Was going to suggest cashew cream. Taco place near here has a cashew queso that is quite good. Disappointing if you are expecting cheese queso, but yum if you understand it is a different food filling the same niche.
Cheese is the reason I would probably never go vegan. As a household, we have moved to most meals at least vegetarian, some vegan. Only one to two meals with meat a week. Very veggie heavy, thanks to the efforts of my spouse. Now if I could just source some good papdi for his papdi chaat
ETA: and a lot of legumes. That is one awesome plant family.
Omnivores who can taper down their meat consumption still make a difference.
For one’s own sake as well as the planet’s.
I know you know this. I feel it’s worth saying (or writing) it out loud.
I have my eyes open. I know that all the tree-huggin’ dirt-worshippin’ veg-eatin’ I do is not going to save our home planet by itself. I know that my personal actions are not reversing climate change. But living well is the best revenge. I am going to enjoy my life I have while I have it, “yes and” be a vegetarian verging on vegan, as much as possible.
And if a bunch of meat-lovin’ grumps freak out because somehow being a vegetarian triggers them, well… let those chips fall where they may. I’d count it a victory if I can invite them over to dinner, and get them to eat what we’re eating, even if it’s only just once. No lectures, no superiority, just let the food do the talking.
As I say frequently, we really cannot fix the world by ourselves, this is true. But we can and should make the little corner we are in a better, more accepting, more responsible place. Even if only a tiny little corner. However, imagine millions of “little tiny corners” adding up. We do our best in our little corner. It’s all we can do.
Can’t remember if I posted this on the original food thread, but came to mind again. I LOVE the chipotle “Bitchin’ Sauce,” just had some for lunch with broccoli.
I found this recipe:
It’s good. I used heaping measures because spice amounts seemed scant, and doubled the garlic. Would stick to one garlic next time, but keep the heaping spice amounts.
It comes out more like a spread than a sauce. I think next time I’ll try to thin it out if I want to use it as veggie dip.
Wouldn’t have thought of it, either, but Turkish coffee, with the rose water, is lovely. And I like the tiny little cups it’s served in.
So I could see a lavender option.
That is true, no doubt, but if you look at your entire grocery bill over a month, you can consider splurging on a few things because in general veganism is a much cheaper way to eat.
The lentil is an amazing thing to me. Slightly undercooked and its a great meal like this. Overcook and blend, and it becomes the base for a lot of great veggie soups.
I haven’t used nutritional yeast. Is it a protein enhancer? Does it contribute body to the dish?
I don’t know about the actual nutritional value, but it adds a nice umami and earthiness to dishes. I love it on kale stir fry, and my favorite popcorn mix includes tamari and nutritional yeast.
OMG, this came out surprisingly creamy and delicious. I made the sour cream version and let it sit in the fridge for just an hour before using, and it is so creamy.
I had the lentil veggie mix atop wild rice for lunch, topped with a dollop of that stuff, some fresh cilantro and hot sauce, it was chef’s kiss good.
One of the crucial things about nutritional yeast is that it provides B vitamins, especially B-12, which is the one nutrient that is harder to get on a vegan diet. Marmite is basically a paste version, and thus also provides lovely B vitamins.
It also has a sort-of cheesy taste, which is helpful.
I usually use Bob’s Red Mill nutritional yeast.
And yes it sounds strange. But it is oh so yummy and a really great way to stuff some B vitamins into my child
Nutritional yeast is a flaky powder rather than the dark salty paste of Marmite. I was just pointing out that they’re both forms of yeast that provide B vitamins, but yeah, otherwise they’re quite different!
I tried making nutritional yeast from the trube of a batch of mead. It was OK, but carried a lot of the honey flavor without much of the sweetness. It wasn’t the umami bomb that proper nutritional yeast carries.
The weapons, known as M-44s, are placed by an under-the-radar federal agency called Wildlife Services. The agency was created to protect the livestock industry’s bottom line by killing off the competition: namely, wild predators. The so-called cyanide bombs do kill predators, but they can also kill anyone else unlucky enough to stumble upon them. And they have a hair trigger.
Ugh.
Decoupling from such an industry the sooner the better is my ongoing project. I admit to… yogurt…
