Is the holiday really over? Jesus..it is. I spent Thanksgiving day on the road, trudging home from Southern California. We pulled into Seattle Thursday night around eight o clock- dog tired after a long and trying two day drive. A two day drive that made the both of us swear off road trips forever… or until we are able to forget this one entirely. Hungry, dirty and exhausted we swung by the always satisfying Bamboo Garden Restaurant for a full Thanksgiving Feast take out style. They do it up… faux turkey with gravy, mixed veggie stuffing, steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes, corn chowder soup, a puff pastry dumpling appetizer and a sweet slice of apple pie to finish it off. (more…)

Hmmm..vegetable or grain based burgers- I’m usually not a fan. Having tasted the real thing, its difficult to create anything that would even remotely compare to a beef burger pattie. I like my meat bloody rare topped with caramelized onions, fresh tomato slices and pickles with a squish of mustard. If I knew any hunters or made my way out to an acceptable farm I’m sure a burger of that variety would be one of the first things I would eat. Maybe someday… but until then I have created a quinoa burger to stifle the cravings. Quinoa is not only delicious but has the added benefit of being a complete protein. (more…)

A good biscotti…I like it dipped in rich, spitting hot, black coffee. The fragile act of easing it out of the mug for a bite just before it begins to disintegrate, so careful not to lose any of it on the trip up to my mouth. Feeling the warm melt on my tongue and chasing it with a pull of Java. Its a nice little ritual, a comforting cycle of movement…this is my kind of meditation. Unfortunately, vegan biscotti is not so easy to come by. Try as I might, in the sea of biscotti out there I have yet to spy a vegan version stocked amongst the usual butter laden bastards at any of my favorite cafes. I cant say its a disappointment because at this point its expected. Unless you’re at a bakery that specializes in alternative baking you’re pretty much shit out of luck…get your coffee and move on..grab a banana..get over it. I knew the day would come that the craving would drive me to finally just do it myself & quit my internal dialogue of bitching. (more…)

A little while back I reviewed the stellar cookbook “Veganomicon”. One of the authors- Isa Chandra Moskowitz- has a couple other celebrated books under her belt. Theres “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World” as well as “Vegan with a Vengeance”…this woman is blessed with magnificent talent. Along with being so skilled shes also very sweet…after I reviewed her book she emailed me a lovely personal “thank you” for my efforts. That gesture won me over. I already respect and applaud Ms. Moskowitz, but now I like her. Jesus…a thrice published celebrity vegan chef that’s polite as well? Unbelievable. (more…)

I’ve been looking for a great vegan/vegetarian restaurant that would take me on as an apprentice. I wanted to work in a kitchen under the guidance of a brilliant chef. As an apprentice,  I was hoping to be exposed to things I haven’t seen before, learning through a genuine experience as opposed to a classroom environment. Well, I found exactly what I was seeking at a local restaurant that is… I can not emphasize this enough- AMAZING. I mean this in every capacity. Firstly, the food is imaginative, delicious, tasty and just altogether flooring. (more…)

Getting home from my apprenticeship (more on that later), I find myself unsurprisingly hungry. A beer and good food fast is the first order of business… well, maybe the beer comes in first, followed by food. Tacos. Done deal… quick, convenient and easy. There never seems to be a time when I don’t have the ingredients around my kitchen.. beans and veggies- shells are the only things I have to double check. Spontaneity in the stuffing is what makes it so simple, I use whatever I have. I’ve sampled just about every taco filling imaginable…some good, some bad…all worth trying. Starting out, I chop up red bell pepper and zucchini. Placing the pieces onto a cookie sheet I add frozen corn, drizzle on some olive oil and toss these together. From there they go in a 350 degree oven to roast for 25-30 minutes. With the veggies roasting, I move to the next step. (more…)

It’s been a loooong time since Ive had cauliflower. Weird thing is… I love cauliflower (that’s not the weird part) but for some reason or another I’ve been ignoring it at the market. I miss it. When I finally brought some home I had planned on roasting it in the oven with some olive oil and herbs… a simple and tasty way to prepare it. But, decided to go a different direction because 1. I haven’t had it in awhile, making this a special occasion… meaning I should do something “special” with it, and 2. I was craving Indian food (as I do every day it seems). I started throwing some spices together and added some garbanzos for a punch of protein. Within 30 minutes I had a spicy lil dish that I happily wrapped up in some warm naan bread. (more…)

I don’t really get the egg salad sandwich…just the words egg and salad together- not appealing. Its a gloopy amorphous mess that I generally want no part of. Maybe its the idea of cold egg? Or the weird putty consistency?  It just gives me the creeps. What ever be the case I’ve long kept it on my list of shit that I don’t like to eat. That is, until I made it vegan and suddenly I like it a lot. All the reasons I had for being disgusted by it prior are no longer issues and this way its actually good! For me, a person clearly biased against egg salad to say that I found a version that I like is a pretty big deal. That needs to be acknowledged.  Its good because it holds its form much better with the tofu substitution and it doesn’t smell funny- that’s a bonus. I failed to mention that one in my dislike of egg salad- it smells funny…this version doesn’t. It makes a helluva sandwich, great as a spread for crackers and its quick to put together. Go at it. (more…)

A tasty beans & rice dish with a cold beer and a fresh salad does the body good. Especially when it starts to get ugly out- this food draws me back to time spent baking on beaches. Sifting warm sand through my fingers, the heat of the sun hitting my shoulders…the smell my skin gives off as it resigns to sunburn, the salty ocean. It pains me to think of it as we descend in to the cold misery that is a Seattle winter. When in Mexico, I make this quite a bit- throwing in whatever vegetables (or fruit- sweet mango is delicious here) are ripe and scooping it up into a fresh tortilla. In this recipe I combine some finely chopped veggies with a good amount of spices and black beans. (more…)