Almost Vegan

A friend gave me a lot of tomatoes out of their organic garden at the end of the summer, and before they rotted I saw this packet of Concord Foods, Salsa Seasoning Mix.

Now you must be willing to chop onions and slice tomatoes, but it’s really worth it. It only takes about 5 minutes and you get a big bowl of very fresh salsa for a lot less than half the price if you bought it, and it’s great.

I tried freshly made hummus for the first time just a few years ago at my local, very cool at the time, coffee house. I had always had it store bought out of those tubs, which is good, but is not like fresh at all.

Bill, the great chef who used to work at my coffee house made it with fresh flat leaf parsley mixed in after you blend it up(or it turns green). It adds a really nice fresh touch.

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Another tasty meal courtesy of Zatarain’s.

It says right on the Zatarain’s Dirty Rice Mix box – Add meat to make a complete meal. While I did not actually add meat, I did the next best thing. I added 1 package of Yves, The Good Ground (or whatever your vegan ground meat preference is), browned it a bit, followed the rest of the package directions and had myself some dirty rice. Jazzmatazz!

Of course A Taste of Thai, Peanut Sauce is vegan, (also creamy and delicious) you make it with coconut milk, I used lite.

I put this sauce over a nice cauliflower and peas mixture that I stir-fried with Thai Kitchen Rice Noodles, which were great and easy to make. The sauce was quite spicy in a very good way.

I happened upon this particular (obscure) brand of fig bars at my local grocery store. Maybe it was the name, but I glanced at the ingredients.

Yep, you guessed it, completely vegan and they are so good. Even without the eggs and milk the cake is soft and the inside is of course chewy. It said on the box: From the makers of Matt’s. Matt’s? Never head of it.
These might be a local offering, they are made in Chicago, but I think there are other brands of fig bars that are vegan so check the ingredients on the brands you find. You might get a nice surprise.

And that means apple cider, apple butter, apple cider doughnuts (unfortunately not vegan), and of course apple pie.

This is a restaurant and pie pantry that is not too far from me called Crane’s, in Fennville, MI. If you are ever in the neighborhood…

The restaurant and pie pantry is located at Crane’s Orchards. They grow apples, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and corn. The pies, cider, preserves, butters, cobblers, etc. are all made with the fruit grown right outside.

You know all those cheesy theme restaurants that have the fake memorabilia all over the walls? Well this place may have originated that, this stuff is real. I especially like Betty, the stuffed dog. The sign around her neck reads: “Dog’s name is Betty, 1930 – 1937, She lived in Chicago.

What’s new and hot at Crane’s the last couple of years is their corn maze, they are open nights now till Halloween. A must go.
Unfortunately you cannot order cider online (I don’t know why) but you can order pies, (frozen uncooked) they told me their crust is pure shortening, but I have a hard time trusting these people in regards to vegan. BUT, the apple butter and the preserves are vegan and boy are they good. They come in 2 different “Orchard Crates” 3-11oz.jars (you choose what’s in ’em) and 2-16oz. mugs, they are pretty cool mugs.
Peruse the Crane’s website to order some really great food or just check out where I got these pictures, it’s a hoot!

Yves, The Good Meatballs are good [don’t think they make these anymore, but they make a number of products], but I have had a lot of good vegan meatballs. It must be the way I am able to cook meatballs after I take them out of the bag, or package in this case.

These I fried in a little lite olive oil with onions, portabella mushrooms – which added a lot to the flavor and the ultimate gravy, and vegetarian soup stock. Then after they cooked for a while, I tossed in garlic, dried basil, and a splash of balsamic vinegar – yeow, secret ingredient, just use a little.

After everything was brown, I spooned in just a half 4oz. can of the most basic tomato sauce and added water, probably more water than the sauce until the gravy was liquid, but not watery.

I let it barely simmer on very low while I waited for my pasta to al dente and then chowed!

The gravy was brown, and had such an interesting tang to it because of the balsamic vinegar. The vegan meatballs are like little sponges in the way they drink up flavors so they were incredibly tasty.

I sprinkled some “almost vegan” cheese – Veggie Shreds Mozzarella (has casein in it) over the top because the brown gravy didn’t seem to fit with parmesan, but could have.

I received a comment on my Panera Bread post (which gets as much traffic as any post) from someone who wanted to find a vegan menu to help out his sister.

I was touched, and I thought this might help.

UPDATE [2023] That old link is bad, but now Click Here to see a nice article (FREE) on the VegNews site: How to Go Vegan: A Beginner’s Guide to Eating Plant-Based. I have no affiliation with VegNews.

You can also order a free Vegan Starter Kit from PETA if you are so inclined.

When I was young, my dad used to make us fried bologna sandwiches. They were really greasy and great and it was fun to see my dad cook.

This bologna reminded me of that, but when I made a fried sandwich out of it, it just didn’t do it for me.

So the other night I cut a wad of it into strips and tossed them, some cauliflower, onions, frozen hash browns and chopped fresh spinach into a pan with a bit of olive oil and made a very interesting meal. I seasoned it with red pepper flakes and parsley and it was really good. Just a suggestion.

5 different kinds of Smart Deli including the Bologna – Roast Turkey Style, Country Ham Style, Three Peppercorn Pastrami Style, Pepperoni Slices (which I have used on pizza and are good, and I don’t even like pepperoni). Vegan.

Green Guru is great.

They make some of the best exotic vegetarian foods and I love them because they write whether or not that particular dish is vegan right on the front of the box along with its spice level.

I had Dal Rajastani tonight as a main course over rice. Yum.