Vegan in the Bible Belt. Churches & Carrots in Petersburg, Illinois.

 Tempeh.  I so wanted to eat this but this particular Tempeh wasn't gluten free.  It was really nice because people put the ingredients of the packages out next to the food so if you did have an allergy, etc...it would be easy to see what exactly was in each dish.

Tempeh is wonderful because you can cook it up super quick.  My macrobiotic friend uses a lot of this stuff.  You can buy it made from all different types of beans/grains & you can buy gluten free as well.

 When I was travelling last week, I was lucky enough to be a visitor at the Petersburg, Illinois Vegetarian Potluck.  I know, it's funny.  Well, it was funny to me, because Petersburg is a very small Central Illinois Town know more for Cattle than Carrot Chics, but on this evening I ran into both!  Getting there was half the fun, as my mom & I were running late and taking back country roads.  When we actually saw "Welcome to Petersburg" and saw a church on the little town square, I exclaimed "There's the Church, that's it".  It wasn't.  Okay, the next block, "There's the church, that has to be it".  It wasn't.  The next block, "That church has to be it".  It wasn't.  We did this at least 5 more times and I think I was in total disbelief that there could be so many churches on one square mile of land!  I think it was the very last church we saw!  The Potluck was at the Petersburg United Methodist Church.  It was a small group of peeps from the Petersburg-Greenview Illinois Area and everyone brought a delicious Vegan dish to share.  Yep, right here in the Heartland, Vegan.  

 An Amazing Fruit Salad.  I could almost live on this stuff.  This stuff along with overeating nuts. 

Several Raw dishes and then several others with Daiya cheese-which isn't at their local IGA!  We ate & then watched a John McDougall show about the evils of  Soy Isolates.  The second part was about Fish (And why it is bad) but thankfully we only had one hour of John.  Don't get me wrong, I do support most of what John McDougall says & think he has done wonders in getting information out there.  But I had this uncontrollable urge to laugh throughout the first 20 minutes of the film as he isn't a super high energy person.  It was a little bit more "teachy" than entertaining and I swear I heard him say to limit bean intake to one cup a day so we wouldn't overdo proteins.  Seriously??  Limit Plant Protein like that?  That's fine, but seriously, this girl is eating avocados & nuts & I can eat gallons of Anupy's Dad's Rajmah, so "limiting" beans was just a wee bit out of my league.  I am much more of a Michael Gregor Girl myself-he is super funny & enlightening.  I do love you John McDougall, but maybe you need some Yerba Mate.  I couldn't stop thinking of how "moderate" he may be in other areas of his life as well & that made me have to try to contain the hilarity of my visualizations of this bean & nut limiter in more intimate settings.

 I couldn't get enough of this stuff.  Raw Vegan Crack.  Sweet, nutty, super yummy.  Who needs candy when you have Raw Vegan foods like this?

 Hometown Comfort Food.  Potatoes & Cheeze (Cholesterol Free/Cassava Root based "Daiya" Cheeze).

 Beta-Carotene Boost.  Another sweet & nutritious dish.  Carrots, Sunflower seeds, Raisins.  

Simple Goodness.

 Yummy Bean & Corn Salad.  Simplify it and used canned beans, but use "Eden Organic" Canned because that way you get yummy Organic Beans that aren't in a BPA lined can.  This dish packed a little punch (which I adored) with the addition of a bit of hot pepper!

 This looked great but this gluten-free chic stayed way.  But very easy to make a summertime pasta dish. Going Whole Grain or even Gluten Free doesn't mean you have to quit your favorite carbs!  Just get Brown Rice (for Gluten Free) pastas or Whole Wheat & use your favorite recipes.  Costs a little more for the Whole Grain pastas, but you are probably a lot less likely to be needing so many medicines if you give up all the refined white flours in your diet.  

LOVED.  I love beans & Vegenaise.  I don't eat Veganaise on a regular basis but how fun to have "traditional" types of recipes and use it.  Once again, look for Beans with BPA free cans if you are using canned beans.

 Another dish with gluten, but just as well.  I would have felt guilty for eating this!!  But, um, YUM.  Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.  The Gluten Peeps got several helpings of this.  I bet it was delicious & can you imagine with coffee......

 Yeah, finally we found the right church!  I couldn't believe that there were so many churches in what seemed like one big city block.  It seemed that there were nearly as many churches as homes in this little area.

If anyone is interested in veggie stuff, then check out the Petersburg Vegetarian Society.  The "Got Carrots" gal hosting is going on an adventure & she is going to need help keeping the Veggie Group going.  Maybe you are just Veg-Curious......I got the general idea that several of the attendees were in it for the "health" of it, but I am sure there are some big time animal lovers in this area as well.  Being "Vegan" or eating a Plant Based diet isn't "hip" or trendy in this part of the country.  But, this part of the country needs these types of events.  There are a lot of people making themselves sick from our traditional American Diet.  I can see where some of the Hallelujah Acres type of information might go over big here because it blends the "God Groove" with the "Heal Oneself" groove and puts Carrots over Cattle.  I really hope this little group will blossom!

Do you guys go to Raw or Vegetarian Potlucks/Group gatherings?  Are you a "Midwest" or "Small Town" Vegan or Vegetarian?  What things do you like about being a "minority" in these places??

I go to the Raw potluck sometimes but often the timings of the Raw of Veggie Potlucks don't fit so well into my schedule.  I am certainly a minority being a full out Vegan in the Midwest.  "Full Out" means I check when it says "Natural Flavor"!  A plus of being a Midwest Vegan is that there aren't a lot of people exploring this diet to be hip or trendy.  It isn't pretentious.  The people I know who are vegan in this part of the country have character.  It isn't like you can walk into any coffee shop and buy vegan desserts to go with your fair trade coffee here.  You have to really believe in it & commit to the lifestyle here because it isn't like you are going to do this because all of your friends are doing it.  So I like the sincerity of people.  It would be awesome to have a raw food or vegan place on every street corner like the West Coast, but I will settle for the "realness" of the people I meet.  People build character when it isn't 78 degrees and sunny everyday!  I think it's great that "veganism" is "trendy" in places as well (the beloved West Coast again), and would embrace living there as well.  But since we are here until.......then I do try to see the bright side!

Anupy Singla's "Dad's Rajmah".  One of my favorite dishes in which I eat way more than one cup of beans.
No one comes between me & my Rajmah.  Sorry John.  Don't forget to "Like" Anupy's "Indian As Apple Pie" Facebook Page because this gal is working on her "Vegan Indian" book and she needs taste testers in the Chicagoland Area.  Yes, Vegan Indian.  WOW!

"The Indian Slow Cooker" book by Anupy Singla

Seriously, A Masterpiece!!

Vegans, don't overlook this book just because it's in the "Crockpot" or "Indian Section".  This is the Holy Grail of Vegan Indian............
The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

Yesterday we went to our favorite Indian place in town, Gokul's. We would probably go there more, but they are a little far from us.  Apparently a location in the loop is opening very soon.  Gokul's is all vegetarian and they have vegan night the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. So the kormas are made with coconut milk, the rice pudding with soy milk, and the paneer with tofu. While we love vegan night, I have developed a certain affinity for dosas. And these are served in the daytime on weekends. The super-chat bar and dosas command a dollar or two extra for the buffet. I usually have to compete against some Indian man to ensure I get a few, but it's worth it! Its harder for them to keep the dosa tray full since they have to be individually made. They aren't the huge, main entree type of dosas but more of a small serving dosa. There is always one Indian man that is finished eating everything else on the buffet (not the same one each time), and me, who has already downed 2 pounds of beans ( I don't eat white rice so I binge on the dals and chana masala) who are anxiously awaiting a freshly made batch of dosas. Well, yesterday I didn't have to completely gorge myself because Indian food is no longer a scarcity in our home since I discovered "The Indian Slow Cooker",  a modern day miracle,  by Anupy Singla.  While I haven't been making dosas, I have been making just about everything else that I normally eat on the "Vegan Mondays".  After lunch we went to stock up on ingredients at the Indian grocery next door called "Seema" Enterprises".

"Seema" Indian Grocery next to Gokul's
Page Ave., St. Louis, MO.

Well this gal Anupy Singla has spent a LOT of time figuring out how to make traditional Indian dishes in the slow cooker. What is great about the slow cooker, in comparison to the pressure cooker, is that the beans will hold their form a lot better. Apparently the crock pot emulates how traditional Indian food would be cooked, by simmering on a flame for hours while needing consistent attention. We had received a slow cooker a few years back from my husband's mom and simply never opened the box. It wasn't really something I identified with since I was using the pressure cooker nearly every day to cook dried beans for the dogs and the husband. But then I needed to order a part for my the lid, and I decided to drag the slow cooker up from the basement. Problem was that everything on the Internet seemed to be focused on super American food, which really turned me off. I am imagining 1950's housewife cuisine and as a whole foods, raging vegan kind of gal who voted for Dennis Kucinich, I was just not identifying with pot roasts and carnivorous roasts at all. I don't even remember how it happened, but I just stumbled on this book and immediately ordered it, from Amazon. Apparently the wait time on Amazon was so great since they had run out of copies, that I went to the Anupy Singla's blog site and ordered one from her, signed! Indian food, slow cooker, that was something with which I could identify.  

So many to choose from!

Papads and MORE legumes at Seema.

At Seema, we loaded up on the spices we didn't already have such as black cardamom, amla (dried Indian gooseberries) and fresh curry leaves. They don't carry fresh curry leaves at Jay's International, which is a bummer because I don't think there is place right in the city that sells them. They were in little plastic bags and were unmarked. So unless you are familiar with what curry leaves look like, you might need to ask to ensure that you aren't picking up some other fresh leaves. At Seema they were in the small refrigerator across from the produce and cost 99 cents a small bag. It took me a bit to figure out "amla" because I didn't know where it would be located. She calls for unsalted, but I could only find 2 varieties dried (we bought some fresh frozen ones). One had amla and salt and the other had amla, sugar and other nasties. So I opted for the one with salt. The man working there seemed to think I wouldn't use this type to cook but that people eat them after meals. At this point I just went with my gut and trusted Anupy's "dried amla" instruction and thought maybe the man working at the counter didn't actually cook? The other questionable item was the "nigella" seeds. Well, he didn't know what those were either, but I actually took the book inside with me and found the other name "kolanji" and then it was apparent to him what I wanted. But those things were just minor learning curves.

Beans......

Some boxed spices, premixed, such as "Chana Masala".
CAREFUL! of which ingredient salt is listed as.  Many have salt as the second ingredient.

Things I didn't already have included the black cardamom, green cardamom pods, curry leaves, amla, black salt, black mustard seeds, yellow mustard seeds, parsley seeds,  white poppy seeds, tamarind paste and the whole dried red chilies (I chose an Indian variety).  Other "basics" are garam masala, cumin, red chili, and tumeric (haldi).  I buy whatever I can organic at Mountain Rose Herbs.  They do carry garam masala, cardamoms, mustard seeds, tumeric, cumin, etc.....I will try to make a list of all the Indian spices you can buy from them.  They are great because they are very inexpensive and nearly everything they carry is organic and fair trade.  A little company in Oregon that carries spices, soaps, green and black teas, powdered seaweeds, tea supplies and essential oils.  

The elusive "Kallonji", a.k.a. "Nigella" seeds.

  

                                                      

More Chanas!

I am also fortunate enough to have parents that are part of a food coop. So I had them order me some flax seeds in bulk and about 25 pounds of organic brown basmati rice, grown in the states. The price was just barely over $1.00 a pound. And that prompted me to finally replace our rice cooker since the lid had broken. I ended up getting the Miracle ( same brand as our manual wheat grass juicer) which has a stainless steel interior and also a stainless steaming basket. It is a simple cooker, but that's what I wanted. I didn't want non-stick anything. Just basic and no toxins.  It has been GREAT! And I figured out good rice ratios. So I am now putting 3 cups brown basmati to 4.5 cups of water and that seems perfect. I have been really happy with it so far!

My new "Miracle" Rice Cooker.
Stainless Steel interior and veggie basket.
No teflon or non-stick finish for me, Thank you.

Some new spices......

The beans, lentils, legumes, etc......are also a cinch to find. I bought all the ones I could from Whole Foods as I could get them organic. So the organic ones would be whole green mung, black eyed peas, whole white chickpeas, the small red lentils, and red kidney beans. I don't think any of them are more than 2.00 a pound. The other beans are available at international store or online. They are very inexpensive, especially if you buy in bulk. The beans there might include, black lentils (matpe beans, not the lentils that look black at Whole Foods), split black lentils (urad dal), kala chana ( black chickpeas which are smaller than white chickpeas and never get as soft but packed with protein), and chana dal.  The really cool thing is that she always uses dried beans, UNSOAKED.  Yep.  This is awesome because dried beans are so cheap AND they don't have the BPA's that canned beans do.  Eden brand is the only one I am aware of that carried BPA free cans, and those are about 1.99 a can.  I buy those if I must, but it actually states to use the dried types for the slow cooker.  That way they absorb the water and you can make food for your entire family for a couple of bucks, if that.  The beans at the international places cost far less than 2.00 a pound and if you buy them in bulk it is even less.  We are talking about eating some of the healthiest food available on the cheap.  Not only healthy, but delicious.  And if you eat like this on a regular basis, it is my opinion that you may be able to reduce the risk for America's greatest killers like diabetes and heart disease.  Low fat, lots of fiber, and if you do them vegan style, ZERO cholesterol.  Fiber fills you up so it is hard to get obese eating beans.  Trust me, I have tried.  I have a major bean addiction and that is the thing I crave whenever I am doing "raw foods".  Beans.  I crave beans and then I eat so many of them that I think I may burst!  My point is that it takes a lot of beans to create the same caloric load that say, donuts would, and they make it difficult to eat a whole lot more!

Aren't they pretty?
Beans from Jay's International and Seema Markets.
I couldn't find these types organic yet.

Thankfully she has a section in the book explaining different names for these things and also some photos. The only confusing part is that she calls a lot of beans "lentils" which is probably the "norm" for Indian cuisine. However, I grew up with lentils being specific types of beans so it is just kind of different that what I was used to. But I was happy to learn and understand that in India they probably don't classify the beans exactly the same as we do. It is useful information to be armed with when you go shopping. As I wasn't 100 percent sure that whole green moong dal were "mung" beans, the type that are often sprouted. Since they were also referred to as "lentils" I thought perhaps that it was one of the types of green lentils at Whole Foods.  I have made about 8 dishes from this book so far, some multiple times.  In the next posts I will let you know how they turned out!!  I can tell you this though; since we received this book I believe that the slow cooker has been used every single day.  And often overnight as well.  It's pretty cool that if you awaken for a moment or two at night, that the smell of curry is wafting through your house.  And nothing better than waking up early in the morning to a finished Indian dish.  Coffee and Black Chickpea Curry for my husband and Yerba Mate and the same for me.  It is a small miracle!

Do any of you have this book yet??  Curious as to what you guys think.  Do you make vegan dishes in your slow cookers?  What are your favorite vegan friendly Indian Cookbooks?