Flat Chat

flat chat

adjective
Definition: busy: extremely busy
e.g. "Sorry, mate, I can't help you - I'm flat chat."

Two weeks left in the semester; a stack of essays to mark; looming paper deadlines; grant applications; interviews; community meetings; animal rights townsville; planning a birthday party; planning rallies and meetings with government; weekly seminars; dinner invitations; Andy's home (!); friends visiting from overseas...

And so I leave you with a week's worth of food in one post.

First up, brussels sprouts. Andy's first experience with them, to be exact. I mostly followed the recipe from La Dolce Vegan which came highly recommended, and for good reason. These were damn good.
Indian-ish feast. Roasted cauliflower with four-seed sauce (based on three-seed sauce from VwaV but we had all the wrong seeds)--nigella, fenugreek, coriander and aniseed. Spicy Indian Rice (minus the toasted almonds) from Vegan with a Vengeance. And plain and sweet potatoes tossed with mixed spice and flour and roasted in the oven.
Cold weather lately has been calling for stew. Hence Andy's creation--it started as an amalgamation of three recipes from La Dolce Vegan and turned into something completely unique. It had red lentils, brown lentils, yellow split peas, potato, sweet potato, leftover roast cauliflower, cumin, caraway, nutmeg, tomato soup, veggie stock, and shallots. And perhaps more. Served on leftover spicy rice and alongside some sauteed Wombok.
Cold weather also makes napping on the couch a welcome activity. If only we all had the time!

Pesto scrolls. I woke up early last Saturday to bake these, so that I could bring them to the Animal Rights Townsville meeting. Unfortunately, my morning didn't go as planned, I didn't get to come home before the ART meeting, and I had to eat these all myself. What a shame. Puff pastry, broccoli pesto, and minced olives = perfection!
Another thing I made for the ART meeting but couldn't bring. Red Lentil Dip, based on the recipe from La Dolce Vegan, but with lots of changes. It had massaman curry paste, cinnamon, peanut butter, cumin, onions and garlic, red lentils, and tofu. Yummy, especially with vegan rice crackers.
For Andy's welcome-home, I made the 'Tease Cake' from Ultimate Uncheese. The bulk of this cake is made not from tofu or soy cream cheese, but from millet. It was surprisingly good. Instead of lemon I used orange, with a ginger cookie crust, and a topping of Maya Gold Ganache.

Andy wasn't hungry for dessert after travelling all afternoon, so I left it in the fridge... and when I came home from uni the next day this is what I found:
Another welcome home meal filled with things Andy didn't get much of on the island--spinach, sauteed with garlic, sesame and carrot; mushrooms baked with garlic and olive oil; and cumin lime baked tofu & broccoli.
And finally, I'll leave you with an update on the kangaroo culling in Canberra that I mentioned a few weeks ago. The government had originally agreed to relocate, rather than murder. Recently, they changed their mind and said they were going to massacre the kangaroo population. Unfortunately for them, animal rights activists and Aboriginal traditional owners are not going to take this lying down. Eight people were arrested after climbing the fence, starting a ceremonial fire and reclaiming their land. Read about it here.

Coming soon: Andy's birthday. We're having a fiesta!!

Book Review!

As I said before, I recently got Making a Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights by Bob Torres (published in 2007 by AK Press). Before I tell you what you think, I need to provide a little disclaimer. Bob was my undergrad advisor and my honours supervisor. His influence (and a few mutual friends) enticed me to vegetarianism and then veganism. He taught me marxism, and really helped me to articulate my thinking on capitalism, politics, animal rights, racism, sexism, and other issues. For that reason, the arguments in the book are basically in line with my thinking, so I really loved it. But I’ll try to avoid sounding like a groupie (even though I think it’s, like, so totally cool that I got a mention in the acknowledgements!). Sorry for the wordiness, I tried to keep it short but I have trouble with that!!

In Making a Killing, Bob is basically making the argument that one can’t be truly opposed to hierarchy and domination while still participating in animal exploitation. He uses marxist critiques of capitalism, and anarchist critiques of hierarchy as the base of his argument. Of course, he has to extend these traditionally human-centric arguments to apply to animals—not much of a stretch, really. It’s important to note that he doesn’t isolate his discussion of speciesism. Rather, it’s tightly woven with a discussion of racism, sexism, and classism. For instance,

“Much like racism, speciesism is built into the very logic of our society: from our assumptions about animals as ‘stupid’ or ‘tasty’ creatures, up to the laws that guarantee animals as our property” (p. 71-2).

This is noteworthy because the forms of exploitation have developed together and can only be successfully tackled together.

Bob also looks critically at the “Animal Rights Industry”, aka the main groups that claim to fight for animal rights. I found this chapter particularly interesting for a few reasons. One, because I’m a student of social movements, and that stuff is really my cup of tea. Two, because he spoke in depth on a few issues that I’ve always waffled about without articulating where I really stand. Third, many of these same issues are things that have been the focus of discussion in the Animal Rights group that is forming in Townsville (and probably mark the development of any AR group)—particularly issues of welfare vs rights, abolition of exploitative uses of animals, and whether its worth watering down the message to win people over:

“Sending the message that exploiting more nicely is acceptable only serves to maintain human dominance over animals, for it does not directly call into question the foundational notion of the use of animals. ... This is everything like an anti-slavery organization suggesting that owning slaves is acceptable, provided they’re treated well” (p. 93).

The suggestions he offers at the end—namely, real activism instead of consumerism, and a strong endorsement of veganism instead of welfarism—might be challenging, but I think they are absolutely worth doing.

Since I’ve been in some educational institution basically without a break since I was four (two, if you count Head Start), I’m not really a good judge of whether something is accessible to non-academics or not. But, I found the theories well-explained, such that I could understand even those I was unfamiliar with. Reading Bob’s explanations of tricky concepts transported me back to classrooms where he used similar illustrations to get his point across to a room full of mostly disinterested future-corporate-slaves (or, in many cases, execs).

There were a few places where I would have expanded on certain arguments, particularly in the chapter on the movements. That said, I never felt like there were glaring holes where I was left wondering what he was on about. The flow of the book made sense to me. One thing I would change is the references. I freaking hate end notes! I know everyone has their own preference, but I definitely prefer footnotes or in-text citations.

On the subject of references, I thought the book was well-researched. It was good to see primary sources referenced, like United Egg Producers and the USDA. It seems like some animal rights literature tends to cite only other AR lit. Using information provided by the animal exploitation industries gives a sense of legitimacy that sceptics can’t argue with (though we know they still will).

Basically, I thought it was great. It’s different from most books on veganism that I’ve come across because it doesn’t focus on health or environmental arguments, nor merely compassionate reasons; it takes a broader look at the socio-political implications of consuming animal products and builds a firm ethical base for veganism that supports the compassionate argument. And, in my opinion, that foundation is stronger than the other arguments, particularly in the face of opposition or heckling from sceptics.

“In challenging this bloodbath, done in the name of our palates, veganism says that animals have interests and lives quite apart from human concerns, and it respects that by avoiding all animal products to the greatest extent possible—this includes dairy, leather, eggs, and wool. ... This perspective is the only one that makes sense if one takes the challenge to overcome needless domination, hierarchy, and oppression seriously—particularly given how acutely animals suffer to produce the everyday goods and foods that we take for granted” (p. 131).

Living alone.

I have a glut of photos that I haven’t posted, and with a few big things coming up (like a vegan meet-up on Saturday and Andy coming home on Sunday) I want to clear them out.

I know I’m not really living single or anything, merely spending a month by myself. But, it has been good because I’ve never ever lived alone. I went from home to the uni dorms at 17, then back home for six months after I finished uni, and then I moved straight in with Andy when I moved to Australia two years ago. So this month has been a complete change for me, and although I’ve been a bit lonely, I have really enjoyed some aspects of it.

Here are a few of the things I’ve loved about living alone:

+sleeping in the middle of the bed.
+being the sole object of Nacho’s affection.
+cutting recipes in half and still having enough for lunch the next day.
+less weekly groceries (less expensive and not so much to carry home).
+watching the same movie repeatedly (Andy gets bored, and we don’t always have the same taste in movies. Looking for Alibrandi and Amelie were on repeat this month, usually it’s The Royal Tenenbaums or The Life Aquatic).
+getting work done in the evenings.
+eating whatever I want, whenever I want, with no worries about pleasing someone else. Like all this food…

Turmeric rice, sweet potato mashed with brown sugar and coconut cream, and ‘Black Eyed Peas Dhal’ from Alternative Vegan (p. 126), with added coconut cream. The dhal was really great, and tasted smoky, deep and different. I would make this for guests.

Borlotti bean patties, based on ‘Chickpea Cutlets’ from Veganomicon (recipe here) but made with Italian-tasting things (like basil, oregano, and balsamic vinegar), served with ‘Spiced Potatoes’ from La Dolce Vegan (p. 191).

A very quick but somehow very satisfying dinner—dry fried tofu triangles and raw capsicum with a sauce made from peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce, and soy sauce.

Quick dinners usually lead to no leftovers for lunch the next day, so on those days I had to get creative. This lunch was a Granny Smith apple (a variety which originated in Australia, for a bit of trivia), carrot sticks, a bagel and banana bread. The bagel and banana bread were both made about a month ago, but I stuck them in the freezer (after slicing, in the case of the bread) and have been snacking on them ever since.

Mini-crustless chickpea flour quiches, based on SusanV’s tofu quiche recipe. I was working on the logic of the great-ness of Kumudha’s Indian Vegan Omelette, but what works on the stovetop isn’t quite as great in baked form. These were a bit heavy, but still pretty good.

Soba noodles tossed with hoisin sauce, served with ‘Sautéed Cabbage with Mustard Seed’ from the Pythagoras chapter of Famous Vegetarians & their favourite recipes (p. 8). The cabbage turned out surprisingly sweet and delicious.

Even with all the good things about living alone, I think it’s obvious that I’m really looking forward to having Andy come back!

Two ways to start the day

Thanks everyone for your nice comments on my last post. I should add that I cry quite easily, so stress tears are not an uncommon sight. But you're all so sweet, so how can I not be in a good mood today?!

Now, continuing on with breakfast foods Andy doesn’t love...

Scones. I read Vaala’s post about banana pecan scones and remembered my love of the pastry that reminds Andy of Grandma. I flicked through a few of my cookbooks and decided on ‘Ginger-spiced scones with cashews and dates’ from Vegan Planet.

To make things easier, I mixed the dry ingredients the night before, and also chopped the cashews and dates. Then in the morning all I had to do was heat up the oven, cut in some buttah and mix in some soy milk and egg replacer. I found the mix really dry and crumbly, but I was nervous to overmix because I didn’t want tough scones. So I just kind of patted it all together and baked them. They were really good fresh out of the oven—beautifully soft and chewy and perfect with a cuppa. But they were still good when I came home in the afternoon, and they hadn’t gone hard like I expected when they cooled. Also, I cut the recipe in half and still had enough for a few people.

On the other side of the spectrum from sweet pastry, I made up a fried veggie brekky one morning. I fried up some potato and carrot, and then added a little block of frozen spinach. At the end I stirred through a spoonful of chilli-capsicum deli spread. With it, I had a homemade bagel spread with vegemite.

And of course, a cuppa tea. We have a habit of buying tea when its on special or reduced to clear, to the effect of a kitchen drawer absolutely chock full of herbal teas. Four or five types of green tea, white tea, peppermint tea, rooibos tea, chamomile tea, mint and ginger tea, Echinacea tea, lemon tea, lemon ginger tea, lemon black tea, black currant tea.... The list goes on. These two photos feature Darjeeling, with soy milk, and ‘Be Happy Tea’, a blend of St John’s Wort and berries. The ‘Be Happy’ blend is the new love of my life—sweet and tart and bright pink, and with a smiling face on the little tabby thing attached to the bag. What can I say? I love tea.

Peace of pizza

I've been feeling ridiculously busy lately, and also a bit lonely at my empty house. The first two days of the week saw some easy fixes for both problems, though!

Monday started quite stressful, and even involved some tears, but all my stress was literally wiped away by a gorgeous (and free!) massage. A friend of mine is a registered masseuse and she had a free hour so I started with a foot spa, then a scalp massage, a back, arm and leg massage, and then ended with a foot massage. It was fantastic and relaxing, and if massages weren't so expensive I think I would have one every day! It left me feeling so peaceful.

Then last night I went to a human rights group meeting and there were only four of us. My masseuse friend said "Can we go somewhere a bit warmer, maybe someplace with soup?" I didn't want to end up at some crappy restaurant with no vegan food so I very quickly offered up my house. I quickly threw together some veggie soup (literally a tin of diced tomatoes, a tin of chickpeas, two potatoes, a carrot and a capsicum, with some veggie stock and thyme) and we ate soup and wrote up a few documents to bring into an upcoming meeting with our state politicians. Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed over how quick it was to cook healthy, vegan food that was tasty. There's nothing like sharing a meal with friends!

But I was in a rush and thinking about politicians, so forgot to get a photo! So I'll leave you with a different take on pizza from a week ago, a combination of two recipes from Ultimate Uncheese. The base is the 'Quick Chickpea Flour Pizza', which is really more of a very thin pancake than a pizza. The recipe indicates that it be served plain, as far as I can tell, but I was bored with that idea so I topped it with 'Broccoli Pesto' and olives which was very, very good. The pesto recipe makes a ton, too, so I've got some in the freezer for future uses. This pizza was completely different from my normal idea of pizza, but it was good.