Penzeys Spices & Vegan Eats World

Penzeys Spices, Tempe Marketplace, Arizona

Penzeys Spices is a national chain with three locations in Arizona; Tempe Marketplace, Paradise Valley Marketplace (Phoenix), and Tucson. They also sell their spices online.

I recently wanted to make Terry Hope Romero's Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad from Vegan Eats World. But I didn't have any sumac. I know the Middle Eastern Bakery in downtown Phoenix carries it, Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket most likely does, but I needed a place in the north east valley. Then I remembered I had seen this little spice shop at the Tempe Marketplace. I called ahead and they stocked several container sizes of the ground up Middle Eastern berry.

Vegan Eats World Cookbook by Terry Hope Romero- 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Penzeys Spices is a cute little shop with a good vibe next door to the Men's Wearhouse. I also noticed they had smoked paprika which I had been looking for previously. I had been using regular paprika as a replacement, but I kinda want to go back and get some smoked paprika. They had both Hungarian style AND Spanish style and I wasn't sure which I wanted to sample.

Anyway, I got the sumac and made the Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad, and I have to say I was impressed with the salad. It has chickpeas, spinach, parsley, onions, ground coriander, fennel and cumin seeds, as well as the sumac and title ingredients. My first thought was this is interesting... because I didn't know how to process the flavorings.

But it's a really nice salad, makes a nice, bold statement. I used about 3 tablespoons rather than the called for 4 to 6 tablespoons. Sumac smells like lemon vinegar, and the flavoring is oddly similar though reported to be less acidic and milder. The salad would be great for potlucks and such when you want to blow people's minds, and because it can be eaten at room temperature.

Anyway, for those of you with some BIG plans for holiday dinners or for those of you talking Terry's global cuisine cookbook, you have a good chance of finding what you need at Penzeys Spices, so give them a try.

 The final product: Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad

Recipe Round-up: Vegan Thanksgiving Goodies

Every year more and more vegan holiday recipes are shared. Below is a link to my previous Thanksgiving Recipe Round-up, and after that, the rest are links to goodies being talked about this year.

2010 Thanksliving Menu Round-Up

[And if there is one dish I could personally recommend for Thanksgiving, it's the Sage- and Pumpkin Seed- Encrusted Seitan with Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Sauce, it's a fantastic main dish.]

Moving on to the new stuff...

~Chef Chloe is well-represented over at the New York Times Vegetarian Thanksgiving section with her Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding, Maple-Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Hazelnuts, Harvest-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, Coconut Mashed Yams with Currants, Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas and Cauliflower, and Quick Biscuits with Maple Butter.

~Oh She Glows blogger, Angela Liddon has some healthy recipes featured at Veg News: Guilt-Free Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sumptuous Shepherd's Stew, and Sinless Sticky Toffee Pecan Pudding.

~Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits, Coconut Butternut Squash Soup, Herbed Cream Collards, and Fourless  Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream from several awesome vegan chefs via VegNews.

~Dreena Burton's Plant Powered Kitchen has a whole bunch of Vegan Thanksgiving and Christmas Recipes...too many to give you the details, just check out her post.

~And of course, The Post Punk Kitchen has an entire category of recipes perfect for Thanksgiving.

Let me know what you plan on making!

Passionate Vegan's Pumpkin Chili

from Passionate Vegan via Katherine Lawrence of Plant-Based Health (dot)com and Veg News TV

EAT MORE KALE! Mesquite-Avocado Kale Salad

Maybe you're still not sure about kale. Maybe you tried it and didn't like it. Maybe this recipe from Heather of HealthyVeganRecipes.net with fix everything for you!

And maybe you just need to try mesquite powder.

No cooking necessary. Light and perfect for summer.





Recipe at: One Green Planet (dot) Org

Trader Joe's Vegetable Pakoras

Trader Joe's Vegetable Pakoras

I recently picked up these Vegetable Pakoras at Trader Joe's. So good! They're lightly fried balls of potatoes, onions, chickpea flour, carrots, cauliflower, with a sweet and tangy tamarind dipping sauce. They tasted nothing like falafel in case you were wondering about the chickpea flour, and the sauce was perfect. My only problem was there was not *enough* sauce. I don't think I overdipped, TJ's definitely skimped on the sauce a bit. I'll be picking these up again. They are great appetizers or sides, and I ate them all as a main course.


Trader Joe's Vegetable PakorasRating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[You can find the Vegetable Pakoras at Trader Joe's.]

Recipe: Skeptical Salad

I have no idea where my sister found this recipe originally, but it has been a staple in my family for several years now. It's one of my favorites, because it is so dang simple, and yet so delicious. I called it "skeptical" because I couldn't understand why there were green onions in it and how the combination could possibly taste good. But it does, although the green onions are optional if you aren't a fan. Also, I adore the dressing! And you can eat this with strawberries during the spring and summer, and with pomegranate arils during the fall and winter. Both versions are excellent.

Skeptical Salad

Skeptical Salad
Salad Base

INGREDIENTS

Mixed greens
*1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced OR 1/3 cup pomgranate avrils
*11 ounce can of mandarin orange segments in juice
*2/3 cup green onions, sliced
*1 cup glazed walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.


Dressing

INGREDIENTS
 1/4 cup orange juice
 1/4 cup agave nectar
 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate until serving. Shake/mix well before pouring on salad.

Kettle Cuisine Frozen Soups

Kettle Cuisine offers a couple of frozen soups that happen to be vegan. They're pretty healthy, with natural ingredients, and a low amount of calories. Sodium isn't perfect, of course, but not too bad. They're also gluten-free.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by these soups. I'm not really a fan of canned soups in general, so I wasn't expecting much from the frozen ones either.

Roasted Vegetable Soup
"Savoy cabbage, sweet carrots, tender potatoes and chopped leeks in a puree of sautéed vegetables with extra virgin olive oil and hints of thyme and clove."

This one was a little on the bland side, maybe just too leeky, but it wasn't too bad. I'd buy it again, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. I think someone who likes leeks might like it a little better than I did, because I think it's just a flavor preference.

Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables
"We cook red-ripe tomatoes to perfection, then combine them with hand-prepared squash, carrots, celery, green beans, and our own blend of Italian seasonings for a soup that is as full of flavor as it is fresh vegetables."

I've never really liked tomato soups, but I actually liked this one. I've bought this one several times now for lunch at work, and had some french bread with it. If you need something low calorie and pretty filling for a quick convenient lunch, this is  a good option.


Roasted Vegetable Soup
Rating: **1/2

Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables
Rating: ***

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[You can find Kettle Cuisine frozen soups at Sprouts and Whole Foods, I know for sure, but you can probably also find them at your local grocery store.]

Recipe Round-Up: Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

Today is National Macaroni Day. Mac 'n' Cheese is probably the most popular way to use macaroni noodles. Good vegan Mac 'n' Cheese recipes used to be but a dream, but now there are many fantastic and inspired vegan recipes out there. I've gathered quite a bunch including some gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, grain-free, paleo, and raw vegan options. Some are baked, some are more traditional, some use nutritional yeast, or cashews, or Daiya shreds. Do some browsing and see which ones catch your eye.

The Recipes!

Cooking with the Vegan Zombie: Vegan Mac & Cheese


*Green's Chef Damon Brasch Vegan Mac-n-(Cashew-Cheddar)-Cheese

*Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's Easy Macaroni and Cheeze and Baked Macaroni and Cheese

*Happy Herbivore's Soy-Free Mac n' Cheese

*Chef Chloe's Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese

*Vegan Housewives' Southern Baked Mac & Cheese

*That Was Vegan?'s Cauliflower n' Cheese

*The Wannabe Chef's Gluten-Free Vegan Mac n Cheese

*Vegan Dad's Creamy Mac and Cheeze

*Post Punk Kitchen's Mac & Shews and Sunflower Mac

*VegWeb's No-Nooch, No-Tofu, Excellent Mac 'n' Cheese

*Happy Healthy Life's Fake-Out Mac 'n Cheese, Baked Dill Mac n Chreese (with spicy sausage), and Easy Mac n Cheese

*The Gluten Free Vegan's Mac & Cheese

*Manifest Vegan's Vegan Mac & Cheese

*Seitan Beats Your Meat's Jalapeno Mac n Cheese

*Allison Rivers Samson's Vegan Macaroni & Cheese (via VegNews)

*Cheeky Kitchen's Creamy (Vegan) Mac & Cheese

*Glutenfree Goddess' Best Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese

*Vegan Yack Attack's Mexican Macaroni & Cheeze

*The Noochy Noodle's Mac n’ Quiche With Caramelized Onions, Spinach and Smoky Curls

*My Darling Lemon Thyme's Roast Tomato and Thyme Macaroni 'Cheese'

*Vegetarian Times' Mac and Cheese

*Aylin Erman's Whole Wheat Macaroni and Sweet Potato Cheese (via EcoSalon)

*The Paleo Mama's Paleo Mac n Cheese

*Olives for Dinner's Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

*Get Sconed!'s Smokey Baked Mac n Cheese

*The Spunky Coconut's Butternut Mac-n-Cheese

*Vegan Yum Yum's Mac & Cheeze and Mac & Cheeze (Take 2)


*****************

Some Mac-n-Cheese recipes from popular vegan cookbooks that you might have handy (these are from the cookbooks I have handy):

Mac Daddy from Veganomicon
Mac and Trees from Appetite for Reduction
Baked Mac and Cheeze from Vegan Yum Yum
Claire’s Macaroni and “Cheeze” from La Dolce Vegan

The Noochy Noodle has a more thorough blog post on vegan Mac 'n' Cheese recipes in cookbooks, and a whole blog dedicated to vegan Mac 'n' Cheese, as a matter of fact.

*****************

Too hot? Don't feel like cooking? Restaurants!

Pomegranate Cafe has a Southwestern Mac & Cheese.

Green's Mac-n-Cheese isn't on the regular menu, but Chef Damon often offers it up as a special. Join the Green Facebook group or follow Green on Twitter for notices on specials.

Or if you are lucky enough to be in the area, Peta has a list of the top 5 vegan Mac-n-Cheese dishes at restaurants in the U.S.

*****************

Or you can always try one of these frozen meals.

I prefer the Amy's, but the Candle Cafe is pretty good too.

Candle Cafe's Macaroni & Vegan Cheese

Amy's Dairy Free Rice Macaroni & Cheeze

*****************

And, lastly, here are a couple of 'cooking' videos for raw vegan Mac 'n' Cheese.

Corin Stephenson's Raw Vegan Mac 'n' Cheez


Mrs. Leafy Greens' Raw Vegan "Macaroni and Cheese"

Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Fish Fillets and Vegenaise Tartar Sauce

Sophie's Kitchen Fish Fillets (and onion rings)

Recently Follow Your Heart released several new products, including Vegenaise Tartar Sauce. Never a fan of tartar sauce but definitely a fan of Vegenaise, I was really interested in trying it. I finally found it at Whole Foods, but I needed something to go with it. Luckily, I also found Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Fish Fillets.

I really liked the combination, so tasty! The tartar sauce is tangy, thick, and creamy. It's strong, so you don't need a lot. And the faux fish, well, I don't know how fishy it is on its own, but I liked the texture and I liked the flavor. Works for me! And the combination is definitely awesome.

The Vegenaise Tartar Sauce is gluten-free and soy free. And while Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Fish Fillets are not gluten-free, they do offer vegan scallops, prawns, shrimp, and crab cakes that are.

Sophie's Kitchen focuses on vegan seafood options; crab cakes, calamari, scallops, prawns, shrimp, and breaded shrimp, in addition to the breaded fish fillets. If you're interested in trying them, head over to the website because Sophie's Kitchen has a manufacturer's coupon for a buck off, good through December.

The other new items in the Vegenaise line are Horseradish Sauce, Pesto Vegenaise, Barbeque Vegnaise, Roasted Garlic Vegenaise, and Chipotle Vegenaise. Looking forward to trying some of these as well, but Whole Foods only had the Horseradish in stock as of this post.


Follow Your Heart's Vegenaise Tartar Sauce
Rating: ****1/2

Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Fish Fillets
Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[You can find Vegenaise products and the Sophie's Kitchen line of seafood at Whole Foods. I think they are both relatively new products, so keep an eye out at the grocers who sell vegan items.]

The Sexy Vegan Cookbook & Show

"Brian Patton, aka The Sexy Vegan, is the executive chef for Los Angeles-based vegan food-delivery service, Vegin’ Out. He also hosts an instructional cooking video show on YouTube where he plays ukulele and shows off his goofy side." from Laughing Squid.


The dude's got the funniest book trailer I have ever seen. And I usually hate book trailers. haha.


The Sexy Vegan Cookbook Official Trailer





An episode from his instructional online show: New England Blam Chowder.

On the Road: Veggie Grill, Irvine, CA

Despite frequently being in the neighborhood, I kept missing chances to visit The Veggie Grill. But, finally, success! The Veggie Grill is a chain with about 7 locations in Southern California, and a new one in Oregon as well. The Irvine Spectrum Center location is smack dab in the middle of a busy and popular outdoor mall. How cool is that! I love that vegan(-friendly) restaurants are quite a bit more plentiful in California.


Santa Fe Crispy Chickin' Sandwich and Sweetheart Fries with Chipotle Ranch Dip

I had heard good things about their Sweetheart Fries, sweet potato fries served with vegan chipotle ranch sauce. And I have to say they did not disappoint. While not a big fan of sweet potato fries, these were particularly good. I was also in the mood for a sammie, and had a hard time picking between the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin', Bayou Chickin', or the VG-Cheeseburger. I finally settled on the Santa Fe which was crispy fried chillin' chickin', lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado, and southwestern spiced vegan mayo. I really liked it too. Simple sandwich toppings, with a nice and crispy breaded faux chicken.

The Veggie Grill...Outdoor Patio looking In

They have indoor and outdoor seating, and I spent my time on the patio people watching. It was evening, and low lighting, so the pictures are a little dark, but what can ya do. Anyway, I would really like the chance to go back and try those other two sandwiches, and maybe some of the other items on the menu. But with the meal I had, this place is solid, and I would recommend anyone check it out. 


The Veggie Grill - Irvine Spectrum Center
Ranking: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Veggie Grill - Irvine Spectrum Center
81 Fortune Dr
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 727-9900
http://veggiegrill.com


Hours
Sunday - Wednesday 11am to 9pm
Thursday - Saturday 11am to 10pm

On the Road: Avanti Cafe, Costa Mesa, CA

Avanti Cafe

I first visited Avanti Cafe about a year ago, when I picked up their holiday dinner. Since then, they redecorated their little dining room, making more space for tables and chairs. It's a very cute little cafe, with great attention to detail, and it was nice to actually sit down and enjoy the atmosphere. They had these cute little spice boxes which held black pepper, Himalayan salt, and red pepper flakes. The wait staff was very friendly and solicitous. And they served water in green glass bottles, and left the bottle on the table so you could refill your glass as desired. I always love that.

  

Spice Container...Black Pepper, Red Pepper, and Himalayan Salt

My grandmother and I were lunching and we both had pizza. Avanti is a vegetarian establishment, with lots of vegan options. My grandmother who is an omnivore, had the One Eyed Pizza which was a vegetarian pizza and loved it. I ordered the vegan Arugula and Spinach Pesto Pizza and enjoyed it. My experience with Avanti Cafe is that their food tends to be good, but has more of a health food taste.

The Arugula and Spinach Pesto Pizza: organic sauteed kale & chard, spinach & arugula pesto, BBQ tempeh, falafel crusted onion rings, organic heirloom tomatoes, and Avanti pepperoncini.

Arugula & Spinach Pesto Pizza

Avanti Cafe Seating

Avanti Cafe...More Seating

Arugula & Spinach Pesto Pizza...Again

Avanti Cafe is a good choice if you're in the area, and they have nice atmosphere, but there's quite a lot of stiff competition in vegetarian, vegan, and vegan-friendly restaurants in the Costa Mesa area. And if you are going down a list of choices, I'm not sure they would be in my top 5. I'd definitely eat there again, and they are worth checking out for yourself...especially since maybe I just haven't had their to-die-for menu items yet.

Avanti Cafe
Ranking: ***1/2

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Avanti Cafe
259 E.17th St
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 548-2224
http://www.avantinatural.com/


Hours
Monday - Friday 11AM - 10PM
Saturdays 10:30AM - 10PM
Sundays 10:30AM - 8PM

Thai Dinner

clockwise from top center: Red Thai Tofu, Green Beans with Thai Basil, and the Bhutanese Pinapple Rice

I recently made a Thai dinner from recipes in the Appetite for Reduction cookbook. It went over very well. Very tasty, and the recipes were on the healthy end of the spectrum. I made the Red Thai Tofu, Green Beans with Thai Basil, and the Bhutanese Pinapple Rice.

I used jarred Thai basil instead of fresh. I found the Thai basil, Thai red curry paste, and the Bhutanese red rice at Whole Foods. The rest of the ingredients are simple to find. I think I've also seen the Thai red curry paste at Sprouts too. And both the Thai red curry paste and jarred/fresh Thai basil can probably be found at LeeLee's Oriental Supermarket.

This post is very short. Just sharing the small menu, a couple of tips, a quick photo, and a hearty recommendation to check out not only these recipes, but the book itself. I have Appetite for Reduction in paper book, but just had to get it for my Kindle too, so I can travel with it.

Recipe Round-up: Vegan Croque Monsieur et Madame

I'd never heard of Croque-anything until I took a French class in college and was suddenly having to order them from my classmates, along with a café au lait and croissant. I don't know what made me think of them recently, but I suddenly decided I wanted a vegan version. This meant digging through recipes online to see if I could find something workable. A few vegans have beat me to the punch and created their own vegan Croques. Of course, I had to share.

By the way, I saw a couple of non-vegan, vegetarian recipes (heavy on the gruyere) that used mushrooms and/or spinach instead of vegan ham, so you might consider substitutions like that if you don't want the faux ham that some of the recipes use.

There aren't very many recipes, so people, get on this!
~Parsley Soup's Vegan Croque Monsieur

~The Vegan Croque Monsieur with Dijon Dill Aioli at Veganize It...Don't Criticize It

~D.I. Wine and Dine's Vegan Croque Monsieur aka Savory French Toast

~The Vegan Croque Monsieur (with a side of Dijon Potatoes!) over at Yummy-Licious

~Shins' Vegan Lovin' has a Vegan Croque Madame Panini

~Animal Emancipation showcases a Croque Madame...no real recipe but you should be able to figure it out with all the ingredients listed.

Best Vegetarian Dish Competition on The Valley Dish

Sasha Raj of 24 Carrots Cafe and Cassie Tolman of Pomegranate Cafe served as judges for this Best Vegetarian Dish competition on The Valley Dish with Tram Mai.

Super Top Secret

I started my recipe testing for Terrry Hope Romero this past weekend. A look at some of the ingredients and final products. 

Some Salad Ingredients...notice the bright red pomegranates! ::LUST::

Preserved Lemon (not cheap, but was a time saver)

Preserved lemon smells SO. GOOD.

Kale Salad with Preserved Lemon and Pomegranate

Crispy Eggplant and Skordalia

This Garam Masala Apple Pie is not-so top secret. Terry posted the recipe on her blog months ago, I guess it didn't make it into the new pie cookbook. But it was so very intriguing to me, in the end I made this one. I still haven't made anything from Vegan Pie in the Sky. haha. Also, this is one ugly textured pie, but I totally short-cutted it by using two frozen ready-made bottom pie crusts. Vegan Pie in the Sky tells you how to make one of the crusts into a top. It worked good enough for me! I really like this pie. It has a nice warm kick. Highly recommended.

Garam Masala Apple Pie

Alright, it's the end of Vegan MoFo. I was gonna try to squeeze in one more post, but it's been a long month and I'm ready for November.

Recipe Round-Up: Mesquite Flour

As promised, vegan (or veganizable) recipes that use mesquite flour. Gotta say, raw foodists are really representing with the mesquite flour recipes. I'm gonna make some cookies and the raw caramel apple dip to start,  what about you?

Raw Vegan
~Hungry Vegan's Carob-Mesquite Dream Smoothie
~Raw Food Recipes' Bring on the Heat Raw Vegan Chili

~Raw Sacramento's Tahitian Vanilla Crème Parfait with Tropical Fruit Compote, Candied Walnuts, and Sweet Ginger Corn Cakes

~Jamie Abrams' Ginger Mesquite'en Me Crazy Balls and Sunny Ice Cream

~Marisa's Healthy Kitchen- Butterscotch Smoothie, Banana and Avocado Sweet Snack, Banana Ice Cream Love, Superfood Smoothie

~Durian Coconut Delite via Recipe Puppy

~Raw Beets' Sweet and Creamy Caramel Apple Dip (video below)



Vegan
~Free Range Cookies' Mesquite Date Muffins

~Tusconivore's Mesquite Flour Tortillas

~Peace Love Bagels' Vegan Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies

~Aprovechar's Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan=non-ghee)

~Affairs of Living's Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe with Crunchy Crust and Cashew Whipped Cream

~No Knead Mesquite Bread via Craftzine

~Mohave Mesquite Bread

~Mesquite Bean Jelly- requires vegan gelling agent like agar maybe?

~Jack Keller's Mesquite Bean Wine

~Desert Harvesters' Simple Mesquite Drink, Pinole, Mesquite Margaritas, Mesquite Carob Tortillas, Hearty Mesquite Bread . The Neighborhood Mesquite Holiday Bars just require using agave nectar and vegan margarine, the Basic Yellow Mesquite Cake just needs non-dairy milk and vegan margarine, and the Mesquite Shortbread and Kukukadoo Solar Cookies just need vegan margarine. All of the pancake recipes require egg replacement egg replacement and non-dairy milks.

~Mighty Foods' Mesquite Cornbread- This one requires some veganizing, but it looks fairly easy. First, replace the butter with vegan margarine (like Earth Balance). Then sub the egg with egg replacer (like Ener-G Egg Replacer or the flaxseed/water combo). Change the honey to agave nectar. And finally, replace the buttermilk with 1 cup of non-dairy milk plus 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (mix those two in a small bowl and let sit for a couple of minutes before adding.)

~Mesquite Margarine: Mix half a stick of softened vegan margarine with 1/2 teaspoon of mesquite flour to create a smokey, nutty, slightly sweet spread.

Consumed

Just a quickie post today. Stuff I ate recently.

Green Special: SALVADOR DELI - a surreal mix of vegan deli meats, genoa salami, spicy capicola, and sliced chicken with cucumber-artichoke heart relish and sun dried tomato aioli on a toasty po-boy roll. With a side of Tahini Coleslaw.

I think I finally have to admit publicly that Green is my favorite restaurant ever. Maybe I should have held out for some kind of endorsement deal. Like free tsoynamis for life?

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu from Appetite from Reduction

I love the salads in the Appetite for Reduction Cookbook. I highly recommend this one for everyone, especially people watching their diet. The recipes are inventinve, yet familiar, and satisfying.

Trader Joe's Meals

I've had a few Trader Joe products recently. Here's the scoop.

Trader Joe's Rice & Vegetable Bento Box

First up, TJ's Rice and Vegetable Bento Box. It looked fascinating on the cover and I'd never had a bento box before. Just based on the image, my only lament was there were three rices, and I wanted at least one of those to be noodles. As far as reviews of the actual taste, eh, I was not really a fan. I probably wouldn't get this again. I don't know if it was because it just plain sucked or if the items are just not to my personal taste. For example, several of the ingredients were mushroroms, pumpkin, and eggplant, of which I like none. 

Trader Joe's Rice & Vegetable Bento Box, Cooked

Here's what the Bento Box included (left to right, top row to bottom row): Pumpkin with Shiso Seasoning, Spicy Long Beans, Eggplant with Miso Paste, Soba Salad with Oyster Mushrooms, Shitake Mushroom with Edamame and Carrot, Baked Tofu with Teriyaki Sauce, Brown Rice with Seaweed & Sesame Seed, Curry Flavored Brown Rice, and Teriyaki Flavored Brown Rice with Vegetables.



Trader Joe's Masala Dosa



I also tried Trader Joe's Masala Dosa. I am a big fan of masala dosa in general. I love the potatoes, corriander, chiles, and crepes. Mmmm. These were pretty good. I'd totally get them again. This one came with coconut chutney sauce, which I am just as content to ignore. I'm just not into the chutneys.

  

Trader Joe's Masala Dosa, cooked up with the chunky coconut chutney

And lastly, I tried my first ever green papaya salad. It was quite an interesting taste. Fresh and crisp with some spice. I did NOT eat the red peppers you can see there at the bottom. It's my general M.O. to avoid whole peppers, though I will eat them crushed up and in things. But I've been burned before. Pun intended. Haha. Anyway, this was a decent little salad. And particularly handy, because you keep it frozen until you are ready to eat it. I'd eat this again. But really, what I'd rather do, is go somewhere I can order this dish fresh. I know Fresh Mint serves this...

Green Papaya Salad

Before I go, I just wanted to mention the new Trader Joe's cookbook. Cooking With Trader Joe's: Skinny Dish is reportedly a vegan cookbook, though it doesn't state such in any of the advertising. But the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine indicated that it is. Which is great and it sounds promising. It just came out, so someone needs to procure one and report back on the recipes.

Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook: Skinny Dish



Trader Joe's Rice & Vegetable Bento Box

Rating: **

Trader Joe's Masala Dosa

Rating: ***1/2

Trader Joe's Green Papaya Salad

Rating: ***

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[Obviously, these are only found at Trader Joe's. And the products they carry tend to be seasonal and random, so you never know if your item will be in stock, though some products tend to be regulars. In other words, shop at your own risk.}

Candle Cafe Frozen Entrees

Candle Cafe Frozen Entrees

Not too long ago I reviewed Candle Cafe's Tofu Spinach Ravioli, it was very tasty. At the time it was the only one of Candle Cafe's four frozen entrees available. I have since been able to sample the remaining three flavors; Ginger Miso Stir-Fry, Macaroni and Vegan Cheese, and Seitan Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce.

These other three flavors are not nearly as good as the Tofu Spinach Ravioli. I don't know if my expectations were too high or if they were legitimately subpar. The ravioli was sublime, whereas the others were okay, but by no means outstanding, and simply comparable to other frozen meals.

Ginger Miso Stir-Fry

I found the Ginger Miso Stir-Fry to be slightly spicy, but not in a bad way.

Macaroni and Vegan Cheese

The Macaroni and Vegan Cheese is fairly good, primarily because I love Daiya and how can you go wrong with noodles and Daiya. Here's the thing, and it quite surprised me too, I like Amy's Rice Macaroni and Cheeze better! It also uses Daiya vegan cheese. So, if I want Mac and Cheese, it'll be Amy's I buy.

Seitan Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce

My first bite into this Seitan Piccata was not promising, but after a few more bites I found the meal to be okay. I love seitan in just about anything, so the taste of this one was quite disappointing.



I've always heard amazing things about both Candle Cafe and Candle 79, both in  NYC. I'm guessing their dishes just don't translate as well into frozen meals. All of them are completely decent, don't get me wrong, but I was just hoping for more. And honestly, I've found other brands that do a better job with the frozen meals.

Well, if we can't make it to NYC, and the frozen meals just aren't cutting it, we will soon be able to make our own Candle 79 meals with their brand new Candle 79 Cookbook. I'll be checking this cookbook out for sure, but it doesn't arrive until November 1st. You can preorder it on Amazon now.

Candle 79 Cookbook

Candle Cafe Ginger Miso Stir-Fry
Ranking: ***

Candle Cafe Macaroni and Vegan Cheese
Ranking: ***1/2

Candle Cafe Seitan Piccata and Lemon Caper Sauce

Ranking: **1/2

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[Right now, Candle Cafe frozen meals can only be found at Whole Foods. I found these at Whole Foods Tempe. Hopefully, in the future, they will be able to expand to other markets.}