Category: food

A return to Ipanema

My last day in Virginia, after dragging my mom around Maymont Park, I made her eat vegetarian food at Ipanema Cafe. Kevin and I went last time we were in Richmond and had a lovely brunch. Tofu or tempeh benedict, I think. And pie, glorious pie!

Now it was lunch time. And there was a BBQ Jackfruit sandwich on the specials board. I’ll take it! Even my mom liked the jackfruit. Which reminds me, I need to send her some cans. They topped it with tangy slaw, with sides of sweet potato fries and salad. Perfect!

My mom had a hummus wrap which she really liked, and then strawberry rhubarb pie which was outstanding. Since I’d had their pie before, I decided to try the Coconut Creme Brûlée. Because how often does a vegan get that chance?

It did not disappoint. But I did find myself with pie envy and kind of wished I’d order a slice to carry away. What was I thinking?

Afterwards, I walked over to Harrison Street Coffee Shop for a coffee. Because they’re awesome.

Game of Thrones potluck

For the season opener of Game of Thrones, the Gunns kindly hosted a watching party. And Jeff made his famous lasagna. Delicious! So we didn’t have to feel too bad about it, I brought roasted broccoli. Why haven’t I roasted broccoli before? It’s amazing. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies. Because, cookies. Look, we had salad too and nommy garlic bread. There may have been adult beverages too.

Enchilada mole casserole

Well, crap. I can’t remember why I made this. Maybe it was Lord of the Rings Risk night at Star & Simon’s. I make variations of this all the time, so I can’t remember what exactly is in it. Maybe fake chicken sautéed with bell peppers and onions with a layer of refried beans in there somewhere. Kind of like a Mexican lasagna with tortillas instead of pasta. Oh yeah, and everything is better with tater tots, right? The sauce is the Doña Maria mole sauce that I’ve written about before. Kroger is now carrying it. W00t!

Almost tofu jerky

Is a Tofu Xpress totally necessary for pressing tofu? No. But it does make the job easier. And you don’t risk cans falling off your counter when the tofu doesn’t press evenly, which always happens to me.

So I pressed some tofu, and marinated it with one of the recipes in Vegan Vittles. Except instead of orange juice, I used a packet of True Orange that Dr. Joe Esposito gave me at the office.  And it worked pretty well. I’ve also successfully used it in salad dressing.

So, when I baked the tofu, I got distracted, probably by the internet, and forgot about it. When I caught it, it was well on its way to becoming tofu jerky. But it didn’t burn and wasn’t too chewy. It actually turned out to be just fine, and an excellent salad topper. Maybe next time I’ll cook it a little long on purpose.

Trader Joe’s vegetable green curry

And, back to lazy food. Trader Joe’s has recently started carrying a couple of vegan heat & eat Thai curries. I failed to take a picture of the bucket for some reason, but you can see it here. To make it even lazier than actually making rice, I dumped it over a packet of Seeds of Change Uyuni Quinoa & Whole Grain Brown Rice.

The vegetables looked a little anemic coming out of the bucket, but tasted pretty good. There’s very little heat, which was disappointing. And it’s mostly sauce. I added a side of corn so it would feel like I was getting enough veggies. It would probably be good simmered with half a pound of cubed tofu. No, it doesn’t measure up to restaurant Thai or what you can cook on your own with a nice pre-made curry paste. But for instafood, it’s perfectly acceptable.