Vegan Ginger Prawn Stir Fry

My gf and I had just finished off Summer Streets NYC '09, and afterward we went to May Wah Healthy Vegetarian in Chinatown. It's a little bodega sized vegetarian oasis, and they have a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan groceries. Most of their selections are mock meats, and so far I've been very pleasantly surprised by the quality and price. We got a bag with mock chicken slices (dehydrated), mock beef chunks (dehydrated), vegetarian grilled eel, and vegetarian prawns - all for $16.00. With rice and veggies, that's a week of dinners for us. Last night we had the vegetarian grilled eel over leftover rice, and that was damned tasty. Tonight, I tried something more inventive. Keep in mind that I don't have all that much experience with Asian cuisine or at least stir fry dishes. I wanted it to come off as close to conventional stuff as possible.



3 cups Forbidden Rice
6 garlic cloves
1 package vegetarian prawns
1 green bell pepper
1 purple onion
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can bamboo shoots
soy sauce
miso paste
ginger
red pepper flakes

While the rice is cooking, dice up the bell pepper and onion. Set that aside in a bowl. Mince the garlic. Mix about 1/3rd the minced garlic in with the rice as it's cooking. Put the rest of the minced garlic in a small bowl. Cut up the vegetarian prawns. I did them in thirds, but I probably should have cut them smaller. Heat up a wok. Pour in some extra virgin olive oil and the minced garlic. Spoon in some miso paste. Stir it up a bit and pour in some soy sauce. While that's heating up, grate some ginger into the wok. Throw in a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. Toss in the prawns, and coat them with sauce. Then toss in the veggies. You may need to pour in a little bit more oil. Evenly distribute the prawns, sauce, and veggies. Next toss in the water chestnuts and the bamboo shoots with the water in the cans. This will help cut down on the saltiness. Stir everything up, and let the sauce reduce for about 10 minutes or so.

Serve over rice.

Serves 4

Asshole Litmus Test

A friend of mine on an abolitionist animal rights forum recently encountered a bunch of assholes on Facebook because they posted 35 reasons for going vegetarian. It was disheartening to my friend, and I said that vegetarianism was one of those volatile issues that will polarize people and reveal your true friends from detritus filling your life.

I called it an Asshole Litmus Test, and I thought to expand upon that concept. As a fierce individual, I have a lot of shit I believe in and a lot of shit I simply won't budge on. I remember trying to date some friend of a friend, and unbeknown to me, that chick went to an old friend of mine and asked what kind of person I was. They responded, "There are two kinds of people. Those that don't know him, and those that would take a bullet for him. You have to figure out which one you are." I nearly cried on the spot when he told me this.

The maturity of your friends will be partially measured in what or how far they are willing to accept you in spite of what they don't agree with. However, you may grossly overestimate your friends, and while it may be disillusioning to see a friend revealed to be a real bunghole.

This is a work in progress. This helps me to determine if I should not return their calls, ignore them, or slap them so hard they hit the pavement. This list is in no particular order of importance. Just what came to mind.

Can I take them in a fair fight?
Can I take them in an unfair fight? (i.e. armed, unethical strikes, etc)
Are there police around? (Public disturbances are subject to being served a summons)
Do I need to associate with them directly?
Do I need to associate with them through friends, family, and/or loved ones?
Do they owe me anything?
Do I owe them anything?
Are they diametrically opposed to what I believe in?
Are they assholes about it?
Are they inebriated?
Are they in need of medical assistance not caused by self-destructive conditions (over-eating, inebriation, etc)?
Can I distract them with pornography, shiny objects, and/or flatulence?
Can I ignore them?

May Robert Novak's Infernal Torment Be Epic

As recent visitors to my little corner of the blogverse have seen, I am a vegan. I love to cook, and I have a deep abiding respect and awe for nature's majestic beauty. This does not mean that I am incapable of hatred.

For as long as I have lived in Bethesda, I have had to endure a smarmy group of Washingtonian gasbag pundits known as "The McLaughlin Group," a roundtable discussion of hot button topics in the news from columnists inside the Capital Beltway. The group is led by John McLaughlin, a Jesuit who left his order to become a speech writer and advisor to US President Richard M. Nixon. He also supported the Vietnam War. There were many McLaughlin Group alums I'd love to see tortured in extremely criminal and pornographic ways. Charles Krauthammer, Carl Rowan, and Republican homunculus Pat Buchanan should all be assraped for a very long time, but Robert Novak? Whoo boy, where to begin?

I don't care if he died after brain cancer. Whoopee-fucking-doo for him. Boo hoo for his family. He was speeding in his Corvette when he ran over an 86-year old pedestrian. He tried his damnedest to get away, but a civic-minded bicyclist prevented him from getting away until the cops came. He outed Valerie Plame, a CIA deep cover operative after her husband, a US Ambassador, bitched about Bush Administration policy. His dirty tricks back in the 1972 US Presidential election cost George McGovern the election, and it gave us more Nixon, more Vietnam, and oh yeah - WATERGATE.

According to Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, the lowest part of Hell, the 9th Circle is reserved for traitors to their family, their country, their guests, and to God in that order. I hope that Robert Novak enjoys eternity in the 9th Circle of Hell. He fucking well deserves it.

Osu, Zombie Sensei!

I almost wish I could understand what was going on, but I'm not screwing with art.

Vegan Organic Ginger Lemon Pancakes

I got the idea for this from my girlfriend's reaction to part of this recipe. She really liked the coating on the fried tofu, and I thought it had been a long time since I had pancakes, so I thought to cobble something together.

1/2 cup organic cornmeal
1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup organic sucanat
1 cup organic vanilla soy yoghurt
Juice & pulp from 1 large organic lemon
Organic ginger (to taste)
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Grate some ginger in (not a lot - maybe 1/2 tbsp at the least), and add the lemon juice & pulp. Mix in the yoghurt and a little oil.

Add some oil to a non-stick frying pan. I know, it sounds redundant, but I rarely trust non-stick pans when it comes to pancakes, and the oil makes the pancakes crispier. Heat up the frying pan and add some batter. You'll more than likely have to spread the batter out in the pan. Flip the pancake with a spatula once the edges get crispy and bubbles start to appear.

This recipe makes 4 big ass "You better do some friggin' road time to burn these off" size pancakes. Serve with vegan soy butter and syrup.