Day 212, Part Two: Tostadas

It's been a long time since I've had a tostada--not since I was a kid--and given that until recently I couldn't palate seafood, I've certainly never had one with fish. Until last night, that is. You see, quite a while ago I bought a cookbook that is designed to help you track your calories and stay within a certain goal. If you eat a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks out of their book, you will never break 1500 calories. If you only eat one serving and don't add any extras, of course. Anyway, I've finally gotten to cooking from it, and last night I tried the fish tostadas, which turned out to be really good--500 calories for two! (I love a bargain.) They were better than any fish taco I've eaten, and just really simple. They also gave my husband the chance to make his famous salsa verde, both with fresh tomatillos from the farmer's market and with canned ones that I bought because, well, I'd never tried them canned. Of course, the batch with the fresh was better, but the homemade salsa with canned tomatillos was still better than jarred salsa verde, so if we have a hankering for Mexican in the winter, we know we have that option.

Day 212, Part One: Soy Yogurt

Yesterday morning, I had my first cup of soy yogurt. Since I'm not a huge fan of soy milk, I didn't expect to like it, and at first, I was right. The soy flavor pushed past the key lime flavor (I'd chosen key lime because it sounded good and because I routinely eat Yoplait's key lime) and while it didn't make me cringe, it certainly didn't make me salivate for more. But then, as things go, I started to get used to it. And, as you can see from the photo above, when I was done the cat was willing to lick up the dregs--and my cat is one picky eater. Of course, it was key lime flavor and she does like acidic things. So maybe it was that.

But back to the yogurt. As far as texture was concerned, I was impressed. I expected it to feel more synthetic or lumpy. It contained live cultures, as all yogurts do, and it had a pretty similar underlying yogurt taste, with the soy flavor sort of intruding. Not something I'm going to start adding to my grocery list, but if I have breakfast with vegans, it will be perfectly fine.

(Side note: apparently soy agrees with my cat, as she has not had any intestinal troubles--though she did only have a tiny bit--something I only worried about after I had fed it to her. I, however, suspect I might have some sort of soy allergy because I have been breaking out more than usual, starting--though perhaps coincidentally--about the day after I had my vegan cheese.)

Day 211, Part Two: Vegan Cupcakes

I meant to take a picture of my vegan cupcake, purchased at the Moscow Co-Op this evening when the live music we went to see never showed up (we had planned our meals out so we could afford the chocolate Guinness cake at Bucer's pub while the music played--they ran out of cake, too, but we still love them). Unfortunately, I was so eager to eat it that the picture never got taken. However, it was still an interesting experience.

As you know, I'm addicted to Food Network, and lately I've been really into Cupcake Wars, where bakers compete for a prominent display of cupcakes to expand their business, plus $10,000. There are a lot of vegan bakers who come on the show and some are reprimanded for the gluey texture of their cupcakes while others have won the war. I don't think the one I had was made by a war winner, but I'm still very satisfied with my dessert. As I peeled away the wrapper, strands of something sticky peeled away with it, presumably because it had been unrefrigerated while we drove home. The frosting was sort of sliding off, too, but it was incredibly creamy for something made with soy cream cheese. The cake itself was pretty dense and a little grainy, but very sweet--I tasted honey, though there was none in it, and I think it may have had something to do with the tapioca flour. Who knows. It's a sweet flavor I've tasted in many sort of synthetic sweet products, but I can't quite place it. It makes me very curious to try making vegan cupcakes of my own.

Day 211, Part One: Fried Green Tomatoes

Today is Saturday, and it's summer, and we are at home, which means that this morning we visited the farmer's market in Moscow, Idaho, which, as usual, was the highlight of my week. We've been out of town a lot of weekends lately, so I haven't had too much time to browse my local growers' booths lately, which means that when I do, I go a little overboard. Today's haul included beets, sugar snap peas, cherries, several kinds of squash, eggplant, eggs, three or four varieties of pepper I've never heard of and four beautiful green tomatoes.

I've never been to the south, or to some southerner's home where they fried green tomatoes for me. I've never seen them on restaurant menus that I recall, because I think I would have ordered them. I've never even seen the movie--maybe five or ten minutes when it was on TV. But I've always thought fried green tomatoes sound delicious, so I was more than eager to fry them. When we got home, I went straight to the Food Network website to look up recipes; I assumed Paula Deen's would be first on the list. Strangely, I had to hunt for Paula's, but after perusing a few options I landed on Tyler Florence's version, which were simple and would help me use up two ingredients I already have lying around: buttermilk and cornmeal. I calculated the calories (as you recall, I'm trying to lose weight) and, because I'd been good today, found I could have a lovely fried treat for dinner. I was a very happy cook.

As you can see from the picture above, I didn't achieve amazing color on my tomatoes. I haven't fried anything in a while and at first my oil wasn't hot enough, and then for the second batch it was too hot. Still, I managed a wonderfully crispy crust and the tomatoes were still firm but hot all the way through, and not too oily, which I enjoyed. I mixed up a little sauce with some mayo, buttermilk, salt, pepper, and hot sauce--a lovely accompaniment. For protein, a little grilled chicken.

I have to say, even produced by an amateur, fried green tomatoes are delicious. If I ever have a garden with a tomato plant, I will probably pluck quite a few fruits before their time, just so I can deep fry them.

Day 209: Vegemite

Apparently, Vegemite is very high in the chemicals that constitute umami, that fifth sense of taste Kikkoman likes to brag about. I didn't try straight Vegemite, but I did try its cousin, Vegemite Cheesybite, which I'm guessing is like Vegemite mixed with cream cheese. It would make an excellent April Fool's joke if you know someone who likes Nutella because it looks exactly the same but tastes completely different. Like Soy sauce and various roasted vegetables in cream cheese. Mostly like soy sauce. Very salty, very savory. Like I said: umami.

Day 208: Vegan-ish

Today, I had a mostly vegan lunch. Mostly because it turned out my granola bar contained milk products. So I had a vegetarian lunch. It contained a strange new product: vegan cheese.

It was suggested to me (thanks, Kate!) that I try more vegan foods, as they would continue me on my journey to food enlightenment without packing on the pounds. Sound advice. With that in mind, I went to the teeny tiny vegan section in my local grocery store and looked for something I had not had before. I'd tried vegan hot dogs (and found them surprisingly enjoyable), so those were out. I picked up a mango peach tofu dessert, which I'll try another day, and something that has always frightened and fascinated me: vegan cheese.

I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, since processed cheese product (otherwise known as American cheese) is far from resembling pure cheese, that vegan cheese should taste just like it. And feel just like it. And I'm not sure yet, since I haven't tried it, but I might guess it would melt just like it. And, bonus: It has almost half the calories. I had mine stuffed in a pita pocket with some tomato slices, and though it could have used mustard, it was a darn good sandwich.

But here's the thing: other than when dieting or dining with vegans, I can't imagine ever using vegan cheese. When I was younger I was the processed cheese queen, I mean, I could eat huge chunks of Velveeta without blinking, and yet as an adult, I've lost the taste for it. Not that I dislike it, it's just not top of my list anymore. Same goes for French fries, if you can believe it. They now have to be incredible to impress me. Which doesn't mean I haven't mindlessly consumed them when they came with my meal, but I have started ordering more side salads without even thinking of my weight. Funny how junk food can pale in comparison to real food. Funnier still how many vegan foods are imitations of junk foods--perhaps the processed flavors and textures are just easier to imprint on soy and vegetable proteins.

Day 206: Buttermilk Experiment #1

As I mentioned in today's earlier post, I have recently become alarmed by my weight. I know, no one likes to talk about these things very openly. So I'll skip ahead to saying that I've become interested in possible uses for buttermilk, which has a lovely consistency and flavor with far fewer calories than cream. It is already part of my light mashed potato recipe (potatoes, garlic, buttermilk, light sour cream, s&p--mighty satisfying and nearly fat free) and I often use it for scones/biscuits instead of heavy cream, but tonight, as I planned my low-cal chicken roulade, I thought: why not use it to finish sauce?

Why indeed. Buttermilk used to come from the butter-making process. Essentially, it's the runoff dairy product, as the whey would be to the curd in cheese-making. Nowadays, it's made by introducing culture to nonfat milk. Cultures make things a little different, scientifically speaking. It makes the milk react differently to heat, which is why few recipes have you heat up yogurt (I do have a delicious rogan josh recipe that has you add yogurt early on). It's probably those cultures that made my buttermilk start to separate when I added it to my pan sauce. Interestingly enough, it still tasted wonderful (sauteed shallots after browning chicken roulade, deglazed with a little water and white vinegar--which could also be my culprit--added buttermilk and some agave nectar to balance the acidity). It just curdled. Still, I'm going to move forward in attempting to lighten dishes with buttermilk. If it could be made into white gravy, I would dance a jig.