C'est La Vegan

This past weekend, we went to see “Planet Earth Live” at the Hollywood Bowl with our good friends Tim and Ildy.   I always love a night out at the bowl, complete with tasty food and wine, good friends and live music, all whilst tucked away in the Hollywood hills.  It’s definitely one of my favorites [...]

Okay, right off the bat I have to tell you that yours truly took the above photo.  I don’t think I’m anywhere near Ryan’s level yet (although in my defense, he has been doing it for over fifteen years and happens to be amazingly talented), but I think I’m off to a good start!  He’s [...]

I came across these gorgeous miniature eggplants at the Farmers’ Market yesterday morning and just couldn’t resist them. I’ve never had them before and had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I knew I could probably figure something out.  You might not be able to tell from the photo, but [...]

I’m a huge fan of polenta.  I know it’s really easy to make from scratch, but I like to buy the pre-made tubes of it for even easier meals.  Sliced up and pan fried (or baked), it makes the perfect base for so many different toppings.
I had some kale on hand that I needed to [...]

Never heard of zebra potatoes before?  Neither had I, until Ryan found these at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market.  We couldn’t resist picking some up to experiment.  Of course you never have to twist my arm to try a new variety of potato!
These look like a mix between a red potato and a Yukon gold.  I’m [...]

I’ve been dying to try morel mushrooms for so long now, but I’ve never been able to find them in the past. When I realized it was finally morel season, I became obsessed with finding some.  The only place I’ve found them so far is at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, but I’ve read that they’re [...]

I sometimes forget how great a simple salad can be.  This one is from Janet Fletcher’s “Fresh From the Farmers’ Market”, and I used a mix of baby escarole and frisee lettuces.  Combined with the shallot vinaigrette, avocados, and oranges, this salad is full of different textures and flavors, all of them fantastic.  It calls [...]

Chicago Soy Dairy recently sent me a sample of their new mozzarella teese, which I think should be coming out to stores shortly, though I’m not sure exactly when that will be.  I wanted to find something that would really highlight the teese, and I’d seen a recipe for White Pizza with Sage in Deborah [...]

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Living in Southern California, there’s no lack of holiday celebrations to take part in today.  If you’re having people over, or even if you’re just having a quiet night in, this Mexican-Style Casserole is the perfect thing to celebrate the holiday.  Now, I say Mexican-”style” because I have to [...]

On Saturday I presented a dessert demonstration at Animal Acres’ Compassionate Cooking Extravaganza, and I had the chance to see a couple of the other presenters including Rod Rotondi, founder of Leaf Cuisine and author of “Raw Food for Real People”.  His presentation about raw foods was extremely informative.  In particular, I really appreciated that he [...]

The full title of this sandwich is “Gardein ‘Steak’ Sandwich with Watercress, Red Pepper, and Horseradish Mayonnaise” and it comes from Tal Ronnen’s “The Conscious Cook”.  I have to say, the more recipes I try from this book, the more I fall in love with it!
This is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, [...]

As I’ve said many times before, I love me a good, creamy soup!  With asparagus in season, I couldn’t resist trying this asparagus soup from Tal Ronnen’s The Conscious Cook.  For some reason I was thinking it was going to be harder to make than it actually turned out to be.  [...]