A {Vegan} Love Letter to LA in Two Parts (Continued)

This is a continuation from a previous post, wherein I heralded LA's amazing weather and several of the fantastic restaurants that we visited while traveling there. Here, I'll discuss a few more vegan restaurants, and another one of my favorite things about California: The desert...

| The Food |

\\ SunCafe //

Before going on any kind of trip, I always feel compelled to compile a list of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars to use as a reference during our frolic. In California, SunCafe's Studio City location made it onto said list. That's because it’s an entirely organic, vegan restaurant that offers fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, and several raw, and/or gluten-free options (if you’re so inclined).    

On our visit we began with the raw Lettuce Leaf Tacos, which consisted of romaine lettuce leaves filled with “sun chorizo,” cashew cheese, and pico de gallo, plus a drizzle of avocado and basil ranch dressing.

A {Vegan} Love Letter to LA in Two Parts

As a New Yorker it’s become apparent that I’m not supposed to fall in love with, or even really like, Los Angeles. Bestowing any type of warmth on LA beyond a stoic eye-roll is tantamount to declaring a fatwa on the crowded, filthy, noisy city that I call home. I mean, there’s a reason why the East Coast/West Coast Biggie/2Pac feud raged so hard during my youth, right? Even Chloe Sevigny agrees.

Nonetheless, at the risk of sounding like I’m betraying The City of Dreams, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and declare that I love Los Angeles. Like, seriously, LOVE it. Not enough to consider leaving NYC, mind you (even after being hit by a car!), but enough to wax poetic about it for at least two very long blog posts…

Buckle up.

{VeganMoFo} Raw Zucchini Pasta w/ Creamy Avocado Sauce

I know, I know, I just did a post about a raw zucchini pasta two weeks ago.  But come on!  That was fourteen whole days ago!  And it's not like you can ever have too many zucchini pasta recipes... right?

Also:  CH and I are headed off on a mini-vacation today (we're going to upstate New York to visit Farm Sanctuary and hit the wine trail, if you must know).  As a result, I'm gonna keep this post short and sweet.

{VeganMoFo} Raw Zucchini Pasta w/ Fresh Tomato Sauce

I absolutely love the way that eating raw foods makes me feel.  It's kinda my equivalent to that feeling some people describe when making the leap from an omnivorous diet to a vegan one.

Since my path to veganism essentially started at birth (my mom can attest to this fact), and I was a long-time vegetarian before becoming a vegan, I didn't experience an overnight change in my mood and energy when I altered my diet.

Honestly, my changes have been much more subtle (but nonetheless magnificent), which sometimes makes me envious of people who have a different story.  Fortunately, however, I've been able to cultivate that missing feeling through raw foods.

VeganMoFo: Orzo Con Confetti (AKA Orzo Salad)

If you're anything like me (and I know I am), you find it almost impossible to watch shows like "The Sopranos" without being overcome by the sudden urge to inhale a huge batch of pasta. 

"If we're outta nooch, someone's gettin' whacked."

VeganMoFo: Orecchiette Con Broccoli

It's official. I am completely in LOVE (or maybe obsessed is a better word) with broccoli! And it's all thanks to rain-covered basil leaves... and a phenomenal recipe by the Urban Vegan.

A few nights ago I was all set to make my famous pesto pasta recipe for dinner.  A Bulls game was about to come on TV, CH and I had both suffered through very, very long days, and all I wanted to do was sit down to a quick, easy, reliably-delicious pesto dinner.  Instead, what I got was a total recipe upset.

VeganMoFo: Creamy Dijon-Dill Pasta Salad

Sometimes, nothing quite beats a rich, creamy, vegan-mayo-covered pasta salad. I mean, I'm all for healthier versions of pasta salad (and I usually prefer them) but like I said, sometimes...

For this dish, I basically just subbed in some alphabet pasta for the potatoes in my Creamy Dijon-Dill Potato Salad recipe.  It seemed kinda crazy at first - turning a potato salad into a pasta salad - but it's not that weird if you really think about it.

Vegan Eats in Texas, Toronto, & Chicago

Despite all appearances to the contrary, I'm not attempting to capture the title of "most idle vegan food blog known to man." It just seems as though life occasionally (frequently) gets in the way of blogging - I know, I know, shocking stuff...

As a result of my long absence, I've decided to post a ton of food-porn pics from places that I've visited, like San Antonio, Texas (where I just returned from my younger brother's Air Force Basic Training graduation); Toronto (where CH and I spent a lovely vaca last summer); and Chicago (the place I nearly call home).

Hopefully all of these pics will make up for my lack of posting during the past few months. I mean, they do say a picture's worth 1,000 words right? So, this should pretty much cover it...

Cold Sesame Noodles

Ah yes, Cold Sesame Noodles. One of those simple, yet hard-to-perfect dishes...

I tried cold sesame noodles for the first time while visiting NYC as a Senior in high school. I was there for a Drama Club trip - the trip was packed with plays, musicals, and tons of sight-seeing - but I fell in love with the food. And, of course, the city.

Holy Michael Phelps, It's Been a Long Time!

It's official: my nearly 3-month-long hiatus from Veggie Terrain (coupled with a recent 4-day "complete blog shutdown") has finally ended!

But as much as I've truly missed blogging, I'm proud to say that I accomplished a lot during my absence. During the past few months, I graduated from law school, completed an undeniably hellish Bar-prep program, and ultimately sat for the Bar Exam, itself. And although I won't know whether I passed until the 2nd week of October (talk about traumatic), I'm trying to be as positive as possible, and to take comfort in the fact that I've never worked so hard at anything in my life...

So, with that little bit of Bar Exam talk out of the way, let's get to the new - and hopefully improved - Veggie Terrain!

Lemon Garlic Pasta

Pasta and I have been good friends for a very, very long time. (See Exhibit A: my ever-expanding waistline). In fact, I'm so in love with pasta that one of my uncles has been calling me "Noodles" since I was around 11 or 12 years old. (Back then, my favorite meal to make was a gigantic tower of spinach-flavored spaghetti, slathered with butter and garlic salt - eh.)

Despite my remaining affection for the nickname Noodles, I do like to think that my pasta tastes have matured a bit since I was little. These days, I tend to stick to a handful of my favorite sauces (aglio e olio & pesto) and types of pasta (penne & spaghetti). However, I do like to throw something new into the mix occasionally, just to keep things interesting.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (Garlic + Olive Oil)

Thanks to the crazy ice storm that slammed into the Midwest this past weekend, CH and I were stuck in our apartment for two solid days. We attempted to venture out for dinner on Friday night, but after ice skating to the car and hearing sirens incessantly blaring, we decided driving probably wasn't the best idea.

So, we returned to the warmth of our apartment, snuggled up on the couch, and got ready for a serious "Sopranos" marathon. And even though we've both seen almost every episode twice, we decided to start at the very beginning, instead of skipping ahead to the season we haven't seen yet (ie: Season 6). How's that for self-control?

Anyway, between vicariously visiting the Bada Bing and accompanying Tony Soprano on a hit or two, CH and I realized that an insane amount of food is consumed on that show! Honestly, it's almost impossible to watch the "Sopranos" without becoming ravenously hungry, no matter how recently you just ate. In fact, I'm getting hungry now just thinking about it...

Salsa Pasta Salad

Sometimes I just feel like having some good old-fashioned pasta salad. I mean, there's nothing quite like a chilled bowl of pasta (dressed up with a few accouterments, of course) to help get you through that midday slump. Unfortunately, however, it seems as though most pasta salads are heavy on the mayo and light on the flavor.

Yea - not exactly my bag.

Thus, enter "Salsa Pasta Salad," which is both flavorful and non-mayonnaised (vegan or otherwise). And although this salad isn't quite perfect yet, I appreciate being able to throw it into a plastic container for lunch in about 30 seconds flat.

The recipe can be found here, but please make sure to use olive oil in place of the vegetable oil - it tastes better, and it's so much better for you!

Pasta + Marinara

Believe it or not, despite being a HUGE pasta lover, this was my first attempt at making completely home-made marinara sauce. As such, I'm going to wait to post a recipe until I perfect it a little more.

However, I will share the fact that I found an awesome new type of pasta, which I used in this dish. Although it looks a lot like spaghetti, it's actually called Bucatini. It has small ridges on the outside of it and is hollow in the middle. It's also about the same thickness of spaghetti. Truthfully, it kinda reminds me of a thick version of one of those coffee stirrer straws.