What We Makin': Eggplant Parmesan

I absolutely love making warm hearty meals when the weather gets cooler, and this eggplant parmesan is perfect for cooler days.

First, slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and let sit for 15 minutes or so.  While that is working, you can get to work making a sauce.  Canned pasta sauce is great for when you're in a rush.  This time, I opened a jar of pasta sauce and added some onions, garlic, grated zucchini and red peppers.

For the "parmesan," I made up a simple substitute that I really like.  I added 1 cup of sesame seeds, 1/2 a cup of almonds, 1/2 a cup of nutritional yeast and 1 tsp of sea salt into a food processor and blended until it became a fine crumb mixture.

After the eggplant is ready, rinse it off in a colander and pat dry.  Next up, you'll need to bread and fry the eggplant.  I mixed egg replacer with hemp milk and some water together and put it into a wide bowl.  For the breading, I mixed spelt flour with some corn meal and some Italian seasonings.  First dip the eggplant into the milk mixture, then the breading.  Shake off any excess breading and drop into a frying pan heated with a layer of oil.  After the slices brown, transfer them to a paper towel to blot excess oil.

Once all of the slices have been fried, you can move onto layering the eggplant with cheese and sauce.  I also used some grated soy mozzarella along with my parmesan mixture.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven covered with foil for maybe half an hour or so.  Then take the foil off and broil it until it starts to brown.

--Jen

Getting My Festival On!

Yo!
I too attended the Vegetarian Food Fair with Kreck.  It was my first year going there wheat-free and I was afraid there wouldn't be much to choose from.  Surprisingly, there were many different things.  Here's my photograph rundown of what I sampled.

I hit up the food tent.  There were tons of gluten-free and wheat-free options.  There was a lot of the usual curries and rice, but this year I decided to hit up the Magic Oven.  I got this slice of pizza with a spelt crust, some zucchini chickpea soup and some tofu bites for 8 dollars.  Things are usually a little pricey at the food fair, but this was really filling so I didn't find it to be too outrageous.

Soup!

tofu bites!

They also had some gluten-free chocolate cake, although I was too full to consider that as an option.

There was a lot of prepackaged food, bars and imitation meats and I wished there were more exciting things sometimes.  However, I did pick up a few things:

These macaroons were pretty good! They were gluten-free and made with rice flour.  Let's just say that they didn't last too long...

I can't figure out how to rotate this picture, but you get the idea.  

I also picked up some of this flat bread, which I haven't tried yet, but it seems promising.

Overall, I really enjoyed hitting up the Vegetarian Food Fair.  I can't wait for next year!

--Jen

Where We Shoppin': The Farmers' Market

Although these cooler temperatures are making me fear the cold days ahead, I still love this time of year for the awesome food that is available.  Check out this load o' stuff I got at the farmers' market the other day:

Red veined spinach, pattypan squash, baby zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, purple Russian potatoes, sprouts and peaches.

You know you wanna piece.

--Jen

What We Grillin': Veggies!

It is tempting to dismiss barbeques as something only non vegan and wheat eating people can enjoy, but there are so many other things you can barbeque!

You can even step it up a notch and try grilling some fruit or making some tofu and veggie kabobs.  Don't forget the sides!  Pasta salad, bean salad, gluten-free buns or breads and anything else you can think of!

--Jen

What We Makin': Zucchini Quinoa Cake With a Spice Sugar Glaze

The recipe for this came from the magazine "Living Without."  I added the sugary glaze to win over some non-vegan and gluten-loving friends.

I would definitely make this again!  It was a great mix between a regular cake and a dense zucchini bread.

--Jen

Where We Eatin': Montreal!

I went to Montreal a little while ago and decided to share what I managed to find to eat in Montreal.  I think I'm a little spoiled living in such a vegetarian-friendly city because I couldn't find as much to eat in Montreal as I could here.  I did find a couple of good restaurants, though!

Zero8

First up, I went to Zero8.  Zero8 is a restaurant that is entirely gluten-free.  They make all of their foods free from the main allergens, which includes not only wheat, but also shellfish, eggs, dairy etc.  The menu itself had a lot of non-veggie friendly items, but all of the vegetarian items but one were vegan.

I got a gluten-free beer called La Messagere. It was "ok," but it tasted kind of like a cross between 50 and 

champaign to me.

For my main, I ordered a tomato and basil pasta. It tasted really good! There wasn't anything really fancy about it, but the pasta tasted like real fresh pasta!

I also got a side of bread. The bread was also pretty good. It tasted like the inside of a bagel. Yum!

I opted to wait a while before getting dessert and came across and ice cream store that sold Tofutti! I think the 

flavour I got was espresso.

Aux Vivres

Next up, I went to a vegetarian restaurant called Aux Vivres. I originally wanted to go because they had vegan 

poutine, but when we went, they were serving brunch. They kind of reminded me of Fresh here in Toronto, but withsome extra items that you might not find on a Fresh menu.

I got a mexican-inspired dish, with polenta wedges, tofu scramble and salad. The beans were a little bland, but 

overall, it was pretty good! The polenta wedges were crispy on the outside, yet still moist on the inside.  

My boyfriend Greg got a tofu scramble with sweet potato slices, a salad and tempeh bacon. They both came with a coffee or chai latte, so I went for the chai latte!

I also decided to try their veggie lox because I was curious to know how it tasted. Lesson learned: I don't like veggie lox! It seemed to be the leftover carrot pulp from a juicer mixed with way too much liquid smoke. I guess it is a flavour hard to replicate out of vegetables, but still, it could have been made to taste way better!

My experience at this restaurant ended on a happy note, when I got a ginger cookie for the road. Most of the cookies they had for sale were made with spelt flour, but none seemed to be gluten-free. This cookie was huge! And I think it was one of the best cookies I've ever had!

Aux Vivres, you aiight!

Carlos and Pepe's

Finally, I must end this voyage of culinary delight with a sad tale. This tale involves the restaurant that will remain nameless, although I'm sure you can figure it out by noting the pretty purple font up above. We were just looking for a close place to eat by our hotel and came across this hidden "gem." We had to line up to get a table and it was packed! I don't know if everyone else was also in our situation or what, but this was one of the worst meals I have ever eaten. I also felt extremely ill after. :(  

At least the margaritas were big and cheap....

Overall, I found the food in Montreal to be good when I could find something that was both vegan and wheat-free, 
but it wasn't always easy!

--Jen