Kidney Bean Curry

Starting your last semester of college isn’t as emotional as it may sound. In place of figuring out my future or generally having my shit together, I’ve mainly been cooking and eating a lot while strategizing how many weeks I can go without doing my laundry, playing with Bruse, trying to finish a scarf I’ve been knitting for three years, coming up with offensive crayon color names, etc etc. With balmy Wisconsin temperatures like -5, 0, and 1º, I’ve become a Class A shut-in, but I’m okay with it. This gives me more valuable time to come up with solutions to the problems of the world and organize my clothes in rainbow order. While I still have your attention with my riveting life, I have a request for ya! Vote for me in Madison Magazine’s “Best of Madison 2013” contest. Click HERE and scroll or search for the “Food Blog” category. Write in “Veganizzm,” and press submit at the bottom! Das it. You can vote daily until Feb. 28, so vote often! Thanks lovies.

Kidney Bean Curry

• 1 Tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• 1-2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne or paprika
• 15 oz can kidney beans (1.5 cups cooked beans)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, for topping

1. Heat oil of choice in a pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, then add chopped ginger, garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Cook for a minute then add tomato sauce and all of the spices. For for 5 minutes, then add the kidney beans plus 1 cup of water. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and leave to simmer for 10-12 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Cranberry Sweet Potato Stuffing!

Hey my lovers and friends, sorry this is a bit belated but you know what they say; the best things in life are late. #isthatathing? #isthisthingon?

In apology I wanted to give you a really relevant vegan cooking tip but instead here’s a freestlye canoeing competition and 30 horrendous things to do rather than eat any goddamn mayo. Relevance, people.

Make this shit for dinner tonight/the next potluck you’re invited to/Christmas/your pet’s birthday/Hannukah/your next good grade on a paper/Martin Luther King Day. If you’re not eating with your hands by the end of the evening, give me a call.

• 2 large sweet potatoes, chopped
• 3 cups cubed sourdough (or your favorite) bread, toasted or stale
• 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400º

1. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil- toss chopped sweet potatoes with olive oil and sea salt. Roast at 400º for 10 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Remove and set aside.

2. Reduce heat to 350º. In a medium skillet, heat 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil, then add chopped mushrooms and onions and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté 5-7 minutes, until mushrooms are soft. Set aside.

3. Place the bread cubes, carrots, celery, mushrooms & onions, cranberries and roasted sweet potatoes in a bowl. Add the vegetable stock and thyme and mix everything together until the bread is soft and everything is well combined. Grease or line a baking/casserole dish with tin foil and pour the mixture in. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes, or until golden on top. Savor.

 

Curried Samosas

“Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.”

Whatever.

Sometimes it moves so slowly, and you’re all, “when the fucking fuck is the next season of Mad Men coming out?” or “how many days til I can walk outside without a jacket and not curse everyone and everything known to man?” Minutes feel like hours and don’t even get me started about sitting in class on Fridays. Either you’re waiting for the next great far-off something to happen, or you feel lost in the day in and day out of your world, orbiting around in the minutia that is Tivo’ed television shows and reddit threads. As ma boy Tennessee one said, “time is the longest distance between two points.”

Other times you can’t believe how fast it is all whizzing by. Am I the only one who can’t believe it’s November? That is a rhetorical question, of course, because nobody believes it’s November. Thanksgiving is in a week and half which means I have a week and a half to do all of the things I said I would do before Thanksgiving: figure out what a cover letter is, do my laundry, learn how to two-step, apply for jobs, write a cover letter,  make my bed. It’s really just too much. Is there ever a point when time feels like it’s moving the right pace? Can someone teach me how to find it?

Curried Samosas

Makes 15-16

For dough:

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon salt

For filling:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1” chunk of ginger, chopped or grated
• 3 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 tomato, diced
• juice of 1 lemon [optional]
• 2-3 medium potatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1.5 teaspoons cumin
• salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425º

1. To make dough: in a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. In a small bowl make “buttermilk” by combining soy milk and apple cider vinegar- stir and set aside 3-5 minutes, until it thickens. Add the soy milk mixture to the flour and stir to combine. Once a dough forms, use your hands to knead the dough for a few minutes, then form a ball, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. For the filling: pour sliced potatoes a medium pot and fill with enough water to cover. Place on medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook 5-10 minutes, until soft. Drain.

3. Heat a skillet over medium heat-add oil, garlic, ginger, and spices. Once sizzling, add the peas, tomato, lemon, and cooked potatoes. Cook 10-12 minutes, until a thick mixture forms. Remove from heat and set to cool.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll the ball into 15-16 small, 1” balls. Roll each ball out with a rolling pin until you have flat roughly 4” circles. Fill each round in the center with a Tablespoon of filling. Brush edges lightly with water, fold over and seal, pressing lightly with a fork. Generously grease a cookie tray and lightly brush the tops of the samosas with oil then pop in the oven for 15 minutes at 425º or until golden on top. Enjoy!

Smokey Sweet Potato & Corn Black Bean Soup

I’m gonna keep things abbreviated today cuz I really only have two things to say and I want you to hear em loud and clear. 1) Go out tomorrow, cast your ballot then drop it like it’s hot. 2) Make this goddamn soup. My roommate May made it up. Whoever you make it for will want to have your babies. End of public service announcement.

Smoky Sweet Potato & Corn Black Bean Soup

• half a yellow onion, chopped
•  4-5 cloves of garlic
• one big tomato, diced
• one big carrot, diced
• one big sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
• two cans of black beans (pureed them a bit before adding)
• one canfull of water (or enough to cover the other ingredients)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper, to taste
• “magical south africa smoky pepper flakes” or liquid smoke

1. Sauté garlic and onions in a splash of oil in a medium pot for 4-5 minutes, until golden. 2. Add the tomato, carrots, sweet potato, corn, black beans, and water. Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are soft. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and magic to taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HALLOWEEEEEKEND RECAP:

Friday I marked my two year birthiversary of Veganizzm with a dinner party-turned-rager. I made an adapted version of my curried carrot sweet potato soup (+can of coconut milk and curry paste), rosemary flatbreads topped with butternut squash puree/rosemary/caramelized onions, wild rice salad w/ roasted sweet potatoes, and this pumpkin spice cake with coconut icing and hazelnuts, which was sooo flipppppin’ bomb. The night was filled with fun and debauchery and beer and R.Kelly. Thanks so all my homies and ma honies who came, my hangover would not have been so severe or sweet without each and everyone one of you.

Saturday I went as a wine bottle opener. On the way to a party I got asked if everything was okay because it appeared as though I was wearing a full body brace. If that’s not the sign of a good weekend I don’t know what is.

EMPANADAS FOR MILES

EMPANADAS FOR MILES.

Tonight I was the guest chef for Slow Food-UW (read about what SF is and the last time I cooked with them [post 2: main course and post 3: dessert]), which was really damn awesome. I had a great team without which I would have probably ended up sitting in a pile of uncooked quinoa and weeping. With their help I made quantities to feed about 100 hungry hungry hippos (Madisonians)— tonight the menu was empanadas with mango salsa, blackbean/quinoa/sweet potato burgers with a side of coconut rice, and cherry-almond cobbler squares. The recipes which are already on the blog are below, the dessert will be coming soon!

empanadas

sweet potato/quinoa/black bean burgers

mango-lime salsa

Photo credit Amy Verhey!

Veganizzm’s business cards at the moment:

Lost in Translation

Some things are just lost in translation.

For example, my babushka will likely never understand my love of Nelly, to whom she hears me shaking my tailfeather through my bedroom wall a little too often.

She will probably never comprehend my b’dazzled style or my general refusal to wear pants after May 1–she thinks that my not wearing tights with skirts makes me a Woman Of The Night and at this point I think I am okay with it.

My babushka doesn’t get why No Brush Russia is a thing (5 months of tangled mane and going strong) and tells me that knotted hair is no way for a young woman to find herself a husband. Au contraire, dear grandma, au contraire.

There are a lot of things the two of us have come across in my time here but one we’ve spent a lot of time dancing around is my veganism (and not in the Nelly way). My babushka has been great since I’ve lived with her- she makes soup (and more soup) and really just lots o’ dishes vegan-ized for me, which I appreciate immensely. I’ve tried out some classic Russian stuff and tried not to let my vegan lifestyle hold me back from experiencing the culture of this country. All of that said, vegetarianism remains a острый (sharp, spicy) topic around 4th Sovietskaya Street.

The other day I was making an anatomy model of my body and asking my babushka the names of various bones. After explaining the clavicle (the word is like “key” cuz the bone moves in the shoulder socket like a key in a lock!) she told me that you need several servings of tvorog every day for bone strength. “And you, of course, do not eat any milk products. Just don’t complain to me when your bones break.”

Now, I know better than to launch into a vegan rant with anyone, and especially not with her. I have my reasons for being vegan and I believe in them but I’m not tryna get sass-ma-frassed by a 75-year-old wearing tinted glasses with a high enough prescription to make eyes look terrifying, a shoulder-padded dress last sported on Dynasty and fuzzy leopard print slippers. The reality is that we are women of different generations, different cultures. I came to Russia to learn the language and experience life with a family and I didn’t expect it to be butterflies and rainbows (both of those things were banned when the USSR collapsed anyhow).

I guess that what I’m saying it that even after 5+ months here I’m still mastering the give and take necessary in a relationship which crosses so many unconventional boundaries. Last week was my American friend Sasha’s birthday and my babushka wasted no time in telling me that the inside-joke present I’d put together was weird and un-present-like. “Why don’t you just get her a book?”

I’m still learning a lot of Russian (yesterday my babushka’s great-granddaughter taught me how to say boogers) but my education in Russia is wound in a different, maybe even more complex scheme of how to interact with people. My babushka and I may never see eye to eye on veganism but we had a pretty great moment a few days ago when I explained quinoa to her. Quinoa is not sold in Russia but I brought a package back with me from the States and showed it to the Bab. She tasted it and decided that this kasha (universal term for porridge) looked like the corn kasha I often eat for breakfast. “But more bitter.” I laughed and said I didn’t really like the taste when I’d first tried it but I’d gotten used to it. She laughed and said that the first five times she ate olives she hated them but the sixth she decided they were her favorite food.

Tonight I came home late from a ballet. I texted my babushka on the way home so that she wouldn’t worry or stay up like she usually does when I’m out late and don’t call. I shuffled in wearing my fancy shoes and went into the kitchen for some water. In the dark I noticed a pot on the stove. My babushka had made my breakfast:

We’re getting there.

Crazy/Busy

Hello friends.

It’s been a while since we’ve talked. I’m currently so unabashedly watching the finale of Dancing with the Stars with my mom double fisting blueberries and granola #thingsIcan’tdoinRussia? All I’m sayin is if Donald Driver doesn’t win heads are gonna roll at ABC. Anyway, the last few weeks have been Crazy/Busy (I write it like that, of course, in the format of the second best Kirsten Dunst movie of all time after Bring It On, the classic piece of cinematography Crazy/Beautiful). To give you an idea, in the days of late I have:

• been on a roll of going into stores, painting my nails then leaving

• awkwardly walked in on my babushka deeply involved in conversation with her plants on more than one occasion
• celebrated Victory Day/День победы (one of the largest holidays in Russia) with fireworks and stoop beers

• passed my final exams, fingers crossed (jk mom and dad! definitely passed!!!)
• went to my first Russian doctor’s appointment where I was, upon arrival, promptly asked to remove my shirt (I had a cold.)
• said so long see ya later to Russian friends
• and said so long see ya later to Russia

• travelled on three planes for 25 glorious, sleepless hours

• came home. ate kale.

• went and celebrated my cuz’n Lucas graduating collegio in style

• aaaaaaaand obviously made some bomb new foods. After a serious lack of cooking in Russia I’ve been more productive lately than a newly married Mormon couple. I have three new recipes for you! I will post them one at a time but here’s a sneak peek…

[chickpea quinoa falafel]

[BBQ grilled tofu and portobellos with homemade BBQ sauce]

[no-bake chocolate chip cookies]

Now that’s Crazy/Beautiful.

Trip of Steppic Proportions

You know how when people talk about travel they always say stuff like “destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things,” or “experience, travel – these are as education in themselves” or “a ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”? Well when I say “people” I mean  “no one”, and when I say “stuff” I mean “things I would actually say only after I’d Google image searched ‘larvae’ and plucked every hair from my head,” but I digress.

Last week I took a nine day trip to the south of Russia with the group of American students studying at my university. We took a 30 hour train ride south to Rostov-on-Don, where I took the opportunity to wade in the Don River and sing the classic Sisqo hit “The Don Song” (let me see that Don-da-don-don-don).

We drove around for about 5 more days in a ghetto bus with a velour interior and outer space-themed curtains. We went camping on the Steppe (I took this opportunity to make a million “Steppe” puns- lemme see you one, two Steppe), went to the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, spit off a bridge which unites Europe and Asia (my saliva was forever lost in the continental divide), visited a place called “Chess City,” and ate delicious Armenian food.

Traveling as a vegan can be a hit-or-miss experience, depending how flexible you’re willing to be. I prepared before we left (lugged instant oats, almond butter and dried apricots around a good portion of southwestern Russia) and every time we were near a store I stopped in to stock up on whatever fresh/dried fruit, fresh/canned veg, nuts, canned beans, bread, or dark chocolate I could find. I was lucky in that I was largely in control of my meals and unlucky in that I explored the frightening world of Russian preserved vegetables. FYI, pickled cauliflower is only OK.

On the other side of this trip I can say a few things about travel.

1) Preparation is key but you can’t anticipate everything (flat tires in the middle of absolute nowhere, nothing vegan except pickles and vodka for meals, etc). Flexibility is always a good thing but especially on the high open seas

2) Unexpected friends from random places are the best friends. I met some unlikely characters along the way (re: friends who make balloon animals together on a 40 hour train ride stay together). When we were at a stop along the way in a town called Voronezh I befriended a toothless woman who felt a Christmas sweater was appropriate for the 80 degree weather and gave me a free ice cream. When she found out I was from the US she petted my dirty train hair and cooed “Amehhhhhdeeka, Amehhhhdeeka!” and told me how she had a feeling she’d see me again on the television one day.

3) Steppe softly and carry a big stick.

*Almost all of these pictures were taken by my talented friend Sashinka (known to the rest of the world as Alex Bird). GIRL GOT SKILL.

How to Build a Cheese Pyramid

Nothing in Russia is a medium-sized deal.

The options are twofold:

• huge, glitzy and over-the-top
• bare-bones, dirty and offensively underwhelming

For example, it’s perfectly acceptable to walk on the street in 8 inch platform rhinestone stilettos and a mini dress when it’s snowing. Preferred, even. This last week alone I saw a Bentley stretch limo, a neon orange Cadillac Escalade and a sleek matte-textured Jaguar. Today I saw a lady at the gym wiping her butt sweat with a Louis Vuitton towel. There’s a chance that once a tiny child next to me on the bus had a grill, though it could have been something else, it all happened very fast.

I’ve been told that the average Russian would choose a nice car and a crappy apartment over the reverse any day of the week. I would not say that Russians are materialistic outright (okay, maybe) but rather they really really appreciate the aesthetic. That’s why I was only moderately surprised when the Russian Orthodox Easter rolled around this year and people went ape wild for beautiful food preparation, eccentric egg dying and very public Jesus lovin’. I was touched when my babushka offered (forced) me to help make (singlehandedly make) the “paskha”— literally an enormous pyramid of cream cheese, butter, sugar, and raisins. Well sure, I said! Since those are my favorite foods and I eat them all the time.

Before I came to Russia I made a deal with myself that if quintessential Russian cultural experiences came up I would consider trying non-vegan foods. In almost 2.5 years of veganism I haven’t broken it for anything so I was kind of nervous at the prospect (re: nervous for my bowels [re: this is my blog and I don’t care if everyone is grossed out at me talking about my bowels]) of trying something so rich. In the end I tried enough to taste the flavors (rich and sweet) and to not offend my babushka. She clearly took this as an opportunity to hint at eating dairy full time (cuz I will not be able to birth children if I stay vegan, or something), but at the end of the day seemed pretty pleased I was part of the tradition.

So I know this is a vegan blog. But it’s called VeganIZZM which in this case means this is a little more about my life and all of the ridiculous things it involves. If you’re interested in learned a bit about Russia or want to create a really Egyptian looking pile of cheese read further.

My Babushka’s Paskha

If you can find a way to veganize this and make it not disgusting I will be impressed.

• 5 cups tvorog (Russian cottage/cream cheese, available in Russian stores)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins (soaked overnight to soften)
• 1/4 cup chopped apricots
• zest of 1 lemon

1. Push the tvorog through a sieve with the back of the spoon. This will take forever and make you very cynical about the whole experience.

2. Mix it up real good with softened butter, fruits and sugar. Pour into a cheese cloth-lined mould* and place in the fridge overnight.

*your mould should be pyramid shaped, made of cardboard, held together by string and at least 25 years old.

In the mean time, dye eggs. If you’re vegan don’t eat them.

3. On the day of your celebration carefully flip and remove from the mould.

Enjoy with a lovely Easter spread (those cakes are called “kulich” and they’re basically like spongey bread/challah with dried fruits inside.

Like I said. When Russians do it up, they do it right.