Monthly Archives: May 2010

May 28, 2010

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Not going out to eat for a while… maybe.

Well, after the last few weeks of overindulgences, I’m feeling a bit like a homebody. I’d rather prepare simple dishes for myself, friends and family, than go out and have someone do it for me.  It also doesn’t help that most of the people I typically eat with are doing juice/master cleanses right now. And I have no interest in joining them.

Our weather has been alternating between picnic friendly, and rain lately, but I still have the urge to get a few people together and have a nice traditional style picnic (well, as traditional as possible while still vegan.) potato salad, raw veggies, sandwiches, pita chips with hummus/guac/salsa, cupcakes, lemonade and iced tea. Or by using some of the suggestions from Mark Bittman’s 101 ideas for picnics. (peach tomato salad!)

Next week there is a Raw Food Potluck here in Edmonton, and I’m trying to decide what to make for it. (It’s happening on Saturday June 5th, 2010, email rawveganedmonton@gmail.com to find out more information.) I’m leaning towards a lasagna type of dish (or maybe an artichoke pate stuffed tomatoes). Ever since I made the salad with raw zucchini a month or so ago, I just want to use it again… in something… anything.

I picked up a few varieties of organic heirloom lettuce, and small container of black kalamata olives. I’m going to end up making my own tapenade (with olives, garlic, fresh basil, capers and olive oil) today, at least as a mini snack. I still want to check out the Olive vendor at the Edmonton City Market, but I’m going to be helping out with CityChase this Saturday, so once again, I will not be able to make it.

My lunch of lettuce wrapped quinoa with julienned tofu and a side of avocado tomato salad topped with sliced olives was really satisfying. I wonder why I don’t do this more often.

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May 25, 2010

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Guru Fine Indian Cuisine in Edmonton & Hip Hop in the Park

It’s funny how the trip to Guru Fine Indian Cuisine started. I posted a picture of my East Indian junk food snack from Blue Plate Diner on Facebook, and then a friend commented on how Edmonton lacked good Indian food when compared with Vancouver. I got my city patriotic foodie feathers ruffled a bit, and had to prove her wrong. Guru seemed like a good place to make that happen.

I was right of course, Guru (17021 100 Ave, Edmonton, AB) has great food and a great relaxed fine dining atmosphere. They seem open to modifying the dishes to suit vegans, and suggesting items. It was empty when we went in there, but it was midday Friday. When we visited on Saturday it was packed (so I’d recommend reservations on the weekend.)

Guru Edmonton Fine Dining - Spinach Chilgoza

We ordered the Guru Palak Chilgoza (minus the cream and butter) and the Guru Daal (minus the butter.) I wasn’t super enthusiastic about the Palak Chilgoza. Both my dining companion and I thought it would have been better with pretoasted pine nuts and coconut milk. However, I could not get enough of the Guru Daal. There was this satisfying quality to the dish, that lightly spicy umami combination that spreads from your mouth to the rest of your body. If you love cilantro, you’d probably love this dish too.

Another thing they had were creative little (alcoholic) drinks on the menu. Most of their martinis looked appealing, but we decided on the Coconut Kiss. Very tasty. But you might want to ask them to skip the cherry though. The red dye that those cherries isn’t actually carmine, but it’s kind of gross anyway.

Now for something unrelated… Hip Hop in the Park happened this past Saturday, and it was so much fun. I was surprised at how many people came to the event because we had slightly gloomy weather that day, but the turn out increased as the day progressed (as per usual).

My favourite thing happening besides the music was the graffiti wall. I love watching art happen, and people created some amazing images in a relatively short time span.

Grafiti Wall at Hip Hop at the Park

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May 22, 2010

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Blue Plate Diner

A friend and I went over to the Blue Plate Diner for a snack a couple of nights ago. It has a relatively inconspicuous location downtown, at least I’ve always missed it, and I know I’ve walked by countless times. I had been meaning to visit since I saw it listed in the VOA Dining Guide, and finally got around to doing so.

Blue Plate Diner

We ordered the Indian sampler plate since it was one of the few vegan items on the menu that we could share. I really liked one of the chutneys and the pakoras were quite good, but the samosa’s were way too greasy for my liking. If we do ever go to the Blue Plate Diner again, I’m going to try the Lentil & Nut loaf, because it looks interesting. Over all though I think the Blue Plate Diner is a great option for lacto-ovo vegetarians, moreso than vegans. But it is a nice downtown option open till 10pm everyday, which feels unusual, and easy to visit if you’re checking out Edmonton’s City Market. But of course, if you’re checking out the City Market, there are so many other options to snack on.

Speaking of the Edmonton City Market… I keep meaning to go, maybe next week. There are two vendors I want to check out specifically, Limegreens, and Fiesta Olives. They were mentioned on the Edmonton Journal’s website. Limegreens looks like a decent raw vegan snack source, and Fiesta Olives… well that’s pretty self explanatory. I’ve gotten on some kind of olive kick lately, and I’m craving a new variety of tapenade.

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And hey, Starbucks in certain Canadian locations has started carrying Lucy’s cookies. Made without eggs milk, peanuts or tree nut and gluten free, I’ll admit I didn’t know what to expect. I picked up a bag of four cookies for $1.75 while in St. Albert, Alberta and it wasn’t bad at all. Paired nicely with my pricy soy vanilla bean frappachino.

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