From the Well on Wheels Kitchen

It's been a busy couple of months and I haven't had time to post photos of some of the meals I've been making for clients. Here's a quick peek at what's been cooking in the Well on Wheels kitchen:

Sesame Tempeh with Asian Slaw, Tempeh "Sausage" and Peppers with Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Roots with Maple Mustard Almond Butter on Confetti Rice

4th of July Special: Barbecue Chickpeas with Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and Chili Spiced Street Corn

Jambalaya with Creole Spiced Zucchini and Cashew Crema

Testing the Maple Mustard Almond Butter Sauce on Roasted Sweet Potato

Brown Rice, Carrot, and Collard Green Sauté 

Testing No oil, No Sugar Dessert: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies made with Sunflower Seed Butter and Bananas

Cabbage Stuffed with Sautéed Veggies, Mushrooms, and Tahini Dressing

Testing Carrot Ginger Sauce on White Bean Cakes 

Carrot Ginger Sauce on Sesame Tofu, Brown Rice, and Veggies

Roasted Sweet Potato "Steaks" with Sundried Tomato and Mushroom Sauce on Sautéed Kale and Quinoa topped with Almond Cream Cheese 

Sesame Tofu with Crimini Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Bean Amandine

Tofu Piccata with Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes

Salt & Pepper Tempeh with Carrot Ginger Sauce and Sautéed Shiitake

Veggie Pasta with Cashew Crema and Fresh Garden Herbs

Jamaican Kale and Butternut Stew with Cashew Crema, Barbecue Chickpeas with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies, Three Sisters Stew with Quinoa

Spinach, Pumpkin, and Chickpea Coconut Curry on Basmati Rice, Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Spring Veggies, Black Bean and Brown Rice Stuffed Zucchini with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Vegan 101 Cooking Demo

I love introducing people to vegan food. Whenever I give library presentations, I never know who will show up or what their interest will be. Sometimes people a curious but cautious, sometimes people are already vegan, and sometimes they just come for the free food! But nearly always, everyone leaves pleasantly surprised realizing how delicious and easy it is to make.

That was the case this afternoon when I gave a food demo at Canton Public Library. It was a full house with about 30 people, about half of whom identified themselves as either newly vegan or semi-vegan. There was even a whole vegan family with three young kids!

I made one of my favorite recipes for this time of year:  Spring Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Pistachios, and Dijon Vinaigrette. I talked about the health benefits of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods, where to get protein on a vegan diet (hint: quinoa is a complete protein!), and how to prepare food that has a balance of color, taste, and texture.

Everyone appreciated the step by step instruction and explanation of how to cook the perfect pot of quinoa. And of course, they loved getting samples of the finish recipe!

It's a colorful salad which is perfectly fine served straight from a bowl. But, because I like to get creative, I demonstrated how to serve for a party dressed up with a scallions, chopped pistachios, and edible pansies for garnish. It was almost too pretty to dig in!

As always, if you know a school, library, or organization that would enjoy having me give a presentation, please contact me to schedule a speaking engagement. I'm happy to help make eating vegan easy for you!

Vegan Cooking Lesson

I love love LOVE experiences like these! It's so wonderful when we cook together and share delicious food! 

I was asked to put together a Mexican themed menu for a Mother's Day celebration. This morphed into a cooking lesson since my client wanted to learn how to prepare the food along with her niece.  

It was such a pleasure to cook with a budding young chef who was very interested in learning and share some chef's secrets that I hope will make cooking a fun adventure. 

Here's what my client had to say:

"We had such an amazing, fun, educational and delicious day with personal instruction by vegan personal chef Mary Lawrence of Well on Wheels! 

Abby and I had so much fun in Mary’s cooking lesson. Abby is a serious Sous Chef!! 😊

We celebrated an early Mother’s Day Compassion Feast with an awesome Mexican flare, that coincidentally just happened to fall on Cinco de Mayo weekend. Vegan black bean and zucchini enchiladas, tostadas, Mexican rice, fresh guacamole, fresh salsa and cashew nut cheese." 

This was also such a great example of vegan activism since my client is the only vegan in her family and is interested in getting everyone interested in learning more about a plant-based diet. Delicious food helps make that happen!

If you'd like to learn more, contact me to schedule your personal, customized cooking lesson!
  

Main Street Vegan Interview

It was such a pleasure to join the incredible Victoria Moran on her Main Street Vegan podcast this week to discuss creating community through compassionate cuisine. We talked about cooking tips, food justice, animal rights, communicating effectively with non-vegans, and how to stay positive as a vegan activist. If you've ever felt discouraged as a vegan, tune in to this uplifting show!

You can listen to the full interview on the following link:

http://www.unity.fm/episode/MainStreetVegan_050218

Recipe: Old Fashioned Banana Bread

I always have a bunch of bananas in the fruit bowl for my morning breakfast, but there are times when I can't eat them fast enough and they turn to mush. That leaves me with two options: freeze them for smoothies of make banana bread.

I'd like to share with you a recipe for Option #2!  This is for gluten-free bread, but you can easily substitute the same amount of wheat or spelt flour in place of the all-purpose gluten-free flour and just eliminate the xanthan gum. You can also modify the recipe to make it oil-free by substituting apple sauce for the oil. It tastes just as fantastic and the bread is still moist and lightly sweet.

Enjoy it for breakfast or as an afternoon snack with some chai tea. It will remind you of the banana bread you ate growing up.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (or substitute 1 cup gluten-free flour, 3/4 cup brown rice flour, plus 1/2 tsp xanthan gum)

1 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground flax seed plus 1/3 cup water
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup canola oil (or substitute 1/2 cup apple sauce to make it oil-free)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup organic sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour a large loaf pan. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a food processor, pulse together flax seed mixture, bananas, sugar, canola oil (or apple sauce), and vanilla until creamy with just a few small bits of bananas remaining. Add wet mixture to dry and stir together until no dry lumps of flour remain. (The batter will be thick, but don’t worry!) Fold in nuts. Spread into prepared pan, making the edges and corners higher than in the center. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 20 minutes.  Use a knife to gently loosen bread from sides of pan, then invert onto a cooling rack.  You’ll want to dive right in, but be patient and let cool completely before cutting.

  

Recipe: Dirty Blondies

You'll love this decadent dessert recipe because it's quick and easy and tastes as good as it looks. Plus, you'd never know the secret ingredient is... beans! So it's healthy, too.

Watch how to make it in this quick video and get the recipe below.

Ingredients

1/2 cup quick oats

3/4 cup organic brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 15 oz. cans white beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup apple sauce

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips (Enjoy Life mini chips)

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Blend all of the ingredients except the chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut in a large food processor until a smooth batter forms. Pulse all but 2 Tbsp each of chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut into batter, then spread into an oiled 8 × 8 pan. Sprinkle reserved ingredients evenly over the top. Bake for around 35 to 45 minutes, or until top is firm and sides are beginning to brown and pull away from the pan. Let cool at least 10 minutes, then gently cut into squares and remove from the pan.  Best after refrigerated several hours or overnight.

Interview with Bhavani Jaroff on iEatGreen

It was so great being the guest on Bhavani Jaroff's podcast, iEatGreen! We talk about the difference between vegan and plant-based and why I always call myself vegan, how to answer the "what about sustainable meat?" question, what to do when you're the only vegan in your family, and my love of curry. 

Listen here.

Developing Resilience

A challenge we often face as vegans is staying positive amidst adversity. We frequently encounter defensive reactions when speaking the truth about animal agriculture, and communicating effectively with non-vegans can be difficult. 

I like to think that every interaction is a learning opportunity as well as a teaching moment, because growth can happen in both directions. Discomfort is often the first step toward real change. It's a signal that prevailing assumptions are being questioned, and that can result in what's known as "cognitive dissonance," or feeling disoriented and confused. 

People often react to this discomfort by doubling down on their beliefs since they're not ready to examine them, and they may lash out defensively with sarcasm, criticism, or anger. Don't be discouraged! Remind yourself that this is a normal reaction and you are not at fault for speaking the truth. 

So why is this important? Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. This is essential for vegan activism. It means seeing every obstacle as an opportunity. When we feel powerless, we need to recognize that this is only temporary and the situation can be turned around so that we can connect with our inner strength.

Struggle builds strength. Know that you have the ability to overcome adversity by thinking creatively to solve any problem. Know that you are never alone in this struggle.

Peas & Love Veganic Community Garden

I recently embarked on an exciting new project: a veganic community garden.  Crops grown will feed people in need in Hartford county through the Manchester Area Conferences of Churches food pantry. In addition, volunteers will learn about veganic farming methods and vegan food preparation through educational events and cooking demonstrations.  We are planting the seeds of peace, love, and justice through veganic farming. 

We recently held the first organizational meeting of the Peas & Love Veganic Community Garden to begin planning. Soon this small patch of land will be planted with peas, carrots, radishes, kale, chard, and collards and surrounded by an herb and pollinator garden to attract bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. 

One of the principles of veganic gardening is creating an environment which mimics the natural ecosystem and minimizes outside inputs. We have a compost pile on site, plus lots of leaves and pine needles for mulch. The only thing we’ll need to be careful about is not being too inviting to the deer, birds, and woodchucks who live nearby! We’ll experiment with row covers and fencing tied with CDs.

Thank you to all who attended, the Unitarian Universalist East for the space, and to Awesome Foundation for the "seed money" to start planting!

Chronic Inflammation

Do you suffer from chronic inflammation? This is a condition where your immune system is over-triggered due to stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, and other lifestyle factors.
Over time, chronic inflammation can lead to digestion problems, mood swings, pain and swelling around joints and nerve endings, allergies, migraine headaches, and many other degenerative conditions we commonly think of as "normal." Speaking from my own experience, I can tell you this isn't fun! But I've learned that these symptoms are really our bodies telling us we need to make a major change and take time for healing.
So what can we do? While medications may offer temporary relief, they're not a long-term solution because they don't address the underlying causes, and they often come with side effects that can lead to other problems.

It's important to realize that we have the ability to control inflammation by making lifestyle modifications, as suggested in this link from the American Fitness Professionals Association. Most of these recommendations will not only reduce inflammation, but also improve our overall health, so they're worth considering doing as part of a healthy, daily routine.
I'd also recommend Turmeric and St. John's Wort, two excellent medicinal herbs that reduce inflammation and support the immune system, but check with your doctor first for any drug-herb interactions if you regularly take medication.

Vegan Valentine's Day

One of the biggest challenges many new vegans face is social situations, and particularly what I refer to as "Dating While Vegan." This was the topic of an article featured this Valentine's Day in the Portland Herald Press.

What I always recommend is to be authentic, honest, and respectful, which is generally good practice anyway, but is particularly important for first impressions when dating.  You can read more tips like this in my new book, Eat Vegan with Me, which is excerpted in this article.

Also featured is one of my favorite dessert recipes for the holiday, Vegan Dirty Blondies, made with chocolate chips, pecans, and shredded coconut. Prepare them in an 8"x8" pan, or make them fancy in a pretty tart pan and drizzle with your favorite sauce. They're best enjoyed chilled where they develop a decadent, fudgey consistency.

Vegan Food Demo - CT Shoreline Vegans

I feel so fortunate to be able to bring delicious vegan food to people! As a private chef, most of the cooking I do is in my clients' homes, and since I don't have a restaurant, group classes are the only opportunity I get to share my creations with larger audiences.

Such was the case this weekend when I gave a "Very Vegan New Year" food demonstration for the CT Shoreline community at the Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society in Madison, CT. The free demonstration included instruction in two of my favorite "crowd pleaser" recipes: Eggless Egg Salad and World Peas Salad.

I discussed preparation techniques and ways to modify the recipes for eating on a daily basis or dressing them up for a fancy occasion.

All those in attendance sampled the Eggless Egg Salad with cucumber slices ("cuke scoops" as one person called them), rolled with fire roasted red peppers and baby spinach into pinwheels, and the World Peas Salad garnished with scallion ribbons.

I'm always thrilled to hear that people enjoyed the food and plan to share the recipes with family and friends. This is how we spread the vegan message of making compassion the main course!

Happy New Year!

Very Vegan New Year Cooking Class

I had a great time cooking up a three-course gourmet vegan dinner at The Weekend Kitchen in Essex, CT this weekend. We wined and dined in a gorgeous 18th century inspired farmhouse kitchen and prepared a delicious menu of fresh, seasonal ingredients.

This class provided hands-on instruction on  how to create whole food plant-based recipes perfect for entertaining guests or eating on a daily basis. 

Students learned techniques for balancing color, taste, and texture, maximizing nutrition by using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and incorporating foods high in antioxidants and phytonutrients into their cooking repertoire. 

We created eight recipes from my new cookbook, Eat Vegan with Me. These quick and easy recipes taste as good as they make you feel! 

We started with an appetizer of Endive Leaves with Vegan Caviar and Cashew Crema. This savory start whetted appetites for the meal to follow.

The entree included a Pecan Crusted Tempeh that was marinated in a seasoned tamari and tomato paste sauce, then dipped in a gluten free breading of crushed pecans, nutritional yeast, corn starch, and other ingredients. 

 

This was served on a bed of mashed root vegetables, coconut roasted asparagus, and a savory crimini mushroom gravy. 

We finished our meal with gluten free Dirty Blondies made with coconut, chopped pecans, and chocolate chips. The secret ingredients were Great Northern Beans and oatmeal pureed into the batter to create a rich, dense texture.  The dessert was not only delicious, but heart healthy as well. 

The Dirty Blondies were plated with a cinnamon spiced Maple Pumpkin Butter Sauce that added a bright contrast to the dessert. 

Afterward, we sat down at the long farmhouse table to enjoy the meal we had prepared together. Thank you to Nancy, owner of The Weekend Kitchen, and to everyone for attending this fun class! Happy Vegan New Year!