Posts tagged vegetarian
Gastronomy and Life's Other Pleasures
Follow me on my gastronomic adventures!
Weeknight #dinner: (store bought) spinach and ricotta manicotti with my simple tomato sauce recipe. #Art-is-in bread to share!
Lunch at The Table
I feel a great deal of satisfaction and happiness after trying new restaurants, even those that I may not usually consider due to the nature of the cuisine. This was the case for The Table, a vegetarian restaurant that some work colleagues and I decided to try one recent lunch hour.
I have nothing against vegetarian or vegan cuisine, but, full disclosure here, I am a true lover of meat and fish/seafood, so when I treat myself to a lunch, I want something that I’ll love. I had experienced this type of meal only once before, quite a few years ago in Montreal at Le Commensal.
Well, you can imagine my surprise when, after perusing the dishes in the buffet at the Table (the food is served cafeteria/buffet-style, and you pay by weight), I was quite excited to sit down and get a taste of it all! I chose a little bit of a few of the hot dishes, with some salad and a tomato slice topped with pesto on the side. I think my favourite item was the bean loaf, which I topped with the lentil curry for some moisture and added flavour. I also really loved the tofu ball; it had so much flavour! My conclusion? I would definitely go to the Table again and again; the food was fast, fresh, wholesome and delicious!
For dessert, which is also served buffet-style, I chose a slice of the flourless chocolate cake. It was so soft, light and moist - I practically licked the plate clean!
Lunch at Milagro Grill
Whenever planning any sort of work party lunches, we are lucky to have so many restaurant options from which to choose. Most recently, we all went out to Milagro Grill to wish a fellow coworker good luck as she departs to return to school.
I’d been to Milagro for drinks before, but never to eat, so I was very excited to try one of their many lunch options. I chose the Milagro sandwich, which features grilled shrimp, pancetta, roasted red peppers, avocado, sundried tomatoes and hearts of palm, all tossed in a roasted garlic aioli and cilantro pumpkin seed vinaigrette. Served with a side salad, this sandwich was to die for! Bursting with so many flavours, I thoroughly enjoyed every bite!
My bff had the vegetarian chimichangas, which came with rice, refried beans and salad, and she also loved her meal.
The service and atmosphere were all great; I’ll definitely be back to Milagro Grill to try more of their delicious dishes!
Lunch at Hintonburger
I’m not really big on burgers so I wasn’t really in a huge rush to try out the offerings at the famous Hintonburger. But I finally became intrigued enough to check it out when I heard about their “Parkdale” Burger, which is an in-house made falafel-style vegetarian patty.
Probably the most ridiculous thing about Hintonburger is that, now having been around long enough to have moved to a larger location, its housed in the old Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Even more interesting? They have retained all of the KFC signage on the exterior, and just added their own!
Anyway, back to the food! You line up and order old school style, and the order is written down in a receipt notebook and you’re given an order number. As I wait, I notice that the lunch crowd is totally made up of office workers. But what I think is interesting is that the closest office buildings are still a brisk 15 minute walk away (or 5 minute drive).
When I get my order, it is neatly packed in the classic checkered wax paper of an old-school hamburger, and tucked into a silver thermal bag. I unwrap it to find a large, flat round patty, sticking way out from the bun, and loaded with my requested veggie toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, pickled turnip, hummus, ketchup, mustard, relish). I was really excited to try this patty, and I was delighted at first bite! The herbs and spices used to flavour the patty were delicious, and, although deep-fried, it wasn’t as greasy as I had expected. Everything was fresh, hot and all-around delicious! I will definitely be back for another!
TruRoots Organic Quinoa
I’ve written about my adventures making quinoa many times, including here, here, here and here. Every time I post something with quinoa, you guys all seem to love it!
Which is why I’m finally taking the opportunity to show you what I use to create all these lovely and delicious dishes! My first foray into using quinoa was a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa, which was good but quite expensive. So when I first came across this 4lb sack of Tru Roots Organic Quinoa at Costco a few years ago (and used many since), I was completely ecstatic, as the price is amazing for such a large amount of this healthy grain. I store my bag in the freezer for optimum freshness and take a bit out as needed. It keeps perfectly!
What’s your favourite brand of quinoa?
Potato salad from the SmoQue Shack
Ok, so, this photo doesn’t do it the justice it deserves, but if you could just taste it…..
To go along with my pulled pork sandwich (see previous post here), I ordered the SmoQue Shack’s potato salad. I love a good potato salad, and this was a GREAT potato salad! It had so much flavour, I almost ordered a second helping! It was creamy, but with bite, and loaded with peas and crunchy celery, it packed a flavourful punch! A perfect accompaniment to my sandwich.
Martha Stewart’s Muffin-Pan Potato Gratin
Last year, the boyfriend got me a subscription to Everyday Food. I was excited to find some great, simple recipes in the mag and I wasn’t disappointed.
I recently decided to thumb through the November and December 2010 issues to flag some recipes that I could use for the holidays, and I came across this one (click on the photo for a link to the recipe). We were making a roast beef for dinner, so I thought these were perfect.
They were extremely simple to make, but they stuck to my muffin pan like crazy, even though I thoroughly greased it. I also added some smoked paprika to the seasoning layers for a kick.
They were tasty, but I wouldn’t use my muffin pan again - let’s just say I spent way too much time scrubbing it afterwards!!
A little cooking club for two
One of my bffs and I decided to start a little cooking club for just the two of us. The purpose of our little club is to a) hang out, of course and b) try new recipes!
We had our first ‘meeting’ the other night, and our inaugural recipe was quinoa cakes with poached egg from Annie’s Eats (click on the photo for a link to the website and recipe).
I’ve never attempted to make any sort of savoury cake, so this was a new challenge for me. The cakes didn’t come together as beautifully as I had hoped, but I think with more practice, they will turn out successfully. We served our supper with a spinach salad on the side, with my homemade maple balsamic dressing.
All in all, we enjoyed a lovely evening of cooking, and the meal turned out deliciously, although I’d add a little something more next time to the cakes…perhaps some fresh chopped cilantro? Hmmm…we’ll see. I also froze the leftover cakes, so I’m curious to see what they’re like after having been frozen.
Colourful vegetarian pasta
My amazing girlfriends put together this incredibly delicious vegetarian pasta during one of our girls’ weekends last year. I have to say, the whole roasted tomato that we each received atop our plates was such a lovely treat. Filled with a variety of roasted veggies, this is one home made pasta meal that I certainly will remember for a long time.
There’s something about a home cooked meal that’s made by someone else that is so satisfying. Strange, right? This meal reminds me why it makes me sad to live so far away from my parent’s house - I can’t pop over for Mum’s cooking any time I like! On the bright side, it makes me want to whip up many a home cooked meal for myself and the boyfriend, and for friends.
Lentil and Sweet Potato Chili
What do you do when you find a bag of green lentils in your cupboard? Go on tumblr, find a recipe, and make lentil chili!
I found a link via tumblr for this recipe to AmyBites, a fab blog that is definitely now part of my blogroll. Click on the photo for a link to the recipe!
This chili was totally fantastic! The addition of cinnamon made this dish extra special and interestingly flavourful. It was so amazingly hearty and delicious. I froze most of it to take for work lunches, and each time I heat up a bowl, I’m salivating!
Cucumber and yam tempura with cream cheese and spicy mayo at Chateau des Charmes, Taste of the Season 2010, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
My bff took this photo after we made vegetarian fajitas together. It was such a fun night! We ate delicious fajitas and watched Seventeen Again. What could be better?
I threw together this stirfry for dinner one night recently. I chopped up red bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, celery and chives. While cooking the vegetables, I added some fresh chopped garlic and grated ginger, as well as a splash of both low-sodium soy sauce and hoisin sauce. For my starch, I boiled some vermicelli noodles. It turned out to be pretty delicious for an off-the-cuff creation!
This is another one of my favourite last minute dinner concoctions: a bulgar salad with dried fruit, nuts and chopped vegetables.
The ingredients include chopped red bell pepper, cucumber, celery, dried cranberries, chives, cilantro and some toasted chopped almonds. For the dressing, I mix a little bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper, and olive oil.
The boyfriend wouldn’t touch this kind of food with a 10-foot pole. I usually make enough just to feed myself so I don’t use a set recipe for this salad.
Frida’s also does table-side guacamole! That was such an amazing experience. I’ve never been to a restaurant where they make the guac table side, and it was so fresh and delicious!
