Station 22 in Provo, Utah

UPDATE 11/2012: The ratatouille sandwich recipe changed and it's gross now (so depressed). Read this blog post for details.

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A friend of mine told me I had to go try the ratatouille sandwich at Station 22 in Provo, so my work buddy Dwight and I got our asses down there to try it one day for lunch.

Holy yum! I was super impressed. The sandwich was fantastic! Layered, roasted seasonal veggies, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, red peppers, fresh basil pesto, and spinach on a ciabatta roll. They also informed me that they have vegenaise now, so I think that means they can veganize more of their menu options. (They don't have vegnaise anymore.) I'm going to have to go back soon! Oh, and for you omnis out there, Dwight loved his Georgia Peach open-faced sandwich.

I am going to give Station 22 a 4/5 for their sandwich. As far as I know right now, it's the only veganizable item on their menu, but I'm going to have to report back about that. Either way, it's a pretty dang good veganized option. New favorite sandwich place. No longer true. I'd have to give it a 2.5/5 now based on the service and staff. Certain menu items are still good, but I don't think it's worth the time. Details in the blog post mentioned above.

Tofu Scramble

Simple tofu scramble--delish, easy, thrown together.

1 block Firm tofu, pressed overnight
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
Scallions, chopped (optional, I had some in my fridge)
Chili pepper, cumin, celery seed, turmeric, pepper, garlic powder, curry powder, and salt to taste
1 Tbs Canola oil

Saute pepper and onion in oil until softened. Crumble tofu with your hands into the pan. Mix in scallions and spices. Cook until you feel like it's ready. It's not going to get crunchy or anything, so you can basically cook it as long as you want. Top with avocado.

Raw Sprouted Three Bean Salad

Have you seen those packages of sprouted beans and lentils at Whole Foods and wondered what in the hell people did with them other than put them on salads? Well, apparently you can make a tasty, raw three bean salad out of them.

Recently I was gifted a package of them and Ben's mom (raw food extraordinaire) told me you could make a three bean salad out of them! Yum! It actually turned out really well.

1 package Sprouted beans and lentils (can't remember the brand...)
1 part Apple cider vinegar
1 part Raw agave
1/2 C Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Tbs Parsely
1 Tbs Rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the beans and lentils well (5-10 minutes). This is very important because apparently if you don't rinse them they can make you sick! Though I'm not sure why... that's just what Merilynn said.

Mix all of the above ingredients together. Add equal parts apple cider vinegar and agave until you have enough liquid to cover the beans.

Let marinate in the fridge overnight to soften the beans. You don't have to marinate it, but the beans will be much crunchier and starchier if you don't.

Sage's Cafe All You Can Eat Pizza Night

Last week, Ben and I went to Sage's Cafe's weekly all you can eat pizza night. I love Sage's, so I was really excited to see what kinds of pizzas they could make with their weekly leftovers.

Honestly, I wasn't impressed. The all you can eat pizza included an all you can eat salad with balsamic vinaigrette that was pretty plain. And then there was the pizza. My first piece was a simple basil and marinara with a parmesian-ish cheese and I was super happy with it. But then it was all downhill. First a taco pizza, then breakfast pizza...yuck. Even the simple Italian vegetable pizza was gross--oily and covered in...bean sprouts?

Anyway, I wasn't happy. I wish I had gotten a few more pictures of their frankenpizzas, but I just got this one of a piece of pesto and veggie (seriously, is it possible to mess that one up? apparently...).

Honestly, I just think Sage's was trying way too hard to get rid of their leftovers. It seemed like the pizzas were just suffering from too much going on. Whether it was too many out of place veggies like with the pesto veggie and Italian veggie, or whether it was too many sauces like the taco pizza, hamburger pizza, and breakfast pizzas, it was just too much. Oh, and the crust wasn't even that good! Not to dis gluten-free people, but it tasted like it was one of those gross gluten-free crusts. Cardboardy and flavorless. Seriously.

To bring the night back, Ben and I ordered a yummy brownie to split.

So, if you like your food to just taste good I wouldn't go to all you can eat pizza night at Sage's. But if you like experimenting and trying new, weird, possibly bad flavors, go for it. There were some kids there with their mom and they seemed to be having a blast.

La Jolla Groves in Provo, Utah

Last week my boss and a few of the managers from my team at work flew in from various parts of the world for a week of training and meetings. For our team lunch, I suggested to go to La Jolla Groves. I had been there once before for a business lunch and remembered all that attended were impressed, so I figured it would be a good choice. I also remembered that when I went there last they were very, very accommodating and their veganization of a meat-heavy meal was quite tasty.

For my appetizer, I got the house salad with lemon vinaigrette. It came olive oil toasted croutons and I LOVED the lemon dressing.

For my entree (picture above), I got the Beef Tenderloin Medallions without the beef. This consisted of roasted baby potatoes, asparagus, and heirloom carrots topped with a ginger mango reduction sauce. It may not sound like much of a meal to some, but it is quite filling. The vegetables were done perfectly and the sauce is to die for. One thing you need to know about La Jolla Groves is that every entree on their menu with the exception of a few salads is a meat-based dish. Meat is the center of every entree and they have all kinds of meat. But, personally, I would rather go to La Jolla Groves than Tucanos (a Brazilian meat grill) which is where everyone usually wants to go for our team lunches. I love that La Jolla Groves knows how to do their veggies and makes an effort to keep their veggie customers happy, even down to arranging the plate of veggies. I also love that the waiters know what is in every dish, sauce, and side.

For dessert, I asked for some fruit. They have a large fruit platter as an appetizer, but the waiter asked the chef to make me a small cup of fruit specially. It was yummy and all the fruit was fresh.

Another thing I love about La Jolla Groves is the deco. It feels like you walked in to a lemon grove when you enter. Besides the lemon trees and lanterns, everything in the restaurant has a southern France feel to it. I think it's a really lovely place.

In the end, I would give La Jolla Groves a 4/5. It's hard to give a very meat-based restaurant such high marks, but I have to say it's above average. I don't have a single complaint about the restaurant (Except of course the fact that they serve meat!).

UPDATE: I've been three times since this post and ordered the same thing every time. It's the ONLY veganizable thing on their menu except the salads. I've also had bad service a few times I've been there. So, I've reduced the rating to a 3/5. It's decent if you're going to lunch with meat lovers, but not my favorite.

Aaaaaaand here's my team! Aren't we all so cute :)

Spicy Herb and Olive Oil Dip

This dipping sauce is SO GOOD. I originally made it for a bread party as a dip for French bread but then went on to use it in bruschetta and as a spice mix for soup. It's a little spicy when it's not just mixed with oil, so you could half the red pepper flakes if you don't like it that way. But, like I said, as a dip I think it is just fine. I think I am going to keep this spice mix around from now on, it works for so many things!

2 Tbs Red pepper flakes
2 Tbs Ground black pepper
2 Tbs Dried oregano
2 Tbs Dried rosemary
2 Tbs Dried basil
2 Tbs Dried parsley
2 Tbs Garlic powder
2 tsp Salt
4 Tbs Garlic, minced
1 C+ Olive oil (depending on how much dip you want)


Mix all of the above spices together. To make dip, shake 3-4 Tbs of the spice mixture with ~1 C olive oil in an air-tight container and let marinate for a few hours before serving.

Recipe produces 1 cup of spice mix. If you want to keep the spice mix around for multiple things, I would mix up all the spices except the fresh garlic and keep it in an air-tight container.

Easy French Bread

Holy crap, this French bread is amazing. Normally when you go to a fancy French boulangerie and order a baguette you think "Jeez, this must be so hard to make. So fancy and French..." Apparently French bread is not that hard at all. I was actually shocked at how easy this was compared to how amazing it turned out.

2 1/2 C Warm water
2 Tbs Yeast
3 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs White vinegar
6 C flour
1 Tbs Salt
1/3 C Oil

Mix warm water, yeast, sugar, and white vinegar together. Let sit until it starts bubbling. Add the flour, salt, and oil. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Boil a pot of water and then remove it from the heat. Place the dough in a greased bowl and put it in the oven with the pot of water. The water should be steaming but not bubbling.

Let the dough rise for 20 minutes in the stove and then punch it down. Return it to the stove and let it rise for 20 more minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven and form three long loaves. Slice the tops three times diagonally. Grease cookie sheets and sprinkle them with cornmeal, then put the bread on top of the sheets.

Let the dough rise for 30 minutes and then preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Eat it while it's still warm!

Recipe thanks to:
My mom

Bread Party

Almost two weeks ago, Ben and I attended a swanky bread party hosted by Holly and Russel Nix over at A House Chair Personal for Russel's birthday. Ben and I baked up three loaves of my mom's 'easy French bread' recipe that I have been dying to find an excuse to try (recipe here). Only one loaf made it to the party. THAT'S HOW GOOD IT WAS. I also whipped up a batch of spicy herb and olive oil dip for the bread (recipe here). Both were fantastic and received compliments galore. Below are some pictures of our offerings and of the food at the party. It was a little too dark in the house to get any decent pics with my camera, but hopefully I can steal some pictures from someone else's Facebook soon.

Bread

Dip in a jar

Bread and dip

My plate: French bread and dip, strawberries

More Dutch Oven Cook-Off Pictures

A few more pictures of us and the cook-off taken by people who were there. Read about the cook-off here.

Dinner Party with Friends

Last week Ben and I went to my long-time friend, Jessica's, house for a dinner party. Ben and I just love to cook so it was so much fun to be with friends, listen to music, and just chop and saute away. Here is what we made:

White bean and roasted garlic soup from Vegan with a Vengeance

Very Veggie Burgers from Vegan on the Cheap
(topped with avocado, hummus, tomato, and red onion)

Vegan MoFo round 5

It's that time of year again... time for Vegan MoFo (Month of Food)!

I was pretty stoked all year for Vegan MoFo because I had this great idea of doing an entire month of veganizing family favorites. Unfortunately, I just committed to do an entire month of raw to restart my metabolism. I really shouldn't say unfortunately because I am super blessed to have Ben's mom and raw chef extraordinaire, Merilynn, cooking for me for an entire month. How sweet is that? So it's going to be a month of raw food pictures, my struggles with raw-ness, and hopefully some raw recipes (If she will give out her secrets!).

Watch for a month of raw vegan adventures and if you want to sign up for Vegan MoFo, check out the Vegan MoFo website link above.

Fall 2011 Symantec Dutch Oven Cook-Off

My faithful followers will remember that in the spring Ben and I competed in the Symantec Dutch Oven Cook-Off and made a vegan pot pie. They went on to write about us in the Symantec internal newsletter and quoted me saying "I will give those tough guys a run for their money (in the fall cook-off)." Though I don't think I really believed in then, it looks like my positive energy payed off!

I actually wasn't going to even compete in the fall cook-off. It came up so fast and I had no idea what I was going to make, plus I didn't know if I could stand behind my challenge to all of Symantec meat-eater-dom (call me a wimp, I can take it). But, just over a week before the cook-off the organizer called me and asked why I wasn't participating. I told him it had just come up too fast and I wasn't ready and he told me that he really wanted me to participate and that it was nice to have some diversity at the cook-off. This lifted my spirits a bit so I told him I would and convinced a very begrudging Ben that it would be fun.

The cook-off (our dutch oven is that one peeking out on the right)

Ben 'cooking'

The night before the cook-off I decided on white peach pie (recipe here) with ice cream. I ran to the store and bought a bunch of peaches and woke up early the next morning to prep. Our cooking went smoothly except for the fact that the pie cooked a little long and we cut it really close for the tasting. I was so worried the crust would be soggy and horrid but, amazingly, it turned out PERFECTLY. It was flaky and cooked through, just perfect.

Taster samples with So Delicious ice cream

One thing we did differently this year is we didn't tell anyone it was vegan. We just told them it was peach pie and ice cream. The funny thing was only ONE PERSON asked us what kind of ice cream it was (and it was positively, they said they would have to go buy some). I honestly don't think anyone else even noticed the difference. It was amazing to watch all the people just gobbling it up and talking about how good it was not knowing that it was vegan.

Ready to be baked

For those TLDR among you, and for those of you waiting to hear what happened, WE WON SECOND PLACE DESSERT. Yes, us. The us that almost didn't enter. The us that came up with what we were making the night before. THE VEGAN US. We WON. (Recipe here.)

Us with our name badge (which you can't see) and our dutch oven after the cook-off

I am seriously so happy we won. And right on the heels of those vegan chili guys winning 3rd place in the State Fair Chili Cook-Off. I really hope the stigma that vegan food is gross will change. People all over the place are making tasty, amazing vegan food that is winning all kinds of people over. Oh, and don't worry, I am going to make sure that they emphasize that our prize-winning peach pie and ice cream was 100% VEGAN when they announce the winners to the company.

Our prize

See a few more pictures here.

Prize-Winning Dutch Oven Peach Pie

Recipe is for a 12-inch Dutch Oven. And yes, this recipe did in fact win second place dessert at the fall 2011 Symantec Dutch Oven Cook-Off.

Crust
3 3/4 C White flour
1/3 tsp Salt
1 1/2 C Shortening
1/3 C Cold water
1 Tbs Vinegar
1 1/2 Eggs, substituted (I used EnerG Egg Replacer)

Filling
3 Tbs Earth balance
8 C Fresh, ripe white peaches
1 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
1 C Brown sugar
1/3 C White flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Mix flour, salt, and shortening. Cut together with a pastry cutter or fork. Mix water, vinegar, and egg substitute with a fork. Mix the two mixtures together until a soft dough forms. Split the dough into two balls. Make one ball a little bit larger than the second. Roll the larger ball into a 14" circle and the smaller into a 13" circle.

Wash and peel the peaches. Cut each in half and remove the pit. Cut each peach half into 3-4 1/2" slices. Melt the Earth Balance and mix it with the rest of the filling ingredients. Mix the peaches and the brown sugar Earth Balance mixture together.

Place the 14" dough circle in the bottom of the Dutch Oven. The dough should cover the bottom and reach up the sides of the pan 2-3 inches. Place the filling inside of the dough and spread it evenly. Place the second dough circle on top of the filling and pinch the edges to form a crust. Cut a few slits in the top of the crust for ventilation.

Cook 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees (approx. 12 coals on top and 6 on bottom).

Before cooking

Samples at the cook-off with So Delicious ice cream

Recent Pet Photos: For Your Enjoyment

Muahahaha... torturing Molly at Petsmart

Kitties loving the view

Potato Salad

Yummy potato salad! Perfect for a summer picnic or potluck.

4-5 Red potatoes
1 Tbs Yellow mustard
1/2-3/4 C Vegenaise
1/2 C Dill pickles, chopped
1/2 Yellow onion, chopped
1/2 C Celery, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop potatoes into bite-sized pieces and boil until tender. It is best if they are not too tender to the point that the skins are falling off so they won't fall apart when mixed.

Cool the potatoes and then mix in the rest of the ingredients. The measurements are approximate since it will just depend on how chunky/creamy you like your potato salad.

Vegan Athlete Sets World Record in Germany

Amazing and inspiring. I love vegan athletes!

First Annual Vegan Pie-Off

A little over two weeks ago, Ben and I went to the first annual vegan pie-off hosted by Tomas Riasg and Kelly Green (of Cakewalk). Ben and I were a bit nervous about entering the pie-off since it was the first year and we weren't sure how competitive it was going to be. So, we just brought potato salad (recipe here) for the potluck and tasted all the pies!

Our potato salad

here were a couple of judges nominated before the event who did not cook pies that taste tested all the pies before we got to try them. Then we all dug in and ate and they announced the winners.

The spread

My plate of 'real food'

My plate of pie (I went back for seconds of my favorites)

The winner pie was a raspberry blackberry rhubarb. Ben and I didn't think it was the best one there, but it was good. There was an apple pie with a perfectly flaky crust Ben thought should have won, and I was head over heals for the black forest pie. Next year we are going to have to enter for sure!

Mighty-O Doughnuts Come to Salt Lake!

Yes, this is real life. It is not a prank. You can now get four flavors of Mighty-O Doughnuts in any of the Whole Foods stores from Sandy to Salt Lake! (Not sure about Park City...) AHHH! I LOVE DOUGHNUTS.

Lack of Posts...

Sorry for the lack of posts recently! I have like ten posts built up from the First Annual Vegan Pie Cook-Off, recent eats, a dinner party with friends, a bread party we attended, and my second Symantec Dutch Oven Cook-Off (this Friday!) that I need to write. Unfortunately my boss is in town this week which means early mornings and late nights. ALSO Ben's mom is moving out of her place in ONE WEEK so Ben and I are spending every spare second driving up to her place and moving her at a record-breaking pace. Soooo hopefully starting next Monday when everything is over there will be a out flowing of amazing posts.

Raw Spicy Hand Roll

Raw nori and daikon strips wrapped around red bell peppers, carrots, bok choy mixed with a spicy almond butter sauce, avocado, and sprouts.
From Everday Raw Express.