Vegan

When I picked up some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes at my local greengrocer I knew immediately I wanted to make a Heirloom Tomato Salad with them. Some ingredients are best enjoyed simply, and this is certainly true of tomatoes in my opinion, especially heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes lack a genetic mutation that is present in common tomatoes that provide that uniform red colour we are so familiar with, but the lack [...] Delicieux's feed has moved. Please update your feed reader an subscribe to our new feed here.

I LOVE everything about this song. Listen intently, I hope it speaks to you as loudly as it speaks to me.

Post coming tomorrow! This week I'm a stop on the blog tour for Whole Grain Vegan Baking, so check back tomorrow for the review and give away!

Last Friday was National Bike to Work Day, and even though it was gloomy and drizzly on Friday in Memphis, my co-worker Mark Plumlee and I rode bikes to work anyway. We participate in Bike to Work Day every year.The ride from my Crosstown house to my downtown office takes about 45 minutes, and there are bike lanes for much of the drive. Memphis has become incredibly bike-friendly over the last two years with 55-plus miles of bike lanes added across the city. A few years ago, folks around here didn't know what a bike lane was! Not only has Memphis grown more bike-friendly, it's also become way more vegan-friendly (as I'm sure you can tell in my Bluff City Vegan Eats series posts). Portland of the South? Not quite yet. I'd give that distinction to Atlanta or Austin. But we're getting there for sure. Case in point: the Hunger Monkey food truck.Every year, there's a little Bike to Work Day festival at lunch time in Court Square. Typically, there's live music and food trucks and lots of cyclists hanging out. But since it's rained, hardly anyone showed up at this year's fest. Mark and I were there though. And so was Dawn Vinson, Bike to Work Day's Memphis organizer (who also happens to be vegan!). And guess who else was there? A vegan-friendly food truck!Hunger Monkey is a new truck. It's only been on the streets for a few weeks, but I'd read about it on the Hungry Memphis blog. They serve meat, but they have plenty of vegan options. There's a vegan pasta dish, hummus and pita, and all the veggie sides are vegan. You can make a plate of four sides for $8. So that's what I did.There's Couscous with Tomatoes and Basil, Roasted Okra, Cooked Collards and Kale, and a Kale and Orzo Salad.The roasted okra was AMAZING! As much as I adore fried okra, I have to admit that I think I love roasted okra more (here's my recipe). These guys season theirs with a spicy Cajun-like seasoning. So good.The kale and orzo salad was also amazing. The raw kale was massaged, and I liked how there were more veggies than grains. And the couscous was fantastic (but I did have to add some extra salt). The cooked greens, which are buried under the okra in this picture, were really tasty too. They were slow-cooked, Southern-style greens, and there were little mushrooms chopped up in there.With a good 30-minute bike ride home ahead of me, it was nice to fuel up on fresh veggies rather than something fake meaty or fried (my usual go-to dining out fare).If you're in Memphis and you'd like to find where Hunger Monkey will be parked next, check their Facebook page.

Some people are born controversial, some achieve controversy, and others have controversy thrust upon them. I assume that by now most of you have heard the rumors about Toronto’s illustrious mayor Rob Ford.  It seems, allegedly, that there is an alleged video of the alleged mayor smoking some alleged crack cocaine with two alleged drug [...]

Brunch: Tofu Benedict over Biscuits and Walnut Chocolate Scone with Plum Jam

Cinnamon Focaccia for Victoria Day brunch-- see below for details I'm working on my flatbread experiments, plus a recipe for a virtual potluck blog post this coming Thursday, and testing a recipe or two for another author friend -- delayed due to 4 lovely days of family visiting. My youngest daughter and her husband and son came from Vancouver to stay for the whole long weekend. We don't get to see them very often, so it was wonderful to spend time with them, despite the variable weather. My daughter's siblings all came to spend time, as well, on different days. So, there was lots of conversation and, of course eating. Several days ahead, I made some of my no-knead crusty bread dough (4 loaves-worth) to store in the refrigerator and bake fresh when we needed it. It came in handy! Most of the meals I made over the weekend were decided on pretty much on the spot because my plans to make up the menus ahead of time were thwarted by time taken up by shopping, cleaning house, etc. (that's my excuse, anyway!). But we managed to eat well, nonetheless. I should have taken more pictures of the food, but I forgot to most of the time, in the rush to get everything on the table at the same time and everyone to the table,etc. But here are a few pics and menus... For Friday night, my husband made his famous spaghetti sauce, so we had delicious pasta and green salad and crusty no-knead bread (from my book "World Vegan Feast") for dinner, and Chocolate Mudpie Cake with vegan Coffee Buttercream Icing for a little birthday celebration for my youngest grandson, who turned 9 a few days earlier. Homemade crusty no-knead bread Saturday morning we all had whatever we felt like for breakfast-- whether it be toast, cereal, fruit, etc., along with my husband's great coffee for lattes. My daughter brought me a big bag of whole yellow dried peas from Vancouver (they are expensive around here, when you can find them), so I made some of my vegan French Canadian-Style Pea Soup for lunch... We had what my son-in-law termed a "truly Canadian multi-cultural meal", since the soup was accompanied by Armenian flatbread that they brought from Vancouver, along with my homemade hummus and Turkish Muhammara (a delicious roasted red pepper, walnut, garlic and pomegranate molasses spread from my book "The Fiber for Life Cookbook"). We visited friends in the afternoon (sharing some of the leftover birthday cake with them), and before I knew it, it was dinnertime! We had more pasta, in the form of bowtie pasta (farfalle) in a vegan creamy sauce with mushrooms, Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage vegan sausage and Soy Curls, wine, fresh spinach, garlic, basil and vegan parmesan, with some Daiya mozza stirred in. It turned out very well for a made-up-on-the-spot dish. Sunday was a glorious sunny day! After a another simple breakfast (too much food the day before!), my oldest daughter came over from our sister island to the east, and we headed out for a family hike with the dogs. The island is so green and lush right now and we saw eagles, hawks and ravens and, I hope, walked off a few calories! Grampa and youngest grandson leading the family hike on Sunday Ringo sunning his belly on a sunny Sunday afternoon... Lunch on Sunday was a spicy beans soup with sweet potato and kale, from this blog, which I made with red beans instead of blackeyed peas this time, along with more crusty bread... Cousins playing cards... Sunday's dinner was steamed brown basmati rice with two stir-fries-- asparagus, onions, portobello mushrooms and marinated tofu in a vegan "oyster sauce" (actually made with mushrooms)-flavored cooking sauce, and a spicy Chinese mock "roast duck" and bell pepper dish with black bean sauce. This morning we had a brunch with my daughter and 3 granddaughters coming over from "the big island" (Vancouver island) and my son

Cinnamon Focaccia for Victoria Day brunch-- see below for details I'm working on my flatbread experiments, plus a recipe for a virtual potluck blog post this coming Thursday, and testing a recipe or two for another author friend -- delayed due to 4 lovely days of  family visiting. My youngest daughter and her husband and son came from Vancouver to stay for the whole long weekend.  We don't get to see them very often, so it was wonderful to spend time with them, despite the variable weather.  My daughter's siblings all came to spend time, as well, on different days.  So, there was lots of conversation and, of course eating. Several days ahead, I made some of my no-knead crusty bread dough (4 loaves-worth) to store in the refrigerator and bake fresh when we needed it.  It came in handy!  Most of the meals I made over the weekend were decided on pretty much on the spot because my plans to make up the menus ahead of time were thwarted by time taken up by shopping, cleaning house, etc. (that's my excuse, anyway!).  But we managed to eat well, nonetheless. I should have taken more pictures of the food, but I forgot to most of the time, in the rush to get everything  on the table at the same time and everyone to the table,etc.  But here are a few pics and menus... For Friday night, my husband made his famous spaghetti sauce, so we had delicious pasta and green salad and crusty no-knead bread (from my book "World Vegan Feast") for dinner, and Chocolate Mudpie Cake with vegan Coffee Buttercream Icing for a little birthday celebration for my youngest grandson, who turned 9 a few days earlier. Homemade crusty no-knead bread Saturday morning we all had whatever we felt like for breakfast-- whether it be toast, cereal, fruit, etc., along with my husband's great coffee for lattes. My daughter brought me a big bag of whole yellow dried peas from Vancouver (they are expensive around here, when you can find them), so I made some of my vegan French Canadian-Style Pea Soup for lunch... We had what my son-in-law termed a "truly Canadian multi-cultural meal", since the soup was accompanied by Armenian flatbread that they brought from Vancouver, along with my homemade hummus and Turkish Muhammara (a delicious roasted red pepper, walnut, garlic and pomegranate molasses spread from my book "The Fiber for Life Cookbook").  We visited friends in the afternoon (sharing some of the leftover birthday cake with them), and before I knew it, it was dinnertime!  We had more pasta, in the form of bowtie pasta (farfalle) in a vegan creamy sauce with mushrooms, Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage vegan sausage and Soy Curls, wine, fresh spinach, garlic, basil and vegan parmesan, with some Daiya mozza stirred in.  It turned out very well for a made-up-on-the-spot dish. Sunday was a glorious sunny day!  After a another simple breakfast (too much food the day before!), my oldest daughter came over from our sister island to the east, and we headed out for a family hike with the dogs.  The island is so green and lush right now and we saw eagles, hawks and ravens and, I hope, walked off a few calories! Grampa and youngest grandson leading the family hike on Sunday Ringo sunning his belly on a sunny Sunday afternoon...  Lunch on Sunday was a spicy beans soup with sweet potato and kale, from this blog, which I made with red beans instead of blackeyed peas this time, along with more crusty bread... Cousins playing cards...   Sunday's dinner was steamed brown basmati rice with two stir-fries-- asparagus, onions, portobello mushrooms and marinated tofu in a vegan "oyster sauce" (actually made with mushrooms)-flavored cooking sauce, and a spicy Chinese mock "roast duck" and bell pepper dish with black bean sauce. This morning we had a brunch with my daughter and 3 granddaught

Uncle Sam Cereal and Almond Milk for breakfast. Intense tiny flakes. A little bit goes a long way.Cucumber and Cream Cheese on a Toasted Everything Bagel for lunch. A lot goes a little way.Field Roast Celebration Roast with Imagine Mushroom Gravy and Roasted Cauliflower for dinner. Just right.The other half a piece of Sweet & Natural Carrot Cake for dessert. Hard to believe I always hated Carrot Cake till the last year or so. Carrot was the Cake that was always thrust upon me at social functions. When served free choice, it's so much better.Will I get my *ss into my cube tomorrow? If so, that will certainly impact my meals.

If you love the menu at Out the Door (and you know I do) then you should really get to thee to the original, and dine at The Slanted Door. It takes forever to get a reservation, but the location (in the Ferry Building, with sweeping views of the Bay Bridge), service, and vegan offerings, can't be beat. We had all our standard OTD faves on our visit last weekend, along with copious amounts of a lovely muscadet (thank you, kickass sommelier), and this tasty and refreshing treat to cap off our visit:That is their coconut lime sorbet and it alone is worth the trip. After some spicy lemongrass tofu and smoky chard, it is the perfect way to end your time at The Slanted Door.I'm off to NJ for my cousin's wedding this week, so stay tuned for some NJ eats soon! Have a great week, y'all.