Month: August 2012

Restaurant review: Eatery 1025 – Utah

I have found a new restaurant with all sorts of vegan and vegetarian love coming out of the kitchen… Eatery 1025 in Bountiful. Based off recommendations on UrbanSpoon, my friend suggested Eatery 1025 and I’m more than delighted that we went there for our business lunch!

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For appetizer, Susan enjoyed the bruchetta with arugula and fennel. Messy just the way bruchetta is supposed to be. The balsamic drizzle allowed for a pop of earthy-tartness among the veggies. Wow.
For main meal, she tried out the cobb… Overflowing with chopped goodness. Before I became vegan, I always ordered cobb salads-hard to not fork a grilled chicken morsel!

 

eatery1For my appetizer, I tried the beet soup. Oh. My. Stars. This cold soup had so many layers of flavor, I could’ve been sitting alone and totally enjoyed the pop of flavors like a great conversation of many layers-sweet…earthy…tangy…sour. If this soup is ever on the menu, GET IT.

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I opted for another appetizer as my main dish: Hummus with pita and veggies. The roasted tomato hummus was creamy with just the right amount of texture. Fresh and crisp bell pepper, cucumber and carrot sticks were a welcome coolness to the hot summer lunch. The pita wedges were plentiful. Just the right amount of hummus to match.
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Mike the waiter… fab is all I can say about this hot-headed, funny chap. He made the lunch even that much more fun. He treated us to a small bit of creamy veggie soup. I can’t remember what was in it, but there was ginger and a bit of chili oil suspended on top. The kale chip added crunch and texture. For my first bite at Eatery 1025, I knew that we’d hit a home run with this lunch choice.

At the end of our lunch, Fab Mike suggested the vegan chocolate mousse. Holy dark chocolate, Batman! One bite and I was done. Luckily Susan enjoyed a couple bites too. If someone wasn’t vegan, I don’t think they’d know any better. With slices of fresh pineapple, I couldn’t think of a better way to end a perfect meal. For the record, I had more than one bite of the mousse…

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Bumped into Chelsa the head cook… She’s a veggie magician with eyes that sparkle while she talks about her food creations. If you get a chance to meet her, you’ll see what I mean.

Yeah, I’m in love and want to go back to find out what new delicacies will come from the swinging kitchen door.

Go. Support local. Experience the explosion of yumminess in your mouth. Eat vegan. Feel good.




Recipe: Garden Vegetable Marinara

vegetable-marinaraOverwhelmed with too many veggies in the garden? Try this recipe for enjoying a marinara today… and freeze to enjoy later in the year.

Ingredients:
2 lb. fresh garden tomatoes rough chop – I used yellow pear, cherry, Roma, early girls and heirloom varieties
2 bell peppers, diced
4 clove garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 zucchini, cubed
2 yellow crook neck squash, cubed (Note: Use any squash variety)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon no-salt seasoning
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (Note: Omit if you don’t like spice)
Alternate ingredient: Add veggie sausage cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup water (Note: You may want to add more water. I prefer a chunkier marinara)

Directions:
On medium high heat, water  sauté garlic and onion for 3 minutes. Turn heat down to medium, add veggies, 1 cup water and spices and cook for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves and use high-powered blender to rough chop 1/2 the marinara mixture. Return blended mixture to pot with bay leaves. Continue cooking for 15 minutes. Serve immediately over your favorite pasta – I used a rice quinoa pasta.

For freezing: Allow mixture to cool on stove top. On one-gallon sized bags, use marker to write down the marinara and date. (Note: Allow ink to dry before moving bags.) Fill bags half way and freeze. Defrost in fridge when ready… it’ll be a little bit of summer in winter later on and a great way to use the garden bounty today!