Zucchini Bread

It might have come from the bank, or church, or fire department, but one thing is certain; you'll find one in every small town Maine kitchen. It's a cookbook with recipes submitted by your friends and neighbors. We think these self-published cookbooks from our civic institutions are the most authentic representations of community available to us. In that vein, we've set to scouring our mothers' shelves looking up recipes for classic Maine dishes with an eye toward modernizing them and making them vegan. This one is a bit of a vamp on a recipe taken from a collection from the Lincoln County 911 Dispatchers' Favorite Recipes cookbook.

There has been an abundance of great local zucchini about and this tasty bread instantly popped into mind. We got our zucchini from Dan at Seasonal Corner in Biddeford. We love pretty much all he's had to offer and we're super excited to hear that he's planning on going to full time next year when he'll have retail on site at the farm and will be turning out on Wednesdays at the Saco Farmers' Market. We can't wait.

We also recommend using another local vegan product in the baking of your zucchini bread. Pastor Chuck's Organic Applesauce is the way to go to add moistness to the bread without any of the cholesterol or guilty conscience of using eggs. They're based out of Portland and there's even a handy list of retailers on their website where you can pick up the goods.

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups peeled, grated zucchini
2 cups organic sugar
1 cup applesauce
1 cup corn oil
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly blended. Grease and flour two bread loaf pans. Divide evenly. Bakes up yummy in 35-40 minutes. Your mileage may vary depending upon your oven's temperament.

I Love Vegan Cheezy Almonds!

It might be a little unfair to play favorites and ascribe more adoration to one of Maine's specialty food products than another. In that regard, Living Nutz is giving us a little bit of internal conflict. Seriously though it's been a long time since a local vegan product we've tried made our jaws drop or eyes light up as I Love Vegan Cheezy Almonds! did.

We're not really raw devotees, but know we have a few raw followers in Portland. It's hard to ignore the health benefits of eating raw. Cooking food destroys nutrients and kills enzymes that aid in digestion, so the ingredients in Vegan Cheezy Almonds are processed minimally. The almonds are unpasturized and allowed to germinate. This is followed by marination and finally dehydration at low temperatures. Doing it this way encourages enzyme production increasing the health benefits and developing some great flavors.

So where did that great 'cheezy' flavor come from? Our guess is that it's actually the process of live culture development that takes the combined flavors of almonds, pumpkin seeds, nama shoyu, and lemon juice and transforms the snack into a 'cheezy' treat. We were impressed that the flavors struck a fine balance with no one flavor sticking it's neck out too far. They have lots of flavors that look amazing, but take note that some contain honey.

The Living Nutz Company was started in 2002 by Seth Leaf and Davy (The Almond Brothers) and are based in Bowdoinham. Heck they're even endorsed by fellow LLBean employee and Everest summiteer Bill Yeo. Please try to get your hands on some. We got ours at Royal River Natural Foods in Freeport. Support your vegan friendly grocers, not just the producers.

Vegan Product Roundup 1

There are tons of specialty foods producers in Maine offering vegan products. When we started So.ME.Vegans we decided one of our primary areas of focus would be to find unique products made in Maine and expose them to the larger vegan community. This is to be the first in a series of posts focusing on such products. We stopped by Lois' Natural Marketplace in Scarborough and picked out three items we thought we'd share with you. Of course, you should be supporting your local vegan food producers wherever you are.

Check out the sidebar. You'll see Falafel Toasties by Papou's Kitchen, apparently a local legend. We say apparently because when we started the blog we got almost immediate feedback saying we needed to try the superstar of local vegan specialty offerings. Honestly we hadn't heard of them yet, despite the product originally being conceived of in 1986. We were truly missing out. This has got to be some of the most finely crafted falafel we've tried. Djgray1200 thought the seasoning was just right. A number of falafels we've tried have been bland, but then again in frozen food you always run the risk of getting something that's obnoxiously salty. This product walks that line masterfully. Missus Gray says they're cake like and not too crumbly or dry, something our other reviewer also picked up on. In addition, she appreciated the versatility of the patty, noting it could easily go either in a wrap or on a burger roll. The only glitch we found was in their cooking instructions which boil down to 'set your toaster to dark and pop in the Toasties'. We found it took a couple of rounds in the toaster to get the center of the patties to even thaw and that oven preparation worked out better for us. Only a minor inconvenience. We still think they're absolutely deserving of the accolades they've received from their fan-base.

Next up was one of the most unique little crackers either of us had tried. Maine Sea Biscuits by The Savory Baker in Windham have a wonderful spice blend consisting of paprika, cayenne, fenugreek, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and turmeric. It sounds like a lot right? Not at all. It's all done in perfect balance. The mild heat is a perfect counter to the sweetness of the blueberry wine in the biscuit, and it creates a flavor that reminds us of a gingersnap or molasses cookie. As if the ginger snap reference weren't enough, Missus Gray says the shape of the cookies remind her of Christmas as well. They're shaped like evergreens. Try them with soup of a fine vegan cheese like Dr. Cow.

We tried two bars from Mom's Organic Munchies of Freeport; the On-The-Go Goji-Pistachio and Choco-Fit Mint. Mom's bars are organic, gluten free, refined sugar free, and raw. This is real food in it's purest form. This is pretty calorie dense stuff since the bars are made with a lot of nut butters and seeds. We think these would be ideal for fueling for a day out hiking or for post run recovery. Both djgray1200 and Missus Gray picked the Goji-Pistachio as their preferred of the two bars. He said he appreciated the use of whole sunflower and pumpkin seeds for texture and also that he could pinpoint the unique flavor the dates offered. She also mentioned the pleasant texture and likened it to homemade fudge but didn't get much of the goji berry flavor.

Traditional Pesto with Gnocchi

We were a little hesitant to post a recipe for pesto. It's really rather simplistic to make so why bother? We decided though, that it's the quality of the individual ingredients you select that's most important, and there's no shortage of those here in Maine for us to highlight.

The seeds for this idea were planted when Missus Gray brought home a bunch of fresh basil from Olivia's Garden in New Gloucester. Really that's not that out of the ordinary. It's on our shopping list every week anyway. Primarily because we've found that Olivia's consistently offers some of the highest quality tomatoes and basil around. If we're not buying farmers' market tomatoes, they're Olivia's. Olivia's Garden is also associated with Maine-ly Hydroponics and their greenhouses are close to Pineland at 163 Valley Farm Road, New Gloucester. Their fine 'maters often find their way to the Saco Farmers' Market as well.

Another face that's consistently at the Saco Farmers' Market is Lakonía Greek Products. It's their olive oil that we've decided to use as the other showcase flavor in our pesto. Lakonía is a family business with roots on the Peloponnese peninsula, in the company's namesake region. When founder Daphne Contraros Rioux rediscovered her homeland in 1990 she also discovered the fine quality unfiltered olive oils and after a while started shipping it back to the states, more specifically Saco, and selling it at the Farmer's Market. We love the stuff. Try the early harvest oils which are spicy, brash, and green in all the good ways. The late harvest is mellow and smooth with, as the website says, hints of almonds and sea spray. Sounds luscious! Try either here in the pesto depending upon your preference.

One last plug. Even though they're not in Maine, we think Rising Moon Organics products are swell. We coated their Garlic & Basil Gnocchi with our pesto and were real happy with the results. Many of their products are certified vegan and all of them are organic. Try the ravioli too.

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves removed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

In food processor combine garlic, walnuts, and kosher salt. Process to a fine grind. Add basil leaves and process again until the basil is minced. With processor running, slowly add olive oil followed by lemon juice. We gobbled ours right up but it will definitely store for a couple of weeks if properly refrigerated. Cover surface of pesto with a layer of olive oil to prevent discoloration. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Farm Fresh Connection and Spelt Right Baking Co

We've been getting in touch with a lot of folks through the blog. Some of them are finding us and we're reaching out trying to find them too. We've talked with representatives from Maine-based companies offering vegan products, farmers' markets, and groceries. It's been very rewarding making these connections. As a result of those connections made, today was a bit of a field trip. I, Jereme, went out with my two young children, 3 and 4, on the road headed up coast a bit. We had two spots to hit.

The first was Farm Fresh Connection at Wealden Farm in Freeport. I've been hearing a lot about this place having linked up with their rep on Twitter, Colleen. They've been in wholesale for almost 10 years, bringing together terrific, fresh products from a multitude of Maine farms but just opened the doors on their retail operation last weekend. We met with the husband and wife team at the helm John Schwenk, who was harvesting some lovely looking rhubarb, and Martha Putnam, who was readying a delivery for one of their clients. I happen to know from speaking with Colleen that Rosemont Market and Bakery stores in Yarmouth and Portland are currently carrying fingerlings and asparagus supplied to them by Farm Fresh. In the next day here we'll be heading into the kitchen to bring you an asparagus preparation that highlights all the freshness of this locally sourced asparagus. Get some yourself at the farm stand in Freeport at 19 Pleasant Hill Road.

Not too far of a trek from there is Sparhawk Mill, location of the bakery of Spelt Right Baking Co. A while back I got in touch with founder Beth George via her blog. She invited me to come see the bakery and get a little tour. I was a little unsure of bringing the kids with me on this one, it being a commercial food preparation environment. Not to worry. There were pictures all over the walls painted by young ones and photos of previous tours comprised of grammar school aged children proudly showing off doughy fingers posted.

Before today I was largely unaware of the mission of Spelt Right. Beth's son experienced health and behavioral issues that, with some patience and research, she determined to be attributable to wheat flour, preservatives, artificial colors, and highly processed sweeteners. Eliminating these products from their life did wonders for her son and now she shares what she's learned with the world. In fact she wasn't there today as she's off traveling New England sharing her own story and welcoming people to try the product themselves. To think we've been eating them all this time because we just thought they were the tastiest. More information on the many healthy advantages of spelt can be found here.

Get out there and interact with your farmers and food producers. Speaking from personal experience, it's one of the most rewarding things you can do, both for you and for them.