Today was the California International Marathon and while I didn’t run it, I did head into Sacramento to celebrate with the Team Veg members that did. It was an adventure getting into midtown Sacramento with all the finish line activity at the capitol, there were a lot of tired and slow pedestrians with medals hobbling across streets! I ended up parking in a parking garage a few blocks away from the restaurant and enjoyed the walk to it taking in the falling leaves.
We met at Garden to Grill (formerly Plum Cafe) for the vegan brunch and what a beautiful new paint job the place has to match the new name!
I helped myself to a heaping plate of tofu scramble, fruit, blueberry pancakes, and salad with a kombucha to wash it down.
The food was great, especially the pancakes since they’re a rare treat for me. But the company was even better because I got to meet and chat with new vegans again and with a couple of runners that just completed a marathon and were still able to walk! The leader of Team Veg completed it in well under 3 hours (!!!) and I got to grill him on his training, diet, etc. I am still considering doing a full marathon one day, I go back and forth on if I can handle the training and if the accomplishment would be worth it, so I fully enjoyed talking to vegan runners who’ve already completed a few. I also met a runner who completed her first marathon and said she was so tired and emotional towards the end she cried when she saw the finish line. And added that the experience was amazing and I should do one. We’ll see.
We did accomplish getting our Christmas tree this weekend and decorating it.
And I created a simple recipe for roasted curry kabocha squash, actually cutting into this bad boy was the tough part!
Curry Kabucha Squash
- 1 medium kabocha squash, seeded and sliced into 1″ thick wedges
- 1 tbsp. curry powder
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Toss squash wedges in a large bowl with curry powder, coconut oil, chili powder, and salt and pepper until spices are evenly distributed. Place on a gridded baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy! Makes 4-6 servings.
I don’t use as much coconut oil as I used to, but wow it’s great with roasted winter squash! And popcorn.
It was a little bit of a messy and fun job tossing the wedges in the seasoning.
While Miko patiently waited for me to drop a piece, he likes kabocha squash as much as I do.
So simple to bake for 30 minutes and the squash looks gorgeously golden with crisp edges out of the oven.
The outside is slightly crispy and firm while the insides are soft, slightly sweet, and very filling. The skin is also delicious on this squash. And the savory curry paired perfectly with the slightly sweet squash.
Sacramento looks so quaint and beautiful. Another place to put on my must visit list. Alex convinced me to run in the Chicago Marathon next year. Even though I’ve run several half marathons, the prospect of a full one terrifies me.
That squash looks incredible! I can’t believe Miko likes vegetables. Gizmo would never. You’ve got one smart pup!!
It’s a nice city, very pretty with all the trees and the capitol. :-) Wow on running a marathon, that’s great! The team is trying to convince me to do the CIM, who knows! I’ve gotten a lot better at training for a half, but not sure I’m ready to double that!
Garden Grill looks awesome! LOVE the way it looks building/color-wise! Your squash looks and sounds pretty wonderful, too! Miko! Love his facial expressions!