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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Vegetarian Travel Guide: Shmagel’s Bagels, Ocean City, Md.

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Shmagel’s Bagels, 3322 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md.
Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. daily
Menu (note that this does not include many of the plant-based options): https://shmagelsbagels.com/menu/
Suitable for: Vegetarians, vegans, bagel lovers of all ages

This, friends, is what’s known in the vegetarian community as a hidden gem. A regular old bagel shop with regular old bagel things, yes, but wait! There’s a twist! It also has a whole menu of veg-friendly meats, cheeses and breakfast foods to show off.

Look at the Shmagel’s menu online and you’ll find nothing about any of this, but come in person and you’ll see: This location is different. Whereas in most bagel shops, the meaty sandwiches are off-limits, you’ll find a breath of fresh air here – choose from ham, turkey or sausage and then add your choice of cheese, with all the fixings (mayo, cream cheese, etc.)! All plant-based, all wonderful.

LeeLee and I have been visiting this location for years during our annual trips to Ocean City, and we’ve never been disappointed. Early on, we visited with the lady who runs the 33rd Street location and found the reason for her more expansive menu: Her daughter is vegan and Mom wanted to make sure she had enough to eat when she came into the shop. With that, a whole new branch of the menu emerged, and with that, a faithful new following!

We were in town on vacation just last week, and reader, I’m not at all ashamed to admit we stopped by Shmagel’s twice in that time (and I would have gladly gone again if the opportunity arose). We feasted on all the lunch offerings we could, from vegan BLTs to turk’y sandwiches with cheese. If I’d had it to do over I’d also have ordered one of their famous Impossible sausage and Just Egg breakfast sandwiches, which I always enjoy, but alas – that will have to wait till next time!

The vegan BLT is one of my favorite things on the Shmagel’s menu. It’s got all the key components (including Lightlife bacon), and they sing together in beautiful harmony.

“Would you like me to add vegan mayo to this, ma’am?” the fellow making my sandwich asked from behind the counter. Of course!

The turk’y sandwich was also a delight. Turk’y, vegan cheese, avocado, mayo, lettuce, tomato … could there possibly be a more perfect sandwich? I think not.

LeeLee and I devoured our meals on both visits to Shmagel’s, and as I write this I wish I had another sandwich waiting in the wings! We can’t wait to get back for another bite – and to visit the beach, of course!

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New Recipe: Vegan Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches

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When I think back to my all-time favorite lunches – sometimes also serving as snacks or even dinners – the subject of pimiento cheese always comes to mind. There’s just something about the zesty tang of the diced pimientos, mixed with the savory, slightly salty cheese and, of course, the mayonnaise that holds it all together that really proves to be a wonderful spread indeed. From within sandwiches to atop crackers to just plain old by the spoonful, pimiento cheese has all the makings of a perfect meal. My mother makes the very best version I’ve ever had; she has the proportions just right.

So when, this Veganuary, I developed a craving for this beloved concoction, I just knew I had to make a plant-based version! And I knew it could be simply glorious, to boot. After a couple of tries, I was certainly not disappointed with the final result.

The equation couldn’t be simpler. Combine a jar of diced pimientos with the plant-based cheddar of your choice, douse with a dollop of mayo and then spritz in some salt and pepper, and you’ve got the makings for a glorious lunch – or Super Bowl Sunday dinner! Slap that spread on some bread and off you go. And save the leftovers for snacking the next day – it’s even better then!

The recipe’s below.

VEGAN PIMIENTO CHEESE SANDWICHES
Serves 4

What you’ll need:

1 jar diced pimientos, drained
1 bag shredded vegan cheese (we like Violife)
1/2-3/4 cup of vegan mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
8 slices of the sandwich bread of your choice

In a large mixing bowl, place the pimientos in the bottom and then add the cheese and mayonnaise. Start with half a cup of mayo and if you need more use the extra quarter-cup. Add salt and pepper to taste (I like to go heavy on the black pepper) and then mix thoroughly.

Plop the pimiento cheese on sandwich bread (or crackers) and enjoy!

:)

Picnic and a Movie.

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This weekend marked the 10th annual Alexandria Outdoor Film Festival, and the organizers hit us where it hurts: Saturday night’s feature was “Rogue One,” which LeeLee and I couldn’t dare pass up.

As you know by now, I’m a huge fan of a picnic, and frankly an outdoor movie seems the perfect venue for such a thing! So Saturday afternoon, I rolled up my sleeves (well, actually, at 90+ degrees today, my sleeves were short to begin with) and got to work in the kitchen whipping up a little feast for two. (All our usual movie-going friends were booked up already this weekend! Oh, the humanity!)

I knew we’d want an anchor – in this case, a turk’y and cheese sandwich topped with avocado – and a side, as well as something that would be sweet to end the meal. Our CSA, Great Country Farms, recently sent us a fresh shipment of potatoes, and before long potato salad was calling my name.

Now, typically I use my grandfather’s recipe for potato salad, and it has always served me well. But there were a few differences in today’s recipe that I needed to account for: The potatoes we had on hand were new potatoes, not Idaho or Yukon Gold, and – most criminal of all – we had no Worcestershire sauce with which to doctor the potatoes as they boiled. Anyone who knew my grandfather knew that the latter was a sin. So since I was already going quickly down the road to perdition, I elected to seal the deal with some sour cream instead of mayo and some Dijon mustard instead of yellow just to see where that got me. I know Pop’s chuckling to himself in heaven; he was nothing if not thoughtful when it came to changing times.

For a sweet treat, I knew LeeLee and I didn’t want the temptation of a traditional dessert, so instead I whipped up a fresh fruit salad starring blackberries and blueberries from the morning farmer’s market and … strawberries from the grocery store. So much for 100% local! But they tasted great anyway.

I readily admit that we brought a couple of cans of wine (to avoid using glass) to toast our meal and movie, and after dinner we played a mean game of Mille Bornes before the feature began. All in all, a successful night at the outdoor theater! And you can’t beat the prices.

:)

Sunday Cookout: Chik’n Sandwiches With Zucchini-Potato Hash and Snap Peas.

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vegan-chik-patty-with-veggies

Friends, tonight was one of my very favorite kinds of Sunday Cookouts – the all-grill version! From the sandwiches to the hash to the peas, everything we ate was cooked on the grill. I love nights like this!

The zucchini-potato hash was a concoction I just sort of made up as I went along, and it turned out beautifully. I knew we wanted to have a starchy side to go along with our snap peas, but I’d grown tired of the Usual Suspects – and, frankly, thought maybe it would be a better nutritional choice if we enjoyed a little less starch in our dinnertime routine. So I decided to cut the potato with a beautiful yellow zucchini, mix the two together with salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, a pinch of vegan cheddar cheese, and a pat of butter, and heat them in two foil packets (combined) on the grill!

The results were glorious. The zucchini and potato went together so nicely and, after a half-hour of cooking time, each bite was fork-tender and melted in our mouths. We mowed down the entire bowl’s worth and don’t feel a twinge of regret about it. The same goes for the snap peas, which I grilled in another foil packet with a pat of butter and some paprika. They were so tender by the time they came off the grill – and we made our appreciation known by leaving no pea behind!

The chik’n patties held up beautifully as ever, and despite our best efforts we did manage to leave two of them for tomorrow’s lunch. They’ll go very nicely in a couple of wraps!

:)

Vegan Toona Melts With Fruit Salad.

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vegan-toona-melts

Well, friends, Ironman training is here. I’ve got 20 weeks to go before the Big Day and the “official” training plan began yesterday! Which means today was my first two-a-day of the season, with a swim before work and a run afterward. So by the time I got home, I was feeling a bit … tired. Sleepy. Maybe even a little sluggish.

Thank goodness for these “tuna” melts! I’ve written about them before – Sophie’s Kitchen has outdone itself with this vegan toona, y’all! – and they never cease to fill our stomachs and make us happy. Tonight, I experimented with two different kinds of vegan cheese, Daiya’s cheddar slices and Field Roast’s Chao slices, and LeeLee and I were pleased with both styles.

We served the melts alongside a heaping fruit salad, which was teeming with blueberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, blackberries, and some hand-picked strawberries. It was the perfect quick-fix meal! So fresh and light on a hot late-spring day, but yet so filling, as well. That’s a combination that never gets old.

I made a full four muffins’ worth tonight, and I’m pleased to say that we’ve got plenty left for lunch tomorrow. I can’t wait!

:)

Five-Spice Comfort Pitas With Creamy Tomato Soup.

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five-spice-comfort-pitas

This was a comfort-food meal, all the way around!

A week ago, I added the Five-Spice Comfort Pitas from my new Make-Ahead Vegan cookbook to the menu plan for the week, and it was only today that I realized I should probably serve something to go with said pitas. The rain kept trickling down (for 15 days in a row now!), and I found myself craving a tomato cream soup. But since I’m trying to lay off the dairy as much as I can – and I owe y’all an update post about how that’s going, and I promise I’ll fill you in soon – I didn’t want to go the traditional tomato-cream route. So I improvised.

Given the simmer time, I started with the soup and then worked backward toward the pitas. First, I put two cans of diced tomatoes into a large pot and added some dried minced onion, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. I brought the tomato blend to a boil and then added a couple of cups of veggie broth, brought it back to a boil, and then simmered the soup on medium-low.

As it simmered, I began the five-spice pitas. I won’t get into the whole recipe here, since Ginny Kay McMeans has a book to sell, but let’s just say the Chinese five-spice powder is the star of the show, and the brown rice adds a lovely layer! By the end of it, the pita was indeed a comforting concoction that was second to none!

To finish off the soup before serving, I added about a cup of (plain!) almond milk to the pot and stirred it all around well, then let things simmer a minute or two more for the flavors to mingle and the milk to reach a hot temperature. Then it was time to eat!

LeeLee and I helped ourselves to several helpings of the “comfort rice,” first within our pitas and then without for Round 2, and we both enjoyed the soup immensely as well. LeeLee even went back for a second helping of soup, which is always the hallmark of success in my book!

We’ve got enough rice left over for one more pita tomorrow – but since we’ve still got pizzadillas hanging around, that’s perfectly fine. Sharing is caring, after all!

:)

Sunday Cook-In: Vegetarian Meatball Subs With Cole Slaw.

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vegetarian-meatball-subs

Finally – we got snow today! Oh, happy, happy day indeed.

It didn’t stick, but we didn’t care. After a long dry spell, snow finally materialized in the DC area, and LeeLee and I were thrilled!

The weather kept alternating wet-dry-wet-dry all afternoon, so I abandoned plans to fire up the smoker and instead went the oven route to make tonight’s meatball subs. Well, the stovetop-AND-oven route, I suppose: First, I browned the meatballs (made by simply forming a tube of Lightlife “beef” into 10 balls) in a large pan and then placed three atop two sub rolls adorned with pizza sauce, then drizzling a little more sauce on top of the meatballs and finally placing two slices of mozzarella atop each roll. Then I baked the subs at 375 for about 10 minutes, until the cheese had melted and the rolls had toasted a little bit.

As the subs warmed, I whipped up a cole slaw side dish by placing the contents of a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots into a serving bowl and then whipping up a little dressing. One cup of Just Mayo, a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar, some salt, pepper, and celery seed, all blended together in a bowl and then tossed with the cabbage – life doesn’t get much easier than that!

LeeLee and I chowed down with the usual gusto, leaving only a few meatballs in our wake. I’m already anticipating a tussle for the lunch leftovers tomorrow – with both of us home for MLK Day, it’s anybody’s game!

:)

Vegan Grilled-Cheese Sandwiches With Tomato Soup.

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vegan-grilled-cheese-sandwich

Y’all, yesterday my oldest niece moved into her dorm to start her freshman year at the University of Florida. (We’ll put aside the fact that we Seminoles now have a Gator in the family! We’re just happy she’s happy.) So tonight, in solidarity with Taylor’s burgeoning college career, I got in touch with my student-cooking side and whipped up some vegan grilled-cheese sandwiches, complete with tomato soup alongside. And to top things off, yes, in the photo you’ll see that I’ve used several broken taco shells as tortilla chips. Why not?

Grilled-cheese sandwiches have been a mainstay in my kitchen for as long as I’ve been cooking. I think I made my first one when I was about 11 or 12, and the tradition has continued right on through college and well into adulthood (or, in our case, “adulthood” since LeeLee and I don’t really act like adults most of the time). Now that so many great vegan options are on the market – melting vegan cheese! What a concept! – we more often than not whip up a vegan sandwich instead of the dairy variety. And we don’t miss a thing in the process!

So tonight I pulled out my trusty Panini press and let it heat up while I prepared the sandwiches. I set out two pieces of bread, coated each slice with a thin layer of Just Mayo, then placed a slice of Daiya cheddar on each piece. Next, I cut a tomato into thin rounds and put them across one side of the bread, and finally added one more slice of cheese – Follow Your Heart provolone this time, for variety – before putting the other slice of bread and cheese on top. Do that double-time, and you’ve got two sandwiches!

Then I put the sandwiches in the Panini press and waited about 8 minutes or so for the cheese to melt and the bread to toast. (I always cook my grilled cheese at a fairly low heat so the outside doesn’t finish cooking before the inside does!) By that time, the soup (store-bought, I hasten to add) had finished heating up in the microwave, so I pulled my taco-shells-turned-chips together too and got down to the business of dinner.

There’s just nothing like a good old grilled-tomato-and-cheese sandwich! The flavors are so simple and so wonderful, and they’re the perfect way to tie up the loose ends of a busy Monday.

Here’s to our niece Taylor – may she enjoy many a grilled cheese during her time in Hogtown!

:)

A Word or Two About Pimiento Cheese.

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pimiento-cheese

I went home to visit family last weekend. It was a much-needed, long-awaited five days with two of the people I love most in the world, my dear mom and dad, and I can’t begin to express what a rejuvenating experience it was to be away from the hubbub of daily “normal” life but yet also awash in incredibly deep familiarity. The end result was a weekend of respite, followed shortly by the sense that I could conquer the world upon returning back to Chez Recessionista. A magical visit, indeed!

While I was home, my mother and I whipped up a batch of pimiento cheese – a luxury neither of us indulges in when we’re away from the other! Save for the extremely rare serving during a noon football-game party in the fall, visits home are the only times I enjoy this wonderfully comforting classic.

Let’s get one thing out of the way quickly: A diet food this isn’t. Two blocks of grated cheddar and a generous dollop or two of Duke’s mayonnaise later, the pimientos are about the only ingredient that remains nutritionally viable throughout the process! But there’s just something about the blend of cheese, mayo, grated eggs, and pimientos – mixed with a hearty helping of black pepper – that makes me feel so eminently welcome, makes me feel that I am finally home.

Our family has enjoyed pimiento cheese for decades – in moderation, of course! I remember having it on Ritz crackers at my grandparents’ house (sometimes they had a tub of store-bought in the fridge for emergencies), and stealing taste after taste during FSU football games growing up. Now, years later, it calls me home, and one bite instantly transports me back to all of those wonderful childhood memories. With a pimiento-cheese sandwich on my plate, all the ensuing years melt away, leaving only comfort in their place.

Let me be clear: Mama’s pimiento cheese isn’t the magnet that draws me home once a quarter or so. But it certainly doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure! And every time we make a batch, we have a chance to linger in the kitchen together, catching up and joking and laughing. I can’t think of a better homecoming celebration than that!

:)