Jalapeno Poppers

Sometimes I feel like I'm two different vegans - I'm the vegan that loves eating veggies and eating healthy, but I'm also the vegan that loves 'novelty' vegan food and veganizing traditionally non-vegan recipes. Now those two sides of veganity (hmm, that's a word, right?) don't necessarily exclude each other, but sometimes I want them to. As Richard more or less stated, 'Just because I'm a vegan doesn't mean I don't want a greasy, unhealthy, cheesesteak (speaking about the dearly departed Gianna's in Philadelphia).' It's true, sometimes I have a terrible craving for half a batch of cookies or a whole pan of brownies (oink oink, no?). Now I could certainly make those cookies or brownies a little healthier, and sometimes I have, but when I have a craving for sweets or greasy stir fry what I'm craving is not a healthy version of those treats, but a vegan version that still celebrates the sugar and butter and oil and not-good-for-you parts of these recipes. Obviously such recipes don't make up the bulk of my vegan oeuvre - that would certainly be an issue that many would fault - but I believe every now and again such treats are okay. Everything in moderation, as they say. I also believe that veganized, 'unhealthy' versions of traditional eats are an excellent way of introducing cruelty-free foods to non-vegans, oftentimes creating an 'Aha!' realziation that vegan food is not so foreign or radical or scary. It can be an ambassador of sorts. And that's a good thing.

Which brings us to today's post - Jalapeno Poppers. This is by no means a healthy version of these spicy treats, what with the vegan cream cheese, the Daiya and the frying. Could I have made a healthier version of these? Absolutely. Were these a little heavy in our belly afterwards? Definitely. Were they worth it? YES. Now I've only ever had non-vegan jalapeno poppers once in my life, around the age of twelve, and I loved the cheesy gooeyness and hint of spice. C and I are spicy fiends, always eager to add more garlic or peppers to any recipe. So this seemed like an indulgent, spicy treat to make for ourselves - plus I love a good new cooking experiment. So during a visit with C before I moved up here I decided to try out some poppers.

I googled recipes for non-vegan poppers, intending to make as traditional a popper as I could. I found this one and made a few alterations based on the ingredients we had on hand. I included some of the jalapeno seeds in the cheesy mixture - for added heat - and didn't bother with the bacon (although I've been dying to try out the coconut bacon recipe from Vegan Good Things ever since I laid eyes on it). I also used twelve peppers, so I decreased the amount of cream cheese to 1/2 a package and I used about 1 cup of Daiya cheddar shreds.

There is something I absolutely love about getting a little messy while making food. It's oddly satisfying, no?

Ta-da! Greasy, gooey, messy, spicy, cheesy jalapeno poppers. Yummm. They were a little difficult to fry - the cheesy mixture kept wanting to spread outside of the peppers - and the breading wouldn't stick to the outside of the pepper. I think next time I try these I'll keep the peppers whole instead of cutting them in halves, to better contain the cheesy mixture.

Now even though the recipe warned me to use gloves when handling the peppers I did not. Although I had cooked with jalapenos before I've never handled this many peppers at once, so I was in for a terrible surprise when a few hours later that night, two of my fingers on my left hand started to feel like they were burning. The feeling began to intensify and then slowly spread to the other fingertips. I was baffled by whatever this could be until - Oh my! - it was from the peppers! We quickly googled how to remedy this situation, and were presented with the info of rubbing olive oil on the burning area before soaking it in a bowl of water.

So I leave you with a warning - if you will be attempting vegan jalapeno poppers definitely wear some protective gloves. Or be prepared for the hilarious adventure of soaking your burning hand in sudsy water for about fifteen minutes.