Tag Archives: jalapeno

Sunny Days in Texas: Jalapeño Popper Dip

For Veganmofo this year my theme was to cook every recipe in the Sunny Days in Texas benefit zine but it turns out that I am going to have to slightly alter my plan. Instead of cooking every recipe I am going to try and eat every recipe. And this time it isn’t just because I am hungry AND lazy but because I have a stupid injury that makes both standing and walking very painful. Who knew standing and walking were so important anyway? Not me! I would have thought laying around all summer watching Star Trek on Netflix missing a ton of work sounded like paradise…. until I tried it. First of all, Voyager kind of sucks and not being able to cook for yourself or shop without riding one of those electronic scooters makes life super depressing. Things are getting better though now, Deep Space Nine and the Wonder Years were both added to streaming this week and I can get around a little bit better so I do plan to do some cooking.

The first recipe I want to tell you about that I tried in the zine comes from Kristen Blackmore who blogs over at the noochy noodle and has a lovely shop with her knitted vegan clothing line (I really really want this hat). When I first read about the Jalapeño Popper Dip I was so excited because it sounded like the laziest way ever to get your jalapeño popper cravings satisfied since, as far as I know, there isn’t a vegan frozen version on the market. It turned out my friend Hannah was maybe even more excited to try the recipe (or at least less of a slacker) because she was the very first person to buy the zine. She immediately wanted to try the dip for a party. By the time I got there, what you see on the plate in the picture was all that remained and only because Hannah had stashed it away for me, I had to take the picture fast! People gobbled it up and then started asking me for more and I pulled the zines to show them how they could make it themselves like I had planned it that way.

If you have enjoyed poppers in the past I promise you would love this recipe. The creamy cashew based filling is just delectable with the hot jalapeños and then the bread crumbs on the top created the satisfying crunchy contrast that I desire in all food. Plus, the recipe was inspired by a trip to Sonic and the Veganomicon which is pretty much a description of my approach to food.

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VeganMoFo- Taco Town III

Sometimes I have a waking nightmare that I will be riding up to Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse and find a sign that says, “closed to put up condos”. In Austin this seems to be happening more all the time. Nothing was worse than going to the Cosmic Cafe for my birthday and seeing that it was closed. But thankfully Bouldin continues to go strong. It is one of my favorite coffee shops in Austin.

Bouldin is on South First, just down the street from me so I like to hang out under the oak trees and drink Mexican Mochas and watch the hippies and the scenesters do there thing.

On beautiful Sunday mornings it can get kind of busy but the people and staff are so laid back that you never feel like you are in a rush to get your food and get out. It is the kind of place to while away the morning.

It is also my favorite vegan food in Austin. I somehow didn’t even realize for the first few years that it was an all vegetarian menu. All of their entrees can be made vegan, and really they should be made vegan because Bouldin Creek has the best tofu scramble I have ever had in my life. It could make anyone go vegan. So often at restaurants the tofu has too many spices and is too liquidy, and the tofu has been crumbled into pieces that are just too tiny. At Bouldin Creek the ‘fu always comes out absolutely brilliant. You can sub it in any of the egg dishes, I love the Breakfast Sammich with tomatoes and spinach mixed in the tofu on a poppyseed bagel. My man Dan loves the Slacker’s Banquet which is rice & beans with vegan cornbread. They even have a soul food plate.

The tacos are out of this world. They are all named after people and each is delightful. Especially with a homemade potato hash cake on the side.

Here is what I had, on the left is the Ren, sauteed onions, garlic, jalapeno, and tofu scramble. In the middle is the glorious potato hash cake, which is crispy on the outside creamy in the middle and filled with rosemary goodness. The taco on the right is the Timmy and had homemade vegan chorizo, tomatoes, and red & black beans.

Bouldin’s chorizo is out of this world good. You can even order a side of it and on its own it is quite good which I can’t say for any other chorizo I have ever had.

Now I am so hungry, I hope I’m not driving everyone crazy with this taco tour, I will try to go back to cooking at home now that the weekend is over.