Usually when I come home to the beach, I trek to the pizza joints of my youth and am happy to have a cheese-less pizza and some beach fries. My facebook friends already saw the chips, salsa, guac, and margarita shot from Tijuana Taxi on Monday. Those are generally my type of options.

Now enter Hobos, a restaurant that is actually interested in catering to vegans and welcomes the challenge of a dietary restriction. The menu is a bit changing, but there are tons of apps and entrees that are normally vegan and even more than can be made vegan with a little tweak. They’ve got Daiya cheese and the chef makes her own cashew cream. Woo-hoo!

It was restaurant week (uh, yeah, freakin’ restaurant week in Rehoboth!), so we were looking over the extensive options and I asked if there were any vegan desserts (because what’s the point of getting the prix-fixe if there isn’t a dessert.) The server had me at vegan cupcake, but there were several other vegan dessert options as well. Once he determined that I was indeed vegan, next thing I knew the chef came out to chat and let me know the what’s what of the menu. You know how I’m a sucker for Daiya, so I got both the appetizer and entree with the Daiya. I was so tempted by the seitan, but I’ll have to go again for it.
The Tamale was INSANE! SO good. The chef even came back out to assure me it was vegan sour cream. Mom had the artichoke soup. I tried a bite (with a fork) and it was chilled, refreshing, and quite substantial. The Ninja had the eggplant artichoke dip which was super delicious. I should know because I ate about half of it myself. Chile Rellenos is one of my favorite dishes that I miss dearly. This version includes Daiya with butternut squash (and I think sweet potato, but I can’t remember.) The chef had mentioned that she thought the Daiya was overkill, but I could definitely taste it and I think it made it even better. Vegan chocolate cupcake. It was warm and gooey. I was totally full by the time I got to this, but I devoured it anyway.

This chilled cauliflower soup is both light and satisfying. Perfect for lunch on a warm sunny day. Chillin’ Cauliflower Soup

1 TBS Olive oil
1 Onion
1 Leek
1 head cauliflower
3 red potatos
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
4 Cups vegetable broth or water*

In a large pot heat olive oil and add chopped onion and chopped leek and saute until softened. Add chopped cauliflower, chopped potatoes (you can leave the skin on,) herbs-use about 1 heaping TBS fresh or 1 tsp dried of each-and add broth or water to cover. Simmer until potatoes are done. Blend with immersion blender until smooth. Let it chill in the fridge a few hours or overnight.

*If you have the time, you can make broth just from the ingredients you are already using. In the large pot put in the stems from the cauliflower, the green and tough outer parts of the leeks, the skin and outer layers of the onion, and the potato peel. Add enough water to cover. Let it come to a boil then simmer for about a half hour. Drain and use the broth for the soup.

I was up bright and early this sunny Sunday morning to head into NYC for the 3rd annual Veggie Pride Parade. I met up with the NYC Vegan Eatup group at Sacred Chow in the West Village for some awesome bunchy goodness.

Big thanks to Sacred Chow for opening an hour early to feed us before the parade. I got the biscuits and gravy which was quite tasty. I forgot to snap a photo. It was a biscuit topped with tofu scramble, greens, and gravy. I ate off the greens and tofu then got an extra side of gravy to drench he biscuits in. Yummy.

Photo of the eat-up group outside of Sacred Chow.

Then we walked over to the parade staging area. Lots of fun folks out and decked out in their veggie best. Demetrius of NYC Vegan Eat-up and David (aka Veggie Prom King) of Farm Sanctuary.
I walked with the Veggie Conquest group. I really dig the aprons. Here’s Jessica posing with the carrot and pea Veggie Parade mascots.

The parade finished at the North end of Union Square park where there was a stage and lots of tables set up for the various veggie groups.

It was a great day to be out and about in New York. Come join the fun next year!

The theme ingredient for the 4th Veggie Conquest was potatoes. I threw down with a whole mess ‘o loaded baked potato perogies. Vegan update of a comfort food classic. The perogis are stuffed with baked russet potatoes (with the skins), tempeh bacon, broccoli, leeks, daiya cheddar cheese, and tofutti better than sour cream. They are topped with tofutti sour cream and chives; and shallots sauteed in Earth Balance. I couldn’t find fresh chives anywhere, so there’s a little parsley for garnish.Veggie conquest is always really fun and the food is always amazing. Following the tasting, we had a buffet dinner of dishes made by the volunteers featuring Match Meats. One of which was a beefy noodle casserole that was quite like school cafeteria beef-a-roni, in a good way. Match Meats gave all the guests a sample to take home, so lets see what I can do with some vegan ground pork! I forgot to grab a menu, so here are the other veggie conquest entries with descriptions as I remember them:

First place was a nori potato salad. Nice Asian inspired flavorsSecond place and the taster’s choice was these sweet potato cigars made with filo dough and a sweet sauce. This one was a great balance of sweet and savory.

Third place went to this lovely sweet potato and corn soup. Great smoky and spicy hint of chipotle.

Honorable mentions were my perogis, and these:Gluten Free samosas. Good Indian spices. Served in little radicchio cups. These potato bites had a really interesting tamarind sauce and I love cilantro.

All in all another totally fun vegan event. Here’s the recipe for the perogi. The ninja powered down quite a few, so this dish is officially omni-approved

Loaded baked potato perogis – makes about 50

Potato mixture:
2 russet potatoes baked skin on
1 head steamed broccoli
1 leek trimmed, chopped, and cooked
1 recipe tempeh bacon crumbles
1/2 tub vegan sour cream
1 8 oz package daiya cheddar cheese

Remove the peel from the potatoes and chop into small pieces. Mash potato insides with the sour cream and add all other ingredients. Mix it together well, so that every 1 tsp bite will get all ingredients.

Tempeh bacon crumbles:
1 8oz. package tempeh
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 TBS vinegar
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS canola oil
Optional Hickory Bacon Salt or Penzeys pork chop seasoning

Crumble tempeh into a sealable container and add liquid smoke, vinegar and soy sauce (you don’t really have to measure.) Let marinate a few hours to overnight. Heat canola oil in skillet, add marinated crumbles and cook until browned and crispy. Add some bacon salt or pork chop seasoning if it needs a little extra bacony kick.

Perogi dough:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup mashed potato
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 cup water

Mix together to form a smooth ball. Add extra flour as needed so dough is not sticky. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour (up to overnight.)

Break off about an eighth of the dough and roll out thin. I used a pasta roller to number 5. Cut into circles with a drinking glass or pastry cutter. I used 2 1/2 inch diameter mason jar so they were about two-bite sized. Brush with soy milk (OK, I had a little dish and I just dunked one side in.) Fill with 1 tsp filling and fold in half sealing the edges.

Boil for about 2 minutes. Drain and saute in Earth Balance and canola oil until crispy. I found that with just Earth Balance they stuck to the bottom of the pan, so I added a little canola oil and that helped.

For garninsh: Saute a few diced shallots. Add chives to vegan sour cream.

Serve hot and top the perogis with the sauteed shallots and the sour cream and chives.

No really, cheezy melty stringy nachos. I picked up some Daiya at the Whole Foods in Union Square. Check out the Daiya website for a location near you or the online stores selling it. It’s in real packaging now and word is they’re rolling it out at Whole Foods around the country.

Daiya is definitely different than other non-dairy cheeses. It tastes good, melts well, and when melted has the same stringy texture and mouthfeel as real cheese. I find it to be kind of buttery tasting. Yum. I think I’m going to go make some more.

Well I made it off the couch and out to TWO vegan events here in Westchester, NY this afternoon. As much as I love the vegan events in NYC, sometimes it’s nice to stay close to home.

This morning I went to a vegan brunch hosted by Doreen and the Vegetarian Social Network of Westchester at Rain Water Grill in Hastings, NY. A mere 12 minutes from my house.

Although the Rain Water Grill is regularly vegetarian friendly, they made a special vegan brunch for our group with appetizers and entrees.

We all shared appetizers of fried risotto balls with marinara; vegetable flat bread pizzas with cannellini beans, leeks, and black olives; and egg rolls with eggplant, squash, onion, and carrots with a delicious soy cilantro vinaigrette. I got the fried avocado and the mango salsa was lovely. Everyone else was nice enough to let me stick my camera in their food and get a sample as well. You know, for the blog…Tofu scramble. This was really nice on the toast.
Stuffed portabella mushroom. I didn’t actually try it, but it looked yummy.And the hit of the day were the blueberry pancakes. Someone was cool enough to order a second helping which we all shared. The manager said even though it’s not on the menu they would be able to whip these babies up for brunch anytime and even offered to send someone out to the store if they needed the soy milk for them. That’s some vegan love.We had about 12 people in all. Great group of people and a fun brunch event.

Now, I could have just gone home and vegged out with some nice Jonny Lee Miller period pieces (Emma and Mansfield Park or perhaps Byron in case you’re wondering…)

but instead I ventured out to the store to pick up some provisions for a pot luck dish for an evening with Farm Sanctuary Campaigns Coordinator David Benzaquen which was kind of with The Westchester Vegan & Vegetarian Meetup Group, though it wasn’t an official meet-up.

I successfully procured the fixins’ for perhaps the easiest pot luck dish known to man. Four layer Mexican dip.
The Mexican dip is the one near the front of the photo. When I was 23 and vegetarian, this was what I brought when I needed to bring a dish somewhere. I usually make it with vegan cream cheese and vegetarian chili, but this time I used vegan sour cream and refried beans. It’s very flexible to substitutions and always awesome.

Mexican Dip
1 package Tofutti sour cream
1 can vegetarian chili or refried beans
1 container of salsa ( I used the fresh kind from the fridge section, but jarred is OK, too)
3/4 block follow your heart cheddar or enough vegan cheese to cover the top

Layer the ingredients in a pie plate in the order listed.

I usually pop in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, but this heated up really well in the microwave in about 8 minutes. The cheese got melty without getting dried out.

Trista made a giant pot of chili with Quorn. (This would have been awesome in the Mexican dip.)Trista’s mom made this amazing noodle dish with those clear noodles used in Jap Chae. I don’t remember the name, but this was lovely.Megan made an amazing lasagna.

Here’s everyone hanging out enjoying the food and chit-chatting…And just when I thought I couldn’t possibly eat anything else, I just HAD to have one of these fantastic chocolate chip cookies. Trista used EnerG which for some reason I never try and they were chocolate chip perfection.

David gave a nice presentation on what the Farm Sanctuary is all about and this sparked some lively discussions with the few non-vegans in the group.

Thanks so much to Trista and her family for hosting this event (8 minutes from my house.) It was beaucoup fun and hopefully we’ll have more events here in Westchester so I won’t always have to schlep into the city on a weekend for a vegan fix.

Today I also found out the secret ingredient for the Veggie Conquest next Sunday is potatoes. It has to be an appetizer and I’m trying to think of things I could serve to 80 people that would warm up easily in those catering foil trays with the sterno. One of the guest judges is Alexandra Jamieson who famously slimmed down her hubby Morgan Spurlock after he ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days in the documentary Supersize Me. Wish me luck. I’m gonna need it.

Check out the Chipotle in Chelsea, NYC for a garden blend vegan burrito. The garden blend is vegan plant protein (I hear it’s gardein) marinated in adobo sauce and grilled. It’s a little on the spicy side, but in a good way. I recommend splurging for the guacamole to cool down the heat. This is the only location in NYC that’s carrying the garden blend. There’s a Chipotle across the street from my office, but I went out of my way to check out this burrito and I’m glad I did.
I like the way the store blends in with the rest of the block. Chelsea is a neighborhhod in NYC. Blossom is a few blocks away.

Mmmm. Fake chickeny goodness. The seasonings are really nice. Although I appreciate the usual vegan burrito at Chipotle, the garden blend gives you something to really bite into. I didn’t test it out on any omnivores, but I don’t think they’d be able to tell it’s fake meat.
Currently this is the only location in NYC carrying the garden blend. There are a couple of Chipotles in Chelsea, so just to be clear. The Chipotle NYC location with the garden blend is 149 8^th Avenue between 17^th and 18^th streets. Apparently there’s a location in DC serving it as well. I sent Chipotle a note to let them know how awesome it is to carry this and I hope they include it at all locations soon!

OK, I didn’t realize I miss cheese singles. You know the ones individually wrapped in plastic. I picked up some Gardein tuscan breasts and wanted a little cheesy topping, but the store I was in didn’t have much in the way of fake cheese options. So I took a chance and picked up some Tofutti Mozzarella slices. The tofutti slices are good just plain, but melted really nicely over the gardein in the oven.The sauce that the tuscan breasts come in is just OK. I needed sauce to serve with spaghetti anyway, so I made a really quick marinara consisting of a big can of crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp salt and 2 Tbs sugar. I added a few good shakes of italian seasoning, and just heated up.