Toasted Boots Sauce: Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Chickpea Pasta

This ain't no spaghetti western! Enough gallavantin' around town, it's time to get cookin'!

Toasted Boots Sauce (Italy=the boot, get it?): Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Chickpea Sauce.  

There were still more tomatoes to be had in this last week's CSA:

 CSA Week #21 (10/17/12):

Fingerling Potatoes, Cauliflower, Sage, Arugula, Parsley, Carrots, Mini B'nuts, Daikon Radish, Beets, Spring Mix, Radicchio, and Heirloom & Cherry Tomatoes:

Aren't they prettier than a speckled pup?

 I thought about makin' em into paste, but that was too much work and I didn't have that many.

OK, let's get down to it:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, oil the foil generously.  Add sliced tomatoes and top with home made (ideally) breadcrumbs seasoned with oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, etc. and top with capers and a bit of the brine from the caper jar.  Spray or brush with olive oil on top.  Bake at 425 until soft and starting to brown, this is around 20-25 minutes.  Check them periodically to make sure you don't burn 'em!

You can also roast some plain slices with just olive oil and salt if you like. I did.

 Meanwhile, get your big pot of water on and get it ready to boil some pasta.  I used perciatelli for this, I also love the long fusili, the ones as long as perciatelli, but I couldn't find any at the store, they're persnickety!

While your 'maters are a roastin' and your water's a boilin', saute up some whistleberries, uh, I mean, chickpeas (one tin can, drained and rinsed) and marinated artichoke hearts (one jar, drained, but save some of the oil to saute everything in!).

I use the oil from the marinated artichokes to saute the chickpeas & hearts.  I also added the fresh juice of one organic lemon, some Kosher salt, and a few sprinkles of garlic powder (you should use 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic, but I was fresh outta real garlic!).  Saute on medium-high heat until chickpeas and artichoke hearts are starting to brown.  

Once your tomaters are done roastin, add them to the chickpeas & artichoke hearts:

Mix it up good!

Add as many tomatoes as you like until you get the consistency of a nice sauce.  I actually added two trays worth of roasted tomato slices to this sauce.

Your pasta should be done cooking at this point, but before you drain it, dip a coffee cup in there and retrieve yourself about 1 cup of pasta water (to thin the sauce if needed).  Now drain your pasta, and add the pasta to your sauce in the pan on the stove.  Saute for about two minutes to help the drained pasta absorb the sauce and fully incorporate.

Put your Toasted Boots on!

Now, I'll be! Don't it look like a little creature got to makin' his business on top of that tomato? Well, don't you worry.  It's just some roasted capers!

Vai, vai! Sprigati!

Next up, freezin' stuff, fermentin' stuff, or takin' a trip to the next town over!

Homesteadin' it October 1st through October 31st, 2012

Sheriff's Pick: The Pop Shop, Collingswood, NJ

When I stopped by to photograph The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ, I got a surprise!

Two wonderful vegan meals, courtesy of Assistant Manager Kevin Sperlunto:

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak (seitan, mushrooms, onions, soy cheese) & Vegan Bettys, both to die for!

Kevin was excited about my blog posts covering veg friendly restaurants in South Jersey and the Philadelphia Daily News Vegetarian Awareness Month Photo Contest.  He made his appreciation clear. Thanks, Kevin!  

The photos of the storefront of The Pop Shop now appear in both the "Vegetarian" Photo Gallery of Philly.com and the "Vegan" Photo Gallery of Philly.com since both words are indicated clearly.  

Congrats, Pop Shop!

The Pop Shop is no stranger to vegan food and is well-known for it's vegan offerings.

The Pop Shop 729 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108

 See that sign in the far right window?

The Pop Shop is beyond vegan friendly. This is only a partial menu of their vegetarian & vegan selections.

There are other vegan items on the menu, and you can make many of the other vegetarian items vegan by adding soy cheese (you can just ask for it). They also have soy milk, which you can add to things like the Pop's Groovy Granola to make it (almost!) vegan.  Kevin explained that the granola does contain honey.  They also have a vegan tofu scramble with shoestring hash browns and garlicky spinach!

Gorgeous Vegan Bettys.  BEST pancakes ever.  

Huge, fluffy, sweet and nutty--I don't know what they do to them!  Add bananas, strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, or what have you, but I like mine plain :-)

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak, SO tasty!  

Seitan, sauteed mushrooms, soy cheese, awesome baguette, and BEST fries.  YUM.  You can ask for other veggies on it, too!

 I didn't get to eat many of the pancakes. Why?

 That's a 10/10.  Perfect score!

What does this all mean?

Yup.

Do yourself a favor and stop by The Pop Shop for some Vegan Bettys or anything else on their menu.

 Tell 'em The Sheriff sent ya'!

Homesteadin' it October 1st through October 31st, 2012

We're gonna get back to that big ol' CSA box in just a minute, folks, but visitin' these here veg friendly restaurants is just more fun than a huskin' bee*!

huskin' bee=gettin' together to husk corn and drink that joy juice*!

joy juice=whisky :-)

The Ol' Black & White

What's black and white and read all over?

Today's V for Veg column in the Philadelphia Daily News!

Indeed!

 

 There's The Sheriff!  Yeeeehah!

And, my neighbor? Or, hopefully...me in 50 years?

Get your wagon wheels online!

Homesteadin' it, October 1st through October 31st, 2012

Homestead Stop: Haddonfield, NJ

I paid a little visit to a town by the name of Haddonfield, New Jersey today.  She's right across the river from Philadelphia, a hop, skip and a jump by car or train!

She's a lovely sight.

Main intersection of Kings Highway and Haddon Ave., smack dab in the middle of town!

What was I doin' in town?  Takin' a much needed rest from chopping, blending and jarrin' our CSA share, that's what.  Someone else can cook today!  I wondered which restaurants in my town offered vegetarian or vegan options and had the signage to prove it. I photographed the ones that did and entered them into the Vegetarian Awareness Month Photo Contest of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com!

As of 10/18/12, I am actually in the lead (see the bottom of this link for names of the top three photographers).

My restaurant photos below now appear in the philly.com photo galleries, click here for the "Vegetarian" Gallery, and here for the "Vegan" Gallery.  Regional friends in Philadelphia and South Jersey, there are lots of veg friendly restaurants to explore!

And, speaking of news, ya'll should check out Vance Lehmkuhl's column,"V for Veg,"  in The Philadelphia Daily News, this week, and every other week! The Sheriff thinks it would be prudent.

Here's the Philadelphia Daily News, "V for Veg" column covering VeganMoFo and Vegan Fazool (me!) 
and my recipe for Squash Mac!

Well, I'll be! Haddonfield has so many lovely restaurants with vegetarian or vegan offerings. 

The Bistro at Haddonfield.  57 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033

My dad (Pa!) loves going there when he comes to visit. 

The Bistro has some nice meatless options on the menu, and the Falafel Burger is Vegan Friendly!  

(Menu is displayed in the window between the corn stalks.)

Chef/Owner Nick Lavdas came up to speak with me; he's a real nice fellow. He promised he is working on some new menu items that he is really excited about! Stay tuned!

Next up, 

 Apron  47 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ 

Apron is an adorable little lunch spot with lots of nice vegetarian and even some vegan options! 

Apron always seems to have something vegan on their board!  

Next stop:

 The Picket Fence & Garden Tea Room. 

103 Kings Highway East.

Tea is vegan! :-)

I went in and a very nice lady helped me.  She said they could do cucumber sandwiches, that kind of thing.  

I wish those scones were vegan!

There are also some Italian places, like Villa Rosa and Casa Bella Trattoria, that I know have vegetarian and/or vegan options, but they didn't have a visible sign up when I stopped by.  If they put one up, I would definitely shoot it.  Also, I need to check Tre Famiglia and Tony's which are a little further out on Haddon Ave. and China King, our go-to for Haddonfield Chinese take-out.  

A juice bar:

Animo Juice & Burrito Bar.  113 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ. "Vegan friendly," of course!

They make a killer blend! And they call it a blend and not a smoothie, YES!  You guys already know how I feel about the word, "smoothie," right?

Next,

Cross Culture Ethnic Indian Cuisine, 208 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ

 There was a wicked glare on their windows when I took these, sorry! But you can see lots of great vegetarian options!

That glare was wily!  Menus are in the windows.

 "Go Vegetarian!" at The British Chip Shop 146 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ

I LOVE this!  I didn't ask, but the soup might be vegan, as might the salad.

Next, 

 Da Soli.  116 Kings Highway East.

 This sign is the one on the upper right in the window.

The Chef will make those starred items vegetarian if requested.  Bravo!

Lastly, a fun one:

Anybody recognize this place?

Yup, owner Toni Marie Walton was on Cake Boss!  She and her sister, Chrissy Walton are the owners of Sweet T's.  And they were really sweet!

Sweet T's Bake Shop, 7 Kings Court, Haddonfield, NJ

They will take special orders for vegan goodies.  Toni & Chrissy even told me they can make THIS vegan!

Yeeeeehah!

I gotta get back to honin' my Arkansas Toothpick.* I got a new CSA box to deal with and a new town to canvas!

Meanwhile, hold your horses.  

Homesteadin' it October 1st through October 31st, 2012

*Arkansas toothpick= a long, sharp knife!

P.S. If I missed your restaurant and you have a sign that says either "vegetarian" or "vegan" somewhere visible to passers by and want to be included in the philly.com photo gallery project, just comment below and I'll come by!