Pages

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Vegan MoFo: Denver Part I

Welcome to Day 21 of Vegan MoFo!! Sorry for the hiatus....I've been on a trip in Denver! The American Dietetic Association had their annual conference there this year, so I got to go and learn about current research and hot topics in nutrition with other dietitians from around the country. It was lots of fun!! My friends, Sarah and Wendy, who are also dietitians, came to Denver, too! They were champs and went to all the veg restaurants with me :)
The best part was the awesome food I got to eat while I was in Denver! There are a lot of pics to show, so I'm going to post them in two parts...here's part I!

Watercourse Foods!!! This was by far the best place I ate in Denver. Everything on the menu was vegan or could be made vegan! So hard to find! Everything was delicious beyond belief, there was great service, and the prices were very reasonable. I got addicted. And ate there a lot. Here's some of the meals there!! Banana Bread French Toast...topped with Candied Walnuts,
Sliced Bananas and Strawberries, and Real Maple Syrup. Good gracious. This was sweet, but not overpowering, and the banana flavors rocked my socks off!

A side of Tempeh Chorizo...So spicy and flavorful!

Sarah got the Tempeh Burger...with grilled onions and BBQ sauce! So goooooood. She got a side of coleslaw and a side of sweet potatoes, too. Yum!

One night of our trip, we took an adventure to Boulder! I hadn't been there before, so we had to check it out. For dinner, we went to Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant. It was more upscale than the casual Watercourse, and it was awesome. The other girls got non-vegan entrees, so I'll just show you what I had.
Our complimentary homemade bread, with olive oil-balsamic vinegar for dipping. Loved it.

Our starter: Raw Collard Wrap, with Sunflower Seed Ricotta and Basil Pesto. This was so refreshing and delicious!

The insides. mmmm.

The entree: Jamaican Jerk Tempeh with Forbidden Black Rice and Sauteed Chard. This beautiful dish was garnished with a coconut-plantain sauce, balsamic reduction, a tart berry relish, and a crispy fried plantain strip. So many awesome flavors and textures came together to make this dish truly delicious. I was disappointed with how mild it was, since I love spicy food, especially with Jamaican food. But maybe that was just me.

The next day, it was back to Watercourse Foods! Yes, I became a bit obsessed :)
Biscuits and Gravy! Seriously the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had. Vegan or not. I could have eaten about a dozen of these!!

The biscuits had shredded carrots and zucchini INSIDE them! That gave them a really nice sweet flavor and moist texture. Looks like I will have to try that at home!

To go with the B&G, a side of scrambled tofu. Very, very good tofu. And it came with their homemade salsa....bonus!

On yet another trip to Watercourse (hey, it was close to our hotel!), I got my favorite thing I had there: the Buffalo Tofu Sandwich! It was a BIG block of fried tofu that was coated in a buffalo sauce and topped with coleslaw, all on a homemade bun!! It was awwwesome! I got sides of steamed kale and grilled sweet potatoes. Heavenly.

Look at this bite! The homemade buns had either sweet potato or pumpkin in them, not sure which, but it gave them a sweetness and color that was amazing. So soft and pillowy.

Dessert was a Maple-Pecan Cupcake. I loved it! It was almost too sweet and had TONS of frosting on it, but the maple and pecan flavors were really nice. I guess there's no such thing as too sweet when you're on vacation!

And I just can't have dessert without coffee! I got an Americano, and it was amazing! Really rich and smooth flavor that was a perfect compliment to the sweet dessert.

There will be more to come! As you can tell, Denver has some awesomely delicious vegan food!

3 comments:

Cal Orey, Author-Intuitive said...

Like your blog. It came to me in a Google Alert...olive oil author here. Love to have u come to my blog. Tried to email u but not address? No worries. Please visit me The Writing Gourme
www.calorey.blogspot.com

I will keep u in chocolate via recipes, chocolate giveaways to my new book come the holidays!

Vic Robinson said...

I lived in Denver for awhile and do not recall all these options. :)

nora said...

What a GREAT post! Lots of sweet potatoes and tempeh! those orange buns looks so awesome. Also, that is a shit ton of walnuts.