Reader Request: Food Processor Advice & Suggestions!

/ Kelly / 7 Comments

I derive satisfaction from the things I don’t have. More specifically, I like finding ways around my non-ownership of various small appliances – I enjoy thinking up alternate methods of accomplishing whatever said small appliance is meant to do. And, fine, I also enjoy feeling proud of myself for owning fewer things. My thought process when trying to MacGyver my way around the kitchen usually goes something like this:

Microwave? Pah! I can reheat everything in the oven. Double boiler? Pshaw! I can melt chocolate just fine by putting it in a small metal bowl and then floating that in a small pan of boiling water. Food processor? As if! My blender works just… fine… oh… nope… it’s cool if a creamy sauce is actually chunky, right?

…yeahhh. That one was definitely more of a MacGruber situation. So, after one too many failed attempts to use my blender as a food processor, I’m biting the proverbial bullet and buying one. It’ll be an early birthday present to myself – what else could a nearly-25-year-old possibly want for her quarter-century celebration?!

But here’s the thing. I don’t know which one to buy! So I need your help, you wonderful, knowledgeable kitchen goddesses and gods. Tell me what food processor you use and if you’d recommend it! Alternatively, tell me which processor you covet. I don’t mind spending a decent chunk o’ change, because this’ll be an investment with many delicious, delicious returns.

Thanks for your help! To demonstrate my gratitude, here’s a picture of Moria covered in Star Wars Legos:

Oh hey, I'm just sleepin' with the Falcon on top of me...

Cranberry Streusel Bars, or, Sorry I Left You in the Fridge for Months, Cranberries

/ Kelly / 4 Comments

I’m a sucker for anything seasonal. Come fall, my pantry quickly becomes home to an eyebrow-raising amount of canned pumpkin, ready for breads and muffins and – obviously – pies. During the holiday season, I compulsively buy various nogs, even the coconut-based one I know I probably won’t care for, just because it’s a nog, for heaven’s sake, and you can only get it around the holidays!1!!!1!!11! Predictably, though, my burning love for whatever seasonal specialty caught my fancy wanes fairly quickly, replaced by the Next Big Thing, and soon I forget that pumpkin even exists and that I like it very much.

That temporary consumerist love of seasonal eats reared its embarrassing head when I discovered a sad little pint of cranberries languishing in my fridge two weeks ago. The cranberries were a  forgotten holdover from November, when I eagerly stocked up on the local, organic berries when they were on sale at the co-op. Two months later, this unused pint was surprisingly intact. A few berries showed signs of their age – a little bit squishy, not plump and taut like their peers – but overall, they were in good shape. What to do with these poor neglected berries?

Sweet, tart little rectangles.

Make a Saturday night snack, that’s what. Eager for another opportunity to bake from Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season, I was delighted to find a cranberry-reliant recipe appropriately located in the Autumn section of the book. These bars are a happy meeting of tart and sweet, each bite featuring tangy cranberries and the sugary streusel topping. S and I both adored them, and I’ve already shortlisted them for my Thanksgiving desserts next year. But with any luck, I’ll make them again before next November – who knows; there might just be another forgotten pint of berries in my fridge right now.

Do you fall prey to seasonal purchasing binges? What’s your favorite cranberry recipe?

Christmas: Sweet Edition

/ Kelly / 3 Comments

Lest you think we ate nothing but savory foods at our Christmas celebration, let me show you all the sweet, sugary delights we consumed. Technically these aren’t all of them, because I didn’t photograph the oodles of beautiful and undoubtedly delicious non-vegan desserts my aunt shared. But I don’t think you’ll miss them when you see all the sweets we shared!

First up, the traditional Christmas morning cinnamon bun + grapefruit breakfast. Like the past few years, Mama followed the glorious unhealthy-but-delicious VeganYumYum recipe for our cinnamon rolls. This time, I snapped some shots of her baking process, including the super-awesome trick of cutting the giant cinnamon log with dental floss:

Log o' dough.

Look at the perfectly clean slices!

Amazing!

And check out how lovely they look, all nestled up to one another pre-baking.

All rolled up.

And the finished product, covered in an oozy, sweet icing, is equally appealing.

Ready for eatin'.

As usual, I could barely finish one of these buns with breakfast – I had to save the rest for later, when I needed some post-present-opening refueling.

Rest assured, cinnamon buns weren’t the extend of our sweet treats. For dessert proper, Mum made an amazing chocolate-orange mousse pie, a rich, creamy confection with the perfect blend of chocolate and citrus.

I would like to eat a slice right now.

Even though I didn’t make this pie, I think I contributed to its deliciousness by cluing my mom in to silken tofu – apparently, the last time she made it she used regular soft tofu. This time around, I set her straight, to marvelously smooth and creamy results.

Although I can’t claim the pie as my own creation, I did contribute my fair share to the dessert table. Because Christmas isn’t Christmas without cookies, I whipped up some Five-Spice Snaps from Hannah Kaminsky’s Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season and some Peppermint Mocha Roll Cookies from Scissors and Spice.

A variety of nibbles.

Both of these cookies were excellent. The snaps were just a touch more sophisticated than your typical gingersnap, with a mellower yet more nuanced flavor. And the peppermint mocha roll cookies were the perfect yuletide delicacy, chocolaty and minty with a tiny kick of caffeine and just the right amount of chewiness.

I also made a sort of gingerbread cake, but it came out a little dry and not terribly gingerbread-y. I totally forgot to photograph it, but no matter – it was pretty forgettable; I don’t even recall where I found the recipe.

All in all, I’d say we had a pretty damn tasty Christmas, wouldn’t you? What are your favorite holiday desserts? And do you have a no-fail gingerbread recipe I could borrow? :)

Christmas: Savory Edition

/ Kelly / 6 Comments

After S and I spent five glorious days tooling around Maryland and eating delicious foodz, I took a super-cheap, super-fast Southwest flight up to Rhode Island to spend Christmas proper with my family. I had three pre-Christmas days to spend with my family and friends, and I spent a healthy amount of that time helping to plan Christmas dinner (and dessert, duh). I’m always grateful that my parents usually host holidays at their house, because it means that we can limit the amount of meat that’s served. Of course, this doesn’t always work out as expected – last year, due to some miscommunications and mis…understandings… we only had one vegan main dish instead of the smorgasbord of vegan delights I’d imagined. Live and learn.

This year, our vegan options were plentiful. In fact, except for a giant pot o’ meat my grandmother brought, all of our main dinner was vegan. Hellz yeah. Mom decided to serve a casual three-course dinner – we served the salad and soup courses while the family was socializing, so they could eat and chat wherever they were most comfortable. We then all sat down at the table[s] for the main course. I liked this approach – it was comfortable and casual, yet structured. And it allowed the fish-eaters to munch sushi as a sort of pre-salad first course without the vegheads in the mix feeling left out; we were busy preparing the salad and soup bowls.

Anyway, enough backstory – to the food!

The kale domination continues!

Instead of serving a regular ol’ lettuce-based salad, Mum decided we should serve kale salad. I was a little dubious – I didn’t want our omni guests to roll their eyes and comment on “that weird stuff vegans eat,” but I wasn’t giving the kale (and Mom!) enough credit. Mom bought a package of baby kale, something I’d never seen before, and I made a simple salad – kale, carrots, and tomatoes tossed in a double batch of Angela’s amazing Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing. So good! And everyone seemed to enjoy it. My uncle was particularly vocal about it, praising the kale’s crisp crunchiness. Success!

Butternut love.

Next, we served a Spiced Squash Bisque, made by mi madre. As you can see, it was still a little chunky, and not pureed into a true bisque. She used a hot curry powder instead of the milder recommended spices, rendering our soup a bit spicy and very tasty. While I enjoyed the gentle kick of heat, I know Grammy wasn’t so fond of it!

Ze main meal.

Mum also prepared most of our main meal. She put together a really tasty Green Bean and Wild Mushroom Saute, along with a scrumptious Wild Rice Pilaf with Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries. The pilaf had a bit of curry in it, making it a great companion piece to the soup. Both of these dishes were delicious, and we almost didn’t need the meat analogue Mom had picked up for the vegetarians among us – Gardein Savory Stuffed Turk’y.

A plate of yum.

I’d never tried this particular Gardein variety, but I had high hopes – I’m a big fan of Gardein; their products are great in a time crunch. The turk’y was no exception. Each piece was small, but filling, and stuffed with a yummy cranberry-based stuffing. I was glad I shared my piece with my brother, because I was already so full from the soup and salad courses that I could barely finish my plate o’ real food! But finish it I did, and of course I also left room for dessert. More about that in another post. ;)

How was your holiday? Did you enjoy a mostly-vegan meal?

Vegan Eats in Maryland and DC: Part II

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Hello, all! Happy 2012. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and that you welcomed 2012 with some awesome people – I sure did. :) I’ll recap my very vegan Christmas soon, but first I have to finish blabbering about all the delicious food S and I ate in Maryland! In Part I, I talked about Great Sage, Sticky Fingers Bakery, and Pho 14. Now to the rest of our eats!

Liquid Earth in Baltimore, MD

Besides hanging out in the Columbia area and visiting DC, S and I also spent a day in Baltimore. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend the American Visionary Art Museum – I’m generally pretty ambivalent about contemporary art (okay, that’s generous… I’m usually not too fond of it!), but I truly enjoyed the amazingly creative and fun works at AVAM. I also appreciated their definition of visionary art: “…art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself.” It’s so inspiring to see how people from around the world feel the call to creativity and subsequently produce beautiful, thought-provoking art.

But that’s a total digression, because I’m supposed to be talking about food. Our first meal in Baltimore was at Liquid Earth after a morning of wandering around AVAM. Boasting an impressive juice and smoothie menu, Liquid Earth feels a bit like your stereotypical veg restaurant – cozy, with eclectic decor and inked-and-pierced servers – my kind of people! ;) S ordered (and really enjoyed) the Filly Cheese Phake, which substitutes tofu for steak. I didn’t try it because it includes provolone cheese, so I’ll have to trust his review. I lunched on their T.L.T., which featured a house-made organic “bacon.” The sandwich was not really anything to write home about, but that was exactly what I was craving: something simple, tasty, and filling that reminded me of my beloved BLT sandwiches of yore. I also got an Original Strawberry Smoothie, which was sadly disappointing. It’s hard to imagine that you can go wrong with strawberries, bananas, soy milk, and ice, but it seemed as if ice was the main ingredient in my smoothie, rendering it bland and lackluster. However, S’s Ginger Zinger juice totally made up for my drab drink. A simple mixture of Granny Smith apples and copious amounts of ginger, this was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted (yes, my juice experiences are limited). S and I both loved it – it was zesty and spicy and totally, totally delicious. I wish I had a picture of it and its beautiful green hue!

One World Cafe in Baltimore, MD

After an afternoon at the National Aquarium,* S and I met up with his mom and one of his college friends for dinner. We headed to One World Cafe, where I was delighted to discover that it was Taco Tuesday! $5.50 for two tacos and a side of spicy rice? Yes, please! Sometimes a girl craves tacos; what can I say. One World Cafe offers a vegetarian menu with many vegan options, and they happily substituted Daiya cheese for the dairy cheese on my dish. The tacos were exactly what I wanted – simple and spicy, with all the fixings.

Tacotastic!

My dining companions enjoyed lasagna and macaroni and cheese, so I can’t speak to those dishes, but their reviews were quite positive. :) Our meals filled us up and gave us the energy to navigate the crowds on 34th street in Hampden to see the houses all decked out in their Christmas light finest. As S’s mom put it, “Tacky but beautiful.”

Busboys & Poets in Hyattsville, MD

Busboys & Poets is a very cool, very politically involved, and very activist-y establishment. Although they try perhaps a little too hard to make the decor seem very hip and artsy, the overall ambiance of this place is definitely my style. The menu features meat but is very veg-friendly, with lots of vegan options that go beyond the ubiquitous portobello mushroom sandwich that most restaurants seem to think meets their veg quota. S and I started out with the Coconut Tofu Bites as an appetizer.

Coconutty and crispy.

Oh my goodness. These were so, so tasty. These bite-sized morsels of creamy, melt-in-your-mouth bits of tofu were encrusted with crispy, fried coconut and dipped in a sweet plum sauce with hints of pineapple. The combination of flavors was just perfect, even for someone like me who is generally wary of sweet dinner items. I’m sure these are terribly unhealthy, but for a rare indulgence, it really couldn’t get much more delicious. And I’m so impressed that a mainstream restaurant did something so very creative with tofu – this little dish would not be out of place at an upscale all-vegan restaurant, yet it’s on the menu at an establishment that also features meat. I really appreciate that creativity in a restaurant!

For our main meals, S and I both ordered the Veggie Burger, a “homemade vegetarian burger with sprouts, avocado, tomato on wheat bun.” It did not disappoint.

A bit of an indulgence, but totally worth it.

Can you see how big and plump that burger is? It was just bursting with vegetables, beans, and lentils – the perfect veggie burger! I loved that it was topped with avocado, too – I need to remember to incorporate that wonderful green fruit into more of my burger-eating experiences. With a side of sweet potato fries, this was a really tasty (and filling – I only ate half!) meal, and I rounded it off with a soy cappuccino – the perfect end to the Maryland portion of my holiday vacation.

So there you have it – all my Maryland eats! I’m drooling just thinking about those coconutty tofu bites. :)

What’s the most creative vegan dish you’ve had in a mainstream restaurant?

*My views on aquariums are similar to my views on zoos (shared at the end of this post).

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Vegan Eats in Maryland and DC: Part I

/ Kelly / 4 Comments

Greetings from Rhode Island! After spending five fantastic days in Maryland with S, I hopped on a quick one-hour flight to Rhode Island. Now I’m chillin’ with my family until S joins us late Christmas night. So far I’ve baked one batch of cookies (Five-Spice Snaps from Hannah Kaminsky’s Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season), taken the train up to Boston to visit friends, and otherwise just schlepped around in my super-comfy new plushy bathrobe. Tomorrow we’ll do lots more Christmas baking and food prepping, so I’ll feel a bit more productive.

But I’m getting ahead of myself – I have some Maryland-related eats to share! I was blown away by all the veg-friendly restaurants S and I encountered in MD (and DC), so I figured I’d share ’em! I highly recommend all of these places – each one was impressive in its own right, and definitely worth a visit. I’m splitting this post into two, though, because I’m prone to ramblin’ and it’d get mighty lengthy if I didn’t!

Great Sage in Clarksville, MD

S’s mom treated us to dinner at Great Sage on one of our first nights in Maryland. Their menu is totally vegan, and their dishes feature local and organic ingredients. We started with the Artichoke-Spinach Dip appetizer, a chunky dip with just the right amount of mozzarella Daiya. Spooned onto crusty crostini rounds, it made for a creamy and satisfying start to our meal. For my main dish, I went with the Santa Fe Salad because I was in the mood for something a little on the light side. The salad was fantastic. Mixed baby greens, black beans, roasted corn, red onions, and tomatoes were perfectly coated in a delicious house-made lime-cilantro dressing, then topped with a generous scoop of guacamole, a light sprinkling of cheddar Daiya, and finished off with tortilla strips and big cubes of marinated tofu. The combination was perfect, and I really loved the dressing – it was tangy and flavorful without being overpowering. I was slightly disappointed with the tofu, which seemed a little bland for my tastes – grilling or broiling it might’ve fit better with the theme of the dish. But otherwise, it was perfect and completely filling.

If only you could smell the dressing!

Sticky Fingers Bakery in Washington, DC

Man… I am so envious of anyone who has easy access to an all vegan-bakery like Sticky Fingers. On our list of stuff to do in DC, “visit Sticky Fingers” was right alongside things like “go to museums” and “visit the Botanic Gardens.” As soon as we arrived in the District, we headed straight for the bakery for breakfast and a coffee fix. S enjoyed the Breakfast Burrito, a whole-grain tortilla filled with tofu scramble, black beans, Daiya, tomato, and a generous helping of spinach. Because he’s a generous gent, he offered me many bites, and I can attest that it’s a solid breakfast option. The addition of ketchup made it even better, until some uptight indie boy came over and demanded that S return the ketchup then didn’t even crack a smile when S laughingly apologized for hoarding it. Uptight Indie Boy, you give vegans a bad name and I do not want to be associated with you. Anyway, S also sipped this pretty cappuccino:

Swirly!

I did not get anything nearly as fancy for my breakfast. I enjoyed a simple (but really tasty) cup of coffee along with a Cranberry-Ginger Muffin, their seasonal muffin flavor. I can’t remember the last time I ate a muffin that neither I nor my mom baked, so it was a real treat to enjoy a light, fluffy, bakery-style muffin that I didn’t have to lift a finger to prepare. If the ginger had been a little more prominent, it would’ve been an absolutely perfect breakfast! In fact, it was so good that I forgot to take a photo until I was halfway done eating.

Proof of this muffin's deliciousness.

S and I had plans to return to Sticky Fingers for dessert later in the day, but that didn’t pan out. Alas! I really wanted to try a Peppermint Fudge Brownie. Maybe one day!

Pho 14 in Washington, DC

After a morning of ogling gems and minerals and questioning the necessity of a Chilean miners exhibit at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, S and I met up with two of his college friends for lunch. S introduced me to pho when we were in Chicago over the summer and I really enjoyed it, but sadly, Madison’s vegan pho offerings are non-existent. We made our own version once, but it wasn’t quite the same. So, S was pleased to discover Pho 14, which offers both traditional pho options and a more animal-friendly variety. While S opted for a veg bowl of pho, I went for something slightly different – Bun Chay, described rather sparsely as “vegetables with fried and dyed tofu.” I received a big ol’ bowl of yummy tofu, slightly pickled veggies, thin, round rice noodles, and even more fresh veggies, all of which tasted fantastic when doused in a sweet chili sauce. It was the perfect meal, the kind that fills you up yet doesn’t leave your tummy feeling heavy or uncomfortable. It was light, clean, and absolutely delicious, and it provided me with lots of energy for perusing the fantastic collections at the National Gallery of Art.

…and that’s it for this installment! I’ll talk about the rest of my yummy eats soon. But first – what fabulous restaurants did I miss in DC?! What’s your favorite travel destination, food-wise? 

And also… happy holidays! :)


A Very Belated Thanksgiving Post

/ Kelly / 7 Comments

…now that we’re in full December-holiday-Christmas-merriment-festive mode, I’m going to talk about Thanksgiving! Pardon my tardiness, please. I’ll pepper my wordy musings with photos of food to appease you. :)

I want to talk about Un-Turkey Day because I learned quite a lot from hosting my first Thanksgiving. For example, I now know that if you’re serving three main dishes “to give people options,” it’s probably not necessary to double the recipe for one of those dishes. I also learned that a double oven would be mighty handy on holidays, and that garbage disposals really don’t like large amounts of potato peels. (I also know what potato-peel-laden water looks like when it comes pouring out of your sink pipes.)

My table! I made the napkins.

Most importantly, though, I learned that relying on other people is okay. Typically, I’m a do-it-myself kind of girl. I’m a little… particular, shall we say, about most things I do, and I’m of the mindset that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. But guess what? “Right” is subjective, and sometimes something done right is something done imperfectly. At the end of the day, after S’s and my guests flew back to their four corners of the country, any flaws in our meal didn’t factor into my lasting Thanksgiving memories. Instead, I’ll think fondly on my brother and sister acting as my sous chefs on Wednesday afternoon, chopping and prepping and handling sticky cranberry sauce overflows. I’ll remember my mom dutifully stirring the gravy so it wouldn’t get clumpy while I managed the vegetables. I’ll recall S masterfully mashing potatoes and seasoning them to creamy, delicious perfection while his mom painstakingly handled layers of phyllo dough for one of our main dishes. And I will never forget my dad and S crouching down to unclog my woefully clogged sink after dinner.

Me and some of my feast.

What these memories all have in common is their inclusion of other people, of my loved ones volunteering their time and help so that I didn’t have to do it alone. And although I initially didn’t want to let go of my control, to put my carefully crafted dinner into anybody else’s hands, I’m glad I did. I’m glad I quelled my martyr instinct and let them help me, not only so that I can have such fantastic memories and relax a bit, but so that I could realize that, hey, perfection isn’t necessary (or even attainable). And that realization – along with the people who helped bring it about – are what I’m most thankful for as I think about this past Thanksgiving.

Oh yeah, and the food. We had some damn fine food. Our menu:

Main dishes:

  • Ribollita
  • Tofurky
  • Sweet Potatoes and Cannellini Beans in Sage-Butter Phyllo Crust (Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes, p. 120)

Side dishes:

  • Mashed potatoes
  • Stuffing
  • Oven-roasted shredded Brussels sprouts
  • Sweet & Salty Maple Baby Carrots (Appetite for Reduction, p. 105)
  • Rye bread

Toppings:

Desserts:

Bundt cake o' deliciousness.

Notice anything about this menu? Yep, every single thing is vegan. Our dinner included two vegans, two vegetarians, and three omnivores, and all of them were willing to give a vegan Thanksgiving a go. I’m so grateful for the chance to host an animal-free Thanksgiving, and I couldn’t be prouder of my loved ones for not bemoaning the lack of a turkey a single time. Instead, they all gracefully enjoyed our cruelty-free food. (The only non-vegan food item anyone consumed was some regular whipped cream, because Soyatoo is expensive, and I hoarded it for myself and my mom!)

An open-faced pie - how modern!

So, this Thanksgiving? A big giant awesome delicious animal-free success. I’m so happy to have hosted, and so happy to have celebrated it with some of the best people in the world. :)

And now I’m heading off on a 12-day East Coast road trip of awesomeness with S. I’ll report back about any delicious eats we encounter along the way!

How was your Thanksgiving? What are your holiday plans?

P.S. Here is a BONUS PICTURE – Moria, all tucked in!

Don't worry, she doesn't really sleep like this.

Saturday Night Pizza Fever

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Well, hello! Thought you’d never hear from me again, eh? I promise I won’t be silent much longer. I’ve got some half-finished posts in the works, but to tide you over until then, how about a picture of some delectable pizza?

Dinner o' champions.

Last night S and I independently started thinkin’ that we felt like making pizza for dinner. Once we discovered our mutual hankering, we wasted no time in whipping up a masterpiece of a pie. Because we weren’t keen on waiting for the dough to rise, I used this super quick and super easy dough recipe, which doesn’t require any rising or kneading time. I was skeptical, but the 1000+ positive reviews convinced me to give it a shot. It worked out perfectly, much to my hungry belly’s happiness and my make-everything-harder-than-it-needs-to-be perfectionist self’s surprise.

In the interest of time and laziness, we topped our pizza with canned Muir Glen pizza sauce instead of making sauce from scratch. We covered one half of the pizza with mozzarella Daiya, basil, and roasted red peppers. The other half was a little more sophisticated; we topped it with caramelized onions and shallots, artichoke hearts, and more roasted red peppers. I can’t decide which half I liked better! And I have to admit that Daiya is growing on me. I still think it’s a little icky smelling, and it’s certainly no health food, but the occasional Daiya pizza definitely hits the spot every once in a while.

Aaand that’s all I have for you today! What’s your favorite pizza topping?

Restaurant Review: Kabul

/ Kelly / 1 Comment

Whenever a friend visits Madison for the first time, I always take her on the requisite amble up and down the [mostly] pedestrian-only State Street. Its eight blocks  offer something for every dollar-doler or window-browser, from your standard Gaps and American Apparels to smaller shops with kitschy clothes and accessories. I’m a big fan of Tellus Mater, a locally-owned store packed full of eclectic home goods – their selection of fun kitchen items always elicits at least a few outbursts of delight from me. But perhaps the most alluring aspect of State Street for locals (well, for me, at least) is its selection of eateries. Sure, you can eat at boring ol’ Taco Bell and Chipotle and all your typical chains, but more intrepid eaters appreciate State Street’s glut of more diverse eateries. From Nepalese to Japanese to Greek food, there’s a cuisine to tempt nearly any palate.

I recently rounded out a State Street shopping expedition with a dinner at Kabul. It was a cold, blustery, rainy night, and S and I were more than happy to escape the wind and sit at a cozy table together. Kabul offers Afghani and Mediterranean food, with a dedicated (if small) vegetarian section of its menu. Although many of the vegetarian options feature a yogurt sauce, based on their customer service, I’m sure they’d be more than willing to customize a yogurt dish for vegans. After I asked about the veganness of my meal of choice, my server – unasked! – let me know that there’s egg in their house salad dressing, and she offered to bring me oil and a peach balsamic vinegar instead. How thoughtful!

For my meal, I ordered the Tunisian Spinach Stew, described as fresh spinach cooked with a roasted blend of spices, potatoes and carrots, served with seasoned rice. I received this wonderfully large dish of hearty stew:

Stewpendous! (oh god kill me now)

Including spinach in the title of this dish is a bit misleading, as spinach takes a back seat to the potato and carrot. Spinach dearth aside, this is an absolutely delicious meal. My plate was filled with giant chunks of perfectly cooked, fork-tender carrots and potato, with chickpea and spinach friends to round out the flavors. This wasn’t quite a stew, but there was just enough liquid for bread-dipping. The flavor was terrific – spicy, but not overpoweringly so, with an aromatic blend of spices I couldn’t quite identify. Dill was definitely one (I cheated with that, though, because the dish was garnished with a large fresh dill sprig), and I think there were some sweeter spices like cloves. Whatever they were, they made for a complexly flavored, warm dish, perfect for a cold, rainy evening.

S ordered the Vegetarian Ashak, described as scallion-filled steamed dumplings, topped with green beans and yogurt sauce, sprinkled with mint. He enjoyed them, although he thought the dish was a little heavy on the yogurt sauce. We both rounded out our meal with many cups of delicious, hot tea. It was a fantastic meal, perfect for a blustery night!

What’s your favorite style of food? Do you have very diverse restaurants where you live?

Thanksgiving Testing: Apple Caramel Upside-Down Cake

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Every major holiday, I’m always amazed at my capacity for eating dessert. Even if I shoveled spoonful after spoonful of gravy-saturated mashed potatoes into my greedy trap, even if I ate a plate’s worth of chewy-crunchy stuffing, even if I’ve been at the sauce and never want to see a single cranberry again, all I need is an hour to make room for sweets. My “I’m so fulls!” quickly morph into “Another slice, please!” as I unashamedly fill my plate with as much dessert as I possibly can, being sure to try every vegan-friendly option I can find.

This Thanksgiving promises to be no different. Planning and executing a Thanksgiving dinner is a little daunting to me (my obsessive-compulsive side is begging for a spreadsheet of ingredients, a cooking/timing schedule, and beautifully printed menus, and it will get them soon enough!), but the thought of all the delicious food S and I will serve up keeps me from getting too worried. Even if the dinner lacks luster (which it won’t!), I know we’ll have some kick-ass desserts to fill our guests’ stomachs post-dinner and leave them with full, happy tummies. I’ve already tried a Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake (which, I’ll admit, grew on me since writing that post and might make its way onto my dessert table), and this weekend I made the Gluttonous Vegan’s Apple Caramel Upside-Down Cake.

Now, this cake does not feature actual!caramel. However, it does feature a top layer of nearly caramelized sugar that’s buttery, sweet and just as delicious as caramel. Paired with tender, sweet apples, it’s a winning combination. The cake itself is surprising in its lack of overt sweetness – it’s a tamer flavor, with hints of cinnamon but not much else. That lack of sweetness surprised me at first, but I soon began to appreciate it – it’s a great contrast with the sticky-sweet top layer. On the whole, this is a sophisticated, adult cake, and I’m looking forward to serving it with my other Thanksgiving desserts. I think it’ll provide a great counterpoint to the more traditional (and more sugary!) desserts I intend to serve, and it’ll pair nicely with a hot cup of post-dinner coffee. When I make it again, though, I’ll likely use some brown sugar in the cake itself and add a bit of nutmeg to enhance the cake’s flavor – it’s just the teeniest bit flat as written.

I’m so sorry for the picture-less post (my first in ages!), but I made this cake on Sunday and neglected to photograph it, and it’s looking really sorry right now – the few remaining pieces feature shriveled apple slices and stale edges. I won’t insult you with a photo of that, so just use your imagination or check out the original recipe post for some pretty pictures.

What dessert should I test out next? Do you always have room for dessert, or is your sweet tooth a little smaller than mine?