Vegan Cocktail Party: Fast and Fun!

I’m having friends over for a little cocktail party (well, really just wine and beer) and am enjoying the challenge of putting together a good menu. My friends are easy-going types, but they aren’t vegan (or even vegetarian) so I want to make sure everything is especially yummy. And I want it all to be finger food. And I don’t have time to do a whole lot of cooking, so it has to be easy with a mix of fast recipes and store-bought items.

Here is what I’ve decided to serve:

Phyllo Cups with Artichoke Filling. In the best of all worlds—in which I’d be a lady of leisure—I would make my own little phyllo cups, but I’m using pre-made ones which I found in the dessert section of the grocery store freezer. And they are vegan! For the filling I’ve chopped 8 ounces of artichokes (packed in water, not oil), and mixed them with ¼ cup chopped green onions and 8 ounces vegan cream cheese. The little cups are precooked, so I am baking these at 350 degrees just long enough to get heated through.

Hummus: I’m buying Sabra brand—the only kind of premade hummus I will eat. It’s actually better than my own homemade hummus.

Guacamole: From Costco. I always have a stash of this in the freezer.

Little Vegan Spring Rolls. I just found these in the grocery store and they were on sale! They come with their own sauce, too.

Curried “Cheese” Dip: I’ve veganized this from a recipe on a cracker box. Stir together 8 ounces of vegan cream cheese, 5 tbsp mango chutney, 4 chopped green onions, 1 ½ tsp curry powder. Easy!

Toby’s Tofu Paté: I love this dip which is tofu blended with seasoning and celery. It's usually in the refrigerator section near the tofu in natural foods markets. There are several different flavors, and also a low-fat version, but I use the "original" one.

I’ll have platters of tortilla chips, crackers, French bread wedges, and vegetable crudités. Mixed nuts and some kind of vegan chocolate, too. All told, I don’t think it will take me more than an hour to get things made and onto serving platters. A fun, sustainable and cruelty-free party that comes together with ease.

This Vegan Dietitian Eats Fast Food!

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday and he is not the world’s easiest guy to shop for. I got him a classic Led Zeppelin CD (the one with Stairway to Heaven on it) and I know he’ll love that, and also a pair of gloves which he badly needs.

I also picked up a gift card to Subway, and I suspect this will be his favorite present. He loves their Veggie Delight sub, and since the burger they use is vegan, I’ll probably let him buy me dinner with his gift card at least once.

I steer clear of fast food establishments where the only vegan options are salads and fries. I like salads and French Fries very much, but I want to patronize restaurants that meet my vegan diet halfway, and Subway does that very nicely.

Burger King is another favorite; their BK Veggie is pretty yummy. I’m also a longtime fan of Taco Bell and, these days I’m even more enamored of Taco del Mar restaurants. In fact most of the fast food Mexican places don’t use lard in their beans. Guacamole and really spicy salsa make up for the lack of cheese and sour cream (and I don’t think any of these restaurants will have vegan cheese or sour cream anytime soon.)

I know a number of vegetarians and other health-minded folks who say they never eat at fast food restaurants. But when I’m out and about—shopping, running errands and feeling a little busy and rushed—I want something that is quick, inexpensive, and tasty. I wouldn’t recommend a full-time diet of fast food restaurants for vegetarians or anyone else, but in moderation they are great, and I love them!

Vegan Calcium is the Best Calcium

A friend asked me today whether I worry, as a vegan, about calcium. Well, I do worry about it, but not because I'm vegan. Calcium is an issue for all women. No matter what type of diet you follow, it's important to identify good sources of this mineral.

Plant foods that are good sources of calcium include many leafy greens, like kale, collards, and mustard greens; broccoli; some legumes like black beans and vegetarian baked beans; blackstrap molasses (but not regular molasses); fortified soyfoods; fortified juices; and tofu if it is has calcium listed as an ingredient.

Some foods—like spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard, and certain seeds—have lots of calcium, but most of it doesn't get absorbed. These foods contain compounds called oxalates that interfere with calcium absorption. Generally, calcium is well-absorbed from most other plant foods, though, and from fortified foods, too. It’s also well absorbed from supplements.

One good reason to choose vegan sources of calcium is that these foods—those that are natural sources of calcium as well as those that are fortified with it–often have advantages over milk in protecting the health of your bones.

For example:

• Calcium-fortified soymilk and calcium-set tofu contain compounds called isoflavones that may help maintain bone health.
  
• Calcium-fortified orange juice is rich in vitamin C, and research shows that people with high vitamin C intakes are likely to have healthier bones.
  
• Many leafy green vegetables–such as collards and kale–are rich in calcium and they are also high in vitamin K and potassium–two nutrients needed for strong bones.
  

While dairy foods provide calcium, they don’t contain vitamin C or isoflavones and they are poor sources of vitamin K and potassium.

However you choose to get calcium, make sure you get enough. The current recommendation for adults is 1000 milligrams of calcium per day. Contrary to what you may have heard elsewhere, there is no evidence that vegetarians need less calcium than meat eaters. If you don't eat enough calcium-rich foods to meet your needs for this mineral, use supplements to make up the difference.

Here are good sources of calcium for vegans (and for everyone else, too!)

Foods that provide about 300 milligrams of calcium:

1 cup fortified orange juice or V8 juice
1 cup fortified soymilk
1 Luna Bar

Foods that provide about 200 milligrams of calcium:

1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1 cup fortified apple juice
½ cup cooked collard greens
½ cup calcium-set tofu
1 ounce of fortified breakfast cereal

Foods that provide about 100 milligrams of calcium

½ cup cooked kale, turnip greens, or broccoli
½ cup cooked soybeans
¼ cup soynuts
1 package of instant oatmeal
5 dried figs

Foods that provide about 75 milligrams of calcium

2 tbsp almond butter or tahini
½ cup prepared textured vegetable protein (TVP)
½ cup cooked bok choy
½ cup tempeh

Foods that provide about 50 milligrams of calcium

½ cup cooked navy, black or great northern beans
½ cup vegetarian baked beans
1 orange
2 tbsp almonds
1 package instant Cream of Wheat

Favorite Vegan Cookbooks: They’re Like Old Friends!

I don’t know whether it’s the cold northwest climate or the chilly economic climate, but I’ve been hunkering down in the kitchen and cooking up a storm lately. My husband is ecstatic. Every time he walks into the kitchen I’m pulling lasagna out of the oven or madly stir-frying a heap of Asian veggies.

I have around 100 cookbooks on my shelves and access to thousands of recipes on the internet so coming up with ideas isn’t a problem. Even so, I often find myself pulling out much-loved older cookbooks—the ones that are tried and true. Some of them have been used so much that they are in two or three pieces. (A true sign of a really good cookbook is one that is held together with a rubber band!)

This weekend, my cooking adventures with two favorite healthy foods—peanut butter and white beans—took me to two favorite cookbooks.

We were down to the last half cup or so of peanut butter in the five-pound tub of Adams PB I get at Costco. It was kind of hard and unspread-able at this point, so I decided to make Asian peanut sauce. I first tried the recipe from Cooking From an Ecological Kitchen by Lorna Sass which is my all-time favorite vegan cookbook. But, while Lorna rarely lets me down, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the results this time. So I turned to a golden oldie, the recipe for Gado Gado (Indonesian Peanut Sauce) in The Moosewood Cookbook. I have loved this recipe for exactly 25 years. My handwritten notation on the page indicates that I first made it in January, 1984!

Moosewood isn’t vegan—far from it—but most of the recipes lend themselves easily to veganization. This one requires just a few tweaks and the end result is always special and delicious. I served it over chunks of tofu and steamed green beans.

While Lorna’s peanut sauce didn’t knock my socks off, I found another recipe on the very same page that did. Her recipe for Creamy White Bean Sauce caught my eye since I’m always looking for something new, interesting and easy to do with beans. This took just minutes to make and I was instantly impressed.

So it was a good culinary weekend; I found something new and revisited something true. Here are two wonderful recipes (slightly adapted by me) from two cookbooks that are like dear and faithful friends:

Gado-Gado

1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp sugar or other sweetener
¼ tsp cayenne pepper or more to taste (I use quite a bit more)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp cider vinegar
3 cups water

Sauté the onions and garlic in the canola oil until onions are tender. Stir in everything else. Simmer over very low heat for a half hour or so until sauce has thickened. Serve over steamed or stir-fried veggies, tofu and rice. Or noodles. Or anything else you like!

Creamy White Bean Spread
(This is supposed to be a sauce, but I kept mine kind of thick and am using it as a spread).

1 ½ cups cooked white beans (I used navy)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar (I think lemon juice would be a wonderful substitute)
½ tsp herbes de Provence (or any kind of Mediterranean-type herb combination)
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup water or broth
Dash of black pepper
Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more liquid if needed. Use as a sandwich spread or a dip with chips or crackers. Or thin with more water or broth and serve over veggies and rice.