Exploring My Vegan Side (and who knew I even had one?)
I have to confess that I seldom use "vegan" and "tasty" in the same sentence. I could sport one of those bumper stickers "PETA - People for the Eating of Tasty Animals," no problem. I truly do think God put molluscs, crustaceans, various fishes, cows and pigs, on the planet for me to eat. And chickens. An occasional amphibian.
I think I was the only person in the movie theater watching Babe and agreeing with the cat justifying Babe's future as bacon with the line "Pigs have no purpose."
But I don't discriminate. Much. And I certainly don't eat meat for every meal, but I'm not careful about it. If a veggie pasta seems like it could be improved with half a pound of shrimp thrown in, I'll do that. Because why wouldn't you. But I do have friends and coworkers with some vegan-leaning food preferences, and I am always looking for at least some small ways to accommodate that.
A friend suggested I check out Thug Kitchen. Their motto is "Eat like you give a f*ck," a motto I totally support, vegan or not, and if you are offended by straight talk and colorful language, don't click that link. Don't order the book. And you probably shouldn't read this blog either. Just sayin'.
I made this Coconut Cornmeal Cake with Coconut "whipped cream" for a coworker's birthday. Wow. Luckily I made extra whipped cream, because we were all just globbing it on, it was so delicious...
Their instructions are hilarious, profane and spot on. On prepping a cake pan: "...If you are still consumed with fear, cut a round out of parchment paper the same size as the pan and stick that to the bottom to be extra fucking sure your cake will come out in one piece." On roasting your own red peppers: "Stop buying roasted red bell peppers in a jar like an asshole. Just light your money on fire if you don't give a fuck."
Recipes are interspersed with information from how to equip your own thug kitchen ("Weapons of Choice," "Pantry Shit") to various "Dropping Knowledge" (knife skills [with pictures showing the difference between diced, cubed, minced], what the fuck does organic mean?) and "Basic Shit" (how to make veggie broth, how to cut a mango ["mangoes can be confusing as fuck to cut..."]) pages...this is the best cookbook I've ever purchased, right up there with Paul Prudomme's Louisiana Kitchen, Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Everyday, and Emeril's Creole Christmas, and those books are not half as entertaining - or filled with truly useful, simple basics - as this one.
So, trust the Food Porn Lady - go buy this fucking book. Make the Coconut Milk "Whipped Cream" - you will never go back to that dairy shit ever again.
Chickpeas and Dumplings. "Prepare for a fucking food coma" they say...oh, yeah. It was so good!