Ch-Ch-Ch…Retch!

It’s been a helluva fantastic summer…and we’re only halfway through it!  So far, I’ve sold my house in record time and at a great price!  I’ve taught two college classes.  I’ve moved all my belongings into storage.   I’ve vacationed in the Wisconsin Dells and Door County with JoDee and her family.  I’ve similarly spent three days relaxing and grading papers overlooking a northern Wisconsin lake.  But probably the biggest adventure was a 5-day backpacking trip in Isle Royale National Park, a remote island located 54 miles into Lake Superior from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Isle Royale is a phenomenal place, so let me take a moment to make a plug for this untouched piece of American wilderness.  If you’ve ever truly wanted to just get away….no email, no phone, no cars, and almost no people….a vacation to Isle Royale might just be on the ticket.  Of course, you also need to love backpacking or canoeing, rustic camping with no showers, and eating freeze-dried food during your breaks from the 8-13 miles of hiking up and down ridgelines with scenic overviews.  Oh yeah, and you need to be willing to share the island with wolves, moose, fox, and be awakened repeatedly throughout the night by the shrill screams of loons.

Well, for me, that was EXACTLY what I was seeking!  So, with a good friend, I headed north for just such an adventure.  And what an adventure it was!

From a solo backpacking trip last summer (that, you may recall, immediately preceded my 2-week hospital stay), I did have two remaining meals.  Both, interestingly, were vegan.  I hadn’t chosen them because of that, to be sure.  That was, after all, before I began Sliding Vegan.  But I had them, so into my backpack I threw them this year….Louisiana Red Beans & Rice and Katmandu Curry, both from Backpacker’s Pantry (by far my now favorite vendor!).

To round out my food stores for this trek, I did a bit of research online about the types of freeze-dried foods available to us vegan backpackers.  Most of the pre-packaged meals, not surprisingly, consisted of all varieties of meat, cheese, and egg entrees.  But I did find a couple specialty providers who proudly marketed their vegan delicacies.  So, I choose one….quite honestly, because I could order most of what I wanted from one site.  Oops….Mistake #1.

So, the company from which I chose most of my meals was a great outfit called Outdoor Herbivore, LLC.  I found a Quinoa “Cheddar” Mac, a Blackened Quinoa, various oatmeal packets, and….woo hoo!….TONS of vegan desserts!  Yep, you heard me right!  Desserts of all varieties…Coconut Chia Peel, Appleachia, Chocococochia, Ginger Chia Gooey!  In fact, I probably went a bit crazy with my sweet breakfasts and desserts…..Mistake #2.

You see….if you spot a similarity in all my dessert choices, you’re probably more on the ball that I was.  Yep….Chia.  Now my only real knowledge of this protein-packed seed comes from the 1980s commercials for ChiaPets.  But if it was protein rich (21%) and I was headed out on a rigorous backpacking trip, that sounded like just what I needed.  And in conjunction with various apple, raisin, date, and chocolate flavors, how could you go wrong?  As breakfast or after dinner dessert, that sounds good, huh? Nope. Wrong….Mistake #3.

Anyone care to guess what happens when you add water to chia seeds?  Here’s a hint….again, think back to the ChiaPets.  Remember how in the commercial the seeds would be spread across the various ceramic molds?  It sort of stuck to the ceramic sheep, didn’t it?  Well, yes, that’s because chia, when exposed to water create a sticky, translucent gel….And while it may be great for fast-growing novelty plants, it’s not so hot as a dessert staple. (Gagging, retching sound!)

Three strike and you’re out, right?  Well, the meal situation on Isle Royale wasn’t a disaster.  Thankfully, I had planned five meals for four days (a safety measure in case I found myself stuck on the island for most than my planned length).  I shifted the Blackened Quinoa dinner to a breakfast (in fact, probably my favorite breakfast of the entire trip!).  And in fact, the freeze-dried meals provided enough food for 2-3 servings, rendering me too full for desserts most evenings anyway.

So, it all worked out okay, other than carrying around extraneous weight for several days.  And when we ran into a group on day three who were running short on food themselves (they had apparently mistakenly eaten too much of something earlier on their 14-day trip), I gladly offered up my packaged, rejected meals.  They thanked us profusely for this generosity….

But, I can’t help but wonder if they were similarly grateful when they eventually reconstituted the gelatinous goo……Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!!

Stuffed Mushrooms….Just WOW!

Pained grimaces.  Faux retching. Disgusted shock.  These are many of the faces that greet the news that I’m eating vegan these days.  Many of you will know exactly what I’m describing….the rest are probably nodding and thinking, “Yep, that’s pretty much how I’d react.”

One of the reasons for this blog, besides just being a literary outlet for writing habit I’ve developed over the past decade or so, is to share some of the wonderful vegan meals I’ve begun to experience.  Just as I’ve said before, the goal isn’t simply to make vegan food, but rather to make food vegan.  As such, here’s the first of many recipes you’ve just GOT to try, whether or not you’re vegan.

But first, let me describe the circumstances around this particular choice…..

December for me is truly the holiday month, complete with both birthday and Christmas.  And despite my sometimes humorous and consistently resistant attitudes of my kids, they surprised me with three new cookbooks, two of the vegan and the other vegetarian (Fresh and Fast Vegan, Big Vegan, and Meatless Meals for Meat Eaters).  Nine days later, I received under the tree Vegan Cooking for Carnivores among a wonderful package of cooking tools and accoutrements.  What an adventure to dive into these culinary pathways!

I’ve tried numerous recipes from each of the cookbooks, and every dish I’ve created has been wonderful….no seriously, it’s true, except for perhaps one muffin recipe that needs a little tweaking (they were good, just not spectacular).

So, along with Vegan Cooking for Carnivores, a cookbook by Roberto Martin, the personal chef to Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres, it’s from that recipe that this first recipe was discovered…..a delectable appetizer, Stuffed Mushrooms:

Ingredients:

• 30 small to medium white button or cremini mushrooms, general rubbed with a kitchen towel until clean
• One 8-ounce package sliced button mushrooms
• 2 Field Roast Italian Sausage or other good-quality vegan sausage
• 1 tablespoon high-heat oil such as safflower or grapeseed oild
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch fresh chives, minced
• 5 ounces vegan Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese, grated (preferably Follow Your Heart brand)

Instructions:

• Preheat the over to 420 degrees.
• Remove the stem from each mushroom and reserve the stems in a bowl.  Using a small melon baller, gently scoop out some of the center of each mushroom to increase its capacity.  Reserve the trimmings, with the stems in the bowl.
• Roughly chop the vegan sausage and pulse it in a food processor until ground.  Add the sliced mushrooms and the reserved stems and trimmings and pulse with the sausage until the mushrooms are minced.
• Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, add the old, and wait until it shimmers. Add the mushroom-sausage mixture and saute until the mushroom liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are lightly browned.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and allow it to cool.
• Stir in the minced chives and vegan Monterey Jack or mozzarella.  Fill each mushroom cap with the mixture until full and slightly rounded on top.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until hot.  Serve immediately.

MAKES 30 STUFFED MUSHROOMS

We actually stuffed only 15 mushrooms, thinking we’d never finish them all…..10 mins later…..None left! 🙂

*Note: The picture above is from the actual cookbook, and here is the homemade presentation!  Phenomenal!