Two...Count'em Two Great Restaurants In One Day!

My husband and I spent a beautiful day on Queen Street in Toronto this past August.  We spent it on Queen Street specifically because of it's great food establishments. 

The restaurants we had planned to visit were Fresh and Fressen.  Toronto is fortunate enough to have more than one location of Fresh. 



Fresh's Cookbooks



We went to Fresh on Spadina for lunch...would definately go there again!  Both my husband and I ordered their Energy Bowl.  It was great!  It was so good and upon my return home I ordered their cookbooks!

http://www.freshrestaurants.ca/

After lunch we visited shops on Queen Street, purchasing a few items and then we showed up on the doorstep of Fressen. 

It's Saturday night...dinner hour...we are asked "Do you have a reservation?" ...oops..."uh, no" is our reply.  Well, it was our day because someone had just called to cancel...we were seated immediately.

The service was good and the food was out of this world.  We have been vegan for 19 years...however, we had never attended at an up-scale vegan restaurant before...we were delighted!  We would definately recommend Fressen, just call ahead to avoid disappointment!  Not only was the food good but they go out of their way (because they have professionals in the kitchen) to display the food on the plate in such a way that you must take a picture of it before savouring it!

http://www.fressenrestaurant.com/

Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary

Last weekend we went to Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary in Lakeside, Ontario (just outside of St. Mary's).  They do not have regular visitor's hours but they do host an open house.

 http://www.cedarrow.org/

The Sanctuary is a small farm which is about the size of a hobby farm.  The weather was beautiful and the animals were out to great us in the sunshine!

We visited with calves, chickens, goats, pigs, pot-bellied pigs and donkeys.  The animals come from rescues. The young pig quite enjoyed a belly rub that my husband willingly provided! - pigs are just like dogs!

This type of an afternoon out might not be everybody's idea of an October day trip but it was awesome for me!  I love talking to the animals.  Someone gave me a carrot to feed to one of the very large pigs!  Call me crazy, but I like this kind of stuff!  I really have a  soft spot for pigs...but who wouldn't - they are adorable!

Cedar Row has had a table at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair...that's how we found out about them....check them out on the web...or in person!

Veg Out, London

Last week, after visiting Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary, we headed to London, Ontario to Veg Out, a vegan restaurant.

It was good but not fantastic...I suppose that once you've been to Fressen in Toronto nothing can compare!

I don't know that I'd go back...the kids thought that their Potato Apple Gratin was not completely cooked...my husband said this lentil loaf was good but it didn't look great to me. 

However, I was quite pleased with my sammich. I had their Bacon Mushroom Melt.  I tried to emulate this sammich yesterday for lunch and it turned out pretty good:

Ingredients

fried sliced mushrooms

carmelized onions

spicy mayo (I added hotsauce to Vegenaise)

lettuce

Tofurky's tempeh maple bacon, fried

tomato slices

Daiya cheddar

toasted bread

Daiya Foods Does It Again

While shopping at Goodness Me! in Hamilton yesterday my husband and I discovered that Daiya Foods has introduced a third flavour of their vegan cheeze shreds - Pepperjack!

http://www.daiyafoods.com/products/pepperjack.asp

We haven't tried it yet...can't wait...I just wanted to post about it...we love the other Daiya products...For lunch today I had vegan black bean chili with a grilled veggie bacon and Daiya 'cheddar' sammich!

With the Pepperjack waiting for me in the fridge I might need to go out and get me some tortillas or nacho chips....sounds like a great idea to me!!!

Earth Island Vegenaise

The last time we were in Watkins Glen, New York we visited their little natural foods store - Good Groceries.  I was envious of the people of Watkins Glen because they could buy large jars of Vegenaise...Where we live we only see the smaller jars.  I am using this stuff like mad these days and would really like a larger jar!

If I want garlic sauce I add garlic powder.

If I want curry sauce I add curry powder.

If I want a spicy mayonnaise I add hot sauce.

I use it in casseroles.

It's delicious used on it's own in a sammich or on a veggie beef burger or veggie chicken burger too! 

Love this stuff!

Jason's Stroganoff

My husband made this delicious recipe...found it on vegweb.com (he may have edited it a bit...it's just what we do!).

Ingredients

1 package Blue Menu "beef" strips, cubed (other other suitable beef substitute)
1 1/2 tbsp vegan margarine (we like Becel's vegan version, easy to find)
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
5-6 large mushrooms, sliced
2 cups onion soup from package (about 1/2 package)
2 tbsp tofu sour cream (optional, we like Tofutti's brand)
1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Saute onion and garlice in tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
Add cubed 'beef' until all is browned.
Stir in all ingredients except sour cream.
When sauce starts to thicken remove from heat.
Put in casserole dish, cover, bake 30 minutes.
Add sour cream and serve over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.

Acorn Squash Done Right

Here is a recipe that I have just started making...it is an edited version of a recipe I found on wegweb.com.  Great anytime or for Thanksgiving etc.

Ingredients

1 acorn squash, skin removed, cubed
1 large onion, diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup Vegenaise (vegan mayo)
1/2 - 3/4 cup Daiya mozzarella
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
bread crumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Steam together squash and onions 'til just soft (5-8 minutes)

Mix together: Vegenaise, Daiya, salt, pepper

Mix sauce with vegetables

Put in casserole dish

Top with breadcrumbs

Bake uncovered 30 minutes

*can make your own fresh breadcrumbs by putting a slice of bread in your Magic Bullet.

*can substitute butternut squash for acorn squash

*can substitute vegan sour cream (perhaps Tofutti's Sour Supreme) for the vegan mayo

Latest Fave Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing

Dressing Ingredients

1/3 cup Vegenaise
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic in oil
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Salad Ingredients

Romaine lettuce shredded by hand
sliced button mushrooms
vegan croutons
veggie bacon diced/fried in oil ('til crispy) to make 'bacon' bits

Simply mix together the dressing ingredients and pour over salad ingredients.  Tasty. Yum.

This recipe was edited from one found on vegweb.com.