Kabocha are Japanese pumpkins that are by far my favorite of all autumn pumpkins and gourd-fruit. I first discovered kabocha when I lived in Japan back in 1995. It is pervasive in Japanese cuisine year-round but particularly so in the late summer and autumn when pumpkins are in season. It’s hard to describe the taste of a Kabocha but, if I had to, I’d say it has the texture of a sweet potato and the flavor of a regular pumpkin, but sweeter and milder. Most people find kabocha to be sweeter than butternut squash. Kabocha are often served in stews in Japanese cuisine. They are also popularly served as tempura that is placed over rice (donburi) or in soups. Kabocha are rich in beta carotene, iron, vitamin C and potassium. They are also loaded with tons of fiber. Like most pumpkins and squash, kabocha are tough to cut, so make sure you
Everyone who is vegan has undoubtedly been asked the same litany of questions. There are even videos all over the internet making fun of them. I watch them and laugh along with every other vegan who sees them. It seems to be a rite of passage for all vegans to have to field these questions. For anyone who doesn’t know the questions here are a few of them: Can you eat bread? Where do you get your protein? Don’t you miss meat? The list goes on and on. How to address them can be tricky based on the circumstances. I have a blanket rule for all questions someone asks me: you are free to ask me anything you want, but whether I answer it is my choice and, almost more importantly, once I give you the answer, you will never not know it. When these questions get asked, I find that a
This great one pot meal was inspired by our friends Walt and Stephen. They were talking about quick meals they like to make and both mentioned mixing canned fire roasted tomatoes and black beans and eating it as is. It sounded good, but I knew it could be better. So, I added in some onions, garlic, wine and soy sauce. Soy sauce is actually a very recent addition to the recipe. As good as it was before, I always thought it needed a little more depth of flavor, umami if you will. Soy sauce was just what it needed. If you don’t have fire roasted tomatoes, a can of regular diced tomatoes works great too. This recipe can be easily adjusted to your own personal tastes – if you want it hot, add cayenne, if you want more zing, try some oregano. This is great on it’s own, but works
We just had another incredible breakfast/brunch at Killer Vegan, and it inspired us. For those of you who don’t know Killer Vegan, it is Janelle Soto’s passion come to life. After a lifetime of animal rights activism, she is expanding her advocacy by sharing her delicious vegan food as she prepares to open New Jersey’s FIRST and ONLY 100% vegan diner. In these final months before opening, she is holding bi-weekly brunches at Lalibela, a local Ethiopian restaurant that has a huge vegan menu in its own right. Back to breakfast. People say it is, “most important meal of the day,” and yet 31 million Americans skip breakfast daily. Maybe because we are all rushing in the morning, we don’t think we have the time to make a healthy, hearty, satisfying meal. We think this is a shame. After all, gay men love a good weekend brunch. So we have
Here is a easy replacement for honey-roasted almonds. These are great to keep on hand for cocktail parties, appetizers, friends who just drop by, or even for a quick snack. If you want to add some heat, you can add in some cayenne. These are so much better than store bought, you will never go back. Make a batch before your next game viewing party and watch how fast they go. Everyone loves these sweet and salty nuts. Preptime: 5 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Servings: many handfuls Ingredients: 2 cups whole almonds, skins on ¼ cup sugar ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional) 2 TBL agave 2 TBL water 2 tsp canola oil Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. 2. Spread the almonds in a single layer in a shallow ungreased baking pan and bake for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and set aside. 3.
Within hours of going live with this blog, I was immediately inundated with questions on the health benefits and risks of consuming soy products. With lots of people asking the same thing, it became abundantly clear that the healthfulness of soy needs to be our first topic of conversation here! Soy products include a wide variety of foods including soy flour, soy milk, tofu, edamame (young whole soybeans), soy protein isolates, texturized vegetable protein (TVP), soy curls and soy oil. Tempeh, natto and miso are fermented versions of soybeans. Processed soy food items include soy meats, cheeses, ice cream, yogurt and the list just keeps growing. Soy lecithin is used as an emulsifier to retain moisture in food. Lecithin is easily extracted from soybeans and, hence, is found in an astonishing array of foods, mostly processed foods. In fact, nearly 60% of processed foods in the US have some
