FOOD

I'm already on the road.....

Monda jan, you made me hungry dear!

I'm already on the road for San Francisco!

Can't it wait until the next Talent Show?  :0)

Ari your poetic soul is Delightful!

You could put me in tears over Solo's leeks i swear :o)

Anoymous Observer

Do try zabalione or substitute soft creamy tofu for mascarpone cheese in tiramisu or simply as a sauce well blended with honey on fresh fruits.   

Souri, JJ & all the tofu haters out there

Wait until i feed you tempeh marinated overnight in garlic, tamarind sauce or pomogranate sauce, then we'll talk Love for Real food and your Hate for tofu :o)

Or let me give you my tofu aoli dip for french fries then we'll talk love or hate. You don't know what you don't know!

It's my lunch time and I'd like to pitch in on tofu & tempeh

Anonymous Observer, I have many delicious tofu and tempeh recipes from appetizers to desserts, I'll maybe blog here if I get in the mood. But I'm specifically wondering right now if you've tried khoresh fessenjun with tempeh substituting meatballs.  Very Yummy!  As you know extra firm tofu or (its Indonasian version) tempeh virtually absorb any taste once saturated in any sauce or any ingrediaent for only a minute, really.  Also I tried kotlet with tempeh which turned out great.  In general once we let extra firm tofu pieces or slices marinade we can do anything our hearts desire with them.

For smoothies I blend in soft tofu with my favorite fruits and honey... Yum! I'm starving.

Oh man now I'm all jazzed up about tofu and tempeh recipes and have to be confined at office - Far from kitchen or anything food related until tonight! 

Solo jan See what you've done to Me?! beechaaram kardi emrooz :o) contact me back channel about any thing you like to know on vegetarian or vegan, I've been both for some parts of my life. 

Delightful!

JJ, I don't like Tofu either

Like you, I want the real things, and don't like the fade taste and fade colors.....etc

But have you ever tried Tofu spread? It is something made with mayonnaise and some other veggie which looks (and taste a lot) like the salad Olivier khodemoun. I buy it at Costco :)

Not that bad....usually as a tasty snack. Just spread it on a toast and see how you would like it. I usually make a sandwich in a pita bread, with lots of parsley and tomatoes.

JJ - Jason and Souri

JJ: alrighty then...since I failed to convince you to eat tofu, I'll buy you a "pors" of chelo kabob next time I'm in your neck of the woods. :-)

Jason: Try this book.  I bought it a few months ago, and it has many good recopies: //www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Vegetarian-Meatless/dp/0764524836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262896570&sr=8-1

Souri: I love cooking.  I watch the Food Network all the time.  Drives the rest of the family crazy! 

..........

You just need to add seasonings to tofu, it will taste great. If you take seasonings out of kebab, the kebab will taste like cork! 

Delaram Banafsheh (Yolanda)

"Cactus in the Desert"

Nah mersi

Anonymous Observer, I've tried all sorts of tofu. It's very good for you and all that. But it's the last thing I'll ever touch when there are so many choices.

I don't want to THINK I'm eating meat. I want to have the real thing :)

.......

LoL, I noticed......

There are more men than women in this thread!

Shekamoo ha :)

JJ

Tofu is bland, but it can be great if you cook it the right way.  Try this: grind a piece of hard tofu in a meat grinder and mix it with pasta sauce, and let it simmer in the sauce for a while to absorb the flavors.  Then put it over your pasta.  I promise, you think that you're eating pasta with meat sauce.    

How about some tasty vegan recipies ?

     It would be great if someone would introduce some tasty vegan recepies . I am inspired to try it for a while , see  how I feel . vegans do not cook the ingredients , do they? The meals in the photos look like they are cooked and then blended .

Yuk!

Vegetables are great. But I can't stand tofu, in any form :)

I just had

soy meatloaf with roasted vegetables on the side....yummy!!!

Yum!

I don't know if I can go vegan, but i like the idea of going that route several days a week. thanks for the inspiration! 

Language Xlator

JJ, I think it'd be a great idea to have a French-to-English (or Farsi) language translator installed on Iranian.com.  What do you think?!

Rebellious Veganism

Saving the earth and photographing it while at it.  What a brilliant idea.  If one is to turn vegan what better setting to do it in than the gorgeous views of this essay.   Nice camera work. Yolanda, I have had those symptoms too, but just before my bouts of vegetarianism, not after.  And if while I was eating my healthy Brussels sprouts on a bed of legumes someone else was eating an unhealthily carnivorous 4-course meal then the sniffling would turn into full-blown sobbing.

...

بنده از پأییز ۲۰۰۸ رسما سبزیخوار شده‌ام ! البته سوشی (گوشت ماهی‌ خام) هفته یی یکبار میخورم و آن هم به دستور حکیم باشی‌ ما !

تصمیم سختی گرفته اید ! صبر و اراده شما قابل تحسین است.

موفق باشید.

Not being a Vegan

I still ditto Anonymous Observer: Your body needs Nuts and Good Grains for protein. Soy for women is Ok in small quantities because of its link to breast cancer.

Coffee in moderation with soy or hazlenut or almond milks is alright. Especially decaf. But yeah Green Tea is better for us.

as a vegan myself

I double Ahmad's advice about eating a lot of nuts and legumes, and don't forget soy (tofu).  Your body needs protein, especially if you exercise.  I find pecans to be the best.  Avocados are not a bad source of protein either.

And as far as coffee, I gave that up about ten years ago in favor of tea...although not completely.  I do drink a soy latte here and there.   

......

 I tried vegetarian diet before...I had sniffles and headache....I felt like there was some kind of imbalance.....I felt awful.....once I started to eat meat, all the symptoms disappeared.

   I am just curious if you have similar symptoms and you feel strong or weak.

thanks,

Delaram Banafsheh (Yolanda)

"Cactus in the Desert"

Yum ;0)

Nourriture pour l'estomac et l'Esprit !

Merci Beaucoup et Bon Appetit !

DK

Good for you

i don't know if you are of Iranian origin but going vegan to an Iranian is like a duck living in desert.

I work as a cook in a vegetarian organic shop here in Auckland, New Zealand. You really need to eat nuts and legumes to give you a balanced diet and a good intake of vitamins, proteins and minerals. AND try to eat most veges, fruits and nuts raw and organic whenever you can.

I would avoid mushrooms, only if you can pick them yourself (or an expert friend) from the woods, since you need to know your mushrooms.

Commercially grown mushroom are given heavy doses of sprays to keep them 'healthy' looking. Better still try to grow your own veges but looking at that snow, I guess the seeds will have a chill before even thinking sprout!

My next thought is read, read, and read. Welcome to the world of abundant energy.

Ahmed from Bahrain

Beautiful!

Everything looks good and I'd definitely eat this dish if it were in front of me but one thing that I believe is wrong with the Iranian cooking philosophy is over-cooking vegetables; cooking them al dente, instead, preserves the nutrients.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the pictures...

Excellent!

Loved it...  :)

No Nuts?! No Coffee?!

Why not?!  I feel depressed reading these items.  I can't live without them!

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well during the holidays. Keep up with the vegan way and you will have a nicer glow about you, like all the beautiful women out there (I forgot the names as you can tell).  I enjoyed your photo essay. It is a refreshing read. 

Goshnam shod

Very nice photo essay. That aash looks delicious. Thanks for a refreshing photo essay. Politically overdosed.