Category: food

Daiya Cheesesteak

Hey. So, how’s it going? It’s October 1st already? Guess I’d better bust out my first VeganMoFo post then, eh? My google reader is already swollen with new posts, so I guess the rest of you are more on top of it than I am.

Okay, maybe you are all tired of hearing about Daiya vegan cheese. But I’m going to talk about it anyway. Because it’s awesome. And I can’t stop thinking of stuff I want to make with it. How about cheesesteaks? I can’t remember the last time I had one. I had some seitan already made and on hand. Had onions and red bell peppers. Had the Daiya already. Add a bun and it sounds like a cheesesteak to me.

I can’t really offer up a recipe. I just halved and sliced the onion, cut the bell pepper in strips and sliced the seitan. Fried the onion and peppers in a little olive oil until they started to soften, then threw in the seitan. Seasoned it all up with salt and pepper and cooked until seitan started browning. Then I tossed some of the mix on a split roll, sprinkled with Daiya and stuck it under the broiler until it melted but before the bread burned. Added mustard and Veganaise and broccoli on the side to be all healthy and junk. See, easy!

Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)

2009veganmofo

The month of October, your RSS feed reader will overfloweth! It’s that time of year again when vegan food bloggers kick it up a notch for VeganMoFo III. New food post, every week day, the whole month of October. What’s not to love? Want to join in? You can sign up here or just get the list of participants to follow. I did this last year and it wasn’t all that hard to keep up with. This year might be a little more difficult for me but I’m going to try! Now keeping up with all the participants’ posts is another story…

Loving Hut Grand Opening

You Gwinnett vegans & vegetarians have a new option. Sunday we went to the grand opening of Loving Hut in Norcross. We arrived to catch the tail end of dancing Chinese dragons out front. Inside they had two free buffets set up. And a ton of people. There is some patio seating and then a large dining room. We headed to the dining room and found someone we knew and were lucky enough to snag a couple of seats next to the cake. CAKE.

my pate...a few things are covered up
my plate...a few things are covered up

I’ve got a few close-ups coming up. My favorite items were the Heavenly Salad (I think) and the rice paper roll. It was either a summer roll or a basil roll. The salad tasted Vietnamese and we just don’t have enough Vietnamese options around here.

Heavenly Salad (I think) at Loving Hut
Heavenly Salad (I think) at Loving Hut
Chow Mein
Chow Mein
sushi and a fried fishy thing
sushi and a fried fishy thing

This might be the BBQ Sticks? It was kind of beefy and definitely had a BBQ style sauce. I think they either make their own fake meats or they have a completely different source than the other restaurants in the area.

BBQ Sticks (I think)
BBQ Sticks (I think)

And yes, what grand opening celebration would be complete with out CAKE. This was their hummingbird cake. I didn’t love it. I felt like my piece was mushy and possibly undercooked. I ate it all anyway.

Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird Cake
Close-up of Hummingbird Cake
Close-up of Hummingbird Cake

Glancing through the menu, it is mostly an assortment of different Asian foods. But they also have spaghetti and a hamburger if you’re not into that. A lot of fried stuff. When I go back, I definitely want to try the Pho. They had vegan Thai Tea at the grand opening and it was pretty tasty. Root beer float is on the menu. Most of the entrees seem to run in the $8-9 range.

Too bad this place is not at all convenient for me. But for those rare excursions up into Gwinnett I will definitely think of it. Oh, and your meal comes with all the Supreme Master TV you can stand.

Spicy Black Bean Chili

A slow cooker is one of those fairly inexpensive kitchen appliances that can make life so much easier. If you’re the busy sort that doesn’t want to resort to pre-packaged foods, you want one. If you endure hot summers and don’t want to turn on your stove or oven, you want one. If you like cooking up batches of dried beans, you want one.

Here’s how easy it is. I decided I was going to make the Spicy Black Bean Chili from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. So one evening I put the beans on to soak. Next morning, I tossed them in the slow cooker, covered them with water, added a piece of kombu (I always do this with beans. It’s supposed to make them, uh, more butt friendly.) While I was at work, they cooked up perfectly. That evening, I did the minimal prep work, filled the cooker crock with the ingredients, and tossed it in the fridge overnight. Next morning, it came out of the fridge, cooked on low all day, and then became dinner that night. Helpful hint: putting it in the fridge is a good way to buy you another hour or so if you’re going to be gone longer than the maximum cook time.

I like this recipe but it is fairly mildly flavored. I usually just start tossing some extra stuff in there. It’s different every time. This time I think I just used cumin and cayenne. Sometimes I use chipotle powder or even a bit of chipotle in adobo.  What makes this even better is melting some Daiya vegan cheese on top and sprinkling on chunks of avocado.

Now, if you want to get really crazy, you can make the polenta fries from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton. Thanks to the 50% polenta tubes we found a few weeks back. Instead of cutting them in planks as the recipe calls for, I cut them in cubes. Also, instead of rosemary I seasoned them with a little chili powder. Oh, and I don’t bother peeling the polenta tube. That seems…unnecessary. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, you’ll know if you see the recipe. Now that I’ve actually made polenta, I need to just make and use my own. Okay, so it isn’t corn bread, but it’s similar, right? This had to work…and it did! Tell me you don’t want to eat this:

Loving Hut Grand Opening

This invitation came through to the Atlanta Vegan Lunch Group. Another veggie option for you OTP folks? Absolutely! And you can’t go wrong with a complimentary buffet, right?

Hi Everyone!
On behalf of the Loving Hut Georgia, I am pleased to invite everyone to our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 11:00 AM on Sunday September 20, 2009. Loving Hut Georgia is the largest and newest Loving Hut to be introduced in the USA. All guests are invited to share a complimentary buffet of delicious and healthy international cuisine.

Loving Hut is the fastest growing international vegan healthy food restaurant chain, providing friendly service and featuring a wide selection of international cuisine available at worldwide locations. Loving Hut is based on the concept that people and animals can live in harmony through a sustainable plant-based lifestyle. It promotes vegan eco-friendly green solutions, using only animal-free ingredients, and organic whenever possible. Loving Hut’s mission is to help people make the noble transition to a healthy vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. It is a beacon of light for an alternative way of living, encouraging more and more people and restaurants around the world to adopt a plant-based lifestyle; a lifestyle that is healthy, compassionate, peaceful, and the fastest and most effective way to ensure a sustainable planet.

We would be honored to have your presence at our Grand Opening. Please RSVP Evite link. We look forward to serving you.

RSVP via evite
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/BFMGDPAGYMIWWPHCVRTP/lovinghut

For more details visit:
http://www.lovinghut.us/georgia

Loving Hut – Georgia
6385 Spalding Drive, Suite E
Norcross, GA 30092
678-421-9191