Tag Archives: potato

Edible Earth- an all vegan trailer on South 1st

The other day I read the Statesman article about how some folks think that the trailers in Austin should be more heavily regulated. I figured that was just because someone else was very greedy since every trailer I have been to seems very clean and well run. But then I read the comments and couldn’t believe how many Statesman readers have never gone to trailers, someone said “Who goes to trailers anyway homeless people?”. If the homeless can afford to eat at the trailers I go to they are some pretty well fed people! It is such an absurd thought! Can you imagine the homeless population are supporting all these hundreds businesses. I guess they have to spend their huge incomes on something since they don’t have to pay rent. People are just so stupid at this point on the internet that it is hard to even read anything without skipping the comments. Except for my comments which are always wonderful and my commenters who are the best on the net!

I think at this point I prefer to eat at trailers. It is a lot cheaper, I don’t have to have someone wait on me, and I can leave whenever I want to. Plus, it seems like so many trailers are more vegan friendly than… just about anybody! Instead of trying to get through to third parties you usually get to discuss the food with the person that cooks it and they are happy to tell you all about it. Places like TaKorea, Bananarchy, and Frietkot are all so helpful and talk honestly about what does and doesn’t contain animal products. There are no corporate policies, hostility, ignorance, or pretentiousness that I deal with sometimes in restaurants regarding vegan food. If you like the trailers too, sign the petition to tell the city that if something is working out fabulously they should leave it alone!

All-vegan trailers have a very special place in my heart. When I first tried Edible Earth I stared at the menu not wanting to make a wrong decision.Even though I knew that they were an all-vegan trailer (it says so in big letters, right on trailer) I still questioned the veracity of everything and both times they were super friendly and helpful in response. Earth Balance, Daiya Cheese, Toffuti sour cream, and all of the other vegan dairy substitutes were well represented. The first time I went I thought the burrito was a little small and the price was rather high but they have since come down on prices since. I would love if they added a side to the burrito like gallo pinto style rice and beans or fried plantains. The next visit I checked out the Loaded Baked Potato with the added vegan taco meat. Six dollars seemed just a little but much for a potato until I saw it. The potato was massive! Maybe the biggest potato I have ever seen. I was really hungry after the beagle brigade and farmer’s market and I still couldn’t eat the whole thing. The potato itself was crunchy on the outside perfect and over-filled with toffuti, daiya, chives, taco meat, and salt and pepper. I loved it! I used to always get potatoes like that back in the pregan days of yore so it was wonderful to travel down that road once again.

The rest of the menu is filled out with salads, quesadillas, and an every changing array of sweets. I got a chocolate chip cookie to share with my mom and we both thought it was tasty.

Since I am personally not a big salad fan I wish that the menu had things like Tempeh Wings, BBQ Seitan Ribs or Smoked Tempeh with Mac Daddy, or an Eggplant Muffaletta but, then, that is my fantasy trailer and I am sure that tons of people prefer salad and…..um…. vegetables. Next time I go I am going to tell her to consider Jes’ Fried Green Tomato Sandwich for a special. God I love that sandwich and it is green tomato season!

So the next time you are on South 1st check it out and support vegan trailers!

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Vegan Bangers & Mash

Once when I lived in Olympia Washington we went 97 days without the sun. It rained every day. The local news would keep a very dramatic SUN WATCH and report the number of rainy days like we were approaching the apocalypse. People started to act a little weird. One guy stopped leaving the apartment building and even stopped changing out of his robe and slippers. I stopped sleeping at night because I was working on a project and it was easier to get blocks of editing time in the wee hours which made everything seem even more out of whack. The whole experience made me really crave sunshine which partially lead to settling here in Austin TX where you can have 97 days of sun and 100 degree days.

People say that England is very similar to Washington and that the winter is cold and rainy all the time. I haven’t ever been there and I haven’t really had any English food, it all sounds either disgusting (blood pie) or really fun (bubble & squeak) but either way I never know what the hell they are talking about until I look it up. I decided to make bangers because I saw ideas for the spice mix on a sausage forum. I knew the bangers were sausage but what the hell was the mash? I guessed mashed potatoes but this is the country that calls fries chips and a cooter a fanny so who knows what other backward ideas they have. After looking at a lot of disgusting pictures I learned that bangers & mash is indeed sausage and mashed potatoes. It is pub grub so you are supposed to drink a pint alongside. It is so British that Radiohead has a song about it. Thom Yorke is vegan so maybe they are searching for recipes to recreate this dish right now! (Hi Thom Yorke I dig your music, please play Austin next time you are around so I don’t have to drive to Houston). I thought the recipe for the bangers was pretty awesome but I don’t know if it is authentic! I tweaked it a little and I think it turned out great. Mr. Smurf applauded after he finished! If you try it and you have had the non-vegan version let me know how they compare.Bangers (make about 8 sausages or 4 servings)

2 Cups of stock
2 Tablespoons of oil
4 Tablespoons of soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon pepper
dash of cayenne
1 tsp salt (if there isn’t any in your stock)
1 Cup of pinto beans, mashed
2 1/2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten
First, get a big pot of water boiling and set up your steaming apparatus. I use a bamboo steamer on top of a stock pot. Then tear off 8 pieces of foil, about 8X11 inches or (30X20 centimeters). Next mix all the ingredients, except the Vital Wheat Gluten in a bowl. Once everything seems well incorporated mix in the Vital Wheat Gluten. It shouldn’t quite be a dough but if it isn’t holding together at all add a little more vital wheat gluten. Divide it into 8 pieces and roll each piece up like a tootsie roll in a sausage shape and steam for 45 minutes, rotating the top and bottom tiers.
In the meantime make mashed potatoes however you like them. I like roasted garlic, earth balance and hemp milk added to mine.

When the sausages are done steaming, unroll them and fry them in a little olive oil with garlic on the stove and serve them with the potatoes and a nice pint. Enjoy!

Vegan Dad’s Vegetable Stew with Biscuit Topping

I made this stew last night and it was comforting and enough to feed an army. Well, a very small army anyway. The biscuit topping was my favorite vegan biscuit so far which is amazing because I had a lot of trouble following the recipe. I think it turned out so tasty because of the nutritional yeast which I couldn’t really taste in the final biscuit but perhaps added some wonderful dimension because they were really flaky and tender. The stew itself was pretty good, a little bland for my taste even though I upped the spices. I want to make it again with roasted poblanos and corn added because I think that would be damn near perfect on a cold winter day.

Speaking of winter, it is upon us here in Texas. My house is so cold all the time now and the beagles are constantly cuddling to get warm.Dinger is still under doctor’s orders to stay in bed and Miss Willow (above) is keeping him company because she loves him like crazy. I can’t wait until everyone is healthy again!

Italian Feast, some Broccoli Quiche, and a Swiss Chard Fritatta

I have been cooking up a(heat) storm from Vegan Brunch so I thought I would share the wonder that is this books. First I made the Broccoli Quiche which was surprisingly creamy but somehow the Broccoli flavor wasn’t strong enough for me. I think next time I will saute it for longer with more liquid to bring out the flavor. It could have been a problem with my broccoli too. I love this picture I think it looks like some sort of a broccoli space ship.I also made the Italian Feast Sausages with Spinashed Potatoes and the Jalapeno corn gravy from the Veganomicon. I loved these sausages! It is so nice to have the recipe right there too, so I don’t have to come up with one on my own or look it up on my blog. We used these the next day for some Seitanic Jambalaya and they really elevated the whole dish. And the gravy was kind of magical despite its somewhat off putting yellow color. It uses only corn and cornstarch for thickening so it might be a good choice if you are trying to avoid flour or beans. Finally the real star of the show, the Swiss Chard Frittata. I don’t know why this was so yummy, I think the only spice was Thyme or Oregano but I just loved it! I also made the lemon pepper roasted potatoes and they were really easy and good. Homemade Iced coffee has become my new staple and I am really excited to have it always on hand, but that is another post!I do wish this book had come out in the winter when I had nothing do all night besides cook, now that it is a hundred degrees outside and about a thousand in my kitchen is getting really hard to cook but I want to make everything from Vegan Brunch. What a conundrum.

The dog days of summer have arrived.

Spinashed Potatoes

Did you know that you can add spinach to your mashed potatoes and then eat them with smug superiority knowing that they are more nutritious than their plain white brethren? They are really yummy, colorful, and easy. Imagine how excited people will be if you serve these for St. Patricks Day! Just add a few handfulls of chopped spinach or baby spinach to your cooking water when your potatoes have another minute to go, drain and mash as usual making sure that spinach gets incorporated.

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.