Two recipes today from Erin Pavlina's Vegan Family Favorites: Black-Eyed Pea Dip in mini-pitas and Carrot Pecan Salad, made with apple juice, Vegenaise, pecans, and dried cranberries.I've started thinking of Vegan Family Favorites as the cookbook version of a coffee clache. I imagine all the moms that contributed their favorite recipes gathered together at a kitchen table, sharing stories while the kids play. The dishes are simple, easy, and very straightforward, just right for that mother of three trying to get healthy vegan food on the table that their kids will eat.
To complete the meal I tucked in a pear, some vanilla soymilk and a bottle of water, and two peanut butter creme sandwich cookies.
The final ingredient listed on the cookies was "natural flavors". Just out of curiosity I called the company to find out if the flavor was dairy-based. I learned (sorry if you all already knew this) that "flavors" are proprietary (meaning they won't tell you), but if the flavor is derived from one of the eight main allergenic foods (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish), they are required to print that little "may contain..." warning on the package. So since it did not warn that it may contain eggs or dairy, the operator and I figured it was safe and that that was about as close as we could get to knowing for sure.
Verdict: So nice to have a meal that involves no hot stove or oven today! I had never considered using black-eyed peas to make a hummus-like spread, but it worked well and we all liked the field pea flavor. Shmoo ate all the fruit, cookies, and pita breads, but only two bites of the salad. He said it was the dried cranberries that put him off, but I wouldn't dream of leaving them out. Double up on them (and the pecans!) and let your picky shmoos pick them out. 3 stars.
20 comments:
Yum! The carrot pecan salad sounds great, and I agree, double up on the dried cranberries! They're my favorite.
Does he like raisins? They're what my mom always put in carrot salad.
Black eyed peas are one of my favourites.
Yum! That salad sounds super! I was just thinking today about all the summer foods (i.e. chilled soups and salads) I need to start planning. Cool use of black eyed peas too, can't wait to try that.
And from yet another poster who has been follwing your blog for months but never commented, thanks so much for all you do!
I agree about the dried cranberries...they're so tart! I like golden raisins or dates in my carrot salad.
I just love how you get creative with sandwiches! That's something I need to do more of. We get stuck with vegetable sandwiches around here most often! Not that we mind of course! But variety is great!
I have a question not pertaining to today's lunch. I checked Uncheese cookbook out from the library and was very excited to try a recipe until I noticed that a lot of the recipes call for tahini. The no dairy child I cook for is also allergic to sesame seeds (and tomatos, peanuts and eggs). Any suggestions for a tahini sub?
Hi, Susan -- I would ask Jo. She hosts the vegsource vegan discussion board, so you could post your question there:
http://vegsource.com/talk/veganism/wwwboard.html
>>it turned out a very unappetizing pink
Ha, that reminds me of the time I made beet burgers. My mom stopped by just as I was bringing them to the table, and she thought I was serving raw ground beef patties! They were just that shade of pink. But tasty!
I bet if you used darker beans the red wouldn't show through quite so much.
I have a black-eyed pea salad from an old vegetarian cook book that is a summer favorite of mine. There is just something about black-eyed peas that seem so right.
I got my very own laptop lunchbox today. I am so jazzed and have already started next week's lunch planning.
How could anyone not like dried cranberries?!!
I usually hate black eyed peas, but I think I'd try those mini-pitas (:
I agree that chilled soups are perfect in the summer. Have you tried Gazpacho, Jennifer?
Hi, OshinkoTickle! Hey, I've been struggling to answer your question on which "top 3" cookbooks I would recommend. Boy, that's tough! I have over 60 cookbooks now, both vegan and non, as well as four 3-inch binders filled with recipes I've printed out our copied from other cookbooks.
This morning I finally figured out how to narrow it down. I asked myself which cookbooks I would buy first if all my books were lost and I was starting over from scratch. The very first one would be Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone". It's not vegan, but many of the recipes are vegan or are easily adapted. The book is very comprehensive, and in the middle she covers every vegetable alphabetically, with recipes, cooking techniques, and "go with" flavors for each veggie. I turn to her first each time I come back from the farmer's market. I could eat well for the rest of my life with just her cookbook alone.
The second is "World Vegetarian" by Madhur Jaffrey, to satisfy my love of ethnic cuisine. Her bean and legume recipes are shockingly good.
The third one you already have -- "Ultimate Uncheese" by Jo Stepaniak. Cheez Please Soup, Gee Whiz, and Amazing Mac & Cheez...'nuf said!
Hope that helps!
Those Back to Nature peanutbutter cookies are so good. They were at the 99 cent store here, and we bought a ton.
I posted to Jo (about tahini and uncheese.) She told me to use cashew butter in place of tahini for the block cheese. I'll have to try it, but thought I'd pass along the info if anyone else was curious.
in the aplets and coplets recipe, can agar be subbed for gelatin?
Jennifer - that's the official answer as per natural flavors. What my mom discovered is that they aren't required to mention that often they're processed on the same equipment as dairy ingredients. This probably isn't enough to deter most folks, but if you have allergies to milk, it's probably enough to make you react (it is around here!). So beware.
When will you have to repeat an item?
R2K
To wiegh in on the cranberries v. raisins debate.
I prefer dried cherries to either and dried apricots most of all.
Make sure that the brand you buy is unsulfered or in some cases called sufites (like in wine).
If you buy in bulk ask the guy at the store to check the bag they come in if the info isn't posted.
Thanks fo researching the "natural flavors" question for us!
-Crystal
raising kahne-
you can check out the free online edition of _animal ingredients from a to z_ here:
http://www.spunk.org/texts/food/sp001610.txt
there are also updated editions for sale through vegan retailers and on amazon, but this is nice to print and have handy.
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