Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Magic with a Metal Ring: The Alamo

A highlight meal from the Syracuse trip was this creation I made for Jessica and her friend and me. Jessica named it the Alamo due to the Southwestern flavors. I wanted to create something fancy and impressive-looking, and equally impressive-tasting! We all agreed this met our expectations! (And exceeded them in Jessica's case, who admitted she wasn't too pumped for an all-vegan meal).



This creation would have tasted just as good without the presentation, but we eat with our eyes first, right? I had no idea it would be so easy to use this metal ring to make the meal look so fancy. I just put the ring on the plate, piled in the mashed sweet potatoes first, and layered the rest of the components on top, removed the ring, and voila!

The actual components to the meal were simple, so I"ll just list them here.
  • 2 mashed sweet potatoes with Southwest seasoning
  • 1 can black beans, 1 can corn, mixed, with S.W. seasoning
  • Roasted tomatoes and portobello mushrooms
  • sliced avocado
  • sauteed spinach with garlic and lemon
  • a dab of mashed sweet potato on the top with blue corn chips on top to garnish
  • the decorative sauce on the plate was a pre-made Mexican flavor blend I got in a tube
This whole meal took about 15-20 minutes to put together! 

Voyaging in Syracuse

I spent the last week or so in Syracuse, NY for Jessica's graduation! It was the perfect vacation, filled with friends, wine tasting, and plenty of delicious food! The following pictures chronicle a small portion of my vegtastic tasting journey. There were also some fantastic Italian restaurants where I enjoyed some freshly-made whole wheat pasta primavera and plenty of vino! I also made dinner with Jessica and her friend two nights, and those meals came out splendidly as well! I was so glad they enjoyed the vegan meals and we had a lot of fun in the process!

We started out at Strong Hearts, one of my faves. Jess had the "egg-trick sandwich," which is their vegan breakfast sandwich ("egg" and "sausage") on an English muffin. We both had the curry pumpkin soup with asparagus as well. (MMMMMmmmmmm!)



 I enjoyed this roasted veggie panini with chipotle potato salad!

For one meal, I ate at Mimi's Cafe, where I ate this delicious hummus/veggie sandwich on a brioche bun and a cup of veggie chili.
 

    

On campus, there is an eatery that specializes in juices, smoothies, and healthy fare, so I stopped in for some lunch. I had the "70's Veggie Wrap," which had plenty of fresh veggies, sprouts, and avocado. It came with their homemade chips and salsa. I also had their strawberry-orange-banana smoothie with flax seed. So yum!                      

This trip was truly a vegtastic voyage! Bails, I can't wait to see you and make some delicious and unforgettable memories!!!