We're Back -- And Eating Indian Food Again!

First, let me apologize to anyone who has missed our blogging since Thursday. We have been having DSL issues and I am now at my public library using their free wireless. It's certainly not the most convenient way of getting things out there, but it works, and it's better than trying to steal bandwidth from your neighbors! (That is, if any of them are still reckless enough to use an insecure wireless connection.) Anyway, back to the topic at hand!

Last week I ventured out and had Indian food for lunch, and was successful enough to find a few vegan dishes. So last night Jane and I decided to try our favorite Indian Restaurant again. We haven't been since we've become vegans. Our rationale for avoiding this restaurant is that it is home to one of our absolute most favorite dish: Chicken Tikka Masala, an obvious vegan no-no, prepared in a tomato cream sauce which is spectacular.

After 5+ months of being vegan, we figured we might be beyond pining for the Chicken Tikka Masala and wouldn't have any trouble passing it over. Thankfully, that proved to be correct.

We also asked our server for help in selecting items that were compatible with a vegan diet. He suggested the Channa Masala, which is garbanzo beans prepared in an onion and tomato sauce. This sounded similar to something Jane makes with okra, so we decided to try that. Our waiter also suggested the Bengan ka Salan, which is a sauteed eggplant dish prepared in a coconut-tamarind sauce. OUT OF THIS WORLD! We enjoyed it so much that we didn't even miss the Tikka Masala, and may have found our new favorite dish.

Of course, we skipped the naan, and did verify with this restaurant that it is indeed made with egg and milk. But Jane has scoped out a recipe for vegan naan on the internet and will be giving it a whirl some tine early next year. She's got enough on her plate with all the family / holiday things going on now. (You can read that as: I got "that" look for even daring to ask when she'd be baking the naan.)

Fudgey - The Dessert

No, it's not related to Fudgey the Whale (a Carvel ice cream cake in the shape of a whale, for those of you who haven't heard of Fudgey the Whale).

Fudgey is "a bundt chocolate layered cake with a dark chocolate, coconut and pecan frosting... and it's vegan." It claims to serve two, but as a dessert, it can easily serve four, or one, depending on how hungry you are and your love of chocolate.

So far, this is the ONLY baked vegan dessert we've tried that's truly worth eating. We've had other things that are passable, but this one tastes great. Our only complaint, there could be a bit more soft-chocolate filling.

Fudgey can be found at Fatty's restaurant in Eagle Rock.

Fatty's Restaurant -- YUM

Close to our home, is a wonderful vegetarian restaurant called Fatty's. Last night was our fourth visit there. Honestly, I don't know why I haven't blogged about them prior to today; the food is excellent, and many dishes are or can be prepared vegan.

We thought we'd tried all the restaurants close to home. We knew Fatty's as a coffee shop, which it was until about a year or two ago. Then they changed over to a dinner-only restaurant, by that I mean they are only open for dinner, and that only Wednesday - Saturday. Too bad! Anyway, we discovered they were serving dinner while walking by one day. What a lucky coincidence for us! Jane and I decided to go there for dinner last night, there was no arm-twisting involved.

We started with the Carrot-Ginger Soup. The presentation was a little better than this. We forgot to take a photo before I dug in! Sorry.

Jane ordered the Sloppy Joe which is an entree and came with a small house salad (or cup of soup, your choice). It was fantastic. It's some kind of veggie meat (we're guessing there's TVP in there) with a wonderful tangy sauce. The "bread" is some kind of phyllo concoction, stiffer than regular phyllo sheets, but definitely not something to eat with your hands. Although we did see someone trying, but his technique involved holding the sandwich upright and bringing his mouth to the food. Well, kudo's to him for trying.

I had pizza. When we were non-vegans, we used to order pizza for dinner one time a month. Often we'd order on the first, being unable to delay our gratification. Since this was the first weekend of the month, I was craving pizza. (I still haven't gotten past that and I'm not sure I ever will!) Anyway, I ordered The Zeppelin pizza (8" size). It was topped with mushrooms and vegan cheese and very good. Jane's thinking she could probably make it at home, and that's her criteria for whether she'd order something out or not. But I would have it again, and probably will!

As a side note, one of our previous visits was with our non-veggie cousins. They're very well off and used to the better things in life. We didn't realize it was a vegetarian restaurant, or we'd never have invited them; they love their steak. But they really enjoyed it and suggested we put it in our rotation. I mention this in case any of you are in the neighborhood...

We were very satisfied with our dinner, but couldn't leave without dessert. We brought "Fudgey" home with us. We'll have that later tonight, and you can read about it tomorrow!

Vegan Road Trip

Friday morning Jane and I loaded up the car for a long weekend trip to Arizona. Our primary reason for the trip was to visit a younger cousin who's away at college in Prescott. We also decided to visit Sedona since it's been nine years since we were there last. It was a beautiful autumn weekend in the Southwest.

But enough about our trip, let's talk food - since that's what this post and this blog are all about!

This trip required a bit more forethought than usual because we knew that food would be an issue. So, prior to our departure, Jane went out and got some goodies to take along. We had: grapes, apples and tangerines; there were also Triscuits and pretzels, and dried apricots. Sounds like overkill, but these wound up saving us from scrounging for more than one breakfast/lunch.

Before we took off on Friday morning Jane also prepared our lunch for the day: hummus in pita, and some carrot sticks to crunch on. I love Jane's hummus, but the sandwiches suffered a bit sitting in a car for a few hours before we ate them. They tasted just fine, but the were practically falling apart, what a mess! Good thing we brought along some wipes!

I'm not going to detail all our meals, or the restaurants we ate at. Suffice it to say, that eating out vegan style can be a bit of a challenge. One meal we even wound up inadvertently eating cheese. The menu detailed the items in a dish, no cheese mentioned. The plate showed up, the restaurant was dark and we didn't identify the cheese until the meal was half eaten. Bummer.

I'm sure we're not the first vegans this has happened to, and it served as a reminder to ask about what we're ordering.

But the most important thing we learned on this trip is that Taco Bell is a vegan's friend. The black bean burrito without cheese is a yummy vegan meal. We had three in three days.

Real Food Daily - Take 2

Jane and I were out and the other night, and since we were over on that side of LA anyway, we decided to re-visit Real Food Daily for dinner. We were very impressed with our first visit, and had high hopes for this one. Also, I received a comment from MaryAlice PV on my September 12th post, suggesting other things to try.

Unfortunately, our internet access was down all day before we left home so we didn't get to refresh our memories as to what we should order. MaryAlicePV suggested:

"For the meal I go with the basic 3 or basic 4, which means you can make your own dish based on several menu options. The marinated tofu is not to be missed, the regular golden gravy (not the mushroom gravy from your special) is so delicious. I used to get the mashed potatoes, gravy and tofu with the vegetables of the day, but that is a very heavy combination. Now I've replaced the potatoes with sea vegetables and sometimes brown rice if I'm extra hungry. The house dressing is also very delicious, heavy on the tahini."

MaryAlicePV had also recommended the hummus and pita, as a not to be missed, but we completely forgot about that! Next time I guess, although Jane makes a really good hummus herself, so it's not something we're inclined to order out much.

We were close, but not spot on. Jane ordered the TV dinner, which comes s a slice of tempeh vegetable loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and vegetables. I ordered the RFD Burger with the works, the works being avocado, tempeh bacon and cashew cheese, plus the standard roll, lettuce, tomato and onion that the burger comes with. Of course, we planned on sharing our food.

As usual, the meals arrived beautifully presented. The TV dinner was true comfort food. The mashed potatoes and gravy were absolutely delicious. The tempeh vegetable loaf was pretty good too, but the vegetables, a mix of sliced carrots, cubed red onions and a few pieces of yellow squash were rather uninspired.

We ordered the burger because we'd read somewhere that it has been voted one of the 10 best burgers in LA. (Neither of us can remember where we read that - so no link, sorry.) It was really, really, really good. But for $2.50 extra, you can skip the works. Neither one of us even noticed the taste of the cheese, and the tempeh bacon is no where near as good as the Smart Bacon you can buy at the grocery store. We also ordered the sea vegetables instead of a salad for an additional $1.95, and while they were good, a salad would have been just fine. That put the burger at just under $16, instead of the $10.25 the basic burger would have cost, and the burger was the best part of the plate. Oh well, you live and learn.

So, after our second trip to RFD, we'd still recommend it, but not as highly as before. And we won't be making any special trips out there.

OK, Maybe I Don't Have This Vegan Thing Down Yet

It's been almost three months, and here I am thinking I've got the vegan thing down. Tonight Jane and I were trying to figure out where to go for dinner. We had a late afternoon meeting and she wasn't up for cooking, so we were discussing our various options. We were toying with the idea of going to one of our favorite (pre-vegan) Indian restaurants and were trying to think what we might eat that didn't contain hidden animal product (ghee, cream).

In the past, when we were not vegan, our most favorite Indian dish was Chicken Tikka Masala - which is tandoori grilled chicken in a cream and tomato based sauce. We were never able to gravitate away from that dish. Whenever we had Indian, one of us would order that, often both of us would. That should illustrate how much we actually like that dish. Our usual Modus Operandi is to order two separate plates and share them.

So, as we were tossing around potential dishes and their pitfalls, I mentioned that we wouldn't be having Chicken Tikka Masala, but maybe we could have the Chicken Tikka instead. Jane looked at me with a gaze that said "you must be kidding," and asked me what I'd really order. Repeat previous dialogue. Finally she realized I had no idea what was coming out of my mouth. She gave me a look that said "you must be stooopid," and then said "Lane, um Chicken?!?!?!"

I guess I need a little more training.

Fire Damage

Jane and I were out and about today, running errands, as we usually do on Saturdays. We talked about lunch and decided to eat at Grassroots in South Pasadena. Grassroots has rapidly become our favorite restaurant. We've eaten there three times in the past three weeks. The food is delicious and they're less than ten minutes from home. You can't beat that.

Grassroots is actually a health food store, with a small prepared-food service counter inside. They serve healthy, organic meals. And although they're not exclusively vegetarian, you can always get a great vegan meal there, not a feat easily accomplished so close to home.

On the way over, Jane was reading the menu out loud and we were discussing the merits of our various choices. Would I have the Cuban Bowl again, or would I try the one of their wraps? Or maybe a Vegan Plate with their entree du jour. Jane was thinking the Taco Salad.

We turned into the empty parking lot and looked at each other with panic in our eyes. Wire fencing barricaded us from the storefronts in the strip mall where Grassroots lives. Apparently there was a fire last week and our beloved restaurant is closed indefinitely. Jane spent the next two hours grieving the loss of this restaurant. I kept reminding her that the owner's losses were greater than our own - and of course, we feel very badly for them. Hopefully they've got sufficient insurance and will be able to re-open and soon.

In the meantime, now where will we eat?

Maybe We'll Just Stick to Breakfast at Home

Jane has a friend who works in Hollywood. This woman, Kay, is so busy she only surfaces every few weeks or so, and then we only just manage to meet for breakfast. It's been a long standing thing with us, and we all seem to really enjoy it.

Yesterday was our first breakfast with Kay since we've been doing the vegan thing. Well, I can only say that I am not looking forward to future breakfasts out. The only items on the menu were oatmeal or cream of wheat. And it's not that I don't enjoy a good bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. But that's just not what I want to eat when i go out.

Kay was outwardly sympathetic to our plight, as she plowed into her steak and eggs, but somehow I don't think our shining example of vegan happiness and healthiness is going to convert her any time soon!

Eating Out

One of the things we're having the hardest time adjusting to is eating out. We used to go out for dinner two or three times a week, and lunch one day over the weekend. As part of our transition to vegan eating we decided to minimize our temptations and keep it to once per week.

Most of the restaurants we've eaten at have had reasonable fare, but nothing worth drooling over. You'd think there would be a large enough vegan/vegetarian population in Southern California to merit a few exceptional restaurants here. After all, what do most people say when you mention Southern California....

Our new find "Grassroots" in South Pasadena. Grassroots is really a health food store with a cafeteria-style "restaurant."

Actually, we didn't go there for the food. Jane was looking for Umeboshi paste to make a recipe from the "Real Food Daily" vegan cookbook. Unfortunately, they didn't carry it. But we were talking to the clerk who suggested we try the vegan shepherd pie which was their special that day. Normally we both get something different to try, but luckily we didn't. I don't think I would have been able to give Jane my second half. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Jane agreed and we went back for lunch Monday. Jane tried their taco salad, which was big enough for two. I had their Cuban Bowl, which is something I could eat every day.

Yay! Another restaurant on the list.

Lane

Party Time

Jane and I were invited to a party Saturday night. It was our first party as vegans, and it was a "work" party. Jane's co-worker had about 30 people over. For the most part, we've been keeping the vegan-thing quiet. We haven't told anyone other than close friends and family. We don't really want to have to justify our lifestyle decisions to anyone, and people seem to be really confused by veganism, and some are even outright hostile, if we're vegan, do we wear leather? what do we feed our pets? what do we do about the perpetual ant problem we all have in southern California? ....

At any rate, eating at the party wasn't as difficult as we thought it might be. We had some of the veggies with hummus during cocktail hour. Dinner was buffet style and there were a few pasta options along with steamed vegetables.

When dessert came around we simply begged off, saying dinner was so yummy we had no room for anything else, except for tea. No one was the wiser. Success!

Real Food Daily Restaurant

We finally made it over to Real Food Daily in Los Angeles. After having purchased the Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry, and having some success with the Turkish Lentil Stew and Chocolate Cake, we were anxious to try out the restaurant and see if it lived up to our expectations. And our expectations were high. The recipes are a little on the complicated side, but they're really, really good.

We went early and were lucky enough to find parking easily. We'd read reviews that parking could be an issue. The ambiance was average, and unfortunately for us, the sun was setting while we were eating so Jane was blinded by the light. But the food was worth it. This is the best vegan food we've had to date!

We told our waitress we were newbies and asked her to recommend our eats. She suggested we start with the Better with Cheddar Nachos. Jane was all for that as the "cheese" recipe in the cookbook seems a little daunting, and the few experiences we've had with vegan cheese have been less than stellar. Our waitress also suggested we add the taco mix. So we did. We both agreed that we could skip the taco mix next time, but the nachos were really amazing. The cheddar cheese, tastes like cheese, and we should know - we've had real cheese as late as June!

The nachos come with tortilla chips, melted cashew cheddar cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, tofu sour cream, all piled high on your plate. There's enough there for four people as an appetizer for sure! And oh, can I rave about the cheese some more!

For dinner, we shared "Pandora’s Box" - which is one of their September specials. It's creamed tofu spinach in whole wheat phyllo dough pastry topped with mushroom gravy. It comes with two sides: the Athena cold barley salad and a marinated baby beet salad. Jane commented that the gravy tasted "brown." She didn't care for that, but the spinach phyllo concoction was more than edible. And surprise, surprise, the beet salad was truly delicious. Neither of us is big on "grain" salads (Jane absolutely abhors Tabbouleh), so I'll skip the review of the barley salad.

For dessert, we shared the Coconut Moon Pie. It was pretty good too. We're still having trouble transitioning away from non-vegan desserts. They're just not as good. So we mostly have fresh fruit, or the soy desserts we've previously blogged about that we get at Trader Joe's.

Overall, we lament the fact that the restaurant is too far to put it in our regular rotation. We really enjoyed our experience and will definitely be back.

Gone Vegan

Hello World

I'm a 40-something married man. Up until one month ago, I was a carnivore. At that point, my wife decided that we are going vegan. And since my wife does the cooking, I agreed.

Do I miss meat? No. Am I hungry? No. Am I getting enough protein? Yes. Oh and by the way, in the past 4 weeks, I've lost 8 pounds..... and I haven't done any exercise. She tells me that's next.... I Love My Wife!

The only difficulty that we've encountered thus far has been eating at restaurants. We love to go out to eat. We still can, but our choices have been dramatically limited. For instance, we went to one of our favorite salad restaurants. We thought salad, vegan? No problem, right? Wrong! We weren't able to order off of the menu! Every salad contained some sort of animal product -- meat, cheese, etc. Not to mention their famous, wonderful zucchini bread is now completely off limits (eggs, milk, butter) However, we have have found several options that are working well for us.

My wife also found several great vegan cookbooks at the library. In future posts, I'll let you know my favorite meals.

Lane