Waaay Behind

So it's been awhile since I last posted, but lots of vegan goodness has gone on.  The funny thing is I am always taking pictures of my food and creations, but somehow never make it back here to post them.  So excuse the clutter but I got a bunch of stuff.  First of all, I finally got back to Native Foods to try the spicy meatball pizza!  I gotta say it was absolutely worth the wait.  The "meatballs" were amazing.  They had the most perfect texture ever. I don't know what Chef Tanya uses to make them but I bet that any omnivore would be fooled by these ones.  The only thing is that it wasn't very spicy as the namesake states but that does not by any means detract from the deliciousness.


Next, I attended yet another AMAZING class with the Spork Sisters.  This was a 50's TV dinner class edition in which we made seitan pot pies, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and crunchy sage, succotash and chocolate peanut butter swirl brownies for desert.  First of all, if you haven't attended a Spork Foods class, sign up for one immediately.  If you can't because you don't live in LA, then go to www.sporkonline.com to sign up for their online classes.  I do both and I have to say there is nothing more adorable than the Sporkies.  The Goldberg sisters are so much fun in class and really are the kind of vegans I aspire to be.  I cannot say enough good things about them. This class also happened to be Becca's first Spork Foods class and she loved it.  Here's a girl that has dug her heels in when it comes to giving up all meat all the time and now she realizes how much fun and enjoyment can come from a vegan diet.  Plus, she finally sees why I suddenly took a new interest in cooking after attending a class!

Now here's the food!

I didn't get a photo of the brownies because by that point I had already gone into a food-lovin frenzy.  Also, they made amazing ice tea using tea they bought while in vacation in Kona!

Next up (and I sense a theme here), Vegan Pizza Day!  On Saturday the 29th, it was World Vegan Pizza Day with a number of places teaming up to supply the best vegan pizza possible. My ultimate blogger crush Quarry Girl reported on ZPizza as one of the options.  I had never tried this place and Becca and I were in the neighborhood running a number of wedding errands so I said we should go.  The WeHo location is clean and nice-looking.  The guy behind the counter was very nice and accommodated our requests (no mushrooms, double onion on half) for the Vegan Berkeley.

Honestly I gotta say I wasn't super impressed by this pizza. I think there was too little sauce, too much Daiya and the tomatoes made it all a little watery.  The crumbles they used were fan-fucking-tastic though.  I am writing my Whole Foods begging them to stock them because they tasted exactly like sausage, not that I was a huge sausage fan before.  But yea, the service was great. The guy gave us a free soda and was super sweet, but the pizza just wasn't great.

Finally, last night I made my finest meal to date.  Everything turned out perfectly! I made spaghetti aglio e oilio which is actually super easy to make.  I used spinach spaghetti then cooked 1/3 cup oil with 6 cloves of garlic and a liberal sprinkling of red pepper flakes. When the pasta was ready, I tossed it with the oil "sauce".  Then I made garlic cheese biscuits (yes, you heard me) and they were about a million times better than Red Lobster (especially on second day I found).  Finally I made some garlic spinach as well.  YUM.  This was all so good I didn't even get a chance to snap pictures. We merely inhaled all the food.  It was a left-over neither Becca or I minded reheating at work today.  My only warning is this is not a first date meal due to the excessive amount of garlic.  On that note, also no vampire dates for the aforementioned reason.