Long beans | Eggy tofu on toast | Orange-mango smoothie

Madison has a fantastic, award-winning farmers market that covers both sides of the four long stretches of sidewalk that circumnavigates the State Capitol grounds. When our kids were young, it was a Saturday morning ritual for our family to trek to the market by 8:30 a.m. to avoid the huge crowds of the later morning, and buy veggies. We always ran into people we knew, and the excursion was as much a social as a shopping venture. After the market we'd head to the Civic Center for a free Kids in the Crossroads theater performance.

The market has only increased in popularity over the years, and now it seems even 7 a.m. is too late to avoid the masses. So we now shop at one of the many smaller markets that have sprung up all over the city. The west-side market we frequent is in a parking lot, but what it lacks in scenic charm is made up for with convenience and great vendors, many of whom sell organic produce. We were at the market on Saturday when I saw something I'd not seen before at the market.

Madison is home to a large population of Hmong families, and many of these transplanted citizens have continued their family heritage of farming, selling their wares at local markets. In addition to typical veggies familiar to Mid-Westerners, they often sell more unusual Asian vegetables, and as we walked along the row of market stalls, I excitedly rushed up to one that had bunches of long beans. The smiling vendor asked if I'd ever had them, and I said yes, but I'd never seen them at the market before. He laughed, and said that's because most people wouldn't know what they were! I bought a big bunch for dinner. As we walked the rest of the market I found Yellow Finn potatoes, and Anaheim peppers that drew me in with their fragrance. I started cooking a dish in my head, and really looking forward to dinner. My resulting long bean dish is not authentic Asian fair, but a yummy concoction of what I felt like eating, with Asian influences. You could make this with regular green beans if you're not lucky enough to find long beans at your local Asian market. When cooked, long beans are a little chewier and firmer than green beans, but still tender.

Long beans with tofu, potatoes and peppers

• 1/2 of a 14 oz. pkg. extra-firm tofu, sliced into small slabs
• 2 med. yellow potatoes, 3/4-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup low-sodium veg. broth or water
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• oil (1 tablespoon or less)
• 1 bunch long beans, ends removed, chopped into 2-inch lengths
• 1 green Anaheim pepper, chopped
• 2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 to 3 teaspoons Sambal Oelek, or red curry paste
• 1 to 3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon natural sugar
• juice of 1/2 lime
• crushed roasted peanuts

1. Place the potatoes and stock in a large wok. Lay the tofu on top of the potatoes. Cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender but still firm. Remove to a plate, scraping out all the stuck on bits with a spatula. (The stock will have evaporated.)
2. In a small amount of oil, cook the garlic in the wok. When it starts to turn golden, add the beans and pepper, and stir-fry a few minutes until the beans are crisp-tender.
3. Add the potatoes and tofu, tomatoes, sambal, soy sauce and sugar, and stir-fry a minute or two until the tomatoes are hot. Check seasonings.
4. Mix in the lime juice and place in a serving bowl. Sprinkle with peanuts.
5. If desired, pass small bowls of chopped cilantro, chopped parsley and extra peanuts at the table.

lunch, the next day with additional tomatoes and hot sauce

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The green Owl revisited

Angel food cake: photo by Betsy Haynes

In the short time we've been visiting Madison, we've been to The Green Owl four times! Yes, we like it there, but it's also the only vegetarian/vegan restaurant in town, and everyone wants to go there with us, because, you know, we're vegan. Every time we go we try something different, and this was the case last week when we went for our third visit.

Macro plate: photo by Betsy Haynes

I was feeling kind of overfed, from all the eating out we've been doing, and wanted a simple meal, so I chose the Basics Plate, a macrobiotic supper of kidney beans, brown rice, and steamed kale topped with lemon-miso-tahini sauce. It was just what I wanted and I really enjoyed it.

Lava cake: photo by Betsy Haynes

But then I was tempted by dessert. My friend Betsy ordered the vegan angel food cake with raspberry sauce, and I got chocolate lava cake. The vegan angel food cake falls into the "how did they DO that?" category for its uncanny resemblance to regular angel food cake. My dessert was yummy but not so startling as the cake. I would love to have the recipe for the angel food cake, just so I could see what was in it! READ ON.

GUESS WHAT: Sadly, the angel food cake eaten by my vegetarian (but not vegan) friend wasn't vegan after all. Well that explains why it was so real, and also lets me off the hook trying to reproduce it. I received a very apologetic note from Jenny Capellaro, the Green Owl's owner, who was very upset that we had somehow gotten the impression that the cake was vegan. She really intends that people avoiding all animal products can feel safe eating in her restaurant.

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What else are we eating?
I was tempted to make vegan fried eggs, à la Zoa, for dinner, but realized that with the limited "vacation pantry" we're working with, that wasn't possible. I don't have vegan mayo or Earth Balance, nor do I have a food processor. So I opted for just the "white" of the egg, made from plain sauteed tofu finished with Indian black salt (kala namak). I placed it over avocado on lightly-toasted sourdough bread. It tasted so much like egg, with the richness of the avocado subbing for the yolk, it was kind of freaky. With the addition of steamed broccoli from the farmers market, and a cucumber and tomato salad, it made a satisfying light supper for a hot evening.

Thanks to our recent tenant, our garden is bursting with tomatoes, and there's parsley and basil growing in pots on the deck. My husband jokes that everything we make has to have tomatoes, so I made a salad with sweet English cukes from the farmers market and tons of yellow and red cherry tomatoes from the garden, plus parsley and basil. The veggies are so fresh and flavorful they need only the tiniest bit of simple dressing.