Almost Vegan

Almost vegan: on the move!

2010-07-02T10:37:00.004-05:00

My bags are packed and it’s time to go. The two years I’ve spent here have been great, but I have bigger and better faux-fish to fry.

Ladies and gentlemen, update your bookmarks.
AlmostVeganBlog.com

Please be patient with me as I tweak the design and update all the links there; it’s likely to take me a good week or two.
See you on the flipside!

Review & giveaway: YOUBAR

2010-06-30T10:21:00.013-05:00

If you’re a nutrition junkie like I am (sounds oxymoronic, doesn’t it?), you may have heard of YOUBAR. They’re a create-your-own-snack company that lets you invent and customize bars, protein shakes, trail mixes, cookies, and cereal. You choose the ingredients and amounts (as the nutrition calculator along the side tallies up what you’ve added) and name your snack, and they ship you your creation, handmade and custom-labeled. Cool, huh?

For example, to build a bar, you get to pick the base (nut/seed butters and dates), protein powder (soy, rice, or whey), nuts and seeds, dried fruits and berries, sweetener (honey, agave, or brown rice syrup), seasonings/chocolate, grains/cereal (granola, crunchy rice, or oat bran), and vitamin infusions. You can even customize the amounts and ratios of various components. The options are dizzying, and the possibilities endless.

For ease and convenience, you can also purchase predesigned/preformulated products. Joel at YOUBAR kindly sent me some samples recently of their most popular shakes...

...bars...

...and trail mixes! Although some of these were not vegan, due to inclusions of whey protein, egg white powder, or honey, they still earned high nutrition marks with me thanks to their short ingredient lists and high percentage of organic ingredients.

The first thing I tried was the Blended Bliss shake mix, containing whey protein, organic cane juice, organic strawberries, organic bananas, and organic vanilla.

I threw it in my Vitababy with some strawberries, blueberries, and almond milk, and blended it to perfection. The sweetness and bright strawberry flavor made it a great addition to my morning smoothie.

I blended the Vanilla Dream shake, which is just soy protein, organic cane juice, and organic vanilla powder, with almond milk and blueberries, and it was just as good as the Blended Bliss variety.

The Breakfast Bar is dates, egg white powder, honey, cocoa powder, instant coffee crystals, and cinnamon. Of the bunch, this was my least favorite, but probably because of the cinnamon—I’m not a huge fan, and it contained quite a bit of it. The texture was great, though; dense and chewy, it tastes like it came out of your own kitchen.

On the other hand, my favorite of the bunch was easily the Honey Cashew bar, containing cashew butter, whey protein, nutty rice cereal, and organic honey.

SO. SO. SO. GOOD! The cashew butter melted in my mouth while the crispy rice cereal that studded the bar provided a gentle crunch, and the honey lent just the right amount of sweetness. I could seriously eat an entire box of these babies; they taste homemade in the best possible way—in fact, this bar reminded me a little of my no-bake almond butter balls.

The Mix Up Your Day trail mix has oat bran sesame sticks, organic cashews, almonds, dried pineapple, goji berries, and shredded coconut. The pineapple was a little hard to chew, but the crunch of the sesame sticks was nice with the raisin-like goji berries and the raw nuts.

The Best Trail Mix contains almonds, organic cashews, walnuts, organic sunflower seeds, dried sweetened blueberries, sweetened cranberries, and Sun Drops original chocolate candies. This was great! It tastes like something you’d want to munch on during a long hike or bike ride. The Sun Drops were a fantastic addition to the raw nuts and dried fruits.

Ok, I know what you really scrolled down for!
ALMOST VEGAN GIVEAWAY #2
Since the shakes, bars, and trail mixes Joel sent me were individually packaged, I want to share the bounty with one of you! Here’s what you’ll win, and the contents of each:

Breakfast Shake: whey protein, egg white powder, organic cane juice, cocoa powder, organic bananas
Great Date with Chocolate bar: organic dates, whey protein isolate, organic honey, cocoa
Chocolate Peanut trail mix: dark chocolate-covered raisins, Oatios organic toasted oat cereal, organic raisins, apples, organic peanuts
***Please note that some of these contain non-vegan ingredients.***

HOW TO ENTER: Go to YOUBARS.com and play around at designing your own bar, shake, trail mix, cookie, or cereal. Then come back here and leave a comment below describing your creation!
For extra entries (leave an additional comment for each one):
–Link to this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
–Follow me on Google Friend Connect (or let me know you already do)
–Add me to your blogroll (or let me know I'm already on there)

The deadline for entries is Tuesday morning, July 6th, at 9:00am CST (which is around 3pm that afternoon for anyone in the U.K. and midnight that night for those of you in Australia). I’ll be choosing the winner at random. Good luck!

In the meantime, if you’d rather try building your own bar, shake, or trail mix, head on over to YOUBARS.com, where you can get 5% off your order by entering coupon code ALMOSTVEGAN at checkout!
(P.S.—While you're at it, why not enter Lisa's e-book giveaway?)

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Review: Sunland peanut butter
Honey almond power bars
Very berry "green" smoothie

Raw vegan bliss in Dallas

2010-06-28T15:51:00.005-05:00

(Don't miss part one of this trip!)

Before leaving Dallas on Memorial Day, Matt and I stopped at Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar for lunch. After the rawesome experience at 105 Degrees a couple days prior, I was excited to feed my body some more raw goodness.

We found Bliss Café on a busy street in north Dallas, next to a shack-like Mexican joint and across the street from a drive-thru liquor store (oh, Texas). It’s teeny! It also turns out they have no indoor seating, but luckily their patio is shaded and well-ventilated, so the hot day didn’t interfere with our meal at all.

We had to try some of their namesake elixirs, so I ordered the sampler trio, consisting of 2-oz. pours of three of their bestsellers. The Chocolate Bliss ("raw cacao superfood power blend, vanilla agave, tocotrienols, cacao butter, and orange oil") was thin, almost chocolate-milk-like, and had a deep, rich chocolate flavor. The Paradise Lemonade ("goji berry-aloe lemonade with superfood pizzazz") was fascinating; tart and fruity from the goji with a sour tang from the aloe. This one was Matt’s favorite. The Hemp Horchata ("hempseed and cinnamon silky delight") was creamy and smooth with just the right amount of spice. I thought the latter would be a sure bet for my favorite (I looove horchata!), but in the end, I couldn’t decide which I liked best.

Matt got the Bliss Burger, a sunflower seed patty served on an onion “bun” with lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. He enjoyed it more than he expected to, especially with the raw ketchup and "mayo" it came with.

I got the Cowboy Rawko Tacos, dehydrated corn tortillas with chipotle-sunflower seed "beans," guacamole, nacho cheeze, sour kream, pico de gallo, and sides of salsa verde and salsa roja.

Is that gorgeous, or what?! In my excitement, I neglected to ask them to hold the lettuce. If you read this blog with any regularity, you’ll know that I do not eat lettuce, salad, greens, or leaves of any kind. Can’t stand any of it; don’t ask me why. (I realize I may be the only salad-hating vegan out there!) But these tacos, with their pliable shells, piquant "bean" filling, and tasty toppings, were so good that I set aside my hatred for all things leafy and green and just dug in. Matt almost fell out of his chair when he saw me eat a forkful of lettuce, and insisted on documenting the unprecedented occasion by taking a photo.

I stepped outside to take a couple pics while Matt relaxed at the table.

For dessert, we had their raw cheezecake of the day, which happened to be raspberry. It was still a little frosty when it arrived at our table, but considering the sky-high temperature outside, we relished those first icy bites. The berry-cashew filling melted on our tongues and offered sweet respite from the heat of the day, while the tender date-walnut crust provided a pleasantly chewy complement. It was a cooling, refreshing end to a wonderful, summery raw meal.

Considering I snacked on raw cashews and apple slices during the car ride that afternoon, and we swung back by 105 Degrees for dinner that evening, I ate almost completely raw that entire day. Do I need to rename this blog "Almost Raw"?! Not yet, but who’s to say where the future will take me.

If you like this, you might also like...
Raw revelry at 105 Degrees
Dallas 2008 and 2009
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Almost vegan in Dallas III

2010-06-25T11:26:00.006-05:00

The night before Matt and I ate at 105 Degrees, en route to Oklahoma City, we stopped in Wichita (about 3 hours southwest of Kansas City) for dinner. A web search beforehand had revealed that Wichita has ONE veg restaurant, which, to be honest, was more than I expected. I mean, serial killers aside, Wichita’s not all bad; I wrote previously about eating "the best baklava in Kansas!" there. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to have discovered Zen Vegetarian.

It was clean and quaint, and quiet for a Friday night. I’d scoped the menu ahead of time, so I knew I wanted the Macadamia Surprise (tell me you don’t love that name!). It was described as "Chunk soy protein sautéed with snow peas and macadamia nuts in a wonderful special brown sauce." Wonderful and special? Say no more! The "chunk soy protein" actually turned out to be seitan (which isn’t soy-based at all, but whatever), and carrots and baby corn accompanied the snow peas. The seitan and the nutty brown rice were nice and chewy, and the sauce was thick and slightly sweet. Besides just a couple stale macnuts, this was very enjoyable.

As good as mine was, I actually liked Matt’s better. He got Zen’s [brown] Rice Bowl with "soy ocean fillet," which was, again, seitan. Pan-fried to crisp perfection, it did indeed have a salty "sea"-taste to it, and with those snappy green beans and that killer teriyaki sauce, it was the winner of the night.

We carried on to OKC, crashed at a $40 hotel alongside I-35, and ate at 105 Degrees the next morning.

When we got to Dallas Saturday afternoon, we found that we’d scored a $220/night room at a Holiday Inn for just $59/night. (Internet, I heart you.) Jubilantly, we drove to our predetermined dinner destination—Kalachandji’s, a vegetarian Indian buffet that turned out to be inside a Hindu temple. It was a very unique setting, complete with muffled chanting audible from the worshipers down the hall. Sadly, I don’t have a pic of my plate, but I do recall eating rasam, veggie pakoras, saag tofu, vegetables korma, aloo gobi, brown basmati rice, and (believe it or not) veg lasagna, plus kheer, apple cobbler, and carob-walnut halvah for dessert. Omnivorous Matt actually enjoyed this place even more than I did.

On Saturday night, we went to a private house party of sorts, where we stayed very late. As such, we woke up on Sunday a little...bleary. Luckily, in my trip-planning clairvoyance, I’d prepared for such grogginess, and we hit the Oak Cliff location of the Spiral Diner & Bakery for brunch.

Remember when I ate at the Chicago Diner? This was similar, with a cute 50’s-retro feel, colorful décor, and punky, tattooed wait staff. I filled my coffee cup at their self-serve bar (which stocked soymilk, raw sugar, stevia, and several flavored agave nectars), while Matt had a berry smoothie made with apple juice and soymilk.

Matt ordered the Lumberjack platter; classic diner brunch food—biscuits and gravy, veg sausage, and tofu scramble.

Always in the mood for salty stuff after a night of drinking, I had Bryan’s Brutal Tacos—three soft corn tortillas stuffed with seasoned seitan, corn, peppers & onions, and spicy salsa, served with vegan sour cream, tomatoes, guacamole, black beans, and lime wedges for spritzing. This was SO much food, but let me tell you, it hit.the.spot.

We spent the afternoon driving around the Highland Park area, ogling the majestic homes there, before stopping back by the hotel and then refueling at New Start Veggie Garden, a vegetarian Asian buffet.

I ate all kinds of yumminess, including sushi, spring rolls, brown and fried rices, pumpkin soup, sesame "chicken," baked tofu, egg rolls, vegetable tempura, spicy noodles, string beans, and rice vermicelli.

They also had a small shop inside the restaurant, which of course I had to browse. I came away with a pound of curry powder, a pound of raw cashews, a jar of raw honey, and – most exciting of all – a massive bag of Himalayan pink salt.

I’ve read so much about this stuff and other bloggers’ love for it, but was never willing to pony up $10 for a measly 4 oz. at Whole Foods. So when I saw that this 5-lb. bag cost only $25, I snatched it up. It’ll probably take me years to use this amount of salt, but at 5 bucks a pound, how could I pass it up?

That evening, we dressed to the nines and went to a goth club in downtown Dallas called The Church. The place was incredible; everything I hoped it would be, with multiple bars, DJs, and lounges (including an awesome two-floored, chandeliered main room), a rooftop patio with great views of the skyline, and possibly the best music selection I’ve ever heard in a bar or club. All in all, we had a fantastic day and night.

Come back Monday too see our last meal in Dallas. Hint: it was raw bliss!

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Dallas 2009
Dallas 2008
All my other travels!

Raw revelry at 105 Degrees

2010-06-23T11:52:00.026-05:00

I’d heard about it. I’d read about it. I’d researched it online. I’d seen tales of it on other blogs, both from those who have dined there (like Kristen) and those who have actually attended the academy (like Michelle and Robyn). And finally, over Memorial Day weekend, I had the opportunity to visit (and stuff my face at) Matthew Kenney’s all-raw restaurant 105 Degrees in Oklahoma City, OK. The Matthew Kenney, visionary king of raw, vegan, living, organic cuisine. The 105 Degrees, a groundbreaking, state-of-the-art facility housing the first-ever school for budding raw chefs. To say I was excited would be an outrageous understatement.

Matt (my Matt, not Mr. Kenney!) and I left Kansas City after work on Friday, and finally arrived in Oklahoma City after midnight. (More on our Friday night meal later this week.) We headed into the city shortly after 11am, navigated the Classen Curve with ease, and arrived at our destination immediately awed. The floor-to-ceiling glass windows are stunning, allowing you peer right in at patrons eating in one half (the café) and students working in the other (the academy). Inside the clean, bright space, the employees were dressed smartly, and the kitchen was completely open to the dining room (no ovens, no problems!). It’s readily apparent how thoughtfully designed 105 Degrees is. Everything there, from the lighting to the bamboo tables, is eco-friendly and sustainable. The smoothie I ordered to start even came with a glass straw.

Said smoothie was called the Blue Bee Milkshake—blueberries, local honey gelato, white chocolate, and bee pollen. Yes, raw vegan local honey gelato and raw vegan white chocolate. This was one of the best smoothies to ever pass my lips. Matt (who also sipped on a mimosa) was equally blown away by it.

Matt ordered a taco salad, which came topped with a huge fan of avocado and crumbled dehydrated corn chips. We all know I'm not a salad person, but I tried some of the corn chip bits, and they were much crunchier than I thought anything dehydrated could be.

My entrée...oh, my entrée. This raw mezze platter was absolute love at first bite. The marinated olives were herby and succulent. The eggplant chips were mildly seasoned with a crisp bite and a hearty chew. The macadamia hummus was impossibly creamy, and so rich that the mere 1/4 cup of it satisfied me. The hemp seed tabbouleh was crunchy and refreshing, and the warm nut-based falafel absolutely melted in my mouth. This was simply the best meal I could have ever hoped for at a raw food restaurant, and one of the best at any restaurant, period. "Delicious" does not even begin to tell the tale.

We would have been fools not to indulge in dessert! Matt let me choose, and I couldn’t resist the raw white chocolate mud pie. One word: DENSE. No, two words: DENSE and DIVINE. This was like an ultra-rich white chocolate fudge atop a dark brownie base, sitting beside a pool of cacao-nib-dusted ganache. In other words, an orgasm on a plate. We both utterly adored this.

I browsed through the shop for a few minutes, gazing longingly at all too many items, before leaving, sated and giddy with raw glee. As I’m sure Matt would tell you, I couldn’t stop talking about this meal...which is why it’s not surprising at all that we stopped back by 105 Degrees again on our way home Monday. (More about the days in between later this week.) I called ahead, and we picked up a couple smoothies. Matt got the Antiox-C (left), a blend of orange, lime, goji berries, black cherries, and raspberries, and I had the Maca Pitchu (right), containing raspberries, cacao nibs, maca powder, banana, and coconut butter. As Matt declared, "These raw people sure do know how to do smoothies, I’ll say that!"

(There’s another example of 105 Degrees’ eco-consciousness—those cups and straws are made of 100% corn and are designed to biodegrade in 30 days or less. Wow!)

I also got myself a takeout dinner of raw sesame noodles—kelp noodles (which I jumped for joy at the chance to finally try!) tossed in an almond butter sauce with spiced cauliflower, sweet peas, green onions, and spicy cashews. The slight crunch of the kelp noodles caught me off guard at first, but I soon began to savor the unique texture. Though the noodles are practically calorie-free, all the other elements of this dish combined to make it extremely filling—it took me two sittings to finish it off.

I just can’t say enough about 105 Degrees. It represents the very best in raw food and imaginative, nutritious culinary innovation. Five hours south of KC, it’s so close, yet so far away!

I’ll admit right here and now that I have a (no-longer-so-)secret dream of attending the 105 Degrees Academy. If I could guarantee it’d net me a lucrative career in food, I’d do it in a heartbeat. In the meantime, I’ll probably look at these pictures often and sigh at the perfection of the masterpieces I was lucky enough to get to eat there, all the while plotting how (and how soon) I can get back.

In my next entries, I’ll backtrack a bit and show you the rest of our Memorial Day weekend road trip to Dallas.

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All my other travels!

* * * UPDATE!! * * *
There I was, finishing up my workday, when my email pinged with a new item. What I discovered in my inbox was something I never expected...a Facebook message from Matthew Kenney himself!

Aaahh! To a food nerd like me, a personal email from Matthew Kenney is like an email from Elvis. Or Jesus. Provided either of them had internet access, of course. Anyway, I was totally thrilled—it made my day! Matthew, 105 Degrees deserves all the flattery one can heap upon it, and then some. Thank YOU for creating such an incredible foodie paradise!

Spaghetti & vegan meatballs

2010-06-21T10:29:00.004-05:00

As promised, here is the perfect dish over which to serve last entry’s perfect marinara sauce. I used A Vegan For Dinner’s TVP meatball recipe, tweaking it here and there to make it my own. Both times I’ve made these, I’ve eaten them with spaghetti, but you could even ditch the pasta and serve them cocktail-meatball style, with toothpicks and a side of sauce for dipping.

1 cup hot water
2 Tbsp vegan bouillon
2 Tbsp soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 1/2 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp red or brown miso
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup texturized vegetable protein
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
3 Tbsp warm water
2 Tbsp cornmeal
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup cooked couscous (or more oats)
2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
3 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 batch perfect marinara sauce, to serve
Hot cooked whole-grain spaghetti, to serve

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the first ten ingredients (through black pepper).

Stir in the TVP and set aside to cool. In a small bowl, whisk the flax and warm water; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, oats, couscous (or additional oats), flour, and wheat gluten.

Mix well, kneading the dough until combined.

Roll the dough into 36 meatballs. (To make this easier, divide the dough into quarters, and then shape each quarter into 9 balls.) Arrange the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet so that they do not touch.

Mist the tops with cooking spray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Since they contain so many grains, these aren’t very meaty-tasting (call them "wheatballs" if you must), but they definitely have the well-seasoned flavor and satisfying chew of their namesake. Buon appetito!

Yield: 36 meatballs. Per serving (6 meatballs): 154 calories, 2.2g fat (trace sat), 23.6g carbs, 4g fiber, 10g protein.

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Spaghetti with raw tomato sauce
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Perfect marinara sauce

2010-06-18T12:18:00.007-05:00

Here’s a blast from the past for you: my second-ever blog entry. Cute, right? When I first started this thing almost two years ago, I had no idea what I was doing with it. If anything, I figured it’d be my food diary, a place where I'd record my daily noshings as well as my random thoughts, ideas, or curiosities about food. Within a few short months, I’d begun posting recipes with step-by-step photos accompanying the instructions, interspersed with posts about eating out or road tripping. It evolved very organically (no pun intended), and though it’s become so much more than I expected initially, I’m nothing but proud of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown as a home cook, vegan, and food blogger in general.

Anyway, back to that second entry. In it, I mentioned growing up eating Ragu Old World Style marinara sauce on all my [nutrient-stripped white] pasta. During and after college, I tried every other jarred marinara on the market, and cooked dozens of my own, but none of them satisfied me like smooth, salty, overprocessed Ragu. Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since I wrote that post, and haven’t cracked open a jar of Ragu in well over a year. Despite numerous hopeful attempts, however, I had yet to find a suitably flavorful, yet fast and easy, recipe for homemade marinara—until now. This sweet, herby, garlicky sauce is a mélange of so many other recipes and techniques that I can only call it my own. So without further ado, I present to you...my quick-and-perfect marinara sauce.

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, roughly chopped
10-12 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic cloves and sauté, stirring often, until softened (about 6-8 minutes). They should be golden and translucent, but not browned. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor.

Add all remaining ingredients except the parsley. (Variation: if you have an open bottle, try replacing the balsamic vinegar with 1/4 cup of fruity red wine!)

Purée until smooth. Add the parsley and pulse until just incorporated. Taste for seasoning, and if the sauce seems a little acidic, feel free to add a tablespoon of agave nectar.

Perfetta! Use immediately, or transfer to a large container and refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to 2 months. Ladle it over any kind of pasta, put it in lasagna, or just use it as a dip for crusty bread. Better yet, make a batch this weekend, stick it in the fridge, and then check back here Monday for the perfect dish to serve it with!

Yield: Half gallon (12 servings). Per serving (about 2/3 cup): 92 calories, 2.8g fat (trace sat), 16.5g carbs, 4g fiber, 3.3g protein.

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Rotini with walnut sauce (×2)
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Yumtastic May leftovers

2010-06-16T12:32:00.009-05:00

I’ve got so much yumminess to share! I ate this first meal on Cinco de Mayo. My friend Emily and I went to our favorite local Mexican joint (though not quite my favorite Mexican restaurant ever; that would be Ixtapa in Lawrence [see here]), Dos Reales, for drinks – Merlot for me, margaritas for her – and food. Emily, though not totally veg herself, had a vegetarian combo platter with a chile relleno, a bean burrito, and rice.

I special-ordered a black bean enchilada, sin queso, and a side of rice.

I made the self-frosting peanut butter cupcakes from Bittersweet-Hannah’s cookbook My Sweet Vegan.

Though I didn’t execute the swirl as neatly as I could have, they still turned out great.

At First Friday in the Crossroads Arts District, a girl had a vegan food table set up at one of the galleries. Matt bought a curried tofu burrito, and I had a bite. He also got a brownie, but I forgot to take a pic.

One night I whipped up a plain batch of Ani Phyo’s "Love-the-Chicks Pâté," a blend of almonds and sunflower seeds with a touch of turmeric.

I made a version of Baking Bites’ white chocolate chip-pistachio cookies (here's lookin' at you, Hannah!) to take to Lindsey’s birthday cookout at Tyler & Henry’s house.

At another weeknight dinner with Emily, this one at Wai Wai quick-Thai, I had my favorite—their cashew-tofu stir fry.

After my co-worker Sean’s wedding reception, Matt and I went for drinks – sangria for me, a chocolate martini (yep, really!) for him – and snacks at Boozefish Wine Bar. I had (what else?) the hummus trio. Clockwise from top, there’s artichoke basil, black olive, and traditional.

Upon Meaghan’s recommendation, I made these no-bake coconut-carob cookie balls.

Matt and I ate at a newish Mexican place in south Overland Park called Frida’s. It’s high-end, authentic Mexican—nary a burrito in sight! Nor, I’m afraid, was there anything remotely veganizable. But no biggie—I got the Pescado al Cilantro, a white fish filet marinated in cilantro pesto and grilled with slivered almonds and lots of olive oil. It was served with an herby green rice and grilled vegetables. Though super-oily, this was really good, and unlike any Mexican food I’ve ever had (even IN Mexico!).

Matt had the Chile Relleno de Callo al Cilantro, a pair of sautéed-scallop-and-cilantro-stuffed poblano peppers topped with tomatillo sauce, also served with green rice. Both of us loved our dishes; we will definitely be going back to Frida’s.

But that's not all! Dessert was a must once I saw what they offered—a non-dairy, corn-milk-based ice cream! I’ve never even heard of such a thing! Though Matt would probably have preferred chocolate, he let me order it with the cinnamon, caramel, and candied walnut topping option. Wow. Wow. WOW. This was just unreal. I can’t wait to go back and have it again!

I’ll wrap up with some homemade stuff. This is a raw blackberry crumble from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. The topping is predominantly almonds and pumpkin seeds. Simple, summery, delicious.

Speaking of Ani, this is a riff on the raw wild rice salad she posted on her blog awhile back.

Here’s a random weekday breakfast of mine—plain yogurt, plump fresh raspberries, dehydrated buckwheat groats, and a sprinkle of blueberry flaxseed.

Last but not least, a ginormous batch of homemade hummus. I even cooked my own chickpeas from dried; the whole shebang. I ate half of it as-is, then added Ethiopian spices (berbere, cardamom, and mekelesha) to the other half, and oh man, it may have been the best hummus I’ve ever made. (Yes, maybe even better than my Indian spice variety!) I will have to make it again so I can blog about it.
...Would you judge me if I said this whole thing only lasted me a week?

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April leftovers
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Review: Sunland peanut butter

2010-06-14T10:42:00.007-05:00

You may remember that in early April, I took a road trip to Chicago, stopping in Iowa City on the way. There, at a Bruegger’s Bagels, I found, tried, and loved a new-to-me brand of peanut butter—Sunland. I bought the Dark Chocolate variety, and it was pretty much heavenly.

I emailed Sunland to let them know I liked their product, and Brittany in customer service wrote me back offering to send me three jars of my choice from their catalog to sample! I settled on Organic Thai Ginger and Red Pepper, Organic Spicy Southwestern, and Natural Caramel.

Though I definitely plan to cook and bake with each, I wanted to try each one on its own first. Since I have a bajillion packages of Corn Thins (ganked from the finish line party of the Hospital Hill half-marathon I ran the weekend before last), I decided to use those as the vehicle for my PB-tasting.

First up was the Organic Thai Ginger and Red Pepper, the flavor that Brittany at Sunland recommended in particular. I’m not generally a big fan of ginger, and was worried it would be overwhelming, but was happy to find it wasn’t at all. The aroma of Thai spices wafts straight out of the jar, and the peanut butter, though thin in texture, is packed with flavor, plus a nice hint of heat. I can tell this will be great on sesame noodles or tofu satay.

Second, I tried the Organic Spicy Southwestern. Whispers of cumin and ground chili permeate this peanut butter, which is also thin, but features giant chewy chunks of peanuts. The lime flavor is front-and-center here, and though it’s different than I expected, this one excites me—I can envision making a killer mole sauce with it.

I saved the sweet for last, of course, and I was not let down by the Natural Caramel. It’s much thicker than the other two, and really appears identical to any other creamy PB. When I first took a bite, all I tasted was the peanut butter—thick, smooth, and full-bodied. As it started to melt away on my tongue, though, the caramel notes came forward and took over, cutting the richness of the PB and treating me to a dulce-de-leche-esque aftertaste. So good! I’ve since eaten this on honey-wheat bagel and on a banana, and it’s downright magical.

So which was my favorite? Honestly, I’d have to say the Caramel. Though I usually consider myself more of a salt person than a sweet tooth, I guess I like my peanut butter on the sugary side. I’ll probably finish my jar of Caramel with a spoon, but I’m definitely stoked to try cooking with the Thai and Southwestern flavors. I really recommend everyone out there check out Sunland’s online store for some cool and interesting PB flavors (their peanut butter diet is also a neat idea). Thank you again, Sunland, for your generosity!

Sadly, I don't have a giveaway to accompany this review. But stay tuned for one of those soon! In the meantime, check out Amanda's soy candle giveaway (update: Jessie is giving away a candle too!) and Fit and Forty Something's Larabar giveaway.

Raw flaxseed pancakes

2010-06-11T12:03:00.007-05:00

Yep, more rawness! I’m following up my savory chilly chili with a sweet raw breakfast duo of flax pancakes ("flaxjacks," if you will) with blackberry-date sauce, both recipes adapted from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. This meal is way (way WAY) faster to put together than the chili, so if you found that a bit intimidating, you’ll appreciate the preparatory brevity of this dish. These are obviously pretty dissimilar to real pancakes ("breakfast patties" may be a more apt moniker, but the method by which you eat them – with a knife and fork, drizzled with a syrupy fruit concoction – earns them the "pancakes" label), but they’re delicious in their own right.

This post was made possible by the munificent people at Pizzey’s Nutritionals. Pizzey’s is the only company on the market whose flax contains all three Omega-3 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, and DHA), and its shelf life is blessedly long (2 years without refrigeration!). Awhile back, they offered me "samples" of some of their high-quality flaxseed products—imagine my surprise when two 2-lb. bags (milled golden flax and SmoothOmega milled flax) arrived at my door, followed some time after by two more 2-lb. bags (organic milled golden flax and – get this – blueberry milled golden flax!) plus a box of individual-serving flax singles! WOW. I was blown away.

You can order Pizzey’s flaxseed online at FlaxMatters.com and get free shipping on all orders over $50! They’ve got numerous varieties of flax to choose from, plus some cool accessories like a flaxseed grinder and this cute lil flax scoop. I also think their flaxseed starter kit is a great idea. Thanks again, Pizzey’s, for your generosity!

Ok, I’m done flaxing poetic; on to the recipes!

For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups ground flaxseed
1/4 cup (raw) agave nectar
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp water

For the sauce:
1/2 cup blackberries
2-3 pitted dates

I recommend prepping the sauce first, so it can chill and thicken as you make the cakes. Just combine the blackberries and dates in a blender or food processor...

...and blend until smooth, adding a splash of water as necessary. Transfer to a small container and place in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. (It’ll keep for several days in there.)

For the flaxseed in this recipe, I used Pizzey’s milled golden flax with blueberries to give my cakes some fruity pizzazz. (Of course, regular flax will work just fine. If you’re grinding your own, start with one heaping cup whole flaxseeds, which should amount to roughly 1 1/2 cups when ground.)

Combine all the pancake ingredients in a bowl.

Mix well with your hands or a wooden spoon.

Divide the mixture into eight portions. Roll into balls and, somehow or another, form the balls into flat medallions.

I greased a half-cup measuring cup and used the back of a spoon to press each ball into a patty. A biscuit cutter would work even better for this, since you wouldn’t have to bang the cup on the counter each time to free the cake.

Place the cakes on a platter, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to eat. They’ll stay good for up to a week, so you can just take out one or two each morning for breakfast.

Serve the cakes with the blackberry-date sauce, and feel free to add other toppings (like maple syrup, agave nectar, or vanilla yogurt) in addition or instead. You might not guess it thanks to their diminutive size, but these babies are filling. They’re pleasantly mealy and mildly sweet, plus you’ll get a day and a half’s worth of Omega-3s in each cake! If breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, these cakes give it the respect it deserves.

(Pancakes) Yield: 8 pancakes. Per pancake: 157 calories, 10.6g fat (2g sat), 14.1g carbs, 6g fiber, 3.8g protein.
(Sauce) Yield: 8 servings. Per serving (about 2 Tbsp): 21 calories, .1g fat (trace sat), 5.5g carbs, 1g fiber, .2g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Maple cinnamon pecan milk
Quick blueberry compote
Raw pecan pie cookies

Loaded raw chilly chili

2010-06-09T12:12:00.006-05:00

No time to chat, peeps; I’ve got a lot to show you today. As I’ve been saying lately, I’m working off a 1-2 month blogging backlog, so you haven’t seen much of what I’ve been eating more recently. I’ve actually been experimenting a lot with raw foods, and my Memorial Day weekend trip to Dallas (which you’ll see more about soon) funneled the last of my interest into true excitement. I’m not going all-raw or anything, don’t worry, but I do expect to be featuring more raw-ness on this blog than ever before. I want to get the raw food posts going as soon as possible so you can take full advantage of them in this summer’s heat.

The magnificent Ani Phyo gets credit for this dish. The chili recipe is from her new book, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials, while the taco nut meat, squash "rice," cashew cheeze, and red pepper-corn salsa are variations on recipes from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. I won’t kid you; this meal is a ton of work. I did it all in one night (two and a half hours!), but feel free to prep one or two components at a time over the course of a day or two (or just leave a couple of them out) to make it more manageable. Put the work in, though, and you’ll be richly rewarded in the end.

For the taco nut meat:
1/2 cup raw almonds, dry
1/2 cup raw walnuts, dry
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos, Nama Shoyu, or soy sauce

In a food processor, pulse the almonds and walnuts into a powder.

Transfer the ground nuts to a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients.

Mix well and set aside. The nut meat alone will keep for 4 days in the fridge.

Yield: 8 servings. Per serving (2 Tbsp): 147 calories, 14.8g fat (2g sat), 2.5g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.6g protein.

For the Mexican squash "rice":
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
Splash of fresh lime juice

Place the squash cubes in the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse into small, rice-sized pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients.

Mix well and set aside. The "rice" alone will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Yield: 6 servings. Per serving (1/4 cup): 25 calories, .1g fat (trace sat), 6.2g carbs, 1g fiber, .7g protein.

For the cashew cheeze:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup water, as needed

In a food processor, blend all ingredients. Add only enough water to process into a thick cream texture. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. The cheeze alone will keep for a week in the fridge.

Yield: 8 servings. Per serving (2 Tbsp): 100 calories, 7.8g fat (1g sat), 5.9g carbs, 1g fiber, 3.3g protein.

For the red pepper-corn salsa:
2/3 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 small jalapeño, minced
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp sea salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside. The salsa alone will keep for a week in the fridge.

Yield: 6 servings. Per serving (1/4 cup): 18 calories, .2g fat (trace sat), 4g carbs, 1g fiber, .7g protein.

For the raw chili:
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels
1/3 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 small jalapeño, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Mix well. Transfer half the mixture to a food processor or blender.

Purée until smooth.

Transfer the purée back into the bowl with the veggie mixture and mix well.

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving (1 cup): 63 calories, .8g fat (trace sat), 13.2g carbs, 4g fiber, 2.7g protein.

WHEW! Serve the chili topped with spoonfuls of taco nut meat, "rice," and salsa and a dollop of the cheeze and you’ve not only earned a helluva pat on the back , but you’ve made the ultimate warm-weather meal—loaded raw chilly chili! Throw on some sliced green onions, diced avocado, or guacamole if you have any on hand. If you like gazpacho, you'll love this soup. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, very filling, and wonderfully refreshing. Summer in a bowl!

Per serving (1 cup chili, 2 Tbsp nut meat, 1/4 cup squash "rice," 2 Tbsp cashew cheeze, and 1/4 cup red pepper-corn salsa):
352 calories, 23.7g fat (3g sat), 31.8g carbs, 8g fiber, 10g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Kidney bean–brown rice chili
Watermelon agua fresca
Three-bean vegan chili

* * * UPDATE * * *
Saturday, 6/26... :]

Blueberry crumb bars

2010-06-07T09:56:00.000-05:00

I usually try to vary the types of sweets I feature, but summer berries are beginning to roll in, so surely you’ll excuse me for posting these blueberry bars right after my quick blackberry cobbler. (You should also expect more berry-centric treats in the coming weeks!) This recipe is from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s book The Joy of Vegan Baking, and though it’s billed as a sort of coffee cake, I found mine to be much more bar-like in height and texture. The base resembles a cakey shortbread, while the crumb topping is a loose streusel. I made them on a Friday night, and they were all devoured by Saturday morning.

For the bars:
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer
3 Tbsp warm water
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 soy or almond milk
1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

For the topping:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup Earth Balance, COLD, cut up

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and the warm water until thick and creamy, about 1 minute, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 or 2 minutes.

Add the egg replacer mixture and vanilla to the margarine-sugar mixture, and beat until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and milk and beat until just combined (batter will be thick). Spread the batter into the bottom of the pan, smoothing the top. Evenly arrange the blueberries on top of the batter.

To make the topping, in a large bowl (it can be the same one you used before, just scrape it out well), combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon.

Cut in the margarine with a pastry blender or a fork until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the blueberries.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

What’s better than sweet bursts of blueberries peppered across a palette of buttery, crumbly cake? Not much, I say.

Yield: 16 servings. Per serving: 152 calories, 7.1g fat (4g sat), 21.4g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Oat crumble jam bars
Homestyle blueberry cobbler
Vegan lemon bars

Misir watt (Ethiopian lentils)

2010-06-01T12:14:00.005-05:00

Happy June, everyone! How was your Memorial Day? I just got back from a wonderful weekend getaway to Dallas, Texas with Matt. Dallas is my favorite city to road-trip to (as you may recall), so I can hardly wait to write about it.

Remember the Ethiopian cooking class I took with my friend Hillary? Today I’m fulfilling my promise to show you my home-cooked misir watt (stewed red lentils). This is my very favorite Ethiopian dish, and I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it is to prepare. Since I don’t think I’ll ever make injera at home (and Blue Nile Café is too far from my house for me to easily run by and pick some up), I served this with cooked quinoa, but it would be great with brown rice or couscous as well.

One quick note about the seasoning: you can easily use cayenne pepper or something similar in place of the mekelesha, but there is NO substitute for berbere. It’s absolutely worth a trip to a specialty spice store.

2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1-inch chunk gingerroot, peeled
3 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 lb. dry red lentils
3 Tbsp berbere
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp mekelesha (or cayenne)
Salt to taste

(Clockwise from top, that’s berbere, mekelesha, and cardamom.)
Combine the onions, garlic, ginger, and 1 Tbsp of the canola oil in a blender or food processor.

Process or pulse into a very rough purée, adding a splash of water if necessary. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add water (about 1/4 cup at a time) if the mixture gets dry or cooks too quickly.

Add the berbere and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, again adding water as needed. The mixture should look pretty soupy; by this point I’d probably added nearly a cup of water.

Add the lentils...

...and 4 more cups of water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, stirring often. Keep adding water, 1/4 cup at a time, to keep the texture loose, but don’t add so much that it gets liquidy. You’re looking for a goopy, spoonable consistency (that’s meant to sound appealing!).

This is a good time to cook your quinoa, if that’s what you’re serving it with.

When the lentils are done, they’ll be partially broken down, but still retain some of their shape. Remove from the heat and stir in the cardamom, mekelesha or cayenne, and salt to taste. (If you’re using mekelesha, I urge you exercise caution here! Had I been using cayenne, I would probably have put in a good teaspoon, but I added just a scant 1/2 teaspoon of the mekelesha and it was flaming hot! I have a high tolerance for spice, but this was fiery even to me. So be conservative!)

Serve over quinoa or, if you’re lucky enough to have an Ethiopian restaurant nearby, pick up some injera to eat it with.

This is so incredibly good, I made it twice in two weeks. It’s filling, nutritious, and satisfying in every way. The depth and complexity of the berbere seasoning is indescribable—you really just have to try it for yourself. If you’ve never had Ethiopian food, this is a great gateway dish. The leftovers are even delicious eaten cold!

Yield: 6-8 servings. Per serving (6): 345 calories, 8.9g fat (1g sat), 49.7g carbs, 10g fiber, 19.7g protein.
Per serving (8): 259 calories, 6.7g fat (.5g sat), 37.3g carbs, 7g fiber, 14.7g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
A vegan taste of Ethiopia
Spiced red lentil soup
Indian curried lentils

Quick blackberry cobbler

2010-05-28T11:08:00.002-05:00

First of all, I want to thank all of you who entered my first giveaway! And congratulations, again, to the winners.

Now, back to the cooking...though it almost feels wrong to even call this "cooking." Even after substituting fresh berries for the canned pie filling it calls for, this recipe is just too easy. Yes, even I fall prey to convenience foods on occasion (and although I’ve been meaning to make a homemade Bisquick mix, I haven’t yet). I whipped this up in a matter of moments one weeknight after finding a 99-cent sale on blackberries. (Psst...this is basically just the full-size version of my mini berry cobblers from way back when!)

3 cups blackberries
5 Tbsp raw sugar, divided
1 cup reduced-fat Bisquick
1 Tbsp Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup soy or almond milk

Rinse and drain the blackberries. In an 8- or 9-inch square glass pan, combine the blackberries and 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) of the raw sugar, plus 3 Tbsp warm water.

Place the pan in a cold oven, then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Let heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the last tablespoon of raw sugar with the Bisquick, margarine, and milk in a medium bowl, mixing until a soft dough forms.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven. The berries will be nice ‘n hot ‘n bubbly.

Drop the dough onto the warm berries in several spoonfuls; you can make it as neat or as rustic as you want. Sprinkle with additional raw sugar if desired.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. I like it best when it’s still warm, but leftovers are great too. If only I’d had some nondairy vanilla ice cream to serve it with!

Yield: 6 servings. Per serving: 175 calories, 3.5g fat (1g sat), 33.7g carbs, 4g fiber, 2.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Mini berry cobblers
Homestyle blueberry cobbler
Pineapple upside-down cake

Nut milk bag giveaway winners!

2010-05-25T10:29:00.005-05:00

The time has come! I was thrilled to see some lurkers emerge from the shadows to enter my first giveaway, as well as, of course, my regular readers. Three Pure Joy Planet nut milk bags were up for grabs.

And the winners are...

McKella, Aimee, and Cheryl!
CONGRATULATIONS! McKella and Aimee, I’ll be leaving notification comments on your blog shortly, and Cheryl, hopefully you’re reading this and will contact me soon! Please email your full names and mailing addresses to me ASAP at amber4d (at) gmail (dot) com. I’ll pass those on to Pure Joy Planet and they’ll be shipping your new nut milk bags to you directly!

Thanks again to everyone who entered! If you didn’t win, remember that you can buy a nut milk bag of your own from Pure Joy Planet for just $8.88—and that includes shipping!

My goal in the coming months is to get to offer more and more fun stuff like this to my awesome readers :] So stayed tuned!

Maple cinnamon pecan milk

2010-05-21T12:14:00.009-05:00

If you’ve read my almond milk post (which you surely have, right?), you’ve probably already had a snicker (or two or ten) over the idea of nut milk, so I’ll spare you the dirty jokes here. Besides, we’ve got more important business to attend to than wisecracking nut-milking quips—a GIVEAWAY! More on that at the end of this post, but first, the star of the show: Maple. Cinnamon. Pecan. Milk. Need I say more? This is a riff on a recipe in Sarma Melngailis’ book Raw Food/Real World, and it’s fantastic.

1 cup raw pecans
3 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of sea salt

Soak the pecans in a bowl of filtered water for 4-8 hours, or overnight.

Drain and rinse the pecans well and place them in a high-speed blender with 3 3/4 cups of cold filtered water.

Cover and blend on high for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Pour the milk through a nut milk bag into a pitcher or large bowl.

Strain the milk through the bag, squeezing and twisting and wringing to extract as much as possible. Transfer the nut meat from the bag to a small container and refrigerate for later use (add it to other goodies like oatmeal, smoothies, cookie dough, and so on). Pour the milk back into the (rinsed) blender and add the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt (and, if you want to be really indulgent, a spoonful of coconut oil!). Cover and blend to combine. Taste for sweetness, adding more maple syrup if desired, then pour into a pitcher or other container for storage.

Smooth, silky, luxurious—this stuff’s liquid velvet. It’s so rich and creamy that it’s almost closer in texture to a thin milkshake than simple milk, and maple syrup + pecans + cinnamon is a [polygamous] marriage made in flavor heaven. Normally I’d suggest all kinds of uses for a milk like this, but honestly, I’ve yet to ingest it in any way besides simply drinking it from a glass. It’s that good.

Yield: about 1 quart. Per 1-cup serving: I’m not sure! There is no good way to calculate how many calories and fat/protein grams are left behind in the nut meat. Since pecans seem to leave less pulp in the bag than almonds, it’s a fair bet that there’s more fat, and therefore calories, left in the milk. My very rough estimate for 1 cup of pecan milk would be about 90-100 calories and 7-8 grams of fat.

Oh, you thought I forgot, did you? Hardly! I am ecstatic to present to you the first-ever
ALMOST VEGAN GIVEAWAY!
The wonderful folks over at Pure Joy Planet have offered to award one of their excellent nut milk bags to three, count ’em, THREE lucky winners! This is the very bag I myself bought and use, and it works like a charm—this pecan milk and my almond milk can attest to that! You can also use it to strain juices or make sprouts. It’s versatile, sturdy, easy to clean, and you can win one here!

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite kind of nut and how you like to eat it—raw, roasted and salted, as nut butter, in a baked good, in a stir-fry? Now, I’m no stranger to having a little naughty fun when talking about nuts, but let’s keep it family-friendly and limit it to TREE nuts ;] The deadline for entries is Tuesday morning, May 25th, at 9:00am CST (which is around 3pm that afternoon for anyone in the U.K. and midnight that night for those of you in Australia), and I’ll be choosing the three winners at random. Good luck, everyone! I can’t wait to see who will win!

If you like this, you might also like...
Homemade almond milk
Very berry "green" smoothie
Watermelon agua fresca

April leftovers + exciting news!

2010-05-18T12:26:00.007-05:00

It’s show-and-tell time again! These are some of my amassed restaurant meals and other random eats from the previous month. Also, a very exciting event is about to happen in Almost-Vegan-land—more on that later in this post!

First up is a Vietnamese tofu fried rice at Saigon 39 in Midtown.

I tried out the carrot cake loaf with cream cheeze swirl from the Baking Bites cookbook. I should’ve photographed the making of this one, because it came out amazing!

I took Matt to Blue Bird Bistro, a restaurant serving all local and organic food, for his birthday. Along with a bottle of locally made wine, we shared the hummus appetizer. The pita bread was made from scratch!

Blue Bird Bistro used to be vegetarian, but added sustainable meat and seafood back to its menu a couple years ago. My rare taste for seafood struck again—I splurged on the catch of the day, cornmeal-crusted catfish with jasmine rice and ratatouille.

Our (free!) dessert was a slice of apple crostata with vanilla bean ice cream. All in all, this was a great meal.

At NARA, I ate a vegetable roll, and Matt and I shared a flight of crisp white wines.

My friend Henry and I attended Urban Picnic 2010, a yearly event held by the Kansas City Originals, a coalition of independently-owned, local area restaurants. It was a giant, sold-out affair, with over 40 restaurants (plus six wineries and a brewery) giving out unlimited (and massive) samples of mouthwatering, gourmet food for four hours, along with live music, auctions, and raffles. It was a madhouse in there, so picture-taking was all but impossible, but I did get this shot of our desserts: strawberry shortcake, Italian cream cake, and lemon pound cake with macerated berries. I got so full I nearly felt sick, but I can’t wait till next year!

Matt and I ate at Bo Ling’s one Friday. I had forgotten my camera, so these two shots were taken on Matt’s iPhone. I had a huge plate of steamed veggies and tofu with brown rice, and a side of "brown sauce" for dipping.

Matt opted, all on his own, for tofu fried rice. Aww.

One Sunday morning, I made us "sausage-and-egg" breakfast sandwiches. I toasted and buttered ("Earth Balanced," rather) slices of Ezekiel bread. I seasoned slabs of extra-firm tofu with cumin, turmeric, and garlic salt, then pan-fried them. I also mashed some fennel seed and garlic salt into LightLife ground "sausage," formed it into patties, and pan-fried those too. Stacked together, these made an awesome savory brunch.

This is just a particularly pretty smoothie I had one weekday morning—predominantly blackberries.

VEGAN LASAGNA! I promise I will make this again one day and post it, but man was it a lot of work! I made it with from-scratch marinara sauce, homemade tofu "ricotta," whole-grain lasagna noodles, and a fake ground beef-fake sausage-white bean mixture. I chopped and threw on my last couple slices of rice mozzarella before baking.

This was a WINNERRR. I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Ok, ok! I get it, you want to hear the news. Well, here it is: this Friday will see the advent of an Almost Vegan first—a GIVEAWAY! I love when other blogs hold giveaways (despite never having won one), and I’ve wanted to have one here since I first started this blog nearly two years ago. The opportunity has finally arisen! I’m not going to tell you what the prize is, but I’ll offer one hint—it’s a product that (I’m guessing) most of you don’t own, but it will allow you to make at home a recipe recently featured here, as well as the recipe I’ll post Friday. Check back then for the chance to win!

Let’s see how many readers I can pull out of the woodwork with this one, mwahaha ;]
See you Friday!

If you like this, you might also like...
Long-winded March leftovers
Belated February leftovers
December-January leftovers

Honey almond power bars

2010-05-14T11:54:00.004-05:00

It must be power bar week! On Wednesday, Aimee posted some great-looking cherry energy bars, and here I am today with dried-fruit bars of my own. I bookmarked this recipe awhile back, and made it one morning before work—that’s how quick and easy it is. It’s one of those customize-at-will recipes; there are options for every single item on this ingredient list! Oats (old-fashioned or quick), almonds (use chopped walnuts or pecans instead), sunflower seeds (raw, salted, or honey-roasted), flaxseeds (whole or ground), sesame seeds (raw or toasted), cereal (puffed rice, kamut, or millet), dried fruit (add or substitute things like chopped dried cherries or apricots, goji berries, dark raisins, et al.), nut butter (almond, peanut, or cashew), sugar (raw/turbinado, sucanat, or brown), honey (use agave nectar or brown rice syrup instead), extract (vanilla or almond), and even the sea salt (just use good ol’ table salt).

Some people seem to think that an energy/power bar is the same thing as a protein bar, but they serve very different purposes. For an athlete, or anyone who runs marathons like me, it’s important to distinguish between the two. While protein bars can be good for recovery snacks or meal replacements, a power bar, or energy bar, is actually quite low in protein. It’s meant to be more of a carbohydrate delivery system, providing a mix of slow- and quick-release carbs to fuel workouts, balanced by small doses of fat (to slow digestion) and protein (to aid muscle recovery). So don’t look to a bar like this to keep you full for hours—eat one for a pre-workout energy boost instead.

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp flaxseeds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal
1/3 cup dried blueberries
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup creamy almond butter
1/4 cup raw (turbinado) sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the cereal, blueberries, cranberries, and raisins; toss to combine.

Meanwhile, combine the almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.

Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain.

Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray and press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes, before cutting into 10 bars.

Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to a month; thaw at room temperature. These are more delicate than storebought power bars, but I’m quite happy to exchange durability for wholesomeness in this additive- and preservative-free snack. They’re toasty, fruity, nutty, and conveniently grab-and-go!

Yield: 10 bars. Per bar: 202 calories, 7.5g fat (1g sat), 32.2g carbs, 4g fiber, 4.5g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
No-bake almond butter balls
Oat crumble jam bars
Banana wheat germ muffins

A vegan taste of Ethiopia

2010-05-11T14:15:00.008-05:00

Last month, my friend Hillary (of The Anti-Chef) and I took a vegetarian Ethiopian cooking class through UMKC. It was held at, and taught by the owners of, Blue Nile Café, a wonderful restaurant in downtown KC’s City Market. I’ve eaten there several times over the years (when I can convince my friends to be adventurous), and it’s always been excellent.

After listening to a brief history of Ethiopia, we were led into the kitchen. As luck would have it, I wound up right by the stove, so I got a front-row seat to the action. First, we were introduced to the spices and flavorings. From the top: salt and turmeric, berbere (a complex spice mixture containing over a dozen ingredients), mekelesha (ground chile; VERY hot!) and garlic-ginger paste, and cardamom and Ethiopian green coffee beans.

We learned to prepare two dishes—misir watt (a red lentil stew) and atiklett watt (a cabbage, potato, and carrot stew). The misir watt began with onions, ginger-garlic paste, and berbere cooked in plenty of vegetable oil...

...while the atiklett watt began with onions, potatoes, carrots, and turmeric.

Dry red lentils were stirred into the misir watt base...

...while chopped cabbage was added to the atiklett watt.

As the watts cooked (and filled the kitchen with the most amazing spicy/garlicky aroma), we learned how injera is made. Injera is the pancake-like bread with which all Ethiopian food is eaten. It’s spongy and tangy-tasting, made primarily of teff flour (though Blue Nile uses a blend of teff and four other flours) and water, and the batter must sit out and ferment on the counter for three full days.

It’s cooked on a flat, non-stick surface by pouring the batter in a circular shape, starting on the outside and looping inward.

It's then covered and allowed to steam briefly. Each huge injera only takes about 30 seconds to cook.

We were given the chance to try it for ourselves. There I am, makin' injera like a pro. The consistency reminded me of crêpe batter. I did rather well, if I do say so myself.

In mere minutes, we'd made a giant stack of injera.

By then, the lentils were cooked through and the misir watt was perfectly thickened...

...and the potatoes in the atiklett watt were tender.

Some finishing spices (like cardamom and mekelesha) were added to both dishes, and they were complete. So we feasted! And ohhh man, it was DELICIOUS.

But where are the actual recipes? you may ask. Well, you’ll just have to check back here soon—I made the misir watt at home recently, and will be posting about it shortly. In the meantime, you can check out Hillary’s atiklett watt entry.
THANK YOU AGAIN to Blue Nile Café for putting on such a great class!

If you like this, you might also like...
Falafel night + V-Day dinner
Vegan Italian Valentine feast
A vegan taste of India

Chickpea-chili veggie burgers

2010-05-07T14:09:00.005-05:00

Can you believe I’ve never had a veggie burger on this blog? Then again, I’m not much of a burger person to begin with, so maybe it’s not that surprising. All I had to see, though, was the word "chickpea," and I knew this Urban Vegan recipe was for me. If you have any special kind of chili powder on hand, like ancho or chipotle, now’s the time to use it. If for some reason you don’t have chili powder at all, I’m betting this would also be good with paprika in its place. Maybe even garam masala, for an Indian chana-burger?! Ooh, I’ll have to give that a shot sometime...

15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped roasted red pepper
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
2 slices stale whole grain bread, crumbled
Up to 4 Tbsp vegetable broth or water
Up to 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
6 whole grain buns, split and toasted
Burger toppings, as desired

Place the chickpeas, red pepper, onion, garlic, chili powder, salt, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. (I also threw in a teaspoon of my homemade vegan bouillon just to give it an extra herby kick, but it’s not required.) By the way, if you don’t have roasted red peppers on hand, or if you don’t want to open a jar for just 2 Tbsp, feel free to use raw red pepper.

Process, adding enough veggie broth or water to get the mixture smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the crumbled bread. (If you don’t have stale bread, just toast two fresh slices before crumbling.)

Process until fairly smooth, adding more broth or water if needed. Dough should be sticky but malleable. Transfer to a large bowl and add enough oats so that you can pick up the dough in your hands without it sticking (I actually ended up using just over 3/4 cup). Refrigerate the mixture for one hour.

Remove the dough from the fridge and form into six (big!) patties. Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add three patties and cook, turning once, until each side is golden (probably 5-6 minutes total). Transfer cooked burgers to a plate, heat the other 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, and cook the three remaining patties.

Serve on toasted buns (or lettuce leaves) with any accoutrements you wish. Fries would be the natural choice for a side dish, but I made a warm corn-and-pea salad and savory pesto muffins as accompaniments. I ate my burger with black olive tapenade, making it feel kind of Italianesque (some Tuscan white bean dip would do the same trick). Topped with salsa or guacamole, this could become una hamburguesa mexicana. If you try my garam masala suggestion, I’d have it with Indian spice hummus. Or you can go the classic ketchup and mustard route; it’s up to you!

Yield: 6 patties. Per patty (without bun): 192 calories, 6.7g fat (1g sat), 28.6g carbs, 5g fiber, 5.6g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Tidy joes (vegan sloppy joes)
Roasted potato wraps w/black bean hummus
Curried tempeh-mango salad

Crunchy salted cashew cookies

2010-05-04T13:00:00.008-05:00

I found this recipe via Baking Bites and it immediately ascended to the top of my to-bake list. Cashews occupy the #2 spot on my list of favorite nuts (#3 being pecans, and #1 being, well, inappropriate), and a recent trip to Costco had netted me several pounds of them. These cookies were easy to veganize, and turned out so good on their own that I didn’t even bother sandwiching them with dulce de leche (though you should feel free to do so!). This may look like a lot of steps, but it’s really not; I’m just a nut butter fiend and went overboard taking pictures.

2 1/2 cups roasted, salted cashews
2 Tbsp peanut oil (or canola oil)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
3 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp coarse sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Place the cashews in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Remove 1/2 cup chopped cashews and set aside. Add the peanut (or canola) oil to the remaining cashews and process for one minute, until smooth. Mmm, homemade cashew butter!

Add the Earth Balance, sugar, and brown sugar...

...and process until smooth and creamy.

Add the flaxseed, water, and vanilla...

...and pulse until thoroughly combined. Add the flours in two parts, and pulse until just barely combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the reserved chopped cashews.

Grease your hands with cooking spray and mix in the cashews by hand. Roll dough into about 36 balls (minus, as usual, the amount you snack on raw), placing 12 at a time on the baking sheet. Use a greased fork to press the cookies flat (like you would with peanut butter cookies; you can do a single fork mark or make a cross-hatch).

Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired, and bake for 7-9 minutes (err on the side of underbaking). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (but they’re great warm, too!).

I never even got a closeup of one of the finished cookies, but in the picture below, the ones on the top pan just came out of the oven. After the cookies cool, their oily softness turns crispy and crunchy. Very reminiscent of PB cookies in flavor, the use of cashews adds a dimension of especial (monounsaturated) fattiness. I love how salty these are, too; the salt plays perfectly off the nuttiness and brown-sugared-sweetness. This made a pretty big batch, so a few days later, I actually ground up the last several cookies with just a little more oil, pressed the mixture into a greased pie plate, and froze it. Later, I used it as a cashew-licious crust for a vanilla pudding pie. Yum!

Yield: 3 dozen cookies. Per cookie: 126 calories, 7.7g fat (1.5g sat), 12.9g carbs, 1g fiber, 2.1g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Nutella-stuffed peanut butter cookies
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Almost vegan in Chicago 2.2

2010-04-30T12:39:00.004-05:00

(See also: Part one)

Since I ate three noteworthy meals in Chicago, and already chronicled two of them in part one, this post will be shorter. That said, I have to include a gratuitous shot of the biggest package of Reese’s peanut butter cups I have ever seen, at the Hershey store off Michigan Avenue. Half a pound (that’s nearly a quarter of a kilo, for you international folk) apiece!

For dinner on Saturday, we knew we were going to eat at one of Rick Bayless’s restaurants. Topolobampo is just too pricey, but Frontera Grill and XOCO were options. When I was in Chicago for Lollapalooza in 2008, I got to eat at Frontera Grill, and it pains me to this day that I did not take pictures of my food. The 3-hour wait at Frontera Grill made us opt for XOCO, his newest outpost, billed as a quick-service (to be fair, I suppose 45 minutes is "quick" when compared to 3 hours) café serving Mexican street food and snacks.

The format felt a little alien to me, but had the line not been the better part of an hour long, I think it would have made more sense. When we finally got to the counter, we ordered, were given a number, and were led to two seats at a countertop in the dining area. Our chips and salsa were brought out first—their chips are thick and salty, the corniest of corn chips, the way I like them. The salsas are a roasted tomatillo (the green) and a three-chile (the red; my favorite).

Take a deep breath before you read this description and drool at the photo. Picture this: fresh, crusty bread is split in half, spread thickly with refried black beans, and baked to perfection in a wood-burning oven. Pickled onions and chunky guacamole are piled atop one half and sandwiched with the other. A rich tomato broth and a spicy árbol chile sauce are swirled together in a shallow bowl, and the torta is served partially submerged, cut side down, in that piquant elixir. A kiss of chopped cilantro completes this ethereal sandwich-of-the-gods.

Put more simply: I got the ahodaga torta off the menu, hold the pork, add guac and extra beans. But no words can accurately describe the volcanic explosion of flavor that occurred in my mouth from the first taste. The crunch as my teeth broke through the bread, the slurp of the absorbed-and-released chile-tomato broth surging across my palate, the smoosh of the avocado marrying the smooth bean purée, the snap of the cores of softened onion ribbons betwixt my bite, the roar of chile-derived fire searing my tongue, the aahhh of angels singing over my shoulder, the gasp of my taste buds as they had a 15-minute orgasm and collapsed in blissful afterglow.

This is why Rick Bayless is my favorite chef. I know of no one else who can, to this immaculate degree, take such a modest assortment of simple, fresh ingredients and, with just a judicious touch of herbs and fragrant spices, transform them into a dish brimming with astonishingly complex and perfect flavors. It’s alchemy, pure alchemy, precise and flawless.

::Catches breath:: Ok, ok, I must stop; it’s getting warm in here, as it did that night I ate this illustrious repast. So we concluded the experience with churros, cinnamon-sugar-rolled doughnut-like pastries, and a dish of vanilla bean soft-serve ice cream for dipping.

I don’t care how ridiculous I sound; that meal was downright life-changing.

After a stop back at the hostel, Matt and I went to Late Bar in the Avondale neighborhood to meet up with Chiko, another friend from the first leg of my Europe trip whom I hadn’t seen since. It was great to get to hang out with him again, and almost as great to get to drink my first-ever soy white Russian. For real! (There, in the middle.)

Yes, really, a vegan white Russian! I was positively giddy over it. Then, however, I spotted another drink on the menu I plainly had to have. I’m not a martini gal (or, for that matter, a creamy-alcoholic-beverage gal), but especially after the Mexican feast that was our dinner, I couldn’t possibly pass up a soy horchata martini. Real horchata (a milky, sugary, cinnamon-vanilla Latin American refresca) is made of rice milk, but in the U.S., it’s almost always dairy-based. I couldn’t believe my luck at finding a soy-based horchata concoction, shaken with vanilla vodka and sprinkled with ground cinnamon. It was even better than the white Russian.

Matt, Chiko, and I then made our way to Club Neo and danced our hearts out till nearly 5 in the morning. It was a spectacular end to a spectacular weekend getaway in Chi-town. I can’t wait to go back!

If you like this, you might also like...
Los Angeles, parts one, two, three, and four
Europe, of course
Denver 2009
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three
Chicago 2008 (my first-ever post!)

Almost vegan in Chicago 2.1

2010-04-27T11:35:00.004-05:00

Earlier this month, Matt and I took a weekend road trip to Chicago to see a concert. We left on Thursday after work, drove a little more than halfway, and stayed the night at a questionable Motel 6 in Iowa City. The next morning, we had breakfast down the street at Bruegger’s Bagels, a chain that actually JUST came to Kansas City but which I had not yet tried. I got a whole grain bagel (plain, toasted) and a Rainforest Nut coffee (brazil-nutty and delicious!). While waiting in line, I spied a kind of peanut butter I’ve never seen before, Sunland Dark Chocolate. It was all-natural, vegan, and just a couple bucks more than a side of PB off the menu, so we picked up a whole jar.

We drove the remaining few hours to Chicago and arrived at our hostel in Greektown shortly after 5pm. That’s right—I spent five weeks in Europe and didn’t so much as see a hostel, and then I go on a simple little road trip and wind up in one; go figure. (Really, though, with its downtown location, $39 per person, per night rate for a private room, and $5 parking nearby, we didn’t need much convincing.)

As in Los Angeles, Matt put me in charge of food. Even though Greektown was rife with thick aromas of gyros and spices, I couldn’t resist the chance to eat at Karyn’s on Green, a stylish all-vegan restaurant a mere 3-minute walk from the hostel.

Within seconds of being seated, we were offered fresh bread and whipped herb butter. What a treat it was to dig right in without having to ask or even wonder if the "butter" is vegan!

We ordered a Macabeo (Spanish white wine) and a Tempranillo (Spanish red wine) to share, but before we knew it, our food was already coming out. Matt ate the barbecued seitan meatloaf with escarole and roasted fingerling potatoes. I was quite hesitant to try it, given my abhorrence of BBQ sauce, but it’s a good thing I had a bite anyway, because it wasn’t at all what I expected. Rather than being smoky and cloyingly sweet, the sauce was mild and tomatoey, with a hint of cumin. Matt, a committed omnivore, loved this dish.

Although a great deal of the menu was enticing, I had to take the opportunity to try something I’m not likely to find at home—raw pasta. The spiralized zucchini noodles were tossed with cherry tomatoes, teensy enoki mushrooms, and a cashew basil pesto which was thick and salty enough to disguise the slippery sweetness of the “noodles.” Though not my favorite meal of the trip, it was surprisingly satisfying, and I’m very happy I tried it.

Of course we had to have dessert. I couldn’t resist the strangely-yummy-sounding chocolate terrine—compressed pear, salted cashew mousse, raspberry sorbet, and cocoa nibs. The pear was a bit odd, but the chocolatey sauce and the rich raspberry sorbet made a fantastic pair.

Matt and I walked to the House of Blues that evening for the H.I.M. show we’d come to see, taking the subway back to the hostel afterward.

The next day, we headed down to Belmont Avenue for some killer shopping (The Alley was especially awesome). Once we’d worked up an appetite, we walked the short distance to the renowned Chicago Diner. Even though it seemed busy inside, we were seated right away.

Despite my lack of predilection for comfort food, I was so excited to eat here! I mean, come on, it’s famous. Plus, their menu has a great selection of ethnic-food-inspired options, which is more up my alley. Naturally, though, I had to start with a coffee with soymilk. Matt uncharacteristically opted for a beer, but I’m glad he did. See, I’m a beer hater, but upon cautiously taking a sip of his Peak Organic espresso amber (teehee) ale, I found myself taken aback—I didn’t loathe it! How can this be?! I took an other drink to make sure, and yes, it was true! The beer was mildly flavored and only lightly carbonated, with a truly pleasant suggestion of espresso in the background, and no nasty beer aftertaste. Yay! At long last, I may have found a beer I actually enjoy! Of course, for all I know it’s not even available in Kansas City. Oh well; victory nonetheless!

I fully expected Matt, as a comfort-food-eater, to like the Chicago Diner as much as, if not more than, I did. He was indeed a fan of his lunch, the Diner Burger, a "100% Angus-friendly seitan patty with special sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheeze on a toasted harvest roll," with a side of mashed potatoes.

I chose the Shawarma sandwich ("Shawarma sweater, it’s cold out" – inside joke, sorry), which had sliced gyro-style seasoned seitan (!), fried cauliflower tossed in tahini (!!), and hummus on toasted whole grain ciabatta. Oh.my.god. Fake gyro meat?! I died and went to heaven (then ate my side of sweet potato fries dipped in the spicy harissa sauce).

I loved this so much, there are just no words. I couldn’t even finish it all (but was more than happy to eat the leftovers cold on the drive home the next day), and thus had to make the probably-wise choice to forgo the vegan cheesecake for dessert. Next time! I must come back someday (and in the meantime buy the cookbook). Me + Chicago Diner = happy camper.

Coming up later this week: part two!

If you like this, you might also like...
Los Angeles, parts one, two, three, and four
Europe, of course
Denver 2009
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three
Chicago 2008 (my first-ever post!)

Quick blueberry compote

2010-04-23T11:57:00.003-05:00

After the novel that was Tuesday’s post, I’ll keep this short and (literally) sweet. Years ago, I saw a recipe in Health Magazine for a blueberry pancake sauce, and this compote is loosely derived from that. I never actually saved it or wrote it down, so ever since I first tried it, I’ve winged it, and permutations along the way have been inevitable. I don’t know if it even resembles the original anymore, but I DO know that it’s fast, easy, and so tasty that I used to eat the leftovers out of my fridge with a spoon between classes in college.

1 lb. frozen blueberries
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 Tbsp [raw] sugar
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp warm water
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Orange zest (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, orange juice, sugar, and salt.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries begin to burst, about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the warm water and cornstarch. Add to the saucepan and bring the mixture back to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 more minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and orange zest, if using. Serve warm.

I made this blueberry compote along with French toast for brunch one weekend morning, modeling it after the Floridian French toast platter Matt ate at First Watch (which I showed you in the last entry). Blended lite silken tofu, soymilk, vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon comprised the batter in which I soaked whole grain bread slices, then pan-fried them until golden. I topped them with sliced bananas and fresh raspberries, dolloped pools of blueberry sauce around the edge, and dusted the whole thing with powdered sugar. Matt devoured his just like that, while I added a drizzle of maple syrup to mine. This is just one way to use this versatile sauce—try it with pancakes, waffles, crêpes, or oatmeal at breakfast; with grilled tofu or fake chicken at dinner; over ice cream, shortcakes, or cheesecake for dessert; or simply eat it with a spoon.

Yield: 4 large servings. Per serving (about 1/2 cup): 106 calories, .8g fat (2g sat), 26.1g carbs, 4g fiber, .6g protein.

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Overnight steel-cut oatmeal
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Long-winded March leftovers

2010-04-20T11:13:00.003-05:00

It seems like I just did a leftovers post, but no matter. I’m a little behind on posting, clearly (as well as reading others’ blogs, sorry everyone! I will catch up). Time is just flying—soon it’ll be time for April leftovers already, not to mention the maple cinnamon pecan milk entry I promised Hannah, plus I have to tell you about my trip to Chicago a couple weeks ago, and the vegetarian Ethiopian cooking class I took last night! Needless to say, there is much to come in the next few weeks.

First up is a pizza that Matt helped me make on a Sunday evening. I bought a refrigerated ball of fresh-made multigrain pizza dough at Whole Foods, split it in two, froze one half, and used the other for this thin-crust pie. I made the pizza sauce recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch—I’ve cooked a lot from that book lately! It turned out so fantastic that I ate several spoonfuls straight out of my Vitamix. (Perhaps I’ll do a post on that sometime down the road.) Anyway, we topped the pizza with all the leftover veggies in my fridge – including onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, and probably more I can’t remember – along with a packet of Boca crumbles and a couple ounces of finely shredded jalapeño jack-style almond cheeze. I was never a cheese person, so I’m not much of a fake cheese person either, but I gave this stuff a whirl and I actually really enjoyed it. SO, long story short: we made a pizza. It was awesome.

Matt came over hungry one night and I, like the thoughtful and accommodating person I am (::cough::), threw together a nice little meal for him of a veggie burger on an Ezekiel bun and a warm barley-vegetable salad tossed in a garlicky vinaigrette and garnished with minced fresh spinach. We also had a bottle of Spanish cava (sparkling wine) on hand, so we popped that open and drank it out of my hand-blown Murano wineglasses I picked up in Venice. Am I fancy, or what?

I made mini versions of Love and Olive Oil’s double shot mocha cupcakes (crowned with chocolate-covered espresso beans), and Matt went so nuts for them that I made (and we ate) two more batches by the end of that weekend.

Somehow I ended up on a fried rice kick, and I cooked or ordered it half a dozen times in the span of a week. This one’s from Bangkok Pavilion, a nearby Thai restaurant my friends and I like.

Here’s another seemingly-effortless dinner at home that makes me look like quite the domestic goddess. (My modesty is just alarming, isn’t it?) I bought a fat loaf of ciabatta bread at Whole Foods, tore out and snacked on the insides, and oven-toasted the "shell." I then topped it with slices of rice mozzarella, leftover homemade marinara sauce (recipe/post coming soon), leftover homemade TVP meatballs (recipe/post also coming soon; gah, more promises to be fulfilled!), more marinara sauce, and a quick-sautéed mixture of mushrooms, onions, and garlic. I put the open-faces sandwiches under the broiler for a few minutes, and voilà—vegan meatball subs! They were perfect with a Spanish Jumilla red wine. Yeah, I gotta say...I’m good.

Matt and I tried a new restaurant, Ra Sushi in Leawood. It’s not a traditional Japanese dining establishment by any stretch—it’s full of Americanized glitz, glamour, and pretension. Nonetheless, it was incredibly good. To start, we shared the “spicy rice crispy treats,” which are soy paper hand rolls filled with crispy rice balls, spicy tuna mix, cucumber, avocado, lettuce, and sautéed nuts, served with a soy chili sauce. Impressive! Tasty, too.

The sushi roll I chose, the Yellow Monkey, was equally unique and delicious—mango, roasted red pepper, marinated artichokes, and cream cheese, rolled in rice and seaweed, topped with mango and cashews, and drizzled with a kiwi-wasabi sauce. Wow! I’m not usually a fan of cream cheese in sushi (or much of anywhere else), but I’m glad I rolled with it (har har) for this one. So good!

We walked across the street to complete our meal with gelato at Paciguo. After my gelato binges in Europe set the bar so high, I’ve been pleased find that the gelato here at home is excellent too. In mine (on the left), I got tiramisu, crème caramel, stracciatella (chocolate chip), and wedding cake (a new favorite of mine, and one that I [not surprisingly] never saw abroad). You’d have to ask Matt what all was in his, becausing I was too busy “mmm”ing over mine.

Genghis Khan! Mongolian barbecue, a local legend, and my favorite restaurant in the world. I made my usual mix of broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, edamame, corn, tofu, peanuts, egg noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic water, white pepper, and a storm of curry powder. I don’t know how I find room for the sesame bread and fresh fruit.

Matt and I went out for breakfast/brunch at First Watch. I ate the fresh fruit crêpes stuffed with strawberries and banana and topped with organic strawberry yogurt, with a small cup of granola, a toasted English muffin, and a side of my beloved breakfast potatoes.

Matt had the Floridian French toast, made with sourdough bread, wheat germ, and powdered cinnamon sugar, topped with strawberries, banana, and kiwi, and served with blueberry syrup. (Just ignore those sausage links.)

I’ll end this post as I began it, with pizza. This is at Pizza Fusion, and it’s got tomato sauce, red and yellow peppers, artichokes hearts, roasted garlic cloves, and vegan cheese on a whole grain crust. Delizioso!

If you like this, you might also like...
Belated February leftovers
December-January leftovers
Random 2009 leftover madness

Kidney bean–brown rice chili

2010-04-16T13:01:00.003-05:00

I will admit that most of the time, when a recipe calls for dry beans, I substitute canned. (So far on this blog there has only been one exception.) Despite the fact that 99% of the prep is hands-off, cooking beans from scratch still requires me to remember to soak them the night before. Even the quick-soak method means I need to start the recipe over an hour ahead of time. My point is, I understand if you choose to use canned beans in this recipe (which is, like the skinny bitchtastic brownies, from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch), BUT I do highly recommend going the dry bean route. The firm bite and chewy texture of freshly cooked beans is just so different, and so much better, than canned. That said, I’d estimate you could replace the dry beans with three 15-oz. cans of rinsed and drained kidney beans if you’d prefer.

2 cups dry red kidney beans
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or canola oil)
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried sage
Pinch cayenne pepper
15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup medium-grain brown rice
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
4-6 corn tortillas, cut into strips (optional)

In a large stockpot, combine beans and enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and let sit for 8 hours or overnight. (Alternatively, bring to a boil over high heat, cover, remove from heat, and let sit for 1 hour.)

Drain the beans, return them to the stockpot, and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, sage, and cayenne and sauté for 1 more minute.

(Sorry for the blurry pic!) Add the onion mixture to the beans...

...along with the tomatoes and rice.

Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper and cook for 15 more minutes. Add the carrot and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the beans and rice are tender.

Serve with homemade tortilla strips, if you wish: while the chili is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray, and arrange the cut-up tortillas in a single layer. Mist the top with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 3-5 minutes, or until just beginning to brown. Set aside to cool until the chili’s done.

I LOVED this chili; in fact, I think it gave my three-bean chili a run for its money! I’m convinced that using dry beans made all the difference, since the chewy texture they lend (along with the rice) is the highlight of the dish. It’s quite mildly spiced, but feel free to add a minced jalapeño or more cayenne to kick up the heat if you wish. The crispy baked tortilla strips added a fun crunch and pulled the whole thing together nicely. If I’d had any cilantro, I would have stirred some in at the end. This would also be great served with guacamole or vegan sour cream. It’s low-fat, super-filling, and even better leftover!

Yield: 6-8 servings. Per serving (6): 338 calories, 4.2g fat (2g sat), 61g carbs, 20g fiber, 17.6g protein.
Per serving (8): 253 calories, 3.1g fat (1.5g sat), 45.8g carbs, 15g fiber, 13.2g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Chickpea lentil slow-cooker stew
Dal makhani: a refresher
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No-bake almond butter balls

2010-04-13T12:38:00.003-05:00

Sometimes you can take a bunch of tasty-on-their-own ingredients, combine them in a way that should be good, and end up with something awful. This is NOT one of those recipes. It is the exact opposite—a bevy of sweet ‘n salty items that, when smooshed together, become more than the sum of their parts.

Before you say anything—I know, I know, honey’s not technically vegan. Use agave nectar if you must, though I think it could affect the texture. If you really don’t care at all whether it’s vegan, feel free to use nonfat dry milk powder in place of the (more expensive and harder to find) soymilk powder. For that matter, use natural peanut butter instead of almond butter, or unsweetened cocoa powder in place of the carob. Agave or honey, soymilk or skim milk, almond or peanut, carob or cocoa, vegan or not, there’s no need to take food too seriously. Just play around and have fun!

1 cup dry soymilk powder
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
Dash of vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp carob powder

Combine the soymilk powder, almond butter, honey, flaxseed, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Grease your hands thoroughly with cooking spray and dig in, squishing everything together until well mixed.

Roll the mixture into about 16 balls (minus however much you munch on right out of the bowl) and place on a small baking sheet. Transfer to the fridge to chill for just a few minutes.

Place the carob powder in a medium bowl. Put the chilled almond butter balls, a few at a time, into the carob powder, and shake the bowl to roll them around until completely coated. Place them back on the baking sheet and chill for an additional few minutes.

These will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week or two, but good luck keeping them around that long. It’s far too easy to pop one, two, five of them at a time, right at the fridge door! At breakfast, for dessert, or in between meals, you’ll find these calling your name at all hours. Surprisingly well-rounded nutritionally, they also make the perfect pre- or post-workout snack. No-bake, no-guilt, and delicious!

Oh, and Hannah, the fact that I could have called these "chocolate-covered nut balls" did not escape me, trust me! ;P

Yield: 16 servings. Per serving: 125 calories, 5.6g fat (trace sat), 16.2g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Homemade almond milk
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Tidy joes (vegan sloppy joes)

2010-04-08T15:01:00.003-05:00

I’m really not a fan of American food; in fact, I list it in the sidebar at right as one of my hates. This makes Urban Vegan’s sloppy joes recipe very special indeed—it appealed to even me! Once I removed the offensive barbeque sauce, at least. (I live in the BBQ capital of the country, and yet I can think of no smell, save sauerkraut, that repels me more.) The one thing that gave me pause about these sloppy joes was that mine turned out to be not at all sloppy, so I have renamed these tidy joes—they won’t make a mess of your plate or your health!

2 Tbsp canola oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
1 scant Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
4 whole grain hamburger buns

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent...

...then add the garlic and red pepper and sauté for an additional minute.

Add the tomato sauce, TVP, chili powder, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar and turn the heat to low. Stir well, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the TVP and red pepper are soft. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

A toasted whole grain bun was the perfect vehicle for this, but it would be great over brown rice too. I actually just ate the leftovers with a spoon, and loved it. These tidy joes have just the right amount of tang from the tomato sauce and vinegar, tempered nicely by the sweetness of the onion and pepper and the dab of brown sugar. A couple generous dashes of Tabasco rounds out all the flavors, making these truly above-average joes.

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving (without bun): 260 calories, 7.4g fat (.5g sat), 28.7g carbs, 9g fiber, 20.9g protein.

More Urban Vegan recipes...
Black olive tapenade
Whole grain rosemary-olive bread
Cauliflower-chickpea tagine

Falafel night + V-Day dinner

2010-04-05T11:37:00.003-05:00

I have two delightful meals to recap for you. Back on February 5th, local Middle Eastern foods company Yummy’s Choice threw a free falafel night! I’ve mentioned Yummy’s Choice once before, a long time ago, when I met Chef Kamal giving samples at Whole Foods. Since then, their product line has grown expansively and their distribution has widened from Kansas City to Denver, St. Louis, Santa Fe, and Albequerque. Falafel night was a treat to those of us that follow Yummy’s on Facebook. It was snowy, slushy, and ominous outside that night, but I dragged Matt along with me to the Yummy’s headquarters on 39th.

The place was packed beyond belief, which made their setup and organization all the more impressive. As soon as we walked in, we were presented with a tray of four meal options (clockwise from top): a falafel wrap, falafel salad, falafel burger, or falafel sandwich. Matt and I both chose the burger.

We were given little tickets and told to hand them to the cooks behind the counter across the room. Chef Kamal himself was back there prepping meals and talking animatedly with patrons. After handing off our orders, we were directed to a huge appetizer bar. This sprawling buffet contained hummus platters the size of hubcaps, pita bread, marinated olives, tabbouleh, chickpea salad, and grilled vegetables. Can you say heaven?

We’d barely gathered some appetizers and served ourselves cups of saffron-infused passionfruit iced tea (yowza) when our orders were ready.

There were not nearly enough tables to handle everyone, so Matt and I nabbed a spot by a windowsill and ate standing up. But there was so much food—after some hummus and pita, olives, tabbouleh, and chickpea salad, I could only manage to eat a couple bites of my falafel burger. Luckily, to-go boxes were provided. Just look at all I took home! I got another two meals out of this box.

I can’t believe that whole thing was free! What an awesome event for Yummy’s Choice to put on.

Switching gears, here’s a look back at Valentine’s Day. I already showed you the Italian feast I made for Matt the Thursday before, but lest you think he did not reciprocate, check out where we went on Saturday night—Aixois, a classy little French bistro in Brookside. What a surprise! I’d never eaten authentic French food in Kansas City, and somehow hadn’t even heard of this place. Matt was hoping it would evoke memories for me of my time in France, and it did.

We noshed on sliced baguette and shared a bottle of red wine from Bordeaux, and though it wasn’t as good as what I drank when I was there, I simply love that region’s wines.

SEAFOOD ALERT, again! This is very unusual for me. But a handsome man was wining and dining me at a fancy French restaurant, so rather than pester them to make me a mediocre vegetable ratatouille, I sprang for the grilled sea scallops in tomato-basil sauce, with pommes frites alongside. The portion size was very French, and I must say, the scallops were melt-in-my-mouth delicious.

The dessert menu at Aixois made me sigh with happy nostalgia. It looked just like the one at Au Bistrot de la Montagne in Paris! Thanks to the mocha devastation cake we’d been plowing through all week, Matt was uncharacteristically uninterested in the chocolate desserts, so we chose the crêpe aux fruits rouges, a perfect little crêpe enfolding fresh strawberries and gently whipped cream, drizzled with a sweet-tart berry coulis.

It was a dreamy ending to a delectable and romantic meal. It had been years since I’d had a proper Valentine’s Day, and thanks to my sweet and thoughtful boyfriend, this one went above and beyond my expectations.

If you like this, you might also like...
Vegan Italian Valentine feast
December-January leftovers
Random 2009 leftover madness

Belated February leftovers

2010-04-01T09:53:00.002-05:00

February was full of great food. One Sunday for lunch, Matt and I ate at Vietnam Café. We shared vegetarian spring rolls to start; the dipping sauce was so good I ate some with a spoon.

I hadn’t eaten there in a couple years, so I was delighted to discover that they now have seitan (or just, as they call it, gluten) as a protein option! After enjoying seitan so much at Shojin in Los Angeles in January, I couldn’t resist the piquant yellow gluten curry.

I made Love and Olive Oil’s chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, and oh wow, they were just as amazing as Lindsay promised. These were gobbled up so quickly, I had to make a second batch just a day or two later.

At Panera on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I ate a simple black bean soup with a chunk of whole grain baguette.

One weeknight for dinner, I steamed a huge head of broccoli and ate it drizzled with my favorite spicy peanut sauce from Saigon 39, another Vietnamese restaurant in Midtown.

I don’t often post my breakfasts, so here’s one for you—plain yogurt, Fiber One, chopped raw almonds, and fresh blackberries.

(WARNING: seafood ahead) Matt and I ate a spur-of-the-moment dinner at Figlio, a very nice restaurant on the Plaza. I ordered spaghetti fra diavolo, which had a couple large shrimp and one really massive scallop.

I made this quick weekend lunch by softening a bit of chopped yellow onion in a dab of coconut oil, then adding garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and finally stirring in some home-grown lentil sprouts until just heated through. A sprinkle of minced cilantro completed the dish.

My friends and I ate a big group dinner at Thai Place in Westport before going out. They have my favorite pad thai ever.

Last but not least, Rachel and I had a Wednesday wine night at my place. I made a batch of homemade hummus and sliced up some pita bread to serve it with, and Rachel brought a bottle each of pinot grigio and merlot. I love wine nights!

If you like this, you might also like...
December-January leftovers
Random 2009 leftover madness
August leftovers

Skinny bitchtastic brownies

2010-03-29T09:11:00.002-05:00

There I go again, being crude and vulgar. First nut milk, now this? Well, such language is one reason the book Skinny Bitch is so polarizing. Once you brush aside all the animal rights brouhaha, the message is blunt but true—people need to stop eating like fat pigs! I can understand how more sensitive souls could see it as one big, harsh, body-image-trashing slur, but if you can take it lightheartedly, it’s really a great read, full of important points and good ideas. I tend to be a little deficient in the sensitivity department with things like this, so I found the book fun and entertaining, and I can see it being a swift kick in the ass for those who need that.

I’ve been cooking a lot lately from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, the companion book to Skinny Bitch, and these brownies are a great example of the straightforward, tasty, no-frills recipes contained there. I made them even more virtuous by replacing some of the oil with prune purée, but you can just use 6 Tbsp oil if you’d rather.

5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups Sucanat, or other natural sweetener
3/4 cup firm silken tofu (about 3/4 of a Mori-Nu pack)
1/4 cup safflower or canola oil
2 Tbsp puréed prune baby food
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan. In a food processor, combine the melted chocolate, Sucanat, tofu, oil, prune purée, and vanilla.

Process until smooth. You could just stop here and eat this like a pudding, and it would be heavenly. Just look how silky it is!

But you probably want to make the brownies, so go ahead and add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

Pulse together until just combined.

Transfer to the pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

You don’t have to be a skinny bitch to love these brownies (clearly, I am proof of that). What you do have to be is a lover of all things deeply fudgy and darkly chocolatey. I highly recommend having some soy or almond milk nearby to chug between bites—these brownies are the very definition of rich. And they’re made entirely in a food processor—it doesn’t get any easier!

Yield: 16 servings. Per serving: 153 calories, 8.5g fat (3g sat), 20.5g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Deep chocolate brownies
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Almost vegan in Los Angeles IV

2010-03-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

(See also: Parts one, two, and three)

It’s the final installment of my LA trip! On Sunday morning, the rain we’d feared all weekend finally showed up. Though it only drizzled throughout the day, it was funny to see all the Los Angelinos panic and break out their umbrellas.

A craving for another Jamba Juice smoothie led us to Larchmont Avenue, where we ended up not even going to JJ because we spotted Crumbs Bakery first.

Cupcakes at 10am? Why not?!

Matt ate a chocolate cappuccino cupcake for breakfast. (I don't know what's cuter here, the cupcake or the boy.)

We also bought a mini-cupcake sampler pack of some of their bestsellers.

They were very impressive to look at, and every single one tasted divine. (They were gone by the next morning.)

Across the street, we discovered a small but bustling little farmers market.

After a lap around, I bought a pack of whole wheat pita bread and a container of artichoke hummus for lunch.

Matt indulged me with a trip to Trader Joe’s after that. I’d never been to one, and my degree of excitement was probably a little silly, but what can I say. I had to buy some Spanish olive oil, coconut milk, cocoa powder, and a reusable shopping bag while I was there.

We spent the next several hours walking up and down Melrose, shopping and browsing and coveting. So many of the stores, like Shrine and S&G, were right up our alley. And don't even talk to us about the shoe stores!

After returning to the hotel and getting cleaned up, we headed out to Santa Monica to attend an entertaining little steampunk "show." On our way back out of town, Matt honored another foodie request of mine with a quick stop at Planet Raw.

The menu there fascinates me – they have so many items I’m curious about and would love to try someday – but understandably, it was not a place Matt wanted to actually have a meal, especially after he was nearly sickened by the smell inside. It was not pleasant. I have no idea what it was, but they should really work on that, as it makes eating there far less appetizing. Anyway, Matt held his nose as they made the smoothie I ordered, and we took it to go.

Luckily, the smoothie itself (a Mocha Mylk Shake) was wonderful. It contained nut milk of some kind, cacao, maca, and coffee, and was topped with nut kream and a sprinkle of goji berry granola. It tasted much like a fast food chocolate shake, in a good way. Even Matt liked it.

We met Bobby and Mary and co. at Malediction Society, yet another darkwave/industrial dance night. This one was at Club Monte Cristo on Wilshire Blvd, and it was probably my favorite of the trip. We got back to the hotel late, got up early the next morning, and flew home to KC. Overall, we both had a fantastic time in Los Angeles. I definitely can't wait to go back sometime.

I'll leave you with a bit of randomness—we drove by this place several times, and though we certainly didn’t eat there, we were endlessly amused by the "Crispy Chickenjoy" and "Juicy Yumburger" signs. Enjoy.

If you like this, you might also like...
Europe, duh
Denver
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three

Almost vegan in Los Angeles III

2010-03-22T14:12:00.005-05:00

(See also: Parts one and two)

Matt and I actually got up at a decent hour on Saturday; we had a lunch date with my friend Steve! Integrated into my 35-day tour of Europe were several smaller tours, so we had people hopping on and off at various times. Steve joined the tour in Spain and was with us for Barce lona, Nice, Florence, and Rome. Though originally from Philadelphia, Steve has lived in LA for quite some time, so he graciously offered to be our tour guide for the day, beginning with lunch. This was not just any lunch—we dined at a well-known, ritzy, paparazzi-plagued restaurant in the heart of Beverly Hills called the Ivy.

According to Steve, this is the place to see and be seen in Los Angeles. A quick Google search yields innumerable pictures of celebrity sightings at the Ivy, and the cars sitting out front (a Rolls Royce and an Aston Martin among them) belied its status as a hotspot of the local bourgeoisie. And we got to eat there! How cool is that?! It's a good thing Steve thought ahead and made reservations, because the line outside was quite long.

Surrounded by a white picket fence and filled with flowers, antiques, and other rustic, folksy touches, the Ivy is homey and country-cottage-like to an almost ironic degree. The menu is described as American with a Louisiana/Cajun flair, and though the prices somewhat shocked and appalled our Midwestern eyes, Steve too-kindly insisted it was his treat. To start, I sipped on a mixed berry frappé jazzed up with a splash of lime juice.

Steve ate light—a house salad with garlic toast.

Matt had the blackened cod with mushroom gravy and broccoli.

Yep, that’s fish. Go ahead, be outraged. But I know there are plenty of semi-vegetarians out there who are ok with fish on occasion. Even I, the Almost Vegan, am known to eat fish a couple times a year, either in the absence of other options or, once in a great, great while, because I have the opportunity to taste seafood at its absolute finest. The catfish I ate in Vienna is one example of that, and here I give you another—the Ivy’s swordfish tacos with guacamole, pico de gallo, fresh tortillas, pinto beans, and Mexican rice. And I am not the least bit sorry I got this, because WOWOWOW! I was blown away! The lime-cumin marinade/sauce that coated the generous chunks of swordfish was indescribable. There’s certainly no reason to eat swordfish when you live in the dead center of the country, but I was in California, damnit! I could not stop talking about this dish for days. Absolutely amazing!

For dessert, the three of us split the light and lovely tiramisu, a satisfying end to a stellar meal.

As far as I’m concerned, we could have flown back to KC at that point, and I would have considered the trip a smashing success. But we still had the whole afternoon ahead of us, and Steve took us on a whirlwind tour of some of the nicest areas of the city. We walked up and down Rodeo Drive, browsing stores like Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry and marveling at the clean, pretty streets and storefronts.

I even saw Dr. Rey’s office (did anyone else watch Dr. 90210?!). We followed that up with a drive down Melrose, which is a shopper’s paradise. We only stopped at a few stores, but it was enough to make Matt and I resolve to return there the next day. Steve was a veritable encyclopedia of what’s what in Los Angeles, and along the way pointed out to us lots of restaurants, clubs, and sites that are, as he called them, "very scene." It was so great to get to hang out with Steve, and for him to take hours out of his Saturday afternoon show us around like that. When he returned us to our hotel as dusk fell, we could not thank him enough. We still can’t, in fact—THANK YOU, Steve! I hope we get to hang out again in the future!

It was dinnertime, and Matt let me pick a place from my long list of LA veg eateries I wished to try. We were a tad pressed for time, so I chose one nearby, the all-vegan Café Flourish.

According to their website, they just closed their doors! That’s sad, but it makes me even more glad that I got to eat there. We shared the M-Moo Cacao smoothie to start, a blend of raw cacao powder, black Mission figs, Medjool dates, fresh almond milk, vanilla bean, and espresso. We both really enjoyed it.

Both of us were enticed by their cornmeal-crusted pizzas. I chose the Mediterranean Gratitude, with arugula pesto, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, olive tapenade, and pine nut parmesan.

Matt ate the That’s Amore, with tomato sauce, herb-ground "sausage," caramelized onions, mushrooms, and Daiya cheese.

Somehow, we still had room left to indulge our now-omnipresent frozen yogurt craving. It had been recommended to us that we try Yogurtland.

I had a fresh-fruit-topped blackberry yogurt to balance out my candy-topped one from Friday night. It was very good, but I found that Yogurtland’s selection seemed sparse compared to that of Cherry On Top.

We ended up taking our time getting ready, and hung out with Bobby and Mary that night at a private club near the airport.

There’s still one more day left in LA...stay tuned!

If you like this, you might also like...
Europe, duh
Denver
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three

Almost vegan in Los Angeles II

2010-03-19T15:31:00.004-05:00

(See also: Part one)

I slept in on Friday morning while Matt went exploring and breakfasting. When I finally got up around 2pm, we had only enough time to go buy ibuprofen and do a second round of Lip Service bargain basement shopping, and then we already had to prepare for the evening ahead. We met Matt’s friends Bobby and Mary at the downtown loft of their friend Dahna, then hopped over to Little Tokyo and a restaurant called Shojin.

Situated quietly on the third floor of the mall, I would never have guessed this little Japanese fusion restaurant was such a veg paradise. The lengthy menu (all vegan and all organic) made it very hard to choose just one thing. I started with tofu-okara cakes, since I’d never tried okara. They left a little to be desired—I don’t know if they were underseasoned, or if okara is just not my thing, but I found them kind of bland, and unfortunately the vegan mayo-like dip didn’t help. Oh well.

Mary got a salad, and Dahna got some tofu-pumpkin croquettes that looked amazing.

Just imagine—an all-vegan sushi menu! It pains me to say I did not partake (but you’ll see why); however, Matt did...

...as did Mary and Dahna.

Bobby got a fried tofu appetizer...

...and a fantastic-looking "beef"-and-tofu noodle bowl.

I got my first-ever restaurant seitan dish—a noodle bowl with spicy sesame seitan. Aaahh, SO good! I want more!

Matt and I had already noticed during our drives around town that frozen yogurt is BIG in LA. On the bottom floor of the Little Tokyo mall, we found a just-opened place called Cherry On Top offering buy-one-get-one-free frozen yogurts. One entire wall was made up of self-serve yogurt machines, and the two huge islands in the middlle of the store held dozens upon dozens of topping options, from fresh fruit to candy to nuts to cereal. And at 39 cents per ounce, the price was very non-LA.

We spent that night at Das Bunker, another industrial dance night at a sprawling club (we’re talking three dance floors, three full bars, two lounges, and a patio) called The Catch One on Pico Blvd.

Two more days of LA fun are to yet come!

If you like this, you might also like...
Europe, duh
Denver
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three

Almost vegan in Los Angeles I

2010-03-17T15:48:00.005-05:00

I’m finally going to tell you all about the trip to Los Angeles I took in January! (I had to put to some space between it and my Europe posts, hence the delay.) This will be a multi-parter, since I have quite a few pictures. For the most part the weather was lovely—what a wonderful escape from the bitter midwestern winter!

Matt and I left KC early on a Thursday morning, and arrived in sunny California by 10am. My luggage, unfortunately, did not. How can Southwest, arguably the best airline there is, do that to the same person twice in three years?! (At least the situation wasn’t as dire as the first time it happened, in the spring of 2007—I went on a Caribbean cruise with my family, and out of 11 suitcases, the only one that made it to the ship was my mom’s and sister’s suitcase full of nothing but shoes. We had to spend the first three days at sea with nothing but the clothes on our backs and what little we had in our carryons. Gross!) Anyway, I tried to put the missing luggage out of my mind, and Matt and I grabbed lunch in Hollywood at a place we spotted called Gindi Thai.

The inside was clean, simple, and relaxed. We were right down the road from both Warner Bros. and ABC Studios, and we noticed at least a couple tables of people having lunchtime meetings, talking showbiz, reviewing scripts, etc.

I got an unsweetened passion fruit iced tea to drink, and Matt and I shared some miso soup to start.

I got the Vegan’s Fried Rice, which had broccoli, carrot, celery, red and green pepper, and fried tofu cubes. The sauce was sweet, spicy, and tangy all at once, and for some reason that rice was some of the chewiest, nuttiest, best rice I’ve ever had. I raved and raved about this dish; I wish I could have it again!

Matt and I spent the afternoon driving through the neighborhoods of the Hollywood Hills, trying to peek through the foliage at the pricey homes and stopping now and then for a photo op.

On the drive back to our hotel (the Hollywood Inn Express North, if you’re curious), we stopped for a snack. We don’t have Jamba Juice in KC, so we took advantage of its prevalence in LA by sharing a mixed berry soy smoothie. (Is it just me, or this smoothie glowing? "Jamba Juice OF THE GODS!" ::Cue angels singing::)

Not only had my luggage not shown up yet at 4pm, but Southwest was claiming they still didn’t even know where it was! I was freaking out a bit, but Matt helped calm me down, and we went shopping at the Lip Service bargain basement, which we’d planned to do anyway. That place is a grown-up-goth-kid’s dream come true. A really nice girl gave us a tour of their studio, where they design all the clothes and sew all the prototypes, and then we browsed their clearance racks like kids in a candy store. Matt very generously bought me some clubbing clothes. All in all, we walked away with $250-300 worth of awesome clothing for a mere $125.

After securing me an outfit for the evening, we set out in search of shoes, but another call to Southwest yielded the joyful info that my suitcase had been recovered! We were en route to The Grove mall, but we stopped in our tracks, swung by a Whole Foods for a quick takeout dinner, and returned to our hotel to change and get ready. We spent our first night in LA at The Ruby, a club on Hollywood Blvd, the Hollywood Blvd. Thursday is Perversion, a goth-industrial-electro-darkwave dance night. We watched people dance, Matt danced quite a bit, I even danced a little, and we both drank plenty. More than plenty, in fact...when we awoke the next morning to find pictures on my camera of us cavorting drunkenly down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, posing with the most inanely random stars, we almost fell over laughing (but didn’t, because then our heads would have hurt even more).

No sir, I can’t say I remember much of this at all. Oh, the hilarity. I daresay these pictures alone were worth the hangover.

More LA awesomeness to come!

If you like this, you might also like…
Europe, duh
Denver
Dallas 2008 and 2009
Mexican cruise, parts one, two, and three

Homemade almond milk

2010-03-12T12:28:00.011-06:00

Allow me to be crass for just a moment, please. I try to keep this blog family-friendly, but today, I just have to tell you that sometimes, a girl needs nuts. Yes, that’s right; there are just those times where nothing sounds more delicious than a shot of fresh, creamy nut milk. You could pay for someone else’s nut milk, but why would you do that when you can make your own at home? Sure, it takes a little manual labor, but it’s so worth it. All you need is a blender, a nut milk sack, er, bag, and some almonds, agave, and vanilla. Not only is it cheaper, but you get to experience the joy of squeezing the nut milk straight from the nut milk sack, freeing the sweet, velvety liquid from the rich nut meat left behind. When you’re done, you can remove the nut meat from the sack and save it for later uses as you enjoy your entire batch of fresh-squeezed nut milk in everything from cereal to baked goods. You can also whisk just a dab of nut milk into the nut meat and voilà! You’ve just made nut cream, a wonderful topping to drizzle on scones, pound cake, or fresh fruit. Ladies, there are so many ways to enjoy nuts and their tasty contents. As with this metaphor, you are only limited by your imagination!

1 cup raw almonds
3 Tbsp agave nectar (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the almonds in plenty of (filtered) water for 8 hours or overnight.

The next day, they’ll be swimming in a murky stew of enzyme inhibitors. Drain the almonds and rinse them well.

Place the almonds in a high-speed blender with 4 cups of cold (filtered) water. My Vitamix rocks! As you can see, some of the nut skin came off my almonds when I rinsed them, but it makes no difference.

Cover and blend into a frosty nut-blizzard! It’ll take a good minute or two to get smooth.

Pour the nut milk into a large bowl through a nut milk bag. I got mine here—it was cheap and shipping was free! If you don’t have a nut milk bag, you can use a fine sieve, just be prepared for it to take quite awhile to strain.

Squeeze and wring that nut milk bag – be gentle, but not too gentle – until all the milk is extracted, and you’re left with nothing but nut meat inside. (Alternatively, use a large spoon to help force the the nut milk through a fine sieve.) Transfer the nut meat to a small container to use in other treats—you can dry it out in the oven to turn it into almond meal/flour, or you can just add it to cookie dough or cake batter as-is. You can also stir it into oatmeal, blend it into smoothies, or (my favorite) top with a splash of honey or agave and eat with a spoon. Mmm, who doesn't love a nice big hunk of nut meat?!

Pour the nut milk from the bowl back into the (rinsed) blender. Add the agave and vanilla, and cover and blend for several seconds, until incorporated. Transfer the fresh ‘n frothy nut milk to a container and refrigerate for up to one week.

I love using it in recipes, eating it with cereal, and simply guzzling a tall, cold glass of it at my kitchen counter. Every mouthful is such a creamy treat, you wouldn't dream of not swallowing it all down! Make sure to share your nut milk with friends, too. If they like it, offer to let them try your nut meat as well, or to show them the perfect technique for massaging the nut milk from the sack. If the men in your life are squeamish about drinking nut milk, just tell them that real men eat nuts. This is simply too good to keep to yourself, people. Nut milk: all-natural, nutritious, and delicious.

Ok ok, I’m done! But truly...that joke will never get old.

Yield: about 1 quart. Per 1-cup serving: I’m not sure! There is no good way to calculate how many calories and fat/protein grams are left behind in the nut meat. If commercial almond milk is any indication, though, you can estimate that 1 cup will have roughly 40-50 calories and 3-4 grams of fat.

Use your nut milk or nut meat in…
Overnight steel-cut oatmeal
Rotini with walnut sauce
Cherry almond muffins

Almost Vegan random factoids

2010-03-10T19:57:00.011-06:00

I’ve been tagged! Kati shared seven random facts about herself and nominated me to do the same. I don't talk too much about myself on this blog – it's all about the food, baby – so I thought, why not? Here goes nothin'...

1.) I have a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Kansas (KU), which I earned in three years. Though I’ve lost some of my foreign language skills since graduating (in 2006), I can still say I am comfortably fluent in Spanish, am proficient in French and Latin, can read and understand Italian and Portuguese, and know bits and pieces of various other languages such as German, Dutch, Romanian, Turkish, Japanese, etc. (Perhaps now you can see why my romp across Europe was such a life-dream-fulfillment for me!)

2.) As you may know, I’m a marathon runner. I’ve completed two so far, with times of 4:54:59 and 4:38:26 (in other words, pretty slow!). I run other distances as well (my best half marathon time is 2:15:33), but the marathon is my bread and (vegan) butter. This year, I’ve got half marathons scheduled in late March and early June, and I’ll run my third full marathon in October (hopefully sub-4:30).

Post-marathon #2 (October 2009)

3.) I’m a music freak, with a hundred or two concerts under my belt and a good 40 gigs of music on my hard drive. As far as genres go, I’m primarily into metal ( \m/ ), with dashes of industrial, goth, punk, and classical. I love road-tripping with friends to see shows. For example, among the 11 Nine Inch Nails (my all-time favorite artist) shows I’ve been to, I’ve seen them in Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Columbia, Wichita, and (of course) Kansas City.

4.) Speaking of being a metalhead, I’ve had my hair every color in the rainbow (and then some), though I quit dyeing it near the end of college. Around that same time I took out my septum (nose) piercing I’d had since high school. I finally removed my tongue ring just the year before last. My two-hole industrial and one cartilage piercing eventually rejected, but I still have all of my other 12 earrings (8 earlobe, 1 vertical cartilage, 1 tragus, 1 anti-tragus, and 1 rook), though I also downsized all my lobe piercings after college, from up-to-4-gauge rings to dainty little studs. I’m still hardcore on the inside, though!

Circa summer 2005

5.) I’m very into reading and writing (which is probably no surprise, now that you know I’m a linguist; see #1). My obsession with reading goes way back—as I just related to Kati recently, I was the elementary-schooler who read 365 books one summer, the sixth-grader who read 23,000 minutes that year instead of just the 1,000 required; the kid who voluntarily set her alarm for 5:15am on weekdays so she could fit in an hour and a half of reading before school. Nowadays, I don’t have nearly as much time to read as I'd like, but my favorite reads are classical and Russian literature, and historical and/or scientific nonfiction. As for writing, besides this blog, I’m an avid diary-keeper and an amateur poet. I’ve dreamed since first grade of being a published writer someday.

6.) I’ve never really talked about my "food journey" on here because it’s quite complex, as well as personal. But to summarize, I’ll say that I pretty much didn’t eat for many years of my life, and when I did eat, I subsisted on Ramen noodles, pizza with the cheese peeled off, and spaghetti marinara. No one has ever found a satisfactory explanation for this, least of all me. As a child and young adult, I was somehow simply averse to food in general. As a result, I was malnourished enough by mid-high-school to raise concern, and was put on a constellation of medications that made me not just gain weight, but blow up like a balloon. Suddenly, after having been scrawny my whole life, I found myself a fat and unhealthy 18-year-old. This is when I dived headfirst into nutrition, cooking, and exercise, losing 45 lbs in 7 months and forever altering my interests, tastes, body, habits, and attitudes. Vegetarianism followed, and not long after that, I developed my current "almost vegan" routine/philosophy. I’ve never looked back.

7.) I’ll conclude with some small, random/silly facts about myself...I am an inexplicably thirsty person, and typically drink 120-130 oz. of water per day. I have some strange phobias—the ocean at night, pictures/footage of underwater shipwrecks, index toes, optic nerves, dead trees sticking out of water, the sound of fingernails rubbing on terrycloth, the windmills in central Kansas, the word "enterprise," et al. I had absolutely beyond-atrocious eyesight (-12.5) my whole life, until I finally had Lasik two years ago. I have a smattering of freckles on my upper chest which, if you play connect-the-dots, form the Big Dipper. I have an uncanny memory in general, but especially when it comes to birthdays. I get inordinately delighted at the sight of geese. I have the cutest bike in the world.

Coco, my pride and joy!

Tag, you’re it!
Hillary
Hannah
Matt
Aimee

Black olive tapenade

2010-03-08T10:32:00.004-06:00

Even though last entry’s whole grain rosemary-garlic bread is absolutely mouthwateringly perfect all on its own, it’s also great with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, or a savory dip. This black olive tapenade, also courtesy of Urban Vegan, makes a particularly excellent pairing with that bread or any other.

1 cup pitted black olives
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers, rinsed
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp miso paste
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a food processor (or Vitamix).

Pulse until almost smooth, then transfer to a small container. That’s it!

Sodium-watchers beware, this tapenade is salt-tastic! But it’s SO good; full-flavored, garlicky, and satisfying. Whether you eat it on whole grain bread, beer bread, flatbread, pita chips, crackers, or even raw veggies, I know you’ll love it.

Yield: 4 servings. Per 1/4 cup: 135 calories, 13.7g fat (2g sat), 3.8g carbs, 1g fiber, .6g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Curry lentil crackers w/spinach-avocado dip
Tuscan white bean dip
Indian spice hummus

Whole grain rosemary-olive bread

2010-03-05T12:05:00.002-06:00

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions. When I decide I want to do something, I just do it, whether it’s January or July. That said, I do think it can be healthy to look ahead at the coming year as a whole and think of some things you’d like to accomplish. A goal I loosely decided upon this year is to conquer my "fear" of yeast breads. It’s not that I’m literally scared to make them; in fact, I’m not even really afraid that I’ll mess them up. It’s just the time factor. It feels like they take for.ev.er, and when it comes to baked goods, I’m more of an instant gratification type of girl (many a burned finger or tongue can attest to this). I did make pizza dough at home once, but other than that, I’ve avoided anything yeasted.

The time had come for that to change. As I already mentioned, I love the Urban Vegan’s still-newish cookbook, and I chose one of Dynise’s recipes to get me on the yeast-bread-bandwagon. With the necessary advanced planning, it was just as easy as she promised, and even more delicious than I could have imagined.

3 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
3-4 cups whole grain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pitted black olives
3 Tbsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 tsp yeast
1-1 1/2 cups warm water

In a small pan, heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Finely chop the olives and set aside with the onion and garlic mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 cups flour (I used 1 cup spelt flour and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour) with the salt, olives, sautéed onion and garlic, and rosemary.

Stir in the yeast, then add the water (I used just over a cup to start with; you may need more). Add more flour as needed, in 1/4 cup increments (I only needed just over 1/4 cup, but this can vary greatly). Knead until smooth, using the mixer’s bread hook. Spray the dough lightly with cooking spray and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough, then knead on a Silpat or a floured surface for about 5 minutes. Form into a boule (a round loaf) and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Let rise for half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the loaf with the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil. I tried slicing an X in the top of my bread, like those fancy artisan loaves in the store, and it sort-of worked.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the loaf is browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely (seriously, don’t skimp) on a wire rack before slicing.

I am not kidding, this stuff is unbelievable! The savory duet of onion and garlic provides a beautiful accompaniment to the depth and heartiness of the yeast and rosemary. There are lots of olives in there, yet the bread has no briny or overly salty taste—just great olive flavor. In fact, I sneakily fed pieces to two avowed olive-haters, and both of them LOVED it (one even called it the best bread he’s ever tasted!). If I, a yeast bread novice, can turn out something as stupendous as this, I can only dream of what mouthwatering breads I’ll bake in the future.

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 large slices. Per slice: 130 calories, 3.7g fat (trace sat), 22.2g carbs, 4g fiber, 3.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Tuscan white bean dip
Whole wheat beer bread
Indian spice hummus

December-January leftovers

2010-03-02T17:34:00.005-06:00

Every year, my friends and I throw a huge New Year’s Eve bash, and I’m in charge of the food. This year, for the sweets, I made chocolate chunk peanut butter blondies and two cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: rum raisin (top) and margarita lime (bottom right). All were well-loved!

This is a random Sunday night dinner I made for me and Matt—a Tex-Mex chili from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, with from-scratch cornbread.

Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes from Love and Olive Oil—homemade vegan cookie dough is rolled into balls and suspended in a vanilla cupcake batter, and is whipped right into the vegan buttercream icing. Dangerously decadent!

Here are some sesame balls that Matt and I shared at Po’s...

...and the curry noodles I ate with them.

This is a tweak on the dulce de leche shortbread bars from Baking Bites’ cookbook.

Rachel and I had a weeknight talkfest at JP Wine Bar, where we noshed on hummus and pita alongside flights of red wine.

I made mini loaves of my peanut butter banana bread, but split the batter in two parts. I made four loaves of peanut butter with chocolate chips, four loaves of chocolate with peanut butter chips, and the last loaf, seen here in the middle, with the last bits of both batters swirled together.

This stuff is always a hit!

If you like this, you might also like...
Random 2009 leftover madness
August leftovers
July leftovers

Citrusy sweet potato-carrot soup

2010-02-26T10:57:00.001-06:00

This winter, I became mildly obsessed with soup. I’ve cooked more of it than I can possibly post on here; plus, most of it has been extremely simple—random amounts of a dozen or two different vegetables, simmered for an hour in a huge pot of veggie broth and then puréed. I bought Anna Thomas’ book Love Soup to break out of what I perceived as a soup rut, and I totally fell for her homey, cozy recipes. This one’s a gem—it’s warmly spiced, yet sweet, and it even got me to set aside my aversion to oranges/orange juice.

1 large sweet potato
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
12 oz. carrots, peeled
6 oz. parsnips, peeled
4 oz. celery root, trimmed and peeled
1 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper (or hot paprika)
4 cups vegetable broth (OR 4 cups water + 4 tsp homemade vegetable bouillon)
Grated zest of 1 orange
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
Chile oil (or fruity olive oil), for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the sweet potato, pierce it a few times with a fork, and roast it on a foil-lined baking sheet until completely soft, about 45 minutes (longer if it’s very large). Allow to cool slightly, then peel.

While the sweet potato is roasting, sauté the onion in the olive oil with a pinch of salt over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it’s softened and browned, at least 20 minutes (longer if needed). Don’t rush it!

Slice the carrots, parsnips, and celery root and combine them in a large soup pot with about 3 cups water, the salt, the agave nectar, and the spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer the vegetables, covered, until they are completely tender, about 30 minutes. Add the roasted sweet potato and the sautéed onion as soon as they are ready, along with the vegetable broth (or water + bouillon), orange zest, and citrus juices.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender, or with an immersion blender, until completely smooth.
Oh, you haven’t met my Vitamix! Best Christmas present ever. I’ve used it in some way nearly every day since I got it.

Return the soup to the (cleaned) pot, bring it back to a simmer, and taste it. Correct the seasoning with more salt or a little more lemon juice if needed.

Serve with a drizzle of hot chile oil (or fruity olive oil) on top, and perhaps some crusty bread alongside. This soup is so fragrant and flavorful, it made me temporarily not mind that this winter seems to be going on forever.

Yield: 4-6 servings. Per serving (4): 216 calories, 7.4g fat (1g sat), 37.1g carbs, 7g fiber, 3g protein.
Per serving (6): 144 calories, 4.9g fat (.5g sat), 24.7g carbs, 4g fiber, 2g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Spiced red lentil soup
Creamy chickpea soup
White bean garlic soup

Homemade vegetable bouillon

2010-02-24T09:38:00.002-06:00

Like many other members of the food blog community, it had never once occurred to me to make homemade vegetable bouillon until I read Heidi’s post about it. Freedom from buying expensive, sodium-packed little cubes (or heavy, wasteful cans) containing unknown ingredients? Brilliant! I only made half a batch, but even this much is going to last me for months.

3.5 oz. / 100g carrots, peeled and chopped
3.5 oz. / 100g fennel bulb, chopped
2.5 oz. / 75g leeks, sliced and well-washed
1.75 oz. / 50g celery root (celeriac), peeled and chopped
1.75 oz. / 50g celery, chopped
1.75 oz. / 50g shallots, peeled
.5 oz. / 15g sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
3.5 oz. / 100g fine grain sea salt
1 oz. / 30g cilantro, loosely chopped
.75 oz. / 20 g flat-leaf parsley, loosely chopped

Combine the first eight ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor.

Pulse about twenty times. Add the salt and pulse a few more times. Then add the cilantro and parsley...

...pulse to combine, and then process to a moist paste.

Transfer to a freezer-safe container. You can keep it in the fridge for a few days, then move it to the freezer. To use, mix one teaspoon of the bouillon with 1 cup water, and presto, instant homemade vegetable broth! It doesn’t solidify, so you can use it straight from the freezer. Simple, fresh, economical, and all-natural—you can’t go wrong.

Be sure and come back on Friday to see a delicious soup in which you can put this bouillon to perfect use!

Yield: about 1 3/4 cups. Per 1-tsp. serving: 3 calories, 0g fat (0g sat), .7g carbs, 0g fiber, .1g protein.

Use this in...
Moroccan harira stew
Chickpea lentil slow-cooker stew
White bean garlic soup

Nutty carob chip cookies

2010-02-22T09:38:00.002-06:00

I realize I’ve had a lot of chocolate desserts on this blog lately. This is slightly out of the ordinary, since I wouldn’t even really consider myself "a chocolate person," but I chalk (choc?) it up to the fact that I’m dating a chocolate-lover. Thankfully, said chocolate-lover is also open-minded when it comes to my nuttier (to others) forays into cooking and baking with natural ingredients, so he’s welcomed such sweets as these carob chip cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

1/3 cup soymilk
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups Sucanat (or other natural sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup roasted carob powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup carob chips
3/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine soymilk, flaxseed, canola oil, Sucanat, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.

Sift in the flour, carob powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Stir to combine, but don't overmix. Fold in the carob chips and peanuts.

Drop dough in 2-Tbsp balls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven, let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

I’d never experimented with carob before, and I’m happy to report that I liked it! I found the carob flavor to be very pleasant, and I loved the crackled tops and crunchy nuts. You’re not going to fool anyone into believing these are chocolate, but if you think of them as a separate taste and enjoy them for what they are, I think they’re great. Even my chocolate-lover approved!

Yield: 24 cookies. Per cookie: 167 calories, 9.1g fat (2g sat), 20.3g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.8g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Chocolate peanut butter cookies
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Chocolate chip cookies

Tofu-veggie breakfast scramble

2010-02-18T12:50:00.000-06:00

I admit, this is one of those all-vegan-food-blogs-have-one recipes, but everyone needs a good scrambled tofu in their repertoire. The only way I ever liked eggs was scrambled, but considering I’m a tofu fiend, I find scrambled tofu to be even tastier. There’s also something incomparably satisfying to me about a savory breakfast (I think I eat too much cereal), so this really hit the spot after a hard morning workout.

2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small (or 1/2 medium) onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 celery stalk, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen edamame
1/4 cup frozen corn
5-6 white button mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg. (12-14 oz.) extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Black pepper to taste

Combine the cumin, thyme, turmeric, and salt in a small bowl. Add 3 Tbsp water, mix, and set aside. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add all remaining vegetables...

...and stir to combine.

Break the tofu apart into bite-size pieces, add to the pan, and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring often. You want to make sure the tofu doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. It should be at least partially browned, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. Add splashes of water if it does start to stick.

Add the reserved spice mixture and stir to combine. Add the nutritional yeast and pepper. Cook and stir for about 5 more minutes, then serve while still warm.

The spices in this really sing to me (I looove cumin), but you can change them up if you’d like. Same with the veggies; choose your own adventure. Scrambled tofu is a vegan classic; you have to try it at least once!

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving: 175 calories, 9.6g fat (1g sat), 12.5g carbs, 4g fiber, 13.2g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Overnight steel-cut oatmeal
Roasted potatoes w/garlic-cumin aioli
Vegan biscuits and gravy

Nutella-stuffed peanut butter cookies

2010-02-15T15:24:00.005-06:00

I love Nutella. I am obsessed with peanut butter. Put them together (or, rather, one inside the other), and what do you get? Hand-held perfection. Truly, there is nothing more I can say. The pictures speak for themselves.

For the cookies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

For the filling:
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, and salt. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with 3 Tbsp warm water. In a large mixing bowl, combine the margarine and sugars.

Beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the flax mixture and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the peanut butter and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time, beating until all the flour streaks are gone (do not overmix).

Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and beat well.

You should be able to easily roll the filling into balls. If it’s too sticky, add more powdered sugar. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Divide the chilled cookie dough into 1-Tbsp portions and roll into balls.

Flatten out two balls of dough at a time. Roll about 1 tsp of the Nutella dough into a smaller ball, flatten, and place on top of one round of dough.

Cover with the other round of dough, pinch edges to seal, and roll gingerly into a ball again. Repeat with all dough (you may have some filling left over) and place balls onto the baking sheet.

Gently press down on the cookies to flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or just until the edges are golden. Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

WONDERFUL. Please do yourself a favor and make make MAKE these!

Yield: 20 cookies. Per cookie: 203 calories, 10.7g fat (3g sat), 23.6g carbs, 2g fiber, 3.5g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
No-bake PB-choc-oat cookies
Chocolate peanut butter cookies
Peanut butter bliss cake

Vegan Italian Valentine feast

2010-02-13T15:29:00.005-06:00

Here's a peek at the dinner I made for my Valentine...

Spaghetti with vodka marinara sauce (which I will remake and blog about at some point), steamed broccoli, from-scratch garlic flatbread, and a Piemonte Barbera red wine. Pretty perfect.

Hannah Kaminsky (a.k.a. Bittersweet)'s famous Mocha Devastation Cake. Absolute fattiest and most caloric thing I have ever made in my life. Needless to say, it was a hit.

Mocha Devastation Cake = two layers of dense chocolate cake sandwiching a rich coffee buttercream frosting, enrobed in a thick dark chocolate ganache and ringed with crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans. Life is good.

Happy V-Day, everyone!

Cauliflower-chickpea tagine

2010-02-08T15:00:00.004-06:00

Among the recent proliferation of vegan food bloggers’ cookbooks, my favorite is that of Urban Vegan Dynise Balcavage. I’ve already made eight of her recipes since getting the book a few weeks ago, and I have a couple dozen more marked down to try. Both her writing style and her ethnic food sensibilities are reminiscient of my own, so it’s been a joy to read her cookbook like a novel (I tend to do that). This is my adaptation of Dynise’s cauliflower-chickpea tagine, a simple but elegant Moroccan dish perfect for a cold winter weeknight.

(As the tagine simmers, be sure to cook up some whole wheat couscous to serve with it. Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil with a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil. Remove from the heat, add 1 cup couscous, cover the pan, and set aside for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and serve.)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large head cauliflower, broken into florets
1/2 cup white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
15-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp harissa (optional)
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

In a large pot, sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. If necessary, add a pinch of salt to slow down the cooking.

Add all remaining ingredients except the almonds...

...and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer, covered, for about an hour, or until vegetables are tender.

Serve with cooked whole wheat couscous and top with almonds before eating. The cauliflower breaks down and absorbs the aromatic spices, and the golden raisins and hint of cinnamon are a sweet complement to the more piquant flavors of the dish. It manages to be both exotic and homey at the same time. I loved it!

Yield: 5 servings. Per serving (without couscous): 253 calories, 6.5g fat (.5g sat), 43.9g carbs, 11g fiber, 9.5g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Moroccan harira stew
Chickpea lentil slow-cooker stew
5-minute chickpea couscous

Chocolate banana bread

2010-02-04T10:44:00.002-06:00

No wordy intro for this one, folks. This sweet bread is another holdover from before Europe, and its entire raison d'être was simply that I was craving chocolate + bananas at the time. I modified the recipe from Veganomicon to produce this lighter, lower-fat loaf that’s perfect for breakfast, snacktime, or dessert.

2 large ripe bananas, well mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2T molasses
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, applesauce, oil, sugar, and molasses.

Sift in the flour, cocoa, coffee, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Use a wooden spoon to fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix), then gently fold in the chocolate chips. You can use semisweet, milk, white, swirled, or just about any type of chip you please.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan...

...and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Invert onto a cooling rack, then flip the bread right side up and let cool completely before slicing. I like to cut it into bite-size pieces for easy snacking. I must say, I still like my peanut butter banana bread better, but if you’re seeking the classic combo of chocolate + banana, this quick bread hits the spot.

Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices). Per slice: 205 calories, 7.3g fat (2g sat), 35g carbs, 3g fiber, 2.7g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
PB–banana "Elvis" cupcakes
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Peanut butter banana bread

Overnight steel-cut oatmeal

2010-02-01T12:14:00.005-06:00

I’m going to step away from my blogging backlog for a moment and present to you something not from last year, but from last night. I want to post this while there’s still plenty of cold-weather time left in the winter, so that you can enjoy this on a few upcoming chilly mornings.

Oatmeal! What could be simpler, right? Well, unless you have 30+ minutes free to prepare breakfast on weekday mornings (and if so, lucky you), you probably don’t get to enjoy steel-cut oatmeal very often, if at all. Steel-cut oats are toasted oat groats (the inner part of the oat kernel) that have been removed from the husk and cut by steel into two or three pieces, rather than being rolled. This means they are less processed than old-fashioned or quick oats, which is beneficial in a number of ways. The texture is better, for one—steel-cut oats are chewier and nuttier than rolled oats. As such, they are heartier and more substantial, thanks to the higher concentration of complex carbs (which are soluble-fiber-ful and therefore heart-healthy!). Not only will they keep you fuller longer, but they have a lower glycemic index than regular oats (42 vs. 66, respectively), so your blood sugar will stay steady.

The only bad part? They take forever to cook. This is easily remedied, though, with a slow cooker and a little advanced preparation. Substitute any nuts or dried fruits you want; I just used what I had in my pantry.

2 cups steel-cut oats
7 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup soymilk (vanilla or plain)
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

The night before, gather your ingredients. Chop the pecans, apricots, and cherries. Set everything aside for the next morning.

Line a 5-6 quart slow cooker with a plastic liner (highly recommended!) and spray the inside generously with cooking spray. (Alternatively, just spray the slow cooker bowl itself very very well with cooking spray.) Add the oats, water, soymilk, maple syrup, and salt. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours overnight. My slow cooker automatically switches to warm after a set number of hours, but if yours doesn’t, it won’t hurt if you cook it a little beyond the 8 hours.

The next morning, uncover and add all remaining ingredients.

Stir to combine, re-cover, and cook on low for another 10-20 minutes.

I enjoyed mine this morning with an additional splash of vanilla soymilk and an extra glug of maple syrup. Again, customize to your heart’s content—use agave nectar or brown sugar in place of maple syrup, include diced apples and ground cinnamon instead of the dried fruit, or pump it up even further with a scoop of protein powder. This is an energizing, stick-to-your-ribs, power-packed breakfast if there ever was one!

Yield: 8 servings. Per serving: 274 calories, 6g fat (.5g sat), 53.1g carbs, 6g fiber, 7.6g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Blueberry cornbread muffins
Very berry "green" smoothie
Oat crumble jam bars

Pumpkin cheesecake swirl brownies

2010-01-28T11:57:00.005-06:00

Last October, in the evening after my second marathon, I went to my friend Jo’s Halloween party. Another friend, Teresa, had brought a pan of pumpkin swirl brownies. They looked scrumptious, but until I tasted them, I had no idea just how scrumptious they would be—decadently moist and devastatingly flavorful, they were far and away my favorite treat of the night. I couldn’t stay away from them! I asked Teresa for the recipe, and she graciously obliged, so I made a veganized batch of them that very next week to take to my friend Rachel’s Halloween party. You know, to keep the party-dessert-karma train going.

I know it’s not anywhere near Halloween anymore, or even Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I don’t care how many weeks ago the holiday season ended—I love pumpkin year-round!

For the pumpkin layer:
6 oz. vegan cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup firm silken tofu (like Mori-Nu)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose (or WWP) flour
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

For the brownie layer:
1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup firm silken tofu (like Mori-Nu)
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a food processor (or a good blender, or with a sturdy hand whisk), combine all pumpkin layer ingredients.

Process together until smooth, then transfer to a small bowl.

Clean out the food processor, then add the melted margarine, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla.

Process until smooth, then add the tofu (half at a time) and process to combine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Pour the margarine-tofu mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined.

Spread about 2/3 of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Gently pour the pumpkin mixture on top and spread evenly. (Sorry bout the blur here.)

Drop the remaining brownie batter by spoonfuls over the pumpkin layer. Swirl together with a knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

I was so pleased at how well the tofu stood in for egg, and in my opinion, the ratio of chocolate to pumpkin was perfect. Cut into cute little bite-size pieces, these made great party food. (Nevermind the fact that only half of them actually made it to the party!) I can’t wait to bake these again.

Yield: 16 brownies or 36 brownie bites. Per brownie (16): 183 calories, 9.3g fat (3g sat), 23.8g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.6g protein.
Per brownie bite (36): 81 calories, 4.1g fat (1g sat), 10.6g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.2g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes w/cinnamon glaze
White chip brownies
Pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Roasted potatoes w/garlic-cumin aioli

2010-01-25T12:14:00.007-06:00

I love breakfast potatoes. (Though I’ve told the story before, I’ll remind you again that I’ve even sleep-talked about them.) Hash browns, O’Briens, home fries—any non-mashed spud served in the A.M. is a winner with me.

That said, they certainly don’t have to be served only in the morning. Inspired by a dinner at La Bodega, a KC tapas restaurant at which I have only had the pleasure to eat once (so far), I cooked up the roasted potatoes from Vegan Brunch and topped them with a made-up-on-the-spot aioli tinged with cumin and garlic. The restaurant meal was so good that even I, a mayo-hater, fell in love, and my homemade version totally lived up to the original.

For the potatoes:
2 1/2 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

For the aioli:
6 Tbsp Vegenaise
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp garlic paste (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line an 11x17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease with cooking spray). Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Place on the baking sheet and drizzle with the oil. Use your hands to toss and coat the potatoes in the oil, then sprinkle with salt.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove and flip the taters with a spatula (no need to be perfect, just get most of them turned over).

Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, till lightly but thoroughly browned outside. Season with black pepper and additional salt to taste.

Meanwhile, make the aioli.

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Easy! Add a teaspoon or two of water to thin it out if you want.

Serve the potatoes hot, drizzled with the aioli. The spice and zing of the sauce plays perfectly off the earthy potatoes. Now that’s what I call breakfast (or lunch, or dinner)!

Yield: 6 servings. Per serving: 270 calories, 13.8g fat (1g sat), 29.7g carbs, 3.5g fiber, 4.7g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Roasted potato wraps w/black bean hummus
Chickpea lentil slow-cooker stew
Curried tempeh-mango salad

Random 2009 leftover madness

2010-01-21T10:42:00.004-06:00

If you think I didn’t cook or bake during those 3 months I spent writing about Europe, I’m here to tell you I did! A lot, in fact; I just didn’t take step-by-step pics or save recipes because I knew I could never write about it all. Here are some highlights.

I made cheezcake brownies and topped them with a white chocolate spread I bought in Greece.

Coconut ice cream! I don’t use my homemade ice cream maker nearly enough. I made this with coconut milk and soy creamer.

These white chocolate chip-peanut butter swirl blondies came out so good that I never even remembered to take a post-baking pic.

Something savory: an improvised spinach-walnut pesto (cheeseless, of course) that turned out great. I think I still have some of this in my freezer; I’m going to have to break that out soon.

These are some crispy chocolate oat bars I made for a party.

More party treats: simple-but-tasty applesauce-golden raisin-oatmeal cookies.

Even more party food: Lichtenauer family brownies. It’s my grandma Nanny’s recipe.

I am the blondie queen! These chewy butterscotch blondies were, again, so good that I forgot to take a picture after cutting them.

A deep chocolate snack cake. I dusted this with powdered sugar before serving.

Lentil taco salad! I got the recipe from Runner’s World. I LOVED this. I will definitely be making it again; I may even have to re-blog about it.

In October, Matt took me to Phantom’s Feaste, which is a post-Renaissance Festival, "spooky" late-night stage show with wine and snacks served. I had a couple glasses of Merlot, some table peanuts, and some tortilla chips, but needless to say, I wasn’t interested in the cheese dip and chicken wings they served. An inquiry to our kind waitress produced this giant platter of celery, red bell pepper, crackers, and a ton of grapes! It made awesome finger food to accompany the show.

Finally, here is one last moist, chocolatey brownie. And I’ve barely even touched on my blondie-and-brownie kick—in addition to all the ones you see here, I must have baked at least half a dozen more!

If you like this, you might also like…
August leftovers
July leftovers
June leftovers

No-bake PB-choc-oat cookies

2010-01-11T09:48:00.002-06:00

Oh, I see, you thought I was going to start out the new year with a totally wholesome, healthy, guilt-free recipe? Not quite, although there’s really no need to feel guilty about eating these. The fiberful whole grain oats, monounsaturated peanut butter fats, and antioxidant-packed cocoa make up for the sugar and vegan margarine. They’re also super-quick and -easy, and the instant gratification factor is high since no baking is required.

My good friend Brandon shared this recipe with me, and challenged me to make it vegan but keep the awesome taste that got him addicted to making these. I am happy to report that I succeeded, and earned his characteristically difficult-to-acquire seal of approval.

1 stick (1/2 cup) Earth Balance
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 cups quick oats

Line a large baking sheet with wax paper. In a medium saucepan, bring margarine, sugar, cocoa, and soymilk to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.

You can either drop by spoonfuls onto the waxed paper, or dump the whole mess on there and spread it out like a cookie pizza.

Let cool at least slightly before slicing and munching. The longer you wait, the more solid they will become. If you just can’t help yourself (we couldn’t), be prepared for a slightly sticky and pliable cookie experience. Not that there’s anything at all wrong with that.

Yield: 24 servings. Per serving: 174 calories, 7.3g fat (1g sat), 25.6g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
Peanut butter chocolate cookies
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Peanut butter bliss cake

Almost vegan in the news!

2010-01-07T11:12:00.007-06:00

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all enjoying 2010 as much as I am so far. I’m taking a few days off from blogging after all those Europe posts, but I had to drop in to share this—I was featured in an article in the Food section of the Kansas City Star yesterday!

I actually did the interview and the photoshoot a few weeks ago, but kept it quiet up till now to surprise people. I explained my food philosophy, described some of my experiences in Europe, and shared my three-bean chili recipe. Click here for the online article, or click the image below for a scan of the actual paper.

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Almost vegan in Europe: the wrap-up

2009-12-31T16:51:00.000-06:00

I could write a long, rambling finale in which I gush about everything I saw, ate, and experienced over the course of five weeks all over Europe—but I think that’s exactly what I’ve been doing over these past three months of entries! You’ve read what I’ve had to say and seen glimpses of all I did, and honestly, a summary is unnecessary. Suffice it to say, this was without a doubt the most exciting, invigorating, exhilarating, (expensive, fattening,) fulfilling, inspiring, important, unforgettable, life-affirming, and quite simply the BEST thing I’ve ever done for myself, hands down. What a thrill, what a rush, what a dream, and it was worth every penny, calorie, and moment.

I stated it best in the final email I wrote to my friends, from London-Heathrow airport: "I don't feel like a different person, but I do feel like a fuller, better, happier, and luckier one. I'm so ready to set the rest of my life in motion. I feel reaffirmed in who I am and what I want." And it’s true, and I do, and I’m never going to let myself forget the incredible feelings of lust and love for life that this journey instilled in me.

The second half of this year has been comprised of some of the best months of my life, and I feel more optimistic and content than I have in years. I wish everyone a surplus of health, happiness, hope, and home cooking in 2010. Bring on the new year!

Almost vegan comes home

2009-12-31T14:55:00.006-06:00

We left Amsterdam and drove back into France, boarding the ferry at Calais. On board the ferry, I splurged on some good British Indian food for lunch—vegetables tikka masala with basmati rice and pappadum, and a sliver of apple pie for dessert.

We were dropped off at the same hotel we’d stayed at upon our arrival in England. On the bus on the way there, we said most of our real goodbyes. A few of us, after cleaning up, went to the hotel bar for some final drinks together. I was so sad it was my last time to see all these great people, but I told everyone I wasn’t going to say goodbye, just "See you later." Because hopefully, someday, I will!

On my own for the evening, I walked just around the corner from the hotel to eat dinner at Hell Pizza.

I’d scoped this place out ahead of time, and was so excited to eat there. I love the dark, evilish theme—the interior is all black with red lighting, lava lamps, flaming seats, and wicked chandeliers. Seven of the pizzas are named after the deadly sins, and they have coffin-shaped to-go boxes. They had stacks of magazines about metal and industrial music, paranormal activity, the occult, tattoo and body modifications, etc. on the counter that I paged through as I waited for my order—a small pizza, no cheese, with green peppers, asparagus, garlic, and oregano, plus corn and olives on one half. I also got a small loaf of garlic bread on the side.

It was great! I loved the crispy-outside, tender-inside crust. On a whim, I ordered a mini dessert pizza to end my meal (hey, it was the last night of my trip!). The guy who was serving me recommended the Unearthly Ambrosia pie—berries (all my favorites: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries), sliced bananas (awesomely caramelized from the oven), and melted chocolate (three types!), topped with a mouthwateringly rich custard. Wow! I’ve never tasted anything like it.

I spent the rest of the evening packing, and retired early, because I had to wake up before dawn the next day. I ate breakfast with Greg (for the last time!) and he helped me gather all my luggage to bring out to the shuttle. I packed myself a peanut-butter-and-jam (half raspberry, half boysenberry) sandwich for the road (er, air).

I was dropped off at the airport, where I bought some grapes and a banana to snack on and bummed around for awhile till I could board my plane to Dallas. Two meals (check them out here) were served during the 10-hour flight, and again, American Airlines impressed me with the quality of their veg food.

After a brief layover in Dallas, I flew home to Kansas City. How surreal it was to be back!

Picture to come

Although I was more than happy to gorge on bread and pastries for 35 days, I was inordinately stoked for my first meal upon getting home—a grocery store salad bar haul of chickpeas, kidney beans, artichoke hearts, peas, shredded carrot, red pepper, green pepper, green onion, and who knows what else I threw in there. In the end, I truly do love healthful, wholesome, nutritious food.

Almost vegan in Amsterdam II

2009-12-30T10:51:00.002-06:00

The following morning, we went on a quick excursion to a little Dutch fishing village on the coast. It was the cuteness.

My luggage had become way too bulky and heavy, so after our return to the city and a neat little visit to a diamond-cutting factory, I hauled all my liquor and liquid-y goods to the Amsterdam post office. I mailed home ouzo from Greece, bellini and balsamic vinegar from Italy, Schaps from Austria, pesto, sunflower seed paté, wine, and absinthe from Germany, and more. 14 kgs (over 30 lbs!) of stuff!

Several other members of the group trekked to the post office with me, and after that, we got lunch at Velida’s Sandwiches Shop.

Since I hadn’t been terribly impressed by the falafel sandwich I ate in Cologne, I ordered one here. And MMM, it was so much better! It took a good ten minutes for them to prepare, because they made the patties fresh and fried them on the spot. Topped with garlic and hot sauces and encased in pita, it made a great lunch.

After we finished eating, we walked to Anne Frank’s house and took the tour. We spent a solemn hour exploring the little house and attic and engrossing ourselves in the exhibits.

After that, I set out on my own for the afternoon. I had plenty I wanted to do, but was in no kind of hurry. I walked alongside a canal for a bit, enjoying the mild weather.

After that, I visited the Tulip Museum! It was adorable—just one little room. Tulips have always been my favorite flowers.

Amsterdam is the city of bicycles, and I learned that there are 600,000 of them there! Parking spots were few and far between, and I didn’t even see a single parking lot anywhere.

I browsed through the floating flower market, which is comprised of stalls selling flowers, seeds, vegetables, and more. The shops are all attached to the side of – but floating in – one of the bigger canals.

I stopped for a sweet snack at My Dabba, which was, from what I could tell, an organic-and-natural-foods café.

I ordered a trio of mini slices of cake: orange creamsicle, chocolate raspberry fudge, and lemon.

I had just a bit more time to kill after that, so I checked out Amsterdam’s sweet public library. It was sleek, clean, and modern.

I met the group for dinner at Sea Palace, a pagoda-style floating Chinese restaurant. The Dutch are big on Asian food, apparently.

I had a thick-brothed vegetable soup to start.

The main course they prepared for me was a huge plate of Kung Pao vegetables, steamed broccoli and snow peas, and a surprisingly good mushroom-and-onion stir-fry.

Dessert was a smiley-face-reminiscent trio of green tea ice cream, a baked peach half, and a fried chunk of pineapple.

It was our group’s last night in Europe. After 35 days together, we’d grown quite close. The nighttime canal cruise we took was a bittersweet delight, what with all the preemptive goodbyes being exchanged.

After the cruise, we traipsed down to the Grasshopper, arguably the most famous pot bar in Amsterdam and the world. I went downstairs with Isis and Sharleen and checked out the first and only marijuana menu I have ever seen. They had different varieties and flavors to choose from, plus pot brownies and other baked goods. I wasn’t interested in partaking, though—I went back upstairs for shots of Jaeger on the patio.

Isis and Sharleen and I wandered off into the Red Light District for a very interesting couple hours of shopping/browsing, drinking, and general wandering. We stayed out so long that when we returned to the Grasshopper, the rest of the group was gone, so we took a cab back to our hotel. It was an awesome, amazing, tremendously splendid final day and night in Europe.

I’ve got one more Europe entry to go, where I return to London for one more overnight stay and then make my way over the pond and back home.

Almost vegan in Amsterdam I

2009-12-29T15:53:00.003-06:00

I’m scurrying to wrap up these Europe entries by the end of the year, thus the blitz in posts this week!

After one quick stop in Belgium (just a service station, but I did buy a box of chocolates!) we hit the Netherlands. Our hotel in Amsterdam was right near the airport. After a quick 4-mile run, I took a bus to the airport with Kim, Leigh, Andrew, and Caz, and we rode the train (in first class accidentally, haha) to the city. We were starving, so we prowled the main drag in search of dinner. Luckily for me, Caz and Andrew are fellow Indian-food-lovers, and Kim and Leigh were willing to give it a try, so we stopped at Koh-I-Noor Indian Restaurant. I went all out and got the Thali-style combo. We started with pappadum with chutney and a wonderful dal soup.

I got to choose three (!) vegetarian items for my main course. Not surprisingly, I selected aloo gobi, chana masala, and dal makhani. The basmati rice was fluffy, the naan was pillowy, and there was more than enough of everything to share with my companions.

Oh my freaking yum. I’d been missing Indian food so very much.

Dessert was kheer, classic Indian rice pudding.

We left there completely stuffed, and took an hour-long walk around the Red Light District. Talk about culture shock. We’d been all over western and southern Europe and even treaded a bit around the east, but it was here in nearly-Scandinavian northern Europe that I felt, more than anywhere else, like I was in a whole different world. I’m going to assume you don’t need me to explain to you what exactly the Red Light District is. Oddly, we all agreed that it made us feel sad. So many young girls, pretty girls, and though I’m sure many, if not most, of them are there because they want to be, it was still a little heartrending to see them selling themselves like meat in the windows. But hey—different country, different customs, and in the end, people are free to do what they please. Pictures weren’t allowed, but I snapped this at the edge of the District from across the canal.

Next up, I spend a full day in Amsterdam, and it turns out to be one of my favorites of the trip.

Almost vegan in Cologne

2009-12-28T11:07:00.000-06:00

We got up way early the next day to take a morning cruise along the Rhine River. We were amid the Black Forest, and the atmosphere totally fit.

We hopped on our boat in the little town of St. Goar. Before embarking, a couple people had bought towering slices of real black forest cake from the one bakery that was open that early. I tried a bite—it was good. Black forest cake isn’t a favorite of mine (in general, I’m not a fan of chocolate + fruit), but it was cool to eat some while IN the Black Forest. Regrettably, I didn’t get a picture.

On board, I bought a little bottle of Riesling from a winery right there along the Rhine. No, I didn’t drink it at 9 in the morning; I actually brought it all the way home with me.

After our cruise, we drove to Cologne (which is, yes, the place from which eau de cologne originated). Cologne also had an ABC (another bloody cathedral), but I REALLY liked this one. It was similar to the one in Strasbourg – very Germanic – and was hugely tall and soot-colored.

The interior was awesome as well.

There are lots of Middle Eastern immigrants in Germany, especially Turks, and I’d heard raves about their food. I finally got a chance to grab some, at a Döner Kebab snack bar.

I got a falafel sandwich (with garlic sauce and spicy “ketchup”) which was served, strangely enough, in ciabatta bread instead of pita. I was a little disappointed to see that the falafel patties were premade-and-refrigerated, not cooked fresh, but it was a decent sandwich.

Before leaving Cologne, I peeked into a bakery for a quick look (and drool) at the goods.

Farewell to Deutschland! From Cologne, we head to the Netherlands to end our journey in Amsterdam.

Almost vegan in Heidelberg

2009-12-27T15:46:00.000-06:00

From Strasbourg, we crossed the border back into Germany to visit Heidelberg, another college town. The scenery was picture-perfect; waterside homes and rolling hills gazed at us from across the river.

A medieval castle kept watch over the cozy little town.

It was such a delight to stroll and shop in Heidelberg. The prettily paved streets were spotlessly clean, and numerous unique stores called my name.

After buying some authentic German absinthe (ohh yes), I happened upon an adorable little food shop offering samples of nearly all their products—sauces, seasonings, dips, spreads, jams, jellies, dried fruit, cakes, cookies, crackers, bread, and more! I was in there for a good ten minutes before realizing that, as the labels quietly but proudly boasted, every single item in the store was both vegan and organic.

They were even selling a book (in English, French, and Italian, though strangely I found no German copy) entitled "The Animal-Friendly Cookbook."

After buying a jar of garlicky pesto and two little jars of sunflower seed paté (one roasted-red-pepper-flavored, one curry-flavored), I visited an internet café, then met the rest of the group for dinner. I neglected to take a picture of the restaurant sign, unfortunately, but I believe it was called (in German) The Red Ox. The interior was very rustic-German-farmhouse-y (with some décor that might have offended or disturbed "real" vegans, but you know me; I didn’t mind).

The first course was a soup which they assured me contained no cheese, despite the look of it. I tasted it and could tell it was thickened with potato and cauliflower, but nonetheless, something about it was suspect (i.e. cheesy) to me.

While the others ate pork, I was served a mushroom stroganoff with egg noodles. I think I am officially no longer a mushroom-hater. It was a little creamy for me, but earthy and hearty in all the right ways. It was so tasty, in fact, that I forgot to take a picture of it till it was mostly gone. My favorite part would have to be those huge, moist dumplings that reminded me of my grandma Nanny’s eierbrot (our family’s Thanksgiving stuffing).

Dessert was a light chocolate pudding, a simple but stylish ending to the meal.

Next, we make one last stop in Germany, in Cologne, on our way into the Netherlands.

Almost vegan in Strasbourg

2009-12-24T11:20:00.002-06:00

This one’s short and sweet. After leaving Switzerland, we dipped back into France to visit Strasbourg, a border town that, by appearances, is more German than French. I was excited to visit Strasbourg because it was the place I most seriously considered studying abroad in college. Having finally seen it, I can say with certainty that it would have been a great city to study in. It’s very much a college town, yet is quaint and homey at the same time.

They had an ABC (Another Bloody Cathedral, as the Aussies had become fond of calling them) in the center of town. Even though we’d seen so many, I thought this one was particularly striking.

In the main square, there was a carousel! You better believe we rode the thing.

Just look at the lovely German architecture on this busy street lined with shops and cafés.

My favorite gelato thus far had been in Florence; what a surprise it was to find gelato in France that tied it for first place!

I got a triple dip of Nutella-, biscotti-, and mascarpone-and-honey-flavored gelati. Beyond delicious!

Before leaving, I stopped in a bustling little cookie shop. Dozens upon dozens of flavors of cookies were piled in rows of clear bins. You scooped your selection into a plastic baggie and paid by the kilogram at the counter. I bought an adorable little container to store mine in.

The cookies I chose were (clockwise from top left) vanilla, biscotto, almond, snickerdoodle, chocolate, toffee, and chocolate chip. They were crunchy, crumbly, and not overly sweet. My only regret was not having a cup of coffee to accompany them.

Next, we go back to Germany for stops in Heidelberg and Cologne.

Almost vegan in Lucerne II

2009-12-22T11:48:00.005-06:00

First thing the next morning, we rode a bus around Vierwaldstättersee, a.k.a. Lake of the Four Forest Cantons, a.k.a. Lake Lucerne, to the foot of Mount Pilatus, where we boarded tiny cable cars for a long, slow, and (for some, though not for me) nervewracking ascent.

At 7,000 feet (2,120 meters) in elevation, the air atop the mountain was dry, thin, foggy, and CHILLY! Kim, Robin, and I hiked up a steep, narrow rock staircase to the highest point to which one can climb. Even though we couldn’t see all the way down the mountain, the view still took our breath away (well, the view and the low-oxygen atmosphere).

Psst...there’s a "weather station" inside the top/side of Mt. Pilatus, but an anonymous source informed us that it is also a military installation, due to its clear view to the Swiss borders. Anti-aircraft guns are supposedly hidden there, ooh. Sharleen and I explored the caves briefly, but no military personnel intercepted us.

After warming up in the little café at the summit, we rode a cogwheel train back down to the edge of Lake Lucerne (which took 25 minutes!). It was hard to believe we’d just descended that majestic peak in the background. Crazy as it may sound, my feats-of-athletic-endurance-geared mind wished I could have had a go at climbing the thing.

The short walk to the dock took us beneath a couple of underpasses, one of which contained this graffiti. I don’t advocate defacement of public property, of course, but this gave me a smile.

We boarded a small boat for a leisurely 45-minute cruise back across the lake. The scenery was, again, stunning.

Puttering around the edges of the lake were dozens of swans! I was surprised at how big some of them were. (In case you were wondering, I did take advantage of the moment and told one of them "Stop looking at me, swan!")

We walked across the 200-meter Kapellbrücke, or Chapel Bridge, at the junction of the lake and the river. Looks old, right? Well, it was—it was built in 1333 and stood firm until 1993, when some idiot dropped a cigarette and burned it down. What’s there now is a restoration/reproduction of the original.

Our group visited a couple shops together to check out authentic Swiss watches and army knives, and then split up. I headed out on my own for a snack. I randomly selected a bright little café/bakery, where I ate a slice of pizza with tomatoes, yellow peppers, carrots, jicama, and very little cheese. Odd selection of toppings, but tasty.

I had to eat some pastries in Switzerland, so I bought a slice of delectable baklava-esque walnut pie, a moist, dense, moon-shaped brownie with a cookie crust, and a toaster-strudel-style apple turnover. Oh my YUM. I didn’t eat them all at once, don’t worry, but after sampling a bit of each, I still went for a 6-mile run along the lakefront paths of Vierwaldstättersee; 'twas beautiful.

You probably saw something like this coming—for dinner, we went to Fondue House.

This was quite a unique dinner. I didn’t participate in any cheese fondue action, but I was delighted to find that the family-style main course included (besides chicken) spaghetti marinara and oven-roasted potatoes. Not traditionally Swiss, but certainly delicious.

I would’ve been fine with just that, but the staff told me they’d prepared a "vegetable cutlet" for me. With such an ambiguous and vague description as that, I didn’t have high hopes, but it turned out to be absolutely fantastic—it was like a big, homemade veggie burger patty, breaded and pan-fried to perfection. Wow! I only wish I could’ve gotten their recipe.

And dessert? Sliced apples, bananas, and strawberries with rich Swiss chocolate fondue. Um, need I say more?

Next, we leave Switzerland via Strasbourg, France, and then dip back into Germany.

Almost vegan in Lucerne I

2009-12-17T09:50:00.004-06:00

Geeky linguistics intro to Switzerland—the Swiss, depending on region, speak several languages: German, French, Italian, or Romansch (a comparatively minor Romance language with only about 35,000 speakers). Lucerne is the most populous city in central Switzerland, and though the main language there is German, the vast majority of them speak English as well.

After entering Switzerland and reaching Lucerne, we went straight to dinner at Restaurant Fritschi, just a ten-minute walk from our hotel.

It was a dinner-and-entertainment type of restaurant, so while the stage was being set up, we ate appetizers. The rest of the table had (what else?) Swiss cheese fondue, while I sipped my white wine and dipped bread cubes into a dark, flavorful vegetable broth.

The show began with music and yodeling.

Switzerland was another food surprise for me—i.e., I never thought I’d enjoy it so much! The entrée they made me was steamed vegetables with Rösti (or Röschti), which are basically Swiss hash browns. Mmm!

Everyone knows the Swiss are politically neutral, but did you know that they still have compulsory military service for all males? That means that any of these dorky-looking dudes blowing the alphorn here could probably shoot you from across a crowded room. Weird, huh?

Dessert was silly but tasty—a slice of vanilla-and-strawberry ice cream terrine in the image of the Swiss flag, with a thin layer of meringue at the bottom.

As the show progressed, it became nuttier and nuttier. The traditional instruments they played got weirder and weirder, they did crazy stunts like flag-throwing, and then this giant cow came out to terrorize the diners!

Add to that our waiter daring me to chug my third glass of white wine (never before, never again) and the final sing-along, dance-along song that turned the entire dining room into one huge winding conga line, and you have one insane Swiss evening! I was already excited for the next day. To be continued...

Excursion to Neuschwanstein

2009-12-16T11:45:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the lag in posts, people—it’s the holidays, it’s busy, blah blah, the usual excuses. These Europe posts should be wrapped up by the end of the year, and then it’s back to good old home cooking and baking. Today’s a double post day. I’m keeping this part separate because it involves no food at all!

After leaving Munich the next morning, we swung south into the Bavarian Alps to visit the famous fairytale castle of the mad King Ludwig: Neuschwanstein (pronounced “noish-vahn-stein”). This castle was Disney’s inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty. As we parked at the foot of the mountains, we spotted the towers rising out of the misty air above. For some strange reason, I was the only person who wanted to walk up the mountain instead of take a bus. I’m glad I did. It was a verrry steep hike, but it was well-paved, and I got to see lovely scenery—tall, skinny pencil-like trees, whispering foliage, and a few vertically babbling brooks.

Though the signs posted along the way timed the hike at about 50 minutes, I completed it in 25—go me! I met the rest of the group on Mary’s Bridge, next to and a little higher up than the castle, for the best view.

Um, yeah...so there was a TON of scaffolding (kind of like there was at the Parthenon). But scaffolding aside, it was majestic!

We walked back down toward the castle, pausing again to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery. Down there’s where we parked, amid lakes, hills, and forests, with a horizon full of mountains behind us.

We then got to tour the castle, which was an absolute delight. I’ve never seen such an ornate-yet-whimsical place. This was no monochrome monolith—the inside was dazzlingly colorful, from the rainbow-tiled floors to the jewels embedded in the walls, furniture, and décor. The chandeliers were my favorite—they were spitting images of Burger King crowns! Sadly, photography was not allowed inside, so all I can give you is a shot of the drab-looking courtyard that doesn’t even hint at the bright, multicolored interior.

I highly recommend you do a Google image search for “Neuschwanstein” and check out some professional, scaffolding-free pictures, because the place is stunning.

On the way out of Germany and into Switzerland, we stopped in tiny Liechtenstein. Sadly, some members of the group blinked and missed it. Seriously, we were there for an hour, and we saw the whole thing.

Next up: Lucerne, Switzerland.

Almost vegan in Munich

2009-12-11T10:27:00.012-06:00

Munich. Was. A. BLAST! My mom’s side of the family, the Lichtenauers, are from Bavaria, the southern region of Germany of which Munich is the capital, so I was excited to finally visit my "homeland," so to speak. We arrived on Saturday, September 19. Why is this important? Because it just so happened to be the first day of Oktoberfest 2009! As a result, we canceled the bierhaus dinner we had scheduled in favor of spending the evening at the festival. It was our only day/night in Munich, so I do want to go back someday and explore more of the city itself, but I’m so glad it worked out this way!

Greg, Andrew, and I took a brief walk through the old town before hopping the train to the fairgrounds. During that hour or so, we saw the famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel, in the Marienplatz (Mary’s Plaza)...

...and the Hofbräuhaus, a well-known beer hall. The Nazi party used to hold functions there, yikes.

I also spotted a couple bakery windows full of mouthwatering Bavarian sweet treats.

We strolled down the main shopping drag, where I made a fun purchase at a department store (you’ll see), and then boarded the train. It was still light out when we arrived at Oktoberfest.

I’m not exactly sure what I imagined it would be like (I’m not sure I ever imagined it at all, actually), but the setup came as a surprise to me. There were the massive beer halls, yes, but it was also an amusement park! It was like Worlds of Fun (which is our park in Kansas City) or Six Flags, but on crack. The picture above was taken at the entrance, but once inside, the whole entire park was practically standing room only. I’ve never seen that many people packed into a place like that, where everyone’s on the move but it’s half-impossible to move at all!

We walked around for 30 minutes or so before meeting our group at the Augustiner beerhouse, where they had thankfully secured a hard-to-come-by table on the patio. Ah, seeing this make me miss these people so much!

Just before that, I had gone to the restroom and (after a 20+ minute wait) changed into my new...dirndl! A dirndl is a traditional alpine-peasant-style dress worn in south Germany and Austria, consisting of a bodice, blouse, skirt, and apron. It’s the outfit you’d picture on a stereotypical German beer wench. After considering a black-white-and-red one, I’d selected a super-girly purple-pink-and-white one. I love it! Once I was properly attired, I fulfilled a promise I’d made both to friends back home and to my traveling companions—I drank some beer. See, I don’t like beer, but I’d always vowed to try it in Germany someday. Wouldn’t you know, you could only order it by the liter. Some of those Amazonian waitresses could carry six of these huge glasses at a time!

Oy! It was definitely better than beer in the U.S.; it’s preservative-free by law, was less carbonated, and didn’t have a nasty aftertaste. But even though I put forth my best effort, I could only get through half a liter. I'm still a liquor girl in the end. Isis and Rhi, however, were each able to drink quite a bit more than me!

Greg and I decided to take a break from the packed patio...

...and the oceans of beer being consumed. I have to give a shout-out to Jason here and mention that he drank NINE of these monsters!

I bought an apple fritter for a snack—a circular apple slice that was battered, fried, and dusted in cinnamon sugar. Mmm!

Greg and I took two shots of Jaegermeister apiece, then went exploring.

There were innumerable merchandise booths where you could buy snacks and souvenirs such as steins, glassware, Oktoberfest gear, clothing, jewelry, pretzels, candied nuts, and these popular gingerbread cookie necklaces. Greg bought me one with frosting that matched my dirndl.

We stopped twice more for two more shots of Jaeger apiece before reaching the far corner of the grounds. There, we rode an awesome mini roller coaster (twice!). Here we are before the first ride, pretending to be scared.

Then we rode the Ferris Wheel, since I’d never been on one. It was more boring/slow than I’d thought, but the view from the top made it totally worth it.

This guy is awesome. That is all.

We turned around and took a different route back, stopping twice more for two more shots of Jaeger apiece. Upon returning to the Augustiner, we discovered our group had gone. Uh-oh! Things were wrapping up all over the park, in fact. This gave us the opportunity to finally get a look inside one of the beer halls. They’d been so packed throughout that they wouldn’t allow any more people in. The interior was more impressive than I’d thought, with extravagant chandeliers hanging over dozens and dozens of long tables.

We walked out the other side and allowed the swell of the crowd to guide us to the exit. Along the way, I had one more snack—a cup of sliced bananas studded with chunks of white chocolate, drizzled with chocolate syrup, and topped with a dollop of thickly whipped cream. Oh man, it was so good.

One thing I’d noticed throughout was that despite how completely plastered many of the people were, everyone was friendly, jolly, and affable. I didn’t see anyone acting aggressive, belligerent, or destructive (though I did see a few people fall over or pass out drunk!). All the way out of the park, down the escalators, and into the trains (which were free all evening), whole hordes of people would spontaneously break out in song, and everyone (excluding the poor girl sitting across from us who threw up in a plastic baggie) was smiling, laughing, and chatting like old friends.

After riding the train to the bus station and finally finding the right bus back to the hotel, I went to bed with a big grin on my face, and slept as soundly as could be. I love Oktoberfest! I love Munich! I love Germany!

Next, we do a little more sightseeing in Bavaria, then weave in and out of Germany on our way to Switzerland.

Almost vegan in Salzburg

2009-12-08T11:14:00.003-06:00

The weather was beautiful when we got to Salzburg. Sunny skies peered down on the quaint little north Austrian town and the rolling mountains alongside it. We wandered through their pretty gardens...

...and loitered by the river for a bit.

Kim and I went exploring, and came across a bustling farmers market.

We meandered past fruit stands...

...vegetable stands...

...and several pretzel stands!

Everything was so fresh—the fruit was perfectly ripe, the veggies were vibrantly colored, and the pretzels were just-made. Kim and I couldn’t resist sharing an apple-pie-filling-stuffed pretzel. It was huge!

On our way out of town, we passed the house where Mozart was born.

Back on the bus, Greg was kind enough to share the bounty of berries (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries) he’d purchased. These were the plumpest, juiciest, sweetest blackberries I’ve ever tasted. They weren’t the least bit tart, and they positively melted in my mouth.

Mere minutes later, we crossed the border into Germany! Munich, here we come...

Almost vegan in Vienna II

2009-11-30T11:26:00.001-06:00

Our full day in Vienna was probably one of my favorites of the trip. A very nice and unexpected perk of northern Europe in general was how at-home I felt there. Vienna is a great example—though it’s obviously far older and bigger than Kansas City, walking around there felt completely familiar and comfortable. No leering men to avoid (like in Italy), no pickpockets or gypsies to dodge (like in France or Spain), no street vendors constantly trying to sell you things (like in Italy or Turkey), clean streets and sites (UNlike Greece), and so on. I just felt very safe and at ease at all times.

I chose to wake up early to visit Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer home of the Habsburg family. The Habsburgs were the longest-running and most important royal house of Europe. They ruled for over 800 years (one family!), all the way up to the 20th century. Their empire included Austria, Spain, Hungary, and Bohemia, as well as parts of Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Ambitious, no? The palace was built to rival Versailles, so that (and the picture below) should give you some idea of the immensity of this place. 1,442 rooms!

Of the palaces I visited on my trip, this one was my favorite. The inside is ornate beyond description. If only we were allowed to take pictures! Here is a shot of the astonishing backyard gardens.

After Schönbrunn, we bussed back to central Vienna, where we strolled around the museum district and through the Mozart gardens.

I went on a tour of the Habsburg crypts after that. Imagine a vast underground catacomb housing 800 years’ worth of one family’s bodies...truly fascinating.

The group disbanded after that, and Kim, Greg, and I excitedly walked down to the world-famous Hotel Sacher to have a snack at the attached Café Sacher.

This is one ritzy, expensive hotel. The inside of the café was as elegant as could be.

We had a seat on the patio. Greg ordered a Kapuziner (cappuccino), while Kim and I each had an Einspänner—traditional strong, black Viennese coffee served in a tall glass and topped with a hefty dollop of Schlag (whipped cream). (Can I just say that Schlag may be the silliest and most fun German word ever? Try using it in a sentence without giggling.)

Then, we ate what we came for: the famous Sacher Torte. You may have heard of it. Invented in 1832 by Franz Sacher, a 16-year-old confectioner’s apprentice, it’s pretty much the national dessert of Austria. The Original Sacher Torte recipe is top-secret, and there are only three places in the world to get a piece: the Sacher Hotels in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria (the only places it is made), or the official Sacher shop in Bolzano, Italy (the only other place it is sold).

The torte consists of two layers of not-too-sweet chocolate sponge cake, sandwiching a thin layer of apricot jam, and encased on the top and sides by a dark chocolate ganache. They serve it with unsweetened whipped cream (say it—Schlag!), since it’s considered too dry to be eaten alone. And oh yeah, we each ordered a shot of the Original Sacher Liqueur – an ultra-rich, incredibly thick chocolate liqueur with just a whisper of apricot – on the side. Talk about a decadent midmorning snack!

My mouth waters at the memory.

Kim, Greg, and I worked off a few of those calories with a long walk around the Ring Road that encircles downtown Vienna, admiring the city’s parks, monuments, and architecture. We walked all the way to...Sigmund Freud’s house!

As you might imagine, it’s now a museum. It was very small, but dirt cheap to enter, and we got to see his legendary couch.

After a stop back at the hotel, the entire group coalesced, and we took a trip to the Vienna Schnaps Museum. True Schaps (spelled with one "p"!) is not a liqueur, like in the U.S., but actually a very potent spirit.

It’s been run by the same family since 1902. Gerald Fischer, the great-grandson of the company's founder, conducted our tour, which ended with the opportunity to sample every single one of their products (!). We tried a half dozen different flavors of Schnaps, plus a half dozen flavors of creamy Schnaps liqueur, as well as brandy, whiskey, and some powerful absinthe. We were happy, happy people when we left.

Even had we not imbibed, the evening would have been a blast. We had dinner reservations at Marchfelderhof, which can only be described as a "crazy country mansion restaurant." We laughed in surprised delight when the staff greeted our bus with a "Welcome Friends!" sign, rolled out a red carpet as we walked up, and had Kim cut a ribbon strung across the front gate.

I can’t even begin to describe the interior of this place. Every inch of wall was covered with photographs, paintings, artwork, and the most random of décor, which also hung from the ceiling. Think lights, garlands, baskets, scarves, ballet slippers, musical instruments…

Downright kooky! At our tables, a shot of apple Schnaps (in a test tube) and a slice of unique and tasty garlic butter-sesame seed bread awaited each of us, as well as carafes of red and white wine.

Now, have a confession to make: I ate fish for dinner. Yep, that’s right. There was NO decent veg option, and honestly, if I were ever going to eat fish on this trip, then fresh-caught catfish from the Danube River was probably the fish to eat. And the truth is, this was delicious beyond my wildest dreams. The enormous, lightly breaded and panfried catfish fillets were served with creamy chunks of parsley potatoes and a scoop of garlic-chive butter. Not at all vegan, and not even vegetarian, I'm sorry to say, but DAMN this was good. Easily the best fish I've ever tasted in my life.

After that awesome entrée, dessert was a mere afterthought, but I certainly ate at least a portion of my vanilla-and-chocolate custard-crème parfait with macerated berries and tart, juicy berry sauce.

Vienna absolutely won my heart—and taste buds! Next, on our way out of Austria, we travel through Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart and setting of The Sound of Music.

Almost vegan in Vienna I

2009-11-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

The drive through northern Italy was lovely, but once I saw the gorgeous Austrian countryside, I felt right at home. The rolling hills were peppered with dense tracts of forest-like area and sprinkled with adorable cottages and farms. Austria was, for me, the clear winner of the Prettiest Landscape Award.

Our tour director Bern had hyped up this chain of Austrian/German roadside restaurants called Rosenberger, located in or near gas/service stations in the region, and WOW, they lived up! Upon walking inside, we were flabbergasted at the wide array of food available, buffet-style: salad, fruit, hot food (vegetables, rice, pasta, etc.), freshly baked breads and pretzels, desserts and baked goods, even fresh-squeezed juices! I served myself a huge bowl of mixed fruit and a plate of rice, ratatouille, sautéed bell peppers, steamed carrots, and herbed new potatoes, with a bretzel roll (not a typo, that’s the German) alongside, all for only about 7€.

Our hotel in Vienna was the absolute nicest so far. Apparently it used to be a Club Med. (Inside joke, but it’s true, haha.) We only had a little bit of time to clean up, though, before heading to dinner. We were the only group in the quiet restaurant, which appeared from the outside to be a cozy Viennese family abode.

At last, we were in Riesling country! I had grown to love my red wine during the first half of the trip (which was actually a personal goal of mine), but I welcomed the return to my longtime favorite: sweet whites. The whole group received a glass apiece of local Riesling on the house (served in short glass beer mugs!), and then Greg, Kim, and I shared another bottle.

Throughout the trip, I had expected that my enjoyment of local cuisines would taper off. Northern Europe makes me think sausage, cabbage, gross creamy cheesy stuff, and other such "comfort foods" that I’ve never liked. Vienna proved me wrong in a big way. The rye bread on the table was a great beginning to the meal, but my main dish really blew me away—a savory vegetable strudel topped with a fantastic paprika gravy and served with chunky parsley potatoes. I had a brighter overhead shot of this, but I wanted to show a peek of the inside, which was stuffed with carrots, potatoes, green beans, and more. What a delicious surprise!

The strudeliciousness continued with dessert—a flaky, powdered-sugar-dusted apfelstrudel (apple strudel).

As in Paris, Florence, and Athens, we were treated to in-house music during our meal.

I was really jazzed for what was in store after dinner—a visit to the symphony! How very bourgeois of me, no? I LOVE classical music; I grew up on it, in fact. The opera hall (Börsensäle Wien) was handsomely ornate.

The nine-piece ensemble played Mozart and Strauss pieces, accompanied at times by either a pair of opera singers or a pair of ballerinas, and (even though I'm more of a Bach and Beethoven girl myself) I adored it.

It was a beautiful first evening in Vienna, and it really stoked my excitement to spend the entire following day there.

Almost vegan in Venice II

2009-11-23T12:22:00.010-06:00

We awoke the next morning in Venice to an ominously gray sky. It began to just barely sprinkle as we water taxied back to St. Mark’s Square, which looked much drearier than the night before (but was still stunning).

From the Square, we walked to the Murano glass factory to see a glass-blowing demonstration and to ogle all the gorgeous glass creations in their shop. Kim, Isis, and I split off after that and got gelato. At 10am. Yes.

It started to rain harder as we ate our gelato, so when we were finished, we sprinted just a couple doors down to a mask shop. We spent the better part of an hour trying on all sorts of handmade masks—big ones, small ones, colorful ones, embellished ones, dramatic ones, silly ones, and just plain beautiful ones.

There was a break in the rain at that point, so we left the mask shop and wandered some of the back streets. I marveled at all the magical little canals traversing the city...I felt like I was inside the big painting of Venice I have hanging over my fireplace at home.

We stopped at a small bakery to select and share a bag of treats.

During our walk back to St. Mark’s Square, the rain started coming down again. Gangways had been set out in the Square for people to walk on, because the ground was beginning to flood. Kim, Isis, and I sought refuge in the Doge’s Palace. While running towards it, my right foot landed in a huge, deep puddle. I remember thinking "Damnit! Now my sock is all wet!" Later in the day, I looked back on that thought and laughed at myself.

We had hoped that the rain would quiet down by the time we were done touring the palace, but it only came down harder. We stood awestruck as we watched the rain pour off the building and into the courtyard in sheets.

We couldn’t stay there forever, though. Kim left to try to do some shopping, and Isis and I bought hoodies and an umbrella and ran back off down a side street. It wasn’t more than a couple minutes before my pants were soaked from the knees down. The rain got so bad that we had to stop under a café awning to wait (in vain) for it to subside.

My camera could not do this storm justice. We had to turn around and run back to the Square to meet back up with the group, where we officially learned that our afternoon gondola ride was canceled. That was difficult for me to accept—a gondola ride in Venice was among the top few things I wanted to do in Europe. Well...that just means I have to go back.

I met back up with Kim and we decided to try and buy a bottle of bellini. I say "try" because at this point, shops were closing all over the city. Many were flooding—I ran by quite a few where a hapless owner or worker was trying futilely to sweep the water out the front door, but it was coming in twice as fast as they could mop. We had to stop under another store awning when the rain again began pounding down so hard you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. But, determined to find bellini, I left Kim there and ran down the street in search of an open shop. There were none. It was right about then that the rain broke my umbrella. I am not kidding—it was coming down like such a hail of bullets that the supports inside my umbrella snapped like twigs. I finally turned around to head back, and ended stopping in the pub right next to the shop where Kim was waiting for me, finally buying a[n overpriced] bottle of [warm] bellini.

My shoes were filled with water, both my legs and my right arm (the one not holding the umbrella) were soaked, and then what did we have to do? Run across town to the dock by the Ponti di Suspiri to meet the group again, even though it was quite clear that our evening lagoon cruise to the island of Burano was canceled as well. Kim and I tried to take a shortcut, and lo and behold, we got ourselves a wee bit lost, in the back streets of Venice, during the rainstorm of the century. 20 minutes later and 100% wetter, we found Bern, Greg, and Bronwyn by the dock. Bern confirmed our cruise wasn’t happening, and told us that she’d instructed everyone to meet at a pub instead. Which pub? Wouldn't you know it, it was the very pub where I’d just bought my bellini. Right where Kim and I started our getting-lost-crossing-Venice odyssey 20 minutes prior. So we turned around, ran back to where we'd come from, and staggered in utterly drenched to greet our equally drenched fellow travelers. Almost every inch of me was sopping wet, right down to my underwear (UGH); my hair was dripping, my shoes were completely waterlogged, my umbrella was trashed, and that pitcher of red wine we shared was some of the best of the trip, I swear.

We tried drying ourselves under the hand dryers in the bathroom to no avail.

That pub didn’t have an enticing menu, so we ran around the corner to another pub to eat and continue drinking. I choked down a few sips of way-too-sweet Sex on the Beach before switching to shots of vodka, courtesy of Greg. We ordered lots of food to share, too. I chose another pizza marinara—simple, classic, delicious.

I also sampled what they called vegetarian bruschetta, but the cheese was a little off-putting.

After the day we’d had, we decided to return to the hotel just after 8pm. By then, the rain had finally ceased. Some of the group had discussed the storm with locals who’d said – get this – that they'd never seen rain like that in Venice in their LIFETIMES.

What a crazy, unbelievable day. I think it says something that despite the mess and trouble, I loved the city as I always knew I would. I just knew there was a reason I'm so enchanted by Venetian history, art, architecture, and so on and on; why I have a huge picture of the place in my living room; why I've fantasized about that damn gondola ride for so many years. Basically, I am thankful just to have been able to go there. I am also now OBLIGED to go back, and that's not such a bad thing. Oh, Venezia, ti amo.

But believe me, we breathed a huge sigh of relief upon entering sunny Austria the next day.

Almost vegan in Venice I

2009-11-18T13:44:00.001-06:00

We landed the next morning at the port of Ancona on the east coast of Italy. It was most of a day’s drive north to get to Venice. Our hotel was on the mainland, so after dropping things off, we drove across the bridge to the entrance of the city. We took a water taxi up the Grand Canal to get to our dinner at a restaurant inside an unassuming little waterside inn. They poured us red wine in these ginormous glasses.

I said it before and I’ll say it again—the Italians, not surprisingly, make superb marinara sauces. This one was probably my favorite of the trip.

Alongside that, I got yet another antipasto platter.

Dessert was a slice of vanilla-hazelnut ice cream terrine topped with caramel sauce.

After dinner we walked right outside the inn and got on another water taxi for our Venice-by-night canal cruise. The oohing and aahing was nonstop (as with the Seine cruise in Paris) as we whizzed through the inky sea past building after beautiful lit-up waterside building.

Our cruise wrapped up near the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), and from there it was a short walk to the magnificent St. Mark’s Square.

We were the envy of the Square as we relaxed at the tables we’d reserved on the terrace of a ritzy restaurant, sipping bellinis and munching on crunchy snacks.

The sky had been overcast that afternoon and the air had been moist throughout the evening. We expected rain the next day, but we never could have predicted the tempest that was in store for us...
To be continued!

Almost vegan in Patmos/Santorini

2009-11-16T11:55:00.006-06:00

After leaving Turkey, it was a short sail to the Greek island of Patmos.

We took a long, steep hike up to the monastery of St. John to take in the incredible scenery.

I went back to the ship for dinner after a walk around town. These Greek cruise entries (this one especially) are very light on food because I ate three meals per day on the ship, so there wasn’t much of note to photograph and write about. Here, though, is a fun dessert we had that night at dinner—a trio of mini Greek pastries.

We docked at Crete the next morning, but since there wasn’t as much to see there, I took the opportunity to sleep in. I needed to rest up for the afternoon in Santorini.

Santorini was definitely my favorite stop. Once a single island, it was destroyed by the eruption of an underseas volcano 500 years ago. What remains is an archipelago of tiny islands ringing the mouth. The two main towns, Oía and Thira, are built on the steep rim of the caldera. Before visiting there, though, I chose to take an excursion up the volcano itself.

It was a 40-minute hike up the rocky remains. Once at the top, though, we had a 360-degree view of the magnificent caldera and and its towns, as well as the surrounding lagoon and the Aegean Sea stretching into the distance. This was my very favorite thing I did in Greece.

On the way down, we passed several smoking, sulphuric hotspots of the still-active volcano.

After the hike, we bussed up the cliffs to Thira. I walked around the quaint downtown until twilight fell, then took a cable car back down into the lagoon and reboarded the ship.

That was the end of our lovely 3-day Greek cruise. We disembarked back at Piraeus, and on our way out of Greece, took a daytime excursion through the countryside...

...to visit the site of the old Oracle of Delphi. Yep, more ruins. We saw the old temples, the stadium, and the amphitheatre.

The mountain air was thin and chilly, but the views were spectacular.

We said goodbye to Greece after that, crossing the largest suspension bridge in the world to reach the port of Patras and board another overnight ferry back to Italy.

I’ll be making up for today’s lack of food in the next entry, one of the most unique and romantic cities in the world: Venice. (Just wait till you see the weather we encountered...)

Almost vegan in Mykonos/Kusadasi

2009-11-12T10:26:00.003-06:00

The next morning, we drove from Athens to the nearby port of Piraeus, where we boarded our wee little ship, the Aegean Pearl, and set sail on a three-day island-hopping cruise of the Greek isles.

That first evening, we visited the island of Mykonos, which is largely known as "the party island." Maybe it’s because it was a gray evening with some scattered light rain, but I found it to be a very quiet, peaceful place. For dinner, I bought a vegetarian gyro (tomatoes, red onions, peppers, and lettuce, hold the tzatziki) from a crowded little order-at-the-counter place. Now, what I’m about to tell you may shock you: in Greece, gyros are topped with "chips." That’s right—all true, “authentic” Greek gyros have a big handful of french fries inside. Strange but true! It was really alien to me, but I found it to be a surprisingly tasty addition.

I wandered the ultra-narrow streets from dusk to nightfall, then enjoyed a relaxing and scenic walk back to the ship, admiring the cubic white-and-blue buildings dotting the landscape.

The next morning, we arrived at our one non-Greek stop on the cruise: TURKEY! We docked at the port city of Kusadasi, south of Istanbul.

I left the group and took an excursion by bus into the countryside and up a small mountain, to the house where the Virgin Mary supposedly died. I have a scholarly interest in such things.

After that, I visited the ancient city of Ephesus. We had all thought Pompeii was pretty cool, but it can’t even hold a candle to Ephesus. It was huge, and densely littered with ruins.

Some of them were downright majestic, such as the library...

...and the mammoth amphitheatre.

Epic! I loved it. It was thrilling to stroll the very streets on which Anthony and Cleopatra once tread.

After Ephesus, I had just enough time to do a little bit of browsing at the bazaar.

The sellers at these markets are pushy and rather in-your-face to begin with, but the Turks seemed to take a particular liking to me. I suppose a pale-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl is exotic to them in some way? I was stopped several times and told I was "beautiful," "an angel," "a Barbie," etc. Many of them also enthusiastically pointed out that my eyes resemble the Eye of Medusa, a talisman widely used in Greece and Turkey to ward off evil. It’s everywhere over there—you see it in jewelry, décor, artwork, pottery, carpets, on front doors, even embedded into sidewalks.

The bazaar was quite an experience, to say the least! I returned to the ship with apple tea and Turkish delight in tow. Turkish delight is a chewy, jelly-like candy made of starch and sugar and flavored with such things as rosewater, nuts, fruit flavors, and more. I picked up a small box of the chocolate-coconut kind, which wasn’t available to try a bite of in the shops. It was ok, but I wished I had bought the classic mixed-fruit-with-pistachio variety that I’d sampled. If you can ever get your hands on some, that’s the one I’d recommend.

I know this entry was light on food, but that will soon be made up for. More Greece is up next!

Almost vegan in Athens

2009-11-09T10:01:00.002-06:00

After leaving Pompeii, we drove south to the port of Naples, where we boarded our overnight ferry for Greece. We docked at Patras, boarded a new bus, and drove to Athens.

Athens. Is. HUGE. Along with Paris and Barcelona, it was the biggest city I visited. It was also the dirtiest and most overcrowded, sadly, but that didn’t put much of a dent in my awe.

After settling in at our hotel, we took a driving tour of the city, ending at the Acropolis. We climbed to the top of the hill (the second tallest in Athens) to visit the legendary Parthenon. Scaffolding aside, it was a beauty.

That evening, we walked to our dinner at a taverna in a nice area of downtown Athens. Linguistically, I felt like a fish out of water in Greece. Elsewhere, I either knew or at least was familiar with the local language, but I’m ashamed to say I can’t even read Greek!

Our whole table received an array of appetizers. They just kept coming! I snapped this picture when I thought they had brought all they were going to bring, but two or three more plates arrived after I took this shot. Here, from top left, is Greek salad with a hunk of feta (bleh), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves; not my thing either), baba ganouj (mmm!), and at the bottom, some surprisingly tasty fried zucchini chips.

My main dish was rice, peas and carrots, potatoes, and eggplant and zucchini in tomato sauce. It would have been really good...if it weren’t swimming in 1/4 inch of oil. Oh well.

Dessert MORE than made up for it. That’s right—BAKLAVA! So nutty and SO GOOD! Honey and butter galore, and I don’t care, because I got to eat baklava in Greece!

On our walk back to the hotel, I spied a bakery window, and had to take a picture even though the place was closed.

It was a memorable day and night in this famed classical city. The view of the Parthenon, lit up like a nightlight, from my hotel window was the icing on the cake.

Almost vegan in Capri/Sorrento

2009-11-04T10:26:00.003-06:00

After leaving Rome, we ferried over to the beautiful Isle of Capri.

I strolled the narrow streets with Kim and Leigh, and then we sat down for lunch at a café down the road from the docks. I had a really lovely pizza marinara.

We were going to boat over to the lagoon for a swim in the grotto, but strong winds interfered with our plan. Instead, we spent a leisurely afternoon at the beach. I wasn’t in the mood to swim, so I borrowed a friend’s towel and took a nap on the sand—SO relaxing.

We ferried back to the mainland and arrived in Sorrento.

Sorrento is famous for its limoncello, so Kim and I walked around their tiny streets, ducking in every liquor shop we saw to try samples. After five or six stops, we each bought a bottle to take home. Just check out the size of those lemons (bottom right)!

The group reassembled and we bussed up the windy cliffside roads to our hotel. It was a quiet night; Sorrento was more of a stopover than an attraction, so we dined in the hotel. They had a delightful accidentally-vegan antipasto spread.

I filled my plate with peppers, potatoes, chickpeas, cornbread, eggplant, zucchini, grean beans, bread and oil, and more.

I built myself a tasty little grilled vegetable sandwich. There’s Brad and Greg in the background admiring my handiwork!

Overcompensation for my dietary requests seemed to be the rule in Italy—not that I minded! Here, I was given more unexpected pasta, a plate of wonderfully al dente penne with another great marinara sauce and fresh basil chiffonade.

They also had a mouthwateringly colorful fresh fruit buffet...

...and, of course, a dessert buffet. Who knew hotel food could be so good?

The next morning, we left early to visit Pompeii, another oft-read-about and much-looked-forward-to stop for me. We wandered the ancient streets, where you could still see homes, shops, marketplaces, fountains, mosaics, signs, columns, murals, and of course the famous brothels.

We viewed bodies (many were plaster casts, but some were real, with still-visible bones and teeth) of people (and one dog) frozen in time at the moments of their death when the volcanic ash rained down on the town. It was haunting as well as fascinating. Here’s me with the mighty Mount Vesuvius herself in the background. I didn’t intend to look so sinister here, heh.

After leaving Pompeii, we drove south to the port of Naples, where we boarded our overnight ferry to Greece. To be continued!

Almost vegan in Rome

2009-10-30T12:48:00.005-05:00

In order to fit Rome into a single entry, I’m going to do my best to be minimally chatty here, and let the pictures do the talking!

The first evening in Rome, we took a walking tour, stopping at such sites as the Spanish steps...

...the Trevi Fountain...

...and Piazza Navona, the artists’ square.

About a dozen of us went off in search of dinner together, and landed at Anima e Sapori (which means “Soul and Flavors”) just outside the Piazza Navona. Most of us were hankering for some authentic Roman gnocchi, but to our chagrin, the restaurant only had ONE serving left! As a consolation, they gave it to us on the house, and we passed it around the table so everyone could try a bite. (I, of course, ate from the edge to avoid the cheese.) It was everything you’d want it to be—tender, finely-textured, and coated in a rich, tangy tomato sauce.

It was too hard to choose just one entrée, so Kim and I decided to order two and split both. Pesto linguine was an easy choice, since we’d missed out on trying pesto while in Tuscany. Little did we know we were about to eat the most delicious, luxurious, tongue-dancingly tasty pesto of our LIVES! It was thick, salty, savory, and bursting with fresh herb flavor. (Kim took care of the parmesan-y noodles on top.) We wanted to lick this plate when we were done, seriously. We actually might have; I can’t remember.

We also shared a pizza with eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, and red and yellow peppers. (The bottom, cheese-free half was mine.) It was a great pizza, but after the magnificence of the pesto, I don’t think we could fully appreciate it.

Kim and I walked across the street to get gelato for dessert, which we ate while sitting on the edge of the fountain in the Piazza Navona, watching the bustling throngs of Romans roam about. We took a short walk ourselves to admire the Pantheon at night before returning to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

We needed the rest, because first thing the next morning, we went to the Vatican. We walked past a looong line and met our pre-arranged guide Salvatore at the entrance. We toured the museums, which included the Sistine Chapel, and then found ourselves in Piazza San Pietro, a.k.a. St. Peter’s Square. To call it "massive" would be laughable; it can hold over 300,000 people.

Behind us loomed St. Peter’s Basilica.

It’s impossible to select a picture representative of the immensity of the place, but suffice it to say, those letters running in a gold strip across the top (see top left of photo) are 18 feet tall apiece. It boggles the mind, even if you’re standing there looking right up at them. The building can hold over 60,000 people.

Even after all that, the best was yet to come. If you recall what I said at La Sagrada Familia, the Colosseum was one of the most important things I needed to see in my life. As we circled around it in the bus, I couldn’t speak. Walking up to it, I felt like I was in a dream. I cried a couple silent tears, because as silly as it may sound, I cannot fathom that that place could have meant to anyone else there that day what it meant to me. That visit was, for me, the apex of my 10 years of Latin, 14 years of Romance languages, and nearly two decades of love for all things historical, cultural, literary, artistic, and scholarly. I am a nerd to the core, and proud of it.

Ok, enough sappiness. Here I am inside the Colosseum, feeling more elated than I may look.

Kim and I met some nutty gladiators outside.

We walked across the street and checked out the Forum, then figured 'When in Rome, eat more gelato.'

Our group ate dinner together at Canova, located right off Piazza del Popolo (the People’s Plaza).

Another absurdly huge meal was in store for me. I started with a small antipasto platter...

...followed by asparagus risotto, which was alright but underseasoned.

Next they brought me spaghetti marinara. I swear, all the marinara sauces I ate in Italy were the best I've ever eaten.

I had thought the spaghetti was my (one) main course, but since they were so flummoxed at how to accommodate a vegetarian, I guess they thought I needed MORE pasta! This one was tagliatelle with pesto, and although it was good, it just couldn’t compare to the night before’s.

What could better end an Italian feast than tiramisu?

During my final walk through the city that evening, I soaked up all I could of the unique and ethereal atmosphere of Rome by night.

More Italy is next! And after that, we sail to Greece.