Simply Spiced Cucumber Salad

Level of Difficulty: "easy" just doesn't cut it
Pots/Pans Used: zero!!!!!!

Ingredients
(for a single serving)

3/4 to 1 whole cucumber, sliced
2 TBL Miso Mayo
1/4 tsp lemon juice,
pinch of black pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of turmeric
pinch of curry powder

In my basket of local veggies last week, I received a few delicious cucumbers which I started slicing up and taking to work for lunches. At first, I just topped the sliced cucumber with a little miso mayo and black pepper. Honestly, that was delicious enough on it's own but I decided to spice it up a bit. I was running low on miso mayo, so I was only able to make enough dressing for maybe one whole sliced cucumber. But if you have the ingredients in excess, I recommend playing with the measurements a bit to please your palate.

Just mix ingredients miso mayo thru curry powder and then toss it with sliced cucumbers until well coated. That's really it! So good while staying so simple! And yes, I totally licked the bowl :P

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Dinner and a Movie!

This isn't technically a "recipe" per se... but instead it's more like a cute dinner idea. Anyways, a couple weeks ago, my mom and I had a marathon of the new HBO mini series, Mildred Pierce. The series has five parts and is about Mildred Pierce (played by Kate Winslet), a single mother who takes a job as a waitress during the depression to take care of her two daughters. Her love of cooking develops into her own restaurant where she features only two dinner options: chicken & waffles or chicken & vegetables. As my mom and I sat there getting hungrier and hungrier, I realized I had everything to whip up a vegan version of what we were seeing on screen!



I baked Gardein's Chiptole Lime Crispy Fingers until crispy and sauteed with some BBQ sauce. I threw some frozen vegan waffles in the toaster and then I steamed some corn, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms in a pan. I added some Earth Balance, s&p and nutritional yeast to the veggies, topped the waffles with maple syrup and voila!

I had to share because it seemed like such a cute movie night or date night idea. Not to mention, the food and series were excellent! :)

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Vegan Finds at Non-Vegan Restaurants

Gardein is in the (Yard) House!
I heard a while back that Yard House restaurants added Gardein options to their menus. Being that Yard House has quite a few locations, I thought it would be a great place to do a review. So Eva and I headed over there for happy hour after a relaxing day at the beach (being on summer break is really hard).




I will extend a slight warning though - Just because there's Gardein on the menu, doesn't mean it's all vegan. So, when you see "jack cheese" and "ranch dressing" being thrown around, try not to get too excited... and double check with your server to be certain you know what you're getting.

We started out with the Veggie Boneless Wings which you can order as Buffalo, Firecracker, or Jerk. We went with Jerk. They were definitely good, and the portion was generous, but I'd be interested in trying the other flavors to see how they compare.



I feasted on this INSANE BBQ Chicken Salad.



Lemme start by saying that I almost never order a salad as my entree. But I think these photos serve as proof that this salad was EXTREME. It was mixed up with grilled "chicken" strips, avocado, pasilla peppers, corn, tortilla strips, tomato, pinto beans, a side of citrus BBQ sauce, cilantro and topped with a heaping portion of fried onions. It also came with jack cheese and a chipotle ranch dressing that I asked them to take off. I substituted with a Thai Peanut Dressing that paired surprisingly well with everything else. I could eat this pretty much everyday.



Eva ordered the Lettuce Wraps Appetizer complete with stir fried, smoked tofu, pine nuts and green onions with three dipping sauces and shiitake & portabella mushrooms. Again, really delicious!




It may not be the cheapest vegan meal I've ever had, but I think being able to go to a "regular" restaurant and have good vegan options makes it worth it. Lemme know if any of you have tried their other dishes!


My second restaurant experience was in Clearwater, FL at the Island Way Grille. The reason I tried this restaurant out was because my Aunt Nancy was visiting on business and invited me out to dinner. I don't think I've mentioned yet that a significant portion of my family works in the cheese business. So, ironically enough, I found myself ordering vegan food at a table of about ten cheese makers and salesman from all over the world. The company was great and surprisingly enough, I didn't get too hard a time about my "special" diet from anyone. I can't say that the Island Way Grille had a ton of veg options, but they did have a very helpful staff that was willing to work with me and (my favorite) a sushi menu!



I started out with an Avocado Roll with tempura crunch on top. SO GOOD! I also tried a really delicious radish roll that my uncle ordered.



Then, I tried the Pasta with Tofu and Vegetables with garlic bread. They were nice enough to substitute olive oil instead of butter. Truthfully, I added some leftover soy sauce from my sushi to it to give it some extra flavor. It also came with a really nice salad (specify no cheese!)



If the past few weeks have been any indication of how my summer dining is going to go, I'd say I'm pretty excited!

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Strawberry Cheesecake Truffles

Level of Difficulty: easy
Pots/Pans Used: 2

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
2 tubs Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese
1 TBL agave nectar
Box of Graham Crackers
Bag of Chocolate Chips

I HIGHLY recommend spoiling your mothers tomorrow with these decadent little truffles! I came up with them when I was going to a potluck last week and was trying to come up with a unique dessert idea. I thought back to one of my biggest crowd pleasers, Oreo Truffles, and realized I could make a lot of different variations of them. Once I landed on the idea of making them into strawberry cheesecake truffles, there was pretty much no turning back. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but these are INSANE.




Put about 15 Graham Crackers in a bag and crush them. Mix the graham crackers, cream cheese, strawberries, and agave in a large bowl.




Lay out a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. Roll the mixture into small balls and set on the baking sheet (this is a pretty sticky process but just power through). Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Using some fancy spoon maneuvering, roll the cheesecake balls into the chocolate. Don't worry so much about them looking pretty, cause they taste great regardless. You can make two different varieties by rolling some of them in crushed graham crackers. Place them back on the parchment and let them firm up in the refrigerator.

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