This past weekend Dave and I took our veganism experiment on vacation. Whew! We barely survived it. We spent two days and two nights in Spring Green, Wisconsin (read: middle of nowhere) to see the House on the Rock and tour the Cave of the Mounds. Usually when we're on vacation it's no holds barred as far as food goes. We always pick local places to eat and we always let ourselves indulge. While fun at the time, we usually come home vowing to eat nothing but fruit and salad for the next week because we're so gross and full from overdoing it.
Look, y'all, I'm on vacay.
Not this time! We had to plan carefully and skip out on a lot of tasty but unhealthy treats. On the drive to Spring Green we stopped in Madison to eat at the vegan/vegetarian restaurant The Green Owl Cafe. WOW! Great selection and really great prices, to boot. I had the vegan 'crab' cake po boy with kale crisps and Dave got the curry melt with roasted potatoes and a side of chili. I was thrilled to discover that the special dessert of the evening was a vegan version of my favorite cake in the world, black forest cake. It was AWESOME! You seriously couldn't tell it was vegan.
Our hotel featured a schmancy pants restaurant that served breakfast and dinner. We were worried. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, ham...absolutely nothing vegan. We surrendered to the a la carte menu--they had oatmeal cooked in water (we asked) and a fresh fruit plate. We were pretty sad about missing out on all the 'good' stuff until our server came out with two huge bowls of oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon and sliced apples with a side of brown sugar and raisins. It was really good! Combined with the fresh fruit, it was a great healthy breakfast that got our day started without wiping us out from a sugar overload (which is what would have happened had we not been doing the vegan challenge).
We were very fortunate to have a friend's recommendation to visit the General Store in Spring Green. While looking at the menu on the wall we mumbled to the guy at the cash register that we were vegan and he said, "well you've pretty much come to the only place in town for that." Not only was it the only place with vegan options, it was probably the place with the best tasting food and nicest atmosphere. Every local in town seemed to be there. A live blueglass band hummed in the background and we'd hit the jackpot with our lunch order--sweet potato peanut soup and veggie burger for Dave; vegan chili and a lemon tanini veggie hummus sandwich for me. But then came the sad part--they had a peach bread pudding special for dessert that was in no way vegan. I asked one of the servers there if they had any vegan desserts and after checking with the kitchen she came back with a (devastating) no. Gah! Sadness.
General Store, you were so good to us!
Afterwards we visited a tea shop across the street and saw she had ginger snap cookies. "Those can be vegan sometimes, I think," I said to Dave. I asked the lady at the counter and she said, "Well, I've got the recipe in the back, let me go see." After flipping through at 3.5 inch binder full of recipes she delivered the sad news: "nope. It's got eggs." Dammit! Need sweets!
We settled for a gourmet dark chocolate bar, but it wasn't the same as a gooey bread pudding or spicy ginger cookies. But, on the other had, we had a ton of energy to explore the little downtown area of Spring Green because we had eaten so well.
Because we ate a late lunch and we had a microwave back at our hotel room, we decided to try to get creative and eat in for dinner. We went to a grocery store, bewildered by the task of trying to find something that was vegan AND microwavable AND didn't require any additional kitchenware (we had no bowls or plates in the room). Enter Annie Chun's Noodle Bowls and the problem was solved. We picked up some junk food to aid our evening goal of zoning out in front of the cable TV...chips and salsa and salt and vinegar potato chips.
The next morning we went back to the General Store for breakfast and enjoyed some ridiculously good tofu migas (which I hope to figure out how to replicate). After touring the Cave of the Mounds we decided to check out the antiquing in nearby tiny town Mt. Horeb. We started to get hungry and saw an old fashioned diner across the street, so we went there hoping to find a snack. Good. Luck. The people were super sweet and completely fascinated by our challenge. They ran down the list of menu items ("Pie? Let me see. Nope. Eggs.") and we settled for homefries ("Cooked in oil, not butter.") and an English muffin ("We'll make sure it's dry.") They sat with us our entire meal to hear the grueling tale of being vegan for the entire month of January.
It's Dave in a cave!
On our way back to Chicago we swung back through Madison to eat at the Indonesian restaurant Bandung which made me a believer in tempeh again. There's no way I can put into words how insanely, ridiculously, extraordinarily great the food is there. If you're in Madison, please eat there. Good lord. We ended the trip with a visit to Willy St. Co-op and finally got to indulge on some TREATS! Vegan pumpkin cookies, vegan bran muffins, vegan sesame bar...we even picked up some of the Bandung's tempeh while we were there. We ate our sweets all the way home to Chicago still feeling full of energy, feeling just as light and healthy as before our trip, and feeling proud to have stuck to our vegan challenge despite all the chances to bail. Hooray!
Final thoughts: awwwwesome antique store find.
3 comments:
Dear "Vegan on Vacation",
I am so glad you enjoyed your visit to the General Store. I am going to share the Tofu Migas recipe with you- be aware the odd measurements are because we make HUGE batches- so I am trying to give you the "idea" for how to make them at home.
Tofu Migas
Migas Spice: mix 1 7/8 tsp garlic powder, 5/8 tsp pepper, 1 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 2 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 tsp. chili powder together and set aside.
Wrap, press and drain a one pound block of tofu overnight.
Unwrap and chop into cubes. One fifth of a block makes a serving. (You can freeze the leftover blocks for another time).
We actually press,cut,season, & freeze the cubes 1st- this seems to give them a nice texture and flavor before even cooking. We use "tofu magic" as the seasoning- but you could use a good season salt.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add a serving of tofu cubes and a heavy 1/2 tsp of Migas spice to the pan, stirring well to distribute the spice and fry the tofu.
Reduce the heat and add a heaping TBS of finely chopped peppers, finely chopped onion, chopped tomatoes and 2 TBS of grated zucchini.
When they are all warm and tender add a generous TBS of red salsa and about 2 c. of totopos (tortilla chips)--crushing them as you add them to the pan. Stir the Migas well and keep it warm as you toast and fold a flour tortilla. Serve the Migas with the tortilla and a side of spicy, green salsa (we make our own green salsa too).
Hope this isn't too much info...
Also, we haven't had much demand for vegan desserts, but will entertain the thought. So far chocolate bars, & Kind bars are probably about it.
Thanks for visiting!
Karin
Karin@SpringGreenGeneralStore.com
Thank you so much for the comment, Karin!!! I can't wait to try this recipe. I really appreciate you taking the time to write. More testament to what a wonderful place the Spring Green General Store is.
Groucho loves vegans!
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