Dublin: Blazing Salads and a Lone Gnome

For our two two-day, two-night stints in Dublin (they were the bread around a four-day Edinburgh sandwich), S and I found places to stay via AirBnB. During our first stay in Dublin, we rented a room with a truly lovely older Irish couple. They were the epitome of hospitality, despite Hans’ slight mockery of “céad mile fáilte and all that bullshit.” Every morning we broke our fast at their table; they served up bread, jam, berries, and a host of un-vegan things as well, and they doled out site-seeing advice galore. With their house as a conveniently located home base, we explored the city in comfort.

Between their recommendations and my memories from studying in Dublin five years ago, we were pretty set with ideas of things to do. When it came to eating, we needed a little help. I downloaded the HappyCow app on my iPad and used it before we set out for the day to find vegan eateries that were nearby, and this approach worked wonderfully.

After arriving in Dublin and resting up, we needed sustenance. HappyCow told me that a vegetarian food bar (delightfully called Blazing Salads!) was but a ten or fifteen minute walk away, so we set out. We found Blazing Salads in the middle of a bustling shopping area, and we knew we’d struck gold when we entered the small shop and saw their signage:

Healthy food and whole, seasonal ingredients! Yes please!

The center of the shop features a salad bar with various varieties of salads and hot bar type items. There’s also a refrigerated section with juices and pre-made sandwiches, a pantry-like area with staples and freshly baked breads, and a counter at the front with other freshly made savory items. I chose from that section, ordering a vegetable and samosa spring roll to share and a brown rice ball stuffed with aduki bean and vegetables for myself. S chose a cold tofu, veggie, and sprout sandwich. While we waited for my selections to be heated, we nabbed a spot at the window bar (there’s no indoor seating) and I sipped on a bottled juice.

So much orange!

Strictly speaking, we didn’t need that to-go bag since we ended up eating in the shop. But the cashier gave it to us, and it was so cute that I just had to keep it! The colors complemented my juice nicely, too.

Soon, our hot foods were heated and ready for the munching.

Foods!

That spring roll was filled to bursting with veggies, and my brown rice ball was a scrumptious, savory blend of beans and veggies. We had a couple of soy-based dips, and although I liked how they kept my rice from getting dry, their added salt made both the roll and the ball a bit too salty – umami overload! Even though I only ate the rice ball and half the roll, I was quite full when I finished. I wish I’d snagged a bite of S’s pita sandwich, though – it looked so yummy!

Sprout overload!

Actually, who am I kidding – if I’d had any room in my belly, I would’ve gone for one of Blazing Salads’ desserts – their front case had lots of creative treats, many of them raw. Alas, I did not have room in my belly.

During that first two-day stint in Dublin, we also ate at Diwali, an Indian and Nepalese establishment not far from Blazing Salads. With many vegetarian and vegan options on the menu, S and I had a hard time choosing what we wanted. I opted for the veggie Karahi curry, while S chose a veggie vindaloo that he described as “the hottest I’ve ever had, by far.” Neither of us could finish our meals, so they returned with us to Hans’ and Deirdre’s house. Alas, they were also forgotten there when we left Dublin.

Before we left, though, we grabbed snacks at a health food shop called Nourish. Actually, to be honest, I’m not 100% sure that was the place we stopped, but I think it was. We stocked up on flapjacks (oh how I love European flapjacks!), a delicious peppermint-filled chocolate bar that filled the spot that Junior Mints used to occupy in my heart, and various other vegan bars. I kept them stashed in my purse for times of hunger… as one does.

The other place we dined was Cornucopia, but I’m saving my review till later. As you’ll hear, this joint quickly became our most-frequented eatery in Dublin.

Other than eating, we also toured Trinity College, saw the Book of Kells, checked out the (overpriced) Guinness Storehouse (the Foreign Extra is vegan, so make sure to ask for that as your free pint!), and took a themed walking tour. We also spent a lot of time just wandering around and familiarizing ourselves with the city, something I always enjoy doing (as long as I have a map!). And we hung out at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with this guy:

Hmm…

Heh heh. Up next in my travel tales: Edinburgh!

What’s in the Box? Summer 2012 CSA Week Six

One of the most disheartening things about returning from a lengthy vacation (other than that whole “back to the daily grind” thing…) is the inevitably empty fridge that awaits you. And if it’s not empty, it most likely houses the rapidly decomposing remains of leftovers you forgot to finish before leaving. Upon our return, S and I were met with a couple of shrunken ears of corn, a bowl of leftover carrot slaw growing small bubbles (bubbles!) of mold, and a sad, shriveled cucumber half – not exactly the makings of gourmet fare. Our fridge does house a healthy amount of condiments, seeds, and nuts, but again, they’re nothing really meal-worthy on their own. So, tossing my guilt at wasting food down the garbage disposal along with the moldy remains of meals past, I hastened to the co-op not long after our return. I did not, however, purchase very much – I knew that we’d be getting our sixth CSA box this week, so I didn’t want to crowd the fridge before the veggies arrived.

And what veggies they are! My basket was filled with a rainbow of produce:

What variety!

Thankfully, the glut of zucchini and cucumber has finally slowed down, and now we’re getting fewer long green things and more varied veggies. So… what’s in the box?

• Anaheim peppers
• Carmen sweet peppers
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Edamame
• Eggplant
• Green beans
• Kale
• Onions
• Sweet corn
• Tomatoes (assorted heirlooms, slicers, salad)
• Yellow bell pepper
• Zucchini

This might be my favorite box yet! Kale, three types of peppers, eggplant, sweet corn… and edamame! Just look how fuzzy it is:

Fuzzy beans.

I’ve never seen edamame this fresh! Should I eat it plain or do something fancy with it? I’ll also have to come up with lots of uses for  two whole bags of tomatoes:

Bagged!

Not a bad haul, eh? I always feel like I should do something exciting and creative with my veggies, but I often resort to simple meals. After bringing home this haul, for example, I cooked up a pot of lentils, sauteed a chopped tomato, a bit of diced onion, a diced small carrot, and the kernels from one ear of corn, and threw it all together with some salt, pepper, and a couple squeezes of lime juice. It was simple, flavorful, and perfectly satisfying… not to mention easy! Then I whipped up a raw salad of lots of diced veggies to bring to work tomorrow. Yet I barely made a dent in this stash – my fridge is now brimming with produce… and none of it rotten or moldy.

What’re your suggestions for how to use my haul? Are you more successful than I am at finishing leftovers before going on vacation?

Curious about what other folks are getting in their CSA boxes this time of year? Check out the What’s in the Box? link party for this week!

Airplane Food: Really Not Worth the Hateration (thanks, Aer Lingus!)

I am back! S and I returned from our Ireland and Scotland adventure on Sunday. It was, in a word, glorious. I have so much to share because, as it turns out, Dublin and Edinburgh are just bursting with truly phenomenal vegan eateries. I’ll be spacing out my inevitably effusive posts over the next couple weeks, but in the meantime let me start by answering the question that’s on everyone’s lips: How was the airplane food?!

Well, dear readers, it was just fine. We flew Aer Lingus, and a couple days before our flight I called and confirmed that we wanted vegan meals for both legs of our flight. Even after the customer service agent assured me that it was all set, I was a bit nervous. Last time I flew overseas, the meal on the way back from Italy wasn’t vegan – there was some confusion because that flight was operated by KLM, not Delta. But Aer Lingus came through on both legs of our flight, so S and I didn’t have to break into the sizable stash of snacks I’d brought with me. And the great thing about ordering a special meal is that you get it before everyone else on the flight because the flight attendants heat the special meals up separately. Win!

Anyway, here’s what we ate for dinner on our flight to Ireland:

Mmm, scrumptious!

The main dish was a tomato-y chickpea curry with broccoli and carrot. Yes, singular carrot – I spied but one baby carrot in my dish. Despite the slightly mushy veggies and rice, this really wasn’t terrible, and it was more creative than other vegan airplane dishes I’ve experienced. The side salad was a cucumber and tomato deal with no noticeable dressing – fine by me. The meal came with a roll, some non-vegan margarine (whey fail!), and a small fruit salad. Not bad.

After we traversed the Atlantic and jumped ahead in time, we received breakfast. While the rest of the passengers got some sort of croissant sandwich, we received a bagel with blackberry jam and a little tub of orange juice.

Brekkie!

Again, not terribly exciting, but totally acceptable.

I didn’t photograph our food on the flight back, but you’re not missing much. Our lunch was an uninspiring pasta and veggie dish; it was limp and rather flavorless. It came with a typical side salad (no dressing), a roll, actually-vegan margarine, and more fruit salad. Sadly, we did not receive a special vegan pre-landing snack. The crew came around and offered another breakfast bread-y snack (croissant? roll? bagel? I don’t even remember), but it contained dairy, so we passed. Ah well. Can’t win ‘em all.

In summary, Aer Lingus definitely passed the airplane food test. It also passed my “no delay” test – I have reallllly bad luck when I fly; nearly every flight I take gets delayed, gets cancelled, or goes horribly awry on one leg (or both!). But none of our Aer Lingus flights had any issues; other than the Chicago-Dublin round trip, we embedded a Dublin-Edinburgh trip that went equally smoothly. Hooray for that.

Don’t worry – this is the least exciting of my travel recap posts. I have much more exciting stuff to talk about later!

What have your vegan airplane food experiences been like? 

Restaurant Review: Julians Restaurant

I think I broke my mom’s heart a little tiny bit when I visited last week. On our first night in RI, my parents wanted to go out to eat – but not to our veg-friendly standard, the Garden Grille. Instead they wanted to hit up a local establishment that offers a variety of Asian cuisines. Our conversation went something like this:

Mom: So I was thinking we could meet at Seven Moons for dinner.

Me: I’m not sure Seven Moons has vegan options…

Mom: Yes, it does! They have pad thai! I get that all the time!

Me: Really? They don’t use fish sauce?

Mom: …fish sauce?

Needless to say, it was all downhill from there. Mom called the restaurant, they confirmed that fish sauce is everywhere, and my poor mother suffered a severe case of disillusionment. I might have spied a tear on her cheek when she hung up the phone.

Luckily, though, a quick Google search advised me of a promising but yet-untried (by me!) veg-friendly joint in Providence – Julians Restaurant. (And yes, there is a lack of apostrophe in their name. I know.) So, that evening, we all met up there to see what Julian had to offer.

While Julians isn’t a vegetarian restaurant (the menu includes various meats), it does offer more than a few meat-free options. And we’re not talking about your token Boca burger, either – these are creative, thoughtful dishes worth ordering. All of my family members chose something meat-free (if not vegan), and I passed the camera around the table and had them photograph what they ate. We’ll start with the Vegan Steak & Cheese Wrap, which both S and I ordered because neither of us was terribly hungry.

Wrapped!

Our wraps included house-made seitan, onions, mushrooms, peppers, and vegan cheese, and they were the perfect size for our less robust appetites. The house-made seitan was juicy and tender and they included just the right amount of soy cheese. My only complaint was that the seitan was just a bit too salty for my tastes.

After being foiled in her earlier craving for pad thai, Mom decided to go with a different flavor palette entirely. She ordered the Mediterranean Spice Fried Seitan Skewers.

Definitely not pad thai.

Fancy, right? These featured more house-made seitan alongside saffron-olive-portobella bulgar, pea tendrils, preserved lemon, and paprika roasted cauliflower purée. See what I mean about the creative dishes here? Mom enjoyed these, although she agreed that the seitan was a bit salty.

Finally, here is the last dish that got photographed. I’m not sure if it was dad’s or my brother’s – I thought both of them had snapped a shot, but apparently not!

Moar seitan!

I think this is my brother’s dish. He chose a special of the day, which was a seitan-based dish in a spicy peanut sauce. He liked it but commented that it wasn’t really all that peanutty – the spiciness overpowered the peanuttiness. Alas.

I’m not totally sure, but I believe my dad ordered the  House Corned Beef Seitan, which is served with roasted fingerling potatoes, maple glazed carrots and caraway stout braised cabbage. He gave me a taste, and I can vouch that it was quite tasty. My sister ordered the only non-vegan meal, another special of the day. Hers was some sort of tofu-based sandwich; I think it included cheese.

Beyond pleasing my taste buds with its yummy food, Julians pleased my eyes as well. The restaurant is decorated with all sorts of art and knick-knacks in its the cozy interior. The bathroom features a collection of action figures alongside an art installation – a TV showing images and sounds of trains. I’m not quite sold on that one.

If my praise doesn’t convince you that Julians is worth a visit, let me also add that S is 95% sure he saw Ted Leo (of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists) enjoying dinner on Julians’ patio. He was slightly starstruck but decided not to say hello so as not to make an unwelcome dinnertime intrusion. I didn’t need the star sighting, though – the food was good enough to bring me back! In fact, the weekend after I left, my mom and aunt headed there for brunch. And Julians has some amazing-sounding vegan brunch options – Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cashew Cream Cheese?! Holy smokes! I know where I’m eating breakfast next time I’m in RI!

Have you spotted famous folks out and about in the wild? What’s your favorite local veg-friendly eatery?

This is a pre-scheduled post because I’m currently on vacation. If anything looks funky, blame the scheduling feature in WordPress.

What’s in the Box? Summer 2012 CSA Week Five

It’s week five of my summer CSA! Want to see my haul?

Gasp!

What devilry is this?! Don’t worry, our farm hasn’t gone under or anything. S and I decided to donate our share to a local food pantry this week. I’d be lying if I said we did it out of pure altruism, though – it was a very pragmatic decision. We are going to be out of town for about ten days starting Friday, and our food just wouldn’t last that long. Where will we be? We are going to Ireland and Scotland! Eee!

…I know, I know, we just took a trip to RI. And I haven’t even mentioned that I spent last weekend camping with college friends. But the Ireland/Scotland trip was in the works well before either of those trips, and summer is for travelin’, right? Yeah. I’m super excited to return to Dublin, where I spent most of a summer studying during college. And I’ve never been to Scotland, so I can’t wait to explore Edinburgh and check out some Fringe events. And – of course! – we are both very excited to discover what vegan eats Dublin and Edinburgh have to offer. I was vegetarian when I was in Ireland, but I’ve never experienced it as a vegan.

So, dear readers, if you’ve been to either place as a vegan, let me know where I should eat! And do share fun things to do in Dublin and Edinburgh. I’ve done many touristy things in Dublin, but I’m open to your suggestions, too! And, tell me – do you have any fun vacations planned this summer?

Twenty-Four Cupcakes and a Single Baby (not mine)

Returning to work after vacation is always unpleasant, isn’t it? Unless you really really really super love your job, you can’t help but feel a bit down. Luckily(ish), I had email to catch up on and lots of things to do when I returned from my RI trip on Wednesday of last week. I’m glad I had the distractions – I was in a bit of a bad mood after having to spend the night in Detroit thanks to some weather-related delays and connection missing. All that aside, I had a really lovely trip back home, full of friends and family and, duh, food.

Both of my siblings were also home when I was, so my parents hosted a big ol’ cookout for all of our friends and family. I love hosting events at my parents’ house – my mom’s vegan and my dad is super vegan-friendly, so we always have lots of options. At this cookout, we had baked beans, potato salad, regular salad, fruit salad, corn salad, and desserts. I don’t have too many great food pictures, though, because I was too busy relaxing, hanging out with friends, and meeting this little guy:

Such a curious little guy.

My friend Jess became a mama last month; she’s the first of my pals to have a baby, which is both bizarre and exciting. Her little Noah is beyond adorable, and I was so happy to meet him. My mom snapped that photo of us, and I shamelessly stole it from Facebook. Same goes for the next two pictures, hence the craptastic quality. Facebook photo downloads are icky and grainy, and I apologize.

Coconut-lime!

Vegan With a Vengeance came through again for my dessert-making needs – the coconut-lime cupcakes received raved reviews from everyone. I’d originally planned to make only this batch of cupcakes, but I had a ton of frosting left over so I decided to make some plain vanilla cupcakes to use it up.

Vanilla!

All 24 cupcakes were snatched up within minutes of us setting dessert out. I barely snagged one! Luckily, my aunt had brought a vegan blueberry pie, so my dessert urges were well satisfied. As was my desire for delicious vegan food in general, both at this party and later at the other places we ate in RI and NYC. But more about those later!

What are your go-to vegan cookout options?