Sunday, June 1, 2008

it's the most wonderful time of the year if you happen to be muscular

Moving day this weekend. And moving day again, and again and again... my two best guy friends J and W moving to different apartments and a new roommate for me. It's been change! And a lot of fun, actually, even though I'm pretty sure my arms have doubled in size due to a constant and unending parade of boxes and audio equipment.

There's my man J, taking a well deserved break (silly man was so excited to move that he didn't sleep the night before and became Zombie J of the Wobbly Muscles). Note the wrought iron and the heavy-ass keyboard cases that evidently weigh about as much as 13 me's. (what, 1.3 tonnes?? okay....!)

You know what eases all this pain though? Vegan ice creamables. Well, not ice cream, and I admit I gazed longingly at the green tea gelato, but opted for the best of the options available to me, which was a nice mix of mango and strawberry sorbert. I've had better sorbet (namely, stuff that has flavour beyond "sweet and vaguely fruity", but still, the treat was super nice.

And then when all was finally done (okay, when the guys were done moving at least) we felt this huge empanada craving, so we headed to La Chilenita on St. Laurent ave, which does this otherworldy good Chilean food. I got the burrito grande, which I (eloquently) described later as "melt-in-your-mouth-face-stuffy". Everything I was craving and more.

I don't remember precisely what was in here, but I think this bad picture might refresh my memory... okay, Chilean black beans, slurpy sweet onions, rice, avocado, spicy red sauce, and YES YES TOFU! Not to mention multiple hot sauces on the side for slathering, which was particularly awesome because on the way to this place I specifically wished for rice in a burrito with multiple hot sauces on the side. There must have been restaurant fairies in the air.

Not vegan, but pretty funny -- J couldn't decide which nacho was the most ultimate of nachos worthy of becoming his last bite, and the competition between the two chips got a little out of hand, becoming what I can only describe as Mount Nachos (or alternatively, they kinda look like boobs).

(the one on the left-hand side was declared the unequivocal winner, by the way)

After the dust settled J stayed with me for a few nights before his own plans got worked out, and I took the opportunity to get some real food into his system. Can I mention here that getting food on the table is a whole 'nother world compared to all-day creative culinary noodling? I thought I did okay here, though. I made Vwav braised cauliflower with 3-seed sauce, chickpea cutlets curry-style (cumin, cayenne, turmeric, lime juice and cilantro), and some peas, for the green factor.

And then a mess of vcon brooklyn macaroni salad, which disappeared over the course of today, amidst a lot of slurping and crunching and digging into tupperware containers. No radish to be had, but I think I prefer it this way with red pepper and scallion instead!

Finally, my new roommate P showed up and we helped her with her own load of boxes, and an offhand suggestion of brownies to commemorate the occasion got followed by the fastest baked good I think I've ever thrown together - a nice half-batch of Vcon blueberry brownies. And I think you can tell that patience was none of our virtues and warm gooey blue choco-cakeness was needed in our mouths, and who needs tidy edges anyway? For some crazy reason blueberries and chocolate marry like epic lovers here. I'd ask "who knew?", but obviously a lot of people did. I'm just super glad I'm in on it now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! Okay, now I sleep forever, and ever and ever and always. Except not, because I'm up tomorrow at 6 for school. But shhh! There's brownies for breakfast. And that makes everything very OK. :)

20 comments:

Vegan_Noodle said...

Brownies for breakfast... good idea (I made some today as well!) Moving can definitely take it out of huge. A big ass burrito was definitely earned!

Little Miss Sunshine said...

wow I almost licked my computer screen there! The brownies and the burrito look especially good to me:)

Anonymous said...

I LOVE THOSE BROWNIES FROM VCON. Seriously. I never thought of the blueberry/chocolate combo either, but it's a knockout.

It's too bad that sorbet isn't anything special, it sure *looks* yummy.

Anonymous said...

Num! That dinner looks great, and I've totally been meaning to make a batch of that pasta salad.

Lizzy said...

just yesterday i marked that brownie recipe. now i'm even more excited to make them =D

and the noodle salad looks great!!!! i think i'll have to overcome my detest for peas and make it!

and hooray for being done with moving and getting fueled by such a delicious burrito!

mount nachos... boobs, you crack me up =p mount nachos totally made me think of king of queens where doug wants to have sex and he's like "climb the mount dougmore!" =p

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

That sorbet, burrito, brownie, and noodle-salad are TOTALLY tempting me - oh man!! Delish.

Thank goodness the moving is over - it's definitely a stressful process!!

By the way, I'll be purchasing a baguette today at Whole Foods, to make that bred pudding from V'con (since that's the bread that you recommended using). I"ll be trying the recipe in a few days - fingers crossed that it turns out edible! Haha ;0)

Alicia said...

I would give a leg for that burrito and those brownies!

Erin said...

Oh my, the innards of that burrito look sooooooo good. Not to mention the pasta salad and brownies and cutlet plate. Massive amounts of good food.

Carrie said...

I've been meaning to try those brownies....I'm not sure how I feel about blueberries and chocolate, I've never had them together.

Everything looks really good!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

No fair! I had to move too, this weekend, but I didn't get to recharge with such delicious-looking fare (especially those brownies!!!)

Theresa said...

Brownies for breakfast is good for you if they include blueberries!

Everything everything everything looks good. Restaurant fairies and sharing meals make for lovely eating experiences!

Hungry Hungry Dancer said...

looks like your move was successfull!!! any day ending with vcon brownies cant be a half bad day!!!

good luck with the new place!!!!!

Ruby Red said...

Woah - that monster burrito looks awesome! I love when tortillas have those browned marks. They just make me happy.

That photo is giving me a mad craving for brownies. Isa and Terry named them well -- the tops do indeed look fudgy wudgy!

Yay for having male helpers on moving day! I hate moving more than anything, except probably listening to people talking about sports. :) Now where's the picture of your new and improved arm muscles?!

aTxVegn said...

I'm glad your move is over with and that you got to celebrate with those fabulous looking brownies, which for some reason I have yet to bake.

That is the most beautiful ice cream ever.

Judy said...

Ooh I just hate moving, but if you've got the help of some strong handsome men it seems to make it better. So does a pan of gooey brownies...mmmmm.

Anonymous said...

wow, that burrito is the best looking thing i have seen in a long time! i get SERIOUS pangs for mexican food, but it's so difficult because many restaurants pack in the refried beans and chicken stock-laden rice. sigh. this burrito looks like my dream mexican meal---authentic and vegan. plus, BLACK BEANS (my favorite)! i will eat it vicariously though you, ok?

Unknown said...

you are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and they are blessed to have you. Love the posts and the food. wish we lived closer so that I can have brownies too!

Anonymous said...

Moving sucks--but, I would be in line to help you move for all of that delicious food!

Anonymous said...

Good luck on all your moving projects... Don't forget, brownies build strong bodies! ;)

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