National Junk Food Day

July 21 is National Junk Food Day. Because the next day was my son's birthday, and he loves the occasional night of snack food dining, I decided to wait. Okay, so we didn't celebrate Junk Food Day on Junk Food Day, but doesn't every day hold the honor of being a junk food day? Well, at least in some form? ;)

The good news is my birthday boy loved the snacks, and that's the most important thing!

I can't count how many potlucks or get togethers I've gone to where someone brought tortilla rollups. Such a simple and pretty thing, but I've never made them before. This offered me the perfect opportunity to correct that.

Tortilla Rollups

One container vegan cream cheese
5 green onions, chopped
2 small cans of chopped black olives
1/4 fake bacon bits
2 T. black bean salsa (see below)
1 t. cumin
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Hot pepper sauce, to taste
Flour tortillas

Soften the cream cheese in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the flour tortillas, and blend well. Spoon some of the mixture on a flour tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down on a plate, and stack them on top of each other. Cover and chill. Before serving, slice into rounds.

Black Bean Salsa

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. red onion, diced
One green pepper, chopped
1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Handful of cilantro, chopped
3 T. lime juice
2 T. vegetable oil
1-1/2 t. hot pepper sauce
1/2 t. salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl, stirring to mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips.

Don't buy the canned stuff. This bean dip rocks!

Tex Mex Dip

3 green onions, chopped
One can vegetarian refried beans
One can corn, drained
One package Daiya Pepperjack
1/2 c. beer
One package taco seasoning mix

Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized pot on medium heat. Stir occasionally until everything is mixed well and heated through. Serve with tortilla chips.

Spicy Cheese Crisps

1/2 c. vegan butter, softened
One package Daiya Pepperjack
2 c. whole wheat flour
Pecan halves

Beat butter, cheese and flour together until well mixed. Cover and chill overnight. Shape into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use a glass to smash the balls into flat rounds. Top with a pecan half. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until browned slightly. Let cool. Enjoy!

Beer Battered Tempeh Fish

When I saw this recipe while browsing through a magazine while in line at the grocery store, I knew I wanted to make it. Trouble is, I didn't buy the magazine that day and when I remembered to pick it up, it was sold out. I tried unsuccessfully to find it online, and most of my vegan friends didn't have a copy. Lo and behold, one random day I was enjoying a photo album online of vegan dishes of a new friend, and there it was! I hurriedly copied the recipe, thanked her profusely, and made a run to the grocery store.

Beer Battered Tempeh Fish

2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt, divided
1/2 t. cayenne pepper, divided
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. black pepper
1 1/2 bottles vegan organic pale ale, chilled
2 packages tempeh, sliced into 1/2” strips
1/4 c. malt vinegar
2 T. agave nectar
3 c. oil (I used peanut oil, because I was out of olive oil)
1/2 c. arrowroot powder

Whisk together flour, baking powder, 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and black pepper. Whisk in beer until the batter is smooth and refrigerate 15 minutes. Steam tempeh for 7 minutes and cool slightly. Soak the tempeh in the malt vinegar, agave, and the remaining 1/4 t. cayenne and 1/2 t. salt.
Dredge the tempeh in the arrowroot, then dip into batter, and fry in the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When brown on one side, turn pieces over and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Tangy Tartar Sauce

1 1/2 c. vegan mayonnaise
1 T. pickle relish
4 green olives, finely chopped
2 t. minced dry onion
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Whisk & refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Watch the frying closely, because as you can see in the picture, some of my pieces were darker brown than I would have preferred. My kids loved it, but personally I like tofu more than tempeh, so want to try this again using sliced tofu instead. The flavor was good, however. Also, I thought the batter was a little thick, so more beer or water might help thin it some. You want a good coating, so you don't want it too thin.

Is Your Wine or Beer Vegan?

My family and I like our beverages. Tea, water, juice, the occasional soda. Oh, and beer and wine. Now, me, I'm not a beer drinker. I'll cook with it every now and then, but two things I have just never acquired a taste for are coffee and beer. I get teased because I don't even like the smells, unlike some non-coffee drinkers I know. I swear, open a fresh container of coffee and from anywhere in the house I will come into the kitchen insisting something is burning. Seriously, that is how it smells to me. Not appealing at all.

But wine? I like wine. Not all wine, and will admit to being a bit of a wienie about it. It has to be sweet. You can keep your dry wine, I don't want any! So imagine my surprise, and disgust, when I learned not all wines or beers are vegan! What the heck? It's made from grapes and barley and hops and wheat and it's all vegetarian, right?

Wrong.

Many wines are made using animal-derived ingredients to assist in the processing of the wine. While these
ingredients are largely filtered out of the wine before sold, the use of animal ingredients in the creation of the wine may make them unsuitable for consumption by vegans. Typically these ingredients are used as processing aids in the "fining" or filtration part of the winemaking process to help remove solid impurities such as grape skins, stems, pips, to remove the yeast used in the fermentation process, or to adjust the tannin levels. This is done to create a clearer, brighter, better tasting and more presentable wine.

Wine is clarified, or cleared, after fermentation. Some of the ingredients used include:

- edible gelatins (made from bones)
- isinglass (made from the swim bladders of fish)
- casein and potassium caseinate (milk proteins)
- animal albumin (egg albumin and dried blood powder)

It isn't any different with beer. Many beers are conditioned using the same fining agents as those used for wine. Finings are a substance put into the beer to clear out the yeast and particles. As with wine, isinglass, egg whites and caseins are often used for fining. However, bentonite, a mineral derived from clay, is also sometimes used.

My go to source now is Barnivore. If your preferred brand or label isn't listed, they even tell you how to contact the company and get the info you need.

Now I can imbibe without worry, and still be cruelty free!