(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 2: La vida es Buena en Ecuador!

I love to travel. I grew up in a military family, so I think somehow all that enforced change seeped into my cells and somehow transformed into a desire to seek out new things.
However, as we know, travelling as a vegan can be tricky. So when I went to Ecuador with my mom earlier this year, a good third of my suitcase was food: instant soup, protein bars, shake'n'go smoothie powder, dried fruit... let's just say I brought a lot of food with me. But I brought a lot back home too, since I ate very well for most of my trip.
When we registered for the group tour (we went with GAdventures, by the way, and while this won't be a full-colour ad for them, I can't recommend them enough) we were told I may have trouble during the homestay part of the tour. I won't get into all of it quite yet--waxing poetic about all the delicious things I ate will definitely take more than one post--but the homestay portion was definitely not the hungriest part of my tour.
On my second day in Ecuador (my first day involved a challenging meal at a Chinese restaurant, normally a good option for vegans, in my experience, and "not much" egg), I had an amazing vegan ceviche. I knew about ceviche from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan but my attempt at mushroom ceviche from that cookbook's recipe fell flat. I was delighted to have vegetable ceviche made with peppers, mushrooms, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes and more--served with thick ripe slices of avocado. Heaven! I had veg ceviche a few more times in Ecuador, and soon found it was usually served with a unique regional twist--but more about soon.

Movie Tueday: Gauc and 'shock

I watched Bottleshock again on the weekend, because I was sick Friday night and spentmost of the long weekend recovering. Admittedly, I don't know how the rest of the world does it, but I recover by watching movies, mostly on NEtflix.
Bottleshock was in my queue/list/whatever they're calling this week because I watched it when it first came out, before the Star Trek reboot that also stars Chris Pine. Although apparently its reception wasn't as warm as my opinion of it, I enjoy this movie. This is partly because it hits upon another fandom I like, since it stars Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the Happy Potter movies. (If you can find an actor in this movie who also was in Star Wars, I'll send you a bowl of guac.)
In the movie, it is the 70s, and non-Old World wines are having a tough breaking new ground (seewhatIdidthere?). The snotty British wine connoisseur who owns a wine shop in France is sampling Californian wines to take back home for a blind wine tasting. Along with a delicious New World red, one of the winemakers brings him a bowl of guacamole--one of those giant mortar-and-pestle type guacs brought out in a mortar the size of your head and twice and heavy. The snob puts down his wine, bemusedly grabs a tortilla chip, dips it in the guac and eats it, his face soon changing to grudgingly admit its flavour--just as he is eventually won over by the New World wines he tries only in the name of fairness and fully expecting to be disappointed. Another scene showed the snob sitting at a mediocre bar in California, with a good half-dozen or more open wine bottles on the table in front of him, and as he remarks that the wines are all good, you can see his carefully constructed opinions shattering around him.
these scenes particularly stuck in my memory, inspiring me to write this post, because it reminded me of many things.It reminded me to always try new things, and by golly I do my best It reminded me that some of the best foods are the simplest, and that I need to throw away my preconceived notions. It reminded that even when I think my food choices alienate me, I can find foods--guacamole, dim sum, chickpea curry--that even my most determined omnivore friends and family will devour. And most importantly, it reminded me to buy some avocados and make some goddamn guacamole.

(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.

Fall in love with tofu, all over again

Tofu is a vegan staple. It has been around so long we take it for granted. Unlike newer foods some of us may still be discovering ("OMG, have you tried kale/tempeh/quinoa yet?? It's SO AMAZING!"), everyone knows about tofu. If there's a vegan option at a restaurant, it often includes tofu (probably because it's a stir-fry).
So we take it for granted: "Yeah, I use tofu, I know what to make with it, why try something different, I've cooked it a million times."
NO. Trust me, try this recipe: General Tao's tofu. I have no idea how fucking cornstarch turns tofu into a crispy fried delicious morsel, but it does. And it's easy! You can use your own favourite Asian-style sauce, like I did, and it takes maybe half an hour (longer if you don't have the rice made already), most of which is waiting for the tofu to brown . However it's so simple you'll want it everyday.
Confession: I made it for dinner last weekend, and then I ate it for breakfast AND lunch the next day too. Because once again I'm smitten.

New Year's Carbolutions

It's the time of year when everyone's vowing to do something different. Fuck that! Watch too much TV, add things to your Pinterest board instead of actually doing things, make snide remarks about people who cut you off in traffic and eat things people say you shouldn't. Including carbs. Actually, eat ALL THE CARBS.
I don't have anything against carbs. My general philosophy is to eat things that have been messed with as little as possible. So if I'm going to eat something that's already made and packaged, I want to eat something that's been processed less, if I can help it. So I usually buy non-wheat bread and pasta for home, and choose whole grains if it's an option when I'm eating out.
Accordingly, when I made today's All-Carb Dinner, I used kamut pasta. I did use white bread for the crumbs, but that's because I had some old sourdough bread that was given to me that I had to use up anyway. So I don't feel guilty, even though it was two kinds of carbs rolled up in delicious fat. And that's the way it should be! Eat good food, be full, and don't feel guilty unless you've done something horrible like poke kittens in the eye.
The All-Carb Dinner pasta dish I made tonight was Pasta con Aglio e Olio--pasta with garlic and oil. I had variations of this a few times while I was in Italy--let's face it, a vegan often gets simplest pasta on the menu by default. Some variations had tomatoes or parsley or chili flakes added. My extensive five minutes of googling tells me that adding the breadcrumbs makes this a Milanese version. (Don't be confused by the shallot and greens in my photo--they were for food styling only, because plain pasta makes for boring-ass photos.) In my opinion, it's the breadcrumbs that make the dish, although like many traditional homey foods, it's whatever version your mom/dad/gramma/grampa made for you that is truly authentic. For you cooking pleasure, a not-a-recipe follows. Vary it until you find your favourite, then tell your kids/your cats/the people who borrow your pepper mill that it's the only authentic version around.

A not-recipe for Pasta con Aglio e Olio
Add as many servings as you'd like of your favourite strand pasta to boiling water. Lower heat if it starts to boil over. While the pasta cooks, chop as much garlic as you'd like (I used four small cloves for one serving but that may be while I'm still single); and using the smallest holes on a metal grater, make crusty stale bread or lightly toasted fresh bread into as many crumbs as you can before you get tired. I used about a quarter cup to top one generous serving of pasta, but some recipes I saw called for a  little over a third of a cup per serving. When the pasta is almost al dente, heat the oil in a frying pan. When hot, add the chopped garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, only until the garlic is white and fragrant. Add the breadcrumbs and fry for a few minutes to toast the crumbs. When the pasta is al dente, drain thoroughly and add to the pan, stirring to coat. Add chopped parsley or chili flakes if desired. Plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and serve.