Our sister site, Fort Worthology, is hosting a cool vegan event on Sunday, April 15th:

Fort Worthology hosts a traveling roadshow of vegan food and bike advocacy, visiting Fort Worth from Portland, Oregon! Please join us on April 15th from 7pm to 9pm for Dinner and Bikes, a traveling road show of vegan food and bicycle inspiration. Vegan chef Joshua Ploeg (author of In Search of the Lost Taste) will delight with an extensive buffet, and bike journalist Elly Blue (author of Taking the Lane, Bikenomics, Our Bodies, Our Bikes, and co-founder of PDX By Bike) and publisher/filmmaker Joe Biel (founder of Microcosm Publishing and Cantankerous Titles) will present short videos and a slideshow about bicycle culture, activism, and the economy. Fort Worthology author Kevin Buchanan will also talk briefly about Fort Worth bike projects and advocacy. There will be time for questions, discussion of local issues, and perusing of the traveling bookstore.

This should be a fun event – we really look forward to trying Joshua Ploeg’s cuisine! Dinner & Bikes will be held at Avoca Coffee on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Sunday, April 15th. Tickets are $10 (which includes it all – dinner and presentations/films), and are available now.

Just thought we’d drop a line to let y’all know we have three cookie recipes in the Winter issue (issue No. 2) of Chickpea Magazine! The recipes are by Steph and the photos are by Kevin. You can snag a copy here or here.

Snag a copy and enjoy all the awesome recipes and articles! We purchased issue No. 1 through their Kickstarter campaign and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It’s time again – the bigger, better Texas State Veggie Fair is this Sunday!

To be held from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake in Dallas, the Texas State Veggie Fair is a 100% vegan fair featuring food, live music, arts, and other entertainment. There’s even a Vegan Fried Foods competition, to really make the State Fair experience complete.

If you don’t understand why I’m calling it the “bigger, better” Texas State Veggie Fair, well, take a look at the exhibitor lineup – that’s one jam-packed bunch of vegan goodness.

We hope to see y’all out there – it ought to be a blast!

Here at VegFortWorth, we love supporting local businesses, especially vegan-friendly ones. We love cake. And we love local craft-brewed beer, which means we love Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.

Sooooooo…what happens when you combine all these things? You get something slightly insane and tasty. You get the vegan Rahr Oktoberfest cake from the Near Southside‘s own Stir Crazy Baked Goods!

I happened to be at Avoca Coffee on Magnolia when Robbie from Stir Crazy made the day’s cake delivery, and this crazy cake was the vegan item that arrived. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be there when you get to Avoca, as it’s really tasty and Near Southsiders love their Rahr, so make your way to Avoca today and give it a try.

The Rahr Oktoberfest is a Marzen-style German Oktoberfest lager, and it’s one of our favorite Rahr beers. The flavor and smell of Oktoberfest is strong in Stir Crazy’s cake – it’s sweet and tasty with a beautiful beer current running through the experience. The combination works tremendously well.

If you want to experience this for yourself, get yourself over to Avoca and buy a slice while you can!

You’re probably thinking: What? Marmite? Seriously?

Seriously. I love this tar-like black wonder from our friends across the pond. I discovered it reading Heather Eats Almond Butter, and I’m hooked. Marmite does have a VERY distinctive (some would say horrible) taste. But I like salt and I like yeast, so it’s right up my alley.

It’s extremely powerful, so definitely start with less if you’re new to Marmite and don’t know what you’re in for. The most popular way to eat Marmite is on buttered toast. Not vegan, so maybe try margarine’d toast instead.

I wanted to go big with Marmite—really big. So I found this recipe and veganized it to make Marmite Chickpeas. As you can see, I halved amount of Marmite (I guess I wasn’t ready to go that big yet) and eliminated the frying. These turned out great. They kind of taste barbecued. If you’re feeling bold, give it a try. Or not. Either way, I’m going to try to figure out ways to get more Marmite in my diet.

Marmite Chickpeas

• 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

Seasoning:

• 1 tablespoon Marmite
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 2 teaspoons corn flour
• 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 425F. Whisk together the marinade ingredients and stir into the chickpeas. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes, then place in an oiled glass 8×8-inch baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring once. While the chickpeas are baking, whisk together the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl. When the chickpeas are done baking, remove them from the oven and pour the seasoning mixture over them, making sure to distribute the seasoning mixture evenly, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Serve over rice, noodles, veggies or potatoes.

If you’re wondering where to find Marmite locally, I got mine at Fiesta. I think Kroger and World Market may have it as well. Your best bet is to check out the international aisle. It’ll be with the British stuff.

Are you a fan of Marmite? Or do you prefer Vegemite or Cenovis? Or do you think all salty, yeasty spreads are of the devil?

This post was supposed to go up on Friday. Oops.

Ever had Soy Curls? They’re pretty awesome. Not really healthy, but awesome. I can never find them anywhere around here, so I always make sure to add a few bags to my order whenever I place an online order at Food Fight Grocery. The main reason I like them is because they kind of remind me of seitan but without the gut-busting gluten and with a slightly better texture. You buy Soy Curls dried, like TVP, and reconstitute them with hot water or veggie broth to bring them back to life. Despite basically being TVP, I think Soy Curls have a better flavor and texture than plain ol’ TVP.

Once they’re reconstituted, you can do pretty much anything you want with Soy Curls—bake them, fry them, use them in a stew or stir-fry, make tacos—anything you’d do with any meat analogue, really. These are really the only fake meat I eat with any frequency because most are loaded with gluten and weird soy. I’m pretty sure Soy Curls qualify as ‘weird soy’ as well, but no one’s perfect, right?

The first thing I did when my Soy Curls arrived was make BBQ Soy Curls. I reconstituted them with hot veggie broth, adding a little nutritional yeast, black pepper and onion powder. Then I drained them and stirred in a healthy amount of Stubb’s BBQ sauce and baked them in a glass dish at 400F for about 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. I served them on top of a pile of brown rice with a mound of steamed broccoli. Amazing! I love BBQ’d anything (especially BBQ tofu), and the sauce works really well with these, and baking the curls give them a more toothsome texture.

Next, I made vegan carnitas. I sort of followed this recipe, but not really since I wasn’t using seitan, and I added way more veggies (onions, red bell pepper, corn) and served them in corn tortillas. I used Green’s Discovery Gluten-Free Amber Ale for the beer in my carnitas. These turned out great, and I saved the leftover “beer-broth” that I cooked the curls in to made some slightly different carnitas again last night.

Soy Curls are hard to find around DFW, but several of the food carts we’ve visited in Austin and Portland use them with tasty results. Have you tried them? If so, how do you like to prepare them?

What? Another friggin’ cookie recipe?

Yes. I promise I will post some non-cookie (heck, non-dessert) recipes soon. Promise!

Last night I set out to make my signature White Diamond Cookies. Now take a look at these cookies. Do they look like chocolately delicious White Diamond Cookies? Do they?

No, they don’t. Half-way through mixing the ingredients, I realized I was flat out of cocoa powder. The really sad part? I had been at Central Market earlier, and I KNEW I was going to be making these cookies later. Good job, Steph. Good job. Most of the time I have three or four half-used containers of cocoa powder lying around. But no such luck this time.

So standing there in the kitchen, with a half-mixed batch of cookies and no option to turn back, I had to ask myself an important question—the kind of question that makes or breaks a good chef—what the hell do I do now?

After seconds of reflection, I decided to press on and explore new culinary territory. I decided I’d just omit the cocoa powder, increase the flour a tiny bit, and stick to just semi-sweet chips and omit the white ones.

The results were tasty. Unfortunately, these are not gluten-free, but I don’t see why you couldn’t use a gluten-free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill or your own mixture.

Lesson learned last night? Always, always, always buy cocoa powder. Always. Every time you’re at the grocery store just buy a box, even if you already have a gross at home—then you’ll never have the problem I had last night.

Accidental Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups natural style peanut butter
• 1/2 cup almond or soy milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together sugars, milk and peanut butter with an electric beater (or stand mixer). Beat in cornstarch mixture and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Add to peanut butter mixture and stir until well mixed. Stir in the white chips. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls, flatten them in your hand into cookie-shaped rounds. Place on a lightly oiled (or parchment-paper-lined) cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes. Let them cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Remember those awesome Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies from a few weeks ago? Well, this recipe is a variation on that, only with a gingery, almond kick. They’s not crispy like a traditional gingersnap, but if you rolled the dough thinner and made cutout cookies, you might get something close to a crispy gingersnap.

Just like their peanut butter cousin, these cookies are vegan, gluten-free and oil-free. And amazing! Feel free to increase the ginger or add some cloves and nutmeg (I would have, but I was out). And if your ginger and cinnamon have been sitting around in your cupboard for a while, I would highly recommend running to the nearest place with a bulk spice section and stocking up on fresh spices – you really need the freshest spices to get the right taste in a cookie like this.

Vegan Ginger Cookies

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons almond milk
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour
• 2 tablespoons quinoa flour

• 2 tablespoons oat flour

• 1/4 cup sugar (approximate)

Preheat oven to 300F. Whisk together almond butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and molasses until smooth. Whisk together the remaining ingredients (except the 1/4 cup sugar) in a separate bowl, then gently fold into the almond butter mixture (a rubber spatula works well for this) until just combined. Place the 1/4 cup sugar in a blender or food processor (a Magic Bullet works well) and process until fine. Transfer sugar to a shallow bowl. Scoop dough with a tablespoon measure and form into a ball. Roll in the sugar, then place on a lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten with your fingertips. Bake for 12 minutes. Do not over-bake. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 15 small cookies.

Boy, I’m smart. For some reason, I was thinking Vegan MoFo was in November, but no, it’s RIGHT NOW! Time to panic, right?

So, while we gather our thoughts and prepare to dive headlong into the Vegan Month of Food, here are some pics of vegan eats we’ve had around town.

The Soul Food Plate, which is the current Blue Plate at Spiral Diner.

Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly cake from Stir Crazy Baked Goods at Avoca Coffee. Definitely one of my favorites from them.

Tofu Banh Mi from Nammi Truck.

Vegan Breakfast Boat from Yes! Taco. One of the few things that really make me say Yes! to breakfast is this.

Another cake from Stir Crazy – chocolate this time!

Now’s that time.

I’ve had cookies on my mind a lot lately, but I’m picky about my cookies. There are several criteria a cookie must meet before it goes into my mouth (unless I’m just really desperate, of course).

• It must be vegan (this criterion must always be met).
• It must be gluten-free (sometimes this one falls by the wayside if something looks particularly yummy ).
• It must be whole-grain or mostly whole grain.
• It should be low- or no-oil.
• White sugar should be minimal or none.
• It must totally rock my tastebuds.

So with all of the that in mind, I present you with the awesomest peanut butter cookies I’ve encountered. They are all these things and more. And if you look at the ingredients, they’re not all that bad for you. Peanut butter. Oats. Maple syrup. Quinoa flour.

Speaking of quinoa flour, if you can’t find it or don’t want to buy it, just increase the Bob’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour or oat flour. I think the quinoa flour adds a little something special to the cookies, but they’re your cookies – do what you want. And if you do want to use quinoa flour, the cheapest way to get it is the bulk bin at Central Market. It’s not cheap flour, but at least in the bulk bin you can get just what you need and spend as little cash as possible.

Enjoy these cookies with a big ol’ glass of almond milk. And stay tuned – I’m working on a ginger-almond version.

Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1/2 cup natural-style peanut butter, well stirred
  
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
  
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
  
• 1/4 cup quinoa flour
  
• 1/4 cup oat flour (just grind up oats in your blend until they look like flour)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 300F. Whisk together peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla until smooth. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then gently fold into the peanut butter mixture (a rubber spatula works well for this) until just combined. On a lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet, drop dough with a tablespoon measuring spoon. If desired, press a cross-hatch pattern into the top of the cookie with a damp fork. Bake for 12 minutes. Do not over-bake. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 15 small cookies.