(Road) Avocado part 3: Polenta and Zen: Zen Kitchen in Ottawa

Remember I said I don't travel for work very often? Well, when I do it's in the summer. So in August I found myself in Ottawa for a day. Anyone in Ontario will know Ottawa isn't usually a day trip form Toronto, but my event got cancelled, and I found making the trip in order to attend the meeting that I had scheduled simply to coincide with my now-cancelled event.

My train left before many people are even out of bed, so we pulled in to Ottawa a little after eleven. I made my way downtown and stopped in to a vegan restaurant so I could get myself a delicious lunch before my meeting. And yes, yes--it was delicious.

The restaurant was Zen Kitchen in Ottawa. As you can tell from the first photo, even the ambiance was lovely. I had already checked out the menu when I was looking online before my trip, so I had settled on the Reuben sandwich with polenta fries.

I've made Reubens myself, at home (thank to Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day) but it appealed to me the most, and frankly I can always use tips on making a better Reuben. However, there was no way in vegan hell I was leaving that restaurant without trying polenta fries. And I'm glad I got to try these little golden morsels of fried polenta goodness--there were honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten! I told the waitress I'd seen recipe for polenta fries online, but admitted it was probably the deep-frying that made the difference. Yes, she confirmed, they were indeed deep-fried. Of course they were! Anything deep-fried instantly pleases my ridiculously trashy taste buds. I finished the Reuben and the polenta fries (mental note--buy industrial deep fryer and 8 gallons of vegetable oil; make polenta fries) with a happy tummy.

I had ordered tea, since I recently thought for reasons too banal to get into that I should give up coffee but I still want to enjoy a hot beverage a dozen times a day. Even my tea was lovely--the teapot itself was adorable enough that I couldn't resist taking a photo of that too.

For my evening train ride home, I got the mac and cheese and a side salad to go. I enjoyed it thoroughly but didn't dare take a photo--there were fried onion bits on top of the mac that looking like dead worms by the time I opened the container. Not photogenic at all, but mighy delicious! And they saved me from having a bag of chips for dinner at the train station.

So if you're ever in Ottawa, go to Zen Kitchen! Get the polenta fries, and maybe the chef can hook you up with an industrial deep fryer (and me too).

(Road) Avocado, Part 1: Veg Out in London, ON

 Sometimes I have to travel for work. It's not that often, and since I work fore a charity, it's really not glamourous. I tend to stay with colleagues or family when possible, and these exotic locations include Kirkfield, Ontario, and Fort Erie, Ontario. Yeah, it's mostly Ontario! So when I had to go London, (yes, Ontario) in June, the colleague who offered to host me suggested we go to the vegan place for dinner Friday night. Um, doubletake what? We invited our other London colleagues but only one could join us--the one who made bacon jokes the whole time, unlike my host who seems to eat meatless a lot anyway. And I thanked her for her hospitality with a half-dozen triple-chocolate cherry biscotti, so I'm glad she wasn't too put off by vegan food to enjoy them! She emailed when she got back into town the following weekend and told me she and her husband were thoroughly enjoying them.
And I was glad, because I had thoroughly enjoyed Veg Out. The menu was varied enough to be enticing, with a mix of comfort food--chili cheese fries--and healthy food, like soba bowl with veggies.  For dinner, I absolutely had to get the crispy cremini and shiitake mushroom appetizer (pictured): I love mushrooms and anything deep-fried just has ny name on it. And yes, it was just as delicious as I thought it would be! I also got the bacon-mushroom melt, and whether it's because I didn't take picture or because it wasn't spectacular, I don't really remember it. But I was excited enough to also go back for dinner the next day!

I was there for a late dinner the next day, after the work event that I actually went to London for. I got the mushroom appetizer again, with a satisfying soy latte and this time the "fish" and chips (pictured). It was just as amazing as I hoped it would be! Almost creepily-similar battered and deep fried "fish", sinful fries and fresh and crunchy cole slaw. And I got a slice of the vegan cheesecake to go, for my train home ride to Toronto. All in all a wonderful and delicious trip to London!

Happy VeganMofo! And inspring alphabet soup

Suddenly it's VeganMofo! And already I'm behind on my posts. So I will post a photo of alphabet soup, not only to inspire you to make a hot, comforting, delicious bowl of vegan goodness to soothe your soul and fill your tummy, but also to inspire me, since I have the ingredients for this right now but have not yet made it. It has been a complicated weekend for me--I may have had food poisoning on Friday?--full of  far more laziness than even a long weekend warrants, so hopefully this photo of soupy yummines inspires us all.
Happy VeganMofo! And more to come.

You are Every Vegan

As vegans, we often feel the need to explain our beliefs, our food, our health and nutrition, and even all the one-off examples people tell us about. You know, that friend who used to be vegan but then all her bones started melting so she had to eat rare steak laced with Skele-Grow immediately to save her life. Because we are often the only vegan they know, we are therefore also Every Vegan--so we feel the need to be ambassador for veganism. All the time. Every day. Even when we're tired or cranky or hungry because the only thing the restaurant can provide us is green salad and dry baked potato. So when we cook for non-vegans, we feel pressure to make an amazing meal, lest the next day they're saying, "Yeah, we had weird vegan food last night. It was horrible! Dry and tasteless--it needed bacon." Because if they did say that, I might have to hurt them--which wouldn't reflect well on me as Ambassador for Veganism. So when I made dinner for 9 of my relatives over Christmas, I was feeling the pressure. Which I shouldn't--I can only do my best and then it's out of my hands. But luckily they it got very good reviews. The choice of dish may have helped. I picked Leek and Bean Cassoulet, from Veganomicon. It's deliciously warming and filling and comfort food-y, and it has biscuits on top. Who doesn't love stuff with biscuits on top?!? Even my anti-vegetable brother liked it. Make it for sharing with the non-vegans in your life. That way, when they meet another vegan, this time they'll say, "Oh yeah, I have a vegan friend. She made amazing cassoulet this one time!" And Every Vegan will thank you.