Kreck's Vegetarian Food Fair Diary

Dear diary,


Today Jen, Greg and I went to the Vegetarian Food Fair down at Harbourfront.  I ate some awesome food and scored some sweet deals...


First I'll tell you about the deals:

The New Moon Kitchen, a bakery specializing in all-natural, vegan baked goods made with spelt flour was in full force today with samples of their super wicked awesome cookies and treats.  Their booth was offering 3 items (cookies or granola) for $10 (!).  Usually one bag of cookies alone is $5 or $6 in the store, so I jumped on this one.  It was a hard choice, but I settled on the gluten-free, vegan macaroons, the vegan mint chocolate cookies (made with spelt flour), and a huge container of granola.

Then I ran into Ella from Ella's Botanicals, with her all-natural, handmade soaps and lotions.  You've probably seen them at Whole Foods and other health food stores around the city.  I've been lovin' these soaps for the last year, since meeting Ella on the craft show circuit.  My mum and dad are also fans!  I took full advantage of her 5 bars of soap for $20 deal (I had a request from my dad to hook him up with a couple of bars, so this saved me a trip to Noah's!).  The soaps I bought were the Almond Scrub, Lemon Eucalyptus, and Lavender Rose, but I'd also recommend the Chai Latte and Anoint Me soaps.  

  

Now, on to the eats!

I'll briefly mention an awesome (non-gluten-free) Jamaican Patty I had with collard greens and hemp seeds from a booth whose name escapes me.... it was super tasty.

Oh diary, I think I'm in love... with a plate of salads.  Okay, I'm exaggerating, but yeeesh, this was good.  Hearty Catering was offering samples of their different organic, vegan dishes for $2 a pop, or full plates of their salads for $10.  It was well worth it.  I had the cold plate which consisted of beet salad, pecan and apple salad, a green salad, quinoa salad and a roasted tomato slice slathered with tapanade (!) -- there was also a hot plate option with rice and stew.  Holy lord, this was good and super filling.  

Finally, what better way to finish off a visit to the food fair than with a sample of vegan ice cream?  This scoop of green tea ice cream was only $1!  Mmm mmm.

Well diary, thanks for listening.  

Until next time....

Kreck

Where We Eatin': Vegetarian Haven

Vegetarian Haven

17 Baldwin Street, Toronto, ON

http://www.vegetarianhaven.com/

Kreck here.  My mum made the trip to Toronto to visit me today, and we went for lunch at Vegetarian Haven in Baldwin Village.  It boasts a wide selection of vegan appetizers, entrees and desserts, and has several wheat-free and wheat-optional items.  There is also a daily lunch and dinner special, which the staff will bring to the table and describe.  The wait staff were incredibly nice and friendly.  Veg-Haven offers a roomy front patio (for taking in the bustle of Baldwin St.) and a cozy interior.

Let's just say, Mary (my mum) has a new favourite restaurant in Toronto...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I ordered the avocado salad ($12) with maple syrup dijon mustard dressing on the side.  The presentation itself was beautiful -- it was hard to take the first bite of this salad!  It wasn't hard to keep eatin' it though, because the salad was so tasty.  It was an interesting mix of avocado, corn, cucumbers, apple, sprouts, lettuce, shaved carrot, apple, nuts and raisins.  The salad was a smidge bland, but with the dressing it was a-mazing.  I'd love to try this salad with all of the other dressings on the menu (ginger sesame vinaigrette, creamy miso tahini, olive oil rosemary balsamic vinaigrette...).  Yum.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My mum opted for the lunch special ($10) -- a salad with oil and herbs, lo mein noodles (with tamari?) and three baked sweet potato and taro root pieces with a savory sesame sauce.  The noodles could definitely be switched for rice noodles or rice to make this gluten-free. 

In Mary's words:

• it was good "comfort food"
• there was a "good assortment" and "nice arrangement" of flavours
• it was "pleasant" to eat
• it was "good to the last morsel"
• she "would recommend"
• (she could have kept going, but I stopped her)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The verdict:  Vegetarian Haven is quite possibly my fave vegetarian restaurant in Toronto.  Added points for the vast menu, amazing service and switchin' it up with the daily specials.

Vegetarian Haven:  It where my mum's eatin'!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(We also went to High Park!)

What We Makin': Rice, Bean & Corn Salad

Kreck here.  This is a recipe for all of you Level I cooks out there.  This salad is super cheap, hearty and healthy!  I found it in the Toronto Star a couple of weeks ago and finally tried it out today.

Dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp hot sauce

1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup olive oil

Pepper to taste

Salad:

1/2 cup rice

1 cup water

2 540mL cans black beans, rinsed, drained

2 cups fresh or frozen thawed corn kernels

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1 small green pepper, diced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

• Whisk dressing ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.  
• Cook and cool rice, fluff with fork.  
• Combine beans, corn, onion, pepper and parsley in large bowl, and add rice once it has cooled to room temperature.
• Add desired amount of dressing
• Makes a lot... 8 cups!

You could definitely substitute ingredients and modify the quantities used based on your own preferences and what you happen to have on hand.  The original recipe called for red pepper and green onions, but I only had green pepper and white onion, and it is still delicious.  You may want to reduce the amount of olive oil a smidge, and add more chili pepper and hot sauce for more heat.

I may not be able to turn an avocado into a pie, but apparently I can turn rice, beans and corn into a tasty salad! 

What We Eatin': Veggies

I whipped up this simple veggie plate for dinner the other night.

It includes cucumber, sprouts, salad, a tomato from my garden (!), hummus and a zucchini salad.  For the zucchini salad, I sliced the zucchini into thin strips and added seasonings, oil and vinegar.  Very simple and delicious!

For dessert I blended frozen blueberries and banana slices with some soy milk until I had the consistency I wanted.

--Jen

Where We Eatin': Fresh

Fresh

894 Queen Street West, Toronto

326 Bloor Street West, Toronto

147 Spadina Avenue, Toronto

http://www.freshrestaurants.ca/main.asp

Kreck here.  Today I went for lunch with my friends Adam and Lee.  After a few failed attempts at finding a restaurant that was both vegan-friendly and open in Little Portugal, we ended up at Fresh on Queen Street.  Fresh has been the go-to restaurant for vegans and vegetarians in Toronto for over a decade.  It has a huge selection, reasonable prices and a juice bar at each of its locations.  

I'll be honest.  I'm the kind of person whose ideal meal is pie with a side of fries, so it is really hard for me to order a salad when I go out to eat.  However, I've never tried a salad from Fresh, so I ordered the Tangled Thai Salad ($8) with a side of crispy tofu cubes ($2).  You have no idea how hard it was for me to pass up the Thai burger and fries!  I was amazed by how satisfying this salad was.  It consisted of strings of carrot and beet on a bed of Napa cabbage with ginger lime dressing, as well as Fresh's "salad topper," a mix of puffed quinoa, dried goji berries, currants, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds and sea salt, which apparently is a good source of protein and omega.  Very tasty and filling!  I also ordered a tea ($3? Come on...)

Adam ordered the Kathmandu wrap, ($9) which could be made gluten-free by having it without the wrap, or wrapping it in a leafy green.  This wrap was chock full of chickpea curry with tahini sauce, lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes, onion and cucumber.  According to Adam, it was "tasty."

Finally, Lee ordered the small corn bread, salad  and soup combo ($8 for small, $10 for large).  The corn bread is wheat-free but not gluten-free, and is made using spelt flour.  Lee's verdict:  It was "good."





As usual, Fresh delivered the goods today.  It may not be as new and exciting as other vegan restaurants around Toronto, but it will always be there for you when the other two vegan restaurants in Little Portugal are closed.