Vegan MoFo Survey

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

Cheese. Yeah, not really and I was a cheese fiend and snob.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

Beans

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

Swiss chard

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

Water

What dish are your “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

Baked goods

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

I won't eat anything that's been lying around in the fridge for more than 2 days or so

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Tofurky Italian Sausage

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Beans. I used to buy canned beans but now I almost always make them from scratch.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

Organic extra-virgin olive oil. Good chocolate. Honestly, I almost always spend extra money on groceries. I am a snob like that.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

I love snacks more than meals. Right now, I love BBQ soy crisps.

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Potatoes.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

Lacinato kale, green peas, onions, scallions, leeks, garlic. Pink lady apples, pineapple, mango.

What is the best salad dressing?

Oil and vinegar with some dijon mustard and maple syrup.

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

Earth Balance or olive oil with nutritional yeast and sea salt.

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

Black bean soup.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

Chocolate with peanut butter frosting.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Chocolate chip.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

Pasta with lentil tomato sauce from The Complete Vegan Kitchen or Tofurky sausage with a side of kale.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

I live with someone who will eat anything, whether he likes it or not. He doesn't care for ginger or vinegar.

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

At least an hour per day.

h/t: Orange and Ginger and Vegan Mexican Food

Peanut Butter-Caramel Apples

Happy Day 1 of Vegan MoFo! I can’t think of a better way to usher in the season than with these decadent but not truculently sweet peanut butter and caramel coated apples. They are autumnal, a cinch to make and the creation of Isa Chandra Moskowitz, whose Post Punk Kitchen gave rise to Vegan MoFo. She has a column, “Nickel and Dined,” in BUST and this is featured in the October/November 2010 issue. To get the full scoop, pick up a copy. But even with the general guidelines I’ll provide here, you should be fine to make them.

All you need is a half-cup each of brown rice syrup and creamy peanut butter (go for the natural, unsalted, unsweetened variety—you’ll get plenty of salt and sugar from the other ingredients), a cup of roasted and salted peanuts, 4 to 6 apples (I used Granny Smith but I recommend my favorite apple, the perfectly rather than overly tart and crisp Pink Lady), and some chopsticks.

Brown rice syrup can be a little pricey but it’s cheaper than maple syrup and, as Isa wrote in her BUST column, it will give you a spot-on caramel consistency without the fuss of making caramel from scratch. I also use brown rice syrup to sweeten oatmeal and tea and it seems to hang around in pantry for longer than many other liquid sweeteners because most jars of brown syrup are more generous in comparison.

Securely stick a chopstick into the bottom of each apple and set them aside. Have a large platter or cutting board covered in parchment paper ready. Whiz the peanuts in a food processor until well-chopped. Be careful not to overprocess—you don’t want to end up with more peanut butter. Just small pieces of peanuts. You can also roughly chop them with a knife but it will take forever and you won’t get the pieces as small as you can with the processor.

In a small saucepan, warm the syrup and peanut butter over low heat until combined and smooth. This shouldn’t take longer than 2 or 3 minutes. Dip an apple in the sauce and smooth out with a mixing spatula or back of a spoon.


Roll the sauce covered apple in the chopped peanuts and press them with your hand to make sure the nuts stick. Place on the parchment covered platter. Repeat for each apple. Refrigerate the apples on the parchment platter for at least 3 hours and then, voila, deliciously decadent caramel apples! Now wasn’t that easy for something so pretty and tasty?

Pictures by Joselle and Brian