Holiday in South Florida

I'm taking a quick detour from my very active participation in this year's Cookbook Challenge. Over the winter holidays I visited friends and family in my Florida hometown, Fort Lauderdale. In addition to sleeping in for an entire week (!!), I wined and dined at one of the finest vegan dining establishments on the east coast. Sublime Restaurant and Bar is located in downtown Fort Lauderdale and features an all-vegan fancy-foods menu! The owner, Nanci Alexander, is also the founder of ARFF (Animal Rights Foundation of Florida) and 100% of the restaurant's profits are donated to organizations set on reducing animal cruelty and promoting a vegan lifestyle. It also doesn't hurt that all of their food is absolutely delicious.

Matt and I started with two appetizers (they were having an anniversary special - all appetizers were only $4!). The Crispy Eggplant Rollatini was perfectly proportioned and the vegan ricotta couldn't have been creamier. I'm usually skeptical about ordering dairy analogues at restaurants, especially ones that are house-made, but I'm glad I did in this instance. Below, our second appetizer is one that can't be missed. I've ordered it every time I went to Sublime and it keeps getting better and better. The Frito Misto consists of battered and lightly fried cauliflower florets covered in a sweet chili sauce and topped with black-and-white sesame seeds and a spring onion garnish. M-O-U-T-H-P-A-R-T-Y. Just writing about this dish has me yearning to recreate it. I know what my weekend project will be...

If you are intrigued at all by the appetizers, you must stay for dinner. The menu at Sublime is really diverse, featuring salads, sushi, brick oven pizza, an array of entrees and mouthwatering desserts. Matt ordered the Mushroom Ravioli for dinner and I was utterly speechless after my first bite. The pasta was made in-house and if that was any indication of fresh pasta, I'm seriously missing out. It was soft, silky, creamy, sexy yummy goodness. The filling was excellent as well, but they could have served just me plain noodles and I wouldn't have complained.

My entree was almost as delicious (maybe if it had been wrapped in ravioli noodles...) but still very enjoyable. The Sublime Picatta consisted of Gardein cutlets, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and a lemon caper sauce. I've only ever tried the chicken-style Crispy Tenders, but I've heard really good things about Gardein brand meat analogues so I decided to give it a whirl. The taste and texture were pleasurable, but anything covered in lemon caper sauce would taste good to me. I was mostly surprised by how they found such thick asparagus!

Let the verdict show that vegan gourmet is entirely possible, and insanely delicious. If you're ever in south Florida, support this vegan establishment!

Cookbook Challenge 2 - Appetite for Reduction

Lately I've been craving the lightly prepared stong aromatic dishes native to Thailand. For my birthday, Matt and I ate at Rama Restaurant, a whole-in-the-wall  serving up some of the finest Thai food (as far as I know) in Baton Rouge. The slow service was easily overshadowed by the fragrant and spicy meals we ordered. Fried veggies - eggplant, yams, green peppers, green beans, potatoes, onions - with sweet and sour sauce (not exactly authentic, I know) stimulated our tastebuds and appetites for two tasty, albeit oily, Thai entrees.

cellphone porn!
left to right: veggie pad thai, panang tofu, fried veggies

Matt ordered the Veggie Pad Thai sans egg as usual. This fish-free variation was so light and fresh, we damn near inhaled the entire plate (by the way, the portion-to-prices ratio at Rama is amazing; two people could easily share one plate..unless you're either one of us)! Any extra room in our mouths and bellies was quickly filled with my entree, Panang Tofu. Green beans and mushrooms were the main contenders in this warm and spicy coconut curry dish, along with copious amounts of fried tofu! So...Thai food...isn't it amazing? Yeah, I know; I know.



Cookbook Challenge II - Appetite for Reduction



My greatest qualm with dining out, especially at Asian/Indian establishments, is the amount of oil used by the restaurant chefs. I can't consciously dine out often for this reason alone. It's a bittersweet scenario, actually. The openhanded oil applications force me to make my own renditions of these aromatic appetizers, and while they may not be authentic, they are certainly satisfying.

This is where Appetite for Reduction is plugged in. As I flipped through the already slightly tarnished pages (I'm a bit of a messy cook...) I noted several Thai-inspired recipes that I would have to make. The first thing to catch my eye was the Pad Thai salad with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing. The dressing was a sweet, spicy and tangy combination of ground peanuts (for which I substituted crunchy peanut butter), sriracha, lime juice and a few other things I'll just call delicious. I added sauteed tempeh cooked with tamari (a great gluten-free alternative to soy sauce) and omitted the red onion because I didn't have one.



Pad Thai Salad and Crispy Tamari Tempeh with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing

 

Did I mention that AFR has an entire chapter devoted to bowls (and sandwiches, but they deserve their own thrown)?! Using the remaining Peanut-Lime Dragon dressing, I made the Peanut-Lime Tempeh Bowl, which consisted of fluffy quinoa, steamed broccoli, more tamari tempeh and the dressing. I jazzes it up with sauteed bean sprouts and alfafa sprouts for an amazingly filling and insanely delicious dinner.

Peanut-Lime Tempeh Bowl

This next Thai-inspired dish was featured in my post about tofu, but who's going to argue with me? I think it deserves another fifteen minutes of fame. Ladies and gentlemen, Red Thai Tofu...

Red Thai Tofu and Green Beans with (not) Thai Basil

No, I didn't use Thai basil, and I thought of adding fennel or dried mint to give it the cool depth I notice in Thai basil, but I didn't want to stray too far from the actual recipe. Crispy tofu, spicy red Thai curry, sriracha, ginger and garlic all go great together. Add some sauteed green beans dusted with red pepper flakes and a squirt of lime and you're in business. I have no negative critique other than I wish I had more, and right now please.

In fact, I think I need to go pick up some tofu and lock myself in the kitchen. Until next time...

Vegan MoFo 2010: Day Eight

Day Eight: "Bugs" on a Log

Onward we march, armed only with our santoku kitchen knives and wooden chopping blocks, bracing ourselves for the violently scrumptious storm that is Week Two of Vegan MoFo 2010! Many warriors bloggers braved through week one of MoFo with inventive edibles, considerable amounts of confections, and goodies galore! Even The PPK had been subjected to a profusion of food porn and other MoFo excitment. Today marks our entrance into the depths of MoFo territory. Week two will be grand, and the internet will rumple with an abundance of vegan grub!

This week I'll be working from a menu that is geared towards children! Several childhood favorites and kid-friendly recipes (or atleast what I think kids will like) will make an appearance on the blog. In addition to the menu below, Matt will be lending his snacking expertise and offer several tips, tricks and recipes for deliciously easy and convenient snacks. Don't be fooled, this menu will be creative enough for children AND satiating enough for adults (and adults that think they are still kids, like me!).

The Five Course Vegan

Kooking for Kids, or A Way to Revive the Child in You!

A Bunch of "Bugs" on Logs

Broccoli and Pumpkin Cheese Soup

Peanut Butter, Banana and Mixed-Berry Salad

Spaghetti and Bean Balls

Banana Split Cupcakes

Milkshakes!!

Exciting, right!? I love incorporating "kid" foods into my diet because they are usually easy and fast to make while still packing a lot of nutrition; plus, kids always pack the best snacks in town! When I was young, my mom used to make us open-faced Ritz cracker sandwiches. She would mix and match peanut butter, jelly (usually grape), butter and American cheese to create a bunch of different combinations - peanut butter and cheese, butter and jelly, jelly and cheese, etc. The combinations were infinite, at least in my undeveloped brain. Another favorite snack of mine was ants on a log. Peanut butter was my favorite "food" for most of my childhood (and still ranks high on my list!), so I naturally enjoyed the sweet and salty snacks. In the spirit of my juvenility, I've recreated this childhood staple into a few different "bugs" on logs.*

Bugs on Logs


Ok, here is the breakdown:

1. Ants on a Log - peanut butter and raisins

2. Beetles Stuck in Mud - almond butter and chopped Medjool dates

3. Spiders on a Snowy Branch - Garlicky Cilantro hummus and chopped Kalamata olives

4. Fire Ants in the Sand - Pumpkin-Cashew Cheese dip and dried cranberries

The pumpkin-cashew cheese was inspired by Kathy over at Healthy. Happy. Life. I didn't reserve enough time to follow her instructions for her Pumpkin Spice Cashew Cheese Dip, but I've definitely saved the recipe for future use. For this cheeze, I roasted fresh pumpkin (olive oil, salt and pepper @ 400 degrees for about 30 minutes) until very soft. I still had some leftover cashew cream from the Tomato-Fennel soup, so I mixed the two together with more nutritional yeast and salt. Voila!

Upfront: Pumpkin Cashew Cheese with Dried Cranberries. Festive!

*These bugs are definitely vegan!