A monthly newsletter featuring easy recipes, healthy food tips, reviews, and more
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Don’t forget! You can print out this newsletter (about 7 pages)—and take it from my kitchen to yours. If you enjoy this newsletter, forward it to a friend!
Artisan Emporia — Empowering artisans through fair trade — Visit our global marketplace for quality gifts from Asia, Africa, and South America. We feature fair trade jewelry, handbags, scarves and accessories, home and bath items, gift baskets and more, direct from the hands that crafted them. For unique gifts for summer celebrations, visit Artisan Emporia.
A note from Nava: My nephew, David Atlas, a partner in Artisan, just left for a two-month journey to Southeast Asia to meet with the craftspeople whose work is featured on Artisan. What makes this venture so extraordinary is that David has taken the time to meet so many of them and features their stories here on Learn About the Artisans. What I love is that so many of these small craft businesses are women-owned, and by distributing their products and opening new markets for them, Artisan contributes to the independence and quality of life of female artisans around the world.
Going places this summer? Books on food and health make great gifts to give those you are visiting. Shop the Vegetarian and Vegan Bookshop for a wealth of worthy books.
So far, this rainy summer in the Hudson Valley has inspired more warm foods than cold, but I trust that there will be plenty of hot days ahead. On those occasions, I love to make cold soups. The following soups are from Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons and the salads they’re paired with are from Vegan Express.
Think of this no-cook soup as a Thai-flavored gazpacho. It’s best with really lush summer tomatoes. Serve with a cold noodle dish for a quick summer meal.
Combine all ingredients except the last 2 in a serving container. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two, until chilled.
Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve, topping each serving with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, if desired.
This spicy, nutty salad is an amalgam of Indonesian and Thai-influenced ingredients and seasonings.
Cook the noodles in plenty of rapidly simmering water until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water, then drain well again.
Cut the tempeh into 1/2-inch dice. Slowly heat the oil and soy sauce together in a wide skillet. Add the tempeh dice and sauté over medium heat, stirring frequently, until nicely browned and crisp. Sprinkle lightly with chili powder and remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and carrots in a large saucepan with about 1/2 inch of water until just tender-crisp. Drain and rinse under cool water, then drain well again.
Combine the noodles, broccoli, and carrots in a serving container. Add the tempeh, scallions, cilantro, and optional peanuts. Pour in the satay sauce and lime juice, toss well, and serve.
This refreshing cold soup is one that I often serve to summer company.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until golden.
Add the carrot and a small amount of water, just enough to keep the bottom of the skillet moist. Cover and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue to cook, covered, until the carrot and zucchini are tender but not overdone, about 3 minutes longer. Uncover and set aside until needed.
Combine the tofu, half of the beans, the parsley, and 1 cup of the rice milk in a food processor. Process until smoothly pureed.
Transfer the puree to a serving container. Stir in the carrot and zucchini mixture, the remaining beans, and enough additional rice milk to give the soup a flowing, medium-thick consistency. Stir in the curry and dill, then season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Allow the soup to stand for an hour or so to allow the flavors to blend, then serve at room temperature. Or refrigerate the soup for an hour or two and serve chilled.
This may look fancy, but it’s so easy to make. The pleasing presentation makes it a good salad to impress company with, as well as to bring to potlucks.
Microwave the sweet potato and white potatoes separately until done but still nice and firm. Start with 3 minutes, then test. When done, plunge into a bowl of cold water when done.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into dice. Combine in a mixing bowl with vinaigrette; season with salt and pepper.
Line a large serving platter with the greens. Mound the potato mixture in the center.
Scatter the tomatoes and avocado around the perimeter of the salad. Top the potato mixture with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds. Serve at once; pass around additional vinaigrette as desired.
This past month, Secret Recipes was featured in several enjoyable and generous blog reviews:
Moms Without Blogs: A smorgasbord of wit and wisdom from Nava Atlas. To quote this lively review by Em: I cannot recommend “Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife” enough. Maybe it’s because I speak sarcasm and snark quite fluently …
The Zen of Motherhood: “I giggled my way through it in a bubble bath. I think the humor will hit home for every wife that has been overtired, overstressed, and over all the fairy tales of marriage. And, the art is just amazing!”
The Mouthy Housewives: The Perfect Recipes for the Modern Wife. Check out those reader “recipes”—yikes!
Diary of a Mod Housewife — which came up with my publisher’s favorite line: “think Amy Sedaris meets Betty Crocker”
Nicola Knits: A thorough review with just the kind of finale I like: “A recommended read and an excellent gift for your female friends.”
If you had joined me on Facebook in June, you would have gotten links to: posts on my new site, Dear Literary Ladies (see below!), my recipe collection on Cookstr, and to my new altered romance comics on Modern Romance Comix. You would have also been invited to my two readings in the Hudson Valley, and seen an appetizing photo of my Baked Chickpea Burger recipe, featured on Vegetarian Women. And more!
So now that I’m a 3-month veteran of social media, I’ve temporarily signed off from Twitter, but I find Facebook a convenient, easy, and fun way to keep in touch with readers between newsletters. I appreciate all the comments and enjoy this interaction immensely. So please—join me on Facebook!
I’ve been nominated (I think this is the second year in a row) as Favorite Cookbook Author as part of VegNews’ 2009 Veggie Awards, “the world’s largest survey of vegetarian people, products, and places. Last year, 30,000 readers cast their vote, and this year that number is expected to reach 40,000. Voting starts July 1 and ends July 31.” Here’s a direct link to the survey.
Yes, of course I’d love it if you vote for me but I would be shocked if the super-talented Isa Chandra Moskowitz didn’t win. I got her Vegan Brunch this past month, and just reading the recipes makes me swoon. I’ll try to review it in the next few months.
Dear Literary Ladies is my newest web site/blog. It went up in early June as a way to build interest in a book I’m developing that’s related to its content. The idea is that I pose the universal questions on writing and the writers’ life, and these renowned authors answer in their own words. We’ve already heard from Louisa May Alcott, Anais Nin, Colette, Agatha Christie, and others.
I’ve been taken by surprise by how quickly this site has been gaining an audience, though maybe I shouldn’t be. So many of us love to write, and the advice of these Literary Ladies is timeless. Please visit Dear Literary Ladies — share it with your friends, link it to your site or blog, and above all, comment!
I’m pleased to let my readers know about Cathe Olson’s new book, Lick It!, a comprehensive guide to making vegan ice cream at home. In a lively, beautifully designed format, Cathe offers up an array of the most luscious, imaginative ice cream treats as well as the classics that everyone loves, all in dairy-free versions. It’s an unusual enough subject that I thought it warranted a few answers directly from Cathe.
This is a bit of a devil’s advocate question. What are the advantages of making nondairy ice cream at home, when commercial nondairy ice creams are so readily available, and usually very good?
When I stopped eating dairy, I tried the nondairy ice creams on the market. None of them had the rich creaminess I had experienced in dairy ice creams. There also wasn’t a large variety of flavors — I wanted all my favorites that I’d loved growing up like pistachio, Rum Raisin, chocolate chip cookie dough, and butterscotch ripple. Though the nondairy ice creams are getting better and more flavors are available, many of them have ingredients I’d prefer not to eat like transfats or artificial flavors—plus they are super expensive. A pint at my healthy food store costs about $8! I also prefer homemade ice cream because I can control the amount of sweetener and use fresh local ingredients. There’s really nothing like the taste of ice cream fresh from the machine.
You are obviously an ice cream expert, and your enthusiasm for the subject is apparent, too. What inspired you to produce this book?
I have always loved ice cream. I worked at an ice cream parlor all through school and when I began my working career I used to have a dish of mint chip for breakfast every morning (not that I’m recommending that!) I’m not that much into sweets but when I want to indulge, it’s usually ice cream I crave. When I stopped eating dairy, ice cream was the hardest thing for me to give up. I started making these nondairy ice creams and serving them to family and friends. Almost everyone that visited me went home and bought an ice cream maker and asked for my recipes. I figured there must be a lot of people out there who wanted rich, creamy nondairy ice creams so the idea for the book was born.
If someone wants to make the plunge and purchase an ice cream maker, what would you recommend? Any particular brands? I know you probably didn’t want to play favorites in the book, but in this newsletter, we can be more specific unless you prefer not to. And what price range would yield a good, durable machine?
I love the ice cream makers that come with gel-filled canisters that you keep in your freezer. They’re so easy because there’s no messing with salt and ice and the prices are usually between $30 and $50. When it comes to kitchen appliances, I typically go for Cuisinart or Kitchenaid because they are usually of good quality. I have two Cuisinart 1.5 quart ice cream makers and they both work great.
Note from Nava: if you’re tempted, like I am, to try homemade ice cream, the Cuisinart is available on Amazon.com for a very reasonable price.
Could you recommend a couple of favorite recipes, especially for people who are beginners at making ice cream at home?
A few tips for beginners:
Make sure the ice cream base is cold before freezing in the ice cream maker or it will not freeze firmly enough. If your ingredients have not been pre-chilled, chill the ice cream base in the refrigerator for several hours or in the freezer for an hour before freezing.
When you use an ice cream maker with a gel canister, make sure the canister is completely frozen before you freeze the ice cream. Depending on the temperature of your freezer, it can take eight to twenty-two hours for a gel canister to freeze completely. Shake the canister to determine whether it is completely frozen. If you hear liquid moving, it is not ready. Have the ice cream maker set up and all ingredients and equipment ready before you remove the gel canister from the freezer, as it will defrost quickly.
The sweetness of fruit can vary. Taste your ice cream base before freezing to see if it is sweet enough. Keep in mind that that the ice cream will be slightly less sweet after it is frozen because of the formation of ice crystals during the freezing process.
I love making frozen yogurts; they’re quick, easy, healthy and my kids’ favorite. Just like the sweetness of fruit can vary, so can the sweetness of yogurts. Taste the base and see if you need the additional sweetener.
Combine the yogurt and strawberries in a blender and process until smooth. Sweeten with the sugar to taste, if needed. If your ingredients were cold, the yogurt may be frozen immediately; otherwise, chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
This recipe is a little more involved than the frozen yogurt but really the prep time is only about 10 or 15 minutes. This ice cream is rich, creamy, smooth, and very chocolaty—my personal favorite!
Combine the soymilk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan and whisk until smooth. Warm on medium heat until the soymilk begins to simmer. Remove from the heat.
Put the dark and semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the hot soymilk mixture over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Whisk in the coconut milk and vanilla extract. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love is published by The Book Publishing Company. Cathe Olson is also the author of The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook and Simply Natural Baby Foods.
A most useful article on VegKitchen for your July celebrations and meals: Vegetarian Barbecue, where you’ll find:
And as summer wears on, you’ll find lots of warm-weather recipes here:
Stay cool and dry, eat lots of fresh local food. Have a wonderful summer, that longed-for time of year that invariably is too hot, too rainy, or too busy.
Nava
Nava Atlas
In a Vegetarian Kitchen
My new book!
Dear Literary Ladies
Modern Romance Comix
A Long Way, Maybe
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