Oh the trendy panini, how I love thee. 
I got way too many veggies going on from the CSA with loads of zucchini, squash, and eggplant and I need to start getting creative on ways to use them. Daiya cheese melts so well and really rounds out the panini experience.
I have the older version of this cuisinart panini grill that I like, but from the Amazon comments it looks like this updated one is even better.
Off to watch more Avatar, the last Airbender…gotta love cartoons where the main character doesn’t eat meat! I haven’t seen the movie yet.
Don’t miss this giveaway Vegan Crunk Bianca is giving away soap nuts on her blog.
Also remember to renew your Veg News subscription. This month’s 10th anniversary issue features a gorgeous Peter Max cover, but only on the subscriber issue. It also has the 10 top vegan blogs, articles by Joshua Katcher and his sister Joelle, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Terry Hope Romero, Robin Robertson, Hannah Kaminsky, Dynise Balcavage and more. It also showcases the top veggie cities where of course New York Rules!!! There’s Vegan Drinks, Veggie Prom, Veggie Pride Parade, Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, Moo Shoes and 42 vegan restaurants! Go NYC!
The sauce is tofutti better than sour cream mixed with aji panca.
The aji panca is not too spicy, but has a really nice red peppery bite that is more bitter (in a good way) than a red bell pepper.
Steaming seitan is slightly easier than boiling it (honestly, I’ve never bothered baking seitan) and it has a nice finished texture. Because you wrap each steak up in aluminum foil, it keeps it’s shape as it expands when steaming. Also I think it breaks apart a little better if you want to make crumbles out of it. I made these a few days ago when it was a little cooler, and I think they are even better after chilling in the fridge. 
Lemon lime aid is a summer must. Limes were 12 for $2 at the store, so I had to get them even without a plan for them. The lemons were organic, so I grabbed that bag, too, though I don’t think they were as cheap. Instead of letting them linger and go bad in the fridge, I juiced them and kept the juice for other things. Here’s the freegan part…instead of tossing the peels after juicing, plunk them in a large pitcher, cover with water, and pop in the fridge. By the time the water is cold, it’s infused with all the juice you didn’t quite get out of them and the oils from the rinds. You can add a little sweetener if you like, but I dig it straight up. Cool and refreshing.
Fast and easy pickles.
The secret to eating more grains and rice really is a fancy 
Sofrito is a mix of onions and peppers that adds the perfect seasoning to any Latin American cooking. Most people have their own special way to make it (mine originated from Daisy cooks,) but it’s basic components are onions and peppers. I don’t cook it first, (Terry’s recipe in 
My new addition to the sofrito this time is aji peppers. I haven’t been able to find them fresh, so I finally broke down and got the jarred ones. My local grocery store has a pretty good selection of Latin American items. 
The aji peppers are about the same spiciness of a jalapeno, but a little bigger and with a different flavor.
Essentially you could use any quick bread recipe and just take balls of the dough, dunk in sugar, and pop into a pan. Top with a sugar and melted earth balance mixture then bake at 375 for 30 minutes, and voila, monkey bread. I have a ton of zucchini, so maybe I’ll try out a zucchini monkey break later this week. I’m all for sneaking vegetables in unusual places…
The educational information is available, but not too “in your face” because the animals really speak for themselves. In the case of the roosters, quite literally. 
The farm is very interactive and totally kid friendly. 
Everyone liked to be petted and the pig particularly likes the belly rub, though he couldn’t really be bothered to wake up or anything. It was really hot out so most of the pigs were hanging out in the mud pond… 
We got the blinis which were an Indian spiced something over the little pancakes.
Seitan from last night (
The peas and tomatoes were from this weeks CSA. 
The “bacon”, I picked up in a health food store. I also added a dollop of vegan sour cream. I used the Follow Your Heart one, which I think tastes a more like a thick yogurt than sour cream, but whatever, it’s pretty good. You could also use some Tofutti Sour Supreme or Vegenaise.
Also in the CSA was a TON of broccoli, I used some here as a side dish smothered in miso tahini sauce. The “meat” is some Gardein with mushroom gravy. It’s on top of a pile of Quinoa.
Miso Tahini Sauce
They kind of look like the mini mashed potato Devil’s Towers from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but whatever, they were DELICIOUS. Also in my rush to get food out before tonight’s premiere of True Blood, I totally forgot to add the nooch and soymilk to the sauce. What I did do was add a little liquid smoke and kombu when I cooked the black eyed peas. Black eyed peas have a lot of flavor for a bean. I should cook them more often. 
For dessert I whipped up some strawberries with cream cheese topping and fig balsamic vinegar. The cream cheese topping is powdered sugar mixed into some tofutti cream cheese, so it’s kind of like a cheater cheesecake. The fig balsamic vinegar is just awesome. I usually choose one or the other to top berries, but both seemed like a pretty good idea, too. Yum. 
Kale, kohlrabi, purslane, lettuce, hydroponic tomatoes, red amaranth. The fruit share is strawberries. Extras are white and crimini mushrooms. I lucked out and got the last of the crimini.
Lunch is a 
Vegan Dance if you want to 