News and Chews

Wow, it's been a week since I last posted! We're having 'spring break'... which, in some ways is a break but other ways, very much not a break (you at-home moms and dads know what I'm talkin' about here)! I've enjoyed not having to bustle out of the house in the morning to school and preschool and back to preschool, and back home and back to school, and squeezing in grocery shopping, housecleaning, lesson, activities, and cooking in between! Phew! Yes, having a change of pace from that routine is certainly a welcome break. But, we've been trying to 'spring clean' in a sense, clearing out things we aren't using and getting to chores we've neglected... AND I've been testing new recipes, so it's been busy as ever.

So, let's catch up on some news and chews!

First, some news:
Many of you know I've been writing for VegNews for the last couple of years. Well, I'm no longer contributing articles for VegNews, in case you are looking for them in upcoming issues. I will, however, be contributing vegan cooking articles for alive magazine. I'm very excited about this, because they haven't had a dedicated vegan feature in the past, and so I hope to write for their magazine on a regular basis. alive is available in health and whole food stores across Canada, so the vegan exposure is a very great thing!

Next up in news: eat, drink & be vegan is a Finalist for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in the Cooking category. The award is announced on May 29 at Book Expo America... wish me luck! :)

Now, for the chews!

This is the Olive Oregano Wine Baked Tofu from the foodtv.ca recipes. Guys, this dish is wicked tasty, and might even convert the tofu-averse! And though I haven't yet tried it with tempeh, I think it would be smashing good!

We are enjoying tempeh more than tofu these days. Not only do I dig the earthy, nutty flavor and beany texture, but since it is fermented (and retains fibre, unlike tofu) it is much easier to digest. So, tempeh is making its way to our table more frequently, and as a result, you'll see more tempeh recipes coming from this cookbook author (I already have two insanely delicious ones that I will soon post about)! I think seitan would also be well suited to this recipe. Seitan is not my specialty. Why? Well, while I think it can be fun, and versatile and a great protein source, it's just not a food that my family ever likes. I have enjoyed the occasional seitan recipe, but not the kids or mister-man. Plus, though I've sometimes enjoyed eating seitan, I don't always feel the best after eating it. Maybe because it's such a concentrated and processed wheat product... perhaps it's my constitution... whatever, I'm not sure. What I do know is that if you want some kick-butt seitan recipes, then go to the experts - wheat-meat queens Bryanna or Isa and Terry. They'll serve up some winner seitan recipes for you! Now... back to our recipe at hand...

The tofu bathes in a marinade of white wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, oregano, agave nectar sun-dried tomatoes, grapes (yes grapes!) and Moroccan dry olives. Do try to use these Moroccan dry olives, rather than kalamata or other olives. They lend a very distinctive taste that is superb in this dish. Also, do try to use organic grapes if at all possible. (they are part of the dirty dozen, remember). While the recipe calls for red grapes, I used organic green grapes this time, and they worked fine. Oh, and use 1/3 cup of grapes rather than 1/4, as per edits here. Serve it with a whole grain, or with roasted potatoes, or polenta. This is also a marvelous dish for those of you that cannot eat garlic and/or onions (I have heard from quite a few of you with this dietary restriction). Plenty of flavor in this dish with no garlic or onion to be found.

Speaking of spuds. What's this, what's this? This bowl of tater temptation is Vive's Lemon Rosemary Potatoes. I've posted about them before, check it out.

All the news and chews fit to print for now. So, please try out the tofu dish folks, I think you'll LOVE it!

I'll be back with more soon... stay tuned, stay vegan!