en francais svp!

Montreal was GREAT! I really enjoyed being able to practice my French. Here in the west we don’t hear it all that often. And although I’ve been taking classes I still really suck at speaking it with people. But I made sure to practice a lot as I went shopping and ordered some delicious food, which is the point of this post.

First up, the conference I was attending was located very close to Le Commensal downtown. This is a vegetarian buffet where you pay by the weight of your plate. Which could be a good thing, but if you’re a glutton like me and want to try everything, it’s pretty pricey. Oops. Anyway, vegan options are clearly marked, and there are quite a few of them. My only complaint would be the lack of vegan dessert options. They do have one vegan cheese cake, but honestly it’s not all that good (it’s okay, just not that great). Here is my plate loaded up with all kinds of vegan goodies:

Next up, I of course had to try Aux Vivres. I actually ate here on three separate occasions….and I would have gone back for more but they are closed Mondays which was my last day in the city. The first time I was there I tried the BLT wrap with the infamous coconut bacon…oh my gosh…the rumors are true, this bacon is AMAZING! However, I found it a bit overpowering after one half of this huge wrap. What I wish was available was half of a wrap and then a salad or something to go with it. I suppose if you went with another person you could split it and order a salad on the side. Because these wraps are HUGE.

For dessert I tried the carrot cake. It was soooo good! Very moist and it had a lemon flavoured icing…mmm. Once again, this piece of cake was gigantic, so you may want to share.

The next day a friend and I went back for brunch, which they serve on Saturdays and Sundays until 4:00 pm. I had “le complet” which comes with tempeh bacon, a salad, sweet potatoes, cornbread, and the best tofu scramble I have EVER had. Seriously, I think I am spoiled for life now. I would love to know what their secret is…

That night, the same friend and I returned once more for supper. I tried out the dragon bowl with grilled tofu. It was so pretty I didn’t really want to eat it, but I got over that pretty quick. Their dragon sauce is sooo unbelievably good. They also sell it for you to take home, but you have to keep it refrigerated so unfortunately I couldn’t do that.

I long for the day when I return to Montreal to go back to Aux Vivres…there were so many other dishes on their menu that I really wanted to try. Unfortunately I don’t see a trip to Montreal anytime in the near future, but if you’re in the area I really can’t recommend it enough. Now back to life in the prairies where it’s hard enough finding a single vegan mean in a restaurant, nevermind an entire vegan restaurant!

Trying out Vegan Brunch

My copy of Vegan Brunch arrived last Friday and I was so excited to spend the night curled up with my newest cookbook. I’ve been playing around with a few dishes all weekend. First I made the basic scrambled tempeh. I stuck fairly close to the recipe with the exceptions of uing kale as the green and omitting the oil:

I also made a batch of the chorizo sausages. I didn’t have any pinto beans on hand so I used some kidney beans I had in the freezer. I also used water instead of veggie broth (I was out) and omitted the oil. They turned out SO good! Here is one that the bf cooked on the bbq for me, along with grilled asparagus and a potato piled with pickled peppers (mmm!):

The next day I wanted to use more of the delicious sausages so I made the sausage and collards and sausage dish, but I used kale instead as that is what I had. Once again I omitted the oil, but other than that I stuck pretty close to the recipe. I love kale and I love these sausages so naturally I loved the two together.

Last night for dinner I made the shiitake-dill fritatta…except I didn’t use shiitakes as I don’t care for the texture. So instead I used standard button mushrooms. If you like dill, you will LOVE this dish. It reminded me of dill pickle chips which were the one flavour I really liked. Can you get vegan dill pickle chips? I’ve never seen them, but then again I haven’t been looking too hard. Anyway, I digress. This fritatta was a wee bit crumbly, but it tasted so good I really didn’t care.

The book also has a section of sweeter dishes (pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc) as well as baked goods….there’s nothing I love more than warm carbs smothered in sweet maple syrup but I think I shall leave exploring that part of the book until after the wedding lest my dress not fit, seeing as how moderation of pancakes is not my strongest virtue.

in which I rediscover my love for reubens

I come from a reuben-loving family. After I went vegetarian, my Mom would make mine with just sauerkraut and cheese. That suited me fine. I carried on this way for 10 years. When I became vegan I didn’t know what to do anymore. So I resigned myself to a life without reubens, because at that time I thought the cheese was the best part.

I finally gave the tempeh reuben recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance a shot. And let me tell you, I didn’t even miss the cheese. It was amazing. The marinade for the tempeh is so great, I could have eaten it with a spoon. The tempeh was creamy and melted in my mouth and I had vegan thousand island dressing oozing out of the sandwich everywhere. Yes, it’s a messy sandwich to eat. But, in my opinion, reubens are supposed to be that way.

Sushi for One

The bf is still away, so last night for dinner I made veggie sushi for myself. It was supposed to be a serving for one, but I made three rolls. And devoured them all. Meh.

First up, the spicy tempeh nori roll from Veganomicon. I left out the avocado, seeing as how avocado makes me ill and all. In lieu of a green onion (which I did not have) I used some fresh chives from our herb garden. I really need to start making this filling for sandwiches, I love it so.

I also made an aspargus roll. I lightly steamed the asparagus before rolling it, because I really don’t like asparagus that’s too crunchy.

Last but not least, kappa maki, or cucumber roll. This was my last sheet of nori and it was badly torn, so I did the best rolling job I could do. Hence why it looks a little odd.

Tempeh Shepherdess Pie

Last night for dinner I made the tempeh shepherdess pie from Veganomicon. And I must admit I was disappointed in it. Usually I adore tempeh dishes. This one not so much. I found it quite bland and there was something about the different textures in my mouth I did not care for. But then I got to thinking, it’s been over a decade since I have had “real” shepherds pie, and all of a sudden I had a flashback of my mom making it when I was a child and I hated it. So perhaps it wasn’t the recipe, perhaps it’s just that I hate shepherds pie and forgot about it.

Sunday Dinner

This was actually what I made for dinner on Sunday, but I’m just getting around to posting it now. I’ve been super swamped with work stuff lately, boo. Anyway, Sunday for dinner I used the jay-lo’s fried “chicken” recipe from La Dolce Vegan. I used the faux chicken seitan recipe, baked it, then breaded and fried it. It was sooo amazing! My bf had some and I believe his exact words were “this is the most meat-like thing you’ve ever made.” I’ll take that as a compliment coming from him.

To go with it, I made the basic baking soda biscuits, also from La Dolce Vegan, and the white bean tempeh sausage gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance. The tempeh sausage crumbles are utterly sublime…I could eat them by the bowlful…I’m looking forward to trying them in other dishes. The biscuits could use a wee bit more salt, but we both thought the texture was perfect.

Cajun French Fries & Hot Sauce Tempeh

Long time no blog. I haven’t cooked much that’s blog-worthy this past week. But tonight I had hot sauce glazed tempeh and baked Cajun french fries from Vegan with a Vengeance.

No picture of the tempeh….it was my second time making it but for some reason I just can not photograph it so that it looks appealing. But I can’t recommend that recipe enough – it’s delicious!