Sunflower Mac n Cheez, Fountain of Health Hummus.

I made a vegan mac n cheez today loosely based off the Veg News mac and cheese recipe. The base is usually cashews and some veggies like potato, carrots and shallots. Well I didn't have cashews so I used soaked sunflower seeds, potatoes, kabocha squash, onions, carrots and miso. Came out so creamy! I also added about 1/2 cup of Daiya and stirred it in at the end. Would you like some mac with your cheez?

Fountain of Health hummus now available at select RALPHS supermarkets in southern California! This is my favorite packaged hummus that I found on my last trip back to Montreal. It's made in Quebec (under Fontaine Sante) and it's so lovely. Creamy and fluffy and just perfect! I got two flavors. I hope they never stop selling it here. This made my day today.

On a bagel. Yummy snack.

Sunflower Mac n Cheez recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 box of macaroni
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 of a small kabocha squash, peeled and sliced
1 cup raw, hulled sunflower seeds that have been soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon yellow miso
1/4 to 1/2 cup plain almond or soymilk
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Daiya cheese

Method:
Place the potatoes, onions, carrots and kabocha squash in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Cook macaroni in salted water. While pasta is cooking: drain the sunflower seeds and put the sunflower seeds, garlic, miso, 1/4 cup almond milk, lemon juice, paprika and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. You may add more almond milk if it's not smooth enough.
When vegetables are cooked, drain the water that they were cooking in and add the vegetables to the sauce in the blender. Blend for about 2 minutes or until all ingredients come together and the sauce is smooth. When pasta is finished cooking, drain and put back into the pot. Add the sauce, stir in the Daiya. You can turn on the heat a little to get the Daiya to melt. Usually, the sauce will be pretty hot coming from my high speed blender.

Good Eats in Montreal.

Just got back from a nine day holiday in Montreal. I haven't been back in 8 years and it was so nice to be there again. This is the first time being vegan in Montreal though. I think I did ok. If I had stayed longer, I would have explored more vegan/vegan friendly restaurants. I was staying at my in-laws house, so we did a lot of hanging out and cooking at home which was fine with me!

The day after we arrived, we popped into L'Inter Marche on the corner to get a few staples. Bagels are a must. Montreal bagels are usually not vegan, made with egg and honey but I was able to find some packaged ones without any animal products yay! The hummus is by Fontaine Sante which I think is the best tasting packaged hummus I've ever had! We went through two or three tubs on this trip.

This is what my husband and I were looking forward to eating. He grew up in St. Leonard, which is primarily italian and the italian bakeries make the most delicious tomato pizza/bread. I was afraid it would be non-vegan, but alas, it is!

And it was nice to find soy milk at a little shop.

Another thing we looked forward to eating. Flakies! They are very crap for you but so good. Flaky layers of air and just a bit of "cream" and fruit filling. As far as I know, this is vegan. The ingredient list is dreadful, don't read it.

Found vegan margarine at IGA supermarket. I jumped for joy.

First meal I made was a simple pasta dish with chickpeas, olives and tomato sauce.

Second meal I made at home: pho! The bowl is tiny because they didn't have larger bowls. It worked well. It was delicious.

Home cooked meal #3. Mary McCartney's Courgette and Lemon Spaghetti. I made it without the cheese of course. Super good. Find the recipe online here.

That amazing hummus and Mary McCartney's saucy mushrooms and tomatoes on toast.

My husband's best friend and his wife took us out to Scaroli's Ristorante for great pasta. I got the primavera which was really tasty. Being vegan I run into a lot of "bland tomato sauces" at italian restos and this one was completely opposite. Full of flavor and even had caramelized red onions in the veggie mix.

Every vegan who visits Montreal eats at Aux Vivres. A friend of ours took us there and we had a great meal.

I ordered the seitan souvlaki plate. Really good stuff.

I had to order dessert. They bake their cakes, pies, brownies in house and I had a really hard time choosing. I decided on the "uncheesecake" with blueberry sauce. Amazing!

We had a quick lunch at Amir on St. Denis one day. I had the falafel pita and yummy garlic potatoes.

Paragon restaurant is a great little no-nonsense eatery in St. Leonard that makes really good submarine sndwiches. I ate there twice on this trip.

This pic does not do it justice. They grill mushrooms, onions and green peppers that are sliced thin thin thin and smother them in a toasted roll with shredded lettuce and tomato on top. I asked for no cheese and no sauce which I'm assuming is dairy based.

So after a 6 hr flight where I had to wake up super early in the morning, I arrived in L.A., headed straight to Vons and picked up ingredients to make my version of Paragon's sub. The insides were good but the bread is all wrong. Too hard, too dense. I need to find the perfect airy french roll for this. Keep your eyes on my blog, I will make this again.