It was so awesome, similar to Indian food, but quite a bit spicier with a few more veggies offered. All nonmeat items are vegan (there are 15!), so the menu was easy. None of us were sure how much we liked the injera. It was a lot more sour than I’m used to in a bread. But we will definitely go back to Aster’s.
Although it was rainy and not exactly an ice cream type of evening, I had already decided it was time to try Oatscreme. We went to Dhaba Joy, a small vegan bakery that also serves Oatscreme.
I couldn’t hold my ice cream cone and snap a picture, but I can say that Oatscreme is smooth and creamy, and the vanilla is better than the chocolate (I got a swirl). We also got 2 to-go items, an Oat and Blueberry coffee cake that was really good….
and a Whoopie Pie that was so sweet it hurt your teeth.
Next time we’ll try a brownie.
For Sunday dinner I made Chik’n Seitan from LDV, then went ahead and baked it in homemade barbecue sauce to be sure it held up on the grill. We put some onions and a yellow pepper on the grill too. The chik’n was a little dense, but really tasty.
On the side was Fattoush.
The recipe I found on the ‘net said it was from Bryanna’s Almost No Fat Cookbook. I couldn’t use purslane a/k/a pigweed because I’m allergic to it when it pollinates in the fall, so I used watercress instead. It was deliciously different, with romaine, arugula, watercress, and mint. And the pita croutons are so good!
We also had the ususal broccoli, this time with cauliflower.
And a beautiful yellow rice with black beans from this recipe. The beans had chipotles in them and this too turned out to be a really good dish.
For dessert I made a revamped version of my recipe for Urban Vegan’s contest, Extreme Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Tart with Caramel Sauce. Instead of tartlets, which I decided was too much pastry, I made a regular size tart. It’s so chocolate-y good!
and a Whoopie Pie that was so sweet it hurt your teeth.
Next time we’ll try a brownie.
For Sunday dinner I made Chik’n Seitan from LDV, then went ahead and baked it in homemade barbecue sauce to be sure it held up on the grill. We put some onions and a yellow pepper on the grill too. The chik’n was a little dense, but really tasty.
On the side was Fattoush.
The recipe I found on the ‘net said it was from Bryanna’s Almost No Fat Cookbook. I couldn’t use purslane a/k/a pigweed because I’m allergic to it when it pollinates in the fall, so I used watercress instead. It was deliciously different, with romaine, arugula, watercress, and mint. And the pita croutons are so good!
We also had the ususal broccoli, this time with cauliflower.
And a beautiful yellow rice with black beans from this recipe. The beans had chipotles in them and this too turned out to be a really good dish.
For dessert I made a revamped version of my recipe for Urban Vegan’s contest, Extreme Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Tart with Caramel Sauce. Instead of tartlets, which I decided was too much pastry, I made a regular size tart. It’s so chocolate-y good!
Yes, I’m now on a diet.
26 comments:
that restaurant meal looks great, as does every single dish you made for Sunday Dinner - and that Oatscreme ice cream sounds really tasty... I've never heard of it before! Delish.
Diann, thanks first of all for your post on my blog. i was REALLY upset about the guy who caught that fish and his placement of it! i mean, my car was parked right nearby and i know the whole family saw the "Go Vegan" and "I Don't Eat Anything With a Face" stuff on there...
ANYway, thanks for your comment about that.
Yer chicken seitan is great! Look at that BBQ sauce on there. Good idea to put enough on so it wouldn't tumble in the grill. The onions and yellow pepper must have been so good, too. i adore grilled veggies...
What a cool vegan bakery you have there. NEAT!! i had never heard of Oatscreme, what a great taste sensation and idea THAT is. Wow. i prefer vanilla soft serve and ice "cream" to chocolate, so i think i'd want a big ol' cone of it... i've got an evil sweet tooth (my dentist loves me) so that Whoopie Pie is my dream come true...
Aster's food looks so good!! i went on a blind date a few years ago and the guy met me at a local lake and brought some food just like that from a San Diego area Ethiopian restaurant that looked a lot like that. It was SO good.
i had the same reaction you did... that it was like Indian food but with more veggies. Mine was a lot spicier than Indian food, but that's because i'm mellow w/the spices when i eat Indian food...
Everything i haven't mentioned also appears insanely tasty... your dessert is a winner in my book, by the way. Well done!
a diet? bah! a vegan diet of course. ;p
Oooh, that dessert is sure to win the contest...I should just bow out now!
your sunday dinner looks and sound amazing, like always!!
wow what a dessert!
Dessert first--that looks INCREDIBLE!!!
That said, everything looks really good. The black beans and rice look especially tasty, and I love the way you served it up in a ring like that! I should make some seitan again sometime soon... I haven't done it in a while but your photo is telling me that the time has come!
I always enjoy your writing and look forward to each new post on your blog. The amount of food you make always astounds me. It looks so tempting and yummy. Glad I found your blog
oddly enough, I have always liked hummus; just not the actual chickpea (I didn't like the texture of the garbanzo bean - I could tolerate it in hummus since it's a smooth texture). but now I can enjoy chickpeas in hummus and on its own, yay! :0)
aww, thank you for the incredibly nice comments about my parents - I'm so lucky to have them in my life, and that they are in a terrific marriage. They've been together since the '70s, and they'll continue to be together forever. That's terrific that your parents have been married almost 50 years!! Very rare these days, with so many divorces. I'm also glad to hear that you too are part of a loving family - support is so important to have in one's life. It's definitely what keeps me going!
Regis & Kelly is definitely an entertaining show - it's been around for soo long, and is a lot of fun to watch. Kiwi highly recommends it :0)
Wow! So much great looking food. I've never had Ethiopian food, or injera, but I have to admit that this 'sour' taste everyone describes it as is a little off-putting.
Funny how something as simple as rice and beans can be so beautiful.
And that pie at the end...oh my. :)
that tart looks like heaven on a plate. yum!
i love your dinner spreads. always such a great variety of flavorful foods.
so...when's dinner? ;)
Isn't oatscream great?! It is actually made in MN (where I live) and it is such a nice treat in the summer!
Your meal looks amazing!
Courtney
Oh my goodness DiAnn, I'm coming over. :) When we move back to Houston we may need to make regular Sunday evening trips to Austin, what do you think? ;-)
Wow, oatscream sounds so interesting. I really want to try it. I checked out their website and I'm so fascinated by the ingredients and how they don't use any additional sweeteners.
Your pie - OMG! YUUUUMMMMM! I wonder if I have all the ingredients to make that right now...
We have 2 Ethiopian restaurants nearby (and by that, I mean a 45 minute drive away). Ipromised myself that if I ever have errands to run in that direction I will definitely try it but, unfortunately, no errands have presented themselves yet. It seems kind of silly to drive that far just for lunch. :)
Your weekend dinners are the best. I wish I was your neighbor. You always have so many new and creative dishes.
So much deliciousness! I've never heard of oatscreme before, but I'm always intrigued by new dairy free ice creams. That whoopie pie looks incredible, too...as does your chocolate tart. Yum!
I loved the look of your Sunday dinner, lots of small delicious spoonfuls, and speaking of spoonfuls...that Ethiopian veggie plate looks really fabulous too!
Thank you for sharing, I shall toddle off to find an ethiopian cookbook :)
JudyMac
Oh Diann, Your chicken seitan looks wonderful. You even have grill marks. I was lazy and plopped ours in the broiler.
Your tart is surely to die for!
Yum-O!
Yellow rice and black beans, sounds like dinner for tomorrow night. Did you use the entire amount of oil and did you use white or brown basmati rice?
Yummy blog!!!
Hey, Sheree. I'm sure I didn't use more than 1 tablespoon of oil and all I had was brown basmati rice (texmati, actually), but that takes 45 minutes, so I used jasmine rice. I thought the white rice would turn out a prettier shade of yellow.
The Ethiopian food looks delicious. There's an Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago that I haven't had a chance to check out yet but it's on my to-do list.
I've had Oatscreme that was sold in pints but not the soft-serve style. How cool you found a place that sells it :)
I've missed your food creations, Diann! I'm so glad to be back home and getting to catch up on my favorite blog reads. I love ethiopian food! And it took me a long while to get used to injera's sour, fermented taste, but I'm in love with it now. And fattoush! Let me sing the praises of the salad perfection known as fattoush. Mmmmmm. Summery goodness.
All the food on your table looks great!!
I laughed when you said "yes, I'm now on a diet"...ummm...yeah, that's what I said after inhaling a ton of fries last night (when I was supposed to be eating a beet salad). Oh well. Life goes on.
-Crystal
Oh wow.. that tarlett looks AMAZING! I can't wait to see all of the submissions...
The rice and beans look fabulous... YUM!
Diann, I agree that the white would be a prettier yellow. Thanks, I will try this next week. I will keep you posted... Thanks for the great idea!
I've never heard of Oatscreme before, even though I live very close to Austin! I'll have to try it some time.
Mmmm, that tart looks amazing! I agree with your comments about Ethiopian food, I love all the veggies but wasn't sure about the injera bread. Also I have to thank you for your recommendation for NadaMoo ice cream awhile back. I found it in the whole foods here in Houston and tried it out last night and loved the creamy texture! So will the tart recipe ever be published or do we have to wait till the contest is over??
austin looks like a great place to be a vegan! and of course, your food is always inspiring and beautiful. thanks for entering my contest.
You won me over when I saw the Ethiopian food! Believe it or not, I found Oatscreme in Indiana before I moved to Philly and loved the strawberry! Cool that you have found it as well.
Post a Comment