rolling veggie swag 2011: veg[etari]ans unite and cook the tastiest food imaginable (omnis u shd get in on this, too)

my beef is with ppl who bring up the vegan thing and then get all defensive: obv i am not vegan - not even vegetarian, strictly speaking - but my husband is, and he NEVER talks about it, brings up the topic or ANYTHING around ANYONE, but if someone is trying to push something on him like a burger or whatever, he'll say 'um no thanks i'm vegan'. and that's it. he never proselytizes. BUT some ppl just automatically go on the defensive, and their rhetoric always has this core of like WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME VEGAN. it drives me crazy. although tbh he works in a fairly 'macho' workplace/industry so he deals with it more than the average vegan probably does.

i mean, he's been at this place 3.5 years and STILL gets pretty insulting 'jokes' about veganism on the reg. not funny, friendly jokes either - just plain mean/condescending/repetitive stuff.

dyao pretty otm there. I mean it's not just SPvTW, it's all these other things I've seen over and over and I'm not even megainfuriated or anything, I'm just like *SIGH* "here we go again"

not sure if my post is clear - should really say 'my beef is with MEATEATERS who bring up the vegan thing and then get all defensive'.

OMG that hyperdefensive shit drives me nuts! I am p much the same way, and even when people offer me food I'll politely decline and won't actually so "no thanks, I'm vegan" unless they are really naggy abt it. Also, I could be projecting other things onto this, I really don't know. But "queer" and "vegan" both have this antimasculine/"lesser" otherness thing and I'm so batshit frustrated with gender roles/heteronomrativity/all of this in the first place that I could just be angry abt that a little bit too. I don't know. I should maybe get some sleep and try to think abt this in the morning.

Instead of saying "my beef with meateaters", try using "my soy-protein with Satan's children" instead

lololololol

never change

I misread that as "my soy-protein with Santa's children" and as you can imagine I was rather confused.

lol steve <3

and yes the 'vegan as less masculine' thing is so true - EVERY time we eat out, the waiter/waitress will put the vegan dish down in front of me. every time.

(it is this book, btw http://books.google.com/books?id=JM7vMXwpFM8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false they are at the bottom of the page every few pages)

omg justine are you fucking kidding me? that would piss me off on all kinds of different levels

ok wow that is amazing. the setting down thing I mean. and aside from being offensive and presumptuous, it's just bad service---you cant remember who ordered what?? ffs

i know!!! i think it actually bothers me more than it bothers jordan - he's so used to the whole deal that it's mostly water off a duck's back for him, where as i tend to get more worked up. i think that even when it's written on the docket which of us is having what, the server just ~assumes~ it must be wrong, bc my husband is a big manly-looking dude, so obv he is NOT vegan.

this restaurant in Oberlin, OH, used to make amazing "veal" scallopini that made me want to die of love every time i ate there. finally, when i was already done with school, i asked the chef, and...well, it's just well-marinated compressed tofu. i was actually kind of shocked.

i eat meat all the time (yeah yeah i know the sinner in me) but as someone who was vegan/veggie for so long, i am so down with this thread.

I could see compressed v firm tofu being tasty like that if soaked in like, soy sauces or some tasty stock/spices.

yeah, it was soaked in rosemary, thyme, soy sauce, and some other things i can't remember. what was amazing about it is that it actually tasted like veal. i know, gross that i know that, but still: it tasted exactly like veal, even had the same texture. so.

even when people offer me food I'll politely decline and won't actually so "no thanks, I'm vegan"

This is me exactly, except right after being all tactful and discreet about it, one of my kids will inevitably be right in their face enthusiastically shouting "NO, MY DAD IS A VEGAN!"

omg vegans are the worst

lol joke

:|

and yes the 'vegan as less masculine' thing is so true - EVERY time we eat out, the waiter/waitress will put the vegan dish down in front of me. every time.

― just1n3, Monday, January 10, 2011 10:01 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

hah! this routinely happens to a grad school colleague of mine (her bf's vegan, she isn't)

also i thought gbx recently posted a veggie chili recipe that looked amazing on some thread and i thought it was here but i guess no?

old one

it was p damn good, btw.

xp:

To get a more "flesh-like" texture from tofu, toss it in the freezer. The expanding ice crystals force the soy protein network into a more filamentous arrangement. Pulled plant protein like seitan are better for meat substitutes, but you can get reasonably close.

I'm presently applying an unused scientific education towards the question of whether freezing before pressing and then marinating, or freezing after pressing but before marination, yields better results.

xp:

Impotence, formerly thought to be a primarily psychological disorder, is increasingly understood as just a matter of bad fats clogging arteries (via atherosclerosis) and the nitric oxide signaling pathway (which Viagra and the other ED drugs sorta address). Both etiologies are less likely with a thoughtful vegan diet.

Who's more manly now, limpdicks?

Sorry, I am supplementing my vegan diet with vegan Malbec. I prefer it to vegan Cab.

I just know that when I freeze and don't press it turns way too porous and spongey for my liking. So wait, your dilemma is "freeze/thaw > press > marinate" vs. "press > freeze/thaw > marinate"? Have you done either yet?

Steve D:

Yes. I expect a slight difference, at best. The ideal (in emulating muscle tissue) is to align the protein strands, but tofu is just a precipitate of semi-globular proteins from solution. With gluten, there is a succession of kneading operations that both stretch the protein strands and make them align to nearby ones, yielding a fibrous/aligned matrix, even before the subsequently dried mass is powdered and sold as vital wheat gluten.

I'm mildly gluten intolerant as the genetic data suggest most may be: the day after eating gluten based steamed vegan sausages my eye whites are red with irritation. Its not due to blood pressure elevation (I've checked). So I'd like to improve upon my gluten-free meat substitute repertoire.

Before your post, I was about to post this:

There isn't a large literature on female erectile dysfunction, but the internal tissues of the clitoris are homologous to corpus spongisum of the penis. Yes, the geometry kinda proves the non-existence of intelligent design here. But it seems reasonable to assume a low saturated fat diet is useful for the womenfolk in matters of sexual function as well.

Signing off before I really embarass myself.

Oh shit. I've confused the conversational content of several open windows. Be back tomorrow.

Sanpaku how do things like Tofurky roast work? I mean the ingredients seem to imply some sort of mixture of tofu and wheat gluten; do you just knead the two together??

2011 thread has everything... science, testimonials, damn

I need a tried n true mulligatawny recipe, please!

If you are around the Ann Arbor/southeast Michigan area and want to treat yourself, seek her out:

http://www.cakesbyrubina.com/VegansCake.htm

The raspberry chocolate cake is the best I have ever had, vegan or dairy.

Also, Gardein OTM.

ottolenghi's plenty is sick

attn steve: cooked the following recipe from tal ronnen's book today. thought it tasted 'good' but wasn't really suitable as entire meal.

quarter and slice 2 onions
halve and slice 2 fennel bulbs
saute in 3 tbsp of evoo for 4 mins

add 4 cloves crushed garlic
28 oz can of whole peeled san marzano tomatoes (drained)
a bunch of roughly chopped swiss chard
1/2 c white wine
1/2 veg stock
cook 5mins

add olives (some kind of green olives, roughly chopped, can't remember what kind, i left them out)
juice of one lemon
cook 3-5mins till olives are tender

fold in 1 tbsp of minced tarragon (i used dill bc i couldn't find tarragon in 2 separate supermarkets)
and 1 tbsp of minced parsley
and 1 tbsp of minced thyme (i used lemon thyme)
and 1 packet of whole wheat pasta (cooked, obv)

recipe plz!!

i made this thing a couple of nights ago that was a vegan take on a beef dish i learned to make in home ec when i was 12. do not read further if you hate curry powder!

sautee onion
add carrots/cauli/brocc
cook a bit
add fake chicken stock cube
add some curry powder
fry a bit
add some fake ground beef (i used this really nice brand called helen's or something)
add a bit of water
add soy sauce
add worcestershire sauce (apparently there is a vegan version out there but i don't have it - i left it out of my husb's serving but lavished mine with it bc y'know anchovies are PRACTICALLY plants)
add cabbage
cook till.... all cooked!

serve over rice

― just1n3, Saturday, January 8, 2011 2:02 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

lol, is this kai si ming <3<3

ottolenghi's plenty is sick

― cozen, Sunday, January 16, 2011 3:58 PM (1 week ago)

this book is ridiculous. everything in it is so delicious. the onion tart is worth the health problems its gonna give u

estela YES! i didn't realise that was a country-wide home ec staple!

also: anyone cooked anything off vegan yum yum?

I have the iPhone app; it's really great

lol j, did you also learn how to make pinwheel scones?

yes!

vegetable au gratin?

yes!

our funny little country <3

ottolenghi's plenty is sick

― cozen, Sunday, January 16, 2011 3:58 PM (1 week ago)

this book is ridiculous. everything in it is so delicious. the onion tart is worth the health problems its gonna give u

― plax (ico), Monday, 24 January 2011 02:27 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

caek pointed out that pretty much all these recipes are available here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/thenewvegetarian

Hey guys- I am planning on moving in the next month and as I will have to start buying my own food again (sad face), I am thinking it will be a good time to take the next step from vegg to vegan. What do y'all recommend as ESSENTIAL THINGS NEEDED TO FILL NEW CUPBOARDS?

OMG YOU GUYS this chocolate almond milk is like DRINKING A CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMOND!!! I can never go back to soymilk now.

Sam this is what I recommend:

soy sauce/tamari/Bragg's liquid aminos
dried pasta, several few boxes of
tomatoes, several tins of
beans (black, cannellini, and garbanzo at the least), several tins of
agave nectar
balsamic vinegar

IF YOU LIKE TO BAKE:
aseptic silken tofu comes in handy sometimes
Ener*G Egg Replacer
molasses

so i think i've figured out (finally) how to make perfect hummus: lots of cumin (a tbsp to one can of beans) and lots of tahini (1/4 c at least). never put much of either of those in before bc i don't particularly like the flavour of either, but my friend made some the other day and that was her recipe.