STLVegGirl Vegetarian Party

Since Patience and her friends have so many special diets among them, which includes a couple of vegetarians and some gluten-free folks, I figured that the best way to make everyone happy was to throw a STLVegGirl Vegetarian Party.

While I love dining out, I now understand how hard it can be to “find something you can eat” when you venture out to a new restaurant. While STLVegGirl (aka Caryn Dugan) doesn’t regularly focus on gluten-free, she had no problem coming up with ways to work around wheat items in her menu as well. What was really satisfying was to hear our friends say they were full by the end of the night. Sure beats trying to put side dishes together to make a meal!

I decided to start with STLVegGirl’s world-famous hummus, which uses tahini paste and tamari as the secret ingredients, and instead of using pita chips, STLVegGirl was thoughtful enough to purchase a bag of gluten-free chips instead. This way my guests had something to snack on as Caryn worked on the next course, Zucchini Sliders with Herbed Mayo.

I had seen STLVegGirl create these sliders on a local morning show and I wanted to try them for myself. The sliders usually get their thickness from bread crumbs, but since we were going gluten-free, STLVegGirl brought gluten-free bread and we made our own. (We also skipped out on the mini-rolls to make a sandwich.) My other favorite ingredient was the 21 Salute seasoning (found at Trader Joe’s) that was mixed tino the Veganese, that replaced regular mayo.

Next up was the “dinner” course and STLVegGirl started us off with a Crunchy Kale Tahini Salad. The tahini paste and tamari showed up again in the dressing for the salad, but my favorite salad ingredient was the “feta cheese” made from firm tofu. My other favorite cheese substitute that was used is nutrional yeast, which gives foods a cheesy nutty flavor. I have used it in the past to mix in with pasta sauce.

We finished the night with Italian Tempeh Meatballs, which could also be made into a meatloaf if you prefer. The “meat” was actually tempeh, a fermented soybean cake, and was chopped up into chunks. All your usual meatball seasonings and marinara sauce can be added like usual. Again, to avoid the bread (for a meatball sandwich), we just used toothpicks and forks.

If you wish to throw your own vegetarian party, or are interested in classes or a personal chef, all of STLVegGirl’s contact information can be found on her website listed below. STLVegGirl can be found on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Resources:

STLVegGirl = http://www.stlveggirl.com

Ya-Hala

I’m not sure when it happened but while on my way home a few weeks ago, the Culpepper’s on St. Charles Rock Road turned into a Ya-Hala, a Middle Eastern restaurant. As soon as I got home, I immediately started to plan a dinner date with my fellow “food adventurers”. While we usually aim for ethnic restaurants, a brand new restaurant was a double bonus.

Now I should add the disclaimer that along with new technology, it’s usually better to let the “early adopters” work out all the kinks before investing. So I went ahead knowing full well that the service was not going to be the best, but our meals were actually pretty good.

My friends were the most daring in ordering baba ghanoush as an appetizer for the very first time, which came with only a few soft pita breads. We all looked at each other knowing it wouldn’t be enough but our server was only happy to bring more…after a short delay and asking a few times. We got good at asking for what we needed in advance so there would be less of a wait, but the biggest need was for the outdoor heater! Sitting on the patio was great while the sun was up but too chilly after dark, so the outdoor heater made all the difference. The owner also plans to enclose the patio with a tent, especially since it is used for smoking hookah pipes.

Ya-Hala has a large menu and reasonably priced combinations so I was able to get lamb kabobs that came with a side dish of hummus so that I didn’t have to order it as an appetizer. Actually, there was so much food that came with the platter combo that I really didn’t end up eating much of the hummus at all. Plus my friends shared a few items off their plate, and I believe I tried kibbeh, which was very dry. It could have used more of the yogurt sauce either on top or as a side dip.

We also shared a pitcher of Mojitos and the flavor wasn’t quite right. Probably not quite the right drink for Middle Eastern food anyway?

The server apologized several times for the service, even though it seemed slow inside, but it wasn’t too bad since we weren’t in any rush. In fact, we stuck around to try one of the hookah pipes with Tropical Fruit flavor. There had to be up to fifteen or so different flavors too. The best part about the patio is that we quickly bonded with our table neighbors while sharing the heaters or advice on how to use the hookahs. Then the owner came out and talked with us for a while about his plans for the restaurant.

While it’s not anything fancy, it really fits the “casual, cheap, quick bite in the neighborhood” kind of place that isn’t a chain or typical American food.