Polpette Vegetariane

Coming soon: Homemade vegetarian Italian meatballs

The Best of San Diego, California

My vegan food favorites of San Diego...

Best Sangria: The Linkery
      -Both the red and white are to die for. They also have delicious (local) vegan food. Rumor has it that they also serve the same sangria at El  Take it Easy.

Best Vegan "Fish & Chips": Ritual Tavern
      -Beer battered eggplant with fries... genius.

Best Vegan Pizza: Blind Lady Ale House
      -The vegan pesto, topped with arugula, crimini mushrooms, and pickled onions is my favorite.

Best Vegan Veggie Burgers: Veg-N-Out
      -They have a huge variety of veggie burgers- all delicious.

Best Soy Chai Tea Latte: Caffe Calabria
      -Spiced or vanilla, iced or hot. Step aside Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and (sorry...) Peet's, these guys make the best chai latte, hands down.

Best Vegan Mexican Food: Ranchos Cocina 
       -Their vegan lentil, avocado, and vegan cheese burrito is my favorite. They have vegan/ vegetarian specials everyday, like "carne esada burritos". Another plus- it's family run and owned!

Best CSA Box Supplier: Suzie's Farm 
       -Amazing organic and local produce for a very reasonable price. You can find them at Farmers Markets all around San Diego- Little Italy, Hillcrest, North Park, La Jolla, Ocean Beach, etc.

Best Tea Shop: Halcyon Tea
       -Adorable little shop in South Park, with a very nice variety of tasty loose leaf teas.

Best Vegan Popsicles: Viva Pops
       -These guys make some unique pops, and always have a handful of delicious vegan ones to choose from.

Best Vegan Friendly Grocery Stores: People's Co-op and Sprouts

(And I'm sure I'll be adding more.)
xo - T

Wild Rocket Panini

A few weeks ago, I was exploring my motherland on a trip of a life time... drinking phenomenal wines, sipping on limoncello, attempting to speak the beautiful language, lounging on a tiny beach with the locals, eating copious amounts of carbs, soaking in the breathtaking landscapes, art, and beautiful people, touring ancient ruins, milking goats on an organic farm, befriending a donkey, and picking berries for breakfast. Although at the end of my trip I was craving an American breakfast and some good Mexican food, Italy knows what's up when it comes to food. 

Along with cigarettes, classy Italian cuss words, family, vino, scooters, never leaving the tiny towns the grew up in, etc... Italians love their "rocket" (also known as rucola, rughetta, or as we call it- arugula.) Very early in my trip, I was told that the Italians love arugula so much because, since Roman times, they have believed it to be an aphrodisiac. The best pizzas I had were simple, and topped with this flavorful green. Since a good amount of the food I had on my trip was just vegetarian, not vegan, I am hoping to adapt many of my favorite dishes I enjoyed in Italy to my vegan diet, now that I am back in my own kitchen. Here is my first attempt at a vegan dish inspired by my gastronomic adventures in Italy.

Last weekend, I found this organic wild arugula at the Long Beach Marina farmer's market (which takes place every Sunday in the Alamitos Bay Marina, for those of you who are in the area- over by Schooner or Later/ Joe's Crab Shack/ Whole Foods.) I was pretty excited about finding fresh, wild "rocket" here, and was planning on using it in a pizza until I found these vegan deli slices (below) by my favorite "meat" company at Whole Foods. So, panini it was. The smoked tomato deli slices slightly resemble salami, but are only full of good stuff. (The company also makes sage-lentil deli slices which I haven't tried yet.)

Wild Rocket Panini 

(Makes one sandwich) 

2 slices of (dairy and egg free) whole wheat bread 

earth balance natural buttery spread

original veganaise 

a handful of fresh wild "rocket" (arugula) 

3 slices of field roast's smoked tomato deli slices 

a handful of daiya mozzarella (my favorite vegan cheese)

While your skillet warms to a medium temperature, lightly butter (earth balance) one side of each slice of bread. Place the un-buttered side down in the skillet first to warm but not toast. Turn the slices over so that the buttered side is down, sprinkle the daiya mozzarella cheese on each slice and allow melt. 

Once melted, remove from the skillet and spread a dab of veganaise on each slice. (Veganaise has a very mellow garlic taste so it blends nicely with the other ingredients in the panini, and helps keep the sandwich together.) Add the three slices of smoked tomato deli slices, top with arugula, and voila- you have a (vegan) taste of Italia. It's my new favorite sandwich, especially when it is accompanied by a nice glass of rosso. Buon appetito. XO Theresa

Rainy Day Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This weekend was one of our first rains of the season...My favorite ways to spend a rainy day include some music making, game playing and enjoying warm comfort food. Being vegan makes the third part a bit more challenging than usual. On a trip to the Davis Co-Op, Nick and I picked up some freshly baked sliced French bread (from http://daviswiki.org/Village_Bakery), vegan monterey jack cheese (http://www.followyourheart.com/), crimini mushrooms and a poblano pepper, in hopes of creating some simple and satisfying sandwiches. We began with sauteing the sliced mushrooms and roasted the poblano pepper over the gas flame on the range, buttered up both sides of the slices of bread with Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, warmed the bread for a bit, added the slices of vegan cheese and covered the skillet to help melt the cheese. After the cheese began to melt we added the sauteed mushrooms and slices of the poblano pepper. Once the bread was toasted, we finished assembling and proceeded to devour before playing some Banana Grams and Jenga. They were everything we wanted and more :)

Veggie Sandwich

My new favorite vegan sandwich....

-sliced bread (it's really good toasted too)
-Tofutti's "better than cream cheese"
-sun dried tomatoes
-sliced cucumbers
-baby spinach leaves

... you can find the Tofutti (vegan cream cheese) at Trader Joe's.

Bon appetit :)

tasty tofu?

I haven't been the biggest fan of tofu, but I thought I'd give it another chance (and I'm glad I did) :)

-Marinate TJ's "organic firm tofu" overnight in Island Soyaki Sauce (SO GOOD!)
-Grill the marinated tofu in a skillet with olive oil until it is browned
-While the tofu is cooking, warm lavash bread (or whatever sounds good to you) with some vegan cheedar cheese
-Add the tofu to your bread and wrap it up for a quick sandwich

:)