That's right... Vegan Mofo is coming. And this will be my first year participating! For those of you unaware: this is the Vegan Month of Food, during which time the Post Punk Kitchen calls upon its loyal followers to blog nearly daily about delicoius vegan recipes, revelations, discoveries, disasters, musings, and tips. I hope I can keep it up... the PPK recommends posting 20 times for the month of October instead of shooting for the potentially unreachable goal of every day. So that's what I'll do. :) Let me start by announcing: I have reliable, excellent, consistent internets, which will make MoFo much easier (for posting and for catching up on the billion other blogs I follow!).
This post starts with a joyous event which took place last weekend - Olivia's wedding! She and Justin had a beautiful outside ceremony and hosted a fantastic feast! I was assigned the duty of wedding coordinator, so I did not have the time or foresight to plan on taking pictures of the food, but here is a lovely photo of the exchanging of rings:
All of the food served was vegan and home cooked! Parents of both parties took on some serious jobs to prepare everything for the big day...
- A huge salad bar! The local vegan restaurant, VegiTerranean, at which the groom works, donated oodles of fresh veggies and toppings for the salads. They also brought over their incredibly thick and delicious basil hummus as an appetizer!
- The mother of the bride prepared lentil burgers (which were BOMB! Once I get the recipe, I'm posting it. I promise).
- She also prepared some incredible potato salad, which impressed even the most diehard omnivores!
- The mother of the groom whipped up a fantastic grilled vegetable, linguine pasta salad.
- The men of the bridal party grilled up "breasts" of Gardein Chicken.
- And the bride baked dozens of cupcakes from VCTOTW: chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, maple cupcakes (you might remember them from my birthday post!), and red velvet cupcakes with almond buttercream frosting.
From the rehearseal dinner, VegiTerranean's creamy pasta special: whole wheat penne in a pumpkin cream sauce with lobster mushrooms and clover(?) sprouts.
Our friend A.J.'s meal: tomato stuffed with herbed quinoa topped with soy mozarella with marinara and braised escarole.
This pasta dish has been a staple in my kitchen since I (accidentally) created it. It only takes 15 minutes to prepare and has been a god-send to my lazy ass after a looooooooong day at work. And it is to freakin' die for. Here's my lame attempt to put it into recipe form!
Low Fat Balsamic Noochy Marinara2 servings whole wheat pasta
2 ripe tomatoes, diced (with juices)
1 small onion, diced
splash olive oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
dash of garlic powder
dash of dried oregano
dash of paprika
1/2 c nutritional yeast
handful fresh spinach, torn into bite size pieces
pinch of salt
- Boil water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, or preferred firmness. Reserve some water and drain rest. Set aside.
- Add tomatoes (with juices), onion, olive oil, vinegar, and spices to hot saucepan and cook on medium low heat for 3 minutes or so. Add some of the reserved pasta water if sauce is too thick. Stir in nutritional yeast. Add salt to taste.
- Top pasta with sauce and - this is very important - add more freshly ground black pepper! If you are feeling especially adventurous, top with crushed red pepper flakes. Serves 2 hungry people.
Mmm. And for dessert? VCTOTW Basic Cupcakes with a shortening-free "buttercream" frosting with crushed Oreos. I made these on a whim and they were pretty tasty! Not in the mood for cupcakes (you crazy person)?
Then how about
vegan ice cream treats?! That's where
Tremont Scoops comes in, the only ice cream parlor in NE Ohio, that I know of, which serves vegan alternatives to some of those favorite childhood frozen desserts. Just look at their menu!!
My buddy, Manda (an omni), and I made the 45 minute trip up to the parlor one lazy Saturday afternoon and were quite impressed with their vegan selections. The only vegan flavor they have is Tofutti Vanilla, but cripes, they sure did find a number of different ways to use it!
I chose the Vegan Brownie Delight. The brownie itself was... meh. The ice cream was... Tofutti. But the experience? The opportunity? That, my friend, was heartwarming. It's been so long since I've been to a DQ, so I was happy to revisit this summer treat, the cruelty-free way.
I'll see you all next week for Vegan Mofo!! :D
Labels: recipes, restaurants, VegiTerranean, wedding