Where We Eatin': Hot Yam

Hot Yam: U of T International Student Centre, 33 St. George Street, Toronto

Hot Yam? Hot DAMN! Seriously. This is 4 dollars of amazingness. 

Hot Yam is a weekly volunteer-run lunch at the University of Toronto.  For $4 you get a vegan, mostly local, mostly organic, and often gluten-free lunch which could be some combination of salad, stew, soup, vegetables or dessert -- it's different every week!

Behold this week's offering: 

Taro Stew
Lentil and Coriander Salad
Roasted Potatoes and Eggplant 
Peach Crisp [minus the crisp for Jen because it wasn't gluten free :( ]

It was awesome.  But don't take OUR word for it...

"It was really good" - Dave

"This peach thing is good" - Tif

"The muffin was the best!" - Jake

For more info on Hot Yam, check out their blog: http://hotyam.blogspot.com

Hot Yam: It's where we're eatin' (for $4!)

Where We Eatin': Rawlicious

Rawlicious: 3093 Dundas Street West, Toronto

Kreck here.  My friend Fiona recently moved to the Junction and tried out Rawlicious, a restaurant featuring raw, vegan and gluten-free food and smoothies, which she has been recommending to me ever since.  Today I finally went, and she was right.  It ruled.

I ordered the taco wrap ($9) and a side salad ($3).  The wrap consisted of nut patty, salsa, soy cheese, tomato, lettuce and guacamole assembled inside a collard leaf.  The wrap was really fresh and savory, and the collard added some extra crunch and nutrients (...and guarded against leaking).  The salad was a mix of greens, peppers and green onions, with ginger-date dressing.  Tasty and unique!

Fiona ordered the special -- a mock chicken sandwich on onion bread ($9) with a side salad ($3).  The bread was made of onions, flax seeds and seasoning and was gluten-free.  She thought the bread was especially good, and said the sandwich tasted just like chicken salad.

 

For dessert, we had hot chocolate ($4) which was raw chocolate sweetened with agave nectar.  The hot chocolate was the perfect finish for a meal at Rawlicious -- it was thick and just the right amount of sweetness.  Fiona had warned me that the first time she and her boyfriend had visited Rawlicious, they made the mistake of ordering appetizers, a meal and dessert, which was delicious but super filling.  Even though the pecan pie and cookies looked amazing, the hot chocolate hit the spot and didn't leave us too too full.

I would definitely recommend Rawlicious to vegans and non-vegans alike.  The food is reasonably priced, especially considering how healthy and filling it is.  I need to head back to sample the raw lasagna and pecan pie.  Very soon.

Feeling saucy!

What do you do when life gives you mealy apples?

Make apple sauce!

Kreck here.  I don't know much, but I know how to make apple sauce.  It's become a weekly ritual for me.  All you have to do is get a bunch of apples, peel them, cut them up into small pieces and throw them in a pot with some water (a cup?) and lemon juice (a couple of tablespoons?).  I also add cinnamon (a tablespoon?) and today I added a handful of strawberries that were just about ready to leave this world.  The strawberries added a really nice flavour and colour to the apple sauce.

It cooked for about an hour, and I mashed up the apples as they softened.  You could also put the sauce in a food processor if you like it really smooth.  That's all there is to it! 

Why not use it as a sugar substitute when you're baking?

Apple sauce: It's what we eatin'.

Our Inaugural Cyber Dinner

What better way to kick off our blog than with a pizza / scape / crumble extravaganza?   (We picked up most of the vegetables and fruit we used from the weekly farmer's market this afternoon at Brunswick and Bloor in Toronto.)

PESTO PIZZA

For this pizza, we followed the pizza crust and pesto recipes in Susan O'Brien's The Gluten-Free Vegan.  

We used pesto instead of tomato sauce, then piled on spinach, mushrooms, yellow tomato, onions and green peppers, with some soy mozzarella to boot!  

By switching up the toppings and sauce, this could definitely be a weekly meal.

  

SCAPES

Scapes are a new vegetable for Jen and I this summer.  They are like really garlic-y asparagus, but crispier.  Today Jen roasted the scapes in a casserole dish with a bit of oil, black pepper and paprika and they were awesome.  Scapes!

                                    CRUMBLE!

Finally, we had a crumble for dessert.  We used the Peach and Blueberry Cobbler recipe from The Gluten-Free Vegan but used apples, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and cherries for the filling.  There was only about a half cup of sugar in this entire crumble!  The top was pretty crumbly, but a little crumble never hurt no one!  It was awesome.  And, you can always switch it up with whatever fruit you happen to have -- what about bananas, coconut, peaches, rhubarb...!  

So, this inaugural blog dinner is what we eatin' ... what you eatin'?!

Introductions

Greetings, comrades.

Welcome to our super fantastic new blog:  WHAT WE EATIN'

This is a blog for everyone who enjoys eating -- whether you're a vegan with a wheat allergy, or a normal person.

Let us introduce ourselves...

Jen is a vegan with a wheat allergy.  She is an awesome cook, gardener, and all around food enthusiast.  Other interests include slushie drinks, crafting and anthropology.

Kreck is a vegetarian.  She lacks skill and interest in the area of cooking, but enjoys eating.  Other interests include sewing, basketball and garbage.

Together we hope to make this blog a source of inspiration for cooks of all skill levels and dietary needs.  Stay tuned to find out what we eatin'!