Eating Vegan on a South Dakota Road Trip

One of the first things I did when my husband and I decided to go to South Dakota for vacation was look up vegan and vegetarian restaurants on Happy Cow. Of the five results listed, three were natural food stores; only two restaurants were veg-friendly. We rented vacation homes for most of the trip so I could cook at home, but we planned to be on the road a lot. I wondered if I would have to give up veganism for this trip. While I gave up dairy for ethical reasons, it now makes me physically sick...but I knew I would be starving and unhappy with just salads. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat eggs and dairy if there was no other choice, so I was happy that it wasn't too hard to eat vegan, even in bison-burger country.

After flying into Rapid City (I found a vegan garden lentil salad in the Chicago airport!), we drove to Badlands National Park. Of course we had to stop at Wall Drug, where they had veggie burgers on the menu. This was the only time on the trip where I did have to stray from veganism, because I knew the veggie burgers were Morningstar and thus had cheese and egg in them. Luckily I didn't get sick from eating it.

We stayed at an inn in the park. Our sole source of food was the restaurant at Cedar Pass Lodge. They also had veggie burgers on the menu. Instead, I got a salad, fries, and Indian fry bread--a sweet, puffy, fried bread reminiscent of funnel cakes. I knew this wasn't very healthy, but it truly was the only option (besides the non-vegan veggie burger). At breakfast at the lodge's restaurant, I wondered if I'd have to eat eggs for protein. I was so excited to see they had oatmeal, fruit, and soymilk ! I was able to get my protein from the soymilk and oatmeal, so I didn't have to eat eggs.

After Badlands we drove west to the Black Hills. For lunch we ate at a Mexican restaurant, where I got a bean burrito. Hot Springs had a natural food store, Earth Goods, and I got other basics at a grocery store before we went to our vacation home near Crazy Horse Memorial. I bought whole-wheat bread, peanut butter, jelly, fruit, veggies, and soymilk. We stayed at a privately owned miners' ghost town in the renovated boarding house--definitely one of the most interesting places we've stayed at!

We saw Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park and did a lot of scenic driving in that area. We ate out at another Mexican restaurant, a regular restaurant that had a southwestern black bean burger, and ate at home the rest of the time.

We then drove north and stayed in a vacation home in Spearfish Canyon and from there explored Deadwood, Sturgis, and Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Again we ate Mexican food or ate at home.

 

 

Because the area has so many tourist attractions, nearly every restaurant had at least one veg option besides a salad. My fallback was Mexican food or peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, which I was completely happy with.

It was a great trip. Badlands was so gorgeous--the most spectacular landscape I've ever seen after New Zealand and Alaska. It had interesting rock formations surrounded by rolling prairie, with cacti and desert-like vegetation mixed in, and buffalo roaming and prairie dogs chattering. And the grazing horses and cows throughout all of western South Dakota was really picturesque.

We flew back through Denver, where I had a brown rice, veggie, and tofu bowl with thai dressing. Perfect way to end our vacation!

To see more South Dakota pictures, check out the rest of mine or my husband's (which are way better). Oh, and on this vacation we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary on September 20!

Crunchy Green Tahini Salad

I loved the simple Crunchy Green Tahini Salad from the September 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times. The dressing is rich and creamy and full of lemon-tahini-garlic flavor. The dressing is tossed with the crunchy mix of raw kale, grated carrots, and walnuts. It was really easy and took less than five minutes to make.

This recipe was in an article about food for kids. Really, kids will love this? I don't know much about kids, but I didn't eat regular iceberg lettuce salads as a kid, let alone raw kale with a tahini dressing. But I like the idea!

Crunchy Green Tahini Salad
Serves 4

• 2 12-oz. bunches kale, stems removed
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. tahini
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 tsp. agave nectar
• grated carrots
• walnuts, pine nuts, or almonds

1. Wash and slice kale leaves into ribbons.
2. Blend lemon juice through agave nectar in a food processor or blender.
3. Toss with dressing and add carrots, nuts, and whatever other toppings you want.

Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

I made Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World to take to a dinner party this weekend. I'm a huge fan of the chocolate-orange combination, so I loved these. But I'm officially cupcaked-out.

Birthday Cupcakes: Dulce Sin Leche & Chocolate Mocha

Friday, September 2 was my birthday. I celebrated by taking the day off work, shopping, and baking myself cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

The first batch I made was Dulce Sin Leche. I'd been wanting to try these caramel-inspired cupcakes but was uncertain how a vegan caramel would turn out. I should know better! They were nothing short of sublime. When I tried these, I declared them my favorite cupcake from the book.
The caramel Dulce Sin Leche that's used both as a topping and to mix into the batter before baking is a mixture of soy milk, soy milk powder, brown rice syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and arrowroot to thicken. It's very caramel-y, and I liked eating it right off the spoon. The leftovers will be awesome over coconut milk ice cream.

The cupcake batter varies from the other cupcakes I've made from this book. The additions of brown sugar, coconut milk, and lemon zest bring a coconuty/caramely taste to the cupcake (I didn't taste the lemon though). Unfortunately, I underbaked them! So the cake sticks to the wrapper.
I'm not sure whether the Dulce Sin Leche topping should have been thicker, but it poured down the sides of the cupcake wrappers. The result is that these little cakes are extremely messy to eat; I had to use a fork. But they taste amazing: Moist, flavorful, and drenched in vegan caramel goodness.

The second batch I made was supposed to be Cappuccino Cupcakes with Espresso Creme.

First I made the Espresso Creme, which involves about 15 minutes of constantly stirring agar powder and arrowroot with soy milk until you have an extremely thick, sticky paste. Then you puree that in a blender with silken tofu, sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla extract. The result tastes like a really good coffee-flavored pudding.

When I went to make the Cappuccino Cupcakes, I realized I'd accidentally bought regular vanilla yogurt instead of vanilla soy yogurt. Oops! Good thing I checked (but bad that I supported the dairy industry :-( ). So instead, I made the Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes, which use the basic chocolate batter with espresso powder and coffee extract mixed in. The baked cupcakes had a very light mocha taste, so next time I may add more powder and extract, but the espresso powder made them extremely moist and really delicious.

I piped the Espresso Creme into the Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes.My kitty Orla supervised. Next I made the Coffee Buttercream Frosting that I'd made once before to go with Toasted Coconut Cupcakes. As with all the buttercreams from this book, it's delicious but so sweet it hurts my teeth and full of margarine and shortening that hurts my belly if I eat too much of it. I pipe big mounds of it for others but like mine best with a small dollop.When I tried one of the final Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes filled with Espresso Creme and topped with Coffee Buttercream Frosting, I declared these my favorite from the book! The cake was moist to begin with, but the Espresso Creme filling made it even more moist. And with Coffee Buttercream on top, they were sinfully amazing. In addition to these amazing cupcakes, I had some delicious birthday meals too. On my birthday my husband and I went to Abay, the Ethiopian restaurant in East Liberty. Abay continues to be one of my favorite restaurants in the city. We shared a platter of Inguday Wat (mushrooms and lentils in a spicy berbere sauce), Misir Wat (split red lentils in a berbere sauce), Tikil Gomen (lightly spiced cabbage, carrots, onions and tomatoes stewed in a mild sauce), and Ye' Abesha Gomen (kale, peppers, ginger, garlic and onions slow-cooked in a mild sauce). YUM!

On Saturday night, we ordered pizza from Spak Brothers. I don't usually eat fake cheese or meat (unless I make them myself) because I try to avoid such highly processed foods, so this was a real treat for me. To start, I got the Seitan Wings with Vegan Buffalo Sauce and Vegan Ranch Dressing. MMMMM! Even my carnivore husband liked them. Next I had Pizza with Soy Cheese and Veggie Pepperoni. Also delicious!

It's been a delicious birthday weekend, full of indulgent splurges. I enjoyed them, but I'm a little indulged-out and ready to get back to eating big bowls of steamed kale, sliced tomatoes, and watermelon!

I Ran My First 5K!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've never been able to run before in my life. This June I learned how to run using the ChiRunning technique, which has been life changing for me. The technique makes running easier, prevents injuries, and has taught me how to mentally focus.

Back in June I signed up for Run Around the Square (RATS), a fun 5K race in Regent Square on August 27. I've trained for the race by running 3.1 miles or slightly more two days a week on the flat river trail near where I live on the Northside and one day a week doing the actual RATS course, which starts out in the Regent Square residential streets and then goes into Frick Park. Without trying to increase my pace, I've gone from an 11-minute mile to a 10-minute mile because my ChiRunning form has improved. And while the RATS course takes me longer because some of it is uphill, I did the course four times before the race so felt confident and ready.

Still! I've never been in a race before, and I had no idea what running with 1,500 people would be like. ChiRunning relies so much on mental focus, and I was extremely anxious that I wouldn't be able to focus with so many other people and distractions. When I met my sister, who was running the race with me, yesterday morning we were both so nervous we felt like we were going to be sick. But, we managed to smile at the start line.What a fun experience it was! I couldn't focus like I usually do on my runs, but I had no problem running it because of the energy and festive vibe. Throughout the entire route, people came out to play music for the runners. There were bands, a young girl playing a violin, a man playing a saxophone, and another man playing a bagpipe. And all along the course were the cheerleaders--people who came out to clap for us and encourage us, to tell us how much of the hill we had left and that cold beer was waiting for us at the finish line. I especially loved the fast runners who came back onto the trail after they'd finished to high-five us and tell us how close we were to the finish line. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us--it really, really helped me! I also really appreciated my husband getting up very early to be there with me, putting up with my anxiety-induced pre-race craziness, and taking pictures.

In addition to water stations, there was a beer and champagne station at mile 1. At the end there was cold beer as promised as well as fruit, Italian ice, hot dogs, cookies, and pretzels, with a happy and energetic crowd of more than 1,500 enjoying it all in Frick Park, where the finish line was.

My time was 32:48, which is a 10:35 pace. So, it's not my best run, but an improvement for me over past runs. I ran as part of a big mob the entire run, so it was hard to go my regular pace consistently. My goals were not to walk and not to finish last, and I met both goals. On the uphill parts in Frick Park, about half the people were walking. It was very tempting to join them, but I didn't. Once I got through the uphill section and started on the downhill part, I was able to pick up my pace.

Here is my sister and me, all smiles coming out of the first section of Frick Park.
We got separated going into the next section of Frick Park, and because that part was uphill, I couldn't wait for her without walking, which I didn't want to do. So I finished by myself. Here I am sprinting to the finish line.What a great feeling to cross that finish line! We got flowers and water as soon as we crossed.And we also had beer, which is crazy for both of us. I don't drink beer at all, let alone at 10 in the morning.But after achieving a huge personal accomplishment and participating in such a fun, supportive, fantastic event, the beer hit the spot.

The Secret to Urban Gardening: Big Pots!

This summer I've spent less time cooking and more time eating whatever I've picked up at the farmers' markets. I think peanut butter & jelly on homemade wheat toast with sliced tomatoes, steamed kale, and watermelon for dessert is a completely respectable meal (that sounds better than, "I'm a little lazy in the summer").

We've also been eating from the veggie plants we're growing this year--one of my food budgeting goals. Every year I've tried to grow veggie plants, they've failed. Our last tomato plant looked ill the whole summer and spit out three tomatoes at the end of the year. We have a concrete patio for a yard, so I have to rely on potted plants, and I suspect my pots have been too small.

My husband's coworker gave us three plants this year (thanks, Matt!). We planted them in our biggest pots, which I usually use for ornamental grasses on the deck. I was a little sad to give up my grasses, but the pots were the solution!

This is our Fourth of July plant. The tomatoes are bigger than cherry tomatoes but still small and consistently delicious. It keeps growing and growing and has about five ripe tomatoes a day with about 20 more ripening. It became a super-performer only after I watered it with compost from the worm bin I keep in my kitchen, where I put fruit and veggie scraps.
This is our hot pepper plant. It also has a ton of peppers all the time. I've used them in salsa, and my husband grills or sautes them and puts them on burgers or hot dogs (he isn't veg).
Our third plant is some type of black tomato. A third of it got devoured by a tomato worm early in the season, and it hasn't been the same since. It's only just produced two tomatoes...but they are amazing!
It's nice to come home from work, walk outside, and pick these for dinner.
I also bought a basil plant from Trader Joe's. Basil is pretty reliable and has done well for me in previous years; it didn't disappoint this year. This basil is extremely fragrant and smells so sweet, I want to eat the leaves right off the stem. Unfortunately, the lettuce salad plants I got from Whole Foods did awful. They didn't last beyond my first plucking. I never replanted them into a bigger pot, so I guess that's why. (That's Rasputin, my formal feral kitty who plays catch with toy mice and hairbands and is a big, constantly attention-starved baby.)

A Trio of Yum Yum Sandwiches

I have no idea why the author of Vegan Yum Yum would take down her website, stop posting on Twitter, and otherwise disappear from the vegan community. It's a shame, because her recipes are great! Last week I made three sandwiches from the book.

The first was the Pan-Seared Tomato and Rosemary Artichoke Sandwich.It was extremely messy but amazingly delicious. The messiness comes from a balsamic reduction (heat 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar on medium for about 5 minutes, until it reduces by half and becomes sweet and a little thick) drizzled over the sandwich. Sliced artichokes sauteed in olive oil with rosemary, pan-seared tomato slices, baby spinach, and some basil complete this sandwich. I very rarely eat white bread, so having this on white baguette bread was a huge treat for me. Two huge thumbs up for this sandwich!

The second was the Picnic Sandwich (sorry for the bad photo).The first step is making the spread, which is a puree of nuts (recipe called for pine nuts; I used walnuts) and sundried tomatoes in olive oil. Spread that on both sides of the sandwich, then top with zucchini slices sauteed with Italian herbs. Add baby spinach, and you've got another really awesome sandwich. She calls it a picnic sandwich because it can be wrapped up in plastic and sit for a few hours in a backpack and still taste good. This sandwich also gets two big thumbs up (the white baguette bread was awesome again).

The third was the Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwich.I first made a marinade from miso, lemon juice, sugar, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke, brushed it on the tofu, and baked the slices for about 20 minutes.Next I made the Cashew Miso Mayo from Appetite for Reduction, which is a simple puree of cashews, miso, water, and apple cider vinegar. I spread the mayo on wheat bread, added the tofu slices, and topped it with baby spinach. This sandwich was just okay. I didn't love the tofu, and I usually always love tofu. And I think there were conflicting miso tastes between the tofu marinade and the mayo.

I'll definitely make the first two again. Until then, Lauren (Vegan Yum Yum author), please come back!