Hello, my name is Jhames

I’ve made vegan chocolate-chip cookies with little satisfaction in the final product. The cookies may have baked in an oven but they tasted a lot like raw cookie dough. If I was looking to nurse mental anguish with food, at least I have a safe alternative to possible e-coli exposure. This recipe for vegan oatmeal cookies, however, is nothing like its chocolate-chip cousin (twice removed, possibly thrice). Every time I have made these cookies, the final product is never the same. The cookies either come out brittle, thin, or with just the right amount of crispy-chewy goodness. Since I never know what to expect, I never feel disappointed. These vegan oatmeal cookies are the sweet epitome of buddhist doctrine: let go of expectations (the cookies will come out tasting good).

I can’t take credit for this recipe, it was given to me by my French language teacher who received this recipe from one of her former students who is a personal chef. This vegan mousse is not as light as a traditional mousse but it is just as rich in flavor. I’ve read quite a few veg*n online forums where users try recipes with myriad substitutions because of cost or access to ingredients. I can appreciate the sensitivity to cost but honestly, a quick run to the liquor store for two airline-size bottles of Godiva liqueur will not break the bank.

Fall is a perfect time for mushrooms! And with the rainy season having arrived in Seattle there is no better way to keep warm than with wild mushroom & roasted garlic soup. This recipe takes over an hour to prepare but the taste is well worth the wait. I heartily recommend this recipe with warm, crusty bread and a good movie.

With the change of season, it’s nice to have a meal that will stick to your ribs. I enjoy warming tortillas in the oven, and serving them with spicy black beans. I will add shredded lettuce atop the beans, then dollop everything with vegan sour cream and guacamole. These dishes take very little time to prepare and won’t drain your bank account.

I guess the point of VeganMoFo is to post a recipe every day, but honestly who is reading blogs over the weekend? My site traffic always drops on weekends so it’s safe for me to assume you’re here reading my blog when you should be working. For shame! But seriously, thanks, I’m honored to be your distraction. Your one and only distraction. You’ll be wanting something good to accompany the pita bread recipe I gave you Friday. For me, nothing beats a plate of hummus with fresh warm pita bread. Hummus is the ideal vegan dish: economical ingredients, easy to prepare, and versatile with additions like roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, or kalamata olives. I’m just as happy eating plain ol’ hummus with carrot sticks or cucumber slices.

Last night I caught a friend’s tweet about “bombing the moon”. Justin mentioned that he saw the same phrasing popping up in his facebook news feed. Neither one of us had any idea that NASA was planning to launch a rocket which will punch a hole in the moon for the purpose of discovering ice—therefore water and life on another planet. Meanwhile, America lacks proper healthcare coverage for its citizens, public schools are devoid of any electives, and low-income families have little or no access to fresh produce. But hey! We may be able to someday live on the moon. So in honor of NASA and the government spending $79,000,000.00 on a program to blow up the moon, I present two variations of one dough recipe. Because who doesn’t need extra dough in their lives?

Vegan desserts. Those two words don’t exactly conjure images of delectable treats that make you want to reach for a plate and fork. The problem with a lot of vegan desserts is that people look for ways to make them healthy in addition to tasting good. For example, a local bakery offering cakes made with garbanzo bean flour: they weigh more than a newborn baby and taste like a very dry garbanzo bean dish with a lot of sugar. Another bakery, not local, offers a cupcake made with agave nectar, coconut oil, and three different flours. This cupcake tastes great when it’s consumed immediately from the oven, but wait for that cake to cool and you are eating a very dry, very heavy dessert. If I eat a dessert, it damn well better not be good for me. Same rule applies for vegan desserts: … Continue reading →

I learned the following tea recipe when I moved out of NYC after September 11th to attend a yoga school in Long Beach, California. It wasn’t until I gave away nearly all my possessions (except Vincenzo) and moved clear across the country that the school was, in fact, a sex cult. Book forthcoming. Anyway, this tea smells fantastic as it simmers – perfect for fall weather – and its ingredients are beneficial to the body. “Cloves take away pain, cardamom aids digestion, cinnamon is good for the bones, black pepper stimulates the digestive process, and ginger is an Ayurvedic panacea, giving strength and energy. And the synergistic effect of all the herbs is more than the sum of its parts.” The quote is from Guru Simran Khalsa, a Sikh who practices and teaches meditation and Kundalini yoga. Guru Khalsa is in no way related to the … Continue reading →

This year Vegan MoFo III is being hosted by Kittee. If you’re on Twitter, use #veganmofo to participate in the month-long fest. I am not a huge fan of vegan recipes that seek to recreate comfort food or simulate staples in the American diet. To me, being veg*n means celebrating the awe-inspiring flavor of fruits & vegetables. No matter how many nut butters, lemon juice, tofu and nutritional yeast you blend in a food processor, you will not achieve cheese. For all the effort put into recreating cheese for a recipe, why even mess with veganizing a dish when so many meals are already vegan? Like a lentil salad with niçoise olives and sundried tomatoes!

October is VeganMoFo, the Vegan Month of Food. We spent the weekend with friends in Westport enjoying the sun and surf. We all took turns preparing meals for each other, and my pancakes were such a hit on Saturday morning that I was asked to make them again on Sunday! This recipe is incredibly easy and people are surprised to learn that the pancakes are vegan.