When Isa announced this year’s VeganMoFo on The PPK about a month ago, I was really excited! For those not in the know, VeganMoFo stands for vegan month of food, a month where vegan bloggers post as much as possible about food. I immediately signed up. Then I forgot. Until Monday. Then I moved into our new house which doesn’t have internet until the weekend. Excuses aside, I’m joining in late and hope to post almost every day for the rest of October. Check out this list of other participants, there are lots!
Now, I must confess. I’m in love. With a grocery store. Upon discussing natural foods with anyone in the East Bay, the name Berkeley Bowl kept being mentioned. It’s an odd name for a grocery store, yes, but just from what I’d heard I knew I would love it. I checked it out last week, and it was everything I knew it would be. It’s like Whole Foods but less pretentious, with prepared food, any sort of grocery you could want, extensive ethnic selections, rows upon rows of bulk bins, and a ridiculous produce section. Seriously, they had herbs and vegetables in there that I’ve never seen before, some that I’d never even heard of. And the best part is that the prices are really reasonable. Organic cereal for less than $3 a box? Yes, please. My only complaint is that it was COLD in there. My toes were frozen by the time I left. Next time I’ll wear socks.
I wasn’t really shopping for myself during that trip, but I figured I could at least buy supplies to make dinner. It hit me when I passed the asian noodles – I would try to recreate the astounding miso udon noodlesI had at the Bellagio Buffet in Vegas. Instead of the fried tofu chunks in the noodles I wanted to do a larger portion of tofu on the side. I almost bought a pre-baked teriyaki flavored tofu, but then remembered I could buy fresh tofu and flavor it myself for half the price. That’s more like it.
So I made miso udon noodles with veggies…
And orange-sesame glazed tofu.
Unfortunately, neither was right on. The miso sauce wasn’t quite flavorful or thick enough. The tofu didn’t exactly “glaze”, and it was too sweet and too sesame-y. But it’s a good start! Rest assured I will be revisiting this meal, because I think once it’s perfect it’s going to be amazing.
Like I mentioned before, we moved into our house! I can’t wait to unpack my cookbooks. In upcoming posts I’ll show you ’round the kitchen I’ll be cooking in for the next year, and tell you about how awesome last weekend was.
Mandee said
Those noodles look really good, I’ve never done udon at home but I will have to try it now 🙂
Marni said
The Vegas Miso Udon Noodles sound awesome. I hope you keep workin’ on perfecting the recipe because I’d love to try it. Good luck! Oh, and congrats on finding a store you love. I have one I frequent, but it’s not perfect so I end up traveling to other stores a few times a month to fill in the blanks. Which bums me out.
VeggieGirl said
Hooray for moving into your home!! ANd hooray for delicious eats 🙂
Megan said
I love, love, love Udon and yours looks amazing!
Diann said
Yay, you moved into your house! Berkley Bowl sounds like a great place to shop. I’ll bet your next try at the tofu and noodles will be just like you want them. They both look wonderful.
lisa (show me vegan) said
congrats on your new house!
melisser said
Congrats on getting a place to live! You must check out all-veg Rainbow Grocery in SF sometime for the ultimate shopping.
shellyfish said
Better late than never! And how exciting to be in your house! I think that’s more than enough reason…
Sorry the food didn’t come out like you’d wished – it sure looks amazing!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk said
Congrats on the new place! And good luck unpacking, if you haven’t already. I bet your happy to have a place to call home again! As for the udon, it looks amazing even if you say the taste wasn’t right on. I love, love, love me some udon noodles.
Vegannifer said
I can’t wait to get the virtual tour of your kitchen!
Maybe the meal you made wasn’t right on, but it looks like a million bucks! I bet it still tasted really, really good. The noodles and veggies are especially delicious-looking.
jennconspiracy said
Welcome to the East Bay – you’ll get over Berkeley Bowl soon as you get back to working full time (that place is a nightmare if you have to shop after work or weekends).
Since your cookbooks are still packed, come over to my party this weekend – lots of vegan food options at brunch and afternoon rumba jam (see blog for details, contact me for directions).
Vegan Weekends (or, The Post of Many Pictures) « Vegan Homemade said
[…] slaw, spicy cucumbers with citrus, sushi, seaweed salad, and the most amazing miso udon which I tried to replicate after the last time I had it but didn’t really come […]