Currently viewing the tag: "tempeh"
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.
On the way to the farm we stopped at a new all-vegan bakery in Verona, New Jersey: Cupcraze. As per usual, when visiting an out-of-state bakery, I have to get at least 2 cupcakes. I chose this one above, their delicious banana split cupcake, and I am glad that I did. The moise banana cupcake was sprinkled with chocolate chips, topped with a smooth vanilla buttercream, chocolate drizzle and a maraschino cherry.
I had to also taste their festive chocolate cupcake with the subtly green buttercream and a fondant ghost. I never had vegan fondant! This was a nice, sweet bite that energized me after the drive back down state, before evening festivities.
And of course, a chocolate chip cookie. I have to always try a bakery’s chocolate chip cookie. I am happy to report that these cookies were spot-on vegan replicas of Linden’s cookies, a favorite of mine growing up.
Requisite shot of the bakery display case. So pretty…
Cupcraze is just a few weeks old. Check them out if you’re in their area and give them your support. They have plenty of gluten-free options and a great selection of delicious cupcake favorites.
And after the farm we had to hit the amazing Garden Cafe on the Green, Woodstock, NY’s all-vegan cafe. I have been hitting this spot for years now and it is always impresses. They do their simple dishes well, with love, care and attention to detail. We sprung for the quesadillas. These are really elevated quesadillas: not oily and over-stuffed with wet veggies. The olive is all you need… and guacamole, salsa and a dab of sour cream [store-bought].
My entree: The Fall Vegetable–Wild & Brown Rice Saute with Brussels, crispy tempeh with red wine mushroom sauce, a heavenly butternut squash terrine with pistachio gravy and sauteed kale and cabbage. Perfect bite of autumn.
Here is a gorgeous shop of the trees of Harriman, New York. I love autumn in New York!
How many times can someone have brunch in a week? With so many delicious brunch options to choose from the great city of Los Angeles, breakfast fare, maximized, made up a good portion of my eats. Today, on my last full day, is no exception. This morning we dined at Real Food Daily, a well-known all-vegan hot spot with three locations in the LA area. We headed to West Hollywood to taste this vegan staple.
Satisfying both of my savory and sweet cravings, I ordered The Weekender: scrambled tofu, onions, tomatoes, cashew jalapeno cheese, tempeh bacon with two slices of french toast and hashbrowns.
While every bite I ate made my taste buds high five each other, it was the French toast that had those buds jumping up and down. Vegan French toast can go wrong in so many ways (too soggy, too thin, too thick that you get plain bread in the center, etc) but this was spot-on. And the eggy-like batter, vanilla soy flaxseed, made the toast’s texture awesome.
For our final dinner in town, we hit up Madeleine Bistro, yet another eatery whose website has sat patiently waiting in my bookmarks for this West coast eating frenzy. The posh, gourmet restaurant was only open on weekends and had limited hours. We made a door-buster reservation and decided quickly on the 4-course sampler.
The first course, a spectacular soup, was a good indication of what was to come. It was a sweet corn bisque, creamy and frothy with seasonal, local corn. Though soup makes for an unexciting picture, believe me that the taste was very unbelievable. My salad course, their beautiful red beet tartare was delectable–a tower of tenderized red beet, a crispy-skinned super-creamy tofu cheese crouton, finely sliced cucumber in a balsamic glace. How gorgeous and delicious.
My beet tartare salad in all its glory. Very large and substancial for a salad course, I might add.
Then came the entree, course 3: Lemon-rosemary seitan, delicate haricot and cream crepes with a side of haricots. The house-made seitan was so tender and flavorful. The crepe was oh-so creamy. I just wished there were a bit more of a variety of veggies inside. It was the perfect portion, helping to leave me enough room for dessert. And dessert, course 4, was the best of all!
This capital-A Amazing ice cream treat gave me everything I needed. It is their Bananas Foster Split, the culmination of housemade components that had me speechless and ready to lap the bananas foster sauce off the plate. The vanilla ice cream was creamy, the hot fudge was the perfect flavor and texture (not simply brown and sweet), and the whipped crème real. No packages. Everything made from scratch. This was an amazing dessert. Thank you, Madeleine, for your high standards. They translate to pure, unadulterated deliciousness.
Goodnight L.A.
Independence Day is all about strawberry/blueberry sweet concoctions! I made my patriotic parfaits mostly from scratch, save for the berries, and delivered them to my family as a sweet summer treat. After all, I can’t very well eat all of them! A cold parfait is not only refreshing, it’s a great way to utilize a whole bunch of yummy things before they go bad. Using up the remainder of my farmers market blueberries, I layered away with halved blueberry cupcakes made earlier in the week, an easy organic strawberry compote (sliced strawberries, cane sugar, and lemon in the saucepan), and fresh-made coconut whip (chilled full-fat coconut milk and a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar whipped till creamy)… and WOW! Delicious… and very photogenic. 
After setting in the fridge, these beauties were ready for delivery. The basket was the perfect touch.
The coconut whip was absolutely scrumptious. For a million pictures of it, check this post from Healthy Happy Life.
Liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness. I couldn’t think of any puns…
The grill is the second vital piece of Independence Day. I thought that the tempeh-nectarine skewers from VegNews looked quite tasty. Another awesome grilled feast from Grillmaster Electrician.
To die for was the spicy peanut sauce. I look forward to using it again, maybe for some summer rolls. It was kind of a mismatch for these skewers however. A wet marinade to moisten up the tempeh would serve the dish better.
A mid-week July 4th, that’s a wrap!
Goodbye, dear summer. You moved so swiftly through your weeks. But first, a few more bites…
Goodbye, peak season for juicy and tender summer fruits. Soon it’ll be time for apples, pumpkins and figs.
Goodbye, peaches and characteristically-summer stone fruit, best warm-skinned and taunt on the beach. Goodbye, grilled peaches, a different entity altogether, may the sparking lumpwood charcoal let you sweat your sugar.
Goodbye, real vanilla beans; coconut milk ice cream. You’ll pair up with some sweet goodies later, and I’ll see you then.
Goodbye, summer-ish marinade: Cindy’s Kitchen‘s amazing mango coconut marinade. Your sweet zing is perfect when infiltrating tempeh’s densely-packed atoms.
Goodbye, elaborate ice cream concoctions with aforementioned summer fruits, hot fudge and Smucker’s marshmallow topping. You’ll hardly seem appropriate after today. Warm, baked cakes and cookies soon will lessen the sting… till then…
Goodbye, Summer!
My cousin got married in Cohasset, Massachusetts over the weekend, so it was time for a New England roadtrip! I was so impressed with vegan offerings up north and continue to be awed by how vegan consciousness has expanded, resulting in top-notch food options across our great country. And I’m not done! I have reported vegan eats from only 21 of our states. A trip like this wets my appetite for more.
Just a short drive from my home New York, it’s a wonder why I don’t head north more often to explore Connecticut’s vegan offerings. I knew from my trip to Providence in 2010 (here) that off the I-95 lies a diner offering a substantial selection for vegans. Since my alarm clock malfunction nixed the possibility of hitting True Bistro for brunch before the wedding ceremony, I knew I needed a good couple of bites to power me through a few hours of driving. I plugged in Shoreline Diner into the G.P.S. for an early-birdy lunch.
Shoreline’s menu has been re-worked since my last visit and includes a vegan Napolean! Reading that v-word in a omnivorous menu is one of the small pleasures of my life. But imagine seeing that v-word on a huge billboard? Though I am so grateful for Shoreline, a quick and convenient stop off the interstate, I wish Shoreline would increase the variety of their awesome offerings to include eggless breakfast stuff. Breakfast/brunch is my meal of choice and I know they got the raw materials for pure breakfast magic.
On our stop I got the tempeh “chicken salad” sandwich on their fabulous house-made baguette. I love ground up tempeh of this kind–such a great texture. The sandwich was yummy and kept me fueled until the wedding dinner; and that is with only eating about half of it!
I meant to return on the way back to try that Napolean, but, as fate would have it, Connecticut had another gem hidden in the rough. More on that later..
Next time you are on the I-95, check them out. Businesses like this need our support! They are constantly evolving. With one of their people completeing the Artisanal Bread Baking course at French Culinary Institute in New York City, they now make all their own bread. They also have recently consulted with Well On Wheels, Connecticut Chef Mary Lawrence‘s vegan personal chef service, to create more scrumptious vegan dishes. They also have a gluten-free menu. To put in plainly…they’re awesome.
Some days are meant for doing nothing. That’s right, no-thing. Even this B.L.T. seemed to be too much effort. Toasting bread, frying up tempeh leftovers, slicing veggies and spreading Vegenaise was about all I could take. I don’t even know what I sprinkled on the potatoes before throwing them in the oven. So here, a B.L.T. the only tangible evidence of my existence today. 
On sunny Sunday, August 1, 2010, I found inspiration in the pages of The Electrician‘s omnivorous cook books as he manually labored in his yard. A proper vegan bunch! Complete with the works: traditional brunch staples, both sweet and savory, served on vintage China and vividly colored fabric with tasty adult beverages… a brunch that catered to the food blogger, the food lover in the peaceful setting of my boyfriend’s home by the ocean.
I had some weeks to exhaustively plan and timeline the execution of the ambitious brunch spread: cinnamon and pecan buns, apricot and cheese danishes, citrus scones and upscale breakfast sandwiches of cherry sage sausage and mini omelet patties on top of herbed artichoke biscuits, and a side of tempeh bacon. The day finally came, after several nights of anxious panics about fixins and sauce accompaniments. With the kitchen, time and the Volvo at my disposal, I began.
The cinnamon and pecan buns were the first undertaking. Below is the process, outlined wonderfully by VeganYumYum here. Top-Bottom, Left-Right: 1) The dough has risen to its maximum, the pecans and coated in cinnamon and sugar and a bit of the huge quantity of Earth Balance utilized in the recipe was ready to go. 2) I’m a stickler for precision in baking. 3) Wet with Earth Balance. 4) Coated in cinnamon, sugar and pecan. 5) All rolled up. 6) Cut with dental floss and placed in a pool of sugar and Earth Balance. 7) The cross-section is looking good! 8) All packed in! If I ever make these again, I’ll give them more room. It was very difficult getting them out of the pan after they baked into each other.
The cinnamon and pecan buns are all ready! When serving I put out a squeeze bottle of icing so brunch-goers could choose their sweetness level. 
I am so impressed with this dough, btw. Who the heck needs dairy?! It was perfect. I am thinking of using it for making sweet soft-baked pretzels with my nieces. Kids love dough and, okay, I love dough too.
Next was the vegan danishes. These were a big challenge. I’ve mentioned before I don’t like when veganized versions don’t embrace the defining characteristics of said food item. So I wanted to take care these danishes would not be slabs of dough but embody the layered butteriness of their non-vegan counterparts. That required folding and rolling a very delicate dough a jillion times. I used the recipe here at the Village Vegan, which noted the repetitive fold-roll out process, but I’d likely try this dough recipe here and follow the Village Vegan process.
Trusting the preferences of my esteemed foodie guests, the cream cheese danishes rocked the house. Vegan cheese danishes? Who would of thought it possible?
Though pretty, I’d also opt out of capping danishes with a huge piece of fruit. They made eating it awkward and moistened up the danish too much. Good preserves do the trick. 
Here is the spread. Center are the citrus-glazed scones (from VwaV), next to the danishes and buns. To the left the my vintage plate collection and doilies for pretty blog pictures and coffee. All sit atop a sturdy serving table The Electrician made in like 5 seconds. 
The drink station: Maine Root’s root and ginger beers and a sparkling blood orange rum punch.
The savory spread: vegan egg patties with cherry sage sausage (both from Vegan Brunch) on herbed artichoke drop biscuits I created from the base recipe of my Red Lobster cheese and garlic biscuits. Next time, I would go for a rolled out dough, cut with a biscuit cutter, as these didn’t hold up as a sandwich base. 
Everyone loves tempeh bacon, especially when it’s marinated overnight! On the right, Genna’s tasty potatoes. 
The spreads: strawberry jam, pineapple butter and roasted garlic and lemon cream cheese
Manga! What a great day of eating. 
The morning after to-go container for curious electricians.
The updated T.V. Dinner
Mondays I try to cook for the week. Try being the operative word as social engagements and erratic cravings often leave leftovers to sit lonely in the fridge. After many lessons learned I devised a simple menu for this week–a protein, starch and vegetable that would reheat nicely and keep me satisfied and satiated. This week’s tempeh Salisbury Steak (from VeganDad), roasted garlic mashed potatoes and corn on the cob is a take on an old T.V. dinner I used to enjoy.
Bi-color sweet corn from upstate New York, after shucking and a quick blast of water, sit patiently on the dish rack. 
The tempeh Salisbury Steak all ready for steaming. Sadly, I haven’t used my rice steamer since this Japanese-inspired food event at my apartment in January of ’09! There was still dried sticky rice on the cheese clothe when I open up the lower compartment. 
To sky-rocket a dish’s appeal there needs to some sauce and fixin’s and, in this case, a lot of softened Earth Balance. I whipped up a cilantro sauce with my Summer roll leftovers and roasted a lonely onion begging for new life. And, voila! Dinner is served… all week. 
It’s too hot for 3 meals a day. Here are my recent dunch highlights.
Urban Rustic makes a mean Club Sandwich, the all-vegan Unclub. I’ve gone on about it before, yes. [Tofurky, Vegenaise, Dijon mustard, strips of tempeh bacon, local tomatoes and sprouts in between three slices of soft, toasted spelt bread.] Nothing fancy, I know, but great taste and texture from a unique and value-driven eatery/general store– a bit slim on the vegan options but stocked with quality food goods like pickled asparagus! And, being a sucker for a glass bottle of old-fashioned cola, in this case Boylan, I rounded out the kick of the Dijon and the smoky Tofurky with some sweet, sweet cane cola.
Slice is one of my favorite place to chow down on vegan pizza… and catch up with my gluten-allergic pal, Maximilian. We’ve hit the Upper East Side’s location several times, sharing in the joy of being able to eat real and delicious pizza. With Slice’s newer location in the West Village, it is a huge relief not to have to travel on the dreaded 4/5/6 to enjoy their good stuff. Slice is where I first tried Daiya. Sooo, why not get tattooed, however temporarily, to show my support for their take on the perfect food?
The Juice Press in the East Village offers grab n’ go sandwiches (in compostable packaging) in their tiny storefront. Juice Press: home of the $10.00 smoothie (“the succulent flesh and refreshing water from a young, whole coconut, mana blue green algae, vanilla, raw cacao, mineral rich sea salt, agave nectar, vanilla stevia and ultra filtered ice”), the $10.00 packaged “tuna” sandwich (or the $10.00 ground, soaked nut and chick pea, cucumber, tomato, onion, nori and “mustard” on sprouted bread) and… the kind of awkward, less-than-attentive service. I am not a needy patron, but the fact that employees coveted all of the small shop’s seating and that I was barely acknowledged upon entering makes this a sore $10.00 wasted on what I likely have already in my pantry. I scarfed down the sandwich and got my fresh-pressed juice a few doors down at the Juicy Lucy stand.
There is something about summer and Mexican food, as my previous posts highlight. So let me eat more! The Greek and I hit Greenpoint’s Papacitos after much deliberation, feasting on their west coast-style street grub. I had the vegan quesadilla, Daiya cheddar packed with seitan, folded in a satisfyingly greasy tortilla and topped with additional yummies like tofu sour cream. After, in accordance to summer and the Greek restaurant tradition of watermelon post-meal, we scored a perfect wedge of the pink stuff, my favorite: watermelon, to split over complaints about about the heat. Waaah.
Home has many shapes and forms. This particular evening, in Green River, Wyoming, it came in the form of the Coachman Inn, yes, but more the huge sky and rock formations that surrounded the cluster stop on the way to the great Flaming Gorge. But morning brought us back onto I-80 West, heading to our most western destination, Salt Lake City, before we hooked a U-turn and head towards America’s heart center.
With a quick ride through winding canyons and basins nestling the interstate to the Great Salt Lake, we arrived for lunch at City Cakes & Cafe in Salt Lake City, a mostly-vegan bakery and cafe with plenty of sweet selections. After not eating all too well the day before in Wyoming, I had tucked my appetite away and let it incubate in the sun and mountains. I ordered their Vegan Mac & Cheese, made with cashew and red peppers, as well as a Key Lime cupcake. Finally, some sustenance. This was just what my body needed to help combat the fluctuating altitudes and air quality that fiddled with my internal circles and axles.
Fortune had foiled our plan to visit Cakewalk Baking Company, an all-vegan bakery storefront in Woods Cross, Utah. This bakery has been on my radar for some time. Having always wanted to see some of the beauty of southern Utah’s red rock, the bakery had shifted this desire to the top of my domestic travel list. But no dice. Cakewalk is currently setting up location numero two in Salt Lake City and are operating with limited hours in the Woods Cross location. So we missed the old and new bakery space. Luckily Cakewalk delivers their goods to some of the area coffee shops… and into the Pacific Northwest to Sidecar For Pigs Peace in Seattle (blogged about here) and Food Fight Grocery in Portland, Oregon (blogged about here and here). How’s that for a network! Anyway, we did wind up picking up a Cakewalk S’mores cupcakes at Nobrow Coffee, a spacious internet cafe that cradled our weary minds in awaiting our evening plans, and Sugarhouse Coffee, a bi-level coffee shop with some vegan and raw options as well as Cakewalk’s famous “Dillos”, Twinkie-like cakes of different flavors and persuations. 
Moving right along our vegan tour of Salt Lake City, dinner would have to be at the city’s best all-vegan restaurant, Sage Cafe. We arrived as it opened and nabbed a great table on the patio surrounded by grapevines. The menu, which hadn’t looked all too promising on the website, was far more exciting than I had been anticipating. Having the hankering for some veggies, I chose the Tacos Vegetarianos, grilled, soft corn tacos stuffed with grilled vegetables and marinated tofu with yummy sides of cilantro-lime vinaigrette tossed greens, a house-made sour cream, salsa fresca and guacamole. This really hit the spot. The food was fresh and flavorful. I was thoroughly impressed!
It was sheer luck that we came to dine on the day they offered all-you-can-eat pizza and salad! This ain’t no Olive Garden, no. Our waitress delivered delicious slices of gourmet pizza to CP who had opted for the deal. I must admit my jealousy! Curry vegetable, portabello, Philly cheese steak, sausage: all ingredients made lovingly from scratch and their vegan cheeses, not packaged but concocted in-house using fine ingredients… nuts, nutritional yeast, etc. Soon the slices were piling up on her plate. CP made sure to note each type of slice for her reporting. Luckily I got to taste several of the slices and quickly declared each “thee best vegan pizza I’ve ever eaten!”
CP always makes a point to read the weeklies at our city stops. It was through this habit that we learned Trampled By Turtles happened to be in town, playing Urban Lounge that night in downtown Salt Lake. This was an amazing coincidence! I had spent some time getting to know these guys two and half years ago in Knoxville, Tennessee when I had spontaneously decided to take in a show on a roadtrip back from Miami, blogged about here. I quickly decided we had to go. After settling in in Bountiful, a suburb north of the city where our host-friend Vesper lives, we toasted to old friends in new places, experienced some of Salt Lake’s night life and caught Trampled By Turtles’ set. Here’s to friends all across the country!
Top left: The Mormon Temple-the city layout revolves around the temple and its location. Top right: Playing with 6-foot Samurai sword and machete that were stashed in Vesper’s sublet. Bottom left: Trampled By Turtles’ Dave and “the girl from New York”. Bottom right: Alcohol content is lower here in Utah, in accordance to Mormon law. In the bars, cocktails’ alcohol are measured precisely.
With one more spot to hit before hitting the road, we had to give Vertical Diner a try. Their hearty breakfast would replenish our bodies and ease our headaches. I chose their biscuits and gravy combination plate with fried tempeh, home fries and steamed veggies. The comfort food hit the spot though would have benefitted with more seasoning and pizazz. We decided to go ahead and order the banana split, hoping for a good blog pic. I have a particular view of what makes a perfect banana split and this was way off. The search continues!
Vegan Reporting By Location
