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Crispers – Winter Haven, Fl

21 May

We spent the Mother’s Day weekend in Winter Haven this year, to see Thomas’ mom. Winter Haven is southern feeling town in between Orlando and Tampa, and now home to newest park in the area, LegoLand. It is also a town where you’re likely to find a lot of barbeque, and not a whole lot of people who even know what vegan means. Which is fine, unless you need to eat something.

Being that it was Mother’s Day, I had a couple of factors against me about getting a decent lunch. First, there was a good chance the ladies of honor were not going to pick a vegan friendly establishment, and I could get stuck eating french fries, so I needed a pre-lunch, lunch. Second, because of the holiday, the independently owned safe options were closed.

Our hunt for a chain restaurant that would work landed us at Crispers. They had some vegetarian dishes clearly marked, but I decided to Pick a Pair, and just veganize their Southwest Salad, as their menu “We can make practically any salad meat-free. Just Ask!” encouraged. I chose this one, so I could get some protein from the black beans.

Sidenote: Dear salad places/restaurants, if you’re going to make a vegetarian salad, could you include some protein please? We need it too. Chickpeas, black beans, white beans, lentils, quinoa, etc. would be most appreciated. Kale would be great too. Thanks very much.

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Southwest Salad -no chicken, no cheese, no tortilla strips, no ranch, & a cup of Vegetarian Vegetable that came served with saltines, also vegan.

I dressed my salad with some pepper and some lemon juice I squeezed from the lemons at the drink station! And we even got a free fountain drink with my check-in on Foursquare.

I actually ended up having plenty of lunch in the end. We ended up going to Chili’s, where I had a cup of black beans, and some awesome guacamole, along with some free chips & salsa from our check-in on Foursquare. So yah, sometimes you just have to get creative.

Vegan Iron Chef Ty: a self imposed challenge

27 Apr

This challenge came about because the basil that I had intended to use for Thursday’s meal was dead in the fridge by Wednesday. Of course, if I had read the instructions on the hydroponic packaging first, I wouldn’t have put it in the fridge, but rather in a glass of water on the counter as suggested, but hindsight is 20/20. RECIPE AT THE END! : )

So… enter Thursday, the weekend approaching and produce that still needed using up. I decided a pasta dish was in order and this is what I had to work with…

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I decided to bake the tofu in the 1/2 jar of marinara sauce I had left over. Since I found sprouted, pre-pressed tofu, I’ve been using it almost exclusively as a time saver. I simply cut it into squares, tossed them in the sauce and baked for 20 minutes.

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I was out of garlic, so I used some shallots and red onions as my base for a from scratch sauce. I used a little red wine to deglaze the pot.

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Here the fresh tomatoes go in with a bunch of spices…

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I added some frozen, chopped spinach at the very end of the sauce. Just a few minutes to heat through, but so that it stays nice and bright.

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And here is everyone in, and tossed around to thoroughly combine.

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Angel Hair w/ Tofu, Spinach & Greenbeans

8 oz package of thin pasta of choice, cooked al dente according to instructions
1/2 lb of green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces, added to cooking pasta for last 6-7 minutes!

1/2 jar of marinara sauce
1 block of pressed tofu, firm or extra firm

Olive oil for misting pot
1 shallot, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
2 large tomatoes, chopped
Splash of red wine, optional (I used some cabernet)

1/2 tsp. of garlic powder (I was out of fresh!)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. of thyme
pinch of rosemary
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper
crushed red pepper for heat

~1 c. of crushed tomatoes
1-2 c. of chopped frozen spinach

Directions:

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400*F. Pour half of jar sauce into a baking dish. (An 8×8 or glass pie dish works great!) Add tofu squares and cover with remaining sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. (I baked for 20 minutes and turned off the toaster oven, and just let it sit until I was ready.)

2. (Set your pasta water to boil!) Mist a medium pot with olive oil and raise to medium heat. Add shallots and onions, and cook for about 5 minutes, until golden and softened. (If you have some garlic, add a clove or two, minced here! I was out!) Pour in a splash of red wine if using, and let it cook off for a minute or two.

3. Add tomatoes and spices of your liking, and cover to simmer for 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer until pasta is almost ready. Mix in the frozen chopped spinach a few minutes before the pasta is done.

4. Add green beans to cooking pasta for last 6-7 minutes. Drain, return to pot, add sauce, and tofu and sauce and combine well. Top with nutritional yeast and/or vegan parm. Enjoy!

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Result:

This was pretty good! Still got a nice, fresh tasting dish, even with some of the jar sauce mixed in. The baked tofu gave it a nice mozzarella type feel, and the green beans cooked up perfectly. Yum!

Evol Burritos – Tofu & Spinach Saute and Veggie Fajita

25 Apr

Have you tried Evol frozen burritos? They’re pretty good and come in two vegan varieties: Tofu & Spinach Saute, and Veggie Fajita. They’re 80% and 70% organic, respectively, and make a nice snack or light, quick meal. According to their website, they also make a 70% organic, vegan Veggie Curry wrap, which sounds pretty good. I’m always on the lookout for things to stock the freezer with for lazy days or when I’m absolutely famished and need immediate gratification. We ate these back in the old apartment after we had packed up the kitchen! ; )

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Don’t let the names fool you, they pack a bunch of stuff in here, including 10-12g of protein and black beans in both!

Tofu & Spinach Saute: Tofu sautéed with spinach, roasted potatoes, black beans and an authentic tomato salsa–All hand rolled together in an insanely tasty whole wheat flour tortilla.

Veggie Fajita: Sautéed red & green bell peppers, black beans, brown rice and an authentic tomato & roasted corn salsa–All hand rolled together in an insanely tasty whole wheat flour tortilla.

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Appetite for Reduction’s Chili-Lime-Rubbed Tofu, Mashed Yuca & Kale Salad

24 Apr

Well, by the end of this past weekend I finally had unpacked and organized all of my remaining kitchen items. (A few things had to be returned to their owners or donated.) I made out a meal plan for the week, for what seemed like the first time in ages, and headed to the store. I’ve been favoring AFR lately in an attempt to make my cooking life a little simpler and leaner. And I even managed to make a couple of dishes from it in the midst of being half unpacked the last few weeks.

This ended up being 3 courses of mixed latin fusion inspired goodness.

The Kale salad was of my own invention to use up some ripe mango and avocado I got from my mother. I used kale because I’m addicted to it and crave it all the time, but I snuck in a little chiffonade of basil since I had just bought it and it smelled so good. It made for a very nice, fresh contrast. I added black beans and some super fresh corn to give it a sort of mexi vibe, and dressed it very lightly with lime juice, a tiny mist of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some fresh ground smoked black pepper.

Mango, Avocado, Kale salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed, ripped or chopped into tiny pieces
10 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade or chopped finely, optional
1 mango, small dice
1 avocado, small dice
1 can of black beans, well rinsed
1 tbsp. of red onion, chopped finely
fresh corn cut from one ear
lime juice, to taste
olive oil, optional
salt & pepper

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I was going to try Isa’s suggested Mashed Yuca with Cilantro & Lime, but both stores I went to were curiously out of cilantro. I was already planning on buying the Goya frozen yuca instead of buying fresh, since that’s all I’ve ever seen my family use, and it was easier. That’s what’s in that pot there below on the right, 2 small bags worth. I had a little red onion left from the salad, so that’s the pink you’ll surely notice in my final result. I used this and 2 big cloves of garlic to make a quickie mojo, because I just can’t imagine eating yuca without it. So I’ll put my little version here as well. It sure tasted good. But honestly, just the yuca straight out of the salted water tasted amazing. I love yuca. I had never made it before. I did use Isa’s suggestion for reserving a cup of the cooking water to mash with.

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So I made a double batch of the tofu, because Thomas is a tofu eating machine, and I wanted some leftovers to eat with the leftover salad for lunch the next day. (PS- I did, and they were extremely delicious together!) So that’s me putting fork holes in two bricks of sprouted, prepressed tofu. The only thing I didn’t double in the marinade was the oil. I stuck with just the 1 tsp. and I used less salt in the rub, and not quite double the chili powder.

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In the marinade…

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With their rub on…

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Baked, flipped, baked some more & outta the oven…

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Ty’s Mojo Infused Mashed Yuca

2 lbs of frozen yuca chunks (I used the Goya Brand), cooked according to package directions/taste. I like mine a bit “al dente” for lack of a better term. Yuca will get mushy, but for me the perfect texture is still firm on the inside.
1 c. of reserved cooking water
1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 large cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced
mist of olive oil
2 tbsp. lime juice, split

Directions:

1. In the last 5-10 minutes of yuca cooking, spray a small skillet with a little olive oil and lightly fry up onion and garlic. As it gets dryer, splash in 1 tbsp. of lime juice, and cook down.

2. Drain yuca and return to pot or to a large bowl you can mash it in. Remove the fibrous little strings in the centers of the chunks, preferably with a fork so you don’t burn your fingers. Add “mojo” mixture, additional lime juice and enough cooking water to get to your desired consistency. Mmm! This made a wonderful bed for the tofu.

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Final Thoughts…

So if you’re really cool, you could knock this out in 30 minutes flat. If you make the salad while the other 2 cook. I’m not that cool, so it took me somewhere between 45-60 minutes so that I could include dancing and beer drinking too. If you haven’t checked out Appetite for Reduction, it’s worth checking out. The recipes are a lot simpler than let’s say the Veganomicon, but still packed with plenty of flavor and guiltier items too like corn bread and onion rings, etc. I like it so much I even bought the kindle edition with the intent of selling back or giving away my hard copy, but don’t think I will after all. :)

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Wave 2700 – Boca Raton, Fl

17 Apr

So I’ve been on an Italian food kick recently, and I think it all started with this amazing gnocchi from Wave 2700. (I think about it all the time! :) ) We dined here one other time last year, and the food seems to be consistently excellent. A great place to go when you’re feeling a little fancy, or want to dine with omnis for a special occasion. And if you’re anything like us, you’ll appreciate the small selection of craft beers that they rotate. I’d also like to applaud that they now have vegan dessert options, and that the vegan menu has been given its own section in their regular menu instead of being relegated to the trifold on the table.

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Rolls, salad and dressing. All vegan. Yes!

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So much deliciousness. This sauce is bursting with fresh basil, tomato, and garlic.

Wave 2700 is inconspicuously located right next to the lobby of the  Best Western hotel at 2700 N. Federal Hwy,  Boca Raton, Fl. 561-361-2700. Reservations accepted.

The Whole Enchilada – Fort Lauderdale, Fl

15 Apr

As you can probably tell, I haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking since we moved to Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately for us, there are quite a lot of restaurants to choose from in our area, and while most of them aren’t expressly vegetarian, I’ve been able to feed myself just fine from the selections offered. We’ve been hitting up many of the mexican restaurants, and were meaning to try The Whole Enchilada again. We had been here one time last year, on an off day, when the staff was really overwhelmed. Today the service was friendly & quick and the food was good & plentiful. They have seared tofu as a protein option, which I really appreciate for variety’s sake, and both their black beans & pinto beans are vegetarian.

For $7.69 I got a massive Tostada complete with lettuce, rice, black beans, guac, seared tofu, and lots of toppings I picked up at the salsa bar. I ordered this without sour cream (and I said no cheese, but I’m not sure that it came with it?). It also came with a side of chips. So much food that I had to ask for a lid to take it home. Pretty awesome.

Also check out the Tree Hugger without the cheese for a vegan burrito! (I had this last time.)

The Whole Enchilada is located at 4115 N. Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33308. 954-561-4040.

Tequila Sunrise – Fort Lauderdale, Fl

1 Apr

Surprisingly enough, with all of the restaurants that there are in Fort Lauderdale, there really aren’t many vegan options here. Sure there’s Sublime, the well known, all vegan, over priced, bland and uninspired restaurant, but I hate giving them my money, even if the profits do go to animals. That being said, let me tell you about a mexican place that’s really close to our new place, and at least has a little vegan section on their menu.

This review is actually long overdue. We dined at Tequila Sunrise last year when we got one of those groupon/living social vouchers. Back then they had the menu that’s currently up on their website. I ordered the vegan black bean tostadas, which I thought were great.

On this visit, the vegetarian/vegan menu was just a section of the regular menu, and a lot more limited. I was happy though, because they still had vegan enchiladas listed, even if the tostadas weren’t.

I specified that I didn’t want mushrooms at least 3 times. Mostly because it seemed like our waitress wasn’t paying attention. She let me know I could sub vegetables instead of white rice, so I said sure.

When my plate came and I spotted a mushroom in the vegetables, I remembered that I had not asked an additional time for no mushrooms, so I was still hopeful, but upon peering into my enchiladas I realized they were all over. A second waitress came out and said that there was no way to make the dish without mushrooms, because the veggies were already mixed. Then she came back and said they could do it with just onions & peppers inside. So I just ordered two tacos a la carte. Both the black beans and the refried beans are vegetarian, so I ordered one of each.

They came in very thick, delicious hot shells, and the black beans were really tasty. These were $3.50 each.

Impression:

We eat mexican food A LOT. Half the time it’s from Taco Bell. (fresco bean burritos or the occassional 7-layer, no cheese, no sour cream!) And I admit, I don’t ever ask if the beans are vegetarian when I’m at a restaurant. So it’s nice to know that they are here. If you aren’t allergic and/or grossed out by mushrooms (like I am!), they have a good amount of well thought out vegan options for you. I mean, that enchilada dish really did look delicious. I was pretty disappointed that I had to give it back! So if you’re so inclined, it’s worth checking out.

Tequila Sunrise is located at 4711 c N Dixie Hwy Oakland Park, FL 33334. (954) 938-4473. Open Mon-Wed 11:30am – 10pm, Thurs – Sat 11:30 am – 11pm, and Sunday 12pm – 10pm.

Infusion Tea – Orlando, Fl (Vegetarian)

18 Mar

Hey all! I’ve been MIA all week because we’re MOVING TO FORT LAUDERDALE tomorrow, and we only had a week to pack! We didn’t think that we were moving until next month, so it’s been a little frantic, but fun, and we’re really excited for the change of scenery. We’re still trying to relocate to Seattle this year or next, and we’ll be able to transfer our lease to Seattle from this place if and when we do find work there. In the meantime, we think we’re really going to enjoy our new place. We’re downsizing from a 2/2 to a 1/1 to save a tiny bit of $ and get used to a smaller space. So my kitchen will be downsizing too, but nothing will ever be as small as that Brooklyn kitchen that I started this blog in, so I’m not worried at all!

Here’s the last review from our trip to Orlando that I didn’t get to put up. I apologize for the brevity. Hopefully I’ll be cooking & blogging again next week when we’re all settled!

: )

This was the last place we ate on our recent trip to Orlando. We can’t wait to get back, because there were so many other places that we could have tried, but the combination of being a tea house and serving a good variety of vegan options sold me, and I’m very glad about that!

Infusion Tea has a nice big space with lots of seating, and they even do special function parties here. (bridal & baby showers, rehearsal dinners, etc.)

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Their impressive collections of teas are served with a special tea timer so you know when it’s ready!

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I ordered the tempeh tacos:

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and Thomas ordered the burrito done vegan:

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Impression:

We split our dishes, and I have to say, while the burrito was good,  the tempeh tacos were GREAT! They even have an all vegan chocolateir located in the shop with it’s own refrigerated case. We had a really nice lunch, and there were many vegan offerings. This is definitely a good place to eat, drink tea and hang out.

Infusion Tea is located in College Park at 1600 Edgewater Dr, Orlando, FL 32804. 407 999-5255 Open Mon-Sat 9a-9p, Sun 12p-6p.

Cajun Beanballs & Spaghetti – Appetite for Reduction

17 Mar

Here’s another yummy meal made from Appetite for Reduction! I’m definitely going to keep this book in heavy rotation for a while. A.) because I need to drop a couple of pounds (not that it’s a diet book, but at least it’s mostly light on oil) and B.) because the recipes tastes really good!

Tempeh cubed and ready to hit the steamer.

About to be mashed into the rest of the bean ball ingredients.

Heading into the oven to bake.

Sprinkled with nutritional yeast & vegan parm. <3

The recipe consists of three recipes. 1 for bean balls, 1 for the sauce, which is a variation of her basic sauce in this book, just with some cajun spices, and 1 for the general recipe which includes 2 c. of chopped zucchini, for which I subbed cauliflower that needed using.

YUM!

Black Bean Deli – Orlando, Fl

15 Mar

Monday’s happycow.net research turned up a cuban place with vegan empanadas. WHAT?!?!? Yes. This is pretty much when I first started to seriously think we could start looking for employment in Orlando. I’m not kidding!

Black Bean Deli‘s been around for a long time, and has even been voted Orlando’s best cuban restaurant. Though it’s not so much of a restaurant as a food counter, with just 5 or 6 stools for seating. Further research determined that they even have an empanada food truck that travels around the winter park area. WHAT?!?!?!! Yes. And it sounds like some of those amazing empanadas could possibly be vegan by their descriptions. (If so, start packing!)

So we paid them a little visit…

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This was my dinner that I was only able to eat half of… a container of black bean soup (no rice, per my white rice hating preference), maduros (fried ripe plantains), and 2 vegan empanadas.

I was in absolute heaven. I even traded a couple maduros for a couple of Jeremy’s tostones (fried green plaintains) that were made to be dipped in my black bean soup. SO GOOD. The black bean soup, while being a little salty, was really good, and the platanos were cooked perfectly. The maduros have the right degree of burned cripy edges, and the tostones having the correct crisp outsides and tender middles.

The empanadas were a little different than what I’m used to, and certainly different than mine, filled with meat analogue and carrots and potatoes. This gave it a very cuban comfort food taste (like potaje). These were very good. But of course, pretty much anything in deep fried dough is going to be good. ; )

Come see why they’ve won best cuban, best latin, and best take-out in Orlando. Black Bean Deli is located at 325 S Orlando Ave (in Winter Park), Orlando Florida 32789. 407-628-0294. Open Monday through Friday 11-8, and Saturdays 11-5. Closed Sundays.

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