Can tofu be succulent?

Tofu secuwa

While it may be true that Madison, Wis. officially only has one vegetarian restaurant, there is no lack of dining opportunity for vegetarians and vegans in Mad City. As if to prove that point, Dave, the coordinator of the Madison area vegetarian meetup group, is forever arranging fab vegan meals at area restaurants. And I believe one of the great byproducts of these outings is a greater understanding on the part of the restaurants, of how to prepare vegan meals, making them even more vegan-friendly than before. (Thank you, Dave!)


Could that be Dave, in the red shirt?

We attended a recent meetup dining event at Chautara, an Indian, Tibetan, Nepali restaurant on State St., and one of our favorites. There were 50 people at the event, and so much interest in attending, that a second night had to be arranged.



The meal started with a generous platter of pakauda, which are deep fried vegetable fritters in chickpea batter. These were so tasty that I ate way too many. Way too many — and I'd do it again.



Next we had a choice of soup or garden salad, and I chose the latter. It was fresh and tangy.



Dave chose the dal, a mixed bean soup which looked and smelled delicious but I forgot to ask how it tasted. (Actually, I think I know how it tasted having ordered it myself many times in the past. It probably tasted great.)



There were three entrées. Above you see seitan buff, a sauté of seitan and vegetables with garlic, ginger and tamari.



Pictured at the top of the post, and directly above, is tofu secuwa, skewered char-grilled, marinated tofu with green peppers and onions. Succulent is the word that comes to mind when I think about the taste and appearance of this dish. Can tofu be succulent? I'd have to say yes, but if you don't agree, order tofu secuwa at Chautara next time you're in Madison.



The last entrée was bhat tarkari, delicious and delicate chickpeas and vegetables in a flavorful sauce served with white jasmine rice.



To end the meal we were presented with a delicious fresh fruit salad. The meal came with a choice of lemonade, iced mint tea or water, and everything except the seitan and pakauda was gluten-free.

A few of the happy diners at my table.

If you live in the Madison area, I recommend joining the Madison area vegetarian meetup group and attending a monthly event. You'll have a great time, a great meal, and maybe make some new friends. But if you're just visiting the city for a short stay, and looking for a place to eat, try Chautara or its sister restaurant, Himal Chuli.

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New cruelty-free cosmetics website

By Elizabeth Castoria

Compassionate consumers looking to stock up on cruelty-free cosmetics now have a new shopping option. Vegan Beauty Market, an online store owned and operated by Kelly Merkel, a vegan who became frustrated by the lack of a one-stop shop for cosmetics, offers customers everything from hair care to make up to sunscreen, and more. "Choosing beauty products that are completely cruelty-free should be fun and convenient. Now vegans have a central place to find amazing products for enhancing their everyday beauty," says Merkel. A portion of the store's proceeds will be donated to environmental and animal-rights causes.

Full disclosure: I am linking to this site as an informational service, and am not connected to it in any way, nor do I personally endorse the products or profit from their sale.

Spanish potato tortilla (gluten-free)

I bookmarked a recipe for a Spanish potato-filled tortilla quite a while ago because it looked so mouthwatering, and when I finally got around to trying it this week, I was delighted with the results. So delighted in fact, that most of the half of my tortilla I was planning to save for lunch went into my stomach instead, and I had to make it again the next day, because having it just once wasn't enough.

Since I'm living in my Wisconsin house only for the summer, I don't have a complete pantry, and don't want to duplicate all the stuff I have in Seattle, which leaves me with a limited selection of what are usually pantry staples, like granulated onion and garlic, and nutritional yeast. So, I had to make some changes to the recipe. But this recipe is ripe for changes, as its creator, River from Wing it Vegan, mentions in her post.


Cooking the tortilla on the first side.

Instead of using onion and garlic powders, I sautéed half of a chopped large onion, and a chopped large clove of fresh garlic, and left out the yeast. I baked my potato in a toaster oven instead of a microwave, and instead of cornstarch I used arrowroot powder. (I'll probably use potato starch once I get back to my main supplies.) Other than these few alterations I pretty much followed River's directions. I cooked my first tortilla in a non-stick pan as recommended in the recipe, and it worked perfectly. The second day (tortilla not pictured beause it looked pretty much the same as the first, and anyway, I ate it) I used my trusty and very well-seasoned flat bottom wok, because non-stick pans make me a little nervous. It wasn't quite as easy to flip the tortilla, but not too bad.


The flipped tortilla cooking on the second side.

The second day I was out of potatoes, so I used 3/4 cup chopped broccoli, four sliced baby bella mushrooms and half a chopped jalapeño along with the onion and garlic. I had so much filling, and a slightly small cooking surface, that I ended up making two tortillas. With a big salad and a vegetable, the two tortillas should probably serve two as a light supper. Or — ahem, cough cough — maybe only one. This fabulous recipe, which I recommend you try ASAP, is gluten-free.


All that was left of the first tortilla, requiring me to make
another one (two actually) the next day.

I think the tortilla would be wonderful with chopped green onions and turmeric added. You can find the scrumptious recipe here.

This recipe has been entered in the Bookmarked Recipes challenge hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. Ruth from Ruth's Kitchen Experiments is the founder of the challenge.

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Here are some completely gratuitous photos of Miss E running to meet her mom at the finish line of her mom's first marathon. They were taken by Miss E's dad and used without permission. ;)

Mad City Vegan Fest

Yesterday I attended the first ever Madison Vegan Fest, and it was a great success. In fact, the organizers were very surprised at the astounding turnout. I volunteered to take some photos, and when I arrived around noon, I was pretty overwhelmed by the packed venue and the difficulty of getting near the vendors and samples. I knew something was up when I had to park four blocks away, but was still taken aback by the huge crowd. One of the organizers told me they'd had to turn away vendors due to space constraints, and next year's fest will definitely move to larger quarters.



I'd say Madison has come a long way as a vegan-friendly city over the past 10 years. Madison's vegan-friendliness can seem hidden to the casual visitor; for example, there are only a few explicitly vegetarian/vegan businesses. There's exactly one vegan/vegetarian restaurant, one coffee house, one food cart, etc. I've never had trouble dining in restaurants here since there are so many establishments that offer vegan-friendly menu choices, but to the uninitiated, it can appear limited. The biggest change I'm seeing is the establishment of a larger vegan community presence. The strong veg meetup group is one example of the growing vegan community. And new businesses selling vegan goods, like a regular bakery (check out the menu at Bloom) that also offers vegan and gluten-free delights, are another. I think it's pretty great that an event like Vegan Fest has finally happened in Mad City!

In addition to taking photos, I also sampled some of the food offerings.



Tex Tubb's Taco Palace was sampling chili and homemade chips, and handing out vegan take-out menus from Monty's blue Plate Diner, which is owned by the same group of restaurateurs. Monty's has always been vegan-friendly, but I'd never seen those menus before. Now, in addition to the regular menu, Monty's has gluten-free and vegan menus. Way to go, Monty's! Tex Tubb's is newly vegan friendly.



I tasted some incredible chocolate from Chocolate Inspirations, but unfortunately it went right into my mouth, bypassing the camera lens. It was being handed out by the woman pictured above, who said I was tasting English toffee and chocolate peanut butter. This stuff made my eyebrows lift in appreciative surprise. Fabulous!




Chocolate Inspirations table



I also tried these spectacular cookies from the Whole Foods table. I don't know if they are from the WF bakery or are a packaged brand.



Speaking of bakeries, I tasted samples of vegan, gluten-free cake from Bloom, mentioned above. Although served as little cake squares at Vegan Fest, these are usually in cupcake form at the bakery. They were remarkable — so delicate and light. When I asked how they were able to create such a light and delicious gluten-free product, I was told the secret ingredient was magic. With cake this wonderful, how could I not believe it? In addition to always having vegan and gluten-free cake available, Bloom will create fabulous cakes for special occasions.


Honest Tea samples


Vegan Fest participants taking an Honest Tea break



What would a vegan festival be without Seattle's Field Roast? I felt right at home sampling several different varieties of Field Roast sausages, my favorite being the apple-sage.


A chiropractic check at Vegan Fest



I had my first taste of Sheese, and maybe I just don't like cheese anymore, but it wasn't something I'd choose to eat with a cracker. The spreadable kind in the container tasted pretty good, though. I'd eat that!


Happy Vegan Fest participants.


Filling out a raffle ticket at the Arbonne table


The good people from Alliance for Animals


A table hosted by Monkey Bar Gym



In addition to the sampling and service tables, there were also several food vendors selling delicious vegan food. Plus the event had a full roster of notable speakers including Kelly Peloza, Jasmin Singer, Mariann Sullivan, Terry Hope Romero and others.



So, after I got home, I still had two unopened samples in my bag, just begging to be consumed. You know I never eat junk food like potato chips, right? You don't either, I'm sure. But these were baked chips — so low in fat as to be practically diet food. (Though not exactly diet food.) Yeah. If I'm going to eat chips in the near future, I sure hope these are the ones because they were the best chips I've ever tasted, except for being too salty. But everything tastes too salty to me so I just have to compromise sometimes.




V-dog, and I gave it to my sweet, old dog, who's been turning her nose up at just about everything, lately. She liked it!

Listen to a podcast by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer from Our Hen House about their Madison experience as visitors to the city and speakers at Mad City Vegan Fest.