Ricera: Strawberry Rice Yogurt

This is a new product, at least new to me. I found it at Whole Foods and decided to try it out. It wasn't that bad, though I must say that the So Delicious soy yogurts are still my favorite vegan yogurt. It's nice to have yet another alternative to soy, though.

Vegetable Pot Pie with Spinach

If you couldn't tell, I'm a fan of spinach. This is a vegetable pot pie from Amy's Kitchen served with a generous portion of sautéed spinach with olive oil.

Sausage Patties with Steamed Broccoli and Spinach

Gimme Lean made into sausage patties, pan fried and served with a side of steamed broccoli and spinach. VERY simple breakfast, high in protein and nutrients.

Curried Split Pea Soup from Vegan With a Vengeance

Homemade curried split pea soup, recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance. I dressed the soup up with dulse flakes, spicy tamari roasted pumpkin seeds, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The soup was paired with an apple and a small spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette.

Christmas 2008: Christmas Day

This was my main entree on Christmas Day: pasta with vegan meatballs. Seasoned up with garlic salt, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.

There was also a nice fruit selection that I nibbled on throughout the day:

Christmas 2008 - Christmas Eve Dinner

A bit late with posting all of this, but better late than never, right?

First up, Christmas Eve. We went to a family dinner at the Nicollet Island Inn, a very fancy restaurant in Minneapolis. None of the menus shown give any indication of vegan food as an option, but I spoke to the executive chef and wound up with a wonderful five course all vegan meal.

First Course: Haricot Verts tossed with fresh ginger, balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts, and fresh herbs. *excellent*

Second Course: Parsnip Purée -- a variation on the parsnip bisque served to everyone else. Puréed parsnip with julienned Granny Smith apples in the center along with olive oil and walnuts and puffed wild rice. *beautiful* People at our table remarked at how much nicer the presentation was for our dish.

Third Course: Shaved Root Vegetables - presented like a slaw of sorts. Included: carrots, parsnip, sweet potatoes. *good* not the star of the night, but still tasty.

Fourth Course: Mushroom Risotto with black truffle and some other mushrooms. *excellent!* I am a huge mushroom fan, so this dish was positively delightful and delicious. My partner is not quite as big a fan of mushrooms, so I ate part of his dish as well.

Fifth Course: Passion Fruit Sorbet -- served in champagne glasses. *awesome* A delightful end to a fabulous meal.

Overall, it was easily one of the top three gourmet vegan meals I've ever had. Probably top two - Chamber Kitchen being the other. It was an excellent experience, and I would definitely consider going back for a special occasion. There are a few pictures up at the Flickr site, but I do not want to post them here because the quality is awful. The lighting was WAY too low to get a decent shot. Ah well, the food was so EXCELLENT. If you are willing to overlook the poor quality, the pictures are located HERE.

Chocolate Peppermint Beverage with Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

YUMMY. This is heated up West Soy chocolate peppermint soy beverage, topped with delicious toasted coconut vegan marshmallows from Sweet and Sara. Such a delicious winter treat.

Tofu with Cous Cous and Corn

Baked, battered, and pan-fried tofu squares with sides of cous cous and corn. The cous cous is seasoned with Earth Balance vegan butter and lemon pepper, the corn is seasoned with lime juice and cayenne. The batter/breading for the tofu is Hooters brand, I believe. (I know, it sort of grosses me out that it's Hooters brand, but the seasoning is pretty good.)

Roasted Vegetable Wrap

This was served at an employee orientation I attended. Roasted veggies mixed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The vegetables included: zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and bell peppers. It was served with an apple and some plain chips.

Pasta with Spinach and "Stuffing"

The night I made this the only pasta I had in the house was lasagna noodles. So I broke the noodles up and boiled them to have some pasta. I also made some "stuffing" (technically dressing since it was never stuffed in anything) from a premade package of seasoned stuffing I found that had no animal ingredients. I melted a bunch of Earth Balance vegan butter and mixed it with boiling vegetable stock, then added that mixture to the dry seasoned bread chunks. This carbohydrate overload was balanced with a generous helping of spinach.

Mini Wheel and Mini Farfalle Pasta with "Meat" Sauce

The picture doesn't show the perspective very well, but the pasta really is miniature versions of these shapes. The "meat" sauce was made by cooking Whole Foods brand vegan meatballs in pasta sauce and then crushing them up with a potato masher. Adding extra seasoning like olive oil, salt, garlic salt, pepper, and cumin helped punch up the sauce even more.

Holy Land Vegetable Pie with Artichoke and Garlic Hummus

Here is a vegetable pie from Holy Land, the oft-mentioned local manufacturers of excellent Middle Eastern foods.

This time around, I bought a vegetable pie from an open chiller in a market, and picked up some artichoke and garlic hummus to dip the pie in. The "pie" is sort of like a huge samosa: potatoes, peas, and other veggies surrounded by a pastry/bread crust. Of course, as with everything from Holy Land, it is not nearly as good as when it is made fresh from the store, but it's still a wonderful snack.

Mac and Chreese with Spinach and Broccoli

The mac and chreese is from Road's End Organics, which has been mentioned a few times before.

This time around, it was shells and chreese, and for the side dish I sautéed spinach and steamed up some broccoli. I flavored the side dish with some lemon pepper and olive oil. It's simple and delicious, a common theme on my food blog, if you haven't noticed.

Erbert's and Gerbert's Veggie Sandwich

Not a terribly exciting photo, but a tasty sandwich nonetheless. This is from Erbert's & Gerbert's, a sub sandwich place that delivers. This sandwich is called "The Jacob Bluefinger" and I veganize it by asking for no cheese, no mayo and instead get extra avocado and some dijon mustard. The sandwich includes lettuce, tomato, and sprouts. I also usually get a huge deli pickle.