My First Vegan Cooking Demo

I need your help, gentle readers. One of my colleagues is offering a course on food and food systems this year, and he thought it would be great if I could come in to discuss veganism. Plus, I think the students might benefit from seeing a real live vegan (ha ha). The great part about this presentation is that I get to do a cooking demo. The great conundrum is: what to make? The class runs for 1:20, so I need to do something fairly quick and easy. Do I try some kind of fake meat, or try to bring tofu back? Entree? Dessert? I am open to suggestions.

The Magic Finger

As a kid I absolutely loved Roald Dahl's book, and I still love them to this day. So, I was really excited when Son#1 took an interest in the Roald Dahl collection on his bookshelf. I thought I had read every one of his books growing up, but the other night I noticed a thin little book called The Magic Finger. Son#1 and I sat down and read it before bedtime. What a surprise! This is a great book for vegan kids, and a a good way to open up a dialogue about cruelty to animals.

Sweet n' Hot Noodles

One great thing about having a blog is you get to pontificate from time to time. Tonight's topic: the reusable shopping bag. Now, as much as I love the reusable shopping bag, it exemplifies the band-aid solutions were are taking to environmental problems. Using the shopping bag gives people a false sense that they are making a difference without making much of a difference at all. Tell me: what's the point of using a reusable shopping bag only to fill it up heavily packaged, heavily processed crap, and animal products that are helping destroy the planet? The disconnect drives me mad. I am sure people are wondering why I squirm a lot in the checkout line. UPDATE: I should stop being a Pretentious Green Ass, according to this article.

OK, now that that's out of my system, on to the food. Kind of a cop-out recipe, to be honest. But it is simple, fast, and tasty for a busy weekday night. The sauce and the noodles just go so well together.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 pkg tofu, cubed, prepared in whatever way suits your fancy (plain, crispy, etc.)

- double recipe of sweet chili sauce

- 130g rice vermicelli

- 2 tbsp oil

- 3 green onion, thinly sliced

METHOD

1. Prep tofu and make the sauce. Prep noodles according to directions on the box (I soak mine in boiling water). Drain noodles.

2. Heat oil in a wok over med-hi heat. Add noodles and fry for a few min, until they start to go translucent. Add sauce and tofu and mix well. Let bubble for a few mins, letting the sauce soak into the noodles a bit.

3. Stir in green onion, mix well, and serve.

King Oyster Mushroom Cannelloni

Mushrooms are great and I wish my kids didn't whine about them so much. Sometimes you just don't feel like tofu or seitan, and this is where mushrooms come in (think grilled portabello sandwich when burgers won't do). So, tonight I present you with garlicky mushroom-stuffed cannelloni in a creamy white sauce. It has a seafood kind of feel to it. The recipe makes enough for our ever-expanding and ever-hungry family, so feel free to cut it in half.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 12

- 12 oven-ready cannelloni shells

Sauce

- 1/4 cup margarine

- 1/3 cup flour

- 3 1/2 cups plain soy milk

- 1/2 cup soy creamer (or more soy milk)

- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast

- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or more if your nutmeg is as old as mine)

- salt and pepper to taste

Filling

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 6 generous cups chopped king oyster mushrooms (I used 8 mushrooms)

- 1 large garlic clove, minced

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tbsp vermouth

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Make the sauce: melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 min, whisking constantly. Slowly whisk in milk and creamer, and bring to bubbling. Whisk in nutritional yeast until smooth, then season with nutmeg and salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Make the filling. Heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, and salt and cook until starting to reduce. Add vermouth, then cook down until all liquid has disappeared (about 10 mins).

3. Whisk sauce and add 1/2 cup to the filling, mixing well. Stuff filling into shells.

4. If remaining sauce seems too thick, whisk in a little more soy. Put a layer on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place cannelloni into the dish, making sure there is some space between them so they can expand. Cover with the remaining sauce, then cover dish with foil.

5. Bake for 22-25 mins, until sauce is bubbling and pasta is cooked.

Fresh Pretzels

I looooove pretzels fresh out of the oven. They really are best when still warm and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar (or kosher salt, if that is your thing). But, unless you want to eat the entire batch of pretzels in one sitting, you really only get to eat one super fresh pretzel (two, if it's the weekend). So here is a solution: partially bake the pretzels, freeze them, then bake them up as you need them.

INGREDIENTS

- make this pretzel recipe

- melted margarine, for brushing

METHOD

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Make six pretzels, or 12 smaller pretzels. Dip into baking soda water, as per the recipe, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

2. If you made large pretzels, bake for 4.5 minutes, 3.5 mins if small pretzels. Remove from oven, brush lightly with melted margarine, and let cool on the baking sheet. Place baking sheet in the freezer. When slightly frozen, place pretzels in a bag in the freezer.

3. On pretzel day: line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place pretzels on the baking sheet. Place in a cold oven. Turn oven to 450.

4. Once oven reaches full heat, bake for 2-5 mins more, or until deep golden brown. Brush lightly with melted margarine and top with kosher salt or cinnamon and sugar (or, forget the margarine and just leave them plain).