Insights, quips, and queries on the vegan way of life
Showing posts with label Dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dinner. Show all posts
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Multi-Grain Pineapple Stir Fry
Multi-Grain Pineapple Stir Fry
1 1/2 cups medium grain brown rice
1/3 cup quinoa
3/4 cup millet
1 veg. bouillon cube
5 or so cups of water
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 small crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/3 cup pablano, chopped (optional - we like it spicy!)
1 cup fresh pineapple, in one-inch cubes (you'll be sorry if you used canned - it's just not the same!)
8 oz of tofu, drained, pressed, and cubed
1 1/2 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos or Tamari
1-2 Tbsp Thai Spicy Sweet Chili Sauce (optional - any kind will work, just make sure it's vegan. You can find this in the Asian foods aisle at your food store or at a local Asian market.)
Prepare the grains by rinsing and then placing them in a rice cooker. Crumble the bouillon cube on top and pour in water. Start your rice cooker and let it work its magic. I will usually lift the lid every once in a while to stir just to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. If you don't have a rice cooker, you can make this on the stove, too.
Next, dry fry the tofu in a cast iron or non-stick skillet. Heat the skillet up to med-med high heat. Once it's reached temperature, add the cubes of tofu. Let them sit! Don't play with them other than pressing down or you will end up breaking them. Once the tofu is easy to flip (it comes right off the pan and doesn't stick - if it still sticks it's not ready!), flip it on the other side and follow the same steps. You can dry fry all four sides if you wish - sometimes I'm lazy and just do two. When you're finished, remove from the pan and set aside.
Using the same hot pan, cook the carrots in some olive oil or canola oil, whichever you prefer. Add bell pepper, broccoli, and pablano and a splash of Braggs Liquid Aminos. Add mushrooms after a few minutes. Finally add pineapple and cook until everything is a little browned or charred. Add sweet chili sauce and stir to fully incorporate. Remove from heat.
Your grains should be finished by now - add grains to the bottom of a bowl, top with veggies and a few tofu squares.
Serves 4
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Butternut Squash Curry Soba Dinner
On Sunday, J and I went out for a drive and ended up in Scarborough. We'd always known Lois' Natural Marketplace was there, but for some reason we hardly ever go. It's in an area we don't frequent and so it's easy to forget - but boy, we won't forget it now!
Lois' has that distinct health food store smell - vitamins, herbs - I don't know what it is, but every health food store has that same smell. As we wondered the aisles we were dumbfounded but the number of vegan products - many of them products we have never seen at Whole Foods. We walked away with a large bag of Little Lad's Cashew & Date Granola, a small bag of Ener-G's gluten free sesame pretzels, King Soba Pumpkin, Ginger, & Rice Soba noodles, a vegan donut from Holy Donut (who knew they had vegan ones?!), local raw honey, and LizLovely Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies.
Today, winter decided to hang on and give us one last (maybe?) snow storm. So I decided to take the soba for a test drive and to utilize left over butternut squash from the soup we'd made the night before. The soba was good but not the best I've had. Certainly worth trying. It was a bit more sticky than the buckwheat soba I typically buy and the flavor (pumpkin & ginger) is very very faint and easily masked by spices and veggies. Nonetheless, dinner was tasty and you can try it out using King Soba or any brand of soba you'd like!
Butternut Squash Curry Soba Dinner
1.5 cups butternut squash, cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 block of tofu, drained & pressed
1/2 yellow onion
1 package King Soba's Pumpkin, Ginger, & Rice Soba
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp curry
1/2 tsp coriander
1 cup chopped broccoli
salt & pepper
1/2 to 1 jalapeño, diced
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 scallion/spring onion, chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Toss butternut squash and carrots in a little olive or canola oil and bake 35-45 minutes, until veggies are tender when poked with a fork.
Cook the soba as instructed. It is important to wash it with cold water afterwards so that the noodles don't all stick together so don't skip this step!
Dry fry the tofu. Set aside.
In a skillet, cook onion in olive or canola oil. Once onion is translucent, add ginger, curry, cardamom, and salt and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Next add broccoli and jalapeño pepper. Add the butternut squash and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer for several minutes. Finish by mixing in the soba and topping with scallion.
Serves 3-4
Lois' has that distinct health food store smell - vitamins, herbs - I don't know what it is, but every health food store has that same smell. As we wondered the aisles we were dumbfounded but the number of vegan products - many of them products we have never seen at Whole Foods. We walked away with a large bag of Little Lad's Cashew & Date Granola, a small bag of Ener-G's gluten free sesame pretzels, King Soba Pumpkin, Ginger, & Rice Soba noodles, a vegan donut from Holy Donut (who knew they had vegan ones?!), local raw honey, and LizLovely Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies.
Today, winter decided to hang on and give us one last (maybe?) snow storm. So I decided to take the soba for a test drive and to utilize left over butternut squash from the soup we'd made the night before. The soba was good but not the best I've had. Certainly worth trying. It was a bit more sticky than the buckwheat soba I typically buy and the flavor (pumpkin & ginger) is very very faint and easily masked by spices and veggies. Nonetheless, dinner was tasty and you can try it out using King Soba or any brand of soba you'd like!
Butternut Squash Curry Soba Dinner
1.5 cups butternut squash, cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 block of tofu, drained & pressed
1/2 yellow onion
1 package King Soba's Pumpkin, Ginger, & Rice Soba
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp curry
1/2 tsp coriander
1 cup chopped broccoli
salt & pepper
1/2 to 1 jalapeño, diced
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 scallion/spring onion, chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Toss butternut squash and carrots in a little olive or canola oil and bake 35-45 minutes, until veggies are tender when poked with a fork.
Cook the soba as instructed. It is important to wash it with cold water afterwards so that the noodles don't all stick together so don't skip this step!
Dry fry the tofu. Set aside.
In a skillet, cook onion in olive or canola oil. Once onion is translucent, add ginger, curry, cardamom, and salt and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Next add broccoli and jalapeño pepper. Add the butternut squash and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer for several minutes. Finish by mixing in the soba and topping with scallion.
Serves 3-4
Invest in a tofu press - you will thank me.
I like to cut the tofu into 4ths (the long way) and then cut each quarter in half, and then in half again on the diagonal, forming little triangles.
Dry frying is one of our favorite ways to prepare tofu. There's no added fat from olive oil and it makes the outside nice and crispy while the inside remains light and fluffy.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sushi Night
Although it's time consuming, J and I love making sushi together. It's a great meal to make with someone and there are so many combinations to try - it never gets old! We got hit with yet another snow storm today and decided not to risk driving to restock our fridge, so it was a let's-see-what-the-heck-is-in-the-fridge-and-wing-it kind of night. Wing it nights might be some of my favorite. Somehow we always end up with awesome results!
First, I started by making the rice (while J was kindly shoveling) because it needs to cool before you can handle it. I used Alton Brown's sushi rice recipe and it turned out nice and sticky. While the rice cooked, I chopped up a bunch of different veggies. It's fun to cut up all the options hanging out in your fridge and use whatever you end up using without worrying about not using it all. If you don't use it all, you can throw it into a salad for tomorrow's lunch, or save it in a container for a stir-fry later in the week. In other words, don't sweat it!
So tonight I sliced yellow bell pepper very thinly, some dinosaur kale, sautéed some thinly sliced mushrooms in a little oil and Braggs, julienned a few carrots, diced up a 1/4 cup of cilantro, thinly sliced a 1/4 of a cucumber, and 1/2 of an avocado. I also sliced some tofu in long, thin rows after it had been pressed.
Then J took over and started the assembly process! To accompany the sushi, we made a delicious tahini miso ginger sauce from This Rawsome Vegan Life which J used inside one of the rolls and we also served as a dipping sauce on the side.
While J assembled the sushi rolls, I made a Seaweed Salad similar to the recipe we posted about a year ago. This time, I added some of the sautéed mushrooms and didn't marinate the tofu, but just tossed it in.
I used some of the leftover sticky rice to make two rice balls which had avocado in the middle. To make rice balls, you'll want to wet your hands with cold water to prevent the rice from sticking so much. Pick up a handful, create a little crater in the middle, and mash the avocado into the crater. Then cover it by patting and rolling the rice into a ball. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and kelp granules in a dish and roll the rice ball around to coat.
We made the table up all fancy and served dinner with sake shipped to us by my best friend straight from Japan.
All fancy sake comes in a juice box with a straw :-)
First, I started by making the rice (while J was kindly shoveling) because it needs to cool before you can handle it. I used Alton Brown's sushi rice recipe and it turned out nice and sticky. While the rice cooked, I chopped up a bunch of different veggies. It's fun to cut up all the options hanging out in your fridge and use whatever you end up using without worrying about not using it all. If you don't use it all, you can throw it into a salad for tomorrow's lunch, or save it in a container for a stir-fry later in the week. In other words, don't sweat it!
So tonight I sliced yellow bell pepper very thinly, some dinosaur kale, sautéed some thinly sliced mushrooms in a little oil and Braggs, julienned a few carrots, diced up a 1/4 cup of cilantro, thinly sliced a 1/4 of a cucumber, and 1/2 of an avocado. I also sliced some tofu in long, thin rows after it had been pressed.
Then J took over and started the assembly process! To accompany the sushi, we made a delicious tahini miso ginger sauce from This Rawsome Vegan Life which J used inside one of the rolls and we also served as a dipping sauce on the side.
While J assembled the sushi rolls, I made a Seaweed Salad similar to the recipe we posted about a year ago. This time, I added some of the sautéed mushrooms and didn't marinate the tofu, but just tossed it in.
I used some of the leftover sticky rice to make two rice balls which had avocado in the middle. To make rice balls, you'll want to wet your hands with cold water to prevent the rice from sticking so much. Pick up a handful, create a little crater in the middle, and mash the avocado into the crater. Then cover it by patting and rolling the rice into a ball. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and kelp granules in a dish and roll the rice ball around to coat.
We made the table up all fancy and served dinner with sake shipped to us by my best friend straight from Japan.
All fancy sake comes in a juice box with a straw :-)
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Rice Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Rice Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Instant Vermicelli Rice Noodles - about half a container
1 package of flax tempeh, chopped into small 1/2-inch cubes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
5-6 cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 1/2 cups broccoli, chopped
Peanut Sauce (modified from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Roberston):
1/2 cup crunchy honey roasted peanut butter
1/3 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp Asian chili paste
water
For the sauce, mix the peanut butter, Braggs, vinegar, and sugar. Add the oil, ginger, and chile paste and stir until smooth and well blended. Taste to adjust seasonings - we like it hot, so sometimes we add some cayenne pepper too. Add some water to achieve desired consistency - we like it to be fairly thick but wet enough to coat all of the veggies and noodles.
Next prepare the tempeh - preheat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the tempeh cubes and brown on each side. Set aside.
Using the same skillet, heat some olive oil and add the onions. Cook until translucent and then add the carrot. Cook until tender, and add mushrooms and broccoli, cooking through.
Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions.
Mix a little bit of the sauce in with the rice noodles to coat. top with vegetables and more sauce.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Chickpea Cutlet Parm with Homemade Tomato Sauce
One of my favorite foods when I was little was chicken parm. Coming from an Italian family, the dish was served at many family gatherings. I remember a warm house with lots of hugs and smiles and loud chattering at a crowded table.
20+ years later, I still crave good Italian food, but it's surprisingly hard to come by in the vegan world. When we go out to eat, our options are Thai, Indian, and Asian fusion. Most Italian places would cringe at not being able to use cheese or eggs in their preparations.
A while back, we prepared Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon (if you don't have this book - you need it. I promise). J remembered this and asked if I thought we could do a twist on Chicken Parm using them. I said, "Why not?!" and we've tried it out on friends twice now. Everyone loved it! Below you'll find our modified version of Isa's cutlets as well as J's homemade tomato sauce recipe. The sauce recipe makes a lot so be prepared to save some in your fridge for another meal or you can freeze it for one of those crazy nights when you don't have time to cook!
Chickpea Cutlet Parm with Homemade Tomato Sauce
Chickpea Cutlets (modified from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's cookbook Veganomicon):
Makes 4 cutlets
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup of homemade vegetable stock
2 Tbsp Braggs or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, grated with a microplane or minced
8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped/minced
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 fresh sage leaves, chopped/minced
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas with the olive oil until there's no whole chickpeas left. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead for about 3-5 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed. If you've never used wheat gluten before, as you're kneading, you'll notice that the mixture will get a little more tough and you'll see these "strings" of the gluten forming. You aren't done until those have formed - that's what will hold it together and give it the meaty texture.
Next, divide the mixture in half, and then divide each half again so that you have four balls of dough. Knead each again for a moment or two and then stretch them out on a flat surface until they're formed into rectangles about 6 x 4-inches. They'll be fairly thin - about a 1/4 inch thick.
Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook each cutlet for about 6-7 minutes on each side - browning them a bit.
Justin's Pasta Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow paper, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 of a poblano pepper, finely chopped
8-10 mushrooms, chopped or sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, removed from stem and chopped
1 vegan veggie bouillon cube (or 1 tsp bouillon powder)
Salt & pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
2 six ounce cans tomato paste
1 twenty-eight ounce can crushed tomatoes
5-8 fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup of red wine (make sure to get vegan red wine!)
1/2 cup of homemade vegetable stock (optional)
In a large pot, saute the onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, and bullion cute in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Stir in the brown sugar, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and red wine. Cover and let simmer on medium-low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring often. If sauce is too thick, add stock.
Putting it All Together!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a baking pan, layer the bottom with tomato sauce and some fresh basil leaves. Lay the cutlets on top and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella flavored Diaya. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts.
In the meantime, prepare a box of spinach linguine in lightly salted boiling water. When the pasta is al dente, save 1/2 a cup of the starchy pasta water and drain the pasta. Dump the drained pasta back into the pot with 1-2 Tbsp of Earth Balance, 1-3 ladles of pasta sauce, and the 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water.
Use tongs to plate by pulling mixed pasta out of the pot and twirling down onto the plate (this creates a neat pile that looks beautiful). Add a little more sauce on top. Place one of the cutlets next to the pasta and garnish with some fresh basil leaves.
20+ years later, I still crave good Italian food, but it's surprisingly hard to come by in the vegan world. When we go out to eat, our options are Thai, Indian, and Asian fusion. Most Italian places would cringe at not being able to use cheese or eggs in their preparations.
A while back, we prepared Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon (if you don't have this book - you need it. I promise). J remembered this and asked if I thought we could do a twist on Chicken Parm using them. I said, "Why not?!" and we've tried it out on friends twice now. Everyone loved it! Below you'll find our modified version of Isa's cutlets as well as J's homemade tomato sauce recipe. The sauce recipe makes a lot so be prepared to save some in your fridge for another meal or you can freeze it for one of those crazy nights when you don't have time to cook!
Chickpea Cutlet Parm with Homemade Tomato Sauce
Chickpea Cutlets (modified from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's cookbook Veganomicon):
Makes 4 cutlets
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup of homemade vegetable stock
2 Tbsp Braggs or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, grated with a microplane or minced
8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped/minced
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 fresh sage leaves, chopped/minced
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas with the olive oil until there's no whole chickpeas left. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead for about 3-5 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed. If you've never used wheat gluten before, as you're kneading, you'll notice that the mixture will get a little more tough and you'll see these "strings" of the gluten forming. You aren't done until those have formed - that's what will hold it together and give it the meaty texture.
Next, divide the mixture in half, and then divide each half again so that you have four balls of dough. Knead each again for a moment or two and then stretch them out on a flat surface until they're formed into rectangles about 6 x 4-inches. They'll be fairly thin - about a 1/4 inch thick.
Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook each cutlet for about 6-7 minutes on each side - browning them a bit.
Justin's Pasta Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow paper, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 of a poblano pepper, finely chopped
8-10 mushrooms, chopped or sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, removed from stem and chopped
1 vegan veggie bouillon cube (or 1 tsp bouillon powder)
Salt & pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
2 six ounce cans tomato paste
1 twenty-eight ounce can crushed tomatoes
5-8 fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup of red wine (make sure to get vegan red wine!)
1/2 cup of homemade vegetable stock (optional)
In a large pot, saute the onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, and bullion cute in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Stir in the brown sugar, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and red wine. Cover and let simmer on medium-low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring often. If sauce is too thick, add stock.
Putting it All Together!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a baking pan, layer the bottom with tomato sauce and some fresh basil leaves. Lay the cutlets on top and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella flavored Diaya. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts.
In the meantime, prepare a box of spinach linguine in lightly salted boiling water. When the pasta is al dente, save 1/2 a cup of the starchy pasta water and drain the pasta. Dump the drained pasta back into the pot with 1-2 Tbsp of Earth Balance, 1-3 ladles of pasta sauce, and the 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water.
Use tongs to plate by pulling mixed pasta out of the pot and twirling down onto the plate (this creates a neat pile that looks beautiful). Add a little more sauce on top. Place one of the cutlets next to the pasta and garnish with some fresh basil leaves.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Long Overdue Vermont Vacation Review
For our third anniversary, J and I decided to take a little trip to Vermont for a long weekend. Normally, when I go on a trip I have this antsy anxiety to "just get there." I'll try to leave as early as possible and drive without stopping - "Don't drink anyone so you won't have to pee!" This time, however, we decided to make the drive feel like part of the vacation and now, as we start planning a trip to Pennsylvania for my friend's wedding this spring, I'm ready to do the same thing! Although it adds time to your day, it makes the commute MUCH more fun and you find little treasures you may not have if you'd blown right through. Below is a little recounting of our trip - with of course, a focus on the wonderful vegan food we encountered!
So - the night of our anniversary, we were still in town and J made us an INCREDIBLE dinner - Vegan Shepard's Pie (recipe to come, I promise!).
We got on the road and headed down toward New Hampshire, landing ourselves in North Conway, New Hampshire. I used to live in Fryeburg, Maine which is about 20 minutes outside of North Conway and it was nice to be back in town. We stopped in at The Met Coffee House, an awesome coffee house/art gallery right outside of the North Conway Train Station. I got a soy coconut latte and J got a soy chai latte. Right by the register they had vegan cookies by the Alternative Baking Company so we got a peanut butter cookie and an espresso chocolate chip cookie. I'd seen Alternative Baking Company's cookies before but hadn't tried them and they're not too bad - a little dry, though. We liked the espresso chip one better than the peanut butter, which didn't have a very strong PB taste.
We sipped our coffees, nibbled the cookies and walked around town doing some window shopping at Penguin Gallery and Zeb's General Store before jumping back on the White Mountain Highway.
The views, of course, were stunning. J had never driven the White Mountain Highway before so it was a real treat for him!
So - the night of our anniversary, we were still in town and J made us an INCREDIBLE dinner - Vegan Shepard's Pie (recipe to come, I promise!).
The next morning, we got up around 8 a.m. and were out the door by 9. We headed on over to OhNo Cafe in Portland, Maine for our favorite breakfast sandwich and Coffee By Design's Ethiopian blend coffee - our favorite, which is almost always on tap at OhNo. It's a baily bagel grilled, then made with hummus, spinach, avocado, tomato, and soy sausage. It's the kind of sandwich that I will randomly crave and immediately need. Like right now....as I write about it...I'm wanting one. Have you ever had a baily bagel? They originated in Poland and have this awesome little garlic, salty mix in the middle on the top. I just love them. Especially grilled. Ok, I need to stop...
We sipped our coffees, nibbled the cookies and walked around town doing some window shopping at Penguin Gallery and Zeb's General Store before jumping back on the White Mountain Highway.
The views, of course, were stunning. J had never driven the White Mountain Highway before so it was a real treat for him!
We arrived around 4:00 in Burlington and were pretty hungry. After walking around a little, we found a nice map of the city streets and discovered that Burlington has a Dobra Tea House! Dobra is one of my favorite places in Portland - it's the perfect place to relax and enjoy tea and little treats. The atmosphere is foreign - you ring a bell to call your server and there is floor seating on pillows. When I'm there, I forget about the time flying by outside. So we stopped in to relax and enjoy some rooibus tea and a hummus plate. They have a great selection of vegan snacks and treats and they're all clearly marked on their menu.
Afterwards, we walked around gazing in shops, stopped at the Lake Champlain chocolate store for dark chocolate dipped orange rind (the girl behind the counter knew exactly which items were vegan!), and then went to dinner at American Flatbread. We've had American Flatbread before - they sell their frozen pizza at Whole Foods in Portland and it's not too shabby. The interior of the restaurant reminded us A LOT of our own Flatbread in Portland, but the pizza was not quite as good. It wasn't bad, but the crust didn't have much flavor and their tomato sauce, made with oven roasted tomatoes and peppers, had a strange taste to me. The best part of the meal was the beer we tried - Sasquach - made with butternut squash. It was so delicious that we bought a "growler" full of it to take back to our room!
The following day, we had a lovely brunch at a restaurant called Magnolia Bistro. It was clearly a hot spot for brunch, especially with the local college population, and there was a long line out the door and we must have waited about 30-40 minutes - but it was worth it! I ordered tofu scramble with tofu sauce and J ordered a veggie bean burger. It was super, super yummy. J's burger even came with a vegan potato salad on the side - something I'd never seen before.
After breakfast we walked down a big hill towards the lake where the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center was. ECHO is fairly small and we were kind of glad we ended up going on a discount day because the price seemed sort of high for what we got. It was fun though, and there was a really lovely little exhibition on the origins of the race.
We spent some time walking around the lake, which is just beautiful and then walked around town some more and found street performers and vegan cupcakes at My Little Cupcake.
That night we ate at Bueno Y Sano. I had thought it was more like a restaurant when I found it online, but it was more upscale fast food. Nonetheless, they had options we could easily veganize and they had seitan (almost every restaurant in Burlington had seitan - it was awesome!).
The next day, we got on the road home fairly early and stopped in this little tiny town called Jackson, Vermont to grab some breakfast at the Lovin Cup Cafe. The Cafe is right on the main street and is inside what looks like someone's apartment. I ordered a sesame seed bagel with hummus and lots of yummy veggies and J got a focaccia panini made with seitan, sauerkraut, and maple mustard. Can you tell that I love bagel hummus sandwiches???
We drove home taking less stops because we missed our furbabies and wanted to get home to get ourselves all set for the week to come. Of course we sucked in the view on the way!
All in all it was a wonderful trip and we'd love to go back and explore Vermont some more. We'd like to do a spring or earlier fall trip so we can get in some hiking and exploration. Someday!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Spiced Lentils with Mashed Cauliflower and Delicata Squash
Spiced Lentils with Mashed Cauliflower & Delicata Squash
1 small yellow onion, diced
olive oil
1 small carrot, chopped
1 cup mixed french lentils
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
salt
3/4 - 1.5 cups veggie stock (Depends on how soft you like your lentils. We like them a bit firm so I used 3/4 of a cup.)
1 small delicata squash, cut into rings and seeded
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped
2-3 Tbsp soy creamer or almond milk
1 1/2 Tbsp Earth Balance
salt & pepper
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne
In a pot, cook the onions in some olive oil until translucent. Add carrots and cook until softened. Add in spices, lentils, and veggie stock. Cover and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Once the liquid's absorbed and the lentils are cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
While the lentils are cooking, steam the delicata squash for 5-10 minutes until bright yellow-orange and tender. Remove from pot and set aside.
Steam the cauliflower for 20-30 minutes until very soft. I mean very - like falling apart soft. Remove from heat and drain off the water. Return cauliflower to the pot and mash with a potato masher after adding in Earth Balance, soy creamer, salt, pepper, and cayenne. After mashing it a bit, get it really smooth by transferring it to a food processor. Process until it looks like mashed potatoes.
To plate: Place a base of the mashed cauliflower in the center of a plate. Top with some of the lentil mixture and 2-3 squash rings. Sprinkle with a little salt and if you like, drizzle a little olive oil on top. Serve!
Serves 3-4.
1 small yellow onion, diced
olive oil
1 small carrot, chopped
1 cup mixed french lentils
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
salt
3/4 - 1.5 cups veggie stock (Depends on how soft you like your lentils. We like them a bit firm so I used 3/4 of a cup.)
1 small delicata squash, cut into rings and seeded
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped
2-3 Tbsp soy creamer or almond milk
1 1/2 Tbsp Earth Balance
salt & pepper
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne
In a pot, cook the onions in some olive oil until translucent. Add carrots and cook until softened. Add in spices, lentils, and veggie stock. Cover and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Once the liquid's absorbed and the lentils are cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
While the lentils are cooking, steam the delicata squash for 5-10 minutes until bright yellow-orange and tender. Remove from pot and set aside.
Steam the cauliflower for 20-30 minutes until very soft. I mean very - like falling apart soft. Remove from heat and drain off the water. Return cauliflower to the pot and mash with a potato masher after adding in Earth Balance, soy creamer, salt, pepper, and cayenne. After mashing it a bit, get it really smooth by transferring it to a food processor. Process until it looks like mashed potatoes.
To plate: Place a base of the mashed cauliflower in the center of a plate. Top with some of the lentil mixture and 2-3 squash rings. Sprinkle with a little salt and if you like, drizzle a little olive oil on top. Serve!
Serves 3-4.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Rice & Wheat Balls
Our fridge was empty last night - we're talking baron. We haven't gone food shopping all week because I wanted to clear out a lot of foods before starting to try out the anti-inflammatory diet on Monday. So last night felt sort of like that show Chopped where they put random things in front of you and tell you to create a meal.
Surprisingly, I was able to pull something together that was really tasty and, with the addition of more veggies next time, I think it's a keeper. We had a few of Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs floating around our freezer, about a cup of broccoli florets and stems, an onion, garlic clove, and the butt of some ginger. Oh, and rice. We always keep a stock of grains on our shelf, all lined up in Ball jars. There's rice, lentils (green and multi-colored), quinoa, polenta, arborio rice, couscous, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, and steel cut oats. It's nice to always have a stock of various grains and legumes - I recommend everyone stock their kitchens this way. It makes nights when the kitchen's bare go a little easier!
Rice & Wheat Balls
2 cups uncooked brown rice
5 cups homemade vegetable stock, or water
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 inch of ginger, grated
1 cup chopped broccoli
5-6 Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs (or whatever brand you choose)
1/2 cup fresh basil
olive oil
Sauce:
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp roasted red chili paste
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
Cook your rice in a rice cooker with the vegetable stock (you can also use water, but the veggie stock really imparts a great flavor and I recommend you try it at least once).
Defrost the Meatless Meatballs in the microwave.
While rice is cooking, put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onions. Once onions are translucent, add garlic and ginger. Then Meatless Meatballs and cook until nice and browned. Add the broccoli and basil and cook. I like it when things get a little charred - but cook it to your preference. Then remove from heat and set aside.
Mix together the sauce ingredients - those aren't exact measurements as I don't normally measure things out when I'm making sauces so just taste and make sure you like it.
To serve:
Put some rice in the bottom of a bowl (you'll have more rice than you need - yay! left overs for another dish) and top with veggies. There were enough for 2 servings, but if you added more veggies you'd get 4 probably. Serve with sauce on the side. I'd like to try adding some mango in the future - I think it would go with the flavors really well and add some natural sweetness.
Surprisingly, I was able to pull something together that was really tasty and, with the addition of more veggies next time, I think it's a keeper. We had a few of Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs floating around our freezer, about a cup of broccoli florets and stems, an onion, garlic clove, and the butt of some ginger. Oh, and rice. We always keep a stock of grains on our shelf, all lined up in Ball jars. There's rice, lentils (green and multi-colored), quinoa, polenta, arborio rice, couscous, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, and steel cut oats. It's nice to always have a stock of various grains and legumes - I recommend everyone stock their kitchens this way. It makes nights when the kitchen's bare go a little easier!
Rice & Wheat Balls
2 cups uncooked brown rice
5 cups homemade vegetable stock, or water
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 inch of ginger, grated
1 cup chopped broccoli
5-6 Nate's Savory Mushroom Meatless Meatballs (or whatever brand you choose)
1/2 cup fresh basil
olive oil
Sauce:
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp roasted red chili paste
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
Cook your rice in a rice cooker with the vegetable stock (you can also use water, but the veggie stock really imparts a great flavor and I recommend you try it at least once).
Defrost the Meatless Meatballs in the microwave.
While rice is cooking, put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onions. Once onions are translucent, add garlic and ginger. Then Meatless Meatballs and cook until nice and browned. Add the broccoli and basil and cook. I like it when things get a little charred - but cook it to your preference. Then remove from heat and set aside.
Mix together the sauce ingredients - those aren't exact measurements as I don't normally measure things out when I'm making sauces so just taste and make sure you like it.
To serve:
Put some rice in the bottom of a bowl (you'll have more rice than you need - yay! left overs for another dish) and top with veggies. There were enough for 2 servings, but if you added more veggies you'd get 4 probably. Serve with sauce on the side. I'd like to try adding some mango in the future - I think it would go with the flavors really well and add some natural sweetness.
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