It’s a Great Time to Be a Vegan!

I seriously just had one of the best vegan weeks ever.

Last weekend, H and I went down the Cape and headed over to Wellfleet’s Oysterfest with a bunch of our friends.  And wouldn’t you know, in the middle of an oyster-themed event, they had a vegetarian vendor!

Apparently Karoo is an omni South African restaurant in Eastham with tons of veggie options, but for Oysterfest they only brought the veggie stuff. The menu looked so good (and was 100% vegan)!

H and I split the samosas, which were DELICIOUS, especially topped (okay, doused) with sweet fruity chutney.

And I got the Kibbi:

I’ve had vegetarian kibbi (or “kibbeh”) a hundred times but I’m not sure I ever had one made with pumpkin.  It was really good!  Most of all I was so excited to find a new vegan-friendly dining option on the Cape!

On Monday, my first post as a contributing blogger went up on Chic Vegan!  I wrote all about vegan Halloween treats, including these skull cupcakes:

Click here to read the post!

Then on Tuesday, I went to the farmer’s market, where I bought incredible local rainbow chard and apples, and saw the most beautiful sunset.

There was also a full rainbow over the market, but I only took a mental picture of that because photographs of rainbows never really capture that moment.

Then when I got home, this was waiting for me:

Ahhhhh I have been so excited for Isa’s new book and it’s finally here!  I would buy anything this woman writes, truly.  She is brilliant and hilarious, and this book is amazing.  It is full-color with truly stunning photography and styling, and obviously the recipes are just so on-point.  I’m about halfway through (yes, I always read my cookbooks cover-to-cover) and I’ve already bookmarked more than I can count.  One of my biggest goals this year (which I have actually managed with some success!) is to make dinner for H and me most weeknights.  I know this book will help with that and I can’t wait to start cooking out of it.

I also enjoyed some downright delectable food this week.  One of H’s co-workers brought a box of his homegrown squash to work one day, which resulted in us having a butternut squash in our kitchen that must have weighed 5 or 6 lbs.  I roasted it early in the week and we’ve been eating it six ways to Sunday since then.  I also toasted the seeds and those have been an additional delight.

Here it is mashed on a sandwich with baby beets and romaine lettuce from the farmer’s market:

Or featured in one of the yummiest salads I’ve ever had:

This contained a bunch of local produce (romaine, carrots, and red bell peppers which I roasted) plus the squash and its seeds, tamari roasted chickpeas, baby beets, red onion, and olives, topped with a drizzle of garlic-infused olive oil.

Thursday night H and I watched the Red Sox dominate Game 1 of the World Series while we enjoyed one of our new favorite weeknight recipes, Butternut Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheeze from Oh She Glows (click for recipe).

I am obsessed with this recipe.  I always prepare it with some steamed broccoli or another green and add liberal amounts of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper to it.  If you already have a roasted butternut squash on hand like I did, you can make this in as little time as it takes to cook a pot of pasta.  It’s absolutely perfect and we both love it!

So as you can see, it’s been a terrific week filled with wonderful vegan things, but it’s not over yet!  Tonight H and I are going out to dinner to celebrate our two-year anniversary at The Elephant Walk, a French-Cambodian restaurant in Boston that has really excellent food and atmosphere, and a large portion of their menu is or can be made vegan.

AND…

Tomorrow and Sunday is the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival and I am SOOO excited!!!  I plan to show up with an empty stomach and a full wallet and leave in exactly the opposite condition.

If you are anywhere near Boston this weekend you HAVE to check this out!

Happy weekend!!!