Mmm Mmm Good!

Remember when I was on a roll, posting twice in one week? Yeah, I told you not to hold me to that!  After not having cooked anything but frozen meals and top ramen for a couple weeks, today's creation is brought to you by the boyfriend who lied about having a cold in order to surprise his girlfriend; thereby inspiring her to make soup!  And what a tasty soup it was.

I've been inspired by curry powder a lot lately so I used this inspiration when thinking about soup ingredients.  I started with onions, carrots and garlic which I let sweat until they were fairly tender.  (By the way, if you're looking for a good way to chop onions and also happen to be a lover of Alton Brown like I am, go check out minute four of this clip).  I added a little bit of yellow curry powder at this stage and a pinch of paprika.  Ah, "pinch of paprika".  Doesn't that just sound pleasant? Really, say it with me now...

Anyway, on to the next stage.  To my carrots and onions I added one can of garbanzo beans, also something that has been inspiring me a lot lately.  And then I added two diced cucumbers and more curry powder.  If you like a little bit of heat, I found that simply adding tabasco to taste at this stage gave it a nice little kick.  Finally, I added just over a quart of vegetable stock and let it everything mingle and get to know each other really well before adding in green onions and a bit of basil ("bit of basil" also has an extremely nice ring to it) before serving.

Voila!

Quite tasty, quite easy to make and it has been providing excellent leftovers.  We did agree, though, that next time it would be two cans of garbonzos and one cucumber.  But it's all about personal preference.

And that's that!  Until next time (hint: some more enchiladas will be coming soon to a blog near you),

The Veggie Monster

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It's My Party & I'll Eat if I Want to

So one of the greatest things about having a food blog is that when people are looking for things to do for, oh, say your birthday, they automatically think of food.  Dads make the world's best cinnamon rolls and fettuccine, moms make delicious red velvet cupcakes and boyfriends let you eat your way around Seattle.  This post shall be dedicated to the latter.  I arrived in Seattle last Saturday afternoon to be told by Derek, man of infinite wisdom and constant inspiration when it comes to eating with reckless abandon, that he had selected several places to take me for my gorge-fest.  I'm not sure he realized until after the fact just how much I really am capable of consuming in one afternoon.  Sorry, love.

We started out at Highline on Capitol Hill.  Highline is situated right on top of Castle and as such can be easy to overlook.  If you don't know what Castle is, nevermind; I'm not going to link it.  ANYWAY, Highline serves Vegan food, and Derek knows just how much I love going to restaurants where I can order anything on the menu and not have to interrogate staff as to how the food is prepared.  I will have to admit, I took a chance and ordered the "fish" and chips knowing full well that I may not like them.  And I was right.  As such, I didn't think to take any pictures of that particular meal.  I did, however, order a Long Island Ice Tea that tasted like key lime pie in a glass.  Double woot for strong drinks that taste like dessert!

Our next destination was also on Capitol Hill and quite possibly my new favorite spot on the hill. Joe Bar is a small place that one might call a "hole in the wall" for its size but certainly not for its atmosphere.  Or its menu for that matter.  Inspired by my Long Island, I told Derek to surprise me with a red wine.  He chose a Dolin Vermouth Rouge.  And a giant molasses cookie for us to share.  Ha.  Share.  Right.  Molasses cookies are quite possibly my favorite kind of cookies and while we ate this one I'm pretty sure I vowed to perfect a ginger-molasses cookie recipe as my next project.  The vermouth (teaching moment: for those unaware, like myself, vermouth is a "fortified" wine. Dry vermouth is white, sweet is red. Thus, my drink would be considered a sweet vermouth) actually went quite well with the cookie, I thought.  Plus, as a photographer, they made such a lovely visual on the table!

Another Day Older, Four Teeth None-the-Wiser

You know what makes having a food blog really difficult?  Not being able to chew.  Three weeks ago I bid farewell to my wisdom teeth on the blog and said hello to so many bowls of mashed potatoes, butternut squash soup, tapioca pudding, homemade applesauce and vegetable broth.  All things that I enjoy.  And by enjoy I mean like enough to not want to ruin them for myself by having to eat them for a week solid.  Two weeks ago I finally said hello to more flavorful things like pho (seriously, there was a heavenly sunburst in the clouds and angels singing on this day).  And one week ago, just as I was starting to eat fairly normally again I said hello to a loverly sinus infection.  You know what feels best to a raw throat/what you have the energy to make when you feel like crap (sorry, grandma)?

Mashed potatoes, butternut squash soup, tapioca pudding, homemade applesauce and vegetable broth.  Lucky for me I had plenty on hand, right?

A Farewell to Teeth

In honor of my soon to be missing wisdom teeth (and the awesome amounts of mushy food I get to eat) (and the fact that the crazy mouthwash they give you has messed up my taste buds and kind of ruined food for the past couple days) I wanted to post about a dish I made a while ago but that never made it up here.

Mmmmmmm...doesn't it look delicious?

This dish doesn't have a name because it is what comes out of "what happens when I throw all those things in my cupboard together" night.  This, in particular, is a mix of chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, garlic, spinach, and vegetable broth seasoned with yellow and red curry mixes.  All in all, cooked together over medium-low heat for about 40 minutes and served over jasmine rice.

And there you have it.  A nice, simple post and a nice, simple tribute to my wisdom teeth which will chomp no more after tomorrow.  I'm sorry that you have to go, teeth, but my stomach would like to know if you could please hurry up because, seriously, we don't know how long we can wait to eat real food and really taste it again.

Until a tasteful recovery!
The Veggie Monster

ps - As always: if you have a facebook account, go here and "like" the page.  And as not always: There is a new feature on the side-bar to the right to subscribe to the blog by e-mail.  And....I caved and got a Twitter.  Being a bird is new concept for me, so I don't tweet very much yet but if you like you can check it out here!

I left my heart stomach in Vancouver, BC

There is a magical land in the north.  They have flowers, sunshine, amazing public transit, and some really great food!  Vancouver reminds me of Disneyland.  In Disneyland there's Aventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Main Street, and it's the happiest place on earth.  Vancouver has Gastown, Yaletown, Chinatown, and the food far supersedes Mickey Mouse pancakes which might just make it my happiest place on earth.  If you need further proof: Disneyland & Vancouver.  I mean, really.

We did our absolute best to eat our way through the city.  Really, we didn't have a choice.  Our many stops for food were totally necessary to keep our energy up what with all the walking and the tandem bicycle riding and the maniacal laughter due to sudden sun exposure.  I'll try to keep it short.  And sane.

First up was a stop in Chinatown at the Boss Bakery.  Derek and I really love red bean cake so naturally we got two kinds.  The first was a red bean pastry that was totally buttery and flaked all over us as we sat on the park bench to eat it.  While watching girls' field hockey.  Oh Canada.  The second was a red bean rice cake.  This one was my absolute favorite.  There was a light dusting of superfine coconut on the rice cake; they're just little pillows of ooey gooey goodness with just a little bit of understated sweetness from the red bean paste.

Busy Bees Make the Tastiest Honey

To reassure you, dear readers, right off the bat: no, I have not gone hungry for the past week.  I have simply been what is usually referred to as busy.  While busy does mean less time to cook or sit down to at a restaurant it does not mean a lack of scrumptious edibles (Unless you want to count those fries and frosty I had for lunch the other day.  Which I, and my gut, do not).  Weeks like this, however, are what I keep experiences like Cafe Flora, and a little thing known as leftovers, in my back pocket for.  So, to business!

Two weekends ago, I made an early morning game out of looking up as many tasty-looking restaurants to try out before Derek woke up.  Side-note: if you know Derek at all you know that this really isn't a difficult game...sorry, love!  And as the super-nice, indecisive girlfriend I am I made him sit down and pick one.  Ultimately, he settled on Cafe Flora; a place that was not new to me but I certainly hadn't been there for a couple years at least.  Cafe Flora is one of the earliest outliers of my vegetarian memory.

Cafe Flora was when I realized that there were actually vegetarian restaurants.

I kind of feel like I owe a lot to Cafe Flora for the simple fact that it showed up in the google results for "Vegetarian Food in Puyallup, WA" that showcased potato skins at TGI Fridays as its most promising possibility (bacon-topped potato skins, of course).  Or maybe I owe it to Google.  Either way, it felt good to go back after such a long hiatus.  I started the meal out with their "Bucket of Yam Fries".  Literally, it is served in a bucket which, let's just face it, is awesome.  They come with cayenne aioli and just like anything else that is really yummy and probably really bad for you, there is never enough of it.  So I ordered the "Black Bean Burger".  Because aside from being a nice little alliteration it comes with more aioli.  It also comes with your choice of yam fries or greens but since I already had my bucket I got greens to feel a little better about my aioli consumption.  If you're looking out for the "food Sarah doesn't like" in this post, it's beans.  Refried, whole, kidney, pinto, black, you name it.  Of all my food distastes, though, it's been the easiest to overcome.  Especially when you turn them into this:

Mmmmmm..... The potato bun was the perfect, floury cloud for the black bean patty which was subtly spiced but not spicy (and did I mention the cayenne aioli?!).  The greens were also delightful, but then again I find greens delightful.  And I much prefer saying "greens" to "salad".  Cafe Flora is also a restaurant that I love for its atmosphere.  Derek agrees - he was very excited about being seated in the restaurant's lush atrium-esque section, right next to the indoor rock fountain.  The whole restaurant gives a light, airy feeling that I, personally, find relaxing and makes the food all the more enjoyable.  Also, for anyone who might be vegan or gluten intolerant, Cafe Flora offers options on many of its dishes.  I wish I could say that we sampled the dessert menu as well, but we were too happily stuffed to do so.  On this visit at least....

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"

What vegetarian doesn't love hot dogs, right?  I mean, they are definitely the epitome of everything that I love about food: healthy, "variety meats" (if you think you don't want to know, you're probably right), and they get their own national council!  Ok, actually, having your own national council is pretty cool.  My bias against hot dogs is no secret since they have topped my picky eater list-o'-unacceptable-foods long before I became a vegetarian.  Using Veggie Monster status as a legitimate reason to turn down hot dogs factored in as roughly 25% of my decision to become a vegetarian in the first place.  Whatever inspired me to walk into a place like the Red Hot of my own free will is beyond both reason and hunger.  The Red Hot is a bar.  That does hot dogs.  That's it.  And it is my favorite restaurant.

Obviously, they are serving veggie dogs, too.  And let's be totally fair right up front, it's not like veggie dogs are the pinnacle of health food...but it certainly feels easier to justify eating 2 or 3 in a row, which is what I cannot help but do while I'm at the Red Hot.  My first love at the Red Hot is their "Not Dog" (punny and vegetarian?! This thing was made just for me!), the veggie version of the "Chicago".  Served on a poppyseed bun, somewhere under the mustard, relish, tomato, sport peppers, pickle spear and celery salt lies the dog.  I can't say enough about this monstrosity to the right.  There's the crunch and dill of the pickle, the bite of the onions, the tang of the mustard, the saltiness and the hint of celery, the sweet acidity of the tomatoes and the heat when you bite into a pepper; you stuff your face (with any luck everything actually makes it in your mouth not just on your face), chew, swallow and then your mouth practically begs you to repeat.  Seriously?  This is me.  And I'm writing an open love letter to a hot dog.