Tonight’s dinner: roasted vegetables. Broccoli and brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven. Eggplant from the garden, slathered in Bacon Salt, and baked until it was relatively crispy. Okra from the garden, rolled in corn meal and black pepper, and baked until crunchy. Yummy.

The folks at Post Punk Kitchen have been posting survey questions for the Vegan MoFo participants to use as a daily post in lieu of a recipe. I decided to answer a few today:

What’s your favorite spice or spice blend?
Cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice. I put it on squash, and on leftover grains. It makes me feel all warm and happy.

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). what do you buy?
I grow a lot of produce, so the things I buy are what I don’t grow: spinach, grapes, sweet potatoes, squash, apples. Oh, and raisins, because I don’t really use sugar for sweetening—I just throw in a handful of raisins, instead. Tortillas. Peanut butter.

What’s your favorite way to make tofu?
Scrambled with vegetables. I like it best crunchy, but I haven’t mastered that at home yet.

Vegan guilty pleasure?
Morningstar Farms ribs. I could eat my weight in those things. I try to limit myself to one box a month.

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be?
Gosh, nobody. I try not to inflict my dietary choices on anyone. I think people have to find their own best way of eating.

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be?
Probably Veg Fort Worth, because it’s local, so I’d hear about all the vegan goodness going on around town, plus get recipe ideas for stuff that’s available in our area.

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food?
I’ve loved to cook since I was a kid. I lost my way for a while, but when I bought my house, the first thing I did was tear out the kitchen and redo it. It took me two years, but I really do have a great kitchen now, that’s both pretty and functional. Being vegan has just given me one more reason to enjoy cooking at home.

Excluding analogues, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn’t have as an omni?
I grew okra for the first time this year, which I never really ate much of previously, and probably wouldn’t have bothered adding to the garden. I never had quinoa before, but I eat it regularly now.

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can’t get behind?
Portabello mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. They taste like dirt. Bleh!

First recipe you veganized?
Umm, probably scrambled eggs, swapping for tofu scramble.

What would you like to veganize, but haven’t yet?
I’d like to come up with a really good vegan lasagne. Oh, and the whole Thanksgiving adventure looms on the horizon. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with that, yet.

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance?
Food processor, definitely. I just put the indoor grill away, and put the food processor in its place, because I’m using it so much right now.

Most disastrous kitchen failure?
Not completely disastrous, but jeez, I sure can burn oven roasted veggies. One minute, they look like they just need two more minutes, and the next, they’re black.

First vegan cookbook?
It’s a teenager’s guide to being a vegan that I found at the used bookstore. It has all sorts of really simple, useful information in it, and basic no-stress recipes.

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering?
“What do you eat?” I eat food, dammit!

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be?
That not all of us are “meat is murder” people who are going to wave signs in your face. Some of us just like eating vegetables. Also, a good steak will probably not cure any of us. Really.

Funniest vegetable?
Brussels sprouts, because so many people seem to hate them. I can’t get enough of them.

Weirdest food combination?
I make a veggie salsa thing with corn, tomatoes, onions, Mexican spices, chopped spinach and peas. Sounds crazy, but it’s yummy. Also, I like putting peanut butter and raisins on apple slices.

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can’t/couldn’t?
Whatever it is that my neighbor has been grilling all summer, because it smells great, but it’s probably cow.

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins?
Marinated, grilled, and wrapped in a tortilla with some raw spinach and carrot shreds. I’ll eat pretty much anything that way.