Vegan Groceries Online

Shopping for groceries on Amazon sounds weird, but it's definitely easy and convenient. Here are some vegan selections:

A Work in Progress: Roasted vegetables en croute

The real cook will test and retest, work on a recipe until it's just right, and only then present it to the world. But I'm not a real cook. I want to share the steps along the way to the finished product. The trials that maybe aren't perfect.

I read a review of a restaurant recently that noted one of the specialities: roasted vegetables and cheese layered on top of an olive tapenade, wrapped in a flaky puff pastry. I thought I could come up with my own version. This is my first try. I'll describe what I did, how it came out, what I learned. If you have comments or suggestions I'd love to hear them!

I used:

puff pastry - frozen
vegetables: in this case carrots, onions, zucchini, portabello mushrooms, green bell pepper
olive oil for roasting veggies
seasonings for veggies: rosemary, parsley, oregano
tapenade: in this case green olive

First, I roasted the veggies. I cut them into strips, placed them in a casserole dish along with sprinklings of olive oil and the seasonings, and covered the dish. I roasted them in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. When it looked like they were about done, I took off the casserole top and let the veggies brown up a bit and let the steam escape, about ten minutes.

Wonderful alternative: Trader Joe's (and some other markets) offers roasted vegetables in a package, all ready for you!

I just guessed at amounts. I think, though, that the total bulk of one bell pepper, two carrots, two largish portabellos, and a medium onion is about right for this dish. More on that later.

When roasted my veggies looked like this:



When done, I let them sit a while to cool down.

After I put the veggies in the oven I took out the puff pastry to defrost. I took one sheet out of the package.



When it was defrosted (40 minutes) I rolled it out a bit.





I fit the pastry into my pan, having determined how much to roll it out by how large the pan was.



Then I started layering. I used up what was left in my jar of tapenade.





It is spread rather thinly there. Then I attempted to layer by color:





Some veggies did not cover.



I finished with the scrapings of onion and bits.



I folded one side of the crust over and the other on top of that, and pinched it to the side. On top, then, were two layers of puff pastry.



I baked it at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until puffed and golden.



I let it cool a little and then sliced into it.



Not bad but there were issues. Here is what I learned:

* Use more tapenade, make a real layer of it. I couldn't even taste it.
* Cut the veggies into smaller pieces and cook enough of each color to make a full layer. When I bit into my piece it was not as neat as we might like. I think smaller pieces would make it more layered, it would look more elegant, and it would "eat better".
* Don't overlap the crust. I found that two layers had some trouble. Both did not puff fully.
* Use a cookie sheet or other large pan with lips (to catch any spills or oil). I think this will allow it to blossom and will take full advantage of all of the pastry.

I also believe that this is the type dish that does well served at room temperature, could be made in little packets rather than in one big layered dish, and could even be the basis for an alternative Cornish pasty. I want to explore those alternatives in the future, and when I do you'll be sure to hear about it.

Easy Vegan Recipes

The vegan web is growing. More and more vegans are sharing their stories and recipes online to help each other and expand our network of information. Here are some other websites with simple, vegan recipes:

• Compassion Over Killing - easy vegan recipes
• Fat Free Vegan - Quick & Easy Vegan Meals
• Real Food - Cheating Easy Vegan
  
• The Veggie Table - Easy Vegetarian Recipes
• Vegan Outreach - easy meal ideas
• Fantastic Foods brand - easy, simple vegetarian recipes
• Savvy Vegetarian - salads
  

Boxed Indian Meals

Much of Indian cuisine is vegetarian or vegan. Indian convenience foods are great prepackaged options. Tasty Bite brand labels their vegan foods prominently, just look for the check boxes on the back. I like Punjab Eggplant and Spinach Dal.

The boxed foods found in the grocery aisle with rice and dried beans are often a good bet for vegan convenience foods. There are various rice mixes, couscous mixes, and other traditional "side dishes." Vegan meals can be made by combining various side dishes to make complete meals.

Often that grocery aisle also has the premixed spice packets. These are great for adding flavor to tofu, seitan, veggies, or beans. Just read the ingredients carefully because not all are vegan. However, ignore the pictures on the spice packets. Taco seasoning made for meat tacos can work well for tofu tacos too. Marinade meant for chicken or beef can work just fine on non-meat items like potatoes or TVP.

Vegan Chili

There are a variety of canned and dried vegetarian chili mixes that you can make on a stove top, in the microwave, or just by adding hot water. They're great for camping or for hearty Fall and Winter meals. Combine it with rice and you've got a complete protein, too.

A good side dish for chili is cornbread. My favorite vegan cornbread recipe is this one from Post Punk Kitchen.

But if you really don't want to cook or bake much, try getting some frozen corn on the cob and nuke (microwave) that in a plastic bag for about three to five minutes. Corn on the cob goes well with chili.

Miso Soup

Miso soup is really easy to make, but since this blog is about vegan convenience food, there's an even easier way to make miso soup: prepackaged.

Most miso soup is vegan, but check the ingredients to make sure. Some brands are not vegan.

Scramble it

Tonight I didn't have much in the house but didn't want to hit the market, so I went with a scrambled tofu.

1-2 T Neutral oil, like grapeseed
Firm tofu (or silken if you prefer the texture): about ten ounces
Small onion, chopped, or ready-to-cook frozen chopped onions, about a half-cup
Broccoli - about a half cup or so fresh or frozen
Tomato - one small
cumin, salt, pepper, cilantro - fresh, dry, or frozen - to taste
tumeric - 1/2 tsp

Drain tofu, set on paper towels. Heat oil until warm. Add onions, cook until soft. Cut broccoli if necessary into small pieces and toss in. Stir a bit, get it greened up. Crumble drained tofu into pan until it's about the size of egg scrambles. Mix it all together. Add cilantro, 2 teaspoons (or more) of cumin, and mix up more. If you have some turmeric put a bit in, but not too much (it gets bitter). It's nice for color.

Slice the tomato thinly and toss it in, mix up a bit just to warm it through.

Serve with salt and pepper.

Of course this is subject to endless variations: spinach, peas, chives would be nice additions. If you've got leftover cooked boiled potatoes I can see cutting those up and adding them in. Yum.

Takes about ten to fifteen minutes to get this on the table. You can eat it as is (which is what I did) or wrap in a tortilla or scoop with toast.

Breakfast variation - with onions and potatoes.