A Tale Of Two Veggie Burgers

Yesterday's lunch from Dish:

The above burger was hand crafted in a

somewhat rustic manner. Composed of french

lentils, mushrooms, carrots, sundry herbs

and vegetables, all held together via bread crumbs

and served on bun with babaganoush and field

greens.

Today's burger from Vintage50 was a light and

delicate melange of roasted veggies formed into

a sizable patty. Served with roasted tomatoes,

fried onions and lettuce. Which was better?

Mr. SV says Dish. I say Vintage50. I guess it's

a tie. The fries were certainly fantastic at both.

Behold my first Bloody Mary. I've always been

grossed out by the thought of these, but figured

I'd have to try one sometime in my life. Today

was that day. I think I liked it, but for $9 I should've

caught a buzz.

Mike's Deli at the Lazy Sundae, Falls Church

I read about this place on VegDC and decided
to try it today.

It's located adjacent to a 7-11 and from the outside
does not look like the type of place that would
offer anything vegan.

Inside it is more like an ice cream parlor, but
they do indeed make sandwiches. Plus, there
were homemade vegan molasses cookies for
sale at the front register.

This is my vegan turkey and cheese sub with
lettuce, tomato and avocado. For $7, it comes
with a side of Ruffles and a pickle. The roll
tasted as if actually from a local bakery and was not
too crusty or too much bread. The tomatoes,
lettuce and avocado were in top shape. A really
well made, satisfying delicious sandwich.



************************************
For dessert, I went down the road to Natalia's
Elegant Creations. There were two vegan
items today:

Oatmeal Raspberry Bars

and Coconut Cupcakes. I bought two of each.
Holy Mofo! I dont want to get all freaky but
these were fantastic! I want to have a wedding
just to have a wedding cake made of these coconut
cupcakes. GOD BLESS NATALIA and her elegant
creations. The coconut cupcake was literally
heaven on earth!

The Perfect Pita, Reston

Lunch today was from The Perfect Pita, a local franchise.

The Reston location is hidden inside the Bechtel
office building, but it is worth seeking out.

It may not look like much but this was a fantastic

deal. $4.99 for this massive Hummus Sandwich

with Lettuce, Cucumber and Tomato. The veggies

were so beautiful and fresh, the hummus was so

delicious. Such a better bargain than any $5 Subway

or Quiznos sandwich. I can't wait to go back and

try the Falafel.

Dish, Charles Town, West Virginia

Lunch today was at Dish, a lovely restaurant

in Old Towne.

The interior is funky and spare...

with hardwood floors and low lighting. My favorite.

The menu is small and unfortunately, the

Veggie Burger isn't available on Sundays.

The only vegan option was the Mediterranean

Salad (without the Feta).

The salad was fresh and delicious. Kalamata

Olives, Artichokes and Red Onions tossed in an

Herbal Vinaigrette.

* * * * * * * * * * *

While the salad would be a more than sufficient

lunch for most people, I had to get something

else, and the sidewalks of Charles Town roll up

on Sunday afternoons...

So I stopped at Knossos in Berryville to see if

I could get a little something something to

stuff myself.

I ordered the Falafel Sandwich without Tzatziki
Sauce. Alas, I didn't know they put Feta on their

sandwiches, but I was able to pick most of it off,

and it was one of the best Falafel Sandwiches I've

had. Now I see why this place is so popular.

They also sold something I've never seen before:

Toffuti Ipsy-Pipsy bars. "Crispy Wafers and

Hazelnut Creme In Better Than Milk Chocolate".

These are vegan candy bars made in Israel and

I'm so glad I stopped at Knossos again, or I

never would've found them.

What A Crock!

Of cheese spread.

Bryanna's Cheddary Spread

All the ingrediants get tossed into the food

processer together. Nothing I love more than

a simple recipe.

After pureeing.

I stored the spread in a covered container and

refrigerated for four hours.

It was awesome! Like a soft whipped cream

cheese. Thank you, Bryanna!

* * * * * * * *
And a change of heart....I've been working my

way through the batch of Punk Rock Chick Pea

Gravy I made last week, and I must reverse

my earlier opinion. It is very delicious and I

do plan on making it again. You were right, Bianca!

Pho Reston 75, Reston

Today's lunch came from Pho Reston 75. The

exterior may be grim, but the interior of the

restaurant is very cheerful and the menu has

a good number of veggie items.

Plus it's a good place to pick up food after shopping

at Fresh World (Asian Supermarket).

The Summer Rolls, stuffed with Fried Tofu and

Rice Vermicelli were humongous and more than

enough for a meal in themselves.

The 'Fried Tofu with Lemon Grass and Chili Served

with Rice Vermicelli' was a massive portion as

well. (It would be helpful to have a big bowl

on hand to mix this all together). A filling yet

light lunch.

Punk Rock Chick Pea Gravy

Today I finally made Punk Rock Chick Pea Gravy.

Here are the onions and mustard seeds browning

and toasting...

Added a can of Chick Peas...

Mashed them up with a fork and added the

11 herbs and spices, soy sauce & lemon juice...

Then stirred in the water w/flour and 1/4 cup

nutritional yeast.

I served the gravy on Celebration Roast with a side

of Roasted Cauliflower. My opinion: A lot of hard

work and ingrediants for something that isn't

as good as Goddess Dressing or Whole Foods

Wild Mushroom Gravy. I'm glad I finally tried it,

but I didn't think it lived up to the hype.

Valentines Day

Today we had lunch at Vintage 50. I couldn't wait

to go back after our great meal last week.

Mr. SV ordered the Panini that I had last week,

and started with the Soup of the Day, Roasted

Vegetable. They said it was vegetarian, but I

am thinking they probably put cream in it because

it was exceptionally tasty.

I had the Vegetable Burger (which the waiter

said was vegan). It's made of roasted vegetables

and I did see a few small mushrooms in it as well.

It was so light and airy, yet very large and substantial.

The chef here is so talented, he used to work at

the now defunct restaurant 'Aster' in Middleburg.

I ate the sandwich open-faced since there was

Cole Slaw on the other half of my bun, but I was

stuffed. Wonder if we'll go back tomorrow?!

So stuffed from lunch, that dinner will probably

just be the Prosecco I bought at Trader Joe's.

Stir Fry on Soba

The remainder of my head of Napa Cabbage is
still very fresh after more than two weeks.

I've been trying to perfect a stir fry dish to
mimic Lotus Vegetarian's Sauteed Noodles.

Last night I sauteed about eight chopped Napa
leaves, Mushrooms and Scallions in some Sesame Oil...

Then I tossed in some Water Chestnuts and
diced Mori-Nu tofu that had I marinated in Soy
Sauce. The whole mess is dumped on Soba
Noodles. It's really tasty stuff. Not as good
as Lotus but still good.

Trader Joe's Chicken-Less Pulled Chicken

I bought a package of this last week thinking
it would be horrible, but wanting to send the
message that there is a market out there for
vegan entrees.

Today I heated up the entire package in
the oven at 350 degrees for about 25
minutes. The two servings in the package
total only 240 calories.

RUN DO NOT WALK to the nearest Trader
Joes and stock up NOW! There's no way
something this delicious is going to stay on
the shelves at TJ's for very long. They tend to
eliminate the best vegan items from their
inventory (sausages, soy balls, tahini, bolognese
sauce etc) and based on past experience, I'm
sure this goody will follow suit as well. Enjoy
it while you can.

Zesty Black Bean-Wheat Berry Chili

This recipe came from Eatingwell.com.

It was my first time using Chipotle Peppers in

Adobo Sauce (the recipe also calls for two teaspoons of

light brown sugar, which I've never put in Chili)

As well as two cups of cooked Wheat Berries.

Again, my first time cooking these.

It is confusing because the recipe calls for two

cups of cooked Wheat Berries, but we start

with two cups of uncooked Wheat Berries.

The two cups of cooked worked perfectly in

the end.

This was delicious! A real keeper! Anybody

reading this must make this recipe!

A Good Food Day

For lunch I had the Mediterranean Salad at
McCormick & Schmicks:

They left off the feta and tossed it with Oil &
Vinegar. It was really well made and high quality

with salty Black Olives and Spicy Peppers.
Then I decided to use up the rest of my Soy
Chorizo for dinner.

I made Rachael Ray's Chorizo with Potatoes
and Onions.

First I sauteed the Chorizo...

Then I added the Potatoes, Onions, Paprika,
Salt & Pepper. At this point, you're supposed
to be able to flip the whole thing in the pan.

That didn't work for me, so I baked it in the
oven...for a little too long.

Served with some Tofu Scramble and a little

Parsley, it was quite pleasing combination.