Wednesday, August 19, 2009

BBQ sandwich -- quick and easy meal

This is for Cokaru, who's always looking for quick and easy stuff to make after getting home from work. I know what that's like. After working all day you don't really wanna cook for a long time. Well, this is something you can make in ten minutes, it's really good, and not all that bad for you -- a little fatty, but much better than pretty much any drive thru (which as a vegan is not an option for me anyhow).

The main reason I don't post more recipes is that I don't know how much a given ingredient I use when I make something. I just know -- the instincts I have for cooking don't necessarily communicate well. I pretty much cook on intuition and by "eyeballing" stuff.

Well this time I decided to measure stuff (mostly) so I could post how to make my BBQ sandwiches. My omni mom raves over these. And I don't blame her. They're really good!

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, minced
Half a small onion, diced
3/4 cup of TVP, frozen Boca crumbles, seitan, Match, or your favorite meat substitute (tofu or tempeh won't work though)
Your favorite barbecue sauce
Extra virgin olive oil -- 4 or so tablespoons
Red pepper flakes (to taste -- optional)

Heat up your oil in a pan on medium heat. Add your onion, and let that fry up for a minute or so before adding the garlic and the red pepper flakes. When the onion starts to caramelize then you can add in the meat substitute (I usually use Boca crumbles, but Match "pork" works really well, as does seitan). Cook this up for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. After it get good and heated through, add your barbecue sauce to taste. Some people like it "wetter" than others, so eyeball it, until it looks right to you. (Be careful, as there will likely be a little hot splatter, as the barbecue sauce and oil don't like each other very much.)

Stir this around for a minute or so until it's good and hot. Then add it to your favorite bread, add some pickles, crack open a Schlafly Kolsh, get some Ritz crackers to scoop up the inevitable spillover, and relish the fact that the Cardinals just acquired John Smoltz!

Friday, August 14, 2009

The bar is high for Vick

So I’m sitting here watching the press conference formally announcing Michael Vick’s signing with the Eagles. I’m a bit torn on this – on one hand I want to maintain some degree of open mindedness that he can redeem himself on some level. On the other hand, what he did to animals is quite simply beyond the pale. He not only established and financed “Bad Newz Kennels,” but he even physically killed dogs himself (by hanging, choking, and electrocution).

I am in an interesting position here – when I was a middle school teacher in Mississippi, I taught in a poor, mostly black area. I knew kids – good kids – who were raised in a culture that thought dog fighting was acceptable. I would try to tell them how horrible it was, and they would tell me “but the dogs want to fight!” Even though Vick grew up in the mid-Atlantic (as opposed to the deep South), the culture of dog fighting is, in many ways, quite similar. I like to think this gives me a little perspective on this whole situation.

I want to be clear: I am NOT excusing Vick’s behavior. I am not even trying to explain it (as I can’t pretend to know all the pressures affecting his behavior). What I am saying is that his actions should not be viewed in complete isolation.

I do believe Vick can redeem himself. But the bar is high for him

What will he do to help animals? He is saying in the press conference right now that he will try to “help as much as I hurt” (I’m paraphrasing). How? Will he simply donate money to SPCA and other animal welfare organizations? Or will he step up and do more?

One thing Vick could do is go to areas where dog fighting is prevalent, go into the schools, and talk to the kids about how cruel and evil dog fighting is. He could try to greatly reduce dog fighting by trying to undermine its support among an entire generation of youths. Like it or not, Vick is looked up to by a lot of young kids, especially in the black community. He is in a unique position to act as a huge positive force for change.

Could Michael Vick eliminate dog fighting? No. Could he put forth a great amount of effort to try to counteract some of the evil he has done? Yes. Could this effort have a positive effect? Yeah, I think so.

The big question is “will he?” I honestly hope so, and I hope his effort will be genuine. I hope he is humble in the process, and that in a few years he will not act like his debt is paid, and he doesn’t have to do anything anymore. I hope he will not toot his own horn, insisting on animal shelters paid for with his donations be named after him, eventually leveraging his horrible past into cynical self aggrandizement.

I’m hopeful. And I’m keeping an open mind. But I’m not optimistic.