Monthly Archives: November 2012

Nov 07 2012
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Dining Out

Adventures in Dining Out: Yolo Mexican Eatery

I’m going to go ahead and say that being vegan is the reason that the cold I had two days ago only lasted about 16 hours. It was the shortest bug I ever had! I’m still taking extra care of myself but I did take the opportunity to dine out for dinner tonight.

It was my first time vising Yolo Mexican Eatery in Skokie, not to be confused with #yolo.

Yolo is a small BYOB restaurant tucked away on Brown street in downtown Skokie. I’ve passed it hundreds of times but wasn’t really aware of its existence until I started researching vegan-friendly places. It’s a cozy place and, from what I could gather, it’s family owned and operated. It wasn’t exactly packed tonight, but I can imagine that it gets busy on the weekends.

We started with a guacamole appetizer which was yummy. It’s funny… I’m not used to non-spicy guacamole anymore, so it was different in that regard, but I wouldn’t describe it as bland. It was tasty and fresh!

 

I ordered the Enchiladas de Platanos for my entree. The enchiladas came smothered in mole sauce and was served with a side of rice and beans. This dish had very interesting flavors in it — very different but delicious. I’m no mole expert, but my best guess is that this is the most authentic mole sauce I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. I could actually taste the chocolate. It wasn’t overwhelming in any way, and  my taste buds were hit with sweetness followed by a very satisfying spicyness. The texture of the sauce was also perfect. It wasn’t too thick nor was it gritty. I think I would have preferred the plantains to be a bit more, well, slimey. They had more of a tostones texture.

I expect that I will visit Yolo again. I will probably opt for one of the salads and a vegetarian taco option. I like mole but I need to be in the mood for it. Considering that Yolo is labeled as vegan-friendly on sites like Yelp, I was hoping for more vegan and vegetarian options. That said, it’s the only place where I’ve seen plantain enchiladas on the menu, so I’m glad for that!

YOLO! –Melissa

 

 

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Nov 06 2012
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Reviews

The Other Lazy Vegans: TV dinner 2

We’ve been giving Amy’s frozen dinners a try lately after a recent success with tamale with roasted vegetables so we went ahead and decided to try their tamale with salsa verde.

It looked a lot more appetizing right out of the box. This is because the rice is recognizable compared with the puddle of beans in the other package.

We prepared this in our microwave and it was quick and easy to follow the instructions.

We ended up adding some flake red pepper and garlic salt but that’s just how we roll. The ingredients were unobjectionable and it was tasty all by itself.

The ingredients were good and it was reasonably priced for how much time and cleanup it saved me. I think I need to learn how to make my own tamales, but I’d buy it again.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Nov 05 2012
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Thoughts

Not Chick’n Noodle Soup & a Hot Toddy!

Having been born and raised in Chicago, I know it’s only a matter of time before I catch a cold during the fall or winter. I have made it a point to get a flu shot every year since my oldest niece was born, and I either end up with a really violent flu about two weeks after getting the shot or I am in the clear. I got this season’s flu shot a month ago, so my educated guess is that I will not the flu. However, I cannot escape the cold!

It’s not completely unexpected: I was the one idiot in Chicago who wasn’t wearing socks while walking outside yesterday. And then, today, when I couldn’t concentrate and was trying to stay awake at work, I came up with the genius idea to get some fresh air — in the balmy 43 degree weather.

The point is, I feel like total poop right now. I’m sneezing, my nose is running, I’m chilly and achy (uh oh, I hope my flu theory doesn’t get debunked), and I’m exhausted. My body absolutely wants to shut down. My appetite has also been measly all day, but I had to eat something, so I made a really basic Not Chick’n Noodle Soup for dinner.

It doesn’t look like much, and that’s because it isn’t much:

1 cube Edward & Sons Not Chick’n bouillon
2 cups warm water
1 8oz package of traditional Shirataki Noodles
salt and pepper, to taste

I put the water and bouillon in a medium sized pot and let it sit while I drained and rinsed the noodles. I started heating the water and this helped to fully dissolve the bouillon cube. Once it was boiling, I added the noodles, brought it back to a boil and let it cook for about 3 minutes.

This is actually the first time I tried Shirataki noodles! I liked them a lot and I love that the traditional version, made with white yam, is soy-free and has zero calories (along with being gluten-free and vegan).

You can definitely add more to this, but I was really in need of a bare bones broth and noodle dish with little embellishment. I was worried that it would be bland, but it was perfect as-is with just a tiny bit of salt and pepper.

Before going to bed, I definitely wanted to warm up with some hot tea. Why not add some spirit to the mix? I didn’t have whiskey so I used rum for this particular hot toddy. I started with a cup of hot ginger water, but you can start with any tea. I added some agave nectar to sweeten it, and then added just about a tbsp of rum. That isn’t a lot of rum, but I wanted to be pleasantly relaxed, not buzzed.

What vegan cold remedies do you use? –Melissa

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Nov 04 2012
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Snacks

NACHOS!

Brent and I like to play video games together. Nothing says “gamer” like junk food so that’s where this is headed. All you really need is tortilla chips and Daiya but crumbled seasoned tofu, olives, chopped jalapeño, diced tomato or onions, salsa, Tofutti sour cream and a lot of other things can help bring your nachos up a notch.

We baked ours in the oven to melt the Daiya after adding seasoned crumbled tofu, salsa, jalapeño, onion and salsa. A little fresh cilantro would have made this unstoppable but its absence didn’t stop us from devouring it.

I le recommend, especially if you’ve got a football game or a video game in your future.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Nov 02 2012
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Snacks

Cucumber, olive and hummus sammiches!

I made a loaf of bread and decided we needed to make some awesome sammies. This is inspired by a local restaurant that started serving a similar option with ham… we are skipping that and going straight for the good stuff.

This is as amazing as it is simple. Cucumber, pitted kalamata olives, spinach and your favorite hummus. Slice the cucumber and peel it if you like.

We spread hummus on the bread, put the olives on it (slice them in half if you like), add the spinach and then use the cucumber to moosh it down. Add some more hummus to the top piece of bread if you like.

NOM!

This was an awesome snack that was crisp and cooling from the cucumber and spinach with a savory element from the olives and hummus. It is an excellent option for a hot afternoon or just as a midnight snack.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Nov 01 2012
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Desserts

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Guava Cheesecake!

Today is a special one because you’re visiting a page that’s part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck! This is the second one that Turning Veganese has been fortunate enough to participate in and it’s a great way to look at lots of vegan food blogs and even some non-vegan blogs that are participating by presenting a vegan dish. I definitely recommend exploring. Use the “go forward” and “go back” buttons at the bottom of the page to participate.

I wanted to be sure that Florida culture came out in my Virtual Vegan Potluck contribution so I decided to include some local flare. Guava pastries are a staple in our Cuban heritage, coconut and lime are ubiquitous in Caribbean cuisine so I wanted to include them in this recipe, and pecans are here to represent the Southern elements in South Florida culture. This is an incredibly easy recipe and shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes to prepare. All you need is a good spring form pan and the ingredients.

First prepare the crust by combining the following in a bowl:

1 cup of medjool dates, soaked overnight in water, drained and blended until smooth

1 cup of shredded coconut, preferably unsweetened

1 cup of crushed pecans

1 cup of almond meal

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

a pinch of cinnamon

Mix these until uniform, adding extra water if it’s dry. It should be crumbly and a little sticky.

Once you like the texture, moosh it into the bottom of your spring form pan.

Now that you’ve got your crust, we’ve got to make the ‘cheese’cake part. It’s simple too:

1 carton of silken tofu

1 tsp starch (we used arrowroot) dissolved in 1 tbsp of lime juice

7 ounces of guava paste

Put all of that into your blender and blend until smooth. Pour it over the crust and put it into your freezer.

I sprinkled mine with some additional coconut to make it extra pretty. It’ll be ready in 4 hours.

Remove the wall of your spring form pan and serve. It will get gooey as it melts so put your spring form base on a wide plate to catch anything that falls off the edge.

This concludes my part in the Virtual Vegan Potluck event and I hope you’ll visit all the other posts in the chain. If you’re new to Turning Veganese, I hope you’ll visit again. Click on the “go forward” or “go back” button below to see what else the Virtual Vegan Potluck has in store for you!

This is Christie and Brent, signing off to head to the Potluck!

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