Almost Vegetarian, Vegetarian and Vegan Archives Finished

The work of going through all of my nearly three years worth of posts and adding the relevant ones to the newly created “Recipes: Almost Vegetarian, Vegetarian and Vegan” category is finished. The archives are duly cataloged, and it should be simpler for those looking for straight up vegetarian or vegan recipes or non-vegetarian recipes that can be easily adapted to a vegetarian lifestyle to find what they want.

I realized as I looked at the finished categories that I actually had more vegetarian or vegetarian friendly recipes than I thought I did. In fact, this category contains more recipes than any other single category on this blog.

I really think it was worthwhile for me to go through my archives like this, not only because I made them easier for readers to search, but also because I noticed quite a few trends in my cooking and writing interests.

First of all–I bake a lot of pies and cookies, but not many cakes. That is in large part because while I like cake, I like pie better, as do both Zak and Morganna. And cookies–well, they were the first of my specialties–I used to play at making them as a toddler, and by the time I was fourteen I was in charge of the Christmas cookie baking in my parents’ house.

Besides, cookies are fun.

I also noticed that I have a lot of baking recipes in general, but not much in the way of yeast bread recipes. Which is weird, because I love to bake bread–I just haven’t done much bread baking in about three years, in large part because I have lived near good bakeries all through the time I have been writing this blog. So–well, there we are. I learned that if I don’t have to bake bread to have good bread, I won’t bake it. I will buy it instead and support my local bakers.

I also seem to like to make breakfast foods. There are recipes for pancakes, French toast, scones, German baked pancakes and waffles on my blog. I feel like I should have a breakfast food category. But then, I would have to go through the entire blog again, which might become a mite bit tiresome.

I have done a lot of bean recipes, but not nearly as many as I would like. That is because while Morganna and Kat and I could eat beans until the world ends, Zak is not as fond of them as we are. So, that slows us down a little bit in the bean department.

And there are not as many soup recipes as there ought to be. I love soup, but Zak is seldom content to eat soup as a meal. It is part of a meal in his universe. This is a drag for me, because I grew up with soup being a great one dish meal, meant to be filling and delicious.

Oh, well. I will have to make more soups, anyway, because at work, we are going to have a soup of the day from now on. Granted, another cook, Dennis, is in charge of the soup, but I will still probably be making some of them. (We joked about turning Dennis into “Salaam’s Soup Nazi,” but I think he is too soft-spoken and nice to really hold that title. We’ll have to come up with a better one for him that suits his personality better.)

So, what does the future hold for this category?

Well, I think that I will be doing some more bean and lentil dishes, certainly, because I am very fond of them. And, maybe some more tofu, as I love it as well. Seitan, too, perhaps, but absolutely no tempeh. I cannot stand the smell of it or the flavor–I think it is because I am allergic to many kinds of molds, and mold is part of what makes tempeh, well, tempeh.

There will likely be more vegan recipes–in large part, because I do cook so many Asian foods–but there will likely not be any vegan baked goods.

This is because I have never had a truly wonderful vegan baked good. I have had some which were acceptable or not bad, but I don;t see any reason to post recipes that are only acceptable or not bad here. I will only share the best stuff here. I am stubborn that way. I see no reason to promote cardboardy cookies, overly chewy cakes or gummy, heavy muffins here. Now, if I -do- find vegan baking recipes that turn out stuff that is just as good as the butter and egg filled usual suspects, I will certainly share them, and gladly.

But, really, I have eaten (and baked–for vegan clients) a lot of vegan cookies, brownies, pies, cakes and muffins, and I have yet to truly embrace any of them.

For me, butter and eggs are inseparable from the concept of excellent baking.

I don’t know what all else, but if anyone has any requests or ideas, do not hesitate to share them with me, and I will see what I can do to help you.

Oh–one more thing–someone asked if I could have a clickable list of whatever recipes are in each category when you click on the category.

Well, I can ask my in-house-techie, but I suspect the answer is at least going to be “No the now.”

In other words, “Not yet.”

With the implied, “Maybe never, because I have no idea how to code such a thing.”

Besides, he is working on the priority of updating the software and installing a plug in that allows readers to have a printer-friendly version of a post ocme up–that way you can print out my recipes and take them into the kitchen without a bunch of excess crap being printed out and wasting huge amounts of your paper.

No need to kill extra trees all in the name of some recipes from my blog.

5 Comments

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1. hi barbara, i didn’t mean anything overly complicated when is suggested the list of recipe. a page containing a list of recipes that link to relevant post would be perfectly adequate. nothing fancy, really.

   Comment by Maninas — November 15, 2007 #

2. Hey,

   Thanks for creating a vegetarian category! And I’d also just like to say — I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I love the obvious thought and care that goes into it and makes it such a pleasure to read. There’s so much difference between reading a cut-and-dried recipe and the kind of post that you write: where cooking is a process with a history (and consequences, too, if you take into account sustainable eating), not just a list of ingredients to be chucked into a pot. So thanks again, and happy cooking through the winter season!

   Comment by Ineke — November 16, 2007 #

3. I too have tried (and made) vegan baked goods and I find them mediocre at best.
   And then I realized that a family recipe I have is delicious AND vegan!
   I don’t have any directions written, but it’s a simple recipe.
   2 cups brown sugar
   3 cups flour
   1 tsp cloves
   1 tsp cinnamon
   1/2 cup vegetable oil
   2 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
   3 tsp baking soda (dissolved in applesauce)
   2 cups raisins
   Mix together, Use a 13 by 9 pan, 350 degrees for approx 1hr
   When I was young we used to make our own applesauce from the tree in the backyard. I don’t feel right buying applesauce so I often make this recipe with mashed bananas and mix up the spices. The recipe is also easily halved and also easily made in to cupcakes by reducing the baking time. Also I don’t like raisins very much so I’ll omit them or if I’m making banana cupcakes I’ll sub them with chocolate chips. I’ll also add wheat bran and various other goodies. It makes a good product so I’d recommend it to anyone and not just because it’s a family recipe 🙂

   Comment by Kristin — November 17, 2007 #

4. OH! and I forgot to mention that I also reduce the sugar (almost in half) because I don’t feel as though it needs that much sugar and I think the recipe actually benefits from it.
   And I echo the sentiments of the above poster. Food is an experience with a history and a future 🙂

   Comment by Kristin — November 17, 2007 #

5. OH! and I forgot to mention that I also reduce the sugar (almost in half) because I don’t feel as though it needs that much sugar and I think the recipe actually benefits from reducing it.
   And I echo the sentiments of the above poster. Food is an experience with a history and a future 🙂

   Comment by Kristin — November 17, 2007 #

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