Mad About Udon

Empidoids! Mmm dried flies… Just kidding. The only time I consume flies is when I accidentally inhale them (some of the specimens are quite small; I have to mount them under a microscope).

Clockwise from upper left corner: steelcut oats with apple and raisin, red grapes, honey dew melon, cold pasta salad (vegetable confetti pasta, fenugreek sprouts, watercress, sweet yellow pepper, white onion, cucumber and capers), raspberries and blueberries and Yoso blueberry soy yogurt.

The above photo is a somewhat typical example of the kind of packed lunch I bring to work. I usually eat the oatmeal and grapes in the morning, and the berries and soy yogurt in the afternoon. The cold pasta salad is not really typical of my packed lunches as I usually do not have time to make such a thing in the morning.

- Aly

PS The Granola Girl Cafe Project is back from the summer hiatus!

In case you have been locked in an ivory tower and have not noticed rising food prices at home or food riots around the world, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recently announced that billions of dollars are needed to boost agricultural industries in order to deal with global food shortages which are resulting in substantial increases in the cost of food. The UN World Food Programme states that the problem is a result of “increased energy costs, rising demand from economic growth in emerging economies, the growth of biofuels and increasing climatic shocks such as droughts and floods“. The issue is obviously more complex than that, and I am certainly not claiming to have a good grasp of the situation. Although I may not be completely informed, I still feel that increased agricultural production is not an adequate solution as it does not consider the detrimental effects of intensive and unsustainable agriculture on the environment. The CBC has two websites (here and here) dedicated to the world food crisis that I would recommend if you are interested in learning more.

I have been having a food “crisis” of my own lately, which seems particularly banal to write about in context of current world issues, but I was feeling some pressure from my lovely co-author to pick up the blogging slack. As some of you may or may not know, I have a life-threatening tree nut allergy along with an associated sensitivity to a million and one fruits and vegetables which I was diagnosed with in fall 2007. Lately I have been having severe allergic reactions which I have not experienced since the months preceeding my diagnosis. This has been highly disturbing, painful and irritating since I already live on an extremely restricted diet and it is always upsetting to have to give up another food. Not all tree nut allergy sufferers are allergic to peanuts, which are a legume. However, it is incredibly difficult to guarantee that peanut products have not been cross-contaminated with tree nuts. In spite of this knowledge, I have continued to eat peanut butter, as it is one of my favourite foods. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly clear that my body is no longer capable of consuming my beloved PB. In a desperate bid to find a substitute, I shelled out over 9$ (DISGUSTING in comparison to the price of PB) to try out a soynut butter (soynuts are roasted soy beans).

I purchased Selecta Peabutter (made in Montreal) from the Herb and Spice on Bank St (I was sold on the beaver logo). Aside from being produced in a nut-free facility, it is also gluten free. It approximated the texture of taste of PB fairly well, although the taste is distinctly that of a soynut product, and I think it will do as a fine replacement for PB in times of desperation. The only problem with this stuff is that it is ridiculously expensive, which may sway my decision to purchase it again.

- Aly

I have not been feeling inspired in the kitchen lately, and am once again living off of salads and PBB’s so I have not had anything new or interesting to photograph for the blog. I do have some exciting news for any of our readers who are in to awesome music! Sigur Rós are releasing their fifth album “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust” on June 23! This is their first album recorded outside of Iceland and Jónsi apparently sings in English on one track too. You can download “Gobbledigook”, the first track of the album, and watch the music video here. The video is amazing and I definitely cannot stop listening to this track!

- Aly

My mom recently purchased some Vidalia onions, and was kind enough to share a few of them with me. I had no idea why she was so excited about them until I looked them up yesterday! Vidalia onions are known for their distinctly sweet and mild taste. During my quick search to learn about them, I came across a few interesting recipes. I tried a variation of Morris Farms’ Sweet and Sour Vidalia Onions and Cucumbers recipe last night, and it turned out pretty well!

Vidalia Onion and Cucumber Salad:

2 c cucumber, grated
1 ½ c Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped
½ green pepper, thinly sliced
¼ c corn

¼ c white wine vinegar
1 T maple syrup
1 T dried dill weed
1 t ground black pepper
3-5 drops of Stevia (depending on sweetness of dressing)

Mix vegetables together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the dressing ingredients together. Combine the two mixtures, chill and serve. This recipe yields 3 servings.

- Aly

PS If you care to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station, apparently it will be putting on quite a show over the next couple of days!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Sara Banks, who along with Lawrence Playford-Beaudet, is taking on the task of feeding Ottawa’s vegan population with style, accommodation and artistry at The Granola Girl Cafe Project, a fund-raising initiative for the eventual establishment of a restaurant. Although Ottawa has a handful of vegan-friendly restaurants , it has had a definite lack of 100% vegan eateries, aside from The Garden Spot located on campus at Carleton U, until now, that is! The newly established Granola Girl Cafe Project, located on 4 - 226 Gladstone Ave just off of Elgin St, offers a delightful and very reasonably priced 100% vegan menu of beautifully crafted granolas, lunch items, desserts and drinks.

The Granola Girl Cafe Project has provided local vegans with the opportunity and convenience to indulge themselves on sinfully delicious homemade desserts, candy bars, vegan cheeses and many other items not available elsewhere. Granola Girl Sara has had a great deal of experience creating vegan culinary concoctions in a wide variety of settings, beginning with her time preparing food for an Oberlin College vegetarian and vegan-food collective in 2004 where she learned to prepare vegan meals in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Since then, she has honed the art of preparing beautiful and exciting vegan dishes appealing to both the taste buds and one’s aesthetics. Sara had been providing the local vegan community with a custom-made granola service as well as monthly dinner parties which became implausible due to her growing clientele and format of the events. Upon meeting her fellow granola girl at a soy milk workshop which Lawrence was teaching, the Granola Girl Cafe Project was born. The project has allowed the granola girls to begin raising money for their plan to fill downtown Ottawa’ void of vegan restaurants and offer their delightful fare to the vegan community at unreasonably reasonable prices.

The menu at the Granola Girl Cafe Project offers a diverse choice of brunch, lunch, and dessert type foods along with drinks. Unlike many restaurants in the area, the granola girls are very willing to accommodate their customers’ needs and dietary restrictions; if contacted ahead of time they will do their best to meet your needs! Sara has had past experience catering for clients with gluten and soy intolerances. Although accommodation may be difficult for those of us with severe nut allergies due the complications associated with nut traces, the granola girls are willing to try and meet those needs and are hoping to move towards a more allergy-safe environment as their business grows. The brunch items include Sara’s fantastic granolas, such as her famous PB&J granola, in combination with their in-house almond milk or soy yogurt. (Granolas may also be ordered in bulk.) Although the lunch items vary from week to week, they generally include a vegan grilled cheese featuring one of Sara’s homemade gourmet vegan cheeses. Sara’s desserts are guaranteed to satisfy sweet tooth; her pies, “cheese” cakes and candy bars fill the void left by the lack of pre-made vegan sweets. Her vegan candy bars, like the “butterfynger” and “twixx” are a popular stable of the Granola Girl Cafe Project. Weekly menus can be seen on the Granola Girl Cafe Project website. The word on the street is that the Chilled Yogurt Cucumber Soup will be FREAKING AWESOME.

The Granola Girl Cafe Project is open Sunday’s and Monday’s from 11 am to 3 pm. It will not be open on May 25^th and 26^th, so tomorrow and Monday will be your last chance to check it until Father’s day. Maureen and I are planning to go on Monday for Part II of the Granola Girl Cafe Project restaurant review; hope to see you there :)!

- Aly

Today I felt like giving another go at a vegan bacon substitute. There are quite a few recipes available on the internet for this, such as this one and this one. My variation is most similar to the former link.

¼ c water
1 T soy sauce
5 drops liquid smoke (I purchased this from the Superstore)
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion salt
1 portion of firm tofu (I used a Miso tofu patty from the H&S), crumbled in to bits

Heat the liquids at a low temperature in a frying pan, and add the crumbled tofu pieces and spices once the liquids have begun to bubble. Heat the mixture until the liquid has evaporated and the tofu has become brown and crispy. This took me about 25 minutes as I had the stove on a very low setting.

The final result tasted fantastic, and was not too far off the last store-bought stuff I tried.

- Aly

I had forgotten what an amazing workout it is to box with WBK! If you are interested in non-competitive boxing training, I would highly recommend them! I can not think of any activity which has brought me greater pleasure, aside from seeing Daft Punk live at the Bell Centre last summer. I was too exhausted to prepare a meal from scratch after class, but was desperately in need of a high calorie meal! Here is what I came up with:

Clockwise from upper left: 1 container of yoso vanilla soy yogurt with 1 c of blackberries and half a banana, 2 T of hummus with 5 olives, 8 baby carrots, and half a whole wheat pita with 1 T of PB (although I am allergic to tree nuts, peanuts are still cool as far as I know!) and the other half of that banana.

It did the job!

- Aly

I made lunch for a omnivorous friend yesterday who was curious about the sorts of things I can eat with my allergies. I was quite nervous about this at first as I always want to leave my friends with a good impression of vegan fare! I ended up preparing roasted brussel sprouts, a salad and a pasta and mushroom combination:

It is going to be difficult, but not impossible, to get school stuff in to my photos now that the semester is over ;)!

I used the FFVK’s fantastically simple and delicious roasted Brussels sprout recipe. The blob of hummus in the salad was also inspired by various FFVK posts. The pasta dish was a mixture of Eddie’s vegetable confetti pasta, shiitake mushrooms, fresh oregano, onion and various herbs and spices. It turned out pretty well!

On a distantly related note, I had the pleasure of going to a vegan brunch today (I wish I had had my camera!) where I was introduced to Yoso, a tasty soy yogurt which was definitely more palatable than any other soy yogurt that I have tried!

- Aly

Here is my first attempt at a tempeh, lettuce and tomato (TLT) sandwich:

My TLT was based on the FFVK’s TLT Sandwich. I did not use the liquid smoke, as I had none, included caramelized onions and used 1 T of hummus instead of vegan mayo. (I recently purchased some vegan mayo, but have been hesitant to use it due to a few unpleasant encounters with it in the past. What is your favourite vegan mayo substitute? The Vegan Feast Kitchen has a recipe for a vegan BLT with homemade mayo.) My tempeh did not mimic the taste of bacon, but was pretty dang good nonetheless!

- Aly

PS I am so excited for the Ottawa Farmer’s Market!

I had Maureen and Karina over for supper earlier this week to test out my first shot at bean balls.

The bean balls, which contained mung beans, onion and short-grained brown rice, were based on the curried variation of the Beany Ball recipe from Fat Free Vegan Recipes. These are best prepared ahead of time!

I topped off the pasta and bean balls with a store-bought tomato sauce. I personalized the sauce by adding grated zucchini, onions, garlic, avocado, capers and a variety of herbs and spices. A serving with approximately four bean balls, half a cup of spiral pasta, and half a cup of tomato sauce is around 335 calories. The final product was quite tasty and elicited a comparison to the delicious fare at The Table from Maureen <3.

- Aly