An autumnal pilaf

I have to admit: I LOVE my slow cooker. 

It is a lifesaver on busy days. just dump in your ingredients and turn it on, when you get home, your food is ready! This week, I made a kamut pilaf from "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson. It is awesome, because it has a combo of root vegetables and cranberries in it! Awesome alone or along side your favorite protien (tofu, chickpea cutlets, tempeh... you catch my drift...). It is very seasonal, and um, did I mention how much I value cheapness?

Pre Shang De dinner

There is one hour between getting home from the library and Shang De. What can I eat? Answer: pasta. It is one of the perfect foods. I choose whole wheat pasta because it has a high fiber and protein content. I boiled it, mixed in some arugula and tomato sauce, a ta-da, dinner is served (don't forget the fresh ground pepper, it is essential!)

Afternoon Snack!

I got home from class starving and with many more hours of work in front of me. So, I decided to mix up some random stuff in an attempt to have a snack. You should know that I usually don't have snacks...I generally drink coffee instead (I know...  not the best choice...)

This one admittedly needs work, it is my first attempt at a healthy pumpkin pudding. So far I add vanilla protein powder to pumpkin puree along with some pumpkin pie spice and mix...not bad, but not great (of course, I shut up and ate it) 

I invite any suggestions to jazz this up...I was thinking dried cranberries might help...

Curry Hummus and Black Bean Orange Hummus

These are both out of Eat, Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton. Both are awesome at parties, at home, in a pita... you get the idea...

The curry hummus is especially good in a wrap with slices of green apple and raisins.

Pumpkin Cranberry Scones

I made these on a study break, they're in V-Con, and they are awesome. You should totally give them a shot!

It Snowed Last Night!

A blanket of snow covered Edmonton overnight. For some weird reason, it makes me homesick from my life out East, before Law School and general lack of time. So, when I woke up this morning, I decided to make a somewhat Montrealais breakfast. (Okay, so the only real difference is bagels instead of toast, and orange slices, but still, I feel better now...)

Spaghetti and Beanballs!

I kept looking at this recipe (in V-con) really thinking about making it. What stopped me was the steps: making pasta, sauce and beanballs? Do I really have time for this? The answer was a resounding "Yes!"

These bean balls were awesome (I fried them this time, next time, I'll bake them for firmer results) The sauce was surprisingly fast (and reminds me of Casse-Croute tomato sauce that I often crave) it only took 20 minutes from start to finish. Also, you can make subs with the leftover beanblls. How perfect is that?!

MMMMMM.....East Indian Food......

This week, I had the pleasure of dining at New Asian Village on Saskatchewan Drive. They are in the process of renovating, but it is definitely worth waiting, or taking the fore-thought to make a reservation. This place is veg*n gold!

First, we were seated in our Maharaja Room, which separated us from other parties with East Indian fabric (which was also draped all around), this created a funky, yet intimate atmosphere.

Then, we were offered a trip to the beer fridge. And this was no ordinary beer selection: The restaurant has over 200 varieties of beer that you could choose from. I had a Fish Tale Organic Amber Ale. I later had a glass of the house wine (a Shiraz from the Niagara region) , which also complimented the food well.

We started out with the Mushroom Pakoras, which came with a tamerind and a spicy, green (no idea what that was) sauce. Both thoroughly enjoyable. We then had soup, I had the Mulligatawny, which was spicy, with nice overtones of cilantro and rice, which gave the soup thickness.

After that (hey, we were starving) we had the Vegetable Pulav, (which is rice with saffron and vegetables) it was delish and totally worth the price (It is one of the more expensive items on the menu). We also ordered Vegetables Vindaloo (make sure to ask for no paneer) which was spicy, but not overly so, and had a great variety of fresh vegetables in it. The Chana Masala was perfect: loads of chickpeas, with just enough sauce, and a great balance of smokey and spicy flavours. For bread, we had Missa Tandoori Paratha, which is a flat bread made of lentil flour. This was great, hearty, yet not heavy. It is nice when you want to try something beyond nan. Bhindi Alu, is a dish I think everyone must try. In my opinion, it redeems okra, a usually slimy vegetable by grilling it up, so that it is crisp and yet chewy, no slime factor in sight!

Black Sabbath?

That's right. I made a seitan roast for Shabbat this week! I was lazy, so I just quickly whipped up some seitan and put it in the middle of some colourful organic potatoes and carrots. Simple, yet such a high yum factor, that it didn't even make it to sandwiches the next day!

Stir fry!

Yes, stir-fry is quick, easy, and healthy. I really like this variation, I got it from the "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" book, which is a great resource for easy, healthy meals. The smoked Tofu is definitely worth seeking out on this one.

My Culina Highlands Experience.

I decided that the population of Edmonton is missing a vegan restaurant reviewer (no, really?). So I have taken this upon myself. 

Last night, I had a hot date (don't call the tabloids, it was with my husband). We wanted to go to one of our preferred restaurants in Edmonton , Bacon. This restaurant was on 112 street, a little far, but worth it for the ambiance, wine selection and creative vegan food (as well as omnivorous, "local, sustainable" food). 

You could understand my disappointment when I called to make a reservation only to find that Bacon is gone and replaced with a new branch of Culina (highlands). Regardless, I figured that we would give it a shot. 

We showed up at 8:00, to find that our table wasn't ready.  We decided to wait for "our" table, as it was "nicer" than the other offerings. We finally sat down about 15 minutes later (hey, remember the Seinfeld episode where they go to the restaurant and have to wait even thought they made reservations?)

The good news:both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were creative and enticing.  The wine-by-the glass selection was good (I had a great pinot from the Okanagan). Ky had a ginger beer (he is still on antibiotics). both were enjoyable.

We then ordered appetizers. I had the olive and prune tapenade with grilled bread, Kyle had the Quinoa salad (sans Feta).

I would recommend the quinoa salad to anyone. The dressing was fab, and there was a good balance of texture and flavors, and passed the "seasonal" test. 

Though the actual tapenade was good the state of the grilled bread was disappointing.In my opinion, if you are going to do a grilled bread, it has to be served warm, or else it just tastes like cold toast. Alternately, serve with crackers. either would have been preferable here.   

    

Now, here is where I get rant-y. There was one vegan main dish on the entire menu. One vegan dish. And though there are multiple problems with this in itself, which I will discuss at another time, I also had problems with the dish itself. 

Firstly, it was a, you guessed it, portobello mushroom based dish (yawn). Though I commend the creative effort of serving it over a cashew "cheese" there was too much garlic in the cheese, and it overpowered the palate, distracting from other qualities.  

The baked wild rice filling was rather bland. It merely matched the umame taste of the mushroom, making it into a muddle of flavor, with nothing that really "wowed".  The roasted carrots and potatoes served with it were cooked perfectly, but were also bland. Also, the green salad had these salt flakes on it (I'm assuming fleur de sel) which killed the flavor of the greens. 

Also, there was no vegan dessert or palate cleanser. Is a compote really that difficult? 

Also, I felt that the decor and the attempted atmosphere didn't match the space. Th space is small, and the white and black decor with large print art made it feel like a dinning room gone through a compactor.

  This is an old pizzeria, (there is still a pizza oven visible in the open kitchen) and I agree with a fellow patron who mentioned to his date as they left that it is a shame to use it as storage. 

Another thing that was a let-down was that almost everything including the borsht included sour cream and butter. Also, I have more than a purely vegan problem with this...which I will discuss at another time. 

So if you are vegan, and want to give this resto a try, have a glass of wine and the Quinoa salad. 

East Indian Crock pot

I made this last week. It was really good in terms of taste, time and cheapness. I would recommend you try it out on one of those psychotically busy weeks. 

This recipe is from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. It's called Indian cauliflower and Kidney bean stew with coconut milk. I left out the tomatoes, because I forgot to buy tomatoes... it was still good, though!

Solgurt!

Well, I was exhausted and hungry, browsing the refrigerated section at Planet Organic, when I came cross a new brand of soy yogurt. It's by Sol cuisine (the same company that makes the tofu ribz) and it is wicked awesome, with just the right amount of Cow bell (a.k.a. none). It does have that tangy taste that you get with dairy yogurt, and has minimal odd after taste. I had both straw and blue berry flavours. Both were good.