Birthday...

So Saturday was mon anniversaire. Friday night I had a family dinner out at Watertown's Red Lentil Restaurant. It was possibly the best meal I've had out in years.

The Red Lentil

For an appetizer, we shared the Beet and apple Potato Latkes (sweet and light). I had the Near East Seitan and Teff Crepes as my main course which was fantastic. Curried, meaty Seitan occupied two substantial crepes; a bit of wilted spinach and a sweetly-savory pineapple salsa complimented the crepes' flavours well.

I'm afraid the picture from my woeful phone camera

doesn't do the plate justice.

For dessert I had a wonderful piece of vegetarian carrot cake - moist, sweet, and not oily like the variety can be. My mother had a piece of gluten-free chocolate herself, which wasn't of the best texture (but he, it was gluten free...). A great ganache held it together nonetheless.

So, if you're ever in the Boston area, be sure to try the Red Lentil. It's reasonably priced, small, and delectable.

Sandwich November...

My better half asked for a sandwich for the long day coming (now upon us). I found a Tempeh-jack sandwich on Happy Healthy Vegan Life in my bookmarks and decided I'd try something similar for the new (again new) Pescetarian.

It's marinated Sautéed Tempeh on a Multigrain loaf with boston lettuce, Alfalfa Sprouts, sundried tomato cheese, a spread of whole grain mustard and (I would recommended) a light go-over of cranberry chutney. I added Bosc Pear slices and a bit of fig-sesame jam.

The pear and fig additions were poorly reviewed and thus I recommended the cranberry spread in place. Experiment, Tempeh can be strong and some may prefer its flavor masked...

Oh, and the tempeh was marinated in a quick blend of Nutritional Yeast, Olive Oil, Spice blend (get creative!), a tablespoon or so of maple syrup, and a squirt of lemon. Just toss them in a good pan for about 4 minutes, until well browned but not stuck on.

Enjoi!

P.S. Heres the inspirational recipe: Farmhouse Tempeh-Jack Sandwich

Cookies...

..So calming. Both eating them and baking them.

Life's been more hectic than ever as my college applications are being sent out and as I speak I'm working at the final weekend of my school's production of The Phantom of the Opera.

Needless to say, I haven't exactly had the time to devote to cooking or baking as of late.

This afternoon, however (TGIF!!) I got a few hours to bake some fantastic cookies! They came from a great vegan recipe from Happy Healthy Vegan Life. You can find the recipe below.

Molasses Ginger Cookies - A Vegan Recipe!

I used Canola Oil and a dash extra salt in the batch as the notes suggested possible (as did I use the whole wheat flower I hold so highly). I added a bit extra molasses (as I didn't want to open new Blackstrap Molasses and used the normal stuff, which is somewhat less intense). I also rolled them in extra powdered ginger/brown/cane sugar mixture and baked them for about a minute longer than the recipe specified.

They were the best vegan cookies I've ever made (they're really easy to make and come out very well. I love Vegan Cookies Invade the Cookie Jar but the recipes just don't cooperate with me...)

And in other news, my better half undergoing a transformation (again) to pescetarianism. How long will she last? Wait and find out...