The Food Speaks for Itself...

I thought that would catch your attention! Aren't they gorgeous?

I recently had the privilege of dining at Green Vegetarian Cuisine & Coffee. I ordered the Sesame Chik'n with Brown Rice & Sweet Potato Fries.



Click on the pictures to see the bigger version!

The Sesame Chik'n plate consists of seitan strips "tossed in a sweet and tangy sesame sauce" dotted with mushrooms. This is the third time I've had this dish at Green, and I love it so much I've been afraid to order any other menu item. It's the worst feeling to order an item other than your "regular" at a restaurant, only to be disappointed and wish you were eating your usual! Even though Green is a vegetarian restaurant, I doubt their delicious sweet potato fries are prepared in a "healthy" manner (My best guess is that they are trans-fat free, but still deep-fried and not baked.) Oh well. The only three times I've had fries in the past year were all at Green. French fries can be part of a healthy diet as long as I eat them in moderation! :)



My dad ordered the Vegan Blueberry Pancakes. I tried a bite, but I like my pancakes better! (I guess I should say Isa's, Terry's, and Dreena's pancakes. I got the recipes from their cookbooks, after all!) Green's pancakes were thick and flaky, and quite delicious, not to mention HUGE! A "small stack" was actually two huge, chunky, plate-sized pancakes! Before I return to my out-of-state university, I'd really like to go to Green one last time and try their Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes: That's one pancake variety that will be new to my taste buds!

Speaking of pancakes, I tried my hand at the Blueberry Carob Pancakes from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan again, since they came out too runny last time. The second time's the charm, in this case!





I also made Vegan French Toast Sticks this morning. To make some yourself, just toast your bread of choice (I used Ezekiel 100% Flourless Sprouted Grain bread), cut it into strips, and then proceed with your favorite French toast recipe. I tried to make my batter extra-fancy this time, adding almond extract and ground nutmeg to my usual vanilla and cinnamon combo. It turns out that I like the simpler French toast better. But it IS fun to be able to eat breakfast with your hands, by making French toast into sticks and dipping in hot maple syrup! I added powdered sugar after I took the picture, silly me.



Yet another item I prepared this morning was Sunny Corn Muffins from Vegan With a Vengeance. I wish I had a jumbo muffin tin! I like big, honkin' muffins, not wee little babies!





Celine-inspired goodies always hit the spot, and her Cappuccino Muffin Tops are no exception! However, my version can no longer be called a "cappuccino" muffin, nor a muffin "top," since I used a normal muffin tin and cocoa powder instead of cappuccino powder.



I am really all over the place in my post today! To continue and make a theme out of my randomness, I have a new favorite meal at Pei Wei Asian Diner!



Teriyaki Bowl with Vegetables, Tofu, & Brown Rice, at your service. Absolutely delicious, it was! The Blazing Noodles with Vegetables & Tofu is my second favorite. There's a Pei Wei less than ten minutes from my house, so it makes for a great meal when I don't feel like cooking.

Vegan Italiano inspired me to make a "Calzone" Sandwich today for lunch. The "calzone" contains spinach, mushrooms, onion slices, a chopped garlic clove, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It was great and super fast because all I had to do was stick the assembled calzone into my ToastMaster sandwich maker, and presto! Lunch is served!





Here's a photo of my super-easy, go-to tofu:



This Maple-Soy Glazed Tofu hails from veganyumyum.com and tastes fabulous layered on top of buckwheat soba noodles. After I boiled the noodles, I quickly stir-fried them in a skillet with the remaining glaze from the tofu.

I don't use as much oil as Lolo's recipe suggests (low-fat cooking can taste great), and agave nectar is an equally apt substitute for maple syrup in the tofu glaze (producing Agave-Soy Glazed Tofu). I love sweet tofu! This is probably why I also like the Teriyaki Bowl at Pei Wei so much, haha.

And that catches me up with the backlog of photos I have been accumulating! Sometimes it's more fun to look at food photography than read an essay's worth of blogger babble, so I've relieved you from that duty today. :) You're welcome.