, so you have wide, thin pieces. Cut the neck off the squash and do the same thing. Cut the big part in half. With a spoon or small skull, dig the seedy guts, if there are any, out of the squash. Now cut each half into thin slices, length-wise. Excellent. You’re almost done.

Spread a bit of olive oil on the bottom of a 14 x 9 baking pan. Spread a layer of squash–enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but not too thick. Drizzle a bit more olive oil on top of the squash, then sprinkle salt, pepper, and half of the herbs d’provence on top. Now spread a layer of zucchini. Drizzle more olive oil and sprinkle on the nu yeast. Fantastic! You’re doing great. One more layer of squash and/or zucchini, whatever is left (this will depend on the size of each). Top with salt, pepper, and remaining herbs d’provence.

Now. Spread the smashed potatoes on top of the squashes.

Cut the tomatoes into thin slices. Remove the tomato-boogers as you go. Spread these (tomatoes, not boogers–unless you normally eat the boogers and throw away the tomatoes) in a layer on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle oregano on top of this. You’re so close, I can taste it. Sprinkle on some bread crumbs, drizzle on some more olive oil, cover with aluminum foil, and pop this beyotch in the oven. After 10 minutes, remove the foil. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Poke the zucchini with a fork–if it feels tender, you’re all done. If it’s still a bit tough, your oven is a wuss and you need to keep baking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Outstanding!

So. You decided to grow zucchini. Good choice.

But now what the hell are you gonna do with all that zucchini?

This problem will plague you all the way through fall, like a heard of vengeful yeti.

But fear not, dear readers! This is one of many zucchini recipes. You can search for more (trust me, you’ll need more) by clicking on “zucchini” in the tag cloud or going to http://irreverentvegan.com/tag/zucchini/.

Like many of my zucchini recipes, this one was:

1. totally improvised based on what I had on hand (and is this seasonal)
2. will help you use up vast quantities of zucchini
3. involves any number of jokes about pornographs/pornstars/etc

This is a nice summer or fall soup, creamy but light, with that subtle zing of roasted garlic and fresh tomato. The beans, corn, and additional zucchini are all optional, but add something to chew on–essentially moving this from the appetizer soup to meal soup category. Yeti like to chew on things with their massive herbivorous teeth, and this prefer this soup with chewables. And when you’ve got a plague of yeti…best to make them happy.

Summer Zucchini Soup

Necessary

• 1 large (beyond your wildest porno dreams) or 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 tbsp herbs d’provence
• salt & pepper, to taste

Optional

• 1 ear (or 1/2 – 1 cup) corn
• 2 cups of green beans, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup of cooked (or from a can) white beans
• 1 additional small zucchini

First things first. Let’s get our garlic on. Man. I really hate “get our X on” expressions. So let’s not “get out garlic on”. Let’s roast it, like normal people. So. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a Toast-R-Oven ™, that’s ideal. It’s smaller, thus taking less time to heat up and using less energy. Let’s help keep Ralph Nader’s eyes dry. Chop just the tips of the garlic off, exposing the little holes. Put the head of garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap around it. Now, pour just enough olive oil to fill all the holes and gaps in the garlic. Wrap er up and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until the garlic is soft.

Meanwhile: sautee the onion in high heat cooking oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the celery, then the carrots. Once the soup-base triumvirate begins to soften, add in the (necessary) zucchini. Then, add in the tomato. None of this has to be chopped too fine, as you’re just going to blend it later.

Add in the herbs d’provence and salt and pepper.

Once the zuchinni begins to soften, add in the veggie stock. Let this simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, until the garlic is done.  Once the garlic is done, add it to the mix by spooning out each clove with a knife. I guess that would be “knifing it out”.

Now you’re ready to blend! blend! blend! With your immersion blender or boring regular blender, blend the soup to an even creamy consistency.

If you’re adding yeti-chewables, not would be the time. Leave the heat on medium, cover and let cook about 5 more minutes until reducing heat.

If not, you can reduce the heat to low right off. You’ll want to eat this asap, i.e. before you’re mangled by yeti. Yeti don’t hang with appetizers.

Add water to get desired consistency. Yeti like it thick.