Udon noodle salad

Is there anything not improved by peanut sauce? No, there is not. Summer, winter, hot, cold, spicy, sweet, on satay, noodles, banana pie, anything. I ate a peanut butter sandwich every single school day of my childhood. I am likely made up of 90ish percent peanut matter. The cravings are now cell-deep.

Tomas made this long ago. It's udon noodles, chopped raw spinach, scallions, red peppers and zucchini with homemade seitan (the Viva Vegan "red" recipe, so excellent) and peanut sauce, garnished with sesame seeds and lime.

Vegan Gyros

Homemade sesame-semolina flatbread with pan fried homemade seitan seasoned with pepper, oregano, cumin and tamari, tomatoes, baby spinach and cucumbers and topped with vegan yogurt sauce: plain vegan yogurt, lemon juice, minced garlic, dill, salt, pepper. A side of potatoes, onions and green bell peppers, roasted in a mustard-white wine sauce with paprika.

Viva Vegan!

Tres leches cake with coconut and fresh fruit. The cake is soaked in a boozy, milky spice mixture and finished off with a coconut custard type topping. I've never had the "real" thing but this is delicious cake. Tomas says it tastes pretty accurate. This is funny because I think I reduced the liquid too much at first and then just winged it making more soaking liquid and had no idea if it what work. It did! Fair warning: time intensive recipe. Will impress (and quiet) your (drunken) friends!



Potato seitan tacos (use the skewers recipe, but not the skewers is all), refried black beans and jalepeno-lime rice. The tacos, like a few recipes in this book could stand to have to oil content reduced a bit, but were thoroughly delicious all the same. You'd think as a vegan you'd be pretty jaded about rice and beans; "I've tried it all" you say in a raspy voice to the young and naive veg-inclined. But NO, you discover you haven't tried them all. These particular dishes came out so light and so delicately flavored (almost *fluffy* I could say) all descriptors not usually used on rice and bean dishes or about a lot of Latin food in general.

All recipes from Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero. Aka my new favorite cookbook. To be fair, Tomas has been the one cooking the most from it, but I have really enjoyed *eating* everything, so I am still an expert and stuff. We also have made the yucca with Cuban garlic-lime mojo sauce, the Brazilian braised kale, annatto oil, arroz con leche(rice pudding), peanut sauce, steamed red seitan and steamed white seitan and the dough recipe for baked empanadas. Honestly, all the recipes so far are incredible and the only modification I would suggest is possible decreasing the amount of oil in some of the recipes which really is a matter of personal taste anyway. It was just surprising to me because I do have a personal taste for a goodly fat content. Anyway, the seasonings are dead-on and the methodology is user-friendly.

Muchas gracias Terry!

Mango Seitan

Mango Seitan: Fry seitan chunks dusted in cornstarch. Drain and set aside. Stir fry red onions, green bell peppers and fresh mango chunks until veggies are softened. Add minced garlic and ginger and let cook for a minute longer. Add seitan pieces back to your wok and toss. Stir in a slurry of orange juice, lime juice, tamari, agave, sriracha, black pepper and cornstarch. Cook and toss until sauce thickened. Serve over rice and top with chopped roasted cashews, sliced scallions and fresh cilantro.

Candle Cafe

Spoiled city vegan that I am I figure I may as well start posting about some of the bitchin' vegan meals I consume outside of my kitchen. (Not that you guys need it what with Super Vegan and their magical restaurant index). My awesome new vegan friend Melissa took me out to lunch at Candle Cafe over the weekend and she was gracious enough to let me take some food pornography before we dug in.



I had the Walnut Crusted Seitan served over french lentils, with broccolini, green and white beans. It was plated with some lovely golden sauce. I wish I had the menu description but alas, it was a daily special. I did not think the seitan tasted especially nutty and it could've been a tad crisper. That is seriously nit-picking though-- this was really very yummy.



Melissa had "Aztec Salad: Bi-color quinoa, black beans, red onions & corn topped with spiced pumpkin seeds and barbequed grilled tempeh. served over mixed field greens with a toasted cumin vinaigrette." I didn't try it, but it looks amazing, right?

Overall Candle Cafe ( Candle 79's more accessible little sibling) was great: a diverse menu, good service, classy vegan food, cute atmosphere. Check out their menu online, it's really fantastic. All this don't come cheap however, and (like Kate' Joint, Gobo and Viva Herbal Pizzeria) their soy cheese has casein in it. Maybe we can put an end to all this madness once Cheezly is finally in town. Preview: I've already pre-ordered some from Vegan Essentials; I'll let you know if that stuff lives up to its reputation.