Chickpea Cashew Coconut Curry with Spinach

And... We're back!

It's been a while, since I posted last.  But my friends, curry never goes bad and I'm aging well.  Thus, I'm getting back into the mix!  Let's cook.

 I think I may just dab a bit of curry on my neck before work.  Kidding - I won't, but I love it enough to make such a threat. Cue sandalwood instead.  It blows my mind how many times I mention curry only to find that most people still do not know what the hell it is.  Curry is not a spice.  Curry is not a sap that one derives from a plant.  Curry is a mixture of spices/vegetables/herbs and it can be in various combinations and amounts.  Not only is the idea of curry so foreign to some that they shy away from it, but it seems that it simply does not jibe with their palettes.  That's very unfortunate for a mouth's existence because I find dishes utilizing curry to be some of the most enjoyable in life.  My tongue loves it and so does my belly.  This is what the dish I be cookin' looks like:

That bowl isn't all that clean on the sides because half of it is gone.  I'll not take credit for its creation, so here is the recipe I referenced:  Chickpea Cashew Coconut Curry

It is important to note, I did not follow the recipe word for word.  I didn't have all of the ingredients and I made 1.5 times the listed amount.  I also added spinach just because I freakin' love spinach.  So in order to make this a little easier, you can watch me make the delicious dish.  Proper cooking:

Grow Your Basil...

...for crying out loud.  Why for crying out loud?
Because it's as about as easy as it can get in the realm of gardening.  I'm not going to detail general gardening techniques, planting seasons and all of the other earthy junk that you can find from Google.

The most important thing is this:  Basil loves a lot of water and Basil loves direct sunlight.

Here is my method and I've done this more than once with great success.

1. Buy some good potting soil and fill an 8"x10"pot 2/3-3/4 full.
1-b.  Yes.  I'm saying screw those little plastic seeding cups.
2. Make a 3" diameter reservoir in the center of the soil approximately 2" deep.
3. Pour in organic basil seeds and cover with soil.  Pack the soil lightly.
4. Lightly water.
5. Leave outside in the sunlight if there is no threat of a frost.


Continue to lightly water the pot every day for the first two weeks being sure not to over-saturate the soil.  You should see the green within just a few days, and it's exciting!   When the sprouts begin to flourish, begin adding more water and give it plenty of sunlight.  If you water this plant every morning and leave it in the sun, it will go absolutely nuts!  And I can think of a nut that goes quite well with basil...  Vegan Pesto recipe for another day... It's GOOD.

To be more specific about a flourishing basil plant in direct sunlight, you can saturate the soil in the morning on a daily basis.  Pull off leaves as you need for cooking throughout the Summer.  The plant will continue to grow as long as it has enough of the two things that it loves the most.  Hell, sing to it as well, if you like.
You'll be singing anyway.

Who the hell doesn't love Basil?!!!

Where's the Beef?

Not here.
Have I used that title for a post already?  Probably.  How clumsy of me...

I don't know what the hell happened to the Beefless patties from Gardein.  I can't find them anywhere.
Apparently it's not being ordered at stores in my area anymore.  Instead, supermarkets are carrying the Beefless Sliders.  Seriously, local food-stuff provider?  I'm not paying 5 dollars for less Beefless and more white bread!  And why the hell are they putting Beefless on white bread anyway?!!!  Put it on a frackin' wheat bun, fools!

Oh well.  I'll have to move on, I suppose.  Thus, our meal this fine Friday evening will be my first to try the WildWood veggie burgers.  They look tasty.

I've had many veggie burgers, Gardein being the best by far.  But these look thick and juicy, just like a fake beef patty should.  I am also a big fan of WildWood products as I use their extra firm tofu in most of my tofu recipes.  So, I have high expectations for this burger.  Don't disappoint me dub-u dub-u!

Experience: forthcoming

Update: It was about what I expected.  It had the "graininess" that a lot of other veggie patties possess.    It wasn't juicy like I'd hoped it would be.  The overall flavor wasn't bad, but it didn't taste like beef, which is why Gardein wins in comparison, hands down(If you're looking for a patty that imitates beef in texture and flavor).  If anyone would like to offer other suggestions, I'm all ears.  I probably won't buy this patty again.

Taco Bell - Vegan?

I'm not going to tout Taco Bell as a health haven.  That's loco.

But, indeed, a vegan can eat at Taco Bell - and Lord knows, you'll likely end up there at some point with your friends or at that moment when you've got only 3 dollars and little time.

Other than Subway, Taco Bell is the one fast food place that I might visit just to make things easy and cheap.  Most every time, my order consists of only a couple of bean burritos -Fresco style.  But a vegan can order more.  A whole lot more if you like.  But it's no haven for vegan eating either.  It depends on how much labor and confusion you really want your soon-to-be, frustrated cashier to deal with.

Vegan Eating Out makes it a bit more simple with their list.  If your cashier doesn't mind taking the time, then you might venture beyond a couple of burritos.

I would say "good luck."
But I will admit, without shame, that Taco Bell has really increased their level of service over the last 3-4 years.  I'm not sure if this was due to the "beef authenticity" scare that was in the news, or if it was simply something they decided to do in order to change their customer service approach.  But I have yet to visit a Taco Bell in the last 3 years that wasn't willing to cater to my every detailed wish.  That is an odd thing for me to admit. It's fast food.  But they continue to make it exactly as I desire.  And if it isn't the way I ask, they happily remake it until it's correct.

Good work Taco Bell, you loco personas.

Oreos

Are Oreos vegan?

You bet they are - in America at least.  I've read that Oreos produced in Europe contain animal products.  But here in the states they do not.  Let's look at the ingredients:

Oreo Ingredients

Ingredients: SUGAR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE {VITAMIN B1}, RIBOFLAVIN {VITAMIN B2}, FOLIC ACID), HIGH OLEIC CANOLA OIL AND/OR PALM OIL AND/OR CANOLA OIL, AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), VANILLIN - AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CHOCOLATE. CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY.

I don't see any animal ingredients in there!  I don't see anything good for me either, but then I'm not pounding these cookies.  In fact, I rarely eat sweets,  But I'm glad this one is available to me.
However, it has been reported that some of the suppliers from which Kraft/Nabisco obtain their sugar use some animal-derived products in the processing of that sugar.  So I guess it depends on how vegan you are.  Then again - Look at the main ingredient!  It's a tough decision.

I don't believe they taste the same, but Newman's Own makes an oreo-like cookie with organic and animal free ingredients:

Original:
Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Organic Powdered Sugar (Organic Sugar, Organic Corn Starch), Organic Sugar, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Canola Oil (Expeller Pressed), Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Unsweetened Chocolate, Salt, Natural Flavor, Sodium Bicarbonate (leavening), Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier).

First ingredient is wheat flour.  That's a cookie I can pound.

FireFox Error

Apologies.  This is a tech post.  I googled the hell out of this problem and never found a solid resolution.  After fiddling around, I was able to solve this problem repeatedly using this solution.

The error occurring looks like this from FireFox version 14:

A copy of Firefox is already open. Only one copy of Firefox can be open at a time.

This was happening to every account on a machine running Mac OS X Snow Leopard Version 10.6.8

To resolve the problem, navigate to each user's Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder.

There was only one directory within the profiles folder in the format of XXXXXXXX.default.

Copy that file to the desktop and then delete it from the Profiles directory.

Run Firefox.

You should get an error that reads: "Profile Missing.  Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded.  It may be missing or inaccessible."

Click "OK" and move the XXXXXXXX.default directory back to the Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder.

Run Firefox, and Voila! It should be running without a problem.

I have not clue why this works, but I hope it helps some of you get past the problem.

Greasy Burger? YES!

This is by no means new information.
But it's new to me, and I'm pretty excited about it.
I've had Gardein products before, but I just tried their frozen, meatless beef patties, and I must say, I am simply shocked!

Check the details

This beefless burger can be grilled, microwaved, or anything in-between and they are still dripping with juicy flavor.  The first one I ate took my taste buds back 10 years to the last burger I had.  The texture and flavor are as close to a real burger as anything I've tried in the meat substitute market.  Apparently, their technique is a secret.

Although the patty is processed, as most imitation meat substitutes are, it ranks pretty low on the bad-for-you scale in my opinion.  Sodium and fat are low, protein is high, and they use several ingredients with near complete protein/amino profiles, like Quinoa.  One of the main fears that people have with meat substitutes is soy origin.  Gardein claims to only use non-GMO soy protein.

You HAVE to try this burger.