Currently viewing the tag: "asparagus"
Autumn comes and goes fast. In an attempt to slow down the season already pushed into streetlamp snowflakes and Christmas music, let us eat its bounty and keep in mind that the about a Winter Solstice is a month away. Autumn Dins is here. Here is a photo rundown of my intrepid dinner party, dish-by-dish.
Lite Noshes:
What brings out a veggie’s best features than a roast? I roasted a golden beet, a black radish, and a yellow onion and set out as an appetizer, accompaniments to the Grape, Sunflower Seed Arugula Salad. Since some can’t handle potent root vegetables, they sat on the side.
The Asparagus Tart with White Bean Pesto. This delicious starter’s puff pastry was one of the few items not made totally from scratch. Another one was the can of Navy Beans, a special small white bean that used to be a Navy staple. Unfortunately I did not take a shot of it all puffed up and golden brown as that marked the mad dash for dinner preparation. I was doing quite the juggling act.
Homemade Apple Sauce:
I knew I needed a sweet bite on the plate. I whipped up a big bowl of homemade apple sauce from some gorgeous Gala apples. I don’t know that I will ever eat jarred applesauce again. Simple perfection. I kept it chunky however I have been meaning to break in my potato ricer. Maybe next time…
Before and after.
Ah, the time I had during my advance prepping.
Winter Squash with Spiced Butter:
The majority of my dinner’s recipes were veganized versions of Bon Appetit‘s Thanksgiving issue. More advance prep, making the spiced butter from Earth Balance..
Did you ever grind whole nutmeg? What a pretty little pattern inside.
The Winter Squash in Spiced Butter & Pomegranate Seeds.
Cornbread Sausage & Pecan Dressing:
Probably my favorite part of the dinner.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots and “Salt Pork”:
Well-loved by an omni-guest. Score!
Tamarind Seitan Kabobs: I got this recipe from Vegan YumYum. The Tamarind sauce was so damn good and the seitan, succulent. The Electrician grilled these up on the grill.
Seitan from scratch is the only way to go. That packaged stuff is kind of gummy. Plus you can infused your blob of vital wheat gluten with lots of flavor.
Braising in veggie broth.
Time to make the kabobs.
All ready to go.
Apple Cider Cake: Dessert of course. A big win by VCTOTW.
It was involved but with a big pay off. Here, whole cinnamon, allspice, and cloves simmer in some apple cider.
This mixture combined with an apple butter mixture… so you can imagine how flavorful this cake was.
Scrumptious!
I finally got to sit down and eat with my intimate group of guests and shared a toast. Happy Autumn! I am thankful for delicious food and true friends… and the ability to distinguish the difference. xo, v.v.
Planning this trip, an extravagant foodie frenzy of all the west coast vegan eats I have craved and bookmarked through the years, was a bit overwhelming. Time is sometimes a cruel thing… time and the whole getting full thing. With so much to eat in so little time, planning our days’ eats would require skill and craftiness. Here is the report on day one.
After getting the rental car, we headed out of the Los Angeles immediately. With a quick day trip to Las Vegas on the itinerary, it was quickly onto the interstate. Of course hours of flying left us quite hungry. So, our first stop would be quick, easy, and on the way… like a fast food place. Vegetarian “fast food” joints have started to sprout up in big cities as of the last 7 or 8 years or so, but Covina Tasty in Covina, CA, which declares itself the country’s first vegetarian fast food, opened in 1960.
Covina Tasty was the perfect first stop. The vintage A-frame facade and the sign against a bright sky is so very California. A welcoming sight of sky.
The windows of Covina Tasty are covered in sun-faded advertisements. And their peg-board menu, another vintage relic. It is likely that the place hasn’t changed much in the last 50 years. I ate era-appropriately and got their [veggie] hamburger, home-made french fries and a fountain soda. The hearty hamburger meal was certainly not the best I’ve had but the whole package of Covina Tasty is indeed very memorable. It is a true vegetarian landmark.
Our next stop as we headed east from Los Angeles was an all-vegan store in a massive space and exhaustive stock, Viva La Vegan in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Wow, it was nice to see all the v-bombs all over the place!
Everything a vegan might need is there. Unfortunately with the dessert heat in our plans, we knew not much would survive our stay.
Behold the vegan cheese fridge! They had it all.
Las Vegas. Not the place you’d think of having gourmet, upscale vegan but… Steve Wynn, of the huge, luxury Wynn hotel on the Las Vegas strip, fancies himself a vegan. So everyone of his 10+ restaurants in the hotel have a separate all-vegan menu, crafted by individual head chefs of each establishment. Thankfully we had the menus in advance to study (link here). We chose the Sinatra, named after Old Blue Eyes (obviously.) We got the vegan menu and settled in at a table amidst the glamour and extravagance of the dining room, feeling slightly out of place.
We started our dinner with offering of vegan breads and Earth Balance. What a nice thing to hear without having to ask!
My antipasti: the Insalata Estiva… sweet watermelon, sliced heirloom tomatoes, topped with arugula and toasted pine nuts drizzled with a balsamic reduction. It was vibrant deliciousness in the best form.
My entree, Agnolotti… hand-made pasta packets filled with vegan ricotta and cashew cream in a pool of asparagus sauce. Soft, tender, delicious. Though scrumptious, it wasn’t the best value. The waiter was disappointed we did not try their Gardein-based entrees. I was close to passing my views on about the place for processed, frozen meat analogs in gourmet dining, but I bit my tongue.
Since we were being treated like princesses in fine dining setting, we opted to also go for dessert. I ordered the Mirtilli: a bowl of fresh blueberries and lime zest in a pool of sweet, delicious passionfruit consomme and topped with a coconut gelato. The flavor of this dessert was spectacular. Very impressive. I wanted a bit of more texture variety however. 
Well that is day one. After a long day of time traveling, it was time to hit the hay.
Pala on the Lower East Side has a great vegan menu. It also has gluten-free options. Given its proximity to the Sunshine Theater, it makes for an easy option for a vegan and a one with gluten intolerance. So we, vegan and one with gluten intolerance, dined prior to Damsels in Distress. Dried herbs graced the table, along with a bottle of San Pellegrino. Lovely.
I ordered the Asparagi. It had veggie sausage (packaged. I know that fennel seed bite well, Field Roast.) asparagus, cherry tomato sauce, daiya cheese. With packaged ingredients in an entree, I always resent an inflated price. This was no different. $18 is a little steep for a pizza. But it’s an upper scale place, I suppose. (Note: I think I am done with Daiya for good this time. At least done with dishes that load a pile of the stuff on, thinking it’s vegan nirvana.
Of course, vegan and those with gluten intolerances also take short walks to Babycakes bakery when in the area. Especially when killing time before a movies. I got the my favorite combo–blonde on blonde. It has been a while since I had a fresh Babycakes! So delicious.
I also bought one of the coconut mounds confections. I love this combination. As a child I would push my little finger into each chocolate looking for the coconut-covered piece in a gifted box of chocolate. This bite was supreme. And I must make specific mention of the chocolate. It was perfect: rich, deep, sweet and with a clean creaminess.
We also picked up a container of strawberry frosted donuts. We were, after all, meeting CandyPenny who would appreciate the gesture. Ok, it was time for the movies. After such a pretty sweets fest at Babycakes, it was only fitting to see such a cute and pretty movie.
In the year 2010, more than any other, the camera was angled down, capturing flicks of food. Sure, there are people on the other side of the table. Had the camera lifted its head, it’d see. But for a gal who sorts time through food, the vibrant color of shared meals and food creations encompass it all. The who, the when, the why and the what. It’s like anti-ana pride [gross]. It’s vegan. It’s foodie-ness. It’s 2010: the year in food.
January. Three Brothers, Long Island’s Italian restaurant with the trailblazing all-vegan menu, was a wonderful addition to the mix, especially in Long Island where “all-vegan” is far a few between and where I would spend most of my weekends during the year. Most notable is their vegan mozzarella sticks, as the price would hint to. My first trip there they were about half the price they are now.
February. Pawtucket, Rhode Island’s Garden Grille’s wonderful prix-fixe Valentine’s Day meal was one of the best meals of the year. Memorable was the entree: Red palm ravioli trio–house-dried tomato with arugula fennel pesto, trumpet mushrooms with rosemary cashew cheese and braised cannellini with spinach served with roasted asparagus, pink vodka sauce and fresh basil. Providence had some great vegan eats and several others that were closed for the holiday.
March. By March I had gotten into the swing of using my breadmaker, a Christmas gift from several months earlier. With the purchase of a proper serrated knife, I cut a slew of interesting loafs during 2010. Unfortunately my uneven slicing skills and ton of stale leftovers had use dwindle by the end of 2010. I’m going to work on this however. Anyone interested in a bread share? I lost the only interested party to the hands of bread-focused freeganism during 2010.
April. The year of the Monday Thai lunch special. With the plethora of amazing lunch special deals in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, temptation they name was lunch. I suppose a 8$ a week Thai habit is an okay addiction compared to what others struggle with. Coming in first place to the area Thai deals is Nine D on Court street, followed by Em Thai Kitchen on Smith street. Pictured here is Em’s Pad Thai with veggie dumplings and spring rolls.
May. I made bagels from scratch! This was quite exciting, especially because I could load ‘em up with garlic millings. Thanks to Vegan Brunch, I entered into this bread undertaking fearlessly. Though I don’t foresee whipping up bagel batches on the reg., there is something empowering about making a delicious bagel from scratch… like “look what I can do”, hey hey hey.
June. In looking back at 2010, I’d be a doof not to mention the dedicated vegan grill at the Electrician‘s house. Proof that a long-time vegan and a grill-master omnivore can live in harmony. Though I ate across the table from steak, sausage and real hamburgers [Oh my!], my criticism was preemptively silenced by a respect and accommodation of my personal dietary choices. Pictured here: A waco Tofurky Italian sausage roasting with some veggies.
July. CandyPenny and I blazed a vegan trail across the Great Plains this summer, hitting tons of special eateries. One of the most memorable was Kansas City’s Fud and their jackfruit chalupa. I’ve eaten a ton of vegan food across this great nation and this chalupa stands up tall as one of the most flavorful, fresh and delicious bites. This piece of constructed bliss would make it to my top 10 of all time.
August. If you have patience and a tub of Earth Balance, you too can create huge, obscenely decadent and scrumptious cinnamon buns. I made this big batch for the Real Deal Vegan Brunch [here], a spectacular display of veganization, if I do say so myself. Besides these hot buns there was danishes, scones and egg sandwiches. But back to the buns, a big bun at a cinnamon bun chain will inject you with about 800 calories. This bun I am sure is no more than 799.
September. Boneshakers, the vegan-friendly coffee shop and cafe that hosted foodie friends to many delicious bites through out 2010, opened up Champs Family Bakery this past year, growing their vegan family in my neighborhood. Their brunch is my favorite in the entire 5 boroughs of New York City. Pictured here is their Tofu Benny, a delectable well-balanced morning choice with the most convincing hollandaise sauce I’ve ever tried.
October. Garden Cafe in Woodstock is one of my favorite restaurants. Everything that is set in front of me is close to perfect. They know how to season, to accompany, to garnish, to cook. Even the simplest of sandwiches, like the tofu mango one pictured here I ate during my upstate birthday roadtrip, are absolutely fantastic. Garden Grill is a must-visit at least a couple of times a year. I am hoping 2011 will have me stopping by on an overnight camping trip.
November. Deep. Fried. Twinkies. And you thought that the state fair was one-up on veganism with their battered and deep-fried delights. Nope. With a simple batter, an eclair pan and pastry bag, deep fried vegan twinkies became a reality in November during Deep Fryday. This opens up a world of deep-frying opportunities. I am thinking: rice krispy treats, chocolate chip cookies and Brussels sprouts.
December. In 2010 I veganized some classic tasty treats: tiramisu and creme brulee. Both tries were successful checks off my veganization list. For 2011 I hope to make a satisfying vegan version of the Scooter Pie, my absolute favorite kid snack. But back to the creme brulee for this December milestone, although I got the process down for creating this dessert [water bath and butane torch] I’d like to experiment with a more yummy custard. But c’mon the welded caramel crackling sizzle of sugar pushes this dessert into the 2010 Year In Food.
There’s wild asparagus growing in my boyfriend’s backyard. You probably don’t understand how cool I think this is. But let me try to explain… I write love letters to beets. There is not one single vegetable that I don’t adore. Tubers, stems, bulbs, leaves, buds, sprouts, roots: if it’s edible and roots in the dirt than I will eat it, and in abundance. I may very well have an artichoke heart for a heart.
So wild asparagus would not be more appreciated than by me, a discerning veg-epicurean active in the Locavore and Smug Self-Satisfavore movements. Asparagus, my princely stem shoot, I will cut you and eat you and this is not a threat… but your destiny.
Look at this sturdy shoot.
Hacked from the Earth and ready for a ride on mass-transit.
Blanched because there is no use in getting too fancy, I eat my veggies. 
The quest for pantry turnover and a fresh beginning of 2010 continues! Making my class a batch of mini-cupcakes for their celebratory pizza party used up an old bag of confectionary sugar, right in time for my upcoming sugar detox, and a container of hydrongenated waxy sprinkles I inherited from my last classroom that was taking up very valuable space in my spice rack. The cupcakes impressed the kids and my co-teacher while my not eating the pizza opened up a dialogue about my being vegan. Reactions are so varied and odd when I drop the v-bomb, especially from kids, that I often avoid doing so. But the cupcakes convinced the kids I wasn’t skimping on anything.
I initially was going to make “melted snow man” cupcakes after the piped buttercream frosting had a resemblence to them. But I decided to cover them in sprinkles to use all them waxy sprinkles up.
Using a box of Arborio rice in the cupboard for ages, I whipped up my lunch for the week: asparagus, shallot and artichoke risotto. I decided to try to make a routine of this on Sunday to try to eat less of my money through the year. Last year I swallowed over $6,ooo in food expenses! I have the next several weeks of recipes lined up. But for now, a week’s worth of thick and scrumptious risotto. 
Vegan Reporting By Location
