Currently viewing the tag: "brussels sprouts"
It’s been a couple of weeks and things are getting taller, especially the arugula. It’s also sprouting flowers, which isn’t a good thing. They are seeding themselves.
I love that I can see the start of a Brussels sprout here…
and the beginnings of broccoli.
In other backyard news, the irises are blooming. Damn, these things are beautiful.
The potted beauties are happy to be outside, free from Frankenstein’s leaf-munching ways.
The Electrician made me a garden!
I planted transplants because I’m not cool enough to sow seeds (yet).
In the ground: arugula, red bell pepper, plum tomatoes, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and basil.
My grandmother’s garden gnome is finally back on duty.
In other plant news: Addy loving the cat grass my student gave to me.
Wishes are waiting…
The “Blizzard of 2013″ came and left us with a covering of cotton white.
In moon boots and pajamas, I checked it out.
Vitamix fun: white bean artichoke cilantro pesto
And fool-proof roasted Brussels.
So delicious!
Beets two ways. Veggie-Go’s fruit leather. (Best. 15 calories. Ever.)
Roasted beets. I drooled on my shirt when I rotated them in the pan.
Scalloped potatoes a la mandoline.
Creamy, herbed potatoes will help me face the work week.
House-made seitan.
Bring on Monday!
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.
Ever since I saw the Philadelphia’s Memphis Taproom on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and learned it had a couple of vegan options, I’ve been wanting to go. The draw? Their vegan “bacon”. Not a packaged meat analog but coconut. Smoked coconut, smoked in a smoker. This ingenious creation is used in their vegan B.L.T. and graces the plate on their tofu scramble, along with vegan blood sausage. And one gorgeous day, CandyPenny and I were there to give it a try.
The Vegan Rooster. A moist tofu scramble, two chunks of the deceivingly light vegan blood sausage, a pile of smoked coconut bacon, some potato wedges and toast. Spot on! Though it may look like any other scramble, the Memphis Taproom does it much better: with housemade accompaniments and extra points for creativity. I cleaned my plate. After all, we had a bit of a drive and were hungry. I was a bit concerned the portion would not satisfy at first. But it was the perfect amount of food.
With some time to kill before our dinner reservation, the gorgeous unseasonably potent sun out and the guise of coming to Philadelphia with any other reason other than eating stripped, we took a quick detour to Bethlehem, home of the famous Vegan Treats!
There was so much to choose from. A slew of adorable personal cakes, danishes, cannoli, cheesecakes–My goodness! I have never seen a more impressive bakery case. Vegan or not. Hands…down.
I got the gorgeous and nostalgic Funfetti mini-layer cake and had a quick photo shoot with it before my first bite. It was nice to see other patrons snapping pictures of their beautiful selections as well.
More fun on the inside. Vegan Treats sure can whip up decadent delights in many shapes and forms. The delicious treat hit the spot and helped us through the hours until our next meal.
This was it. The reason for our trip: Vedge, Philadelphia new vegan fine dining spot from former Horizons owners (you remember Horizons, don’t you?) The vegetable-based menu looked downright heavenly and, though we were stuffed with sweets and scrambles, we were ready.
Firstly, Vedge sells plates and the house recommends 3-4 to make a full meal. It would save the wait staff a good portion of time if the menu and website indicated this. That being said, the plates are assembled to perfection, shaking your taste buds’ hands at first and then leaving them panting and lusting for more in the end. Vedge knows food. Knows how to combine it to produce pleasure. Wow. Did I mention my first plate? Layers of gold beets, smoked tofu, avocado and capers next to a puddle of cucumber dill sauce and a toasted wedge of pumpernickel. My only critique was that the capers were too many. An easy fix.
My second plate was one off of “The Dirt List”, their farm vegetable sides: Brussels, shaved and grilled with smoked mustard
This was my main plate: a tender and light grilled seitan in black lentils and mushroom topped with a creamy horseradish sauce and garnished with a pickled kohlrabi, a type of turnip. Utterly fantastic. Vedge, I will return. And next time I will be getting dessert.
To bid farewell to 2011 I coated it in beer batter and slipped it into hot oil. And in a homage to a year packed to the brim with forward progression, I used the seasonal beer I enjoyed with 2010′s last meal to make the batter. The last bottle had been incubating for this exact purpose for 12 months, as will 2011′s brew North Coast Brewing’s Old Stock Ale.
Beer-battered tofu, sweet potato fries and roasted Brussels was the complete meal. Of course the fried filets had to have a tartar sauce puddle to bathe in (recipe from The Gluten-free Vegan.) I kind of love tartar sauce. I wanna dip everything in it.
For a cocktail, an Old Fashioned. Bring it on, 2012!
I’d like to cook a proper Thanksgiving feast, but it’s not that simple unfortunately. It’d have to be a reheated prepared meal. And thankfully, that ain’t bad at all. With a Whole Foods near, it’s convenient enough. I ordered their Vegan Field Roast with an extra side of Brussels and popped it in the oven before heading to Mom and Pop’s. With gravy, Earth Balance and a batch of my white pumpkin ginger cupcakes en tow, Thursday morning was an easy feat.
My huge plate: a couple of slices of field roast in a pastry shell, green beans with almonds, roasted Brussels sprouts, butternut squash puree, grain and bean stuffing topped with cranberry-orange relish.
I am thankful for the autumn colors.
With a batch for the kids (check!), a batch for the boyfriend’s family (check!) and a batch for my family, my cupcakes were a real hit! Though I am very vanilla, I kind of love these spiced beauties.
I am thankful I can make a batch of cupcakes from scratch… even if my dinner isn’t. Happy Thanksgiving!
Wanting to use up my potatoes, I tried something like this. I mashed up the boiled Yukon gold beauties with some veggie stock, soy milk, nutritional yeast and assorted spices. Bam! That’s the bowl on the left. I steamed up some spinach and Brussels sprouts for some added texture. Pictured is the deep green of slightly over-steamed spinach.
Sausage (Tofurky) and some Vidalia onion saute in the pan. Vidalia onion is my favorite onion. That’s the protein… and more vegetables to add into the starch and greens. Do you want to know what I love about Tofurky sausage? I can eat it raw as I chop it in discs; I can eat it raw and not worry about tofurky worms.
Brussels. They’re probably my dessert-island vegetable. Oh my darling baby cabbage heads! I couldn’t find much on the interweb about ancient gods that worship their leafy bulb… so I will be the first. I want to say that I am highly suspicious of those who do not like Brussels sprouts but I wouldn’t want to insult my mom.
Here’s the finished dish, an easy transportable lunch for the week. With the above ingredients I mixed a wedge of vegan cheddar, Follow Your Heart, and broiled it for 7 minutes. Looks good, huh?
This week’s sweet treat is VCIYCJ‘s Call Me Blondies, which are like one huge moist delicious chocolate chip cookie. This recipe has been Post-it-ed since I got the cookbook. I think I never made ‘em because there was no picture next to the recipe to motivate me. I was foolish. I’ll admit it.
My 8×8 batch sunk a bit in the middle because I eagerly took them out of the oven and it was a bit too soon… maybe because I had been in the kitchen hours already… maybe because patience is something I struggle with… maybe I ought to use Blondies to analyze my personality.
Here they are. Prettier than most women but maybe not Blondie in her hey-day. And not cooler than one of my favorite film characters:
Above all, feed them well. (Vegan white cheese pizza with cashew ricotto dollops, tempeh roll and veggie meatball hero from 3 Brothers)
Stock your pantry with friendly items. (Pineapple hot fudge soy ice cream sundae with sliced banana)
Buy a separate vegan-only grill for the Grill. (BBQ-grilled tofu with roasted Brussels and crispy fries)
See also: How to Date a Vegan Food Blogger, Part 1: Out n’ About
With the Wolf Moon, I ate ravenously this weekend. If it wasn’t the moon then it was the cold. And if it wasn’t the cold it was my hungry heart looking for satiety. Here’s the the start of the ever-afflicting relationship 15.
The Electrician fed me well, whipping up the braised seitan with Brussels sprouts, kale, and sun-dried tomatoes from Veganomicon after we had to hit 3 markets for ingredients. I sat back for most of the meal’s preparation, fussing over polenta cakes that would be foundation to our seitan. But that is not to say I didn’t involve myself in nervously reciting the recipe, concerned about his precision. (This is why I bake better than I cook: I need structure!) Fortunately, his improvisations and good eye paid off deliciously. Yay for guys who can cook!
Serving the dish atop polenta cakes was my addition. And what a fine one if I do say so myself. The dish was bursting with flavors and paired nicely with the subtle baked polenta.
After, I was in charge of Sundaes. I cooked up some strawberry preserves to top some coconut milk ice cream along with some chocolate sauce. And now that we were good and stuffed and ready for hibernation… or some Netflix, the natural sedative.
Clearly one must follow up an evening of expanding the stomach wall with a breakfast that fills its new shape completely! I wo-manned the grill to make a pile of fluffy golden pancakes. These babies’ flour was cut with corn meal, and not my usual whole wheat flour, for a slightly grittier yet lighter texture. Definitely a great option when you run out of the all-purpose stuff. I also mashed a blackened banana in the batter before topping the finished product with those strawberry preserves and fresh yellow banana. I need to now weigh myself in.
Must-eat Day Trip series, Number 2
A blog series featuring the country’s best upscale vegan restaurants.
The short drive to Philadelphia for dinner at Horizons was well worth it. The food was “new vegan” perfection and the service was flawless. The meal started with some warm and delicate house bread with an herbed olive oil for dipping. The attention to detail in this delicious bread, with its perfectly scattered sea salt gratings, would become foreshadowing for the nuanced and distinct flavors of our meals.
Wok Man, in his quest for simple perfection, opted for the baked Yukon potato fries with a chipotle dip (below) and their Jamaican BBQ Seitan with jicama slaw. The seitan was one of the best I’ve tasted! So, not much hung around for a photo opportunity.
My entree was oozing with flavor! “Pacific rim” gochujang-glazed grilled tofu topped with edamame puree and seaweed shards atop Korean fried rice in a pool of miso glaze. A fabulously balanced dish that was plentiful but not too heavy.
On my side, Brussels sprouts and Tokyo turnips in a mustard cream. Perfectly cooked and spectacular.
Dessert absolutely floored me. Both Wok Man and I and fellow blogstress CandyPenny all opted for the same dessert. A saffron crème brûlée with biscotti. Yes, a vegan crème brûlée! It was heavenly- to the spoon-tap crack of its caramelized top to its soft, buoyant cream innards. This has got to be one of the most fantastic vegan desserts I ever did try!
Wok Man, in his quest for simple perfection, opted for the baked Yukon potato fries with a chipotle dip (below) and their Jamaican BBQ Seitan with jicama slaw. The seitan was one of the best I’ve tasted! So, not much hung around for a photo opportunity. 
My entree was oozing with flavor! “Pacific rim” gochujang-glazed grilled tofu topped with edamame puree and seaweed shards atop Korean fried rice in a pool of miso glaze. A fabulously balanced dish that was plentiful but not too heavy.
On my side, Brussels sprouts and Tokyo turnips in a mustard cream. Perfectly cooked and spectacular. 
Dessert absolutely floored me. Both Wok Man and I and fellow blogstress CandyPenny all opted for the same dessert. A saffron crème brûlée with biscotti. Yes, a vegan crème brûlée! It was heavenly- to the spoon-tap crack of its caramelized top to its soft, buoyant cream innards. This has got to be one of the most fantastic vegan desserts I ever did try!
❇
Being in Philly most of the day, we needed lunch as well as our dinner! We followed the suggestion of the VegPA flyer-hander-outer outside Reading Terminal Market and hit Govinda’s To Go for a vegan-style Philly cheese chicken-steak. 
Not to mention a cupcake or two at Gianna’s Pizza Parlor.
On the non-food front, we spent the afternoon at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site. The museum was housed in the residence Poe took in Philadelphia, writing such classics as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, among many others. The site’s Poe experts, particularly Joann, gave us a rich context in which to explore the three floors of his old home, including the cellar which was the influence of The Cask of Amontillado. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon! We were hardly able to leave the reading room at the end of our visit. But this had nothing to do with immurement.
Vegan Reporting By Location
