Restaurants

Pantry Challenge Update

January 15, 2010 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

So I have been working on this pantry challenge and have come to realize it’s a fail. I evaluated the contents of my cupboards and well I basically have tomatoes, tomato sauce, pasta and grains…no beans, no other fun pantry items. My freezer is pretty sparse as well – only gin, bananas, edamame and sweet peas. I think that this pantry challenge was a great idea but is just not going to work for me this month since I am lacking in staples. However I am considering coming back to this when i have a more well stocked pantry.

I have to say though I have created some great meals this week. My husband commented on the fact that they were fun and different than we usually have and actually have tasted great. I’ll leave you with some of the items I made this week:

Southwest Grits - Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup 5 minute grits
2 cups water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 t each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and paprika
1 t cumin
1/4 t chipotle chili powder
1/4 cup frozen corn
3 green onions thinly sliced

Directions:

In a bowl mix together grits, nutritional yeast and spices.
Bring water to a boil, while stirring slowly stream in the grits mixture.
Turn the heat down to low and let cook this should take about 5-7 minutes, make sure to stir frequently.
Once the grits are almost done add in the corn and green onions.
To serve place grits in a bowl and garnish with green onion, corn and your favorite hot sauce.

Creamy Butternut Squash Penne - Serves 1

For dinner last night I took the bus into Burlington to meet my hubby after work for a date night. We went to American Flatbread which is delicious. I love their menu because it is simple – all they have are 10 signature flatbreads, create your own flatbread and a salad; however their beer menu is extensive – I’d say close to 100 different varieties as well as house made ones.

Hubby had the Wolaver's Coffee Porter and I had Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde

We shared 2 small flatbreads- This one is Revolution Flatbread- housemade tomato sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms and herbs

Our 2nd flatbread was the Roasted Tomato Salsa- house made salsa (wood fired tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro), corn and black beans

Concord NH: Cafe Indigo

December 31, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

On our way home from the airport we stopped in to the vegan Cafe Indigo in Concord, NH. We have wanted to go here many times but it isn’t open on Saturdays and that is when we normally go through. Well lucky us it was Monday and they were open and we were starving.

The Rachel

Veggie Burger

My dad and Neil ordered The Rachel which is the vegan seitan version of the Ruben and it was delicious. My omni father who loves his meat even loved this sandwich he couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. My mom ordered the Veggie Burger which was homemade and so good. My favorite dish was my own the Spinach and Soysage Burrito it was amazing. The burrito was creamy and delicious.

Spinach and Soysage Burrito

For dessert the 4 of us split a chocolate chip cookie bar which was delicious. They were all out of there Carrot Cake which has been named by VegNews for being the best vegan carrot cake. Oh well we loved our cookie.

One of the other great features about this place is that they have to-go items such as cookies, cupcakes, and salads. They also have tofu turkeys to go and homemade pies- this would be great for anyone looking for a quick holiday meal!

Disney World Party 1- Tusker House

December 30, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

Tusker House

Wednesday morning we jumped on an early flight to Orlando and after dropping our bags off at our resort we headed straight to Animal Kingdom for my Dad’s birthday. It was lunch time when we arrived and all of us were starving so we decided to go to Tusker House for dinner. Tusker House is a buffet that features Indian and Asian influenced dishes and has a ton of vegan dishes. We let the waitress know that we had dietary restrictions and the chef came out and walked us around the buffet showing us the numerous vegan dishes. Some of our favorite dishes were: greenbean and onion salad, mango chutney, tabouli, pita, hummus, couscous with veggies and roasted potatoes. Also featured were a few other salads, rice dishes and tandoori tofu; the tandoori tofu was kind of bland. We had fruit for dessert and took a few oranges and bananas in our bag to snack on the rest of the day.

Yummy Tabouli and Hummus at Tusker House

The tabouli was my favorite ever! Many times I find that a traditional tabouli is just too much parsley and doesn’t have enough acid in it but this was the most perfect balance of oil and acid.

Eating Yummy Food at Tusker House

Dad "blowing" out his Birthday Candles

Also available at Animal Kingdom are various counter service locations that have salads, vegetable wraps and veggie burgers. We stayed at the park late because it was an Extra Magic Hours night so we ate at the park. We went to Restorantosaurus for dinner- when we walked in we let the employee taking our order that we had dietary restrictions and he let the cook know. The cook came out and let us know that she could substitute a tapioca roll for the bun (there is dairy in the bun) and she reassured us that the fries were cooked in separate oil that is vegan. There was a condiment bar which had onions, tomato, lettuce, relish, ect. I filled mine up with tons of lettuce and tomato and made myself a salad burger. Our first day at Disney went great and was yummy!

Boston & Veg Fest 2009

November 2, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls 6 Comments

This past weekend my husband and I headed south to Lowell & Boston for the weekend. We stayed in Chelmsford and decided that we just had to go to Life Alive for dinner in Lowell. We visited the cafe the same weekend last year and they actually had a booth at Boston Veg Fest 2008 (they didn’t have one this year though.)

I enjoyed The Swami which had a- (as described on the menu)- “Miso Curried Sauce sweetening a masterfully-tasty mix of tamari roasted almonds, flame raisins, pearl onions, dark greens, broccoli flowerrs, and shredded carrots, served over brown rice with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.”

Neil enjoyed The Emperor- (as described on the menu)- “Sweet and nutty short grain brown rice, melted cheddar cheese, sundried tomatoes, steamed greens, sweet yellow corn, shredded carrots, tofu and sunflower sprouts crowned by our Satisfying Sesame Miso sauce.” He got it without the cheese obviously and subsituted with raisins and nutritional yeast.

Neil loved his dinner so much that he just had to hug about it.

For breakfast Saturday morning we went to our old standby Bagel Rising– inside the Espresso Royale on Newbury Street. We both got the ‘Joy of Soy’ on a whole wheat everything bagel; mine with jalapeno tofu spread and Neil’s with veggie tofu spread. I enjoyed a double espresso and Neil a soy chai.

We love Life Alive so much that we went back again for dinner Saturday night. We started out with a shot of wheatgrass.

I’m boring and got The Swami again- this time with squash.

Neil got The Rebel – (as described on the menu)- “Sesame ginger nama dressing with flax oil and Braggs, tofu, carrots, beets, dark greens, broccoli and hijiki steamed over quino and short grain brown rice”- They were all out of quinoa so he just had brown rice and I gave him half my squash.

For breakfast Sunday we went to Newton Center to Prana Cafe– a mostly raw cafe that serves it’s full menu from 7am-4pm.

I ordered the Burrito – (as described on the menu)-“Wrapped in chard leaves with refried beans, avocado, marinated vegetables, and sour cream.” I have to say this was the best thing that I had all weekend and was a ridiculous amount of food.

My husband decided that he would be nice and take a picture of me eating the biggest bite ever.

Neil had the Prana Burger – (as described on the menu) -“Taylor grew up in Chicago eating deep fried hamburgers at a favorite family restaurant. This tastes so much better and actually fills your body with the best vitamins, minerals, and enzymes ever so you feel satisfied but not slowed-down. Served on our homemade-n-hearty onion bread.” This came with yummy crispy kale chips and Neil ordered cashew cheese on top. It was delicious!

We finally made our way to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival where we enjoyed trying the different samples and meeting various vendors. We are excited though because we met the owners of a new vegan B&B on Cape Cod and we are excited to check them out. The owner told us that the vegetarian one we had visited last year is now closing so they are opening to fill the need.

We stopped up to the noon demo but were really disappointed with it and decided to leave about 10 minutes in. It drove me nuts that they guy kept calling omnivores carnivores …..seriously??

Anyways the fest was fun but after two years of visiting I don’t think we would go again unless we happened to be in Boston the same weekend it was going to be happening.

We did leave the fest with a wonderfully sinfull treat from Vegan Treats– the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Bomb- which was incredible.

Vegan Mofo #13: Whirl Wind Tour of NYC, MA and CT

October 13, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls 7 Comments

My husband I decide that we would runaway for the weekend and after he got out of work on Friday we headed to Connecticut – and then NYC for the day on Saturday. On our way down to Connecticut we decided to stop for dinner in Northampton, MA and had one of the best meals. I had heard from another blogger that Paul and Elizabeth’s was the place to go in Northampton for some great vegan eats; it is not vegan however most the menu is- also there is no “walking animals” served at their restaurant…i.e. they only serve fish and shellfish, and vegetarian items.

I ordered the Grilled Tofu Kebabs which were marinated and broiled tofu and vegetables on a skewer on a bed of brown rice with a garden salad. My husband ordered the Vegetarian Plate which was one of the specials for the night and it came with a big bed of bok choy, kale, onions and tofu with rice croquettes on the side. We also started with a small bowl the Sweet Potato Coconut Soup which was creamy and delicious. At first glance you might look at the menu and say wow prices are a little higher (around $12-15 a dish) however the meals a huge – enough for 2 – and the food is amazing. I unfortunately forgot the camera in our car so I didn’t get any photos but I am sure that on my next visit I will make sure to get pictures of their delish food.

On Saturday we headed into the city to wander around meet up with old friends and had planned on staying the night however life happens and we weren’t able to- which meant missing VegFest ….I guess there’s always next year. After walking for about an hour we finally made it to our first destination- Peacefood Cafe on 82nd and Amsterdam. It is this great little spot that is open from 9am -10pm and has breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with baked goods, coffees and juices.

There were so many things that we wanted to order and had the hardest time deciding however we finally came to a decision and got the Raw Key Lime Pie, Macaroon, Apple Ginger Soy (it had juice of an apple and some ginger topped with steamed milk- amazing), a Panini of Pan-seared French Horn Mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, artichoke aioli, mint & basil pesto and we ordered a Tempeh Avocado sandwich with baked marinated tempeh, creamy avocado, pickled radishes, shredded carrots and cilantro. We loved the Raw Key Lime Pie it was delicious and had a great key lime sauce on it, however the macaroon it was okay (but I think I make a better one). As for the 2 sandwiches the Panini was the winner it was warm and creamy and delicious. The temeph sandwich was okay but my husband and I both felt it was a little salty and that there were too many pickled radishes on it which just over powered the sandwich. I do however love this place and after seeing other peoples orders there is so much more I want to try.

We spent the remainder of our day wandering around the city and meeting up with friends. We met up with my bestie at this great little coffee shop in Soho called Ground Support on West Broadway across from Seven for All Mankind and next door to Anthropolige. We didn’t get any coffee because I had already had some that morning but it smelled amazing and Cate loves it there. After that we stopped in at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum Shop (which for all you vegans out there is just around the corner from Babycakes and down the street from Moo Shoes) this shop and museum is one of our favorites in the city and has a great selection of books and gifts. My husband picked up a great T-shirt from here as well as a book and I got a new vegan bag which I love. It was great too I asked the girl if it was leather and she was like I don’t know lets google the designer and see what their site says and to my luck the bags are all vegan faux leather (and I know you all are wandering well who makes it then? and i forget…there is no tag in the bag). We also stopped at our favorite candy shop in Chinatown Aji Ichiban which has a variety of Asian treats and are all labeled with their ingredients.

Before we left the city we met up with my friend from high school and went to Chennai Garden one of our favorite Southern Indian Restaurants. We had amazing food and the best part is everything that has dairy in it is labeled so you know which items you can order- oh and the place is all vegetarian. We always go with a dosa- this time the gunpowder one which was amazing and we went with a curry as well the Malki Kofta (not usually vegan but here it was! love it). We were so hungry I didn’t get any shots in but you can find pictures here from my last visit.

Our last stop before we headed home was in New Haven CT at Claire’s Corner Copia for breakfast Sunday morning. We had a great breakfast too- I ordered a coffee and Tofu Scramble with whole wheat baguette and Neil got an orange juice and the Pancakes with bananas. Our meals came and we dug in they were great. Mine wasn’t the best scramble i’ve had but it was good and the baguette was amazing with it. My hubz pancakes where really incredible – they were whole wheat and had cinnamon in them and topped with bananas and real maple syrup. Claire’s has become a favorite stop of ours and it’s all vegetarian with vegan items clearly marked and many dishes they can make vegan- and trust me their menu is huge!

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Overall great trip but of course never long enough.

Heading South….to MA and CT

September 21, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls 9 Comments

This week has been an emotional one for my husband and I, at 11 weeks along we found out that we had lost our baby. After days of hanging around the house and lounging in our bed grieving our loss we decided it was time to get out of town and we headed south…..to Massachusetts and Connecticut. I unfortunately did not take any photos on our trip as our camera is still full of pictures from our cruise. We headed down to MA and CT on Friday afternoon and stopped in at Angkor Wat in Woodstock Vermont where we had a disappointing overpriced meal.

We then headed to Northampton one of my favorite small towns and we wandered the shops and the downtown area. We stopped in Herrel’s Flagship Store and got ourselves a scoop of No-Moo Coffee “ice cream”. It was delicious. I see that they have a bunch of other flavors (we have had the peanut butter at the Cambridge location) and I am dying to try burnt caramel – what a fun flavor!

On Saturday we took a drive south towards New Haven where we wandered around the Yale campus (which is beautiful) and then we stopped for some lunch at Claire’s Corner Copia. This place was packed! There was a line out the door ,which seems to usually be a good sign, plus the place has been around for 34 years so it must be doing something right. My hubby got the Cornercopia Grande Burrito with refried organic pinto beans, brown rice, roasted organic vegetables, chipotle soy chicken and salsa. It was huge and delicious! I got the Quesadilla Tia Juana that was filled with a salsa of organic black beans, corn, organic bell peppers, San Marzano tomatoes, onions and Anaheim chilies and served with guacamole it was delicious!

claires

On Sunday (I saved the best for last) we headed home and stopped at Esselon Café in Hadley MA for some amazing brunch. My hubby got the Vegan Brekkie which included tofu scramble with sautéed spinach, mushrooms, avocado, and grilled tomato with toast and a side salad and he also got a soy chai latte. I got the Vegan Benny which was grilled and seasoned tofu, sautéed spinach, roasted red peppers, topped by vegan hollandaise and came with a side salad, I also got a soy latte. The food here was by far the best all weekend. The Vegan Benny was delicious and as my husband said (bashfully) it was better than mine (crushed ….haha just kidding I totally agreed). His food was great too and huge so much food I was impressed. Also the salad is a great touch much better than homefries or something similar to that.

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After one great weekend away we are planning another in about 5 weeks for a wonderful weekend to go to all the places we didn’t get to visit.

Boston

July 27, 2009 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

My hubby and I are headed to Boston the next two weekends and Worcester the second of the two weekends. Any suggestions for dining? We tend to go to the same places in Boston every time we visit and although I love them (My Thai, Lee’s, Bagel Rising, Addis Red Sea, The Otherside Cafe, ect) we are looking for new dining experiences. Also I’ve never been to Worcester so any suggestions there?

Naturally Lindsay