cereal and soy milk
at leona’s: minestrone soup; psychedelic salad with italian dressing; the big fat vegan burger (my new favorite vegan burger in chicago) with avocado and black olives
coffee
channa masala and aloo gobi from the vegan table; grilled flatbread from a recipe my mom found; soy yogurt; tamarind-date chutney from patel brothers grocery (a great place to get bulk spices, beans, grains, and some interesting produce); old moon zinfandel from trader moon wine co (vegan??)
everything bagel with avocado and tomato; orange juice
leftover sweet potato and black bean enchiladas; mango
maple popcorn adapted from popcorn. click for recipe
pour over the popcorn and either shake in a paper bag or toss in a big bowl until evenly spread (not all kernels will be coated). bake on foil- or silicone-lined baking sheets for 7 mins.
armenian apricot soup and bread; a corona and a negra modelo, both vegan
whole wheat chocolate chip cookies from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar; trader joe’s vanilla soy creamy organic ice cream
trader joe’s everything bagel with tofutti better-than-cream-cheese; orange juice
sweet potato and black bean enchiladas made by my mom; green salad with raspberry vinaigrette; mango and pineapple with grated dried ginger
dinner at sabai-dee, chicago’s only laotian restaurant. there weren’t a lot of vegan (or even vegetarian) options on the menu, so we talked to our waiter and he told us we could substitute tofu for any chicken or beef dishes. a lot of stuff was also made with fish sauce, and he said he could just substitute salt, but it wouldn’t taste quite as authentic. we ended up having a spicy green papaya salad minus the fish sauce, the coconut-galangal soup with tofu instead of chicken, and a tofu curry, all excellent, plus warm tapioca in sweet coconut milk for dessert (all the desserts were vegan, and also included mango sticky rice and custard sticky rice). probably wouldn’t be my #1 choice to take vegan friends since so much of the menu was off limits, but they certainly did a good job of accommodating.
the restaurant is byob, so we brought a bottle of cheap red wine from the grocery store down the block. here’s the issue with my wine habits and veganism: i drink really cheap wine! if i have wine needs outside of the vicinity of a trader joe’s, i usually grab whatever’s on sale or the second-cheapest bottle (to retain a semblance of class). the problems: 1) when i try to figure out if the wine was vegan, usually hours or days later, i can never remember the name of it, and 2) now that i have started noting the names and looking them up, there’s usually no information to be found on these random cheap bottles. this one was a shiraz from kanga reserve, which i could find nothing about on the internet. it kind of looked like yellowtail, so i looked that up and found that yellowtail’s red wines are vegan, but the whites and roses contain gelatin and therefore are not. good to know!
hazelnut-crusted french toast with banana and “not-tella” from veganomicon. click here for french toast recipe.
in a wide, flat bowl, whisk together 1/2 c. nondairy milk or creamer (i used so delicious coconut creamer in hazelnut flavor for extra hazelnuttiness) with 1 tbsp cornstarch. on a plate, spread out 1/4 c. hazelnut meal (make your own by toasting and food processor-ing a generous 1/4 c. raw hazelnuts). prepare a large skillet with a thin layer of canola oil, heated over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles on its surface. use 3-4 pieces of bread, dipping each one in the creamer to cover both sides, then in the hazelnut meal on each side so it’s completely coated, before cooking in the pan 2-3 mins on each side, until golden brown.
i served these topped with sliced bananas and “not-tella” from ‘veganomicon’.
trader joe’s everything bagel toasted, spread with avocado, topped with sliced tomato; iced tea
stacy’s simply naked baked pita chips
tofu spinach lasagna from the vegan table. i used trader joe’s no salt added marinara, and added sauteed portabella mushrooms. also a caprese salad (sliced vine tomato with balsamic vinegar and basil ribbons), red wine.
fudgy brownie with trader joe’s vanilla soy ice cream
refried beans in whole wheat tortilla with avodaco, black olives, salsa
fudgy brownie; coffee
trader joe’s whole wheat pretzel sticks (honey) dipped in trader joe’s horseradish hummus; dried mango.
potluck: butternut squash and apple soup; homemade french fries; we brought general tso’s popcorn from popcorn (click here for the slightly adapted recipe)
make 4 quarts of popcorn (about 1/2 c. kernels popped in 1/4 c. oil).
preheat the oven to 300.
in a bowl, whisk together:
dump the popcorn in a big paper bag along with a c. of peanuts.
drizzle the oily mixture over the popcorn, then fold the bag over and shake until the popcorn is coated. (this may require whisking together more of the ingredients; use less oil than you think you need, because our popcorn turned out pretty oily, and it’s okay if not every kernel is flavored.) then drizzle a tbsp or so of soy sauce, and shake again.
spread the popcorn out on as many tin foil-covered baking sheets as you have; thin layers are better.
bake for about 10 mins, until relatively dry. serve in a big bowl and make everybody guess what the ingredients are.
magical coconut cookie bar from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar
buckwheat pancakes (this recipe minus the blueberry syrup) with apple-raisin compote (this recipe with apples instead of pears)
refried beans, rice, avocado, black olives, my favorite salsa
trader joe’s whole wheat pretzel sticks dipped in horseradish hummus; handful of peanuts; clementine; dried mango+berries mix from costco
pasta with marinara and tofurkey sausage; salad with pecans, dried crans, apples, tomatoes; red wine
banana
fritz pastry: blueberry muffin (ask about vegan options at fritz pastry because it’s not obvious; for example, all their cupcakes are vegan, they just don’t tell you unless you ask!), raspberry green tea
cedar’s: pita w herbed olive oil, salad, veggie-hummus sandwich, fries
amy’s cheeseless roasted vegetable pizza w added avocado
mango
victory’s banner (vegan/vegetarian/american/brunch): eggless wonder (marinated tofu with steamed veggies, rice, fried potatoes, hearth bread), coffee
apple & peanut butter
irazu (costa rican): boiled yucca with mojo, salad, spinach sauteed with peppers and onions, rice, refried beans, plantains, soy-based oatmeal-banana shake
patron tequila
marcy’s chocolate chip pumpkin cookies w trader joe’s vanilla soy ice cream
breakfast: bagel w horseradish hummus and cherry tomatoes, clementine
lunch: bob’s red mill lentil soup mix, bake-at-home ciabatta roll from trader joe’s
dinner at 90 miles cuban cafe in chicago il: tofu dinner (grilled tofu with peppers and onions, white rice, black beans, sweet plantains), soy empanada (filled with picadillo-spiced crumbled soy stuff), fried yucca, colada (i learned: cortadito=sweet espresso shot with steamed milk; colada=sweet espresso shot w/o milk)
patron tequila: vegan friendly (www.barnivore.com)
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