London was a great day trip, and we are already planning our next trip across the channel (mostly because I didn't have time to get to the Natural History Museum, where they keep the dinosaurs).
I could bore you to death with tales of my shopping (I got a really cute shirt with an owl on it, and a fantastic bird pin; I picked up a silly array of treats for my kids to 'earn' from Paperchase; K and I went nuts buying C.D.s and movies; and I found some really nice pens)....but I won't! I will however tell you that I had some great food, at the much recommended Mildred's, which is located in the used-to-be-bohemian-and-is-now-overly commercialized-SOHO.
The restaurant is apparently a well known stop for tourists and local veggers alike, so we were seated before they fired up the oven (given the one hour time difference, and our 4:30 am breakfast, we were starving). The interior is quite open and fresh with bright orange walls and wood furtniture.
We had to go for the whole thing, and ordered Goyza dumplings to start off, which were ok - I wasn't so keen on the crispy bottom though. K ordered the sweet potato burger, which came with huge fries and some vegan homemade mayo. The taste was ok, but I thought a little lacking in spice and texture (a little too mushy for me). I went for something a little different and went for a puy lentil dish that included raw tofu, a bed of baby spinach and a couple of slices of grilled pepper. I really enjoyed this dish and was impressed by the flavouring of this 'salad's' dressing of anise and fennel seeds. I couldn't leave without indulging in a VEGAN desert (not when I live in Brussels) and asked for a ginger and rhubarb cheese cake that I split with K, who, agreed with me that the texture was much too rubbery - as though they had a jittery hand while adding the agar.
Overall a great meal, which didn't kill us in the pocket. We had a pretty pedestrian maki snack for our dinner - we had both walked for hours, and weren't craving anything too heavy. I had a pickle roll and avocado roll, while K went a little wild and ordered some friends of mine who used to swim in the ocean (bad, bad kevin!).
Today I had an amazing work out, and spent the afternoon relaxing, tripping around the house and having tea with my fish eating man. I set to work on dinner with plans to make beanie buddies, but decided to make a not-meaty-meat loaf instead. First try, and I was quite happy with it. I also made a lentil soup, and a desert that I would give away my car for! Ohhhh it was good, good and good some more.
Not Meaty Meat Loaf
1 sweet potato
1 tin of red kidney beans
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup of bulgar wheat (soaked in boiling water for 20 minutes)
1/4 cup of oats
I mushed the beans and the boiled potato together and then added the rest of the ingredients. I scooped it into a loaf pan and stuck it in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes. We had it with a little homemade garlic cream.....yum yum.
Don't Trifle with My Red Heart Trifle
I don't know if you would call this a trifle, as I didn't include any of the spongy cake I used to add to the trifles I remember making in grad school with my friend Melissa. But, K remarked on how much it looked like a trifle before I shoved it back in the freezer for its last chilling....Base 12 almonds 1/2 cup of cashews 5 dates I soaked the whole lot for about 20 minutes in some boiling water and then ran the hand blender over them just enough to make it sticky and useful as a base, but not too gooey.
Yummy Inside
12 strawberries
25 fresh raspberries
I did a similar thing to the strawberries - blitzing them very quickly, but leaving some of the little goodies semi-while. I added the fresh, whole raspberries as my next layer of fruity goodness.
Topper
More of that decadant cashew cream that I just can't get enough of.
I put this desert in the frezzer while we ate our soup and loaf. It was just too good!
