More Vegan Chef Challenge & Local Stew

It’s been a nice and relaxing weekend so far.  The last few weeks have been so busy with work and outside of work that it’s nice to get a little down time at home to blast the house clean and catch up. Friday we sold Skipper’s dog house and I wasn’t looking to or planning to sell it so soon, but it ended up being perfect for a co-worker as they get their new rescued dog settled. It was a little emotional, but we knew Skipper would want to share it and it’s important to help other dogs too.

Shadow is not doing well, he’s declining more and having issue walking and standing for awhile to eat. It’s tough to see and we’ll need to make a tough decision next week. Not a happy thing to think about, but we’ll be making the decision based on what’s best for him.

We did make it out to another Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge restaurant – Tower Bridge Bistro.

The name is appropriate because the main dining room and patio have a lovely view of the Tower Bridge in Sacramento and it’s a nice view all lit up at night.

The menu is a Prix Fixe menu with choices for the appetizer, entree, and dessert.

I started with the Roasted Beet Bruschetta which was a very tasty layered with hummus, tomato, beets, and basil.

And got the Sweet and Spicy Cous Cous for the main course which was also tasty with a creamy curry flavor that packed a daring level of spice.

For dessert I kept it light with the soy milk Panna Cotta with was very cute and nicely creamy.

But not super huge which I liked too.

Yesterday it rained and was chilly and windy most of the day, perfect weather to stay home and catch up on house stuff. But I think Miko got a little bored with that.

It was a great opportunity to try some of the dried beans I got at the Farm-to-Fork festival.

I selected the snowcap beans because they had a shorter cook time – simply boil in water for a few minutes, then let sit in the water for an hour.

I decided to roughly follow the stew recipe on the bag, veganizing it and using the banana squash I picked up at Apple Hill in place of the potatoes and carrots the recipe called for.

The squash it huge! I only used a small end of it for this stew and have leftovers of the stew for days.

The beans swelled up to a much larger size in the cooking process.

I used miso paste in place of the chicken broth the recipe called for and added flavor by adding apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste. The finished stew was very good, hearty, and filling. Perfect for a chilly, raining day.

The snowcap beans were very hearty with a firm, “meaty” texture that was a little crunchy for hubby, but I liked it. And I have enough stew leftovers for a few lunches this week! And tons of squash leftovers!

I actually chopped and added a big raw chunk to my smoothie this morning in place of carrots and added pumpkin pie seasoning which was very good!