I have a confession to make – we went out to eat not once, but twice yesterday! I know, yikes on the spending! But, it’s actually in my dining out budget and it was heavenly to enjoy some fabulous eats after a horribly long week! Our eating out bender started when I met hubby at Baagan for lunch, a high-raw vegan sandwich-style shop that is becoming an addiction of mine because the food is always great, not expensive, and my non-vegan hubby loves it too. I couldn’t resist after getting an email about their Cinco de Mayo themed dishes. Back in my non-vegan days, I used to be a fan of quesadillas and specifically the cheap ones at Taco Bell even though there wasn’t much in the way of nutritional value in them and the ingredients were lacking in quality with just a cheap white flour tortilla. Since going vegan, I have not perfected making my own vegan ones yet and had to try the one on Baagan’s menu.
It was awesome! Better than I remember from Taco Bell, much better! This genius quesadilla is stuffed with black beans, quinoa, and a spicy hummus with the contents sealed in by a layer of greens and pressed to gooey perfection in a panini press, just perfect! I’m actually thinking of getting a panini press just to recreate this.
Hubby got a huge veggie nori wrap with spicy hummus, spicy sunflower seeds, avocado, and plenty of greens.
A little messy to eat, but he loved it for the daring amount of spice and textures.
For dinner, we headed to hubby’s favorite place – The Chef’sTable, which usually isn’t expensive unless you get a bottle of wine. Because it’s such a small, popular, bar-style place, it’s not always easy to get into. The chef’s work in an open bar that diners can either sit at or a small table around the bar.
Usually there isn’t too many vegan options on the menu, but they’re always willing to customize and create pretty much anything off the menu for me. Lately, however, I’ve been noticing more vegan options on the menu, like a malt vinegar kale dish and this wonderful hummus plate we started with, the house-made hummus was fresh and had a divinely tangy flavor pairing nicely with the charred bread.
And for the main course, they veganized a mango fish rice dish replacing the fish with grilled carrots, red peppers, and asparagus for me.
It was a wonderful sweet and sour combo with plenty of fresh mango. Not too many chain places can get this creative when veganizing a dish!
Since there was plenty of sunlight left when we got home, we spent some time in the backyard greeting this little happy guy.
And I actually got a little gardening done planting more kale in the gardens with compost that I’ve been meaning to do for two weeks now!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
Sounds like a well-deserved couple meals out after a long and busy week. The veggies and mango look delish and so does that big salad.
You won my giveaway. I emailed you. Write me back w/ your info!
christine says
Awesome on the giveaway, thanks! I will email you!
DessertForTwo says
What a fun day! You deserve it :)
I saw that quesadilla on instgram and have been craving it ever since. Now that you describe it with spicy black beans & quinoa, I’m officially obsessed!
How many chihuahuas do y’all own? We’re looking at getting a sweet lap dog. Can’t decide on the breed.
christine says
Agreed on the quesadilla, I need to recreate it soon!
We have two rescued chihuahuas and they have very different personalities, the female is a little guarded and takes awhile to warm up to strangers because she had a rough time before we adopted her, but she’s a super sweet lap dog for me. The male is a total lover, he loves everybody and is very social always wanting to play or be in one of our laps. They’re both sweet lap dogs, I recommend looking for a mature rescued dog because you’ll be able to get a better feel for their personality and they usually do not need a lot of training.