by betsy

Vegan Cookbook Author Loves Eco-Friendly Bamboo Cooking Utensils

The truth is that I actually loved my wooden spoons and cooked with them almost exclusively.  That is, until Minnie, the miniature Great Dane destroyed them. 

I came home one afternoon to find splintered wood in a small pile in our den.  There was one piece that puzzled me: it was perfectly cylindrical and smooth as could be.  I didn’t figure out what it was until I went looking for my wooden spoon and it was nowhere to be found.  That one belonged to my late paternal grandmother.  Irreplaceable.  My mother had tied it onto the top of a Christmas package years ago and I treasured it. 

When I told Mama what happened, she gave me one of hers.  But I didn’t learn;  Minnie destroyed that one too.  She apparently retrieved them off the dish drainer where, I suppose, though washed, they still had a residual aroma and taste of something delectable to her, though her palate isn’t very discriminating.

Incidentally, yesterday I heard a strange sound, like something had fallen, but I couldn’t find whatever it was until this morning when I encountered another splintered mini-pile of wood.  Years ago in a sculpture class, I made a wall relief piece out of tea boxes.  Our power has gone out several times this week due to storms and perhaps the humidity caused the two boxes to come apart sending them plummeting to the floor.  Once again, I suppose they still gave off a residual aroma or taste.  See the photos at the bottom of this post for the before and after.  Have I mentioned that Minnie is a brat?  Loveable, but a brat just the same.

So, alas, I was in T. J. Maxx yesterday and snagged a very inexpensive bag of bamboo untensils ($3.99 for five) which I “test drove” last night.  I love the way they “handled,” and I LOVE that they are made from a sustainable plant.  If yours ever need replacing, I highly recommend bamboo!

"Order" Tea Box Wall Relief by Betsy DiJulio
"Order" Tea Box Art after Minnie "Reordered" It
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by betsy

Vegan Rosemary-Shallot Red Wine Reduction

The only thing that might possibly be tastier than my Vegan Cheddar “Cheese” Spread, is my Vegan Cheddar “Cheese” Spread with a drizzle of my Vegan Rosemary-Shallot Red Wine Reduction.

This shimmering sophisticated sauce with it’s beautiful body, mouth feel and tangy-sweet savoriness is a lovely counterpoint to rich golden swirls of creamy “cheese.”

I use a red table wine in the recipe, but experiment with different wines for either slightly or dramatically different flavors to suite your palate.

Vegan Rosemary-Shallot Red Wine Reduction

Yield: 1/2 cup

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cups red wine

2-3 tablespoons agave nectar

1 bay leaf, halved

2-5 to 6 inch sprigs rosemary

1 tablespoon vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

In a large skillet over medium high, heat olive oil to shimmering.  Add shallot and saute, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and garlic and saute, stirring, for another minute.  Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1/2 cup.  Remove rosemary sprigs if they start to come apart, as you don’t necessarily want rosemary needles in your reduction.  Swirl in vegan butter and remove from heat.  Mixture will thicken as it cools.  Serve drizzled over Melba toasts or crostini spread with whatever you like.  I think my Vegan Cheddar “Cheese” Spread is a particularly good accompaniment.  Garnish with sprigs of rosemary.  Store any leftover reduction in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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by betsy

Eat Your Vegan Leafy Greens for Healthy Eyes

This week, I had an annual check-up with my opthamologist, the dynamic Dr. Dunn of Beach Eye Care in VA Beach, VA.

In the exam room, he popped my retinal scan image up on his computer alongside an image of the unhealthy eye of a diabetes patient about my age who refuses to eat “anything green.” After pointing out the differences,  he said, “You can tell everyone that your vegan diet is responsible for your healthy eyes.”

According to him, though “leafy greens” were discounted by his professors in medical school a number of years ago, they are now credited with being a key “ingredient” in eye health.

So, to keep your peepers in the “pink” of good health, I am pleased to offer you this tantalizingly tangy and ravishing red chard dish from my new cookbook, The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes:

red chard with toasted hazelnuts
Yield: 4 servings

Maple syrup and raspberry vinegar lend a delicate flavor to fresh Spring chard. This dish is beautiful as an accompaniment to sauteed tempeh or tofu.

1 bunch red chard, rinsed and well dried
2 tablespoons walnut oil or olive oil, divided
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or
apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped toasted hazlenuts

1. Remove and discard the tough stem ends of the chard. Cut off the remaining stems and coarsely chop. Set aside. Roll up each chard leaf lengthwise, jellyroll style, and cut through the resulting cylinder into 1/2-inch slices.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the walnut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir continuously until it begins to turn golden. Add the sliced chard stems and a pinch of salt and increase heat to medium-high. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and stir well.

3. Add the sliced chard leaves, gently packing them into the skillet and cook them, undisturbed, for 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs, turn the leaves so that the cooked side is up and saute for 2 minutes longer. Add the vinegar, maple syrup and black pepper to taste, and cook for 1 minute or until the chard is tender, but not mushy, and a bright-dark green.

4. Quickly transfer the chard to a serving bowl to stop cooking, making sure to include all of the juice and bits of garlic. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Serve hot.

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter (Vegan) Cookbook Launch Party a Blooming Success!

Betsy, Sheila & Sebastian at the Signing Table + a Sliver of the Crowd

Recipe for a Smashing Launch Party:

1 generous and visionary gallery owner and her sales associate son (Sheila Giolitti and Sebastian Stant)

1 industrial-chic gallery space (Mayer Fine Art Gallery, Norfolk)

20+ gifted artists

A large handful of members of the press (Hampton Roads Magazine,Virginian-Pilot, VEER and more)

An”SRO” crowd of beautiful, vibrant and generous guests (and a signing line out the door!)

28 dozen vegan cookies (courtesy of several good friends + me), 4 dozen pieces of vegan Coconut-Cream Almond Fudge, 3 lbs. of vegan spicy-rosemary cashews, a fruit bouquet, crackers, and plenty of wine

1 beautiful “blooming” arrangement (courtesy The New Leaf, Norfolk)

1 talented “indy” publishing company (Vegan Heritage Press)

1 brand new cookbook (see below)

1 very grateful and joyfully overwhelmed cookbook author (that’s me!)

Combine all ingredients, blending well, and you have “Incredible Edibles,” the fabulous launch party, book signing, and food-in-art exhibition for my brand new cookbook, The Blooming Platter: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.

I am completely “plattered” by the community embrace of this occasion.  Many stars glittered that night and I am so honored to have been among them.  A heartfelt, but completely inadequate, thanks to all.

For lots of photos that will give you the “flavor” of the event, see The Blooming Platter Cookbook Signing Party photo album on my Facebook page and visit Mayer Fine Art also on FB.

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter Cookbook Featured Again by Veggie Girl

Back Cover, The Blooming Platter Cookbook

Dianne “Veggie Girl” confesses on her blog that, although she usually doesn’t feature the same cookbook twice in her “Cookbook Project” series, my vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese-Orange Sauce inspired her to break with tradition and feature The Blooming Platter Cookbook for Project 19 and 20.  Thank you, Diane!

I commend her substitution of Spelt flour for the whole wheat.  I do that myself sometimes and am a fan!

This week, she chose to prepare a total of four recipes from The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.  I trust it will always give me a thrill to see my recipes prepared by someone else!

In fact, I would have loved to have eaten at Dianne’s house this week as this was such a busy one for me that my dinner one night was my Vegan Cheddar “Cheese” Spread on Melba toast and nothing at all last night!

This week included, in addition to a two hour appointment after work on Tuesday to have my braces removed and a beautiful closing exhibition reception for my students and their artwork at Old Dominion University’s Virginia Beach Higher Ed Center on Thursday, lots of cooking for the “Incredible Edibles” cookbook launch party that is tonight (so excited!).

So while I practiced poor nutritional habits, at least at night, Veggie Girl, in addition to my carrot cake pancakes, whipped up a batch of my Zucchini-Stuffed Shells with Blooming Marinara Sauce, my Caramelized Onion and Spinach Quesadillas (with White Bean Cheese) and my “White Cheese” Pizza with Kale and Sun-Dried Tomatoes.

Her addition of a pinwheel garnish of avocado slices on the quesadilla was gorgeous (but, sadly, I’m allergic to them).  And her addition of Shitake mushrooms and red onion to the pizza  looked like the delicious confetti that I’m sure it was.

It’s barely 5:25 a.m. and my mouth is watering for Italian and Southwestern food!

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by betsy

Vegan Baking for All Seasons: Vegan Italian Chocolate-Nut Thumbprint Cookies

I am a seasonal cooking devotee as you can see from The Blooming Platter Cookbook.  But I love perennial ingredients like chocolate year-round.

In this photo from the current issue of VEER Magazine, I’m holding one of my newest sweet treats: Vegan Italian Chocolate-Nut Thumbprint Cookies.  We wanted to include a photo showing that vegans don’t only eat vegetables, so we shot some of me with this cookie.

The inspiration for the recipe is bittersweet, as it came from a tray of cookies that was delivered to my sister-in-law’s house on the occasion of my mother-in-law, Terry’s, passing.  (People were so generous: you have never seen so much food in your life!)  I had to sample this particular non-vegan cookie for research.  It looked beautiful and I needed to know what it tasted like so that I could try to hit the mark….sorry!

The first batch went down the disposal, literally.  I hated to be wasteful, but they were a disaster.  My next riff wasa big hit at the Vegan Virginia Beach Bake Sale (as was everything that members brought, especially various cupcakes!).  So I made them again recently for our wonderful administrative assistants at Princess Anne High School.  I put 2 or 3 in tiny Chinese carry-out containers as gifts for all of them during “Administrative Assistants Week.”

One of the women, Susan Barnes, even asked for the recipe to share around.  She likes the cookies crumbled up in her yogurt(!).  But she made me promise that there was no tofu in them.  We have a running joke about tofu; it’s not her favorite.

I plan to make a batch of these cookies for the “Incredible Edibles” book-signing and launch party on Saturday night.  If you’re in the local area, come taste test!  If not, whip up a batch for yourself and be prepared to have a new favorite!

Yield: 36 Cookies

Cookies:

1 cup vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoon natural sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Pinch sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4-1/2  teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon water

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 cups finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line1 or 2 baking sheets with Silpat.  In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and both sugars.  Beat in cocoa powder, salt, both extracts, and water.  Beat in flour, one-half cup of flour at a time, beating only enough to incorporate.  Avoid over- beating.  With the mixer on low speed, blend in nuts.  Scoop by 1 tablespoon of  dough onto prepared baking sheets.  Flatten into a disk with the bottom of a glass.  Press your thumb into the center of each cookie twice, side by side, slightly overlapping, to make a fairly large depression.  Bake about 16 minutes.  If using two baking sheets on two racks, switch after 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely on wire racks as soon as they are firm enough to handle.

Frosting:

1/2 cup vegan butter (I like Earth Balance

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup + 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream all ingredients together until well-combined and fluffy.  Using a small spoon, divide the frosting evenly among the cookies, filling the depression.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

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by betsy

Vegan Cookbook Author Featured on Cover of VEER Magazine

With “Incredible Edibles,” the official launch and signing party of The Blooming Platter Cookbook just days away, I am thrilled and humbled to be the May “cover girl” for VEER Magazine, Hampton Roads’ alternative source for news, arts, culture, entertainment and dining information.

My beloved publisher (I am the arts writer for VEER), Jeff Maisey, describes the magazine’s mission as bringing “fresh perspectives to covering the diverse arts and culture community in Southeastern Virginia through print and online.”  And we try hard to do just that.

The print edition hit the stands over the weekend, so if you live in Hampton Roads, be sure to snag a copy at a Harris Teeter grocery store or any one of a number of other locations.  My travels took me all over Norfolk on Saturday, and there were copies at  four of my stops.

The talented Kathy Keeney shot the front cover photograph that you see here.  We had a really enjoyable photo shoot, but it is hard work, mostly for her, especially since I have a great face for radio and had to smile with my mouth closed to hide the dreaded braces!

That we needed a “blooming platter” was obvious.  So Kathy supplied the many pounds of gorgeous veggies that I held aloft.  But it was also her idea to give a subtle nod to Julia Child with the white collared shirt and pearls (my husband and I host an annual Happy Birthday Julia Child party each August).

The similarly talented Kristen Kirk wrote the feature story.  We had a  fun phone interview, and I always love to read how Kristen translates what she sees, hears and thinks into words.  But this time, I was overwhelmed.  How she managed to seamlessly weave together so many of my passions–my husband, friends, art, students, teaching, entertaining and more–into one cohesive story with vegan food running through it all, I will never know.  The picture she painted was incredibly generous.

If you live outside the area, you can read her story online by clicking the link above, but you won’t be able to see Kathy’s inside photos, so I’ll post them in a day or so.  You especially won’t want to miss Minnie, the Miniature Great Dane’s 15 minutes of fame: “Portrait of Minnie with Blooming Platter.”

Jeff, Kathy and Kristen, as my dear friend Iona would say, “I bow in your directions.”

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by betsy

My Bloomin’ Braces Are Removed Just in Time for The Blooming Platter (Vegan) Cookbook Signing Party

My braces were removed today just in time for “Incredible Edibles,” the launch/signing party and food-in-art exhibition for The Blooming Platter: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes this Saturday night!   

In the photo, Minnie (the “small” Dane) had just stood up with her paws on my shoulders to give me a big kiss.  She’s clearly a fan of my new appliance-free mouth…or maybe it was what I had for dinner!

Thank you Dr. Marnie (Marnie Vorhees of Klar Vorhees) for a heck of a birthday gift.  You do amazing work!  Your innovative custom approach, high level of customer service, delightful sense of humor, compassion, and empathy for real-life goals, concerns, and limitations put you at the top of your game.   

I couldn’t be happier…happier I did it; happier we’re finished (except for the “retention phase,” of course)!  My teeth/bite have never been this close to perfect, even after wearing braces twice as a kid.  

Another bonus:  I can go to bed a half hour earlier tonight because I won’t be cleaning my teeth!

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by betsy

Vegan Cookbook Author, Betsy DiJulio, of The Blooming Platter (Vegan) Cookbook, Interviewed on Veg Cookin’

Jill of Veg Cookin’ recently contacted me to inquire about whether I would be willing to be interviewed for her wonderful website.

Boy, would I?!

I let her know, and last Friday she emailed me 5 insightful questions that were really fun to answer–not your typical interview questions–and posted our “conversation” on her website today.

In fact, when I received the questions, I emailed her back asking for a deadline.  But by the time I heard from her–which wasn’t much later–I had already answered all of the questions and sent them off, as I found them very engaging.  Hope you do too!

Read the interview here!  Thanks, Jill!

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