Runnin' With the Devil

Check that shit out! Awwww yeah.

Hey readers, have you missed me? Yeah, I hear you. I have a new job with a metric buttload of responsibilities and I'm super surprised I have enough time to do anything but eat, sleep, and work. I've been leaning on convenience and comfort foods, like nachos and the infamous diablo dog. In July, that little number will be three years old--isn't that awesome? Since the release of that masterpiece, I've influenced many a vegan and omni to try the said delicacy. Don't thank me, thank Amy Sedaris. It was her character in Strangers With Candy that inspired the whole thing. Don't go stingy on the bacon bitz.
Just look at that: grilled vegan dogs topped with vegan chili, diablo sauce, tomatoes, onions, horseradish, chopped jalapenos, and pickles. If I were a beer drinker, I'd probably want a Corona with lime, but I'll stick to a cold ginger ale instead. That way I won't get arrested.

I've perfected my diablo sauce, so please give it a try and let me know what you think!

Diablo Sauce 2012

You'll need

• 1 c. Daiya Cheddar shreds
• 1/2 c. non dairy milk
• 3 T vegan cream cheese
• 2T chopped jalapenos PICKLED, y'know the kind in a jar
  
• 1T vegan butter or canola oil
• 1 big assed clove o' garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 c. roasted jalapenos
• a couple of drops of liquid smoke
• 1 t. Ms. Dash spicy blend OR chipotle lime flavor
  
• salt to taste
• about a T of flour at the end to thicken

Saute your garlic in the oil, then add your pickled and roasted jalapenos. Add the cheeses, and stir on medium heat until melty. You may need to add splashes of milk if the sauce is too thick. Don't be a fool and have the heat turned up too high, or you'll just end up with a giant wad of what looks like orange jalapeno chewing gum. Add your spices and keep stirring. Throw the flour in at the very end. You should have a nice cheesy gravy that is reminiscent of that shit you get out of a pump at 7-11, only much better.

How do you roast a jalapeno? Simple. Oven=350. Fresh jalapenos, about 6-8 of them. Rinse the peppers off. Now rub a little oil into the skins. Fill a baking dish with just a smidgen of water. Throw the peppers in the pan. Bake for 10 mins, check and turn. Bake for another. They should puff up as if they were going to explode. They'll collapse when you take them out of the oven. Once cooled remove the seeds, some of the skin, and the stems--GLOVED HANDS, people! Gloved hands. Capsaicin never takes a day off. Chop these up and use as a condiment or a mix in for that heat lover in your life.

Holy Ravioli!

I took a stab at making my own homemade ravioli! I can't believe I thought it would be hard. All pasta is is flour, salt, water, oil, and a binder. Many use eggs, but in the age of allergy awareness-(and I'm hoping a dash of compassion), many companies make their pasta vegan.
Just buy a bag of semolina flour and follow the basic pasta dough directions. To veganize, sub each egg required with 1T flax meal+3T warm water.
After you mix the dough, let it take a nap for about 20-30 minutes to let the gluten do it's thang. Flour a surface and roll it flat, about 1/8 of an inch, but no more than 1/4 of an inch. Take a pizza cutter-(or ravioli cutter if you have one, but if you do chances are you don't need this tutorial) and cut into 2x2 squares. Spoon your favorite filling using a heaping teaspoon, being careful to not overfill. I used a mixture of garlic, soysage, oregano, salt, tofutti cream cheese, spinach, and some bread crumbs.
Watch me go! I put one square over the other and pinch the edges with a fork so it looks like a gnawdorable lil' pillow.
A pillow filled with magical spinachey goodness.








Don't eat it raw! Get some water boiling as you make your ravioli. Get it to a rollin' boil. Throw those babies in there, and set a timer. You want to watch 'em float.

In the meantime, preheat your oven for 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Once your ravioli are all boiled, brush with a lil' olive oil and place them on the paper. Bake for about 5-7 minutes. You don't want them to dry out, just not be so soggy.

Now cover them with some marinara and vegan parm. Don't worry, I'll give you the recipe:

1/2 c. raw pumpkin seeds
1/8 c. nutritional yeast
1/8 t. salt
1/2. t. garlic powder
1/2. t. Ms. Dash Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Blend

Put all ingredients in a coffee bean grinder and pulse a few times. If you don't have one, then pulse a few times in a blender. If you don't have that, get a baggie and smash the hell out of the seeds with a meat tenderizer and mix the seeds with the nutritional yeast, salt, and spice blend.
Store in an airtight container.

Never underestimate the clearance section

While shopping at my local food co-op, I came across a whole mess of these chokolit bars for 69 cents a piece. The packaging was different, because it was a line made to donate extra money to endangered animals. Neato, huh? I grabbed several dark with coconut, and one with chili. I haven't tried the chili ones yet, because I want to make some Mexican hot chocolate cookies and thought that would be a nice touch added in the dough.

The story of Louis is SO inspiring. I wish I had the initiative to be a chocolatier at such a young age! Being a teen is hard enough, but to overcome adversity like he did just made my heart smile. Never underestimate the power of dreams and determination. I know, I sound like one of those posters.

He does have a non-vegan line, but all of the dark bars are made without dairy. YES, there is a "may contain nuts and milk", but I really think that is because it is produced on the same equipment as the other bars. So if you are super allergic to milk, or just can't ethically deal with trace amounts in your stuff, well there are other vegan chocolates. The chocolate is also made without palm oil, so you are making orangutans feel a little safer.