What can a vegetarian eat in the lobster capital of the US? Tonight in the old town section of Portland, Maine we found the small Mediterranean style Olive Cafe located at 127 Commercial Street across the street from the port. The soup special of the day was Vegan Pumpkin soup, a hot and spicy delicious start to the meal. The menu also featured a Veggie Plate, Mediterranean Plate, stuffed grape leaves and Greek Salad. The charming cafe is small, the food is fresh and well prepared, and the staff was friendly and efficient.

I Love Sushi

Santa Cruz has a new Japanese Fusion Restaurant called I Love Sushi on Front St. The fabulous menu selection includes a section on Vegetarian Special Rolls. Here is the one I tried (YUM :-)

Video interview about Vegan Recipes from the Heart

Watch my interview

about Vegan Recipes from the Heart

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Last year I was fortunate to visit Athens, Poros, Aegina and Hydros. After tasting the fabulous salads in Greece, I adapted this Vegan Greek Salad that is included in my book, Vegan Recipes from the Heart.


¾ c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 T Lemon Juice
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 clove minced Garlic
½ t Salt
1/8 t freshly ground Pepper
1 T capers
2 oz Firm Tofu
1/2 t Salt
2 T White Rice Vinegar
1 Sliced cucumber
¼ Sliced Red Spanish Onion
¾ t Oregano
¾ t Basil
4 Quartered Roma Tomatoes
Kalamata Olives
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Slice tofu on a plate, sprinkle with salt, press by covering with another plate and placing a cup on top of the plate. Let stand for an hour. Drain tofu. Crumble tofu into a small bowl and sprinkle with rice vinegar and ¼ t salt. Set aside.

Add olive oil, lemon juice, Balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and capers to a jar. Cover and shake well.

Tear crisp cold lettuce into bit sized pieces in a salad bowl. Peel cucumber, score outside with a fork, and slice into salad bowl. Add slice red onion, oregano and basil, and toss. Add tomatoes and olives. Drain tofu and add. Sprinkle with dressing and toss again lightly.

Out of Africa Veggie Burgers

Don't you just love a pleasant surprise? On the drive from Phoenix to Sedona Arizona, we stopped to visit the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. What a wonderful place to observe tigers, giraffes, lions, bears, and reptiles in a natural setting! The children even got to feed the camel and the giraffe. And to my pleasant surprise, at the little food stand near the animal viewing area they had veggie burgers, and good ones too!

I just discovered a great way to enjoy a day in the city of roses: Portland, OR. To save our nerves, parking fees, gas and planet earth, we took the Tri-Met Max train right into downtown Portland. We walked a few blocks to Living Room Movies on 10th St SW to enjoy a 3D film in a small theater sitting in lounge chairs with foot rests and plenty of leg room. Many lunch entrée choices and a full bar are found in the lobby including vegan pizza and a vegan chocolate truffle, all of which can be enjoyed while watching the film.

Fresh strawberries are abundant and delicious right now in May. Try the vegan strawberry pie from my book Vegan Recipes from the Heart for a real treat!
1 Bottom Pie Crust (Vegan)
1 Quart Fresh Strawberries
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
3 T cornstarch

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Prick bottom of pie crust with a fork several times. Bake crust for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Cool.

Remove stems from strawberries, wash, sort and drain.

In medium saucepan, simmer 1 cup strawberries in 2/3 cup water for 3 minutes. In a bowl, blend cornstarch, sugar and 1/3 cup water. Stir into boiling strawberries and boil one minute, stirring constantly.

Arrange remaining strawberries in baked pie shell. Pour cooked mixture over strawberries. Refrigerate for 2 hours to cool. Cut and enjoy!

News about my book Vegan Recipes from the Heart

Josie Cowden wrote a nice article about my book Vegan Recipes from the Heart in this week's Aptos Times. I will be signing the book and offering tasting samples from the recipes at the first Friday Open House at Seascape Sports Club this Friday May 7 from 6 to 7 PM. Come on down if you are in town.

Picnic and Wine Tasting in Santa Cruz

A wonderful way to travel while wine tasting with friends in the Santa Cruz Mountains is ABC Limo (abclimos.net). With a driver we could all taste wines and not have to worry about the curvy mountain roads. Burrell School (burrellschool.com) was our first stop where the “Detention” Zinfandel stood out as a hearty favorite. Next door at the beautiful new Tuscan style Regale Winery (regalewine.com), we found the Chardonnay to be light, buttery and delicious. ABC even brought a gourmet picnic lunch for us to share while sitting at a picnic table in the lushly landscaped grounds (mine was veggie per request). Our last stop was up to the top peak at Silver Mountain (silvermtn.com). This organic winery uses sustainable methods. The solar panels provide power, and the roof will soon collect rainwater while also providing shade to cool the wine barrels below. This small family winery is not always open to the public, so call ahead to make an appointment. Crackers and Swiss cheese were served along with the wines. We all liked the Pinot Noir the best here.

All of these excellent wineries charge a tasting fee that is refundable upon purchase. It was a beautiful day in May for my friend’s birthday, and such a nice treat to be out in the sunshine seeing views from the mountain top and not having to worry about the ride home.

Baseball by train to San Francisco with Veggie lunch

Yesterday we took a fun day trip to see the San Francisco Giants via Cal Train from San Jose (caltrain.com). We bought two round trip tickets before boarding for less than it would cost to park a car in San Francisco. We sat upstairs to get a better view of the scenery. The seats were comfortable, and the train had bathrooms but no services. There was a train car for riders to store bikes for the hour and a half trip. We walked two blocks from the station to the beautiful AT&T ballpark. On the club level we found a table to eat lunch inside.
I found many vegetarian options, and chose the grilled portabella mushroom sandwich on toasted foccacia with grilled red pepper and fresh basil. Vegans could ask for it without cream cheese. It was delicious and complimented the must-have garlic fries. Other veggie options: Greek Salad in flatbread, and Marghereta Pizza with cheese, fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. The Strawberry Shortcake looked delicious!
Even though the Giants lost (even after Tim Lincecum struck out 11 batters), it was a very enjoyable day trip.

This was the line of people waiting for me to sign my book on Sunday April 25.

Vegan Recipes from the Heart

http://www.VeganRecipesFromTheHeart.com

Signing at LA Festival of books this weekend

I'm excited to participate in the Los Angeles Times Book Fair this weekend where I will be signing my new book, Vegan Recipes from the Heart.