Bagels in 5 Minutes a Day...with a Bread Machine!

Formed and rested

We love bagels. There’s nothing like a hot, crusty bagel loaded with whatever schmear you prefer. Unfortunately, many bagels are not vegan, some contain L-Cysteine, an animal byproduct that’s derived from duck feathers and used as a dough conditioner. Duck feathers?, YUCK!

Because few places make vegan bagels, Macaroon decided to make yummy some that we could enjoy. She found a rather easy recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg. It's one of the coolest bread making books out there with simple, easy recipes for loaves that you think a master baker would only make.


Boiled

Macaroon decided to use her new handy-dandy bread maker with the dough setting for the bagels. The batch ended up being indistinguishable from ones you would buy at a good bagel joint. We’re thinking about experimenting with various types of flavorings the next time we make them. Give ‘em a ride and tell us what you think.


And they're done, son!

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Rice Krispie Treats

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about a great find, Dandies Marshmallows! We finally put them to the test with a childhood favorite of mine, Rice Krispie Treats. There pretty much isn't much of a difference in how you make them, but I did follow a quick recipe from VegWeb.com.

In place of the traditional stuff from Kellogg's, we used some Nature's Path Rice Puff Cereal. To help melt down the marshmallow, we followed the recipe and used Earth Balance. Other than that, there isn't much else to it. The end result was a nice, sticky treat, which I cut into 12 bars.

Here's the recipe:

Rice Krispie Treats

Source: VegWeb member KayceeBassett

Ingredients:

• 1 (10-ounce) bag Dandies Vegan Marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 4 cups puffed rice cereal

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine marshmallows and margarine; melt, stirring occasionally.

2. Add cereal; immediately stir together until thoroughly mixed, then remove from heat.

3. Spread mixture in a 13" x 9" pan; spread out evenly.

Source of recipe: Recreated a vegan version of the rice krispie treats on the side of the rice krispie cereal box.

Makes: 8 servings, Preparation time: 2 minutes, Cooking time: 10 minutes

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Saturday Morning Biscuits with a Side of (Tofu) Bacon

Last week, Artichoke made biscuits from a recipe shared by his friend Tina. They were really good. But anyone who knows me knows that I like to have a few recipes of the same dish in my arsenal to test. With that, I decided to make Basic Biscuits from the book, The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes by Kris Holechek, which was one of the lovely gifts I received from Artichoke for my birthday.

The book itself is amazing! For each recipe, the author notes the level of difficulty. So there's no intimidation factor. With simple ingredients right from your pantry, you're not having to shell out crazy amounts of money on rare food finds that you'll only use one.

Now onto the biscuits! My idea of biscuits is that they're simple breads to make yet so versatile in how you serve and eat them. With this recipe, I got just that. I seriously mixed, rolled, cut and baked them in about 30 minutes. Since Mommy Macaroon visiting while the biscuits were in the oven, I served hers piping hot with some butter (she can't get away from dairy) and raspberry jam. Saturday morning, Artichoke had biscuits with Earth Balance and jam. I had mine with just Earth Balance. We both then added some tofu bacon, a recipe I found on VegWeb.com, on the side.

So which biscuits were better? I have to go with these. The sweetness of Tina's biscuits, thanks to the Truvia, did give them a nice distinct flavor, but Kris' biscuits were the real deal, tried and true. They can go with any type of dish, sweet or savory.

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Macaroon and the Bread Machine

Before Artichoke left for work yesterday, he said "I bet you're going to make something in bread machine. You can't wait." I just stared at him, as if to say "Whatever." Then again, maybe I just didn't want to admit that I had an urge to use it the minute to pulled off the first piece of wrapping paper. Nevertheless, I couldn't wait to play with it after he walked out of the door. So guess who made some bread?!?!

Thanks to Mommy Macaroon, I now am the proud owner of a Cuisinart BMKR-200 Series Automatic Bread Maker. It looks like a big heavy steel box, but it's surprisingly lightweight. It fits on the counter top with decent length cord to plug it into the wall. It offers multiple settings based on how you wish to use it. Of course, it makes bread (up to a 2lb loaf), but it also bakes cakes, preps dough for pastas and pizza. It also makes jellies and jam! There are about 12 settings to select, which includes an option to just bake if you prepared your dough/batter without the machine. There's also a "rapid" option which can cut down the process by 2/3.

The instruction manual is pretty straightforward. It explains how the parts operate, the different settings, the process of bread-making and baking, cleaning and troubleshooting. The instructions are so simple that they make up for about 10 pages of the manual. The rest of it is a recipe book for a variety of breads, cakes, doughs, etc.

The machine comes with a removable pan that sits within the baking chamber. The pan is where all of the ingredients go. You have to put your wet ingredients in first, then your flour, then your yeast and baking powder. There's actually a chart in the manual that shows you how to layer your ingredients. Cuisinart actually suggests using the manual as a reference whenever using the machine.

There's also a small removable bread paddle that can be removed after the machine kneads the dough. Along with that are a measuring cup and spoon. So you really don't need much extra to get the job done.

So what did I make, you ask? Well I decided to try out the True 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It was a basic recipe with all of 6 ingredients: water, salt, honey (I used agave nectar as a substitute), whole wheat flour (I used unbleached all purpose flour), vital wheat gluten and active dry yeast.

What I really liked about this recipe and the others was that Cuisinart listed you the measurements for each ingredient based on the size of the bread. They provided a chart with measures for a loaf, weighing between 1lb to 2lbs. I got really ballsy and decided to just make a 2lb loaf.

This recipe was so easy. All I had to do was "layer" the ingredients in the order they were listed, and select the options for whole wheat and the color crust I wanted (dark). Then, I just had to press start. It was totally a "Set It and Forget It" process.

With this loaf, it took about 4 hours and 38 minutes from start to finish. You can also let your loaf sit in the machine for up to an hour. Any amount of time beyond that will cause the bread to become soggy.

The end results was like an artisan bread: crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Mommy Macaroon had a slice with butter and then came back for more! Artichoke had a couple of slices last night and took more with his lunch today. Mission accomplished!

Now, I'm planning my next adventure...PRETZELS! I'll post how that goes soon!

Here are a few photos of my bread and my machine

You may have noticed that I didn't post the recipe. I'm such a novice with bread machines, I have no clue if the recipe from Cuisinart was just to use with their products. Sorry!

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In "Heaven," Everything Is Fine

Here's a bit of trivia for you: David Lynch and Macaroon share the same birthday! He's one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. Of course, this fact has nothing to do with food and today's post, but as I write this, I have "In Heaven" from the film, "Erasehead" running through my mind.

Speaking of being "In Heaven," for my birthday dinner, Artichoke and Mommy Macaroon took me to a wonderful Asian vegetarian restaurant called Veggie Heaven in New City, New York (about 30-40 minutes from NYC). Veggie Heaven is actually a small local chain which started in New Jersey with a total of 4 locations; the one in New City being their most recent addition. Artichoke and I had been to their Teaneck location a few times and always had a great meal. I had no concern about the food. However, I was worried about Mommy Macaroon, because she always makes a skunk face at the mention of anything vegetarian.

Veggie Heaven specializes in mock meats made from tofu, soy and wheat gluten. Their place mats actually explain their purpose and food, which is great for novices. Everything from their chicken to seafood is "fake," getting as close to the real deal with texture and flavor as possible. The hungriest of carnivore would be surprised.

The decor at the New City location is more contemporary than the Teaneck location, which has more of an Asian cultural feel to it. That's about the only difference between the two. The service is superb and friendly. The food is delicious, though I think New City has one up on Teaneck in that area.

As we were seated, we were offered hot tea, which hit the spot, and a Chinese cabbage salad with a nice touch of garlic for us to share. Mommy was all about the salad and couldn't get enough. For appetizers, we went a little crazy sharing yam fries, cold noodles with sesame sauce, spring rolls and barbecue boneless "ribs." All tasted great and had nice flavor. However, the sesame sauce could have used a tinge of garlic for the noodles. Otherwise, no complaints.

Clockwise from the top: Barbecue "Ribs," Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce, Spring Roll and Yam Fries

For our entrées, we agreed to split three dishes. Mommy ordered Creaky Chicken, which was lightly breaded and fried slices of soy chicken served with ginger-chili sauce. Artichoke got the Ting Ting Two Flavors, which had cubes of tofu and soy beef prepared in a light yet flavorful brown sauce. I requested the Double Delight with Eggplant which was sliced eggplant with soy chicken and soy shrimp in a spicy sauce. All were served with brown rice.

We all agreed that the Creaky Chicken was the best. However, the other 2 dishes were yummy. We kept picking away at each other's plates. When we realized we needed to leave room for dessert, we found that there was there was so much food between the three of us that we couldn't finish it all. So naturally, we asked for it to be packed up for someone's (being my) lunch the next day!me

Clockwise from the top: Creaky Chicken, Ting Ting Two Flavor and Double Delight with Eggplant

We ended our meal with dessert. After speaking with our waiter, we found out that all desserts were vegan. That brought a major smile to my face, especially since the chocolate cake was calling my name. Artichoke went for the coconut cake. Mommy was a little taken aback by how good dinner was that she was actually nervous about ordering dessert. She wanted ice cream, but they only offer soy ice cream. So the skunk face made its reappearance. After a few hems and haws, she definitely decide on the almond bark ice cream.

The chocolate cake was so rich and decadent. It was almost like a German chocolate cake sans coconut with a heaping amount of pudding on top. The slice was so big that I had to take half of it home. Needless to say, it didn't last 10 minutes once we walked through the door.

The coconut cake was light, but flavor was standard. It tasted like how you would expect it to taste, like coconut cake. I will say that if they mixed the chocolate cake with the coconut cake, it would have been to die for, just like a yummy tummy German chocolate cake (can you tell that I like that?).

The almond bark ice cream was pretty darn good. It was a vanilla soy with bits of chocolate almond bark in it. Mommy really liked it and said that it was just like ice cream! What shocked me was how quickly she devoured it. She always takes her time eating. So I know she really enjoyed this.

The meal ended with some fresh orange slices which acted as a nice palate cleanser.

Yeah, that was gone lickity-split!

Veggie Heaven has an extensive menu with traditional Chinese-American dishes and specialities. The prices are pretty reasonable. Appetizers range from around $3.00 to $7.00 (not including any platters). Entrees range from around $8.00 to approximately $20.00. Portions are large and filling. I think if we cut back on the appetizers, we would have finished our dishes. The dessert prices are across the board. Customers actually have an option of ordering an entire cake, rather than just a slice.

If you're vegetarian or vegan, Veggie Heaven is worth the trip to either Rockland County, NY or out to New Jersey. Bring some of your carnivore or omnivore friends along. They'll be pleasantly surprised!

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Happy Birthday to the Macaroon!

YAY! It's my birthday! Makes me want to do the cabbage patch dance!

So far, things have been GRRRRRRRRRRR-EAT! Artichoke surprised me with breakfast in bed. My mom called me "Grandma." My aunt and uncle sang "Happy Birthday" in separate phone calls. Friends have been calling, emailing and FB-ing birthday wishes all day. So I feel pretty damned good and loved.

And since we're a foodie household, I want to share just one of the gifts I got today from my mom. I've been wanting this for a while and can't believe she got it for me!

Wanna see what it is? Well, scroll down!

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A BREADMAKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!! THANKS MOMMY!

Artichoke also surprised me with a foodie goodie birthday bag filled with a new lunch box, snack packs, a cupcake-themed cake server and a vegan baking book. My mom also threw in new baking liners too!

What an AWESOME day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

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Vegan Black Pepper Steaks in Black Pepper Sauce

I don't know about you, but I rather like the frozen food section. Other than cutting down the cooking time, it also has given me the chance to try new types of foods without going crazy to scrounge up ingredients. One of our most recent finds has been Vegan Black Pepper Steak from VegeUSA.

Though pricey (approx. $5.99 for 10.5 oz), this soy-based "meat" product has one of the closest texture to beef that I've ever come across. It comes in its own black pepper sauce that has a nice combination of flavors. It tastes just like a dish you would get from your local Chinese restaurant. Unlike some Chinese entrées, it's not overly salty, nor does it need anything added to it like soy sauce.

There are multiple ways to cook the steaks: stove top, oven or microwave. The most amount of time would be 12 minutes. So even if you're in a hurry, you still have options as to how you can prepare and serve the steaks. I liked how Artichoke recently made them with brown rice, broccoli and peas. There was even extra sauce to use as a "gravy" for the rice.

Because we liked it so much, Artichoke and I have already picked up another box. We've also picked up their Citrus Sparerib Cutlets, which we will be trying tonight. If they're halfway as good as the pepper steaks, then we'll be in business....broke...but in business!

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Sunday Morning Biscuits

For me, there's nothing like piping hot buttery biscuits either with some jelly or used to sop up some delicious Sunday breakfast. Just because we're vegan, we don't have to feel deprived. Thanks to Artichoke's friend Tina, we now have a tried and true recipes for some awesome biscuits anytime!

Artichoke made biscuits yesterday morning as our breakfast. The recipe yielded about a dozen, using a 2.5-in. biscuit cutter. I can't even tell you how many Artichoke had, because he was popping them like candy. They were that good! I did manage to have 2 or 3, which I topped with some Sarabeth's Raspberry Orange Marmalade, which was a really nice complement.

I'm not sure of the source of the recipe. However, Tina did mention that she tweaked it a bit. So below her modified version of biscuit-y goodness. My only suggestions would be to cut the salt down to 1/2 tsp and use 2 Truvia packets.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup earth balance, melted
• 1 cup soymilk
• 3 packets Truvia

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
• Add Earth Balance and soymilk and stir until dough like and then knead with hands.
• Roll out the dough out
• Use biscuit cutter or the top of a drinking glass to cut out the biscuits.
• Bake 15-18 minutes

Tina also hooked us up with the following gravy, which I hope to try soon:

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 1/2 cups of soymilk
• salt
• ground black pepper

Directions:

• Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.
• Blend in the flour, salt, and pepper. cook until smooth and bubbly.
• Stir in soymilk. Heat to boiling on medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Stir and boil one minute, or until desired thickness.

I have to add that I'm proud of Artichoke for making these. He's rather timid when it comes to baking. With a little bit of coaching on how to knead and roll out dough, he did a really good job! So Artichoke, when are you going to make these again?

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Dandies Marshmallows

I love marshmallows. Once I turned vegan, the realization that I must give up those precious little white confections had hit me hard. After doing a little online research, we came across a brand that got rave reviews. Dandies, made by Chicago Soydairy, are AMAZINGLY tasty.

The taste almost like traditional marshmallows but are slightly more dense. Albeit most stores do not stock Dandies, Whole Foods carries them at a steep price of $7.00 a bag. You can order them online for a lot less, but unless you’re going to order a bunch, it’s not worth it due to the shipping cost.

The only other knock on Dandies is that they are a tad small, about 1/3 the size of a normal sized marshmallow.

Try them and let us know what you think. In the meantime, Macaroon's going to try making some rice krispie treats with them.

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Vegan in the Bronx? Help Is Here!

Being a vegetarian in The Bronx is a challenge. Being a vegan is near impossible. Unless you travel to the outer boroughs of NYC or Westchester County, your prospects for finding vegetarian or vegan meals are dim. Fortunately, we found a little gem on Broadway in Kingsbridge called Garden Gourmet Market.

This small store is packed with lots of vegan and vegetarian goodies, all fresh and reasonably priced; think of it as a miniature sized Fairway Market. They have a myriad of international foods that include Middle Eastern, Jewish/Kosher, Asian, Latin, etc. Parking is not as much of a problem as you might think, for there’s some meters across the street and a Staples with a lot next door. I recommend that any Bronxites who are jonesing for some vegan yummies should stop at Garden Gourmet Market.

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Spicy Chik'n Tacos with Red Rice & Beans

This was our lunch yesterday.

Artichoke was home sick with a really bad cold. For lunch, he wanted tacos. So I put together a not-so-quick "whip up." for him of spicy chick'n tacos and red rice and beans. Since he likes spicy food, I used Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix, which has a nice kick to it. I've read on some forums that people found it to be too spicy. I guess I have a higher tolerance for heat, because I didn't find that to be the case.

Even though I used the recipes for tacos, you can put them together for nachos or just serve the chicken with the rice and beans.

All recipes below were created in our kitchen!

Spicy Chick'n Tacos

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 pkg of MorningStar Farms® Meal Starters™ Chik'n Strips
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 packet of Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix
• A couple of dashes of salt and pepper
• 6-8 taco shells
• Toppings of your choice for your tacos

I used the following:

• Shredded lettuce
• Fresh chopped tomatoes
• Daiya Shredded Vegan Cheese - Cheddar
• Tofutti sour cream
• Chili pepper sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pan and add chik'n strips.
2. Add water to pan and cook until water reduces in half
3. Add seasoning to chik'n and toss
4. Cover and cook for 5 minutes
5. Assemble tacos with chik'n strips and toppings
6. Serve when ready

Red Rice

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 c. vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 c. brown rice
• 1 15oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan (medium heat). Add garlic and onion. Saute until onions are slightly translucent
2. Add vegetable broth to saucepan
3. Stir in salt, pepper and the rice, and bring to a boil
4. Lower heat to simmer, cover saucepan, and cook for 20 minutes. Stir rice occasionally
5. After 20 minutes, stir in diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Cover lid again and cook for another 25-30 minutes
6. Serve when ready

Spicy Beans

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 15oz. can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15oz. can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 c. of water
• 1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 packet of Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pan (medium heat). Add garlic and saute until slightly browned
2. Add onion and toss with oil and garlic until translucent
3. Add beans, jalapeno and taco seasoning. Stir in water and let simmer on medium heat for 50 minutes
4. Turn heat down to load, cover pan and cook for 20 minutes
5. Serve when ready

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Pizza...No Need to Hold the Cheese

Hey kids! This first week of 2011 has been a busy one with a business trip, our car's horn getting cracked (now fixed), snow and now Artichoke being sick. Oddly enough, there was no feeling of stress. Things have been going in stride.

Of course, since things have been busy, we haven't had much time to cook dinner. Thank goodness for pizza. Unfortunately, we can't get a vegan pizza from our favorite local pizzeria. However, we did find vegan frozen pizza. For someone like Artichoke, whose life has been pizza, it could be quite a trying experience to find one that he would like. We managed to do just that with the Tofurky brand.

It's a thin-crust pizza with meltable cheese! Baked at 420 degrees for about 10 minutes, the crust gets nice and crispy, not not hard. The sauce and toppings are pretty flavorable, as I've found other frozen pizzas in the past rather bland. The pie is a bit small, but it feeds 2-3 people and is quite filling if having with chips or a salad.

Though it's no one near as great as our local pizza, it's pretty good. I really like the pepperoni one, but the Italian sausage isn't half bad (we had pizza twice this week). I haven't tried the plain cheese yet, but I'm sure it's good as well.

See, being vegan isn't as limiting as one would think!

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Vegan Caramel Corn

We love popcorn. It's a quick, easy to make, filling snack. Artichoke likes his with olive oil and garlic powder. I like mine either buttery or sweet.

A couple of years ago, Artichoke and I got a gift card to my favorite store, Chef Central. The possession of said card was short-lived, as we made quick use of it to buy a Whirley Pop popcorn popper. It was one of the best kitchen investments ever!

Over the past few weeks, we've been making popcorn more often. Maybe because it's cheaper than buying chips! Plus, a little bit of kernels go a long way. With that, it's always great to find new flavoring and seasoning recipes for it. You have no idea how happy I was find to a VEGAN caramel corn recipe online this morning. It was so simple and really delicious.

The recipe came from Chooseveg.com. Click here to try it for yourself.

Later,
The Vegan-ized Macaroon

P.S. For the popcorn, I used 1/2 cup of White Cat Popcorn kernels in the trusty Whirley Pop with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

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Adventures in Vegan Living

Happy New Year! It's 2011, and Artichoke and I are back to blogging! Did you miss us?

2010 had us really busy with stuff that should not have had us working so hard. We're getting back to the things that are important to us. We're also making some changes for the positive. One of which is going vegan, after 1.5 years of being vegetarian.

Why the change? We want to live a healthier, compassionate lifestyle. So that means, no more animal products, including dairy. We're also doing some other tasks, like donating shoes that contain animal sources (i.e. leather). Artichoke is super-excited that he can't stop talking about this change for the better!

To celebrate Day One, we took a trip to Brooklyn for lunch at Foodswings, an awesome vegan joint! I had their kickass chick'n drumstick combo (3 drumsticks with a choice of a side), selecting Southern Fried, Sweet Southern Fried BBQ and Buffalo (all delish). Artichoke had 2 chili cheese dogs. Of course, we had to share everything, which is never a bad thing when going to Foodswings! I wish there was a place like this in the Bronx, where it's so desperately needed.

So going forward, all of our postings will focus on all food things vegan...or coming up with vegan variations of some of our favorite recipes. We hope you enjoying reading, looking and drooling!

Take care!
Macaroon - Now Vegan

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