Vegan Pancakes & The Best Vegan Brunch in Pittsburgh

So, I love pancakes. Actually, I hated them as a kid because the only ones I ever had were made of Bisquick, which is gross. But I rediscovered them in the past few years, trying recipe after recipe until I hit the jackpot on VegWeb- "The Best Pancakes Ever! Vegan or Otherwise". The title speaks the truth. Pancakes, flapjacks, hotcakes, or whatever you want to call them, this recipe produces light, slightly sweet discs that are heaven for your mouth.

Anyway, last week I happened to 'hear' about an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast with vegan options this past weekend to raise money for Tree Pittsburgh. Me + pancakes + trees = LOVE, so I was all about it. So on snowy Sunday morning, we headed to a favorite eating destination that was hosting the event, Double Wide Grill. Now... if you see an event advertising a pancake breakfast with vegan options, wouldn't you assume that meant VEGAN PANCAKES were offered? Well, not according to Double Wide. They handed me a menu with some other options, claiming there was "a mistake" and that no vegan hotcakes were being served. DUH. *sigh* Lesson: Call first. No matter what vegan claims are made. Sucks.

I wasn't about to leave my pancake cravings unsatisfied, and neither were other people I saw leaving for the same reason. Luckily, just down the street from Double Wide is my favorite veg restaurant in Pittsburgh, Zenith, which happens to have a famously amazing vegan brunch on Sunday mornings.











The thing about Zenith is that it's not only an all-vegan restaurant, but a veritable museum of awesome antiques and vintage coolness for your coveting pleasure. When you enter the building, you do so into a mini warehouse space filled floor to ceiling with anything vintage or antique you could think of. Clothes, furniture, jewelry, dishes, collectibles, stained glass windows from old buildings, weird salt and pepper shakers, and art. The inventory is always changing, and it's all for sale.











Once you pass through this area, you enter the restaurant, which is two more rooms of old treasures and art from local artisans. The walls of the first room are completely covered with paintings, sculpture, and display shelves filled with gorgeous antique collectible glassware in a kaleidoscope of colors. The second room's walls are adorned with art for sale from area artists, and one wall has huge lead windows that let in loads of natural light. The coolest thing is that all of the tables, chairs, and dinnerware used at the restaurant are also vintage or antique. And the ceilings are hanging with all sorts of unexpected odds and ends suspended above diners.















Zenith's menu changes from time to time, but is all vegan all of the time (they do occasionally offer eggs at brunch and an option for dairy cheese for some dishes). They have a super long list of loose teas available- more than I've seen in any one place. On any given day, there are 2-3 options available to choose from for each course: appetizer, soup or salad, entrees, desserts, etc. Our favorite Zenith dish is the divine Tofishy Sandwich, breaded tofu on a thick, soft bun served with vegan tartar sauce or cocktail sauce. We lick our hands and plates afterwards, no kidding.

















Each guest, for just $10, gets a coffee or tea, choice of one made-to-order breakfast entree like almond french toast, banana pancakes, or a burrito AND an all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious fresh salads of all kinds, breads, and like 10 different homemade vegan pies and cakes. We always leave full and happy. :)











A tip: If you plan on dining at Zenith for brunch, which is offered from 11 am - 3 pm on Sundays only, plan to get there early or expect a wait (which isn't hard given the exploring and shopping you can do in the meantime). There are a lot of tables, but they fill quickly. A line forms at the door well before 11 and wraps around the building, so when the doors open most tables are called for.

Vegan Polenta Lasagna

After watching Nigella Lawson make a Venetian Lasagna on the NBC Today Show, I was inspired to come up with my own variation, vegan (easily made vegetarian) of course. ;) I greatly simplified the recipe, using primarily the idea of using layers of polenta to make a fantastic, creamy-tasting lasagna!













POLENTA LASAGNA
(inspired by Nigella Lawson's Venetian Lasagna)

INGREDIENTS

2-4 c tomato sauce(depending on how much sauce you prefer), jarred or homemade, any flavor

1/2 c water

1 vegetable bouillon cube, or enough vegetable broth or water to make up the polenta following the instructions on the package

2 c unprepared polenta

1 T vegan butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T dried parsley

1 t each of dried basil and oregano

2 t kosher salt or 1 t table salt, or to taste

1 c vegan Parmesan cheese

2 medium-large carrots, peeled and cut into thin discs (any veggies would work)

1c shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (I suggest Follow Your Heart brand or Daiya)

*You will also need parchment paper and a 9x11" or 8x8" glass baking dish, lightly oiled.


MAKE IT

If making your own sauce, do so first and set aside.

Prepare for making lasagna layers by tearing off 2 pieces of parchment paper a little larger than the size of the lightly-oiled pan you are using. Set aside.

If using a bouillon cube, dissolve in the specified amount of water, or measure out veggie broth or water. Follow the preparation instructions for the polenta you have on hand, using a medium-large saucepan.

Stir as instructed with wooden spoon, and when the polenta has thickened, add, stirring well as you go, the tablespoon of butter, garlic & herbs, salt, and 1 cup of Parmesan. Taste to see if you want any more seasoning. The polenta is finished once thick and coming away from the sides of the saucepan.

When polenta is ready, immediately and quickly pour a thin layer evenly into the bottom of your baking dish. Divide the rest quickly into more thin layers, all the same size, on the sheets of parchment paper. Obviously, the layer depth will be thinner if you have chosen a larger pan. As you drop each layer, use a silicone spatula run under cold water to spread it evenly to the same size as your pan. The polenta will set almost instantly, so you have to work quickly. Allow to set further and cool.














When you are ready to assemble the lasagna, preheat the oven to 400°F. In your polenta-lined baking pan, spoon 2/3c (or other preferred amount) of sauce over bottom. Add one layer of carrot slices and a light sprinkle of vegan mozzarella.

Carefully hold the parchment paper with the next layer of polenta over the pan. Peel back paper as you set the polenta on top.
-OR-
Carefully peel next polenta layer off of paper with fingers or spatula and move to pan.
If any breaks into pieces, simply reassemble in pan.

Add another layer of 2/3c sauce, carrots, and sprinkle of mozzarella.














Top with the final layer of polenta from the third pan, then remaining sauce and rest of mozzarella.















Bake for 1 hour until bubbling and melty, even in middle. Allow to set for 10-15 minutes, then serve. So Good! :)

Walk in the Snow

Monday gave us what may be the last snow fall of the year. Winter is my least favorite season, so normally I can't wait to see it end. But this year, despite my adoration of Spring, I have been reluctant to see the winter go. After the crazy warm weather we saw scattered throughout the past couple of weeks, I was feeling uncharacteristically sad about the coming of a new season. So this beautiful, gentle, brilliant snow was a hugely welcome blessing. :) We celebrated with a hike in the new layers of white in the woods of Frick Park. The forest was quiet, the sun was bright, and the sky was an unbelievable shade of blue. Our steps were some of the first to break the pristine blanket that has fallen upon the park's paths. Blissful.

Animal Cruelty in the Wool Industry

There's an insidious evil in wool production that is usually justifed as a necessary practice- it's called "museling". Museling is an insanely cruel procedure whereby the flesh is removed from around the . Sheep owners claim it's the only way to stop , yet often flystrike happens anyway. What results is an open, festering, excruciating wound. Australian wool producers make up a huge proportion of those employing the use of museling, causing the horrible, inhumane, and senseless suffering of millions of lambs every year! Despite a promise from wool industry leaders to stop the heinous practice by 2010, very little, if anything, has changed there. This demonstrates that the only viable solution is government intervention and legislation to permanently and completely ban museling as soon as possible.

Watch this video for a more indepth explanation about why banning museling is so critical:



Sheep are sentient beings, thinking and feeling animals that, by many in the wool industry, are subject to unspeakably cruel and unusual suffering! That museling is allowed to go on when there are humane and effective alternatives to flystrike available is incomprehensible and inexcusable.

Please help to end this barbaric practice and the continued infliction of pain and terror on animals who look to humans only for care and protection. The wool industry must be forced to follow through with ending this senseless mutilation! The lives of millions of Australian lambs hang in the balance, waiting to be rescued from miserable lives. Please act now and commit to boycott merino wool, or better yet, all wool!

DIY: Crafty Valentine's Day!

I'm all about DIY for gifts, even on Valentine's Day! Handmade valentines both save money and make unforgettable gifts filled with love, truly something your sweetie will remember. This is sort of last minute to be sharing this, but thaat's sorta how I roll. ;) I recommend VegNews Magazine's Savvy Vegan blog post about how to do Valentine's Day on a budget. Photo from VegNews. On my own search for DIY Valentine ideas, I happened upon an awesome one (thanks, Karen) on the Paiges of Style blog- a darling DIY Valentine's Day Advent Calendar. I fell in LOVE with this calendar, and it's free to print out on your own and allows lots of room for embellishing. :) Since it's too late to use it from Feb. 1st as intended, I'm going to use it as a Hearts Day garland-card for my sweetie to open. Each one will have written a little love secret inside- sweet nothings on paper! Photo from Paiges of Style. Happy Valentine's Day! UPDATE: My own garland!