FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Hello Santa Monica!

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This trip has been a bit of a whirlwind tour of LA county. After my final day in conference land, I hopped in a cab and headed to Santa Monica.

I met Callahan at his office where we did a quick exchange of hugs for keys. I downloaded the mapquest app, looked for a lunch spot on Urban Spoon, and was on my way – true iTourist style.

I had been meaning to try Real Food Daily for quite some time and, by chance, it was the first restaurant that Urban Spoon suggested. Fate? I think so!

I ordered the VLT wrap sans T with a pressed salad and a Russian tea cookie for dessert. Everything was stellar, including the location. I’m totally crushing on Santa Monica right now!

Friend Finds

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One of the best things about blogging is the frequency in which my friends and family suggest new recipes.  It happens almost daily and I enjoy it, well, almost daily.

Earlier this week, Lex told me that she found the best, most perfected tofu recipe ever.  Naturally, I wanted to try it.  And when I read through it, I realized how closely it resembled my favorite tofu dish at Urban Thai.

Since I used a tofu press rather than the paper towel method, my tofu was much less moist than I imagine the recipe intended.  I didn’t get as much sizzle as I had expected while reading.

And before I get to the good stuff, my only beef with this recipe is that it didn’t tell you how long it should take for the tofu to brown.  It seemed like it was taking forever, I grew impatient to the power of ten, and gave up with barely browned tofu.

But onto the good stuff, I’m confident that once I grow a little more patient and find the perfect marinade, this technique will be my go-to tofu recipe.  Dry fried is where it’s at!

Have you ever dry fried tofu?  Favorite marinade recipe??

VegFest

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When I saw Tampa Bay VegFest was being held down the street from my house I was so excited!  My mom came over around lunch time and we walked over to Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park to see what the event was all about.

Upon our arrival, we bumped into lots and lots of dogs.  Adoptable dogs. Adopted dogs.  Herds of really stinking big white dogs.  Can you say Never Ending Story??

I’m not a super huge dog person, but my mom and I had such a good time walking around and looking at all of the cute mutt combos.  My favorite was the chihuahua/Italian greyhound combo.  I wish I had a picture, she was so darn sweet.

When we arrived at the food area, I was surprised to see a larger vendor turnout than the food truck rally.  And although the lines were still long, they were much more manageable than the rally.

I was beyond pleased with the event and even more pleased with my No Steak Panini from Joe’s Oat Patties stand.  I was craving something a little heftier in the bread department, but after I finished the panini, which was more like a quesadilla, I was the perfect level of satisfied full.

I’m so proud of Tampa and Tampanians alike for supporting community events lately!  Have you seen an increase in community events in your town?

Intention

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There are roughly three scatter brained thoughts I have going on about dinner tonight.  I’ll start with simple first.  I had a feeling as I drove by Jackson 20 that it was a place I’d like to eat even though it had a “Pig-A-Palooza” sign out front.  Just a feeling.

Partial thought:  When I turned to Google to scope out the best restaurants in Old Town Alexandria, Jackson 20 was near the top.  Convenient.

Relevant thought:  I immediately went to their website to look at the menu and saw mac and cheese, ribs, yada yada, Pig-A-Palooza stuff, then… Vegetable? Tempeh?  I assumed they were smothered in cheese, as most restaurant vegetarian dishes are, and then stumbled upon this:

In order to accommodate every appetite, we are more than happy to offer vegan and vegetarian dishes in addition to our daily menus.

Which brings me to another point: intentional vegetarian.  I read something about intentionally vegetarian dishes at restaurants some time ago, most likely Tal Ronnen related.  It was at that point I could put my finger on why I loved certain dishes so much (Restaurant BT, whaaaaat!).  I have a huge appreciation for dishes that are vegetarian on purpose and not make-shift, dairy covered, thrown together side dish veggies.  Besides, I’d have to order them without cheese and then they’d be make-shift squared.  A bummer.

So all that scattered-ness brings me to the Roasted Vegetable Napoleon.  Wow. It had simple layers filled with flavorful bulgur wheat and complimentary pureed sauces.  It filled the fancy void that foodie vegetarians have, the void that was most likely responsible for me returning to the pescatarian world.  It was a version of something I wish could be on every menu at restaurants that are reservation and eyeliner worthy.  It was…  exactly what I wanted.