Happy Father's Day

First off, a big Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially the vegan dads (whether they cook or not). Here's hoping someone is making you a wonderful brunch. If you are interested, Meatout Mondays featured me for Father's Day. You can check it out here. I will warn you, though, they posted my picture. So, if you think of Vegan Dad as some graying and wise older man (something like you own father, perhaps), then prepare to be disappointed.

Sorry, no recipe tonight. With so many people bringing food by I have not had to cook since we got home from the hospital. Some of the dishes have been off my blog, but most have been new and I hope to post them here in the future (the Senegalese Peanut Soup was amazing!). The black bean chili and cornbread pictured here was made by someone who followed my blog and then later found out we lived in the same city and our kids were in the same class. Crazy, right? I like to feel like I contributed to her vegan cooking prowess ("when you can snatch this beansprot from my hand, it will be time for you to go.")

Back soon with recipes. In the meantime, enjoy your families, dads!

Meat: That Stuff Will Kill You

The U.S. National Cancer Institute recently released the largest study ever done on meat consumption. The findings? Those who ate 125 grams of red (beef and pork) and processed meat a day had a 30% greater chance of dying of heart disease and cancer than those who ate 20 grams a day. The study found that potentially carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds are formed in the gut when heme iron from red meat and gut bacteria trigger meat protein to combine with nitrites.

I read about the study in the recent issue of Nutrition Action. The coverage was interesting. According to Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, "if you go from eating meat twice a day to once a week, you can eliminate most of the risk." Most of the risk? Why not eliminate all the risk? Isn't this like recommending smoking one cigarette a day to reduce the risk of cancer? Nutrition Action gets in on the game, too. Even though grilling meat increases your risk of cancer, the editors offer a list of tips for "good grilling" to minimize the risk. And, while they condemn red meat for its environmental impact (55% of the erosion, 37% of pesticides applied, 50% of antibiotics consumed, 32% of nitrogen and 33% of the phosphorous load into the water supply in the U.S.), they let fish and poultry off the hook.

It's time for health advocates to promote veganism and quit this ridiculous charade of minimizing the risk of meat.

Food, Inc.

Has anyone seen this movie?

On Tempeh Meatballs

First off, let me thank all of those who offered their congratulations on the birth of Vegan Daughter. Vegan Mom is recovering well (or as well as can be expected) but we both feel like we will never sleep again. I have not been doing any cooking at all since our friends and neighbours have been bringing over meals. I can't say enough about how great that is! But, now that Vegan Sons 1-3 are in bed and Vegan Daughter is snoozing away in her bassinet, I thought I would try to squeak in a quick post.

Back in October of 2008 I posted on Italian Tempeh Meatballs, and more recently I posted a recipe for Maple Garlic Tempeh Balls. Not everyone enjoys tempeh, and tempeh balls can be a bit tricky since they need to have the right taste and texture, and not fall apart in the sauce. After a few readers posted about that very problem, I decided to experiment a bit. Here are my thoughts.

1. You can remove some of the "special taste" from tempeh by boiling it for 10 mins before putting it into a recipe. However, I find that it makes the tempeh rather watery and keeps the balls from remaining cohesive. I would suggest just using the tempeh straight up. Or, if you must boil, use more gluten (see 3).

2. You can season and spice the heck out of these. Don't be afraid to go crazy.

3. How much vital wheat gluten is too much? The gluten really is essential here (sorry to the wheat intolerant), and I have used anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 cup, along with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal to help bind thing together. While I like the texture of the 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup makes for a very durable ball.

4. Go easy on the liquids. I have the best result when I have a firm yet malleable mixture that I can bring together with wet hands to form the perfect ball.

5. Make sure the balls are well sauteed and have a nice golden brown outside. Most of the cooking is done in this step, so don't skimp out. A well-cooked ball is less likely to fall apart later. See how nice these look?

6. Your sauce must be relatively thick. Too thin a sauce and it will penetrate the ball and result in disaster. In this pic we see a quick and easy sauce: 1 can chopped tomatoes, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, and 1 can tomato paste.

7. If the ball is well-cooked, and the sauce thick enough, you can simmer the balls in the sauce. This completes the cooking and adds flavour.

Introducing Vegan Daughter

Just a wee post tonight to introduce Vegan Daughter. Sometimes I am sorry I keep things more or less anonymous on this blog because I would love to post a picture of something other than her feet. She is a real cutie (and that's not just dad bias! Ha ha!). Vegan Mom is doing well, but recovering from a C-section takes time. I am able to bring food to her so I have been making batches of veggie broth, vegan Jell-O, and chocolate and tapioca pudding for her to enjoy. And, our neighbours have been dropping off vegan meals for the the kids and my in-laws back at the house. How great are they?!