Monday, December 12, 2011

Show Notes for December 11, 2011

Greetings, listeners!

On Sunday, Meat-Free Mike and Rachel talked up tofu, bantered about beans, and hatched plans for awesome and more compassionate holiday dinners. Here are some helpful links and notes from our latest show.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole - http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6137.0
Thanks to Amelia for providing this yummy recipe for a vegan green bean casserole. Grab your herbs and spices and whip this up from scratch. Meat-Free Mike may take this one to his next family gathering. We'll give you the full report.

Your guests may know the difference, and that's ok - because it will taste a lot better than the traditional recipe with all these fresh ingredients. Fresh or frozen green beans would be better choices over canned.

Another simple green bean recipe
One of our listeners called us and shared a favorite green bean combination: green beans sauteed with olive oil, lemon, pepper, and sunflower seeds. If you try this delicious and simple combination, leave us a comment and tell us what you think.

Vegan gravy
'Tis the season for gravy. If you're vegetarian or vegan, don't feel left out. There are plenty of plant-based gravy options, from green chile to slow cooked mushroom. Some, like the the tomato-based varieties, are even healthy. If you're looking for a little plant-based indulgence at your holiday dinner, Tofu Mom over at Tofu-n-Sprouts blogged an entire month (31 saucy posts!) of delicious vegan gravy options for Vegan Month of Food this October.

Lacinato (dinosaur) kale
Ready Made has a great article with lots of raw and cooked options for lacinato (dinosaur) kale. If you've never eaten kale, try this easy-to-prepare variety. As the article says, "lacinato kale shares its brother kales’ phenomenal nutritional profile: it’s chock-full of vitamins K, A, and C, dietary fiber, calcium, antioxidants, and a host of other nutrients." Tell your kids it's dinosaur food!

Common Ground classes
Meat-Free Mike and Vegan Linda recently attended a class at Common Ground Food Co-Op where they learned to make their own tofu. I was not sure of the coagulant used in the process when we were talking about it on the show. It appears that edible powdered calcium sulfate or lemon juice are two options.

Next Sunday, Vegan Linda and Meat-Free Mike will be back with another hour of Food for Thought on WEFT 90.1. We hope you tune in.

- Rachel