Archive for July, 2008

Wrapping Up – Random Meals

July 31, 2008 at 11:42 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

I wanted to make this post before I left Gainesville, but as most of us know packing, cleaning and moving is incredibly time consuming.  So tonight I write from Lafayette, Louisiana, where we are staying after our first (very long) day of driving.

I didn’t get to eat all the food from my freezer and pantry that I wanted to use up, but I did what I could.  I’m gonna keep this one short, cause it is close to sleepy time.

First, a truly random meal that was composed of everything I could find in the fridge:  herbed tofu, carrots and broccoli w/ tamari and dill, bulgur pilaf and a strawberry jalapeno corn muffin.  Somehow it worked.

A fairly composed meal almost entirely from the pantry – chickpeas rogan josh, instant mashed potatoes w/ peas and turmeric, and steamed broccoli.

I used this canned rogan josh curry sauce, which I had picked up meaning to try with tofu.  It tasted really nice with the chickpeas though, almost like an Indian-flavored baked beans.

If you look in the background you can see the potato buds that I spilled all over the counter.

It’s always a bonus when your meal resembles a smiley face.  (“Good morning, breakfast!” “Good morning, Peewee!”)

Inspired by Caroline at The Broccoli Hut, I made a breakfast parfait with pieces of bran muffin.  This one also had peach soy yogurt, blueberries and flax flakes cereal.

As moving day got closer, I became less and less inclined to prepare food.  One day I picked up some slices from Leo’s By The Slice.  They have a spot labelled “vegan” on the pizza display and make cheeseless pies a couple times a day.  I think the toppings are at the whim of whomever is making it, so it’s always different.  Sometimes they use tofu, chickpeas or even tempeh, but more often than not it’s just all the veggies.  Often, they line the whole pizza with spinach under the other toppings, which is really good.  A couple times I have gone to find no vegan slices available, but their garden salad is great and the pasta marinara is vegan too, not to mention the rolls and delicious marinara.  So if you’re ever in Gainesville, stop by Leo’s for a quick slice.

I think a lot of pets freak out when you start moving stuff out of your home and shuffling things around, but not Jake.  He enjoyed sitting in and laying on all the newly unoccupied spaces.  This is the bottom shelf of a bookcase, in case it’s not obvious.

Lastly, our friend Nate had folks over last weekend to grill and practice black jack.  I made a “throw everything in a bowl” pasta salad with red onion, carrot, cucumber, artichoke hearts, olives, pimientos, chickpeas, parsley and probably a couple other things I’m forgetting.  The dressing was just vegennaise, balsamic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  It was well received, and made a ton so I had leftovers.

I also made a chocolate pudding pie with a crust from the freezer.  I wanted to try the VWAV chocolate pudding recipe, but I had JUST packed up all my cookbooks.  So I looked it up online, but I’m not going to post a link because A) I’m not sure it’s the exact recipe, and B) it didn’t set up properly.  I’ll try again when I have the book for reference.

The good news was it tasted great, even if it ran everywhere and plated up funny.

It’s bedtime for me here in Louisiana.  We have a couple more loooong days left of driving, then a stop in Las Vegas and possibly a jaunt to Anaheim before we arrive in NorCal.  I’m trying to document as much awesome (read: awful) roadtrip food as possible and will post again when we arrive.  Until then…

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Decadent Breakfasts & Laptop Lunches

July 21, 2008 at 11:42 am · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , ,

I woke up Saturday morning feeling as one feels the morning after one’s friends have come into town and bought one shots.  On a scale of 0 = no hangover to 10 = the worst one I’ve ever had, I was somewhere around a 3, which is really not so bad.  Anywho, the very first thing I thought when I woke up was that I wanted a “decadent” breakfast.  Decadent is not a word I use, nor an adjective I wish to describe my life (which it certainly does not), but apparently it was a breakfast I wanted.  So I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oat Bran.  BF was borrowing my camera to craigslist some furniture, so you get a cell phone shot that is unworthy of the true deliciousness.

I like to plop pb on my oat bran right when it’s done cooking, that way when you stir it in it melts a little.  Some bites are more pb than anything else, and obviously, those are the best bites.  I left the banana chunky and used crunchy pb in this cause I like the texture, but mashed banana and smooth pb would be really good too.  This decadent breakfast is actually really good for you!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oat Bran

1/4 c oat bran
1/2 c rice/almond/soy milk
1/4 c water
banana, chopped
handful chocolate chips
pinch of salt
1-2 Tbs peanut butter

1.  Combine oatbran, milk and water in a microwaveable bowl.  Microwave 1 minute.
2.  Stir in the banana, reserving some for garnish.  Microwave another minute.
3.  Stir in the chocolate chips and salt; microwave another minute.
4.  Stir again, and if a thicker consistency is desired microwave one more minute.
5.  Put the pb on top, and garnish with banana and extra chocolate chips.  Stir before eating.

Sunday morning I woke up with a hearty hunger.  I had been contemplating biscuits and gravy since I had biscuits to use up in the freezer.  I also though I had half a package of Morningstar chick’n strips, so I was thinking white peppery chick’n gravy.  Turns out they were steak strips, and so I made steak gravy.

It doesn’t make for the prettiest picture, but the gravy was so good!  I used the Easy Gravy recipe from Hot Damn & Hell Yeah as a reference.  I subbed rice milk for some of the water, added a dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce, used copious amounts of salt and black pepper, and threw in chopped “steak” at the end.  My singular complaint is that it took FOREVER for the gravy to cook down.  Like, over an hour.  Maybe my roux wasn’t as roux-ish as it was supposed to be, I’m no roux expert.  Even with the wait, this meal was well worth it, especially to use up more bits from the freezer.

I’m starting to freak out a bit about moving.  NEXT WEEK.  Until now it was some thing in the future that I had plenty of time to plan for.  Now it’s next week.  I had a really hard time falling asleep last night.  Partly because we watched the third Lord Of The Rings movie (which was really awesome, but far too action packed for just-before-bedtime), and partly because my mind started obsessing over all the stuff that’s still in my apartment that I can’t take with me.  It’s okay though, there are some people coming by tonight to hopefully by furniture, and I’ve set Friday as the date to cart off all the smaller stuff to Salvation Army.  Until I move it will continue to be simple eats for me, such as dinner from Saturday night.

There was a free preview of some MLB package going on, so we watched baseball all day and grilled lunch and dinner.  Lunch was an uneventful veggie burger.  Dinner was a prepackaged herbed tofu steak with mushrooms, grilled asparagus, a hedgehog potato (stuffed with minced garlic, salt and pepper – first saw the idea here), and grilled zucchini with red onion leftover from lunch.  The grilling gods were not smiling upon us, I think it took over two hours to complete this meal.  So I guess it wasn’t really that simple.  It was mostly due to the Publix Greenwise charcoal we tried to use – It would blaze for 15 minutes or so, then completely die.  We had to finish the potatoes in the oven.

Since there’s been so much on my mind I haven’t been keeping up with laptop lunches.  I still take a lunch every day, but more often I have been throwing stuff in tupperware instead of taking the time to arrange it.  Here are a few from last week.

7-15  chickpea cutlet & tomato parmesan, cherry tomatoes, spaghetti marinara w/
almond parmesan, roasted green beans, peach slices, blackberries

7-16  lima & edamame succotash, onion rings, ketchup, fig bar, blueberry muffin

7-17  bulgur pilaf, cucumber tomato salad, spaghetti marinara w/
almond parmesan, gherkins, dried apples & pineapple

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Divine Intervention

July 17, 2008 at 2:09 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , ,

Yesterday while I was perusing blogland I came across this recipe for Bulgur Pilaf at Chocolate Covered Vegan, and I think it was divine intervention because I had bulgur in the pantry to use up, and was wanting something healthy, tasty  and low-fat for dinner.  Or it was a case of “great minds think alike”.  I stopped at the grocery store after work and purchased the necessary ingredients, then walked home in the rain.

Then I did a pilates video!  I sold my elliptical machine, which I was using nearly every day (when I was being good).  I had picked up a Windsor Pilates “Fat Burn” DVD a long time ago for $2.99, and finally unwrapped it and gave it a try.  I really like it!  I like aerobics and dancersize type workouts, and this one includes a bit of toning and core work as well.  I’m hoping wherever we end up living has a room I can do videos like this one, cause I really like ‘em.  Also, I’m hoping that my downstairs neighbor who looked like she was moving out last week is actually gone, because I’m quite sure from downstairs I sound like one of those hippos with tutus from Fantasia bouncing around.  Old building = squeaky floors and not so good soundproofing.

Afterwards I made dinner.  The bulgur pilaf turned out really well, except mine was pretty wet, which I don’t think it is supposed to be.  The bulgur still had some water in it from cooking and I tried to let it cook off, but I didn’t want an overcooked, squishy pilaf.  The flavor was very good, it tasted healthy in a good way, if you know what I mean.  The fresh ginger gave it that extra something.  Thanks for the recipe, Katie!

(I could NOT get a decent picture without flash last night, no matter what I did!)

To go with the pilaf and use more of dad’s tomatoes, I made a tomato cucumber salad, with red onion, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, parsley, s&p.

This was a nice, light summertime meal, and almost fat-free!

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Still Cleaning Out My Kitchen

July 15, 2008 at 8:40 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Actually, I’m starting with one thing that didn’t help purge my kitchen, but it sure did taste good.  A couple years ago I made a chocolate cake for my birthday, a wacky cake recipe from La Dolce Vegan.  My friend Laura liked it a lot, so since her birthday was Friday I made her a cake of her own.

I knew I wouldn’t have a whole lot of time to decorate and was feeling festive, so I went with sprinkles.  Yay!  I had to buy a whole bottle and certainly don’t need leftover sprinkles, so I mixed most of the bottle into the cake, for a funfetti-type-thing.  It worked well!  Here’s the insides.

A funny thing happened while cutting the cake.  A friend of Laura’s from nursing school came into the kitchen.  Laura offered her cake (there was another cake there too) and she said no thanks.  Then Laura was like “this one’s vegan” and her friend said “Oh!  Yeah!” and took a slice.  I wanted to ask if it was opposite day.  That kind of thing doesn’t happen!  Turns out she’s vegetarian and therefore interested in vegan baked goods.

On Saturday I had a Buy My Stuff Open House, kind of like an indoor yardsale for friends only.  I had promised refreshments but didn’t feel like preparing anything (crazy!) so I took the opportunity to thaw some freezer foods.

Leftover cake with oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies, both from the freezer.

Smoky salsa from the freezer, store bought guac (gasp), blue corn chips and oat bran pretzels.  The oat bran pretzels are really good.

Sunday night my parents came into town and took us out to dinner at Emiliano’s, a Pan-Latin restaurant downtown.  I wish I had taken my camera, because the food there is really good.  I had gazpacho and black beans over spanish rice, and shared two tapas with my mom – escalivada (grilled veggies & pita chips, cheese on the side for mom) and amarillos.  I also had a basil mojito, which was at once odd and delicious.

Last night I made a meal I had been meaning to make since I bought green beans at the farmers market last week, but had to keep putting it off, and I’m glad I waited because my parents brought me a bunch of tomatoes from my dad’s garden.

As good as these tomatoes are, I’m just not a raw tomato person except for a slice in a sandwich here and there.  Even the cherry tomatoes – some people eat them like candy.  Me, not so much.  Anywho, a thick slice of tomato on top of this chickpea cutlet parmesan gave it that extra special something.  Served with spelt spaghetti marinara and balsamic roasted green beans.

Freezer – chickpea cutlets, marinara
Pantry – spelt spaghetti, breadcrumbs, almond parmesan
Farmers Market – green beans
Free! – dad’s tomatoes

Overall three meals of this cost $2.  That’s some good math.

In the spirit of using more tomatoes and freezer foods, tonight I had a take on succotash and onion rings.  I love onion rings, but they’re so bad for you!  Probably why they were still in the freezer.

The succotash is lima beans, edamame and corn (all from the freezer), EB, quartered cherry tomatoes, garlic and onion powder, basil, dill, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and braggs.  Topped with hot sauce.

By my math, this meal was free!  And there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Sweet.

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Farmers Market Wednesday

July 11, 2008 at 2:15 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , ,

It had been about a week since I bought fresh produce, so I was very ready for a trip to the market on Wednesday.  I bought sweet potatoes, a vidalia onion, Japanese eggplant, peaches, green beans and pak choi.

And as is becoming standard, I found a little buggy on the pak choi.  I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but when I took him outside I found he was an itsy bitsy caterpillar.

I went to the market with no meal plans, and as I was walking around I was thinking stir-fry.  I’d never tried the skinny Japanese eggplant, although I knew they were basically the same as the big ones.  The stir-fry ingredients weren’t coming together for me, so I went a different direction and came up with:  Agave Garlic Eggplant, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Pak Choi.

With the eggplant I was going for a take on honey chicken, like you’d get at a strip mall Chinese joint.  Sweet, garlicky, and a little bit spicy.  I don’t have great knowledge of Asian cooking, and my attempts generally fall a bit flat in the flavor department, but I have to say that this turned out exactly how I had imagined.  No exact recipe, but I’ll give you a run down.  I think this would be really good with tofu or seitan too.

Agave Garlic Eggplant

4 Japanese eggplant, cut in half lengthwise then cut into quarter inch slices
medium sweet onion, halved then sliced.  regular onion would also work.
2-3 Tbs peanut oil
splash sesame oil
soy sauce
8 cloves garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
a couple Tbs agave nectar
about 1/3 c water
1-2 tsp hoisin sauce
splash rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs cornstarch

1.  Mix the last five ingredients (agave nectar through cornstarch) together in a small bowl; set aside.
2.  Heat the oils in a wok over medium-high heat.  Add the eggplant and onion and cook, stirring and adding splashes of soy sauce as needed, until eggplant are cooked to your liking.  I let mine go quite a while to be sure the eggplant was cooked enough.
3.  Clear a spot in the center of the wok;  put in the garlic and let it cook for 5-10 seconds, then stir in.  Do the same with the red pepper flakes.
4.  Whisk the sauce again then add to the wok.  Stir and cook until the sauce thickens, a few minutes.

Serves 3-4.

I leave you for today with a picture of the pak choi stems, which made nice little shapes when I cut them off.

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Cleaning Out My Kitchen

July 9, 2008 at 1:51 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , ,

As previously mentioned, I am moving across the country in three weeks (ACK!!!).  In the name of not wasting food and saving money, I am going to try to eat as much of the food in my freezer and pantry as possible before I leave.  I knew I had quite a bit stockpiled, but going through my freezer is always a fun adventure.

I started the clean-out game last week with this meal, mini bowtie pasta with cheesy sauce, sauteed seitan beer brats, zucchini and red pepper, caramelized onions, paprika and roasted brussels sprouts .

pantry:  pasta, paprika
freezer:  beer brat, cheesy sauce
leftover from another meal:  zucchini, half an onion
bought:  red pepper, brussels sprouts

Last night for dinner I made a similar sort of concoction - rice, mushrooms, peas and tofurkey kielbasa with cheesy sauce, savory carrot salad.

pantry:  rice, salad dressing ingredients
freezer:  cheesy sauce, peas
leftover from fourth of july:  kielbasa, mushrooms
from the fridge:  carrots

Want to play the clean-out game with me?  Here’s the list of what I have to work with.

freezer:

one portion tamale pie
veggie broth
two seitan beer brats
pecans
alphabet soup
chocolate wafer cookies
veggie burgers
chickpea cutlets
chick’n strips
2 bags marinara
white bread
wheat bread
ww hamburger buns
seeded burger buns
ww hotdog buns
ww rolls
biscuits
english muffins
mini bagels
pie crust
blueberry waffles
strawberry jalapeno corn muffins
blueberry muffins
gf orange poppyseed mini muffins
mini bran muffins
oatmeal raisin cookies
choco-choco chip-walnut cookies
bit of broccoli
peas
lima beans
shelled & unshelled edamame
corn
mixed berries
bananas
onion rings
salsa

pantry:

can split pea soup
can corn
can rogan josh curry sauce
can chickpeas
cellophane noodles
1/2 c quinoa
shake n’ bake
ww orzo
4 ww lasagna noodles
spelt spaghetti
potato buds
panko
bulgur

I can figure out what to do with the cookies, muffins and soup (eat them!), any ideas for using the rest?  The breads in the freezer will make at least three pounds of bread crumbs.  Some ideas I have are:

chickpea cutlet parmesan (chickpea cutlets, marinara, pasta, shake n’ bake?)
falafel and tabouleh (chickpeas and bulgur)
succotash (lima beans and corn)

I don’t think realistically I can eat all this stuff in three weeks, but I’m gonna try!

Unrelated cute picture:  It rained a lot here yesterday; I got soaked walking home from the bus stop.  There is a pond in the courtyard of my apartment complex that is apparently full of frogs, and when it storms they go NUTS!  They were so loud that I had a hard time sleeping last night.  When I went in the hallway to take out the trash this little guy was glued to the wall.

I’m not sure how he found his way up to the second floor, and if I were a less squeamish person I might’ve returned him to the ground.  Here’s hoping froggy found his way home.

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Fourth of July

July 9, 2008 at 8:42 am · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Yeah, it’s the ninth of July and I’m posting about the fourth.  That’s how things are going right now.  Applying for jobs, planning the move, getting rid of my stuff and living as cheaply as possible are consuming my mind and there’s not room for much else!  Now I understand when people say “I don’t have time to cook”.

I have an admission to make:  Every fourth of July I get the urge to make a red, white and blue cake a la Family Circle and moms everywhere.  I’m not very patriotic at all, but it’s just the Suzy Homemaker thing that I like to do every now and then.  I’ve had to work on the fourth for the past few years and so thus far had not fulfilled my flag cake dream.

This year I didn’t leave myself a whole lot of time, but managed to come up with an effort I can be proud of.  I made the Lemon Almond Cake from Yellow Rose Recipes, which calls for decorating the top with strawberries.  My friend Janeen, who I’ve mentioned before is allergic to soy, is also allergic to strawberries (the poor thing!), so I took the opportunity to incorporate blueberries into the design.  I needed to leave the glaze off her portion too since it included margarine, so I designated a Janeen corner and went from there.

I think it’s supposed to be stripes and fireworks and American things.  What is was was delicious.  The cake is very moist and almost intensely flavorful, I might even reduce the almond extract a bit the next time I make it.  Janeen made sure to steal her corner first and then we went at it.  If you make this cake, which you should, be sure to eat it within the first two days as it spoils quickly, what with all the freshness on top.  Or you could probably extend the life by putting it in the fridge.

As per usual, we were to spend the day grilling.  I wanted a non-store bought (read:  cheaper) protein to grill, so I made Black Bean Burgers from Veganomicon.  I pan-fried them to fully cook and then grilled later just to reheat.  Heed the instructions when they tell you to press them down in the pan!  Otherwise the middles can be a little undercooked.  Here they are packed up for transport.

I ended up eating pretzels and chips and boiled peanuts all afternoon, and wasn’t hungry for dinner until much later that night.  We fired up some new coals and had a veggie grilling session.  Our friend Amber had brought Tofurkey kielbasas so we cooked those up, along with some corn and zucchini that had been waiting for action all day.  I couldn’t manage all of that, so I just had a kielbasa and a burger.

I love how it looks like a crazy face!  I put lettuce, tomato, grilled red onion, grilled mushrooms, avocado, ketchup, AND mustard on the burger and it was way tall when I piled it up to eat.  It was a task I was willing to undertake.

These burgers are really good!  I’m definitely going to make them again.  I’d recommend eating these within a day or two also, or putting them straight in the freezer.  After a few days the wheat gluten texture got a little funky and freaked me out.

By the next night I was ready to fully enjoy everything we had made, so I did.

My food has been pretty boring lately, as I am trying to eat out of the pantry and freezer and buy as little food as possible.  I should have some decent pantry meals to post about soon.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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Mexican/Mexican-ish

July 3, 2008 at 12:25 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , ,

I posted a review of Las Margaritas about a month ago with one of the meals I order there.  We went again last night (we really do go once a week), so here is a camera phone pic of the other meal I get.  It’s the “Veggie F no cheese”, a burrito with grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms, rice and refried beans.

las margs

I am needing to slim down my eating a tad, so earlier this week I wanted to make a great salad.  Back when I was just out of college and working very hard at weight loss, I regularly ate a salad that included lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, black beans, canned corn, shredded cheese (I was ovo-lacto at the time), maybe a few crumbled tortilla chips and a dressing of Kraft fat-free ranch mixed with store bought salsa.  It was a good tasting throw together salad and did the trick at the time, but it was very bottled and canned, if you know what I mean.  I was wanting a more grown up, sophisticated version.

I started with the dressing.  I wanted a Mexi-ranch feel similar to this recipe from a certain chain restaurant.  (Although, a post from someone who claims to have formerly worked at said restaurant says it was literally just ranch and salsa mixed together.  Seems more their style.)  I had cashews leftover from making the quiche last weekend and figured that rather than using sour cream or mayo, they could provide me a creamy base.

I sauteed mushrooms and green peppers until soft, then added black beans, fresh corn off the cob, chili powder and lime juice.  Chili and lime is one of my favorite flavor combinations to go with corn.  In the bowl went chopped romaine, diced cucumber, shredded carrot, the warm sauteed mixture, avocado, cilantro, scallions, lime zest and finally the dressing.

mexi-salad

I will admit that I also tried to make polenta croutons.  They failed, probably for a number of reasons.  I considered sprinkling on some pepitas for crunch but didn’t want to add more fat as the avocado and cashews in the dressing seemed like enough.

The dressing totally made the salad.  Here is the recipe, but please let me warn you that it is SPICY.  It’s not burn your mouth, run for water spicy…but it’s pretty hot.  If you can’t stand the heat you can use less chipotle pepper or replace it with a dash of cayenne.

Spicy Mexi-Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup raw cashews
2 Tbs non-dairy milk
2 Tbs water
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 chipotle pepper
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried dill
1/8 tsp dried cilantro
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
dash onion powder
dash freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs finely diced onion
1 medium tomato, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 large jalapeno, seeded and minced

1. In a food processor or blender, process cashews until they are a fine meal.
2. Add the next four ingredients (milk through vinegar) and process until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
3. Add the chipotle and seasonings (parsley through black pepper) and process until smooth.
4. Add the last three ingredients and pulse a few times to combine.

Makes about 1 cup.

I pulsed my dressing a few more times than desired because I was still tasting for seasonings, that’s why it kind of looks like pink baby upchuck.  I was going for a more creamy dressing/chunky salsa ingredient texture.  Also, if your not using the dressing on something with cilantro I’d recommend adding some in with the onion/tomato/jalapeno, because I love cilantro.

Speaking of pink baby upchuck, here is my breakfast from this morning.

smoothie

In my quest for adding grains and protein to smoothies, I played on this idea from Chocolate Covered Vegan.  Mine was more of a normal fruit smoothie (strawberries, pear, kiwi) with oat bran flakes blended in at the end, nothing fancy.  I really like the texture of this.  It’s like a chewy smoothie.  I tried to drink it with a straw but it was too thick so I ate it with a spoon.  And it kept me full until snack time, yay!  Also, I think I’m going to drink all my smoothies from mason jars now.  They’re very pretty, and easier to clean than a pint glass.

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Dining Out @ The Top & 43rd St Deli, Cupsidedowncakes

July 1, 2008 at 11:05 am · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , ,

My friend Jackie was in town last Thursday for her birthday and she wanted to go to The Top for dinner, which was A-OK with me.  The Top has a few vegan dinner options, cool atmosphere, generally friendly service, and good beer selection.  What gets me about their menu is that it could easily be much more vegan friendly with just a few tweaks.  For instance, all of the sauces that come with entrees and pastas are cream sauces.  I feel like if they’d offer one or two non-cream based sauces it would open up the menu to tons of options.  Oddly enough, there are more clearly marked vegan options on their Sunday brunch menu than their normal menu.  They have the BEST vegan biscuits and gravy on Sundays.

We started with Sweet Potato Fries.  They come with a dipping sauce that is not vegan, but I’m just fine with ketchup.

sweet potato fries

For this particular dinner, I went with the Caesar Salad, which is no longer marked vegan on the menu for some reason.  The waiter reassured me that it still is.  I add spicy blackened tofu, which they put on the salad while it’s still very hot so it wilts some of the lettuce nicely.  The dressing, while not as great as the caesar recipe in VCON, is quite good and gives you really lovely garlic breath.

caesar salad

Jackie likes vegan cupcakes, and I had two over-ripe bananas, so I took the opportunity to try my first recipe from My Sweet Vegan, the Bananas Foster Cake.  The recipe calls for five bananas and makes two 9-inch cakes, so I halved it and subbed applesauce for my missing half banana.  This was enough batter for eight cupcakes, but I think I overfilled them because instead of poofing up like a cupcake should, they got kind of a flat muffin-top.

bananas foster cupcake

Really this wasn’t a problem at all, but I was feeling inventive, so I turned ‘em upside down and trimmed off the tops with a cookie cutter that just happened to be the perfect size.  I ate the trimmings and soaked rum into the “bottoms” of the cakes.

bananas foster cupake

The only real issue I ran into was the frosting.  The recipe tells you to microwave brown sugar with water to make caramel, then mix it into a buttercream frosting.  The first time I microwaved the mixture I let it stand too long and it re-solidified – my fault.  The second attempt, I let it stand for just a minute or two then mixed it in, but immediately the sugar solidified into clumps and the frosting started to melt.  The clumps prevented me from piping the frosting, so in the end I just blobbed in on top.

bananas foster cupcake

So that’s the story of how I invented Cupsidedowncakes.  I may overfill cupcakes again in the near future to see if I can recreate it, because they’re pretty cute and fun to eat this way.  And the verdict on the Bananas Foster Cake recipe is that it’s frickin’ delicious and ridiculously moist.  I would highly recommend giving it a try, although I’m not sure what to do about the frosting dilemma.  Here is the birthday girl enjoying one.

jackie cupcake

Saturday morning we wanted breakfast, and I’m so glad we’ve discovered 43rd St Deli, even if it was a little late in the game.  Now, the trick is, there are three locations in town.  I had heard these myths of vegan breakfast specialties, but never believed because I had gone to two locations not to find much more than a veggie scramble.  Finally I realized it was only at one location where I could find the vegan label on the menu, and it happened to be the one nearest to us (the one on 13th St).  We have been many times now, and the food is always good.  I’ve had their biscuits and gravy, which they do with mushrooms, roasted peppers and savory flavors, the french toast, pan-seared oatmeal cakes with balsamic reduction, and the huge strawberry pancakes, which have strawberry slices baked right in.  All of the vegan dishes are on the Specials menu, and they do change, although I think the biscuits and gravy is kind of permanent.

I was pleased to see a new special that I suspected was vegan, and upon the waitresses confirmation I ordered Tempeh Hominy Hash.  We are fortunate to have locally made tempeh that many restaurants in town serve.  This hash also included onion, shredded potato, mushrooms and spinach.

tempeh hominy hash

The flavor needed to be perked up just a tad, and it was perfect with some Tabasco.  This dish came with choice of one side, but instead of potatoes I subbed their Nutritional Yeast Encrusted Tofu.  This tofu look unassuming, but it’s so incredibly good.  I don’t know how they do it.  I get this tofu every time, no matter what else I’m getting or that it’s normally way too much food.

nooch encrusted tofu

It also came with choice of bread.  I asked for “whatever’s vegan” and she brought me a biscuit.  I didn’t realize their biscuits were so huge when I’d had them covered in gravy.

biscuit

Now that I’ve discussed all this great Gainesville food, I have an announcement:  I’m moving!  To California!  In a month!  BF and I are driving cross-country and hopefully ending up somewhere in the East Bay, near San Francisco.  So for the next month you may have to bear with me while I eat my way through the pantry and freezer, and probably have less time took cook.  I’ll try my best to keep it interesting.

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