Sunday, February 14, 2010

Papa John's

Everyone wants junk food once in a while. I recently had a depressing experience in which the facilitators of a group I was part of ordered pizza for everyone as kind of a surprise treat, as we were all exhausted and had been working long hours. Of course, it was all cheese, even though it's fairly easy to get vegan pizza in Philly (or anyplace there's a Papa John's). I know my group did not intend to exclude me, or the other two vegans in the group, or our lactose-intolerant colleague. It's just that people don't typically think of pizza as a vegan food. But pizza is actually one of my favorite foods.

Shortly after the above-mentioned incident, our group had pizza again, but this time it wasn't a surprise, and I was able to put in a request for no-cheese pizza, which was no problem. The local place we ordered from didn't really know how to do it, and there wasn't much flavor, as they apparently relied on the cheese and meat for flavor and didn't bother with the sauce or crust, but at least we all had something to eat. Papa John's, on the other hand, makes a delicious and flavorful cruelty-free pizza. Counterintuitively, even their "butter" garlic sauce that comes with the pizza... is vegan.

So, for your informational delight, here is a suggestion for a cruelty-free pizza you might order. This is a screen-shot of my actual online shopping cart on the Papa John's website.



It's as easy as that. No animal cruelty anywhere in there. Papa John's online menu allows you to select "No Cheese" from a drop-down menu. We've ordered this several times (except we don't usually get pineapple, because I'm the only one in the house who likes pineapple on pizza), and it has never once turned up with cheese on it. Interestingly, the one time we ordered from Papa John's face-to-face, they did screw it up and put cheese on it. But every time we've ordered online, it's gone well. And during football season, you can often find specials where you get extra toppings depending on how many touchdowns your home team scores. Fun, huh? And not a bad deal.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Clark Park in the snow

They chipped out a space at the corner of the park and conducted the Clark Park Farmers' Market, though it was abbreviated, as some vendors did not make the trek out in the remnants of the blizzards.

When we first arrived, we didn't think they were there. Most of the space usually occupied by the market was covered in about three feet of icy snow. The tables that were there were arranged differently, smushed together in the corner, behind a snow drift. The selection was limited. No greens, no broccoli. The guy who is usually there with all the greens and roots was not there. The bean-and-spice lady was not there. The apple people were there, as always, and the ones we think of as the mushroom people.

Saturday Shopping List

a quart of white mushrooms
6 red potatoes
2 giant white sweet potatoes
a jar of apple syrup
a loaf of multi-grain bread
a bowl of hot, black-bean soup
4 brownies

total: maybe $16, I didn't actually count

The bread and bean soup came from Milk & Honey market, on the way there. And then from Fu-Wah, we got a jar of Vegenaise and some Smart Deli "ham" slices.

We still have broccoli, sandwich greens, brussels sprouts, peppers, and green beans from Weaver's Way. We're planning to make another trip out there on Monday. Now that I have sweet potatoes, I'm going to make another yellow split-pea soup. I still have just enough split peas for one more soup, and this time I have an orange pepper to add to it.


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Two Sandwiches

A couple of sandwich meals I've been having.

Here's a favorite:

White mushrooms soaked in balsamic vinegar, mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, onions, and Vegenaise. (If you don't have Vegenaise, use olive oil mixed with your favorite spices - that's what I often do.) In this picture, it's on country white bread, because they were out of multi-grain, but multi-grain is my personal favorite for this sandwich. This sandwich keeps well, if you want to make it in the morning and wrap it up for lunch. Because the mushrooms soak up the vinegar, you can have a lot of flavor without the ingredients being too wet.

On the side: green beans lightly sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper. Don't cook them long - leave them crunchy, and then coat them with crunchy sea salt. These are also a great movie snack. And of course, if you have a sour pickle to add on the side, all the better.


I don't think this next one photographed as well, but it's a good hoagie.

That's Tofurkey kielbasa cut into strips and heated in a skillet on the stovetop. Top that with raw onions, alfalfa sprouts, and a little bit of the sauerkraut you're going to have for your side dish. The roll is a standard hoagie roll from any Philadelphia corner store. (Or your favorite steak roll from wherever you live.)

Side dish: seared brussels sprouts and sauerkraut. Use a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper for the brussels sprouts. Cook them over high heat. You want to leave them crunchy but blacken parts of them. Some of the outer leaves will fall off and those will get nice and crispy. Don't use too much oil because when you add the kraut, there will be a lot of moisture. Keep the heat high and add the kraut - this will blacken a little, too, and get smoky. Sprinkle the whole mess with pepper.

Good times.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Cheating on Clark Park with Weaver's Way Co-Op

I was off work today, because my new job gets canceled if the buses can't run, so we decided to take the train out to Mt. Airy and check out Weaver's Way Co-Op. The thought of a week without green food was pretty sad, and it would take almost as long and be more annoying to go into Center City to Trader Joe's or something. Anyway, we had been wanting to check out Weaver's Way for a while now.

Worth it. Worth it. Oh, damn. Worth it. Better selection than the park, and we got more stuff than usual for the same price as usual.


Weaver's Way Shopping List

4 leeks
a lb. of salad greens
about a quart and a half of brussels sprouts!
about a quart of green beans!
3 bunches of broccoli
a 6 oz. thing of bean, lentil, and pea sprouts (aka pure energy)
a 4 oz. thing of dill and alfalfa sprouts
a yellow bell pepper
an orange bell pepper
about 2 quarts of white mushrooms
5 tomatoes
almost forgot, a 6-pack of frozen spring rolls

Total: $35

It looks like a short list, but those brussels sprouts will last forever, especially considering that we have other green things at the same time. In the summer, we had okra and green beans, then they went away and we had brussels sprouts, then they went away, and the broccoli is iffy, and we're left with basically kale for green food. To see this diversity of green foods made my heart pound. We were so excited we forgot to get asparagus. Which they also had.

So, the green beans will last a while, the brussels sprouts will, the broccoli will, the leeks will make four soups, the mushrooms will last well into next week, even the salad greens should last us a while. These bean sprouts aren't going to last long if I don't go make something to eat and stop munching on them. Oh, they're good, though.

And I can put alfalfa sprouts on my sandwiches! I am so excited. I'm hungry, but I don't even know what to make, because we have so much food. I also happen to have sauerkraut, so I can have my favorite - brussels sprouts and sauerkraut if I want. I want a sandwich right now, though. With greens and sprouts and mushrooms. And I'm going to saute some green beans with oil and salt to have on the side. Oh. Yes.

While we were there, we had soup for lunch. Two of the three soups available were vegan. I had tomato rice, and Mark had vegetable soup. With two feet of snow on the ground, we had lunch outside. The weather was just that gorgeous.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

No Food Today

OK, that title is a little dramatic. There is food.

But there is no Clark Park Farmers' Market today. For real, this time. It has been canceled, officially. And you can see why from the picture above. See, during the last blizzard, we assumed there was no market and didn't go down, and then it turned out there was a market, after all. So we were determined not to be fooled again, and we were looking forward to going to the market in a blizzard. But alas, it's really canceled. Maybe there wasn't enough turn-out last time to make it worthwhile.

I'm not complaining, I wouldn't be out there selling carrots in this weather, either. I hope all our wonderful vendors are snuggled up with hot chocolate somewhere.

The good news, is I never posted last Saturday's shopping list, because I've been so busy, so I can provide you with a post today.


Last Saturday's shopping list, if memory serves me

3 bunches of leaf lettuce - two purple and one green
5 or so yellow onions
a quart or so of white mushrooms and a Portobello cap
some sweet potatoes?
um.... (see, we ate everything already, so I'm having trouble here)
I remember we got some Spanish Saffron, because it was pretty
We already had the split peas
We already had lentils and beans
Maybe one or two kohlrabe roots
a loaf of cracked-wheat bread
another jar of apple syrup
a jar of raspberry jam
We already had a ton of carrots for juicing and soups
Hmm... Maybe some garlic, and that's all I remember
Oh, and a thing of homemade granola to put on hot oat bran


I remember that in all, including the bread from Milk & Honey (grocery store), and the bagels from there, and a few things from Fu-Wah, we spent about $35 last Saturday. We didn't get much at the farmers' market because we were pretty well stocked. The leaf lettuce is the main thing I remember because it's something you want to get each week. This will be a sad week without it.

OK, next topic. Packable Foods. Also called Bringable Foods. Foods you can pack and bring with you, if you're going to be out of the house all day.

For the past month, I've been leaving the house around 7 a.m. and returning home between 7:30 and 8 p.m. That schedule is over now, thank goodness, and my new place of work is an eight-minute walk from my home. However, because I will be extremely busy, I still have to think about packable, bringable foods.

Here's something that has been a habit for the past month. I would make a sandwich or two (or three) in the morning, wrap them up and bring them along. I would eat one mid-morning for breakfast, and one mid-afternoon for lunch. The sandwich has mushrooms soaked in balsamic vinegar, onions, and that rich purple and green leaf lettuce. Oh, and Vegenaise. I thought it might get soggy, but it doesn't. I think that's because the mushrooms absorb the vinegar like sponges so there's nothing really to make the bread soggy. Vegenaise actually does very well in this context. I don't put the sandwiches in a refrigerator, they do OK in my lunchbox in the classroom closet.

Then for my late-afternoon or early evening meal (while in class), I would bring a Thermos full of soup, which actually stayed warm until about 5 p.m. when I ate it. Even if it were cold, it would still be good. Another benefit of blended soups. This one is a yellow split-pea soup.

1/2 lb of yellow split peas (dried)
2 very large orange carrots
4-5 white mushrooms (I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms these are, actually - they're white and smallish - pictured above)
2 medium-sized white sweet potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves of fresh garlic
fennel seeds (a pinch?)
salt and pepper to taste
garnish each serving with saffron

Bring water and split peas to a boil, reduce heat, simmer. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms, fennel. Cover and simmer until everything is soft. Blend.

I'm convinced this soup cures colds and boosts mental functioning. It just makes you feel good all the way through. It was a very comforting, filling meal while I was sitting in class trying to get my brain to keep working after a long day.

Other things I brought along for lunch and snacks: pecans, sunflower seeds, dried seaweed, apples, the occasional Cliff Bar, and lots and lots of raw carrots.

Of course, upon returning home, there's nothing like Breakfast For Dinner to unwind. Buckwheat pancakes with apple syrup have been a favorite dinner lately, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Speaking of syrup, here's a treat I just found on Foodista.com that looks ridiculously delicious, and comes with a built-in excuse to eat candy: It's candy, but it's also split peas. Sounds like the perfect thing for me. If I try this, I'll let you know how it goes.