Pain Perdu stuffed with Cherry Lavender Jam and homemade vegan cream cheese, topped with toasted pecans, blueberries and garnishes with peaches

The Molé breakfast included perfectly roasted zucchini, red pepper, and caramelized onion with avocado, a cinnamon sugar dusted corn tortilla cup filled with blueberries, and smashed red potatoes on top of slowly simmered homemade molé sauce.  Garnished with habañero hot sauce.

Homemade shallot and sesame bagel with spicy seitan andouille sausage, fresh tomato, spinach, fig jam and grain mustard.

Because I come from a land where tacos and burritos are available at every corner, I make tacos when I need a quick, fresh bite to eat.  I think I might name these Kirby Tacos, because our friend Kirby is a vegan that never cooks for herself, but as I was assembling these she came to mind because they are even easy enough for her to make.

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Cayenne

1 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 small red onion

1 clove garlic (minced)

1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped

1/2 block Cubed extra firm tofu (cut into tiny squares)

3 large leaves Swiss chard, chopped

1/2 lime juiced

1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

1 tbs Oil of your choice

6 Corn Tortillas

Handful of Pea shoots

In a medium sized skillet heat oil on medium heat and add tofu. The point here is to get the tofu golden brown with the spices. After the tofu has been in the heat for about 5 minutes stir and coat in all the spices. Keep the tofu browning for another five minutes then add the onions and garlic clove.

Make sure to keep the tofu on medium heat so you don’t burn it!

When the onion is soft add the chopped swiss chard, cilantro and lime and stir together. Swiss chard is like spinach and does not take long to cook so make sure to add it last!

Make sure to watch your taco mixture as you steam your 6 corn tortillas.

When the steaming is done the tacos are ready to be assembled. Top with pea shoots and fresh cilantro to completely complement the fresh flavours of the taco.

You can even add avocado, hot sauce, sliced lime wedges, fresh cilantro, and salsa to make these tacos even better.

This recipe is for all hard working Kirbys out there.

Beets are a simple, delicious, and nutritious food, but after hearing the comments on this beet sandwich I realized that not many people know how to prepare beets the way I do. It’s really easy! Beets are not that intimidating. People think it is difficult to pair things with beets (Malloreigh doubted that this sandwich would be good, but it was in fact very delicious) but this was a really fantastic combination.

Beet Carpaccio

A “carpaccio” is officially thinly sliced raw beef or fish, but it’s just too good of a term for thinly sliced beets. It’s not really a carpaccio but we’ll call it that anyway.

Don’t peel the beets before you boil them – leaving the skin on helps to seal in the nutrients, which would otherwise be partially lost through boiling. If you’re using both red and golden beets, boil them separately to maintain the colour. As you may know, red beet juice will stain anything and everything it touches bright pink.

Separate the beets from the beet greens. Boil them whole in a pot filled with water over medium-high heat until a fork can easily pierce them – about 30 to 45 minutes, maybe longer.

Once the beets are boiled, let them cool – drain them into a colander and run cold water over them to speed this process. The skin should slough off easily, but if it doesn’t, use a paring knife or sharp vegetable peeler.

Now, your beets are ready to slice. Use a mandolin slicer to slice them thinly or use a sharp non-serrated knife.

Sliced beets will keep in the fridge for at least a week if you put them in a resealable container, but they are also pretty easy to eat in one sitting.

Beet Carpaccio Sandwich

This beet sandwich was simple and delicious. Sliced avocado, lightly toasted whole organic walnuts, thinly sliced smoked tofu, fresh arugula, and sliced beets were dashed with fresh ground pepper. The sourdough bread I used was drizzled with lemon and garlic infused olive oil. It was served with a side of potato salad.

Reservations for 10:00am and 11:00am are completely FULL. There are still spots available for 12:00pm and 1:00pm. E-mail for inquiries or reservations. Veganmischief@gmail.com

JUNE is finally here… and so is picnic season. In celebration of the historic tradition of eating cold food outside, we are preparing a picnic themed brunch to be enjoyed – inside, since June weather in Vancouver is reliably inclement.

BENNY
Fluffy lemon garlic biscuits slathered with basil pesto and topped with egg-style tofu patties, fresh ripe avocado, thinly sliced red onion, and roasted tomatoes, finished off with a lemon butter sauce. Served with a side of potato salad

SANDWICH
Thinly sliced smoked tofu layered with peppery arugula and red beet carpaccio with roasted walnuts and avocado on locally baked bread dusted with garlic oil and vinegar. Served with a side of potato salad.

CINNAMON BUN
Big, warm, gooey traditional cinnamon buns sprinkled with powdered sugar. Served with a blueberry almond spread and a side of fresh seasonal fruit.

Please advise us of any allergies in your reservation email so we can be sure to accommodate you.

I had never made pierogies before and gracefully accepted the challenge of making them. If I might say so, they were a hit for brunch so here is the recipe. I hope you make to many so that you will have to freeze them and have a stockpile for when you desperately need some flavour in your face.

Here’s a basic pierogie dough recipe that I found off of the interwebs! Click on the link to see the proper making instructions with pictures!

2 C White Flour

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 C Soy Margarine

3 Tbsp Water

For the method, check http://hellyeahitsvegan.com/?p=768 – they’ve got pictures! But just in case that site goes down, here are the steps:

To prepare the dough, sift together the flour and salt.

Cut in the margarine with a pastry blender or two knives. Add water and mix well. If more water is needed, add a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball. You don’t want it to be too wet.

Dust a clean surface with flour, and knead dough for 10 minutes. Place in an oiled, covered bowl in refrigerator for half an hour.

Prepare your filling.

Remove dough from refrigerator; divide into thirds. Roll each section into a ball. On a lightly-floured surface, roll one ball of dough out until it’s about 1/8? thick.

With a round cookie cutter or a glass, cut into 2½-3? circles of dough. (Keep the scraps–you can roll them out again later.)

Place a walnut-sized amount of filling in the center of each circle. Using your fingers and a small bowl of water, dampen the edges of the dough and fold dough in half, enclosing the filling.

Pinch edges with your fingers or a fork to seal.

Here’s the filling that I constructed to go inside of my pierogies

6 small yukon gold potatoes (about 4 cups diced)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 green onion finely sliced into rings

1 tsp Paprika

1/4 C Daiya (white or yellow)

2 Tbs Soy Margarine

1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

- Dice and boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to mash.

- Mash the potatoes together with all of the rest of the ingredients.

- Add about 1 Tbsp of filling to each pierogie.

When your pierogies have been completely folded and assembled make sure to let them cool in the fridge or freezer. After about an hour of cooling you must steam each pierogie in a medium saucepan or steamer for approximately 3 minutes. After this step I choose to pan-fry them in very hot oil to get a crispy crust on the outside.

As I said in an earlier post, my brother just so happens to have a lemon tree outside of his bedroom window. Oh the opportunity!

When life gives you lemons… use them!  Malloreigh and I were sitting under the lemon tree eating dinner last night and we were discussing the first time we were subject to the juice of an actual lemon.  Both of our experiences were different, but equally as eye-opening. Can you imagine being a teenager and actually realizing that lemon juice didn’t come from a bottle?  Most people still haven’t come to this realization because of the convenience our consumer culture has afforded us. So I say, put down the fake plastic lemon and start squeezing the juice of the sweet fruit that is so versatile it can transform into the sweet, tart, and savoury.

Things I frequently make with lemons:

- Lemon Garlic Sauce (for Pasta)

- Lemon Dill Shallot Sauce (for Pasta)

- Vegan Hot Tottys (Whiskey, 1/2 lemon, 1 tbs agave, hot water)

- Lemon Almond Banana Bread

These are just four things I’ve made in the last week.

Don’t forget that you can use the whole lemon! You can always dry the lemon zest and save it for another dish tomorrow.

Lemons always add a positive twist to life, that’s why I try to eat as many as possible.

Lemon Shallot Dill Vinaigrette:

2 lemons (juiced)

1/2 bunch fresh dill (finely diced)

1 large shallot (finely diced)

salt

Equal ratio of vinegar to oil 1:1

1/2 C Olive oil

1/2 C White Wine Vinegar

I use this as a marinade for portobello mushrooms to grill, tofu scram or a quick addition to a salad.

Simple, easy, lemons.

Yesterday my brother and I decided to spend a little time making lunch before heading off to work for the evening. After a day of rock-climbing and reading pasta was exactly what we needed. Although this recipe is nothing special the fact that my brother has a beautiful lemon tree outside of his window makes any kind of lemony sauce a success. Fresh, in my mind, will always bring out the best, most natural flavours.

Since I haven’t had full reign over my usual kitchen (a kicthen with every spice imaginable) I’ve had to get back to basics. I ‘ve had to create flavourful dishes using the natural essence of fresh, local produce.  I find that when you understand the basics you can build off of those in any culinary (or life) endeavour you meet.

Photo by Ryan Barfield

Since being here in San Francisco I have constantly had to question my cooking and myself, because this is in fact an extremely foodie city. I’ve already worked in two separate restaurants that have completely different approaches to menu creation. One has a farm a few miles outside of the city that uses their own produce. This restaurant believes in the completely natural appearance and taste of it’s food right down to leaving the stems on the carrots and radishes. I know! What a concept!

The other restaurant is in my opinion “phony” and uses way too many meat (fake) centric dishes to promote “health”, as they would put it. This is only my opinion! I just can’t get behind putting chinatown bought fake meats, deep frying them, putting them inside a bun and calling it healthy or even flavorful because it is vegetarian or vegan. I have to say though, sometimes it’s sooo good to paticipate in a meat eaters world.

We all have different opinions on what is good food and what is not. I personally am trying to simplify flavours in order to move forward as a chef. In order to move forward sometimes we must move back. How did we even get to this point? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkkD21cdG0Q

Ever since we were little our dad has had a garden. When the squash and corn would be ready to be harvested my dad would always make calabcitas. His recipe included bacon and topped with cheese.  I decided to make this traditional new mexican side dish  healthier ,vegan, add a potato and have it for breakfast.

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Strangely enough yesterday was the first time I had ever ventured into the Tenderloin. I had heard fables and tall tales abut how awful and scary the Tenderloin is, equivalent to Vancouver’s Surrey. In fact, the Tenderloin is a gem and only those daring enough to adventure into it’s decrepit belly are going to experience an important part of San Francisco history.  My friend from Albuquerque (Kayla) just so  happens to live in the Tenderloin so she invited me to her neck of the woods for brunch on Sunday morning.

I’ve been to a lot of coffee shops and cafés in my day, all of which have either be part of the homogenous blob of capitalism or unique to their own neighbourhood. Little Bird is a perfect example of a small café that keep true to the vibrance of their neighbourhood by keeping there menu simple, but versatile and having the walls  be a stage for Tenderloin art and artists.

I had no idea what to expect when I visited this gem in the heart of the Tenderloin. Upon entering I immediately realized that almost every item on there menu was veganizable. Hell yeah! Their options for sandwich fillings were also incredible, house roasted tomatoes, hummus, avocados, garlic, vegan pesto, daiya. Amazing!!

After I ordered, the woman making my sandwich came and sat down next to me to inform me she was out of tofu scramble for the sandwich, but would make me a sandwich with avocado, daiya, hummus and roasted tomatoes. It was $4, panini pressed, delicious! I couldn’t be more happy in my surroundings with the service and with the food. Next time I go back I’m going to be prepared to try everything I can on the menu, especially this thing they call a kombuchosa, locally-made kombucha mixed with oj!

Thank you little bird for putting faith back into small cafés for me. Vancouver take note!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/little-bird-coffeehouse-san-francisco