The Otherside Cafe and local lager

3 Mar

Sitting in the darkness of The Otherside Cafe is one of my favorite things to do. In addition to the food (which I will get to in a bit), the staff is always awesome, the music selection is superb, and the environment is relaxed and fun.The threat of this place closing a little while back severely saddened me, but things are back in order and the masses are happy again.

Another one of my favorite things is the semi-recent addition of Jack’s Abby Brewing to Framingham. The beer speaks for itself, and they’re making their mark on Massachusetts quickly! Not only that, Jack, Eric, Sam, Abby, and the rest of their crew are insanely nice people and worth a trip to the brewery to meet.

A while back, Jack’s Abby had a tap takeover at The Otherside, so a trip over was in order. Knowing we’d be there for a while, we started with the vegan nachos.

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Clearly, the portion sizes are nothing to complain about. As delicious as these were, the two of us didn’t come CLOSE to finishing. Four people could easily be satisfied sharing this.

After a while (and a few beers…) we moved on to dinner. Now, I’ve said before that I’m a creature of habit… The obsession I have with the tempeh BLT here is perfect proof. While I’m a big fan of any vegan option they have on the menu here (especially the raw chips and dip!), I really can’t get enough of this sandwich.

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In addition to raw, vegan, and vegetarian options,The Otherside Cafe can please you meat-eater friends, too, so go spend some time on the other side of Newbury Street!

Now, to the beer- I love me a good craft beer, but I am by NO means good at describing why. So… If you’re looking for more info, head over to beers4fears and take a gander!

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Christopher’s

29 Feb

A fantastic night out with friends before screening Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (Shrim!) also resulted in some phenomenal eats, when we all went to Christopher’s in Porter Square.

Having been to Christopher’s a number of times, I have to say that I’m especially impressed with their ever changing selection of vegetarian and vegan options, and their effort to identify differences between the two on the menu. This visit was one of my favorites.

To start, I had potato leek soup. And it was amazing. The only complaint I had was that my entree came out so quickly that I didn’t get to finish it!

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My entree was oh-so-exciting! Tofu sliders!! AWESOME tofu sliders, at that.

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In addition to the great food, Christopher’s is a restaurant that I would recommend for it’s ability to please almost all diet types. While I’m lucky to have so many friends that are extremely open to vegetarian and vegan food, we’re almost never likely to end up at an all veggie restaurant when we go out. Having something other than the standard frozen veggie burger or pasta dish makes a restaurant A+ in my books.

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That’s a spicy meatball!

29 Feb

Today’s recipe review (ha! Like I’m qualified to REVIEW anything) is brought to you my the one and only PPK. I’m a huge curry fan and so when I saw that this involved curry and coconut milk, I had to try it.

Aside from the burning sensation currently coating my lips, I am a huge fan of this recipe. Luckily, the instructions allow for one to use their discretion when adding the red pepper flakes, so if you’re not big on spice, keep your “pinch” at a minimum.

The broccoli and onion are sautéed perfectly so that you get a fresh, crisp, and slightly nutty flavor. The sauce is perfectly creamy, but lacks the guilt that most creamy sauces may leave you with.

It was also very reasonable to throw together- very quick (minus a pit stop to bandage a sliced off fingernail. Damn you, fantastic knife sharpener!!) due to an extremely well written recipe, and made with easy to find ingredients. I will definitely be making this again!

Now here are some pictures because I was camera happy!

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Vegan Whole Wheat Egg Nog Waffles

26 Jan

Oh HEY!

I was being kind of a wuss about keeping up this blog for a while. Thank goodness for a supportive husband to get me out of my slump.

This morning I found myself with some unexpected time on my hands and a strong desire for some tasty waffles. At this point I’m pretty familiar with what’s in my cookbooks and wanted something different, hearty, and on the “healthy” side- vegan eggnog is healthier than regular eggnog, right? And so, these gems were born.

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Serves 6

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp raw cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup vegan egg nog (I used so delicious brand)
2 cups vanilla almond milk
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup canola oil

Sift together dry ingredients, except sugar, in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and set aside.

Add wet ingredients, banana, and sugar into a separate bowl and whisk together.

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Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the middle of the dry ingredients and gently mix until combined.

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Pre-heat waffle iron, then spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour about a cup of batter into the middle, then close iron and cook per manufacturer’s instructions.

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I topped these with earth balance, some cinnamon, and a little maple syrup. Let me tell you,
I thought these were great! This was my first attempt at baking without a recipe, so I’m glad it wasn’t a total disaster. Yay for waffles!

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An ode to Vegan Brunch

9 Nov

This cookbook has been dominating my meal plans lately. I’ve made quite a few recipes from it over the last year or so that I’ve had it, but these days, I can’t get enough. Most recently, I made the Pumpkin Bran muffins…

 

…the Broccoli Quiche…

 

…and tonight, I made the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes. I didn’t take a picture, which I regret, because they completely rocked my world. Like, Keenen Ivory Wayan’s style…

Goes without saying, I still heart Isa.

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El Pelon

9 Nov

I gosh darn love burritos. Years ago, anytime my friends and I would go to a show on Lansdowne St., or any time we were in the Kenmore Square area, or heck- since I lived out of town, anytime we were in Boston at all, Burrito Max was an absolute must. Low and behold, a fancy shmancy chain restaurant took over and the lonely, but wonderful, burrito shop ceased to exist.

In comes El Pelon. When I started dating the husband, he was living on Mission Hill and a friend had told him about an amazing restaurant called El Pelon. At first, I had a hard time convincing him that burritos were Mexican food’s gift to the world, so it took some time to get him there. Thankfully, El Pelon makes the world’s most perfect burrito, so it wasn’t hard to keep him going back with me for more. and more. and more. and more.

When the burrito kingdom burned down, we were heartbroken. Then, by the grace of all things good- a new location was erected (hehe) about a quarter mile from our apartment in Brighton. TODAY, I saw a tweet to say that the Fenway location has been RE-OPENED!!!!

As if they could get any better, they’ve recently been offering a vegan tamale that is to die for.

…and their Calabacitas burrito is out of this world.

Go to ElPelon’s website for more details on location and menu. Then get your bums over there!

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White Lasagna

9 Nov

rut

1  [ruht]  ,noun, verb, rut·ted, rut·ting.

noun

1.

a furrow or track in the ground, especially one made by the passage of a vehicle or vehicles.
2.

any furrow, groove, etc.
3.

a fixed or established mode of procedure or course of life,usually dull or unpromising: to fall into a rut.
See also: Sarah Nicholson
Ahem. I’ve got lots of catching up to do, don’t I? Lets get started, then! I’ve got quite a back-log, so please excuse my excessive posting tonight. :)
This is a recipe that I came up with a little while  (or a lot of while) back. It came out just as well as I thought it would. I made it on a Sunday and kept it in the fridge until the Tuesday dinner I had it planned for, and I really think that it would have been just perfect right out of the oven, so I’ll let you know next time I make it.
I used brown rice noodles and I was really happy with the consistency,  the non breakage, and  how they didn’t stick together in the transition from water to lasagna pan. I’m sure this would be just as tasty if you used whatever noodles you’d like to.
1 Package (12 noodles) of lasagna noodles
Tofu Ricotta (see recipe below)
Cashew Alfredo (see recipe below)
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 shallots
3 cloves garlic, 2 minced, 1 whole
5 fresh sage leaves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tub extra firm tofu
1 tbsp Italian herbs
1 cup raw cashews
1 and 1/2 cups pasta water from lasagna
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup Tofutti cream cheese
Boil noodles according to instructions on package and set aside
Saute broccoli with balsamic over medium heat until colorful and slightly toasted, set aside
In the same pan, sauté shallots in 1 tbsp olive oil until translucent, then add minced garlic and sage and sauté for another 30 seconds. Add the spinach and combine. Cook until heated through. Set aside.
Cashew Alfredo
To a food processer, add 1/8 a tub of tofu, cashews, pasta water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, 1 clove garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste. Process until creamy, set aside.
Tofu Ricotta
In a blender, or the same (cleaned out) food processor, add remainder of tofu container, Italian herbs, salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp olive oil. If you’re feeling it, you could add some lemon juice and nutritional yeast, but I left it out since I was using so much in the alfredo.
Layer the ingredients into a lasagna pan by starting with some cashew alfredo, then noodles, broccoli and spinach, tofu ricotta, dabs of Tofutti, then alfredo. Repeat for a few layers and top with remaining alfredo. I added a little bit of whole wheat panko breadcrumbs to the top for texture.
This seems like a lot of effort, and I’m not going to lie- it was! But it was absolutely worth it and really hit the spot for a good Sunday comfort meal.

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Does anyone have $1.8 mil you’d like to let me borrow (have)?

15 Sep

According to Boston Restaurant Talk, The Friendly Toast’s two locations are up for sale.

 

I am so BUMMED!!!!!!! I might be sitting here at my desk crying. I also might not be, but dang-it!

 

Maybe someone will buy it (me, with the help of your 1.8 million dollars!) and keep it JUST as it is.

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Site I love today: Eat, Drink & Be Vegan

9 Aug

 

 

This is technically a guest post on eat, drink & be vegan, but it was so well put, I couldn’t resist posting it here. Two for one, I guess! Check it out for 10 things you should never say to a vegan!

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Dosa Temple coming to Somerville

9 Aug

According to Boston Restaurant Talk, another Dosa Temple will be opening in Somerville. Very exciting!

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