Tomato Dill Lentil Soup, Eat Drink and Be Vegan

Tomato Dill Lentil Soup (Eat, Drink and Be Vegan)

1.5 tbsp olive oil
2 cups diced onions
1.5 cups diced celery
4 cloves minced garlic
2.5 tsp dill seeds
.5 tsp cumin/cumin seeds
2.5 ground mustard
1.5 sea salt
some groud black pepper
1 can crused tomatoes
2 cups lentils (any kind, we used green french lentils)
2 cups vegetable stock/water
5.5 cups water
1.5 tbsp tamari/soy sauce
1 tbsp molasses/agave
2 dried bay leaves
2-3 tbsp fresh dill/or you could use dried dill

In soup pot over medium heat add oil, onions, celery, garlic, dill seeds, cumin, ground mustard, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 4 min. Then add tomatoes, lentils, vegetable stock, water, tamari/soy sauce, molasses/agave, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then let cook on med-low heat for an hour. If soup is too thick add a little water. Use fresh dill as a garnish for full effect.

Make this tonight! It's sure to warm you up (if in Nebraska) and satisfy you anywhere really...

Best Vegan Cookies Ever

Brett surprised me with these on Valentine's Day and I've been addicted to them ever since. If you are smart you will find a way to make these TODAY-even if there is a snowstorm, or if you just 'don't want to go out of the house', trust me it's worth it.
Note: things not to worry about in this recipe:
1. don't worry about making vanilla sugar-regular sugar will do-just use a little more vanilla extract.
2. Use soy creamer, or frothed up soy milk instead of soy yogurt-
3. parchment paper might help but you don't really need it to make these.
4. DO NOT OVERMIX-mix just until combined!

YUM


Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops
(adapted from Habeas Brûlée)

Balsamic vinegar is the secret ingredient, but the only sign it's there is the deeper, richer taste it gives these cookies.

1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see Note)
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the sugars and set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar/cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Then add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it's combined—don't over-mix.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar, and place them in the oven. After 5 minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in 4 minutes. Be careful—depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds (I found out the hard way!) They shouldn't need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they'll harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

In response to my email to the MBAquarium Restaurant

This is a tragic email that I got in response to an email sent to the food manager of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My parents are coming to visit us on Thursday and of course want to go to the Aquarium-and although it's a beautiful place it also has a restaurant feet away from the tanks of beautiful fish-who serves these beautiful fish. Ok, so they really don't serve the actual fish from the Aquarium, but they might as well. My cynical idea when first going there and seeing this restaurant was that they should just have a clubbing station right then and there where you can go and club a sea otter, or stick a hook through a big delicious tuna, or even catch a sting ray with your bare hands from the 'exploration pool.' We live in a fucked up world and although the signs that litter the Aquarium pointing way to the restaurant that depict cartoon crabs, fish, oysters, etc. it's really all the same (tank or ocean or 'sustainable' fish farm) they all die either way. So back to the point of this story-I wanted to let the aquarium know that I was uncomfortable with their menu and their 'happy seafood' attitude. Because, really people, we all know the only animals that are happy are those that are alive. Here's the response I got that almost brought me to tears:

Hi Megan,

Thank you for your email of concern. I want to reassure you that the seafood we serve is from sustainable sources. We believe strongly in foodservice for a sustainable future and go to great efforts whether it is beef, pork, chicken or fish. We are increasing our vegetarian selections but are learning that a vegetarian based society is not only impractical but unsustainable. You can learn more about our initiatives at bamco.com

I look forward to the opportunity to continue this dialogue, please feel free to contact me at 831-648-4966 to discuss any concerns you may have about the foodservice here at the aquarium.

Best,

Dory Ford

Executive Chef