Veggie Fest! Naperville, Illinois 2013...

Veggie Fest Entrance

This weekend was the annual Vegetarian Festival in Naperville, Illinois, a two day event full of good eats, cool speakers, great demo’s, holistic health advice, free massages, free meditation lessons, activism, and so much more. Veggie Fest has been taking place during the second week of August for the past eight years, and I’ve been in attendance for the past four. It seems crazy to think that I’ve been going to this festival for four years and I’ve never once posted about it. I know the first year I didn’t post about it because that was before my time as a blogger, and before I was even a vegetarian let alone a vegan. The second year I was so excited to get out there and enjoy all the great eats in my first year of vegetarianism that I forgot my camera at home. Last year I did in fact bring my camera though I neglected to take many pictures and then once I got home updating about it totally slipped my mind. This year however I was a great blogger, I brought the camera and made sure to take a lot of pictures.

Live Music - Folk, Reggae, Spanish,
It's always a great mix of bands

Veggie Fest for me is the premier summer event, and I love it. Everything about it excites me and soothes my soul. I always end up talking to cool people, and learning new things. I love hanging around the activist booths and talking to other long-time and newbie vegans. It’s great to be in a big group of like minded people who are supportive. Being around so many cool vegans inspires me, and rekindles that fire inside that often dulls when there isn’t enough vegan stimulation around. That’s not to say that the non-vegans in my life aren’t supportive or inspirational, they are, just in a different way. The realities of the non-vegan world can be harsh, and sometimes it can be hard to deal with the constant meat-pushing culture all around you, that when you show up at veggie fest it’s like you’ve crossed into some magical oasis where nothing can hurt you, or bother you, and everything is uplifting. It’s always a great day for my husband and I.

Awesome Licence Plate in the parking lot

We decided to go on Sunday, which was the second day of the event. It opened at 11am, and we got there at 10 minutes to, but by the time we got our car parked and walked over to the grounds of the Science of Spirituality Center where the fest is held each year the gates were opened and we were ushered in. We started by registering. Then we headed off in search of what great vegan fun we could have. We were suppose to meet our friends J & L but they were running late so we decided to loop around. One of our first stops was the Book Publishing Company's tent, which is one of my favorite tents at Veggie Fest. I took a good long look at all the books on offer but really my eyes were only set on one. “Cookin’ Crunk” by Bianca Phillips. I have been reading Bianca’s blog Vegan Crunk  since shortly after I went vegan. It was one of the first blogs I happened to stumble across and I immediately loved it. She has a fun and easy style of writing that I appreciate and a real down-home, down to earth personality which I really like. Plus she always gives you the scoop on cool new vegan products and cool new vegan cook books. Since I always read the Veggie Fest Schedule online in advance I knew she was going to be at Veggie Fest this year doing a demo and I was uber excited about that. Her cook book has been sitting on my amazon wish list since it was published but I just hadn’t gotten around to buying it yet. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so, since I was hoping to get to chat with her and have her sign the book after her demo.

Empanada's and Guac

After buying the book my husband and I wandered into the food court where we promptly became excited for all that was on offer. Since Veggie Fest is a Vegetarian Festival not all of the food is vegan or vegan-friendly. Some years have been more vegan then others. The first two years we went were a bit low on vegan options, but last year was better, and I have to say that I think this year was the best yet. We started off by getting some empanada’s with guacamole and salsa. These were good, though I’ve made better at home. We followed the empanada’s up with a slice of vegan pizza! We were so excited to finally see Vegan pizza at veggie fest. Normally they only have vegetarian pizza and it’s always loaded with dairy cheese. This year they had a vegan slice with vegan sausage and it was super yummy! After that we took a quick circle around the grounds getting a preliminary look at the various tents, and then it was time to check out the first cool demo of the afternoon.

Sausage and 'Cheese' Pizza 

I was interested and excited to see Jennifer Cornbleet author of “Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2" do a chef demo. It was also the perfect time to get out of the sun as the weather had started heating up!  The demo was good and ran about thirty-five minutes or so. Jennifer had a great personality and really made raw food seem quick and easy. Her recipes all sound wonderful and she really takes some of the mystery out of raw food. For the demo she made a Raw Chocolate Mousse Tart with a Pecan crust. It was very simple and came together quickly, it was also delicious! The secret ingredient was avocado - as is the case with many raw mousses - and it was fantastic. I don’t buy raw cook books terribly often because I find many of them to be too fussy and involved, but after watching Jennifer’s demo I think I’ll definitely have to pick up a copy of the revised - and newly republished - edition of her book.

Jennifer Cornbleet during her Demo 

It was sometime during Jennifer’s demo that our friends J & L finally arrived. It was good to see them as I actually haven’t seen them since Christmas. Spoken with them on the phone and via social media of course but actually see them in the physical world? Yeah it’s been a while. So we chatted for a few minutes then took in the circuit, making our way back over to the food court. My husband ended up getting the vegan masala dosa from Art of Dosa, and I got a vegan corn dog. The corn dog was just okay, the dog part was delicious and tasted as good as I remember any traditional hot dog tasting. The Okay part was the corn batter. It wasn’t as crisp or flavorful as I would have liked, but then perhaps I wasn’t thrilled with it because I never liked regular corn dogs? Who knows. I always say I’m going to get one and then I never do, so this year I made sure to finally go for it.

Miyoko Schinner at her Demo 

After that it was time for the next demo, and this one I was super excited for. Miyoko Schinner of “Artisan Vegan Cheese” Fame. I saw her demo at Chicago Vegan Mania last year - yes I know I never posted about it and I’m sorry! - and she was fantastic, unfortunately at that time I didn’t have a copy of her book nor did I have the time to stick around and chat with her after her demo was over. Mania was well manic! I got her book a coupe of weeks after Vegan Mania and since I’ve made seven or eight cheese recipes from it that I have absolutely loved and adored. She really brings a whole new level to vegan cheese and her’s are seriously the best I’ve ever had. Much better then even the best store-bought vegan cheese. So I packed up my copy of “Artisan Vegan Cheese” from home with the intention of having her sign it after the demo.

Guy in an awesome carrot costume!

Her demo by the way was great. She is so full of life and energy. She radiates what it means to be a joyful vegan and she’s funny! I loved watching her, and even when things didn’t go exactly right - the stove heated to quickly and gave her a bit of trouble - she still kept her cool and rolled with it. She said that she’s more of a ‘throw a bit of this and a bit of that in’ kind of cook, and I can definitely identify with that. That’s really my style too, having to jot down everything I put into a recipe can be so tedious but it must be done if you want others to create it with the same luck as you. So for her demo she did a lox flavored cream cheese that she served on a bagels. I’ve never had lox before so I don’t know what that tastes like, but it reminded me of a seafood dip from my childhood. It was delicious! Next up she made a sun-dried tomato and basil cream cheese also served on a bagel and it was amazing! Lastly she made fresh mozzarella that she served in a panzanella salad. This too was fantastic. I loved that all these recipes were quick and easy, and they really re-inspired me to pick up “Artisan Vegan Cheese” again and make some stuff.

Great bumper sticker on  that cool car with the vegan
Licence plate. Love stuff like this! 

So after the demo was over, I went over to where she was signing the books and brought out my copy of “Artisan Vegan Cheese” the book signing line was quite long and so I didn’t want to take up too much of her time. I just told her how much I loved the book, how I’d made many cheeses from it and how even my husband loved the recipes I’d made from the book, which is saying something since he’s never been a cheese lover - vegan or otherwise. Miyoko was super nice, and friendly and I walked away feeling really good.

Corn Dog

After Miyoko’s demo we met back up with J & L who told us they were bailing on Veggie Fest. We’d hardly spent any time with them yet as they didn’t attend any of the demo’s with us, so that was a bit of a disappointment. They said it was too hot, and too crowded, and so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. I like being at veggie fest with friends, because I love the group experience, but it was no less fun with just my husband and I.

Delicious and Refreshing Frozen Soy Cappuccino 

After J & L left we walked around some more and checked out various booths. We went over to Mercy For animals, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Vegan Mania tables. We went back to the Book Publishing Company’s table and then back to the Food Court where we sampled products by Earth Balance, Cobra Corn, Tasty Bites and other great stuff that I can’t exactly recall now. Then we wetted our whistles with some Frozen Soy Cappuccino’s! Which were super delicious and hit the spot!

Then it was time to head back over to the demo tents to watch Bianca Phillips! This is the demo I was the most excited about. She’s been around doing demo’s at different vegetarian and vegan festivals all year, and I get to read about all the cool things she makes on her blog so I was really curious to see which recipe from “Cookin’ Crunk” she was going to make. She ended up making the Creole Sausages which were really delicious. Now I’m a bit picky about my seitan, and since she prepared the sausages in advance they were cold when served which I would normally not like, but the flavor of them was really fantastic. I know they’ll be really great grilled or fried, and they had a fantastic texture. I also really loved that they were made with white beans as well as gluten flour. I think the beans gives them a much milder flavor then the kinds of seitan sausages that are made solely with gluten.

Bianca Phillips during her demo
Check out that cute 'Cookin' Crunk' Apron

Though Bianca’s demo was quite short I enjoyed it! She’s as easy going and funny in person as she is on her blog, and you really get a sense of her passion for cooking good comforting food. After her demo my husband and I walked over to where she was going to sign books. I was second in line and since the line wasn’t too busy yet I was able to talk to her for more then 5 seconds, which was super cool. She’s really sweet, and friendly and I walked away feeling pretty happy about my new signed copy of ‘Crunk’

It was around that time that my husband’s mom showed up with his cousin C. Neither of whom are vegan or even vegetarian - though C was vegetarian for a time. - His mom had decided to drop by and check the festival out this year to see what it was all about and she thought C might like to come along. It was nice to have them there and it was cool to take them around and show them the different things going on, and see them enjoying the food. Back in the food court my husband and I couldn’t refuse a plate of delicious sushi. Originally I wasn’t going to get any because I’ve had it before and it’s typically the same. Teriyaki shiitake mushroom maki. It’s good, but doesn’t blow my socks off. This year however they really gave their sushi a new look, and it had way more flavor. C bought some and when I saw her plate I couldn’t not try it, it just looked to good to be true.

Look at that amazing sushi! 

After we packed away the delicious sushi we shared some of my husband’s mom’s fries, and watermelon, grabbed some lemonades, and capped the food festivities off by each enjoying a slice of Pineapple Upside down cake. The fries, cake lemonade and watermelon I forgot to photograph but trust me when I say they were all good.

Once we were stuffed to the bursting point we did a few more circles of the grounds, and headed into the meditation tent to learn how to meditate on our inner light. This was my husband’s idea which surprised me because usually it’s me suggesting stuff like this. Originally I had no interest in meditating at that moment but he was going so I decided to go too. It was a fun experience, and peaceful. The meditation was guided by a lovely Austrian woman, and I felt so at east that I was ready to fall asleep. As for seeing my inner light, well I’m not 100% sure. I often see light when I close my eyes, so I don’t know if this is just a strange thing about me, or if I’m always able to see my ‘inner light’ perhaps I should meditate on it some more.

Crowd in the Food Court

After that it was time to head out. We ended up leaving around quarter past five which is the earliest we’ve ever left Veggie Fest. Normally we hang around till it closes down and listen to the music and dance, but with J & L gone, no more room in our bellies to eat, no more demo’s to watch, and having already looked over everything more then once it was time to head out. Leaving Veggie Fest is always sad, but as it turned out we left just in time, because about twenty or so minutes after we headed out it began pissing rain.

I can’t wait until next year’s Veggie Fest, but until then I have the Toronto Vegetarian Festival to look forward to - if there are any Toronto area vegetarians or vegans going, let me know maybe we can meet up! - and Chicago Vegan Mania just a few weeks after. It’s gonna be end to the year!

If you couldn't make it this year I hope you come out next year.
Veggie Fest is held Annually in Naperville the second week of August.
On the grounds of the Science and Spirituality Meditation Center.
4S 175 Naperville-Wheaton Road

The Ethics of Eating Laboratory-Grown Meat and Its Potential Impact on Humans, Animals, and The Planet...

On Monday the world’s very first laboratory-grown beef hamburger was tested in London. Popped out of a petri dish and plopped into a frying pan the burger was cooked up and served to two volunteers, US based food author Josh Schonwald and Austrian food researcher Hanni Ruetzler. The burger in question was developed by Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands with the hope of discovering a more sustainable way to raise meat. The burger was made by taking stem cells harvested from a living cell and placing them in a bioreactor holding a nutrient mixture that would help them proliferate. It took roughly three months to grow the 20,000  0.02 inch strands of muscle fiber used in making the burger. Which is a considerably shorter time-frame then it takes to raise an entire cow from birth to slaughter. The muscle fibers were then mixed with salt, egg powder, and breadcrumbs to improve flavor, and beetroot juice and saffron for color.  It had been reported that this little experiment was five years in the making and cost a total of $332,00, but what did the taste-testers have to say?

Well, the reviews were mixed. The bottom line is that the texture of this patty was spot on, though the flavor was somewhat lacking. Since the burger patty was made from muscle fiber, there wasn’t a lot of fat which means it wasn’t as juicy or greasy as is generally expected from a hamburger. The general consensus seemed to be that the test-tube burger tasted something like a cross between a Boca Burger Patty and a Fast Food Hamburger, and even Mark Post conceded that the flavor would need to be improved before this could become a viable meat replacement for the majority.

How about public opinion? Well, it’s a pretty mixed bag. This story has generated a lot of discussion, a lot of debate, and a lot of controversy amongst both meat-eaters, and vegans, and frankly I’m surprised by the widely negative response coming out of the vegan community. It seems to me that most of the animal-rights organizations, and vegan organizations and non-profits are for this new development in food technology. PETA has endorsed it, as have non-profits like Farm Sanctuary, but when it comes to individual vegans; vegans like you and I, the backlash is overwhelming. You have vegans calling out these organizations for their support of this new technology and threatening to quit supporting them if they continue to endorse it. You have vegans calling out other vegans and declaring them ‘not vegan’ if they support this new development. You have all manner of people in general saying all manner of crazy things and it seems that very few of these outraged individuals actually know what they’re talking about. To me the negative response seems to be a ‘heat of the moment’ thing, an immediate emotional response, rather then a logical or intellectual one. Which is why I felt the need to write this post. I’m not claiming to be particularly intellectual but I feel it’s very important for some vegan somewhere to speak up, and make a thought-provoking case here. As vegans I think we’re doing more harm then good with an outright show of disapproval or refusal of this new development, and we’re severely overlooking the potential good it has.

Before I get into it I want to make clear that as a Vegan I have no interest in eating In Vitro meat. I have no interest in consuming test tube burgers, or laboratory grown meat, or ‘ethical meat.’ If this product becomes available in my local grocery store I will not consume it. Why? Because reduced animal suffering or not, this is still meat, and eating meat regardless of how it’s grown or where it comes from is not vegan. This is still an animal product, derived from an animal. I also went vegan initially for health reasons and so laboratory meat, or regular meat it doesn’t make a difference, they’re both still unhealthy in my opinion. So I personally wouldn’t eat this, and I wouldn’t condone another vegan eating it, but the important thing to remember here is that this is not a product being made and marketed towards vegans and vegetarians. This is a product being made for omnivores, for meat-eaters, and as such I support it. It’s far better for meat-eaters to eat laboratory meat, then it is for them to eat conventional meat for so many reasons.

Firstly we live in an overpopulated world, with an ever increasing population. Those population increases mean a higher demand for animal-based foods. World hunger is not something that we’ve been able to cease, and as our population continues to explode this problem will only get worse. Our planet is under severe stress, we do not have infinite resources, and we are using them without caution. We can not continue to sustain our rate of growth, or development and our overburdened planet can not continue to sustain the massive animal agriculture industry. Deforestation, land erosion, biodiversity decline, energy use, water depletion, pollution of eco-systems, land, water-ways, and oceans, poor air-quality, and a rise in greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions. These are the serious problems that we face, and they only grow worse as our population increases. According to the United Nations Animal Agriculture - that’s factory farming of cows, pigs, chickens, lambs, goats, etc... factory egg laying facilities, and factory dairy farms - are responsible for 40+% of global warming. That’s more then the entire transpiration sector - think cars, trucks, trains, planes, boats etc... - combined. Animal agriculture is literally killing the planet, and it isn’t doing us any favors either. Laboratory grown meat has the potential to change all of that, and even if it doesn’t solve all of these problems completely it will at least help to decrease their severity.

Hannah Tuomisto of Oxford University stated “At the global level if all meat was lab-grown, the greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 80% and the water use by 90%.” An 80% reduction in emissions and a 90% reduction in water usage is huge! Monumentally huge on that scale alone we should be looking into considering lab-grown meat as a viable option and replacement to the conventional. Another independent study found that lab-grown meat uses 45% less energy then the average global representative figure for farming cattle. The study also found that lab-grown meat also produced 96% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires 99% less land. Less energy wasted, and less land used, which means more land that can be used to house or ever-growing population. More land for us to grow food crops on, more land for us to turn into refuges, protected areas, or simply give back to nature.

This isn’t even taking into account other environmental and health factors like the spread of salmonella, E. Coli and other food bourne illness. Food bourne illness comes from animal feces coming into contact with food products. If you don’t raise animals for food, growing your food in a lab instead then there isn’t any feces. Theoretically this would decrease the number of cases of food borne illness per year. The 1 billion plus animals raised for human consumption in this country annually produce more then 3 trillion tons of waste. Since that waste is not disposed of properly it is often left to contaminate land, water ways, rivers, lakes, and other crops causing us to become ill. No more factory farmed animals means no more trillion tons of improperly disposed of waste. Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are another factor. Since farmed animals are kept in such deplorable conditions they are routinely given antibiotics to prevent them from becoming sick. This has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria entering our environment, and this has many scientists and doctors concerned over our future. We only have so many antibiotics available to us, if they cease to work on the bacteria and diseases that they’re meant to heal us from what then? Many scientists, and zoologists believe that the next big pandemic will come from an animal source, likely from a farmed animal who has close contact with humans. Take away animal farming in favor of lab-grown meat and you reduce the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the potential for new pandemic or epidemic pathogens.

Environmentally speaking there is no good or valid reason why lab-grown meat shouldn’t be researched or supported.

As for world hunger it's ridiculous to think that we'll ever be able to produce enough meat to feed all the hungry in the world. It simply isn't feasible when you take into account how many animals would have to be raised - in an already burdened system - to accomplish this daunting task. The animal agriculture system that we have in place just isn't effective or efficient. If you take a look at the numbers you see that they just don't add up in any way that makes sense. 30% of Earths land mass is taken up by animal agriculture. More then 260 million acres of U.S. forest alone have been cleared in order to grow crops to feed to animals. 70% of the grain and cereals that are grown in the United States are fed to farmed animals. Dose this make sense to anyone? In a world where children in less fortunate countries die of starvation every day is it ethical to continue to feed important food staples to animals just so that we can eat them ourselves? What do we get in return? It takes 13 pounds of grain to get 1 pound of meat back, and even farmed fish need to be fed 5 pounds of wild caught fish in order to return 1 pound of farmed fish. This is not only wildly inefficient, but to some degree it's down right disgusting. It's been said that there isn't a global food shortage, that the problem is in the distribution, and you could make an argument there for government corruption in third world nations but it should also be pointed out that if we 'redistributed' that grain that we feed to farmed animals to humans, the 'food crisis' would end. We can effectively grow enough food to feed every person on this planet, the problem is that we greedily choose to feed that food to animals that we intend to eat to satisfy our own palates.

Food, and land however are not the only wasted resources. Water is another hugely wasted resource in the animal agriculture industry. Many countries are already facing massive water shortages, droughts, and are in water crisis. Here in the U.S. because we're not faced with it everyday it's out of sight and out of mind, but the prediction is that in as little as another decade the U.S. too will be feeling the effects of a global water crisis. Water is now being labeled "Blue Gold" and yet we continue to waste it as though it were infinite Did you know that 2,400 Gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of meat? Where as only 25 Gallons are used to produce 1 pound of wheat. That's a staggering difference.

It simply doesn't make sense to continue farming animals the way that we've been doing. If ending world hunger is something that we're serious about as a nation and as a society then we have to at least consider the benefits of lab-grown meat; as lab-grown meat has the potential to end animal agriculture while still providing meat for those who wish to continue to consume it, and it can provide a realistic solution to ending world hunger. Lab-grown meat also has the potential to help us avert the coming global water crisis. Taking these two things into consideration there is no valid reason for why lab-grown meat shouldn't be researched or supported.

Then there’s the case for animal rights. As animal rights activists and vegans we strive to end animal suffering. Our whole purpose, our whole mission is the end of needless and cruel suffering, torture, brutalization, and murder of billions of animals. We do this through education, through speaking our truth, by engaging in conversations on this topic and by encouraging others to go vegan or at least vegetarian. It’s a noble cause for sure, but the sad truth is that no matter how much we try, no matter how much we fight, we are not enough. We can never, and will never cause the entire world to go vegan. That isn’t even the slightest bit realistic. There will always be people who eat meat, and rather then fight those people on an issue that will never change for them why wouldn’t we as vegans want to endorse lab meat? Lab meat can and will put an end to animal suffering in a way that we as vegans will never be able to do. When lab meat is a viable option, inexpensive, and easily available and accepted it will cause a massive decrease in factory farming. Eventually it could cause all animal farming to stop completely. It’s not so crazy to imagine lab meat will become the future and conventionally raised meat will be a thing of the past.

For all those vegans who will not endorse lab meat because it is not vegan I ask you to reconsider and rethink your position. You will never be able to make the world vegan, and therefore there will always be animal suffering. Lab meat can change that. Yes it would still be meat and yes it would still be from an animal, and yes maybe a couple of animals would have to suffer for us to harvest the stem cells, but you don’t have to eat it. It is not for you, it is for meat-eaters. In my opinion it’s preferable to have only 1 or 2 or even 10 animals suffering then it is to have a billion plus animals suffering every year. I think it’s foolish to carry around this indignant, superior, all or nothing attitude, and it’s what gives vegans a bad name. I’m reminded of a famous quote by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau that goes “Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything.” Our goal as animal rights activists and as vegans should be to eliminate as much animal suffering as possible, even if this is not the way we envisioned doing that, this is something that we should be happy about.

Now we come to health. Is lab-grown meat nutritious? Presumably it would have a similar nutritional content as conventionally raised meat, however there is the potential to make this meat healthier then the conventional. As only muscle fibers are being used the resulting meat would be leaner, and that can only be a benefit to meat-eaters. With the rates of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic diseases skyrocketing a healthier meat option can only help to lift some of the burden from our strained medical system. Surely meat,  regardless of how it’s raised or grown will cause disease, and an increased risk of developing disease, but if the risk doesn’t have to be as great as it is currently then that’s a win in my book.

As for other health aspects, some people have raised concerns that lab-grown meat is somehow fake. That it’s a ‘frankenfood’ that it has potential health consequences that we are not yet aware of. On that point I say it’s true that we do not know if lab-grown meat will effect the human body in a negative way. If the meat is clean - meaning it’s from an organic source animal - and it contains no additives then I can’t see it as being any more harmful then a conventionally raised animal. If the processing industry begins to manipulate the product then there is potential for unintended consequences there, but we can’t know that until we test it.

I do however think it’s silly, misinformed, and hypocritical to say that lab-grown meat is ‘fake’ meat. It’s not fake at all. It’s grown from cow stem cells. It comes from a real cow, and therefor it is real cow meat. There isn’t anything fake about that, the difference is in the process but since when did an unconventional process become the basis for labeling something as fake? Take In Vitro fertilization for example. This is an amazing technology that helps couples who are unable to conceive naturally have a baby. Are ‘test-tube’ babies ‘fake babies?’ because they were initially grown in a lab? Are In Vitro babies considered less then human in our culture? No. Are they considered other? No. Do they look, act, or smell any different then conventionally conceived children? No, of course not. It would be insane to even imply such a thing. So why then is it being suggested that lab meat is somehow not real? Do you consider Aspirin a real medicine? What about cough syrup, is that real? These are products developed and manufactured in a laboratory for our health, we consider them medicine not ‘fake’ medicine. So why is lab-grown meat any different? The ‘fake’ argument is one that doesn’t make any sense, and it only shows ignorance on the part of people who obviously have no understanding of science, medicine, technology, and food manufacturing.

For those who say lab-meat is ‘unnatural’ I think you need to reconsider what is and isn’t natural. Is lab meat less natural then raising a billion animals in cramped and confined spaces? Is it less natural then pumping animals full of antibiotics because they’re standing belly deep in their own shit, in addition to hormones that make them grow faster? Because that’s what conventional meat is, is that more natural? Take into account for a second the slaughterhouse, in which hundred of animals are slaughtered in minutes on a fast moving conveyer belt to which they are strung up alive and gutted so that their blood and feces drip onto the floor. A place in which animals are scalded in boiling water while still alive to remove their hair and feathers and where sick animals foaming at the mouth with disease are routinely slaughtered for human consumption. How about the cleaning process in which animal carcases are washed in a solution of bleach, and other chemicals to make them fit for human consumption, is that natural? Is it natural to have numerous chickens crammed into one cage stacked on top of other cages so that their shit falls through the wire onto the birds below? Is it natural to remove animals toes, beaks, snouts, hooves, horns and tails so that we can manhandle them more easily? Is it natural to artificially inseminate cows so that their pregnancy will cause them to lactate so that we can sell, buy and drink her milk? Is it natural to feed animals GMO corn and soy, animal by-products and the feces and waste of other animals? If your answer to these questions is no, then you need to wake up and realize that these are common occurrences in the animal agriculture industry. These are everyday things, this is how the system operates. Not a single one of these things would apply to lab grown meat, so how is it less natural? Is murder natural? Is it natural to murder living breathing beings? Lab grown meat doesn’t murder.

What about other food products commonly bought and sold in stores. I’m talking about frozen foods, prepackaged foods, t.v. dinners, pop, soda, minute rice, box macaroni and cheese, canned soup, bottled drinks and beverages, granola bars, power bars, processed meats, sausages, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, refined sugar, refined flour, baked goods, vegan cheese, vegan meat, and all other shelf-stable foods. Are any of these natural? The technical answer would be no. Of course some products are more natural then others but virtually all shelf-stable foods are the work of food scientists working in a laboratory. These foods are all manufactured, and don’t you even begin to tell me that you never or have never eaten a food that falls into this category. If everyone on the planet ate as ‘natural’ as they claimed to then the entire food industry would collapse and go out of business. Even health nuts eat some form of processed food. In my opinion if you’re sitting down to a can of cola, and a hot dog you have no right to call lab meat unnatural. If you’re sitting down to a glass of non-organic soy milk, and a vegan steak sandwich you have no right to call lab meat ‘unnatural.’ If you enjoy an oreo, or a vitamin water, or a vegan marshmallow, or a can of soup now and then you have no right to call lab meat ‘unnatural.’ If you eat at fast food restaurant - even if you’re eating vegan fast food, - or even if you’re dining out at a conventional ‘sit-down’ restaurant you have no right to call lab meat ‘unnatural.’

To me, in terms of the processing aspect, eating lab meat would be no different then eating a box of chicken nuggets or a Tofurkey roast at Thanksgiving. In fact, lab meat may actually be less processed then many conventional meat products such as nuggets and hot dogs, as well as many vegan products such as veggie burgers, veggie chicken, and veggie sausages. So you can’t site ‘unnatural’ as a reason against. As for the ‘ick’ factor eating a lab meat burger is no more disgusting then eating a hot dog, or a burger at a fast food restaurant. I mean really, do you know what goes into those things? Yet people do both of those things day in and day out without so much as a second thought.

Of course there is also the opinion that since there are so many great meat alternatives available already that meat-eaters don’t take advantage of this will not catch on. There is also the fear that this will become a billion dollar industry and we all know what happens then. People say that because certain individuals are ignorant and will never give up conventional meat that this research is a waste of money. Well all I have to say to that is I honestly don’t think there will be a choice in the matter in the future. Our planet Is so devastated, we can barely sustain the life we have let alone the boom that’s coming that I don’t think we’ll be given the option to choose. As science-fictiony as it sounds I think if this becomes viable there will be a global decision to end factory farming in favor of it. I think that this will be the new way of things, it will be mandated and we won’t have the option of going back to conventionally raised meat. The only option we’ll have is to be vegan or eat lab-meat, and that’s probably how it should be anyway. I think there will come a time when eating any meat at all will be frowned upon, and so if you want to eat meat this will be the only acceptable way to do it, or risk becoming a social outcast. Perhaps that’s how things should be, though I know some would disagree with me there, anyway that’s a long way off. Lab meat won’t even be viable for commercial sale for another ten to twenty years, so everyone should just relax a little bit.

Really, I think the majority of the backlash and the negative reactions are coming from the ‘ick’ factor. People truly don’t like knowing where their food comes from or how it’s made. Most manufactured foods don’t advertise the fact that they are indeed manufactured and you never get to know exactly how it’s done due to ‘trade secrets, ‘ but this is different. It’s such a hot topic, and it’s generated so much intense interest that everyone will be keeping an eye on the story, and inevitably this means everyone will probably know more then they care to about the process. That alone will gross people out, then when you add to the mix any preconceived notions they may have about health, and food, well forget it. Reactions explode and people say crazy, ignorant and irrational things.

Bearing that in mind I strongly urge you - vegan or not - to seriously consider the potential for good here. Please consider the positive implications that this new technology could have on human health, animal welfare, the environment, and world hunger. Look past your initial reactionary feelings and look deep into how this could bring a positive change in the world. Realize that this isn’t about you, it isn’t an attack on you, it isn’t a criticism of you. Scientists are trying to come up with a realistic and viable solution to many of the critical problems we now face, and those solutions brought to fruition do more to help the world then the ideals you hold but don’t activate. Talk is just that, talk. It doesn’t solve anything, we need to take action which is what is happening here. It may not be the action you wanted, or dreamed of or hoped for, but a step forward is better then a step to the side, and as long as people keep moving in the right direction real change will finally come.

So stay positive, think critically, and reserve judgement.
For us, for the animals, and for the planet.

Summer Leek and Lemon Noodle Soup...

I don’t know about where you live but the weather here has been weird lately. One day it’s hot, humid and sunny as the tropics and the next day it’s cool, windy, overcast and drizzly. Now since I’m a Vancouver girl a drizzly or even a full on rainy day doesn’t get me down - even if it’s in the middle of summer - because it reminds me of home. For me rainy days are days to laze on the couch and read a good book with the windows open so that you can listen to the rain splatter against the pavement. Rainy days are days to get things done that you never seem to get around to when the weather is nice - like organization or hard-core baking. Rainy days also mean soup. Now, it wasn’t exactly cold today, but it was cool and so I really felt like a bowl of soup. Really there’s nothing better then a steaming bowl of soup on a grey day, is there?

Of course even if the temperature is a little cool, it’s still the middle of summer, so I didn’t think a thick hearty soup would be appropriate. I was craving something ‘chicken-noodle’ style, with lots of broth and wholesome veggies, but I also wanted it to represent summer. I wanted a fresh and light soup that you could really eat anytime of year and feel good about. Lemon, summer savory, and tarragon all give this soup that summery feel, and they paired extremely well with the leeks I had in my fridge. The great thing about this soup is that it’s pretty quick and easy to prepare and if you really want to utilize summer’s bounty you can substitute fresh herbs for the dried.

Summer Leek and Lemon Noodle Soup

2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Large leeks cleaned and sliced
3 Stalks Celery Diced
4 Carrots Diced
10 Garlic Cloves Minced
4 C Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
1 ½ C Water
*** 2 Bunches Soba Noodles
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 ½ tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Ground Thyme
1 tsp dried Tarragon
1 tsp dried Summer Savory
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Dried Rosemary
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1/4 C Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s

- Heat the olive oil in a medium-large sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the sliced leeks and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add in the celery and carrot and saute for 3-5 more minutes.

- Add in the vegetable broth and water and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes then add the basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, summer savory,. Smoked paprika, ground ginger, rosemary, sea salt and black pepper. Reduce to simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes.

- Add in the Soba noodles and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes until the noodles are soft.

- Turn off the heat and stir in the Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s and the Lemon Juice. Let stand ten minutes and serve dished up into large bowls.

*** Note - Packages of Soba Noodles usually come separated into bundles. Each small package has about 3-4 bundles of noodles, and each large package has about 8 bundles of noodles. I just grabbed two bundles and didn’t exactly measure the dry weight. Though if your noodles don’t come packed in bundles I would say somewhere between 4-6oz would be appropriate for this soup. Also if you would prefer you can use a gluten-free noodle instead of the Soba to make this gluten-free*** 

Creamy Carrot Top Pesto...

So, you go to the farmer’s market, and you see bunches upon bunches of beautiful long, thin, baby carrots. They’re bright orange, and luscious looking, with beautiful bushy tops that scream a bright vibrant green. You can’t help yourself from buying them because they’re everything that summer seems to represent. You take them home, and you use the carrots in whatever way most appeals to you, but then you’re left with a massive pile of carrot tops. Now the dilemma begins, because what is one suppose to do with a bunch of carrot tops anyway?

Carrot Top Pesto on some Thin Vegetable Ribbons

Carrot tops are not an item found on many restaurant menus. They’re not an item commonly features in cook books or on the food network. We don’t really live in a world where carrot tops are considered food, they are - more often then not - discarded, which to me seems like a terrible waste. Carrot tops are viable food, they’re full of nutrients just like any other green, and are probably better for you then the actually carrot itself. Still everyday they get thrown away as garbage, so if you’re like me and you hate to see waste, next time you buy some carrots at the Farmer’s Market put those tops to use in this delicious and creamy pesto!  It’s time for us to take carrot tops back and make them a feature on our plates rather then just another item in our compost or rubbish bins. Hopefully over the course of the summer I’ll come up with a few more creative uses for these delicate greens to share with you all, but this pesto is so good I might get side tracked and just make this all summer long instead! Oh, and did I mention what the bonus of making a pesto with carrot tops instead of basil is? You can get 4 Cups of carrot tops - plus the carrots they’re attached to - for half the coast of 2 oz of Basil. Maybe this depends on where you live, but in IL basil is expensive, at roughly $5 for 2oz organic basil, when I can get 2 bunches of carrots with 4 Cups of tops for $4.

My vegetable pasta contained Carrot and Zucchini Ribbon Noodles
Chopped Roma Tomatoes, and some Diced Green Onion
A Delicious combination with the Carrot Top Pesto 

Anyway, enjoy this pesto like you would any other, in a wrap or on a sandwich, in a warm or chilled soup, as a dip, as a sauce, as a dressing, on a pizza. I ended up enjoying it on raw noodles, you could do that too or use it on fresh cooked pasta. It’s up to you, it’s so versatile that the options are endless. As always enjoy!

Creamy Carrot Top Pesto 

Carrot Tops from 2 Bunches Carrots - Roughly 4 C
½ C Slivered Almonds
3 Green Onions
1 ½ tsp Garlic Powder - or 2 Cloves fresh Garlic
½ tsp Sea Salt
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
½ C Flaxseed Oil
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 Tbsp Mellow White Miso
1/4 tsp White Pepper
Slightly less then 1/4 C Water (Optional depending on how thin or thick you want your pesto)
Fresh Black Pepper to taste

- Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse until finely ground.

- Add the carrot tops and garlic and pulse until fine.

- Add in all the other ingredients - except water -  and pulse until you have a smooth paste. At this point check for consistency, if it’s too thick for your liking add in some water to thin. I used less then 1/4 cup but you can add as much as you need to, to get the pesto to your preferred consistency.

- Serve however you see fit and enjoy!

*** Note: I highly recommend using the miso as it adds a depth of flavor. However if you're following a soy-free diet you can leave it out, or you can replace the soy-based miso with an alternative miso like Chickpea Miso which is soy-free.***

Mixed Green Salad with Maple Roasted Rutabaga, Edible Flowers, and Creamy Maple Dijon Dressing...

Sometimes the best thing to ever happen in my kitchen is we run out of food. Im sure many of you start running out of the essentials, as well as fresh produce by the weeks end, - I know it often happens to me, - but rather then look at this as a negative I try and turn it into a positive. Sometimes you have your most creative moments when you’re at your most limited.

Take this salad for instance, it came about entirely out of necessity.  The day I made it all I had left in my fridge were a few sparse handfuls of mixed greens, a couple of tomatoes, a lonely avocado, some green onions and 3 rutabaga and I’d procured for some other purpose and then promptly forgot about. My pantry of course had other things like canned tomatoes, pasta, canned beans, olives but I didn’t want that. I was craving something fresh and light, that was fast, filling and satisfying. Normally when I feel that way a salad is my ‘go-to’ so I quickly began thinking about how I could turn these meager offerings into a salad that would inspire and satisfy my tastebuds.

Now, I can’t say I’ve ever actually eaten a rutabaga before this, and if you asked me why I originally bought them I couldn’t tell you because I can’t for the life of me remember what I had planned to use them for. But, since I had them, and a salad of tomato, avocado and onion isn’t very inspiring - or filling - I thought I’d give them a try. How bad could they be roasted and thrown in with the greens? Maybe they’d taste kind of like beets, sweet and earthy, that works in salad!

So once the salad began taking shape I needed a dressing. This too came into existence out of necessity. I used the things I had on hand, and I chose to use coconut milk yogurt again to provide creaminess because I needed to use the remainder of the container ASAP. Plus it worked out so well on my arugula, beet and walnut salad I thought it was worth trying out again.

While the rutabaga was roasting it filled the kitchen with a heavenly smell, that had me drooling as I diced my veggies and whisked the dressing. By the time they popped out of the oven I couldn’t resist snapping one up and giving it a taste. Wow! Seriously guys, roasted rutabaga? This is like my new favorite thing ever. The tiny bit of maple syrup made it sweet and the Bragg’s made it smokey, this was an absolutely perfect combination. I happily tossed them into the salad, garnished my bowl with some edible flowers I’d picked up in the market, and drizzled on the dressing.

I took my first bite and knew instantly that it was magic! Maybe this combination sounds weird to you, but I assure you it’s not. The flavors blend so much better then even I could have imagined while I was creating it. You get the sweet smokey rutabaga, the bitter arugula, the creamy avo, the acid-sweet tomatoes, mixed in with a rainbow of flavors from wild flowers, and a dressing that is sweet, smokey and tangy. What more could you want?

Mixed Green Salad with Maple Roasted Rutabaga, Edible Flowers, and Creamy Maple Dijon Dressing

Salad - Makes 2 servings

2 Handful Arugula
2 Handful Mixed Baby Greens
2 Tomatoes sliced
1 Avocado sliced
Sunflower Seeds to taste
Green Onions to taste
2oz Edible Flowers
1 Recipe Maple Roasted Rutabaga

- Maple Roasted Rutabaga 

3 Small Rutabaga Cut into small chunks
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s

Preheat Oven to 425'F and roast for 10-15 minutes

- Creamy Maple Dijon Dressing 

4 Tbsp Plain Coconut Milk Yogurt
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Liquid Smoke

- Preheat Oven to 425'F. Place the cut rutabaga chunks into a bowl and drizzle over the olive oil, maple syrup and Bragg’s. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t measure exactly, but I didn’t use a lot so you can change the tsp quantity to suit your taste. Give the bowl a few good shakes to make sure all the rutabaga is covered in the mixture then spread the rutabaga out onto a baking sheet.

- Bake for 15 minutes until the rutabaga is smelling wonderful, and it’s a nice golden brown. It should be tender-firm.

- While the Rutabaga is roasting prepare your salad by evenly distributing the salad ingredients amongst two bowls.

- Next make the dressing. Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl until well combines and smooth. Since the yogurt may want to curdle when you add the mustard in this may take a couple of minutes of vigorous whisking to turn smooth. It will get there however.

- Once the Rutabaga is cooked divide it amongst the two bowls and drizzle the dressing over top of each salad.

Enjoy, on a lazy summer afternoon with a good book, and a drink.

Arugula Lasagna with Garlic Scape Pesto and Tofu Ricotta...

Okay, so I know it’s summer, and I know a lot of you are living in placed where it’s currently hot, hot, hot, but here in IL yesterday it was actually quite nice. It felt more like spring then summer with a cool breeze and no humidity. It was a perfect day, and while it might not have been a lasagna day per say, that’s inevitably what I ended up making for dinner.

You see, yesterday I was extremely busy writing essays and doing other homework. It consumed most of my day up until about 3pm. By then I was feeling a little tired and brain-fried and so I didn’t really feel like thinking to hard about making dinner. Originally I was just going to cook something from a cook book, but every recipe I found that was ‘quick and easy’ and looked appealing didn’t really utilize the bounty of fresh produce I had on hand. I had pounds of arugula, garlic scapes, kale, spinach, tomatoes, cabbage and beets and so I really wanted to make something that would use at least one or more of the most perishable items in that list. I started thinking about noodles, using my garlic scapes and kale to make a pasta dish but I didn’t feel like spaghetti. Then I remembered a box of whole wheat lasagna noodles my mom gave me to take home with me when I left Vancouver in May. Hm... Lasagna.....

So the wheels got turning, and I must say as much as I love a good lasagna I really hate actually making lasagna. It’s always such a process, but once I got thinking about it I couldn’t stop. I mean what if I put garlic scapes and arugula in a lasagna? I’d never heard of that before, It could be very interesting. What about some olives? Do I have tofu to make ricotta? What if I made a pesto out of the garlic scapes? Hm.. The questions just kept on coming and finally I decided, ‘lets do this thing!’ Of course pesto alone in a lasagna might be a bit too overpowering I thought, so I made a red sauce too, and everything combined together made the most perfect, and delicious lasagna. My husband says this is one of my best ever. No one flavor overpowers another, they all work In perfect harmony together. So If you like lasagna I urge you to make this one, it’s unique blend of flavors is really a pleasure. Of course, if it’s a bit too hot where you live to turn on the oven, then wait for a cool day to try it!

Arugula Lasagna with Garlic Scape Pesto and Tofu Ricotta 

Lasagna

14oz Whole Wheat or Gluten Free Lasagna Noodles
1 Large Yellow Onion Diced
½-1 lb Baby Arugula (I used roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of a 1 lb package)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tomatoes Sliced
Handful of Kalamata Olives
Sea salt and Black Pepper to garnish if desired
1 Recipe Tomato Sauce
1 Recipe Garlic Scape Pesto
1 Recipe Tofu Ricotta

Tomato Sauce 

1 28oz Can Diced Tomatoes
8oz Can Tomato Sauce
3 Cloves Garlic
2 tsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1/4 C Capers

Garlic Scape Pesto 

14 Garlic Scapes Steamed
½ C Walnuts
½ C Olive Oil
½ C Water
2-4 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast (to taste)
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Smokes Paprika
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2oz Fresh Basil

Tofu Ricotta 

1 lb Extra Firm Tofu drained and Pressed
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
2 tsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Dried Oregano
½-1 tsp Sea salt
Black Pepper to taste
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp Mellow White Miso
Slightly less then 1/4 C Water

To Make the Tomato Sauce 

- Combine all ingredients except capers and blend until smooth, add in the capers and give a gentle blend for 2 seconds just to incorporate.

- Set aside until ready to use.

To Make the Pesto 

- Trim the ends off of your garlic scapes and steam in a pot fitted with a steamer basket for 5-7 minutes until bright and fragrant.

- Pulse Walnuts in a food processor until very fine.

- Add in Olive oil and garlic scapes. Process until relatively smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

- Add in all other ingredients along with the water. Process again until you reach your desired consistency. (I like my pesto slightly textured.)

- Set aside till ready to use

*** Note - You can use more or less water depending on your desired thickness. You can also leave the garlic scapes raw if you prefer, but some people find the taste too strong which is why I suggest steaming them for a few minutes before hand.***

To Make the Tofu Ricotta 

- Crumble Tofu into a mixing bowl.

- Mix the White Miso with the water until smooth.

- Add all other ingredients to the tofu including the miso water mixture and use a fork to mash until everything is thoroughly combined and tofu reached desired ricotta-like consistency.

- Set aside until ready to use.

For the Lasagna 

- Boil the Noodles per package directions then drain and rinse under cold water.

- Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a pan and saute the onion until soft. Add in the arugula and saute for roughly 5 minutes until wilted. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Assembly 

- Preheat oven to 400'F

- Fill the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of the sauce. Place a layer of cooked noodles over top.

- Place half of the pesto mixture on top of the Noodles and spread to coat evenly.

- Spread half of the arugula mixture over top of the pesto.

- Spread half of the tofu mixture over top of the arugula mixture and spread as evenly as possible.

It’s okay if the Arugula shows through the tofu.

- Spread another thin layer of sauce over the tofu mixture, then top with another layer of noodles.

- Spread the remaining pesto over the noodles.

- Spread the remaining arugula mixture over the pesto

- Spread the remaining tofu over the arugula and top with another layer of noodles.

- Spread the remaining sauce over top of the noodles. Then garnish with thinly sliced tomatoes, kalamata olives and a bit of freshly ground sea salt and black pepper if desired.

- Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes are shriveled and sauce is bubbling.

- Let cool for 15 minutes then cut into the Lasagna and enjoy!

***Note: This can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free noodles.*** 

White Beans and Garlic Scapes with Caramelized Tempeh...

Garlic Scapes are still abundant at many markets, and since the season for them is so short I love to take advantage of them. Unfortunately last week I had a ton of them in my fridge but hardly anytime to cook. Still one afternoon as I was preparing to leave for work I needed something quick and easy to throw together to take with me for lunch and this just happened to be it.

It was one of those ‘Grab whatever’s around’ affairs. One of those ‘throw everything into a pot’ deals, you know? I’m becoming more and more fond of this style of cooking because it seems no matter what I throw together it always comes out great. With this dish in particular the scapes work so well with the creamy white beans. I used Italian flavors as inspiration and caramelized some tempeh for a bit of extra oomph and a little sweetness, By the way, caramelized tempeh is like my new favorite thing ever. If you’ve got some garlic scapes you don’t know what to do with I urge you to try this dish. It’s packed with good stuff and you can whip it together in under 30 minutes.

White Beans and Garlic Scapes with Caramelized Tempeh 

1 15oz Can White Beans (rinsed and drained)
1 Large Tomato Diced
12 Garlic Scapes cut into 1 inch dice
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Dried Rosemary - (or fresh if you have it)
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
8 oz Tempeh cubed and steamed for 10 minutes
3 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s - or Tamari or Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic scapes and saute until nearly tender 4 minutes.

- Add in the White Beans, Tomato, Red Pepper Flakes, Rosemary, Sea salt and pepper and saute until the scapes are tender, the tomatoes have softened and the beans are heated through. About 4 more minutes.

- Add the lemon juice and stir to combine then transfer to a serving dish.

- Using the same pan as you used to cook the scapes and beans turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the cubed tempeh and saute until beginning to brown on all sides. About 5-6 minutes.

- Add in the Bragg’s, and Maple syrup. Let the mixture bubble up and get thick using a wooden spoon or spatula stir the tempeh around so that it all gets coated with the mixture. Cook about 2-3 minutes until most of the sauce has been absorbed into the tempeh and the tempeh takes on a ‘sticky’ look.

- Add the caramelized tempeh to the bean and scape mixture and enjoy!

PS: You can eat this as is, or you can enjoy it over a bed of greens or a bed of cous cous or rice.

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Black Truffle Balsamic Drizzle...

Last weekend I didn’t buy any groceries, since last Monday was my birthday we did a bit of eating out in the beginning of the week so there was no sense in buying fresh produce only to watch it spoil. I had a well stocked pantry and a few items in the fridge with a longer shelf-life but by the end of the week food was getting pretty scarce in my refrigerator. When lunchtime on Friday rolled around the fridge was looking pretty sad and I was craving a salad. The only greens I had left was some arugula that needed to be used tout de suite, and ditto for some lonely looking beets.

Well arugula and beets sounded like a great combination especially once I started thinking about walnuts and balsamic vinegar. I also had some coconut milk yogurt sitting in the fridge that I’d specifically bought for a recipe I ended up not making and so I decided to use it in my salad dressing in place of oil. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out, but somehow it paired beautifully with the bitter greens and tangy vinegar. Still the recipe needed just a little something extra to bring ti to new heights, and that something ended up being Black Truffle Oil. Now, I know black truffle oil is a fancy - and pricy - gourmet ingredient but it imparts a truly unique flavor into a variety of dishes. Seriously, this stuff has become my new best friend, and it’s great that such a little can go such a long way. It really makes the cost worth it. Of course if you prefer you can leave the truffle oil out, but I strongly recommend it. The salad isn’t quite the same without this unique component.

Strangely enough, though this started out as a haphazard attempt to just eat something before going into work, this ended up being one of my favorite meals of the entire week. It’s super simple to throw together but the flavor is out of this world. Enjoy!

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Black Truffle Balsamic Drizzle

For the Roasted Beets 

2 Small Beets cut in Small Dice
Olive Oil to taste
Sea salt and Black Pepper to taste

For the Salad 

2 Handfuls Arugula
1 Batch Roasted Beets
1/3 C Walnuts
2 Green Onions sliced
1 Tomato

For the Dressing

2 Tbsp Plain Coconut Milk Yogurt
1 ½ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
½ tsp -1 tsp Black Truffle Oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste

- Preheat the oven to 450'F.

- Spray a cooking sheet with a little bit of coconut oil.

- Drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil on the sliced beets. Add sea salt and pepper to taste then mix until the beets are well coated.

- Spread the beets out on the baking sheet making sure they do not touch then roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are tender but not mushy. A little bite is nice!

- While the beets are roasting combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

- Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. This may take a few minutes as the yogurt is going to want to curdle once you add the vinegar. Whisk briskly for 1-3 minute and it should come out smooth.

- Once the beets have finished roasting remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes.

- Top your salad off with the roasted beets, then drizzle over the dressing and enjoy!

PS: This salad makes one good sized serving, or two small starter servings. If you want to make enough for two good sized portions the recipe easily doubles.

Garlic Scape Socca with Hummus and Steamed Greens in Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette...

Where does the time go? I’ve been sitting on numerous recipes that I’ve been dying to share and yet it seems this week I didn’t have a spare moment to post. It was a busy week though, and Monday was my birthday so I’ve spent my free time over the past few days celebrating. Monday was also Canada day so to all my fellow Canadian friends and readers I hope you had a good holiday and enjoyed yourself!

So anyway, back to those recipes. Well, the whole reason I posted my Classic Hummus  recipe last week, was because I was planning to post this socca recipe the day after! But time got away from me and now I’m posting it a week late, though better late then never right?

Now, the last time I posted about Socca was last December, and I had fully intended to post more Socca recipes because it really is a new favorite food of mine and I make it quite often. Though it seems to always work out that I tend to make socca when I have limited time - which means my camera is never at the ready and so I wolf the food down without snapping any pics. This time however I was preparing a socca recipe with the full intention of posting about it because one of my absolute favorite things is back in season GARLIC SCAPES! As soon as I saw them at the market I knew I would have to use them to make Socca, it seemed to me to be the perfect marriage of two amazing things. I’m sure you recall my love of Garlic Scapes, and if you haven’t tried them yet I strongly encourage you to go out and buy some. If you don’t know what to do with them you can always try these recipes Mighty Green Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce , Garlic Scape Soup,  Garlic Scape and Collard Green Pizza or make this socca!

So since Socca are French, I decided that for this particular recipe I wanted to use some French flavor pairings like Herbs de Provence, and Dijon Mustard, with a lot of greens and a nice bean spread. After some careful consideration I thought a simple classic hummus would taste fantastic spread over socca, and so that’s how this recipe was born. It’s an interesting amalgamation of flavors and somehow they all work beautifully together. Try it and See, I think you’ll be just as happy as we were with the finished result.

Garlic Scape Socca with Hummus and Steamed Greens in Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

Socca 

8 Garlic Scapes sliced
1/4 red onion diced
3 Tbsp Capers
1 ½ C chickpea flour
1 ½ C water
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
½ tsp White Pepper
Sea Salt to taste

Greens 

1 Bunch Kale
1 Bunch Arugula
2 ½ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 ½ Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 Recipe Classic Hummus  or Hummus of your choice

For the Socca -

- Preheat the Oven to 425'F

- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water and stir to combine into a smooth batter. Add the sliced garlic scapes, red onion, and capers. Stir to combine.

- Lightly oil a cast iron skillet, then heat it over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, pour in the batter and let it cook for 1 minute.

- Remove the skillet from the heat, and place it into the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until the socca is dry and pulling away slightly from the edges. Let the Socca cool for ten minutes then slice into quarters or eighths.

For the Greens - 

- Fill a medium sized pot with an inch or two of water. Fit with a steamer basket and place the greens inside. Steam lightly for 3-5 minutes until the greens are wilted but the kale still has a bit of texture. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

- Combine the Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, and Maple Syrup in a bowl. Whisk until smooth then pour over the steamed greens.

Assembly - 

- Spread a generous amount of humus on each slice of Socca, and top with a generous amount of the steamed greens/ Then enjoy.

- Alternately, you can spread the humus over the socca, and eat the steamed greens on the side as a salad. It’s up to you, but it all tastes great mixed together!

PS: Apologies for the pictures, I know it's kind of hard to see the socca because I really loaded up my plate with the steamed greens. That's the way it's suppose to be though right?