The Hubz and I were lucky to be invited to a wonderful vegan Thanksgiving potluck on Saturday night at some (hopefully) new friends home. We were a little nervous at first since we didn’t know anyone and I am a bit shy (yes me) when I first meet people but it ended up being a really wonderful experience. Everyone was super friendly and we felt completely welcomed. For the potluck I made my Thanksgiving Tart with a few twist- I actually made the crust and I added mushrooms to the mix. I had leftover crust so I made a rustic tart with roasted pear, apples and cranberries as well.
Along with my Thanksgiving Tart we had stuffed tomatoes, whipped sweet potatoes, shredded Brussels sprouts with candied pecans, stuffing, mushroom gravy and rolls- everything was really delicious. For dessert we had cupcakes, pumpkin cheezecake, cranberry apple crisp and my rustic tart- I split a little bit of everything except the cupcake (which I am sure were delicious). I’m looking forward to the next potluck!
Table of Goodies
Heather's Plate
Payton's Plate
Payton's Dessert Plate
How are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year? What will you be making?
The Hubz and I loved our meal at Cafe Green so we were excited to try Java Green for breakfast the next morning before heading out to The Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Hubz and I split the So-Che and the Eggcentricity as well as a bottled iced tea. They both were really delicious and I would go with the Eggcentricity again next time for breakfast as it was delicious. Java Green also also has as tasty lunch menu that I would love to try. The only down falls with this place is that it is only open Monday through Friday and that there is limited seating.
After breakfast we were off to be tourist around the city and ended up spending 4 hours at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I don’t have any photos to show you as you are not permitted to take photos in the museum. We had planned on doing lunch at Rasika but our time at the museum went longer than intended and we missed our 12:30pm reservation by an hour and half. We also had intended on visiting another museum after lunch but we were drained from the Holocaust Memorial Museum and decided that we would just walk back to the hotel and find something to eat along the way. To our delight we passed right by Maoz where I had another Groupon for $5 for $10 worth of food and we decided to use it on 2 junior meals which came with fries and a drink (I had iced tea and Neil an Arnold Palmer.)
We really enjoyed the food at Maoz and loved how things were marked vegan. The salad bar area was the best and really bulked up the falafel sandwich. The hubz and I even debated going back again during our trip but decided we should branch out and try new places, oh well there is always next time!
Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
We headed back to the hotel for a little down time before our big walking tour of the monuments later in the evening and later decided to partake in the complimentary wine and olive feast while we waited for our friend Aaron to meet us for our tour. When he arrived we decided to have another glass with him, why not it was free and we were on vacation. Then it was time to make the loop around the monuments starting at the Jefferson Memorial and ending at the World War II memorial.
After walking around for hours we finally made it back to Dupont Circle and just a block from the hotel was a great pizza and beer place that I had read about Pizzeria Paradiso. We decided to stop in and have pizza and beer. We started with complimentary olives; I swear I ate more olives this vacation than I have this entire year. We then decided on our pizzas which Neil and I had with vegan mozza on a white crust withTomato, Mushrooms, Spinach, Red Onion (note the whole wheat crust has honey in it). Aaron had the same thing but a smaller one for him and with regular mozza. We also shared a salad which we had with oil and vinegar because the dressing has parm in it but it was still yummy.
Overall we loved this place- the food was great, the beer selection was good and the service was top notch!
8oz block Tempeh, sliced in half and then sliced in half through the middle to make four 2oz portions
1 cup vegetable broth
Juice of 1 apple or 1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup of cranberries
1 apple, diced
2T brown rice syrup
1/2T low-sodium soy sauce
3 sage leaves, sliced
pinch of pepper
Directions:
Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, pour in the broth and place the tempeh in a flat layer. Bring up to a simmer, flipping once the broth has reduced by half. Continue to simmer until the broth is gone. Remove the tempeh and set aside.
In the pan over medium-low heat cook the cranberries, apple slices, brown rice syrup, soy sauce and pepper for 1-2 minute until the apple start soften. Stir in the apple juice and cook for 3 minutes until the apples soft and cranberries burst. Strain the liquid from the sauce and reserve both the fruit and liquid.
Place the tempeh back in the pan over medium heat and add the liquid. Simmer until the sauce has thickened and glazed the tempeh.
To serve top with some of the reserved cranberry-apple mixture.
Ciabatta Squash-Sage Dressing
Serves 2-3
4- 1/2inch slices of ciabatta, diced
1T vegan margarine
1T olive oil
7 sage leaves, sliced
1/2 cup onion diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup butternut squash, diced and roasted
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup vegan chicken gravy
1T vegan margarine
2T AP flour
1 cup vegan chicken broth
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the squash with a little oil, salt and pepper; place on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes until the squash is soft.
In a cast iron skillet or saute pan heat the olive oil and margarine until margarine is melted. Toss in the sage and cook until crispy and then toss in the onion and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 4-5 more minutes until the onion is soft. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave place in a bowl; set aside.
Place the bread in the pan and stir around, coating with the oil. Cook on medium-high until the bread is toasty. Remove from the pan and set in the bowl with the onions.
Place the squash in the bowl with the onions and the bread.
In the skillet heat the broth until bubbly and then pour over the bread; toss to coat and serve immediately.
After a restless night at our less than desirable accommodations we were in need of a wonderful breakfast to start what we knew would be an amazing day. We headed to Woodstock, New York to eat breakfast at the Garden Cafe On The Green.
The completely vegan menu was filled with delicious sounding breakfast dishes that I wanted to order all of them from the Oatmeal “Crème Brule” to the scrambles and of course the French Toast. However the Hubz and I finally made a decision and picked two amazing dishes, a side and coffee.
I had the Breakfast Burrito which was massive so I only ended up eating half and saved the other half for lunch.
It was really delicious.
Breakfast Burrito: black beans, tofu scramble, vegan cheddar, salsa and guacamole served with roasted potatoes
The Hubz had the Italian Scramble which was delicious as well and also a ton of food. He took some of his with us as well and we shared our leftovers for lunch later in the day.
Italian Scramble: spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs, served with grilled baguette & roasted potatoes
Oh yeah and we had some vegan sausages- had we known that the meals were going to be so huge we probably wouldn’t have ordered them but they sure were delicious!
After breakfast we wondered around town and visited the local flea market where I found a few pieces of costume jewelry and some beautiful figs.
I am sure that you have figured out our final destination by now however you will still have to wait until the next post to see all the fun.
The day that we have been waiting for all summer finally came our first trip to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Jays.
Making Our Way to The Bronx
Ma and Pa
The Hubz and I
We got to the stadium early to get the most out of our day- we got to see the Jays batting practice but unfortunately got in too late to see the Yankees. After we checked out the field and a few stores we headed to the Memorial Park.
Hubz with his favorite players number
Me with my childhood favorite players number
Watching the Ball Game
We didn’t really eat much at the game as we had a sandwich earlier in the morning and were saving our appetites for Candle Cafe after the game. I did see however veggie burgers, veggie sushi, guacamole and chips and veggie noodle bowls along with your normal ballpark food like french fries, popcorn and pretzels.
Garlic Fries- debatably vegan- my sources say yes and others say no- oh well they were good
We also ran around the stadium trying to locate the Brooklyn Brewery beer because what is a ball game without a beer and I was not spending $9 on Bud or Miller-yuck. So we finally located the Brooklyn Lager after going to almost the top level of the ball field but it was worth it even if they were $9.
Brooklyn Lager
We sat back in our comfy seats and enjoyed the game.
Tonight’s local menu challenge is based on Grace’s Tamales from the Waitsfield Farmers Market. Grace’s has delicious vegan tamales but from where we live now it would take over and hour to buy them as well as the fact we can only get them on Saturday’s. Now the Hubz has been bugging me to make a vegan tamale recipe and I have been putting it off trying to figure out a way to make the tamales without all of the fat.
Traditionally tamales are made with a lot of lard or oil or vegetable shortening and it just wasn’t going to happen for me.
Low-Fat Black Bean & Corn Tamales
Ingredients:
14 dried corn husks, plus extra husks to make ties
2.5 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups masa harina
1/2 cup warm vegetable broth
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small red onion, diced small
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1t chili powder
salt and pepper
Directions: Place the corn husks in a bowl of water to soften for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well. Pat dry and set aside.
In a food processor, process the 2.5 cups of corn kernels until pureed.
In a large bowl, combine the pureed corn, masa harina, lukewarm water, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and oil and use your hands to combine into a dough.
Spray a medium pan with cooking oil and place over medium-high heat. Add the onion, black beans, corn chili powder and salt and pepper and saute until the onions are soft and lightly browned; remove from the heat.
To assemble a tamale, place about 3 tablespoons of masa mixture in the center of corn husk. Flatten with your hand until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place 1 tablespoon of the black beans on the masa mixture. Fold the long side of the corn husk over the filling to cover, then fold over the ends, overlapping them. Tie with a thin strip torn from an extra soaked husk. Repeat to make 14 tamales in all.
Layer the wrapped tamales in the steamer. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and steam until the filling becomes firm and the tamales are heated through, 50 to 60 minutes.
After dinner the Hubz and I went for a walk down the bridge behind our house to watch the sunset and we got to see this guy fly in:
