Let it get below 80 degrees, and I immediately go into fall veggie mode. Pumpkin, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, stews, and soups are all on my mind. I also don’t cook enough Indian food, so this week I combined the two. This is the Acorn Squash Pulikulambu from Healthy South Indian Cooking. The dish was sweet and spicy, but not really hot. There was just enough tamarind to give a hint of sour. Even though this cookbook isn’t even vegetarian, there are a ton of wonderful recipes that are either naturally vegan or easily vegan. Plus they tend to be fairly healthy. Yummy and healthy, great combination!
Half of a plain bagel with cream cheese, half eaten
Not the first bagels I’ve eaten, but the first ones I’ve ever made. Like most bread, there is a series of timed steps that each contribute to the yumminess. For this batch, I used Rose Levy Beranbaum’s recipe in The Bread Bible. I have some steps for you here in pictures. I skipped pics of the sponge and bulk rise parts though. Too bad, you could’ve seen the dough almost bust out of it’s container.
Shaping bagels is pretty easy. After you’ve separated the dough into pieces, you poke a finger in the center, pick it up, stretch until you can get both fingers in the hole (yeah, it’s pretty naughty) and either pull and rotate around until you’ve got a 2 1/2″ hole (it’ll snap back) or wind it around with your fingers as kind of spokes like Kevin did and it’ll go really fast. That last bit is hard to describe. Oh well, you’ll figure it out.
Bagels taking a boiling bath
You boil them up for about 2 minutes per side. Then let rest for a minute on a clean towel to drain before transferring to a baking sheet.
Boiled bagels ready for bakingBagels baking in my crappy ovenBagels just out of the oven
These are spongy and chewy crusted like bagels should be. We also made a few onion bagels. They were even more amazing. I was concerned because it looked like the onions were burninating while they were baking, but it all turned out fine.
Onion bagel
In addition to this being a VeganMofo post, I’m submitting it to Wild Yeast Blog’s weekly Yeastspotting feature. Every week Susan rounds up yummy baking posts from around the ‘net. Check it out.
Lately I’ve been experimenting with whoopie pies. And judging from the reactions to these, they are definitely a keeper. Sorry, no recipe on these. We’re trying to start a bakery up over here, okay? Can’t give away all our secrets. That said, there are recipes online. See, here’s one for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. It’s similar to what I did and I’m sure you’ll have great results.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Innards
Oh yeah, there were also oatmeal whoopie pies with cinnamon filling. I’m sure I’ll get around to making standard chocolate ones sometime soon. I wonder, are whoopie pies the new cupcake?
Friday, I bought a package of Soyrizo on a whim with no particular plan of what to do with it. Then I remembered this old Vegetarian Times recipe for Stuffed Poblano Chilies with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Perfect! So I loosely followed this recipe from memory. I mean, it isn’t exactly complicated.
Roasted poblanos before skinningEverything in progress
But, to incorporate the Soyrizo, I sautéed half the package with half an onion until the onion was soft and the Soyrizo started to brown.
Soyrizo and onions
Then I just mixed that in with the mashed potatoes before stuffing the peppers. I also mixed a little Teese in with the mashed potatoes and sprinkled it all over the top. Since I didn’t go by a recipe or measure anything, there was extra mashed potato mixture. So I put it down in the casserole, then plopped the stuffed peppers on top.
All melty from the oven
We ate it with a side of refried beans. Hey, the chili was green, that counts, right?
Even for those of us that live in big cities, it can sometimes be hard to meet other vegans. If your area doesn’t have some sort of meet-up type group for vegans or vegetarians, think of starting one! Or, you could always join one in the city nearest you and go hang out with them. I mean, it’s probably just once a month, so isn’t it worth the drive to experience the wonder of a vegan potluck?
In Atlanta, we have a group that meets once a month for lunch on the weekend. We either go to a restaurant or have a potluck at someone’s house or at a park. To give you an idea, a couple of things I remember making for potlucks: rose scented baklava and seitan chicken & waffles with chickpea gravy. Yeah. So if you’re an Atlanta area vegan, check it out.
And, Ashley Nicole is organizing a potluck picnic in Candler Park at the end of October. The last one rocked, so you should go!
