Mixing the Mean Trails of Runyon Canyon

Way back in March, I went on my first hike with my new veggie hiking group. They were a great bunch and we took sort of an urban hike through the streets of Beachwood Canyon where we saw some great architecture.  I have a tendency to get really "into" things, and my hiking excursion was no different. In addition to packing a hat, extra water, and a first aid kit, I also brought along a brown paper bag filled with delicious vegan trail mix. A hike isn't the same without trail mix. I was so into the whole Saturday hiking idea and it was so beautiful outside, that I followed up the hike with a second hike in Runyon Canyon Park. A few years ago, my friends and I got hopelessly lost trying to find Runyon Canyon Park. In retrospect, it wasn't nearly as cool as we thought it was going to be. There were a lot of dogs and a lot of trail runners. I have nothing against dogs on trails, but trail runners drive me nuts. I'm like a spooked horse every time one of them whizzes by. Also, I have a problem when dog owners don't pick up after their pets and the entire park starts to smell like a giant horse stall. On the up side though, there were some great views of the city.
More relevant to my readers than the views, I made a really exciting trail mix for this hike. For me, a good trail mix has 3-4 main components. The compulsory components are granola, fruit, and nuts. You should include one thing from each category. The fourth component is more optional, and it varies from trail mix to trail mix. For our purposes, we can call it the "yum factor". It's usually something along the lines of chocolate or carob bits, and its job is to bring the outfit all together. In this trail mix, I used a hint of bourbon vanilla extract and plenty of cinnamon. The cinnamon and vanilla take this particular trail mix to a whole new level. You could probably use regular vanilla extract, but I would only do it if you were looking for an excuse to chase the trail mix with bourbon.

Does Your Mother Know What You're Up To?

Follow me here: Abba Reference -> Mamma Mia Reference -> Greek Recipe
Gyros are something that I never liked as a non-vegan. I had never even tried one, so it was puzzling when I found myself craving them a few weeks ago. I've also been making it a point to expand my main dish repertoire. Sure, I give good breakfast, but a girl has to diversify. Also, I've been bringing my lunch to work every day, so I'm always looking for something that I can bring in and assemble quickly. I suppose you could assemble these at home without the soy-yogurt sauce, but even then I would worry about my pita getting soggy. As it was, I toasted the pita lightly and packed everything separately. The picture to the right is from when I made them at home for dinner. I don't want anyone accusing me of doctoring blog photos.
Originally I wanted to use seitan for this recipe, but Trader Joes was fresh out and I did not feel like making a trip to Whole Foods, so I ended up with beef strips. After relaying the recipe to a friend, I was informed that TJ's beef strips are actually Morning Star beef strips. Morning Star discontinued them, but Trader Joe's sells them under different packaging. It's funny to me how elusive some vegan food can be. These beef strips are shrouded in mystery. It really goes to show how far we vegans are willing to go in pursuit of a good meal.

Pumpkin Pie Wontons

Sure, every good food blogger has a pumpkin recipe that they save and publish in the fall, when pumpkin is a staple on American dinner tables. Not me. I'm a loner Dottie, a rebel, and that means posting my pumpkin pie wonton recipe in May. It also means making my pumpkin pie wontons whenever I want, and just because I love pumpkin. I first used this recipe to bring to a New Years Eve party, and the filling was a hit, but the actual wontons tasted like crap. This is because I tried to make my own wonton wrappers, which was a mistake because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't really have a choice at the time, because both Trader Joes and Whole Foods were sans-wonton wrappers. Literally 2 days after I couldn't find them anywhere, I saw an entire display of asian wrappers at Ralphs of all places. So, you don't have to go to any kind of a fancy store to find your wonton wrappers, you just have to carefully check the label to make sure that there aren't any little baby animals or baby animal derivatives in them.
These wontons are super easy to make, except the assembly which can be a little tedious. If you can, I would reccomend engaging a qualified sous chef to assist.

Pumpkin Pie Wontons
1 c. canned pumpkin
2 tbsp. maple syrup
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
16 wonton wrappers
cinnamon sugar for dusting (you can make your own with 2 parts cinnamon and 1 part raw sugar)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix pumpkin, maple syrup, sugar, and pie spice.
Spoon 1 tsp. into the center of each wonton wrapper. Fold in half an moisten the edges to seal.
Arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray.
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over each wonton.
Bake for 16 minutes, or until wontons are a golden brown.
Flip them over and bake for 2 more minutes, then let cool completely.

Sausage Fest: How Many Sexual Innuendos Can I Fit in One Post

OK so maybe my life is about the farthest thing from a sausage fest, in the sense that I can't seem to keep  a man around long enough to make it to dessert.  On the other hand, if platonic male friends count, then call me Jodi Maroni and welcome to my sausage kingdom. I suppose that this is all material I should be saving for the book I'm working on. It's going to be a collection of recipes and the bad date stories that accompany them. Currently up for inclusion: bad date stir fry, let's just be friends lasagna, and breakup pancakes. Don't worry boys, all the names and faces will be changed to protect the innocent.
I'm a big fan of Tofurkey's Tomato Basil Sausage, and I am trying to be better about buying local produce. The Venice Whole Foods is really good about having a separate "locally grown" produce section. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the produce in that section was cheaper than it would regularly be, and it was very refreshing to go into a Whole Foods and not feel like I was being asked to drop trou and bend over. So, even though I was originally looking for green bell peppers, I ended up with a lovely (and affordable) carton of sweet yellow and red peppers. This recipe is for one, but could easily be stretched into two meals by addition of some pasta or vegan sandwich rolls.

Whole Foods Bulk Section

The Venice Whole Foods is a carnival of wonder and magic, or at least I like to think so. They have a wine-tasting bar, a salad bar with tons of vegan options, vegan pizza, vegan chocolate truffles, grind-your-own coffee, cool cosmetics, daiya cheese, and more. Sometimes, I will invent something that I "need" from the store just to have an excuse to wander the aisles. Currently, my favorite part of my favorite grocery store is the bulk foods section. There are containers upon containers of dried fruits, nuts, flour, and grains. I love being able to sample a little or something, or to get just what I need for a recipe. It's much cheaper when cooking for one, and less food goes to waste. I hate having to throw out food because it spoiled while waiting for me to cook with it.

The flour selection in the bulk foods aisle is a baker's wet dream. I can buy just enough of a new flour for a recipe and get to experiment without committing to an entire bag of something that might not work out. Also, since I transfer my dry goods into jars as soon as I get them home anyway, I'm saving money, trees, and landfill space by buying these things in a little plastic bag instead of some elaborate packaging. Whole Foods is nice enough to provide twist-tie labels and pens, and I love any excuse to use my Catholic-school handwriting. So far I have tried whole wheat pastry flour and white spelt flour. I'm looking forward to trying the blue corn flour and making blue corn pancakes, or maybe even my own tortillas. I also love being able to buy just enough nuts for a recipe, like when I made my almond crumble for blueberry muffins. I don't really eat nuts on their own, so it's good to just get what I need right at that moment.
There is one more really amazing thing about the bulk foods aisle, and that is the fact that you can press your own peanut butter! Yes, that's right, 100% natural peanut butter that you grind yourself. The ingredient list is simple: peanuts, and it's really fresh and delicious. I personally went for the chocolate peanut butter machine, and enjoyed it spread on rice cakes for a week.

Mama Mia! Garlic Knots!

Apologies for being so bad about posting lately. Work has been ridiculous and between there and the gym, I haven't had a spare moment to write anything lately. I've been super low on energy and not really prioritizing my cooking or blogging as much as I wish I could. Rest assured, I've still been eating very healthy and very vegan. I even tried out a couple of new recipes which I was very pleased with. I'll be posting them here over the next couple of days so that you too can try them out.

One of my most favorite places in the world is C&O's Trattoria in Venice Beach. Not only do they serve the most amazing, gigantic plates of pasta I've ever seen, but they have a very great hook as well. Three words. Unlimited garlic knots. You just sit down and order an entree, and the garlic knot guy will come to your table time and time again, filling your plate with delicious garlic knots that are warm out of the oven. I'm pretty sure that their garlic knots are vegan, because most pizza dough usually is, but I really should call to do some investigating. If the opportunity arises to visit there in the next 40 days, I will have to call them and find out if their delicious garlic-y goodness fits in line with my new lifestyle choices. If they tell me that they aren't vegan, however, it might be a real deal-breaker. It's debatable whether it would ruin my relationship with veganism or my relationship with C&O's.

Once upon a time, I was a Girl Scout. Our motto was to always be prepared. Thus, if C&O's doesn't come through for me, I have an excellent backup plan. That backup plan is my very delicious, previously top-secret recipe for garlic knots. It's super easy to make, but they always seem to really impress people. When I made a tray on New Years Eve, they were a big hit. Luckily, they're one of those things that are just naturally vegan. You could, I suppose, screw everything up by adding parmesan or romano cheese. If you really feel like you need that extra garnish, you should go ahead and pick up some vegan parmesan from your local Whole Foods. It's just as good.

Without further adieu, here is a totally simple, totally awesome garlic knot recipe. You could serve these as an accompaniment to a pasta dish, as an appetizer, or as part of a cocktail party spread. If you were feeling particularly lazy, you could probably put these out with some tomato sauce for dipping and call it a meal.

Garlic Knots
1 package vegan pizza dough (I just buy it in the bag from Trader Joe's, but you could make it as well)
6! cloves of garlic
1/2  c. earth balance
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt
1/4 c. fresh basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Turn your pizza dough onto a floured surface. Knead it a few times before rolling it out to a rectangle about 1/4" thick and 5" long.
Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips that are about 1" wide.
Tie each individual strip into a knot and place on a nonstick baking sheet.
Brush tops with 1 tbsp. olive oil.
Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until tops of the knots are a golden brown.
While these are done cooking, sauté minced garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil until it starts to turn golden.
Add the earth balance to the sauce pan and stir until completely melted.
Transfer the still-warm garlic knots to a bowl and toss with the garlic-butter mixture.
Chop the fresh basil and sprinkle over your garlic knots with a pinch of salt (kosher is best).

Bad Date, Good Stir Fry

So once guys find out that you know how to cook, you have basically committed to making them dinner at least once. My favorite kinds of guys are the ones who know a thing or two about cooking themselves. Sure, it adds to the pressure to create something delicious, but it also means that I'll have a skilled extra hand in the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I attempted a cooking date with a certain someone, and it did not end well. Sometimes there are just nights where things don't line up, and it was one of those nights. I was already stressed out when the date started. Let's just say that the night didn't end well and leave it at that. On the bright side, I did get to try out a great recipe for Peanut Tofu Stir Fry. However, it will always be associated with a bad date, so I will probably not be making it again any time soon.