The Cutting Board Bakery & Cafe, Mesa, AZ

The Cutting Board Bakery & Café Sign

Southeast Mesa welcomes new vegetarian/vegan joint, The Cutting Board Bakery & Café!

The veg café is tucked into a new strip mall in Kiowa Village, just south of Baseline on Power Rd. The Cutting Board Café is open now, but the grand opening is on October 12th. They currently have just a banner sign up, and there's an old sign from the former tenant above their doors, so don't let that confuse you.

This past weekend, I made a last minute stop to check them out and found a very promising place to eat. I can't wait to see them grow into their potential.

I visited right between breakfast and lunch, and so I ordered breakfast, which is very hard for me to resist.

The Cutting Board Service Counter

Right from the start, the Tamari Tofu English Muffin called to me, which is a toasted English muffin with macademia pesto spread, baked tofu, avocado, and tomato slices. It came with a side of fresh melon, I'm not sure what kind. Simple, healthy, and yet still quite tasty. I'd definitely order it again.

Tamari Tofu English Muffin, side of Fresh Melon, Mr. Marley Smoothie

I'm not a coffee person, but I did note they had fancy gourmet coffees, plus things like soy, almond, hemp, and coconut milks, agave nectar and raw cane sugar; and perhaps most importantly, chai lattes, which is what I order when I am not ordering smoothies. This trip I picked a smoothie, and they had tons to choose from, so I tried the Mr. Marley, with pineapple, banana, coconut water, and hemp seed. Very refreshing, and a nice breakfasty choice.

I do wish they had some kind of almond/peanut/nut butter smoothie, but maybe in the future. ::hint, hint!::

Some of the things I'd like to try on return trips: the Santa Monica (kinda like a bread pudding French toast?), Lentil Cabbage Wrap, Olive Tapas, Tacos Duo (with "nutty meat"), Cheesy Mac, and the Seasonal Veggie appetizer with the walnut dill dip (I'm a sucker for dill!). That'll keep me busy.

The Cutting Board Dining Area

Follow them on Facebook for daily lunch specials and regular events, and check out their website, it's got everything you need including the full menu.


The Cutting Board Bakery & Cafe
Ranking: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cutting Board Bakery & Café
2235 S Power Road, Suite 116
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 654-8081
http://cuttingboardcafe.com

Hours
Tuesday - Sunday 7am to 3pm
Closed Mondays




The Cutting Board Front Façade (main doors to the left)



The Cutting Board Bakery & Café (behind the palm tree)

Recipe Round-Up: Une Bûche de Noël Végétalienne / Vegan Yule Log

A couple nights ago my sister emailed this video of the Vegan Black Metal Chef with his recipe for a Vegan Yule Log Cake and asked me to make one for our family dinner. Here's the PC version of the video which was presented by CHOW.com.



As you can see, VBMC's version is super easy to make with a vegan cake box mix, some egg replacer, and a couple jars of store-bought icing and frosting. Simple. But it looks like a glorified German Chocolate Cake to me. And if I'm going to make one of these Yule Logs, I'm going to try something a little more traditional and a little less chocolatey.

I've seen recipes for Yule Logs before but it's been awhile, and to be honest, I was never interested because these things tend to be designed for chocoholics. I like my chocolate in moderation and usually it has to have nuts or crunchies in it.

So I did some google-digging. Bûche de Noël or the Yule Log Cake is a traditional French dessert served around Christmas.

And apparently there are two types of bûche de noël or yule log cakes, a génoise and buttercream version or a frozen yule log. The génoise is like a rolled-up sponge cake layered with icing and topped with a ganache and designed to look like firewood.

The frozen yule log, on the other hand, appears to be a far more complicated French version shaped like a bread pan with layers of biscuit, mousse, ganache, pralines, creme brulee, and icing.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to make a génoise cake, and most of the recipes I found were for that style, but I was able to provide some recipe ideas on the frozen yule log for those of you interested in that one.

Génoise-style
~The Gluttonous Vegan's Christmas Yule Log

~Vegan Good Things' Orange Spice Bûche de Noël with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting & Chocolate Ganache

~Sweet Vegan's Yule Log

~Hasta La Vegan's Chocolate Yule Log

~Végéta-Löu's Bûche Pâtissière/Yule Log (Pear/Chai/Chocolate) (in French and English)

~My Paper Crane's Vegan Peppermint Icebox Yule Log Cake

~The Healthy Voyager's Holiday Yule Log

~Fuck Yeah Vegan Recipes' version of Bryanna Clark Grogan's Basic Holiday Roll

~Inhabitots' Vegan Yule Log Cake

~BORO Magazine's Raw Vegan Yule Log

~Vegan Peace's Yule Log Cookies


Frozen-style
The original non-vegan Yule Log recipe modified by the vegan Daring Bakers.

And here are some of the vegan bloggers that participate in Daring Bakers, their versions, and how the modifications they made.
~Madcap Cupcake
~Vegan Bits
~Musings From the Fishbowl
~Cooking at the Pacific Outpost


If you decide to make a Yule Log, post a comment and link to any photos and tell us about it!

EAT MORE KALE! Mesquite-Avocado Kale Salad

Maybe you're still not sure about kale. Maybe you tried it and didn't like it. Maybe this recipe from Heather of HealthyVeganRecipes.net with fix everything for you!

And maybe you just need to try mesquite powder.

No cooking necessary. Light and perfect for summer.





Recipe at: One Green Planet (dot) Org

Recipe Round-Up: Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

Today is National Macaroni Day. Mac 'n' Cheese is probably the most popular way to use macaroni noodles. Good vegan Mac 'n' Cheese recipes used to be but a dream, but now there are many fantastic and inspired vegan recipes out there. I've gathered quite a bunch including some gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, grain-free, paleo, and raw vegan options. Some are baked, some are more traditional, some use nutritional yeast, or cashews, or Daiya shreds. Do some browsing and see which ones catch your eye.

The Recipes!

Cooking with the Vegan Zombie: Vegan Mac & Cheese


*Green's Chef Damon Brasch Vegan Mac-n-(Cashew-Cheddar)-Cheese

*Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's Easy Macaroni and Cheeze and Baked Macaroni and Cheese

*Happy Herbivore's Soy-Free Mac n' Cheese

*Chef Chloe's Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese

*Vegan Housewives' Southern Baked Mac & Cheese

*That Was Vegan?'s Cauliflower n' Cheese

*The Wannabe Chef's Gluten-Free Vegan Mac n Cheese

*Vegan Dad's Creamy Mac and Cheeze

*Post Punk Kitchen's Mac & Shews and Sunflower Mac

*VegWeb's No-Nooch, No-Tofu, Excellent Mac 'n' Cheese

*Happy Healthy Life's Fake-Out Mac 'n Cheese, Baked Dill Mac n Chreese (with spicy sausage), and Easy Mac n Cheese

*The Gluten Free Vegan's Mac & Cheese

*Manifest Vegan's Vegan Mac & Cheese

*Seitan Beats Your Meat's Jalapeno Mac n Cheese

*Allison Rivers Samson's Vegan Macaroni & Cheese (via VegNews)

*Cheeky Kitchen's Creamy (Vegan) Mac & Cheese

*Glutenfree Goddess' Best Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese

*Vegan Yack Attack's Mexican Macaroni & Cheeze

*The Noochy Noodle's Mac n’ Quiche With Caramelized Onions, Spinach and Smoky Curls

*My Darling Lemon Thyme's Roast Tomato and Thyme Macaroni 'Cheese'

*Vegetarian Times' Mac and Cheese

*Aylin Erman's Whole Wheat Macaroni and Sweet Potato Cheese (via EcoSalon)

*The Paleo Mama's Paleo Mac n Cheese

*Olives for Dinner's Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

*Get Sconed!'s Smokey Baked Mac n Cheese

*The Spunky Coconut's Butternut Mac-n-Cheese

*Vegan Yum Yum's Mac & Cheeze and Mac & Cheeze (Take 2)


*****************

Some Mac-n-Cheese recipes from popular vegan cookbooks that you might have handy (these are from the cookbooks I have handy):

Mac Daddy from Veganomicon
Mac and Trees from Appetite for Reduction
Baked Mac and Cheeze from Vegan Yum Yum
Claire’s Macaroni and “Cheeze” from La Dolce Vegan

The Noochy Noodle has a more thorough blog post on vegan Mac 'n' Cheese recipes in cookbooks, and a whole blog dedicated to vegan Mac 'n' Cheese, as a matter of fact.

*****************

Too hot? Don't feel like cooking? Restaurants!

Pomegranate Cafe has a Southwestern Mac & Cheese.

Green's Mac-n-Cheese isn't on the regular menu, but Chef Damon often offers it up as a special. Join the Green Facebook group or follow Green on Twitter for notices on specials.

Or if you are lucky enough to be in the area, Peta has a list of the top 5 vegan Mac-n-Cheese dishes at restaurants in the U.S.

*****************

Or you can always try one of these frozen meals.

I prefer the Amy's, but the Candle Cafe is pretty good too.

Candle Cafe's Macaroni & Vegan Cheese

Amy's Dairy Free Rice Macaroni & Cheeze

*****************

And, lastly, here are a couple of 'cooking' videos for raw vegan Mac 'n' Cheese.

Corin Stephenson's Raw Vegan Mac 'n' Cheez


Mrs. Leafy Greens' Raw Vegan "Macaroni and Cheese"

Eating Vegan from Vending Machines

I've been meaning to do a post on how to eat vegan out of vending machines, because sometimes you just don't have a choice. But after a recent discovery, I have to tackle it a little differently than originally planned. Because, first, you have your generic junk foody vending machine, and then you have your healthy food vending machine!

Generic junk food vending machines often have accidentally vegan items.

Some common vegan options:

~plain salted nuts- usually your options are peanuts or cashews, most of the flavored nuts are not vegan
~classic potato chips- almost all big name brand plain potato chips are simply salt, oil, and potatoes

~Oreos- regular oreos, the cakey ones are not vegan
~Nutter Butters
~Snyder's of Hanover Pretzels
~Twizzler's Strawberry Licorice

It's not much, but it's something.

~~~

But then I recently came across the 2bu vending machine. This thing is wicked cool, and vegan, healthy food friendly. Mind blown!

Here's how it works. The 2bu Healthy Vending machine has a digital screen where you can review the ingredients and dietary information of every single item in the machine. In addition to that, you can see complete lists of all the items that are vegan, organic, gluten-free, or kosher. They source local items when they can, and they're Energy-Star rated with motion sensors for all the lighting.

The 2bu website says all of their snacks meet their standards of:
• All-natural ingredients
• More whole-grain selections
• No preservatives or artificial ingredients, flavors or sweeteners
• No trans-fats


You know what this means, right? I don't have to tell you what should be vegan in the 2bu Healthy Vending machine, the machine itself will tell you! That said, here are a couple great vegan snack options:


Sahale Snacks Soledad Nut Blend
(almonds, apples, and flax seeds, with date, balsamic vinegar and cayenne)
This mix is sooooo good! The ingredients sounded like a strange mix, but they work.


Alternative Baking Company Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
ABC Baking Company is not my favorite vegan cookie maker, but these are very satisfying.

Some other vegan goodies: Original PopChips, Steaz Peach Iced Teaz, Larabars, Raw Revolution bars, and Coconut Water (can't remember which brand.)


Okay, it remains to be said, the big downside out of eating from vending machines is cost. And while junky food vending machines are pricey enough, the 2bu Healthy Vending is quite a bit more. Perhaps you get what you pay for, but I have to say that Soledad Nut Blend is rather more than I would want to spend from a vending machine. I am sure this is why it has debit/credit capability. It's not a pocket change kind of vendor. Still, it's a great start at a better world of vending!

On the Road: Seabirds Truck, Orange County, CA

Seabirds Truck

Seabirds Truck! Infamous from their run on season 2 of the Food Network's Great American Food Truck Race, the Seabirds have returned to their normal routine of serving food, gourmet truck-style in Orange County. I had been to California a few times recently but was unable to track them down. They move around a lot and if you don't have a certain time frame free, they can be  tricky to get to. The menu changes weekly too, but  a couple of the usual suspects tend to be on it, like the Sweet Potato Fries and the Beer Battered Avocado Tacos. Just follow their menu and schedule online. If you can manage it, the trip is worth it.

Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauce

Before my visit to Seabirds, I had declared The Veggie Grill's Sweetheart Fries the best sweet potato fries I had ever eaten. And then I tried the ones from Seabirds. Oooooh. Even better! Lightly dusted with cinnamon with a delicious cilantro/jalapeno dipping sauce. Hello. Sounds like the flavors would conflict but not so. Really good. And it's your lucky day, because I just found a copy of the super tasty Seabirds Dipping Sauce recipe online. I can't help you with the fries though, unless the recipe is in the Seabirds Truck ecookbook.

Tempeh Biryani

I also ordered the Biryani because I had to try everything. While it was respectable, it was only okay. I am not a huge fan of Indian food to begin with (I wish I was-I keep trying), and I don't really like curry spice. Sadly, I think its biggest downfall for me was there were too many different ingredients mixed in. Eh. I wouldn't order it again.

Jackfruit Asada Taco

Next up I tried the Jackfruit Asada Taco served with salsa verde, chopped onions, and  cilantro. I was super intrigued by the jackfruit tacos and had heard many good reports. This version is the most popular, I believe, but they also use jackfruit in other menu items like the Island Jack Tacos and Jack Shwarma Tacos. Plus, jackfruit...what the hell was jackfruit anyway and why did it resemble pulled pork? The Jackfruit Asada Taco was spicy, sweet, and tangy. Pretty good.

Beer Battered Avocado Taco

But holy insane tastebuds, the Beer Battered Avocado Tacos were a.maz.ing. Served with the Seabirds Dipping Sauce, red onion, and cabbage slaw, these things are little slices of fried HEAVEN. I can't wait to go back for more of these and the fries. Mmmm.

Couple more things, Seabirds usually has about half their menu as Gluten-Free. And they used to do Raw Wednesdays, but I'm not sure if they do that anymore since I think Chef Raya is doing her own thing now, like giving raw food demos at Whole Foods Huntington Beach.

Seabirds Truck with Customers

Seabirds Truck
Ranking: ****1/2

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seabirds Truck
Location/Hours: Varies
Check the schedule on their website or follow their stops on Twitter.
http://seabirdstruck.com

Special bonus interview with Stephanie Morgan, Owner/Creator of Seabirds Truck

Guest Post: 24 Carrots, Chandler, AZ

24 Carrots

Kenike: I was kind of hesitant to review 24 Carrots after my visit a few months ago, as I didn't really get a chance to experience the cafe. I was in and out rather quick, on my way to a workshop, and they were about to close.  Luckily, we have a guest poster today to do the review for us. Please welcome, Carla Brown, here to do our very first guest post!

***

24 Carrots is a quaint café nestled between a Subway and a Caribbean restaurant on the northwest corner of Kyrene and Chandler Boulevard in Chandler. I’ve been practically stalking the owner, Sasha, on Facebook – I’m unsure how I even found her page – hungrily going over the pictures of her daily specials. I finally found the time to make the trek to this established café.

24 Carrots, Interior

The restaurant reminds me of a coffee shop with its bookshelf, coffee tables, and coach nestled in the back. This feeling is confirmed by the tattooed young man behind the counter. Today’s burger special is a Black Bean Pumpkin Burger with the choice of salad, tortilla chips, or carrots. I am a true sucker for anything pumpkin. In fact, the sole reason I came to this location rather than my usual haunts was the online promise of pumpkin bars, which I purchased immediately and took a bite while waiting for my meal. It was sweet with a cake-like texture topped with raw pumpkin seeds.

But back to the burger – it came out with tortilla chips on a whole wheat bun. The first bite tasted like a delicious mixture of Thanksgiving stuffing and cranberry sauce. It was, unfortunately, messy, but was easily scooped up with the chips. The chef made an appearance to ask how it was and I could only nod my head and give a thumbs-up since my mouth was still full with her tasty creation. Then she said something that made me want to kiss her, “We have a pumpkin cheesecake.” SOLD! The raw vegan pumpkin slice of heaven came on a fig-nut crust and was very rich. I would suggest splitting it. There were artistic swirls of cranberry sauce as a beautiful final touch.

Raw Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

The rest of 24 Carrots’ menu consists of a full juice and smoothie bar, noshing plates, soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps, Mediterranean and Asian-inspired meals, and pizza. There is an extensive brunch menu and a few select items for the kiddos.

24 Carrots

Carla's Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24 Carrots
6140 W. Chandler Blvd. Suite #2
Chandler, AZ 85226
(480) 753-4411
http://www.24carrotsjuice.com/

Hours
Monday - Friday  8am - 6pm
Saturday  8am -5pm
Sunday Closed


Bio:

Carla Brown is a part time writer and full time food lover. This meek, hippycore misfit from the Midwest plays is a blocker for Arizona Roller Debry. Her ideal world would include her significant other and skates in a treehouse, but not much else. Oh, and vegan cookies, but not much more than that.

Jerk Tofu with Pineapple Slaw Sammie, Tortilla Chips, Pickle, and Strawberry Coconut Water Smoothie

Apple of My Eye

back row, left to right: Empire, Honeycrisp, Cortland, Rome
middle row, left to right: Cripps Pink Lady, Fuji, Jonathan, McIntosh
front row, left to right: Gala, Jonagold, Braeburn, Jazz

One of my best first grade memories is sitting in a circle on the floor with my classmates and taste testing 10 or so different apple varieties. Such a simple activity and yet so fun and adventurous. Earlier this year, I was inspired by that memory and taste-tested different kinds of tangerines. Well, now it's apple season!

As I was trolling the fruit aisle at Sprouts I saw an abundance of apples and decided to get one of each variety. Well, mostly. I skipped the Red Delicious, Green Delicious, and Granny Smiths. They tend to be the most common ones, so I thought I'd just try the others. And really, twelve varieties was PLENTY. Though apparently there are over 7500 cultivars of apples in the world. One could make it a life mission to sample them all. Not me though, thanks.

Here are the ones I did get and what Wiki has to say about each:

**
Empire- (New York) Empire apples are red, juicy, firm, crunchy and sweet. Good for eating.

Honeycrisp- (Minnesota) Mottled red and yellow colour. Good crunch when in prime condition. Juicy. Hybrid of Keepsake and Unknown. Good for eating.

Cortland-  (New York) Pale crisp flesh. Classic red coloration, nice crunch. Cross between McIntosh and Ben Davis. Good for eating.

 Rome- (Ohio) Rounded, all red, and very glossy. Flavour develops when cooked. Good for cooking.

Cripps Pink Lady- (Australia) Crisp, very sweet and slightly tart. Light red, pink and light yellow-green striped skin. Good for cooking and eating.

Fuji- (Japan) Sweet, crisp, dense flesh. Very long shelf life, even without refrigeration. Japan's predominant eating apple. Good for eating.
 Jonathan- (New York) Tart taste. Mostly red apple with patches of lime green. Does well in cooler areas; some frost resistance. Good for eating and cooking.

McIntosh- (Ontario, Canada) A popular, cold-tolerant, pocket-sized eating apple in Canada and northeastern US. Favorite of children. Used alot in applesauce. Good for cooking and eating.

Gala- (New Zealand) Thinner skin. Very soft eating apple, well-suited for denture wearers. Good for eating.

Jazz- (New Zealand) Bright red round apple with subtle yellow under-striping. Tart to sweet, dense and very crunchy with effervescent texture. Good for eating.

Jonagold- (New York) Popular in Europe and land of origin. A very large apple. Several highly coloured strains are available. Good for eating and cooking.

Braeburn- (New Zealand)  Firm to the touch with a red/orange vertical streaky appearance on a yellow/green background. Dense apple, and becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Good for eating.
**

back row, left to right: Empire, Honeycrisp, Cortland, Rome middle row, left to right: Cripps Pink Lady, Fuji, Jonathan, McIntosh
front row, left to right: Gala, Jonagold, Braeburn, Jazz

Alright, now for the ratings!

Eating Experience+

Key
***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.



Empire **1/2
Honeycrisp ****
Cortland ****
Rome ***1/2
Cripps Pink Lady ***
Fuji ***
Jonathan **1/2
McIntosh **1/2
Gala ***
Jazz ***1/2
Jonagold **1/2
Braeburn ***



OVERALL
I like apples, but they are by no means my favorite fruit. And I have to say that 'apples' tend to taste like 'apples' to me. Not a huge difference in taste, though some are a little sweeter and some a little tangier. There can be, however, a significant difference in texture, crispness, and firmness. But this can even run from apple to apple, not just across varieties.

Red Delicious used to be my favorite apples when I was a kid. But in recent years, Red Delicious have had a watered down taste, very bland. I think farmers and scientists have messed with them too much.

Anyway, in this taste test, Rome was by far the prettiest of the apples with its deep red hue. Unfortunately, they were slightly soft. But Cortland was the big surprise, with an interesting, slightly tangy flavor. I liked it best for taste.
I highly recommend the Cortland and Honeycrisp for eating raw. In the past I have really liked the Fuji, though it didn't test as well this time, just average.

Even if you get a less than stellar batch of apples, all is not lost. Make PIE! Or cider, or applesauce, or juice, or Cinnamon Baked Apples. These days I like apple pies with a mix of different apple varieties. In yesterday's post you'll see the Garam Masala Apple Pie I made. It was really good.  I had the Rome, Braeburn, Jazz, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, and Gala in it, I think. And not that long ago I made a Dutch Apple Pie, so check that oen out too. For a future pie, I will consider mixing the Rome with Granny Smith and Cortland.

~~~~

+Keep in mind that each single fruit is a completely different experience which also depends on where we are in the season. In other words, my results may be different from yours based on fruit condition, ripeness, etc.

Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons

Laughing Giraffe Organics Snackaroons

Occasionally, I like to dabble in raw vegan foods. I'd probably eat more premade, storebought raw food snacks, but they're just usually a little more expensive than I prefer. Plus, it's like playing Battleship. Miss, Miss, Hit, Miss.

Well, friends, the Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons are serious hits. These delicious nuggets are made from: unsweetened coconut, agave nectar, almonds, extra virgin coconut oil, vanilla extract, cacao, goji berries, maca, and Himalayan pink salt. No more, no less.


Laughing Giraffe Organics Snackaroons



Mmm. What else to say about them? They're little macaroon balls of gluten-free sweetness. But not too sweet, and one little snowball is  quite satisfying. I'm gonna have to try some of the other flavors.




Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons
Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** This is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[So far, I've only seen these at Whole Foods.]

Recipe Round-Up: Mesquite Flour

As promised, vegan (or veganizable) recipes that use mesquite flour. Gotta say, raw foodists are really representing with the mesquite flour recipes. I'm gonna make some cookies and the raw caramel apple dip to start,  what about you?

Raw Vegan
~Hungry Vegan's Carob-Mesquite Dream Smoothie
~Raw Food Recipes' Bring on the Heat Raw Vegan Chili

~Raw Sacramento's Tahitian Vanilla Crème Parfait with Tropical Fruit Compote, Candied Walnuts, and Sweet Ginger Corn Cakes

~Jamie Abrams' Ginger Mesquite'en Me Crazy Balls and Sunny Ice Cream

~Marisa's Healthy Kitchen- Butterscotch Smoothie, Banana and Avocado Sweet Snack, Banana Ice Cream Love, Superfood Smoothie

~Durian Coconut Delite via Recipe Puppy

~Raw Beets' Sweet and Creamy Caramel Apple Dip (video below)



Vegan
~Free Range Cookies' Mesquite Date Muffins

~Tusconivore's Mesquite Flour Tortillas

~Peace Love Bagels' Vegan Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies

~Aprovechar's Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan=non-ghee)

~Affairs of Living's Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe with Crunchy Crust and Cashew Whipped Cream

~No Knead Mesquite Bread via Craftzine

~Mohave Mesquite Bread

~Mesquite Bean Jelly- requires vegan gelling agent like agar maybe?

~Jack Keller's Mesquite Bean Wine

~Desert Harvesters' Simple Mesquite Drink, Pinole, Mesquite Margaritas, Mesquite Carob Tortillas, Hearty Mesquite Bread . The Neighborhood Mesquite Holiday Bars just require using agave nectar and vegan margarine, the Basic Yellow Mesquite Cake just needs non-dairy milk and vegan margarine, and the Mesquite Shortbread and Kukukadoo Solar Cookies just need vegan margarine. All of the pancake recipes require egg replacement egg replacement and non-dairy milks.

~Mighty Foods' Mesquite Cornbread- This one requires some veganizing, but it looks fairly easy. First, replace the butter with vegan margarine (like Earth Balance). Then sub the egg with egg replacer (like Ener-G Egg Replacer or the flaxseed/water combo). Change the honey to agave nectar. And finally, replace the buttermilk with 1 cup of non-dairy milk plus 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (mix those two in a small bowl and let sit for a couple of minutes before adding.)

~Mesquite Margarine: Mix half a stick of softened vegan margarine with 1/2 teaspoon of mesquite flour to create a smokey, nutty, slightly sweet spread.

Mesquite Flour

Mesquite Flour

For Vegan Mofo, I wanted to highlight something native, something a little more unique. And I've been wanting to try mesquite flour for quite some time. In fact, the unopened box sitting in my cupboard has been there for a couple of months now. The summer heat killed all desire to cook, but now that the weather is finally cooperating, I have cooking urges to fulfill. First, I thought I'd tell you a little about mesquite flour and then tomorrow I'll do a little recipe round-up, so we can figure out what to do with it.

Mesquite flour is gluten free, low glycemic, and full of protein, without being high in calories or full of fat. Nice!

Mesquite flour or mesquite meal is made from the finely ground up bean pods of the mesquite tree, which grows abundantly here in Phoenix and throughout the southwest, whereas the mesquite flavoring most people know comes from the bark of the tree. Mesquite trees are often found in the yards of Phoenicians and most people have no idea they are sitting on a mesquite goldmine. The problem is that mesquite pods aren't the easiest to grind into flour, as a hammermill works far better than a food processor, and they are easily susceptible to bug infestations or mold.

You have options though, you can fork over the dough to buy a bag of mesquite flour or you can harvest your own pods and track down one of the traveling hammermills. Whole Foods sells mesquite flour in both the gluten-free and raw snack sections of the store.  Two of their products are pictured in this post. I have no idea why they are importing it from Peru when surely someone processes it locally?? If you are lucky you might be able to find it in bulk in health food stores, but I don't know of any local options. Of course, you can also find it online. It's not particularly cheap, so thankfully a little goes a long way.

More Mesquite Powder/Flour

For DIYers, Desert Harvesters, based in Tucson, brings their hammermills to the Phoenix area as well as Tucson and you can have their help in the milling process. They offer their services seasonally, so you have to pay attention to the schedule. In fact, they have two Phoenix milling dates next weekend, October 15 & 16. Check out the calendar for more dates and details. And here are some of their harvesting and storing tips.

A few places like the Desert Botanical Garden and a couple state parks (ex. Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Oracle State Park), occasionally offer classes on utilizing mesquite, how to process it and what to do with it. The classes are usually offered early in the summer, however, before the first mesquite pod harvest. We've already missed those, so keep an eye out for next year or check out the how-to videos online (one is below).

I don't know a lot of people using mesquite flour, but I do know Treehouse Bakery sometimes sells baked goods with mesquite flour at the Phoenix Public Market.

Lastly, here's a little video talking more about harvesting the mesquite pods from one of the Desert Harvesters himself. Mesquite stuff starts at 2:35 in case you want to skip ahead.

Vegan Etsy: Fall/Halloween

Vegan Etsy: The results of a seasonal search. A little bit of everything. Even some food items for Vegan Month of Food. Huzzah!

Severed Finger Catnip Toy

Dirty Pumpkins Soap

Chunky Neck Warmer/Cowl/Scarf/Wrap

Horrorshow Soap- GLOWS in the Dark- TRUE BLOOD- Eric Northman- Dragons Blood Scent

Feathers Necklace, Black Pleather, Vegan

Halloween Silver Chain, Lampworked Glass

Gothic Boney Necklace

Black Pepper Bubble Gum Berry BOOLAS BOO-licious Vegan Smoochalicious Lip Conditioner

Vegan Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches

Bloodbath Vegan SOLID PERFUME Patchouli Vanilla

Pumpkin Baby Beanies

Skull and Crossbones Vegan Wallet

Skulls Knitting Stitch Markers

BLOOD MOON collection, EyeShadow & EyeLiner, Vegan Mineral Makeup

Caramel Apple Chocolate, Raw, Organic, Vegan

Vegan Hazelnut Pumpkin Smile Chocolate Cheesecake

Jack Skellington Jester Stick

Blue Fox Hat



I Dream in Tangerine

I love tangerines. Love. So I was mega-excited when I saw the big tangerine display at Whole Foods showcasing several different varieties of tangerines. I decided I needed to taste-test every kind they had in stock. I got the Page, Gold Nugget, Honey (sometimes called a Kinnow or a Murcott), TDE (Minneola), Yosemite Gold, and Satsuma. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Fairchilds or Clementines, both of which I think are earlier in the season.

Bio specifics about the varieties.

Page. A clementine-minneola tangelo cross, or tangor. Dark orange, round, intensely flavored. Harder to peel; quarter for easy eating. Mainly seedless, but not always.

Gold Nugget Mandarin. A variety of mandarins. Deliciously sweet with a bright orange, seedless interior. Bright and slightly bumpy rind. Easy to peel and separate into segments.

Honey Mandarin. Previously marketed as Kinnow mandarins. Rich, aromatic, and distinctive flavor. They peel and segment easily, and are extremely juicy. The fruit is thin skinned, slightly flattened with no neck and are smooth, almost glossy, in texture.

Minneola Tangelo. Easily identified by the knob-like formation at the stem end. Cross between a Duncan grapefruit and a Dancy tangerine. Grows large in size and will display a deep red-orange exterior color, with a slightly pebbled texture. Delicious tart-sweet flavor. Peel very easily, and have few if any seeds.

Yosemite Gold. Newer variety. Big; bright orange, seedless, easy to peel. The exterior peel has small pimply bumps. Sweet and juicy.

Satsuma Mandarin. Peels and segments easily. The exterior is light orange color and perhaps a tinge of green, but the interior will be a bright orange. Pebbly in texture and varies in shape from flat to necked.

[And more details on several other varieties here.]

Tangerine Slices

Eating Experience+

Key
***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.



Page *****
 These were my favorite of the varieties. Great flavor, zero seeds. Easy to de-rind and peel apart. Perfect.

Gold Nugget ****
I think these were my second favorite, maybe tied with the Satsuma. Good flavor, but slightly chewier than the Page.

Honey **1/2
These have great flavor. It's unfortunate that the skin is so tough and there are so many rind bits and several huge seeds to get around. These I think would be perfect for juicing, because they are not much fun to eat. And in fact, that is what I did, shoved them into the juicer.

TDE (Minneola) **
Ok, first of all, these were labled as TDE hybrids on the sign but their stickers all said Minneolas, and well, they sure look like Minneola tangelos to me. So I am betting that is what they are. Unfortunately the flavor was a bit watered down. Perhaps the paleness of the fruit in the photo above is an indicator of that. Anyway, after my sample slice, I also added these to the juice

Yosemite Gold ***
These tangerines have the weirdest peel, covered in pimply dots. Too bad you can't tell from the photo. Not all of the Yosemite Golds had such pronounced pimples, but mine did. This one was ok, a little tart. Much better flavor than the Minneola, but not as good as the Page and Gold Nugget. I added this one into my juice.

Satsuma ****
Probably 3rd place, or tied for 2nd. These were pretty good.  Good flavor, easy to peel. No annoying issues with rind or seed. I believe the Satsumas are usually the ones you find canned as mandarin oranges, which I do love adding to salads.


OVERALL
I highly recommend the Page, and also the Satsuma and Gold Nugget. I'd be interested to see how the Fairchilds and Clementines compare. I know that the Minneola tangelos can be super awesome, and I might have just had a less than perfect specimen. I usually pick tangelos over any kind of orange if they have both at the market. Of course, I tend to choose other kinds of tangerines over tangelos though too.

Even if you get a less than stellar batch of tangerines, all is not lost. Salvage the juice for some fresh-squeezed goodness. I mixed the juice of the Minneola, Honey, and Yosemite Gold and it was downright amazing. Of course, tangerines are small, so I really only got one glass out of my samples and a couple of extra Honey tangerines.

Whatever variety you do get...**Beware of puffy tangerines.** Everything I read about them suggested that puffy tangerines means they were picked past their prime and will likely not give you a good taste experience. Good luck! And happy tangerine dreams to you.


~~~~

+Keep in mind that each single fruit is a completely different experience which also depends on where we are in the season. In other words, my results may be different from yours based on fruit condition, ripeness, etc.