Vegan MoFo 2014 - Review: Pizza Express

I may or may not have reviewed Pizza Express before, but I’m not bothering to check.  I mean, since Mike introduced his dad to the Pizza Express near our flat, it’s the only place we ever go when he’s in town.  Ever.  So I’ve eaten there a fair few times, which means I might have written about it before.

The reason I’m (re-)reviewing now is twofold:  a) They now have a pizza that’s specifically vegan, and 2) On our last visit, they told me which wines are vegan, and since they all have the same wine list, this information is pertinent to everyone.

So, the wine list:  We took my bff Eva to PE for one of my birthday dinners in August.  They’d sent me a voucher for a free bottle of Prosecco, so I asked the server if she knew whether or not it was vegan.  About 5 minutes later, we got tired of waiting and looked it up*.  While we were in the middle of that, the manager actually came out and gave us the full list of wines that are suitable for vegans.  Well, actually, he gave us the list that *aren’t* sfv.  So here are the vegan wines:

Pizza Express vegan-safe wine list
Red:
Nero d'Avola Syrah, Sicily, Italy
Merlot, Sicily, Italy
Barbera d'Alba D.O.C., Piemonte, Italy
Chianti Riserva D.O.C.G., Tuscany, Italy

White:
Grillo Chardonnay, Sicily, Italy
Trebbiano, Marche, Italy
Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
Gavi, Piemonte, Italy

Rosé:
Merlot Rosé, Veneto, Italy

Or for ease, the ones that aren’t sfv are the Montepulciano and Valpolicella (red), Moscato (white) and Pinot Grigio (all varieties).

Onto the food.

As I said, Pizza Express now has a specifically vegan pizza (which most of you probably knew).  For those of us who were asking for vegan cheese, unfortunately, that’s not how they played it.  Yes, it’s a bit nonsensical that they would create an entirely vegan pizza by just making a new veggie one without cheese, since nearly any veggie pizza ordered without cheese is vegan.  So I don’t know if they were trolling us or throwing us a bone (not vegan) by creating the Pianta.  At least they kinda paid attention to the vegan request, just not exactly what we asked for.

That said, I actually like the Pianta, though I do have to modify it a bit.  I’m allergic to pine nuts, so those have to go, but I replace them with olives.  I like a bit of extra garlic oil on mine too, because if I have to forgo cheese, I have to make my pizza deliciously greasy somehow.  They go a little heavy on the rocket, but otherwise it’s really quite good.  It’s now my usual every time we go (because I’m also a creature of habit and stick with things I know are good).

I’ve heard that you can bring in a sealed bag of shredded vegan cheese and they’ll use it on your pizza, but I’ve never tried it.  Maybe I’ll do that next time.

*We never really figured out if the Prosecco was sfv.  We couldn’t find the specific one they were offering online, but all the ones we could find that matched generally (Prosecco from that particular region) were coming up vegan.  We took a chance on it, but I’m not necessarily advocating that everyone else do the same.  Please let me know in the comments if you happen to know one way or the other if it’s sfv.

Taco Tuesday!

I know I'm late to the game, but I'm ready to get on board the Taco Cleanse, y'all.

I love tacos.  When my best good friend Eva and I get together for more than a day, we always have taco night.  There isn't even a question of whether it'll happen, just when.  I haven't had a lot of tacos lately because there was a recall of all the vegan mince a while back, and it still isn't back in stores.  But I went minimally fancy (nowhere near schmancy) tonight by making some stuff from scratch!

Tonight's dinner was homemade corn tortillas from Viva Vegan!, tofu chicharrones (also from VV!), and tinned refried beans (I forgot to soak beans and also I'm having an allergy attack).  I'd never made either of the VV recipes, but luckily I chose what turned out to be two really easy ones.

When Terry says if you can lift a bag of masa, you can make tortillas, she's not kidding.  These were so easy.  I was thinking about pancakes while making these, and I realised I could probably make 2-3 dozen tortillas in the time it would take me to make a single batch of pancakes.  It doesn't hurt that I have a tortilla press - it makes wee baby tortillas (well, smaller than I'm used to)! - but I bet rolling them out wouldn't take all that long either.

The chicharrones took a long time but weren't a lot of effort.  Most of the time is waiting - freezing then thawing the tofu, then pressing and marinating.  But it's about 30 minutes of actual work, which was great tonight when I was sneezing so much I thought my whole face might come off.  You can make the marinade and throw the tofu in it, then make the tortillas, then fry the chicharrones in the pan you used for the tortillas and have dinner ready in half an hour.

I'm so excited to eat leftovers tomorrow and make my co-workers jealous that my lunch is so much more awesome than theirs.

I have to say, I'm not even at the mild level of the cleanse and my mood has improved.  Now I just need to decide what to make for next Taco Tuesday!

Oh yeah, Mike insisted I post this educational video for those who might not know the difference between tacos and burritos (NB - not vegan!):

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 16 - Restaurant Review - Forest Cafe

I had this one in the bag in case I had another day of being unable to bear the thought of cooking, and that day came a lot sooner than I expected.  I sneezed for 2 days straight, and I've felt a bit crap all day today, so I think I'm just gonna be making Fry's chicken nuggets, Smash, and microwave-steamed veg for dinner tonight.

Last year (or was it 2 years ago?), the Forest Cafe was under threat of closure because their landlords had gone bankrupt and had to sell the building from which they operated.  Threat turned to reality and they closed their doors, but they've recently re-opened in what was once a quick-e-mart at the corner of Lauriston Place and Brougham Road (near Real Foods) in Tollcross.

My best good friend Eva was in town on Saturday, and we wanted a place to eat that wasn't too unhealthy.  We were near the end of Princes Street, and the only local place was Henderson's, which is always pretty hit-and-miss for me, so we decided to check out the new Forest Cafe location.

When they were at the old location, I always found the Forest to be a bit hippie-ish, and they really didn't change much (apart from the space being a lot tidier as it's not had time to be broken in, I guess).  It was another place that I found hit-and-miss, as they seem to have more vegan options on their online menu than they actually offer (this is especially true of the cakes - I can't remember ever being there when they actually had vegan cake).

When we got there Saturday around 11.30, we found that the kitchen was still closed - apparently they hadn't finished making everything and were still waiting for some stuff to be delivered.  But they had enough to make us some falafel plates (3 falafels, a toasted pita, hummus, and salad), which is what I wanted anyway, so we both got that.  They didn't have one of the salads made, so they gave us a double portion of the one that was made.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much, but this turned out to be an amazing meal.  The big surprise for both of us was the salad.  I'm not quite sure what was in it besides chickpeas and cabbage, though they said it was some kind of mushroom dressing, but it was one of the best salads I've ever eaten.  I think Eva almost asked for the recipe - it was that good.  It was, apparently, a "special" salad, so I don't know if they'd have it regularly, but I certainly hope so.  We definitely got our money's worth (it was a fiver!), and we both left feeling full and satisfied.  I just hope next time I go they have some damn cake (no, flapjacks won't cut it).

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 14 - Sunday Baking - Cake Balls!

It's Sunday, so I'm baking from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too!

As I mentioned yesterday, my best good friend Eva was visiting from Newcastle, and since we love Tex-Mex, I decided to make the Gluten-Free Mexican Chocolate Torte.  But it turned out she didn't plan for cake, so she didn't have any.  It kinda worked out, because it took almost twice as long to bake as the directions said, and then only about half of it came out of the pan.  Oops.

Mike and I both had a piece, and it was really, really tasty.  But I had planned on taking the leftovers to work as a treat to the two gluten-intolerant people in my office (especially as one of them occasionally gives me a lift home).  Considering that it fell apart just by slicing it, I didn't think it would go over well at the office.  But what better excuse to make cake balls than a cake that could only be held together by copious amounts of frosting?

I made a quick cinnamon frosting by creaming together 2 tbsp each of margarine (Vitalite) and shortening (Trex), then adding a couple of drops of vanilla and almond extracts and about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and alternating icing sugar and soy milk (I didn't measure either of these - just dumped them in until I had the right consistency).

I kinda chopped up the rest of the cake, then mixed it into the frosting.  It quickly disintegrated, so it was clearly a good plan.  I also melted a good cup or so of chocolate chips in the double boiler.  I balled up the cake/frosting mixture and put it on a plate covered with parchment paper, then let the balls set in the fridge while the chocolate cooled (because hot chocolate + frosting = cake soup).  Once the chocolate was cool enough, I rolled the balls in it and put them back on the plate, then back in the fridge to set the chocolate.

The result?  Well, it's a ball of cake and frosting covered in chocolate - how could it possibly be bad?

I haven't actually put this week's MoFo plan together yet, but I already have most of it planned out in my head.  I just need to decide what to make from the cookbook challenge book, which I'll talk about probably on Tuesday!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 13 - Cookbook Challenge - Yellow Rose Recipes (again)

I'm back on board with the cookbook challenge!  I kinda cheated with tonight's recipe, in that I've made parts of it before, but I hadn't ever eaten it exactly the way it's written (OK, I didn't do that tonight either).  I made the Taco Salad from Yellow Rose Recipes.  I've made the taco "meat" part of it (for the tamale pie), but I never did the salad.

My best good friend Eva is in town to see Phantom of the Opera with me, and we pretty much always have Tex-Mex when we hang out.  We're both trying to lose weight, so instead of having our usual tacos, we decided to go for the taco salad.  I've never been a huge fan of taco salad because of the lack of tortilla, but I've been getting more accustomed to eating bowls (bed of greens, grain, protein, sauce), so I figured this would work out.  I left off the avocado because I'm allergic; Eva had tomatoes but I didn't because I'm a hater.  We both had a bit of the Appetite for Reduction Green Goddess Dressing on our leaves because it's healthier than sour cream.

We all really liked this.  Eva and I liked having the salad at the bottom because it's a good way to get a lot of salad in without really thinking about it.  We both thought it was missing a little something - Eva kinda wanted a cheesy substance, and I missed the sour cream (though cheesy substance would've been good too).  But it was still quite good and filling (though we ate really early and now we're both hungry), and it was fast to make - it would've been on the table in 15 minutes if I hadn't misread the directions and had to cook it longer because I forgot to put the spices in at the right time.

I would recommend this, but if even if you're not down with taco salad, the taco filling itself is super quick and tasty.

Now we're gonna drink some Big Red and watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, because we regress to age 12 when we're together.  Because we're awesome.