Los Angeles Vegan Cooking Classes

Since I can't afford to go this time, I thought I'd let all of you know that there's a cooking class at Madeleine Bistro (Thank goodness they finally improved their website. Good work Chef David and Molly!) on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 10:30am. Please take the class so I can live vicariously through you! You can read here about what a fabulous time I had at the cooking class I attended there earlier in the year.

Their e-mail announcement is as follows:

As always the class is filled with Chef David’s enthusiasm, humor, and passion for cooking and eating well. The class includes recipes and demonstration, questions and answers, and a three course meal. The classes are always fun and informative so bring a friend to share the experience. The cost is $75 per person; reservations required.

The theme and menu for the next class are...

August 16, 2008 cooking class:

Using Fresh Herbs to Create a Classic French Menu

Soupe au pistou
(Provencal vegetable and white bean soup with rustic basil pesto)
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Grilled portobella mushroom with heirloom tomato “béarnaise”
(tarragon-scented hollandaise) , polenta and haricots verts

Cherry tart with lavender crème anglaise

While you're at it, go support the sisters of Spork Foods by taking a class or 12. They have their schedule posted through September, which means you'll have plenty of opportunities to experience the joy that is a Spork Foods class. You can read about the 2 Spork classes I took here and here.

Real Food Daily

I'm shocked that this is my first time blogging about Real Food Daily! It was my first vegan restaurant and still one that I love very much. There are two locations and, a couple weeks ago, I ate at the one in West Hollywood.

I absolutely have my favorite dishes at RFD, but I thought I'd try something new (to me) this time. Knowing that I love Follow Your Heart's Vegan Reuben, I opted for the Total Reuben (from the menu: tempeh, tofu cheese spread, sauerkraut, thousand island dressing, sourdough rye bread) with Caesar salad (their Caesar dressing contains tofu, olive oil, lemon, vegenaise, miso, garlic, capers, nutritional yeast, nori & spices) on the side and Iced Roseberry Tea (you can see the color of the tea in the background of the photo).

I hate to say it, but I did not care for this reuben. There was something sweet about it that I'm guessing came either from the cashew cheese or the thousand island dressing and the bread didn't taste at all like rye. Maybe they ran out of rye that day or maybe theirs just isn't very pronounced. Their Caesar salad is also amazing, but the croutons on mine that day weren't great.

Do not let this post discourage you from eating at RFD. Their food is great and there are a lot of options. My favorite sandwich there is the Club and I highly suggest your order it because it's consistently fabulous! The Yin Yang Salad and Cold Soba Salad and Better with Cheddar Nachos are delicious, as are their desserts, hot drinks, and just about everything else I've tried there (which is a lot since I've been dining there for 10 years!). I'm sure there will be many future posts about RFD, so stay tuned...or go try it yourself!

Strawberry Has No Place in Chai

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to meet the blogger behind Vegan Grub at Juliano's Raw for shakes. Since I'd already had their chocolate shake twice, I thought I'd break out of my shell and have something different. It didn't take much contemplation to decide on the Chai smoothie with agave in lieu of honey (from their menu: fruit with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and cardamom). Now, I love chai, but this smoothie tasted absolutely nothing like chai. It tasted like a strawberry shake and I thought it was satisfactory, but nothing special. The chocolate shake, one the other hand, is spectacular! Oh, well, I guess we all have to go out on a limb and try something new every once in a while, right?

If You Can't Take the Heat...

I apologize for my infrequent posts. There's a big project on my plate that's taking up a lot of my time. You'll find out about it soon enough, but until then, I'll try to be better!

Do you recall that I recently baked Chocolate Chip Cookies and made
Italian Wedding Soup despite the summer heat? Well, I also baked Happy Herbivore's delicious tester brownies! I didn't photograph them, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Just so you don't think I'm playing favorites and only heating up my kitchen for the fabulously talented Happy Herbivore, here are some other reasons I've been using the stove and oven recently.

I had broccoli and green beans in the fridge that I needed to use before they expired, so I tossed them with a bit of toasted sesame oil, sprinkled them with sesame seeds, and roasted them at 425 degrees. Yes, you read that correctly; I heated the oven to 425 degrees on a 100 degree day. If it makes you feel like I'm slightly less crazy, I ate the leftovers cold later in the week for lunch.

On another day, I was in the mood for spicy Mexican food and I wanted to use a brown rice pizza crust that I'd defrosted. These desires led me to create a Mexican pizza of sorts with Trader Joe's refried black beans (despite the claim that there are jalapenos in these black beans, they're seemingly devoid of heat) and Follow Your Heart cheddar cheese. This was fantastic, especially with a bit of chipotle hot sauce on it.

I made stew over the weekend, but I think I'll save that for another post because there's a bit of a story behind it.

Happy Herbivore Chocolate Chip Cookies

Remember when my camera grew legs and chucked the deuce? Well, my fabulous mom bought me another one exactly like the first (I promise I'll try to figure out how to turn off the flash). Murphy's Law dictates that I should now find the original camera, but I have my doubts. While we're waiting to see if that happens, here's a photo of Happy Herbivore's chocolate chip cookies (at the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is a test recipe and I'm not at liberty to share).

Music, Magic, & Make Peace

Today's episode of Rachael Ray's daytime talk show featured a segment on Jason Mraz's and Justin Kredible's Music, Magic, & Make Peace Tour. Click on the episode link above to see the clip where Justin discusses their biodiesel bus and treating their bodies well with a raw food diet (complete with a raw food chef who accompanies them on the tour). You'll even see the guys swilling green smoothies that leave green mustaches on their adorable faces.

Italian Wedding Soup

I'm sorry; did you think I was currently enduring 100 degree weather here in my area of Los Angeles? Well, you were right, but that didn't stop me from making this soup for dinner tonight (followed by a big bowl of fresh blueberries). It's yet another Happy Herbivore test recipe. Go check out her blog and vote on the format in which she should, in your opinion, publish her upcoming cookbook!