Dinner at Common Roots Cafe

I had dinner at Common Roots Cafe recently. They have several vegan items on the menu which are clearly labeled. Gluten free items are also labeled.

Herbivorous Butcher



I want to congratulate the Herbivorous Butcher (HB) on their successful kickstarter campaign. They needed to raise $50,000 and raised over $61,000! I am very excited for them.

 

Herbivorous Butcher Kickstarter

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Last night I had the pleasure of participating in the Herbivorous Butcher kickstarter launch party. They have been selling out their meat-free meats all summer at the Minneapolis farmer’s market. Their kickstarter is to open a store of their own and become the first vegan butcher shop in the country right here in Minneapolis!

Top HappyCow Ambassador

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As some of you may know, I am the HappyCow ambassador for Minneapolis, MN. As an ambassador, it is my responsibility to review restaurants in the area with vegan/veg options and curate the listings on the site. A task I enjoy doing.

Each month the top three performing ambassadors are recognized with a prize. For October 2014, I was the number three ambassador in the world and received the totally awesome HappyCow shirt above! I earned 243 points, 2nd place had 279, and first had 320.

You can see the other 120+ ambassadors on the ambassador list page.

Dinner At Verdant Tea



Last night, I had the pleasure of dinning with Laura from One Girl, Two Cities for restaurant week at Verdant Tea . They offered a three course meal for $15 with vegan, veg, and gluten free options.

Peanut Chutney

Peanut Chutney
On my recent trip to India, I feel in love with chutney of all kinds. I learned to make this peanut chutney while I was there. It is amazing with mini dosa, as pictured, or as a base for pizza. The spicy, savory peanut chutney is also great to eat alone with a spoon. Tasty!

Dinner at Seward Cafe



I had the pleasure of dining at Seward Cafe recently. They have many veg and vegan options clearly labeled on the menu. You walk up to the counter and write your order on a ticket before paying. They will then call out your name when your food is ready.

VegFest 2014 Posters


I had the pleasure of picking up the new batch of posters for Twin Cities VegFest 2014 recently. I am excited go this year; I have enjoyed the two previous years. See you there!

Delicious Dinner



Last night, I had the pleasure of dining at Gorkha Palace with a friend. I couldn't decide which of my two favorite entrees to get, so I ordered both the channa saag and the hariyo saag. They both are delicious with garlic roti.

The waitress at Gorkha was vegan and talked about her favorite places. She got me thinking about the tasty cupcakes at Hard Times Cafe.



After dinner, we popped over to Hard Times for dessert. A chocolate cherry muffin and a chocolate mint cupcake. The cupcake was really good and tasted like a thin mint cookie.

A fun night filled with a lot of tasty food.

Tasty Breakfast

Vegan Breakfast

This weekend, I had the pleasure of making a tasty breakfast for a friend. I made tofu scramble on a bed of mixed salad greens, hashbrowns, broiled carrots, and a sliced strawberry. It was delicious.

Vegan Breakfast

Lentil Sloppy Joes

Vegan Sloppy Joes

A friend asked me to make some sloppy joes, so I created this recipe. I’m happy with how it turned out and will make it again. It was hearty and tasty. I paired it with my cajun yam fries and served on a toasted whole wheat bun.

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

It has been cold and rainy for the last several days. My friend was coming over for dinner and wanted something warm and comforting. Soup it was! We both agreed this was the best butternut squash soup we’ve ever tasted. Thick and creamy, it hit the spot perfectly!

Microgreen Burritos

Microgreen Burrito

If you’ve been following my garden blog, you’ll know that I have been growing a lot of microgreens lately. I love the variety of texture and flavor they bring to the table. I’ve been eating them daily for several weeks now. This meal combines two of current favorites: microgreens and roti.

Vegan Brunch

Vegan BrunchA delicious meal is the best way to start the day. I had the pleasure of making the above for a friend. The food was almost as good as the company.

Vegan Potluck Meetup and a Recipe

Vegan Potluck

Last weekend was a potluck vegan meetup. I went with some friends and had a nice time talking and eating the great food. I brought my black bean groundnut stew and some brown rice. It is one of my favorite dishes and quite popular with my friends and family.

2nd Annual Vegan Hot Dish Cook-Off

2nd Annual Vegan Hot Dish Cook-Off

Today, was ARC’s 2nd annual vegan hot dish cook-off. The event was well attended with what looked like close to 100 people. There were over 15 people competing in three different areas: official judges, number of tickets, and people’s choice. Each hot dish cost one ticket to try. A ticket cost $1 and the proceeds went to ARC.

How to Clean a Vitamix and Remove Blender Film

Clean Vitamix

Is your blender grimy? Is there a film on the inside of the container? My vitamix was covered in smoothie gunk and hard water stains. I had forgotten how nice it looked when I bought it. I follow the regular cleaning routine which is a drop of dish soap, some water, and then let it run for a while. The smoothie gunk still built up. My vitamix needed a deep cleaning. After thinking about it for a bit, it turned out to be quick and easy.

Dinner at On’s Kitchen

Praram loang soang

Tonight, I had a great dinner with a bunch of vegans from a local meetup at On’s Kitchen. I had never been to this restaurant before, so I was unsure what to get. The meetup host suggested #49: Khao Mun Gai which is meat (tofu/mock duck) server with ginger and garlic sauce. She let me sample some. It was quite good with a nice strong ginger flavor, but I was in the mood for some veggies.

CAA 5th Annual Vegan Chili Cook Off

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Last night was CAA’s 5th Annual Vegan Chili Cook Off. This was my first chance to attend one of their chili cook offs, and I had a great time. I wanted to attend previous events, but the scheduling didn’t work out until this year.