Vegan Veggin' in Banff

Week the Ninth.

Spring Break.

Banff Springs Hotel.

Shopping, Spa-ing and Stuffing my face. 'Twas a swell 4 days indeed.

**Before you proceed (all three of you...haha...just some poorly executed self-deprecating humour...I'd stick in a sideways happy face here but it would just look weird before the end parentheses), be forewarned that I took pictures of pretty much everything we ate on this trip, so you will be bombarded by a crapload of images of ridiculously delicious food**

Banff, Alberta is one of Rob the Husband's favourite places on the planet, and it has definitely become one of mine. It certainly helps that it's the home of the spectacular Banff Springs Hotel, which just happened to be having a room promotion over Spring Break, which we just happened to take advantage of. This was our first vacation together since embarking upon the vegan journey, and I was a bit skeptical about how the eating was going to go over in terms of interesting vegan options in Banff. I had pretty much resigned myself to having to do a lot of cheating if we were going to get to enjoy ourselves.

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about, and this trip was just full of pleasant surprises. 

As we were checking in to the Banff Springs, the concierge proceeded to inform us that there was a promotion going on, and we could upgrade to the fancy shmancy Gold Floor for significantly less than the upgrade usually costs, so I was totally like, Yes please! The Gold Floor is just like all the other floors in the Springs, except even more awesome...it has its own concierge, check in and check out, lounge, complimentary movies, breakfast buffet, hors d'oeuvres, and just really stellar service overall. The room was top-notch and even had one of those crazy euro-showers that sprays from all angles. Crazy. 

We were a bit concerned about the breakfast buffet and hors d'oeuvres since it was unlikely that there would be too many vegan options, and we were right, but there was enough to make due. Oatmeal and I became good friends. Some breakfast snapshots over the course of our stay...

Haha...you can see Rob's face in the reflection above my grapes :)

Yah, there was definitely a lot of oatmeal consumption.  

We actually bought some Earth Balance Butter so we could put it on our toast in the mornings at the buffet. 

I am such a nerd. 

Hors d'oeuvres were served every evening at 5pm, and this was when I found myself really missing prosciutto, but there were lots of fruits and veggies and hummus to keep us happy, with the occasional non-meat item that we figured wasn't glaringly dairy-oriented.

The majority of the food, sadly, we had to leave on the buffet table, unsampled.

But enough lamentation.

For our first dinner out, Monday 9.0, we checked out Nourish Vegetarian Bistro. The reviews were incredible, so we were super excited to give it a go. 

The place is cute...hippie and cozy and really chill, and the menu featured some really creative items. There were a lot of vegan options, and most things that weren't vegan could be made vegan for you. We ordered the Shepard's Pie and Gourmet Falafel, with Apple Pie for dessert.

Holy. Shit. 

The reviews were not unjustified. This was seriously some of the best food I've ever tasted. 

Not just vegan food, but food. Period. I am seriously in love with Nourish. 

There are a TON of ingredients packed into each dish...things that you would never expect to go well together, like strawberries and falafel, coexist beautifully. The food is SO INCREDIBLY CREATIVE and flavourful, and I can't get over how much each dish has going on to make it what it is. 

For the rest of the trip, whenever we mentioned Nourish to locals, they only had incredible things to say about it. You know a veggie restaurant is special when you hear people say, "I'm not even vegetarian, but [insert wonderful food review here]." And it is rated the number one restaurant in Banff. 

Just sayin'.

Nourish is closed on Tuesdays, so on Tuesday 9.0 (shopping day!) we had lunch at Coyotes, another Banff staple. Love this place too, and it was pretty easy to get a vegan meal with a few menu substitutions...veggie burger, black bean quesadilla, and lentil soup. 

Thumbs up. 

Which brings us to dinner. And another visit from my good buddy, Motivation. 

Since I started this vegan thing two months ago, there have been some pretty awesomely timed, vegan-friendly "motivators" that have encouraged me to stay on this path. A week into my journey, Oprah aired her one week vegan challenge show. Vancouver's first vegan shoe store, Nice Shoes, opened this month. Natalie Portman (the most beautiful vegan on the planet) won the Best Actress Oscar a few weeks ago. 

Coincidence? Perhaps, but I prefer to think that my buddy, Motivation, has some pull in high places.

Case in point: Fairmont hotels are now, as of January 2011, offering a Lifestyle Cuisine Plus menu for their guests, providing various dining options for those with health conditions, allergies, and lifestyle choices that would prevent them from being able to order off a conventional menu at one of the hotel's restaurants. Vegan options are included on this menu. Which means I can eat at any Fairmont restaurant (including our absolute favourite at the Springs, Grapes) and order a vegan meal. 

Which we totally did... Thai Carrot & Ginger Veloute and Miso Soup...

...Vegetable Coconut Curry and Vegetable Napoleon...

...and Peach Melba with Lemon Sorbet for dessert...

Was it as good as our meal at Nourish? Nope, not by a long shot. And it was more expensive. But it was a vegan option, we were thrilled that they offered it, and we got to enjoy it at Grapes. Maybe in the future, Fairmont will have an even more extensive Lifestyle Choices menu with even more creative options and more exciting flavours. But for now, what they offered was definitely appreciated, and it's so cool to see such an awesome hotel chain taking a step in this direction.

Now if only they'd get rid of the friggen foie gras at all of their restaurants. 

But I digress. We ordered off the Lifestle Choices menu again for lunch on Wednesday 9.0 (spa day!). 

These Thai wraps were not only vegan, they were also raw. Light and crisp...perfect spa-ing food, and once again I was grateful to have a convenient vegan option available. 

But what I was really excited about was going back to Nourish for dinner that night. A little too excited, it would seem, since I totally overdid it when it came to the food for our Wednesday 9.0 dinner...

Soup of the day (Kaffir Lime Yam Coconut):

Yam Tenders:

King Kong Noodles (if a name like that doesn't limit the amount of food you order, you've got issues. Apparantly I have issues):

Beautiful Burrito:

And you bet your ass I ordered dessert...

Steamed Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding:

OK, how pretty is this food? Seriously, you can tell that it's made with love. Every time our waitress put something down on the table I was like, Awwww, it's so pretty! (Yes, I am totally annoying and girlie like that.)

And it tastes just amazing. For real, this food is SO GOOD, and it's fascinating to observe what comes out of each dish as you're eating. Like the noodles, for example. They have blood orange in them. Friggen blood orange! Who would have thought of putting blood orange into a bowl of noodles?? The brilliantly talented folks at Nourish, that's who. 

See that? That's a piece of pineapple in the lychee garnish of my pina colada smoothie. Yes, pineapple stuffed lychee excites me. 

In my defense, I ordered the noodles and burrito with the intention of taking most of it to go, since I knew we'd be hungry later and it would make an awesome late night snack. Which it totally did. Plus I wanted to try as many things on the menu as possible since we had to leave the next day. 

Wanna guess where we went for lunch on Thursday 9.0 before heading home? 

Stuffed Mushrooms on greens:

Gourmet Falafel (again...this was our favourite for sure):

Portabella Mushroom Melt with Yam Tenders:

I think I've raved enough about Nourish for one blog post, but yes, it really was THAT awesome, and made eating Kind in Banff totally easy.

My one slip up was a chocolate chip yogurt cookie from Evelyn's cafe. I always look forward to these cookies every time I come to Banff, and I got one on our last day this time around. But it turned out that the cookie really doesn't thrill me anymore as much as it did in the past, so I think it's safe to say it's out of my system now.

I even got to shop Kind on this trip....six pairs of Toms Shoes and some awesome finds at a thrift store. Alicia's first shopping stop is always used clothes, and considering that I spent $26 on a pair of jeans, a cute skirt, and a Paul Smith shirt, I might have to start exploring the previously enjoyed clothing world more extensively. 

AND we got up close and personal with a deer...

Just another reason not to eat Bambi. It just seems odd to marvel at her beauty and grace and then floss her out of my teeth the next day. 

Oh Banff, how I miss you already. 

Monday-Thursday of Week the Ninth was stupendous, and I'm seriously bummed that four days of shopping, spa-ing and stuffing my face had to end.

But on the plus side, it's Friday!

 Oh shut up...you secretly love it. 

St. Paddy's Day Cave & Cooking for Non-Vegans

I was feeling super inspired last weekend to get back to Kind cooking after a hectic school play production week during which I didn't cook at all, but still managed to eat *mostly* vegan (a pox on you Millenium Falcon!).

I ended off that weekend on a good note...On Sunday 7.0 I finally made the Sicilian Collard Greens (p. 176) I had been craving (craving veggies...freaky, I know), and they were perfect with a simple side of rice. I also added some faux chicken cordon bleu a la Gardein from the Nasty Food #4 category (processed), but it was the closest thing to a home cooked meal I had all of Week the Seventh, so I was pretty happy.

I don't know how Gardein does it...this stuff pretty much tastes like chicken and has a very similar texture to chicken. Of course it's better to prepare *real* foods, but I'm happy to put Gardein in the "once in a while" category...definitely a worthy indulgence.

Rob the Husband was at a conference in Vegas for most of Week the Eighth, so my motivation to engage in some Kind cooking waned pretty quickly. It's more interesting trying out new recipes with him around to critique them, therefore it became apparent very early in the week that there wasn't going to be much cooking going on...unless you consider making sandwiches cooking. My 9 year old nieces would totally consider making sandwiches cooking, so yah, on second thought, I totally cooked.

Monday 8.0: Sandwiches! Vegan sandwiches kick ass. Once again there was some indulgence in the Nasty Food #4 category here with the processed Yves veggie deli "meats", but oh well...whole wheat Cobbs bread, Nayonnaise, vegan cheddar, avocado, cucumber, and lettuce = thumbs up.

Tuesday 8.0: Sushi! No cooking this night either, unless you consider ordering takeout cooking. My wealthy socialite friends (if I had any) would totally consider ordering takeout cooking (especially if they phoned in the order themselves instead of getting Jeeves to do it...it's a well-known fact that all wealthy socialites have butlers named Jeeves), so yah, once again, I totally cooked...yam tempura roll, avocado roll, edamame beans, and my favourite Yoko green salad = thumbs up again.

Wednesday 8.0: Sandwiches! Again. Don't judge...I had bread to use up, ok?

And that brings us to Thursday 8.0.

St. Patrick's Day.

Cheerleading Bake Sale.

I was screwed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Official Cave #3.

The thing is, I knew I was going to cave. Unlike the Valentine's bake sale, I didn't even try to resist. I even brought Tupperware to facilitate the cave. I used the excuse that family, including my two nieces, were coming to dinner, and they would totally want cupcakes. But I had already made three Kind Diet desserts for dinner that night, so...yahhh...

I ended up eating two non-vegan cupcakes, plus the non-vegan chocolate marshmallow thing, and I brought the rest home to share.

Worth it. And my $22 went towards the Cheerleading Anaheim trip, so it was for a good cause. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Rob's brother and his family were actually in town to meet their new puppy and were indeed coming to dinner that night along with Rob's cousin and her kids (no, it wasn't all just a lie so I could justify buying cheerleading cupcakes), and I was excited to cook my first vegan meal for people other than Rob and my mom. But first we went to meet the newest member of the family...

Meet Marley :) My new furry niece (Abigail is the one without the fur). They get to bring her home on Monday :) Here's another sideways happy face just because puppies are so cute :)

Anyhoo, back to dinner.

For dinner that night I didn't try anything new...I wanted to go with recipes with which I had already experimented and could officially claim as Great Success in my Borat voice. The menu:
-Warm Potato, Soybean, and Cucumber Salad (p. 178)
-Caesar Salad (p. 175)
-Rustic Pasta (p. 147)
-Barley Casserole (p. 150)
-Cornbread (p. 163)
-Oatmeal Cookies...one batch with vegan chocolate chips and one with dates, almonds & raisins (p. 186)
-Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (p. 183)
-Lemon-Poppy Seed Poundcake (p. 188)

A bit overboard, I know. I was making up for my lack of cooking earlier in the week, plus I wanted to show the non-vegan world that Vegan does not equal Deprivation. Plus I'm on a secret mission to convert the world to a kinder life. Plus I'm Polish and we tend to overdo it when it comes to food.

Because Rob the Husband wasn't coming home until late that night, and we hadn't had a Happy Tongue rating all week, I explained the rating system to my two gorgeous nieces and asked them to rate each of the dishes on the Happy Tongue scale.

They were pleased to oblige.

Abigail & Brittany's ratings:

-Warm Potato Salad-    Abigail - 3 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 3 Happy Tongues

-Caesar Salad-                  Abigail - 5 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 5 Happy Tongues

-Rustic Pasta-                   Abigail - 4 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 4.5 Happy Tongues

-Barley Casserole-         Abigail - 5 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 2.5 Happy Tongues

-Cornbread-                     Abigail - 5 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 5.5 Happy Tongues (wow...5.5!)

-Oatmeal Cookies-        Abigail - 5 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 3 Happy Tongues

-Lemon-Poppyseed-    Abigail - 4 Happy Tongues / Brittany - 4 Happy Tongues

Unfortunately, I took the Peanut Butter Cups out of the fridge too early and left them out, so they were too soft to serve. Abigail didn't get to rate them, but Brittany was over yesterday and was kind enough to rate them for me.

Peanut Butter Cup-          Brittany - 4 Happy Tongues

So overall, the best reviews of the night (from both the children and adults) went to the Caesar Salad and the Cornbread. And the three dishes I still remain the most excited over two months into The Kind Diet are those two plus the PB Cups. 

Here's what really excites me though. Kids are picky. I've eaten dinner with both of these blonde monkeys many times, and had them sleep over, and believe me, they are NOT shy about telling me when they don't like something. But they were willing to try absolutely EVERYTHING on the table and give me their honest opinions, and the reviews were good! Just like my experiences with the Kind Diet recipes, there are some dishes the girls were more enthused about than others, but there was nothing that they hated or thought was gross or wouldn't finish eating. And they LOVED the Caesar Salad and Cornbread, which I knew would definitely become staples in my house the first time I made them.

First vegan cooking experience for non-vegans = Great Success indeed.

I was feeling pretty good the morning of Friday 8.0. Thursday's dinner had gone well, Rob had come home, I had some killer leftovers for lunch, and it was the last day of school before Spring Break. I knew that yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards. I thought my biggest dilemma that day was going to be deciding Which seat can I take? when my underage friends picked me up on the way to school that morning in their convertible (if you are furrowing your eyebrows in confusion right now, consider yourself blessed...if you're not, I hope your Friday was fun fun fun fun). Then I arrived in the staff room to discover these:

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? 

But I didn't cave. One cave that week was enough, as my buddy Motivation was kind enough to remind me. And he had to remind me of that again on Saturday 8.0 as we hosted a baptism reception for my goddaughter at our house with LOTS of amazing non-vegan polish food. We didn't prepare any of it...just got to look at it, and smell it, and avoid it. I tried a spinach perogi, but that was it. 

Overall it was an eventful eighth week on this vegan journey...ridin' solo for a while, cooking for non-vegans, and officially caving for the third time at the mercy of the St. Paddy's Day cheerleading bake sale. I did forget to put those cupcakes out at dinner on Thursday night, so I sent them to work with Rob the next morning, where he proceeded to inform everyone that they were vegan cupcakes...oops. Rob further burst my bubble when he informed me that the Whole Foods 365 brand marinara sauce I had been using for the Rustic Pasta had parmesan in it. Oops again.

But whatever. I'm trying, I'm learning, and I'm still loving this way of life. I love it even more now that Rob bought me these super awesome awesome t-shirts in Vegas...

Very nice :)

WWVD?

So on Saturday 7.0 I'm at a dinner thing, the kitchen is accommodating my vegan meal request (very nice considering the only options presented were steak, chicken or vegetarian), but they send out the first course salad with crumbled cheese on top. 

Does a vegan 

A) send the salad back and request a new one with no cheese?

B) eat around the cheese?

C) just eat the salad as is?

This is where I struggle. If I send the salad back it is wasted. It's not that big a deal to eat around the cheese, but then the cheese gets wasted. Eating the cheese goes against the whole vegan thing. 

What Would Vegans Do?  

(iphone pics...no flash...crappy quality, I know)

I ended up going with Option B. That's my cheese on the saucer at the top of the pic above my vegan meal of vegetables, potatoes and marinara sauce...not particularly inspiring but I was grateful to have it. So filling that I was ready to hit up KFC for a veggie burger on the ride home.

I know there are some hard core vegans out there, those who refuse to eat something that has made contact with an animal product, or was prepared with a cooking utensil that has come in contact with an animal product. But what about the average vegan? Is it better to waste the food that has already been prepared or to just eat it?

I'm trying hard not to waste food on this Kind journey. I found a loving home for my massive Costco bag of bacon bits and bricks of extra sharp American cheddar. The ice cream in my freezer is being consumed (oh, the sacrifices I make). My ridiculously handsome Galahad is slowly helping us clear out our meat, as is our equally handsome Curious George, but he only gets a little bit because of his frequently runny bum. And I do meal plans now to anticipate what kind of produce we will need in the immediate future and therefore limit wasting perishables.

But when something non-vegan ends up on your plate, what is the kind course of action to take? 

Tough call. Kinda like trying to figure out which is sexier...

serious Wesley Crusher:

or smoldering Wesley Crusher:

I might just have to stare at them both for a while to figure it all out.

Fawlty Towers & the Millenium Falcon

I should have planned ahead better. Or insisted that Rob the husband learn to cook. This week has been a pain in the ass in terms of eating kindly.

Last night was closing night for our annual school play, Fawlty Towers (don't mention the war), and production week means my house is filthy, my laundry gets neglected, and I rely on quick grab & go meals to make it through the day. Those quick grab & go meals have never been a problem in the past, as a Starbucks run was usually enough to get by on....can't go wrong with muffins, greek yoghurt, and a sandwich. Except that now my quick grab and go options are seriously limited. Why oh why isn't there a Karmavore in Surrey??

I haven't seen much of my house during daylight hours this week, and my digestive system hasn't seen too many whole grains or vegetables either.

Monday 7.0 was set construction day, so I was back and forth between the theatre and the school. Luckily I had some leftover quinoa pasta from last week to hold me over while the crew feasted on delicious cheesy pizza and wings, so I was off to a decent start for this crazy week. When I returned to school later that afternoon, however, it was a different story.

There, in the staff room, in all its sugary, chocolaty, creamy goodness, was the Millenium Falcon.

Did I cave? Hells yes. Just like I did with the cheerleading bake sale last month.

One might wonder how a Millenium Falcon cake ends up on the table of a high school staff room. A co-worker got married in January and was kind enough to bring in the top tier of her wedding cake to share with the staff. In my defense I didn't go for it immediately. I thought about it for a good 90 seconds or so before digging in.

And was it ever worth it. The chocolate cake wasn't too rich, the creamy icing was beautifully distributed throughout, and the fondant was chewy, sugary, delightful awesomeness. And I didn't just have a bite. I ate a slice. And then I took another slice to bring home for Rob...which I nibbled on over the course of the evening, since I was at school until 9pm that night finishing the program for the play.

I actually dreamed about this cake 2 nights ago, no lie. I woke up before I got to eat it.

To top off my Monday of righteous eating, I grabbed a can of Pringles for the ride home from Walmart (where I had to stop for last minute props) later that night. At least they were vegan.

Yah, Monday was pretty bad.

The rest of the week got a bit better...

Tuesday 7.0: Dress rehearsal day...9am-midnight at the theatre with 35 high schoolers and no leftovers. I got by on a can of Amy's Butternut Squash soup and a falafel.

Wednesday 7.0: Opening night! Red Square Bakery energy bars, a whole whack of taco chips and salsa, and some Thai soup. Meh, It was Ash Wednesday.

Thursday 7.0: Cast and crew lunch at Boston Pizza! Definitely tempted by cheese here...omg cheese looked so good...missed...cheese...so...much. But I didn't cave....I had yam fries, greek salad (no feta) and a no-cheese pizza with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and olives. Was it as good as the real deal? Um, no. But it got me through lunch all right.

Friday 7.0: Closing night! I had lunch at the same Chinese restaurant that made the delicious Asian mushrooms I had at my staff dinner during parent-teacher interviews. Some bok choi, pea shoots and chow mein noodles (probably had egg in them...ah well) rounded out the meal. A decent veggie intake I suppose.

I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to some Kind Diet recipes now that the play is over and I get my life back. I have some gorgeous collard greens sitting in my Fridgesmart waiting to become Sicilian (The Kind Diet p. 176).

As chaotic and exhausting as the week was, this

was worth all the crappy eating :) The absolute best part about teaching is working with kids who are passionate about something and seeing all their hard work pay off. Fawlty Towers had an amazing run and was brilliantly received by all who saw it, and I am so proud to have been a part of that.

...so proud that I celebrated last night by finishing the Banana Split Haggen Dazs that had been sitting in my freezer for a couple of months. BUT I don't consider that a cave...it was already in the freezer before we embarked on this vegan odyssey and eating it was a necessary sacrifice to make room for more frozen vegan desserts :)

And even though I endured my second official cave at the mercy of the Millenium Falcon, I'm looking forward to getting back on track for next week.

Except next week my cheerleaders are having a St. Patrick's Day bake sale.

Oh buddah.

200 Hot Dogs

I bought 200 hot dogs this weekend. And cooked them. And served them. And brought home leftovers.

I'm going to vegan hell.

Seriously though, when you're supervising a Kids' Cheer Camp and making lunch for 50 elementary school students, a dozen cheerleaders, and 17 Fawlty Towers cast members, what else are you going to serve that is cheap and efficient and crowd pleasing?

I'm still going to vegan hell, aren't I?

I guess that wouldn't be too bad if it meant I'd get to hang out with Jason Sudeikis dressed in red on red.

On Friday 6.0 Rob the husband was telling me about how awesome the KFC veggie burger is. His vegetarian father thought he'd eaten chicken the first time he had it. So because we were out and about and starving on Friday night we stopped at KFC for the veggie burger (I got mine without mayo) and it was really impressive. If I didn't know it wasn't chicken, I'd totally think it was chicken.

It seems a bit odd to patronize a KFC if we are trying to lead kinder lives, but it's also important to show the big chains that we support their veggie options. They won't serve them if we won't buy them. And KFC got it right, totally, because this veggie burger is really really delicious. And of course the fries aren't too bad either :) *silent cheer for vegan fries*

We then went to Costco where I bought, among other cheer camp lunch necessities, over 200 hot dogs.

KFC and hotdogs at Costco...I'm surprised I didn't get struck down right there.

I ended up not actually eating the hot dogs on Saturday 6.0, just cooking and serving them, but it felt so extremely weird to be making them in such large quantities. And it turned out they were all INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED which meant I got to get nice & personal with the hotdogs as I unwrapped them. Joy.

I didn't eat lunch that day. Just sayin'.

I ended up bringing a huge bag of leftover hotdogs home to our very handsome dog, who was willing and able to take a few off our hands, and will be working on that over the next few days. 

Because I had avoided lunch, I was starving when I got home that evening. Rob and I were both eager to repeat the Rustic Pasta (p. 147) we had earlier in the week, so I made it again, but this time with quinoa macaroni. 

Once again, the flavours were amazing, but we both preferred the Tuesday 6.0 version with angel hair. Definitely a long noodle dish for me.

And today, Sunday 6.0, I got to enjoy a lovely late breakfast prepared by my dashing husband...vegan chorizo with hash browns (mixed with Leftover! Black Soybean and Butternut Squash Stew from earlier this week).

I love when Rob cooks. He always gets so into it because he's totally anal when it comes to these things, and then he ends up apologizing when the result doesn't turn out perfectly. He needs things to go according to plan. The chorizo burning slightly was not part of the plan. But it was still very very yum.

He also made breakfast the day before...definitely on a roll. I was running out the door to leave for Cheer Camp and he had some Morningstar (not totally vegan...boo) breakfast patties in the oven. I certainly wasn't going to be passing up breakfast a la Rob, especially because he had made cherry almond smoothies, something he's totally mastered. He also made my toast super cute by putting 3 raspberries on top of the jam, which actually really worked well. 

Super cute indeed. 

Tonight we needed a break from all the pasta we had eaten over the week, and Alicia's Magical Healing Soup (p. 251) was the perfect fix. It's a great way to use up any veggies you have in the house and you can season it with as much or as little ginger juice and shoyu as you want. It's ridiculously easy! The flavour of the broth is really subtle and it allows the flavours of each of the veggies to shine through when you eat them. I thought Rob wouldn't be a fan because he likes more intense flavours, but he really enjoyed it. 

Alicia claims that when she's not feeling right, this soup heals her, for real. Sounds a bit kum-ba-ya, I know, but after eating it I can see why she would claim that. It just tastes really...healthy. The flavours are soft and subtle, and I mean, how much healthier can you get than eating veggies?

Rob's rating:
Alicia's Soup - 4 happy tongues

This soup is WINNING. Like Charlie Sheen.

Or not.

Introducing the Happy Tongue Rating System

In an effort to involve Rob the Husband more in my blogging endeavors, I am pleased to announce the Happy Tongue rating system, inspired by our ridiculously handsome Galahad...

Starting this week (Week the Sixth), Rob will rate each dish anywhere from 0-5 Happy Tongues...
0 - vomit inducing
1 - barely edible
2 - meh
3 - hmmm....pretty good...pretty good...yup, that was pretty good
4 - daaayum...definitely looking forward to making this again and soon...and my wife is hot.
5 - earth shatteringly-mind blowingly-can't shovel it into my mouth fast enough-holy crap I hear the cherubim singing-Bono/Natalie Portman/Chuck Norris roundhouse kick hybrid level of awesomeness-amazing

Rob doesn't really know what cherubim are, but whatever.

I started Week the Sixth with sushi on Monday. I was planning to go home and cook dinner after play practice that day, but instead went for sushi with cd and elvirus. Is it bad blog etiquette to include inside jokes in a blog? Whatever...awkward laptop.

Sushi is a pretty easy option if you're trying to eat vegan. I do miss the California rolls, but avocado & yam rolls are a decent substitute. And I'm thrilled that my favourite green salad from Yoko seems to be vegan...the ginger dressing is phenomenal.

Tuesday 6.0: Rustic Pasta (p. 147) / Cornbread (p. 163)

This pasta was beyond delicious.

I used shallots instead of onions to make the base for it, and it was super flavourful. Most restaurant pastas have cheese in them, but this one definitely didn't require parmesan or any other cheese to enhance the flavour or make up for anything lacking in the recipe. I made it with Rob's favourite type of pasta, angel hair, and the cabbage in it was insane. I'd never thought to put cabbage in pasta, but it works brilliantly.

I paired the pasta with cornbread muffins, and these are just always good...sweet, crunchy on the outside, crumbly, and best straight out of the oven.

Rob's rating: 
Rustic pasta - 4.5 Happy Tongues
Cornbread - 4 Happy Tongues

Wednesday 6.0: Black Soybean and *Kabocha* Squash Stew (but I used butternut squash) (p. 164) / Braised Daikon in Mirin and Shoyu (p. 271) / Pumpkin Bread (p. 202)

This stew took FOREVER to make.

The beans had to cook for 90 minutes and then longer with the other ingredients. But it was still quite simple. I was surprised to find it was pretty sweet, and I assume that sweetness came from the squash. A really hearty, tasty winter dish, and perfect with brown basmati rice.

I lost my daikon virginity with this meal. I had never cooked with or eaten daikon before this, but Alicia  raves about daikon in her book and on her site, so I decided to give it a try.

This cooked for a long time and didn't absorb all the liquid like the recipe said it would, but it was still delicious. It's a really yummy alternative to the conventional veggies I'm used to. Because it cooked with kombu seaweed, this version has a slight ocean-y taste. Rob compared it to an oshinko roll. My daikon didn't turn a pretty pink like in the book, but the pretty yellow worked for me.

I have weird thumb wrinkles.

I still don't think I can say I know what daikon really tastes like because it's marinated and cooked like crazy in this recipe, but I am convinced to give it another go for sure.

The pumpkin bread was a bit of a flop for me, to be honest. All my fault, not Alicia's. My loaf pans were too small and I overfilled them with batter.

Even though it looks quite good, the insides did not bake properly. They were still runny, so in an attempt to salvage the recipe I cut the (properly baked) top off of the loaves and put the rest back in the oven. Didn't really work.

Oh well. We picked away at the top layer, and it was quite good. I might end up cutting up the rest and trying to crisp it up in the oven a couple of pieces at a time. We do have two pans to get through.

Even if I didn't overfill the pans and it came our perfectly, I still likely wouldn't be repeating this recipe. It's EXPENSIVE. I used an entire $12 container of maple sugar and even that wasn't enough! I don't mind splurging on kinder and healthier alternatives for creating these amazing kind dishes, but this pumpkin bread just didn't excite me enough to warrant making it again. Not to worry for me because there are many many other kind and delicious desserts.

Rob's Rating:
Black Soybean and *Butternut* Squash Stew - 3 Happy Tongues
Braised Daikon in Mirin and Shoyu - 4 Happy Tongues
Pumpkin Bread (the top layer that baked up properly anyway) - 3 Happy Tongues


Thursday 6.0: Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce (p. 158) / Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil, and Tomato (p. 151) / Baby Bok Choy drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette (p. 265)


Rob was really looking forward to the crispy tofu...I didn't buy baked tofu so I just baked some on my own and used that to proceed with the recipe. Fun to make and eat but there was wayyyyyy too much leftover orange dipping sauce.

Alicia recommended adding this rice dish and bok choy to the tofu to make a complete meal, so I took her up on that. She is awesome for creating meal plans to go with the recipes.

You know what else is awesome? This delicious rice dish:

This is TOTALLY yummy. For real.
This recipe didn't stand out to me in the book and I probably wouldn't have been inspired to try it any time soon if Alicia didn't recommend it to go with the Crispy Tofu. I would have never considered grouping tomatoes and rice together, but it works beautifully. I used leftover rice from yesterday's meal, so this was a practically effortless dish with simple, light, refreshing flavours.

As per Alicia's suggestion I finished off the plate with some baby bok choy and we were good to go! I love the salty ume vinaigrette with the bok choy. Yay greens! Rob is less enthused, but that's ok.

Cuz you gotta have the greens. 

Rob's Rating: 
Crispy Tofu - 3.5 Happy Tongues
Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil, and Tomato - 3 Happy Tongues (a travesty!)
Baby Bok Choy with Ume Vinaigrette - 3 Happy Tongues


Now, in honor of Rob the husband's first official ratings post, I present to you Chuck Norris approving of something.

Ima guess he's liking the vegan food.