Butternut Squash - Feels Like Fall

Every once in a while I make something that tastes so good, I shock myself (which in turn forces me brag to the people around me about what a great cook I am). This is one of those times.

Partly due to my zealous aversion to food waste, most of my recipes are the direct result of a mad dash to eat fresh produce about to turn. So per my usual, I had a butternut squash that I was afraid was on the brink of going bad. At about 7:30pm, I decided to embark on a rather ambitious, time consuming dinner for a weeknight.

I decided to roast the squash with salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red chili pepper flakes, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese. The squash cooked for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees until it got nice and browned (I cropped this picture so you couldn't see my dirty oven - thank you photoshop).

The rest of this recipe was just stuff I had laying around: brown rice, vegetable stock, frozen collard greens, walnuts. I brought 2 and a half cups of vegetable stock and 1 cup of brown rice to a boil and then let it simmer for about an hour. After about 45 minutes, I defrosted the collard greens in the microwave and dry toasted the walnuts in a separate pan. Once the rice was cooked, I stirred in the collard greens, as well as some salt, pepper, and butter, and added the cooked butternut squash.

I finished by topping the butternut brown rice pilaf (I don't actually know what a pilaf is - does this count?) with more parmesan cheese and the toasted walnuts.

To me, this was a near-perfect fall dish. Well worth the time spent waiting for the rice to cook.

The Westward Waistline Expansion: Day 6

We've reached the end of the road and it is Heaven(ly)

Today was the final day of our cross-country trip, and it was a little bittersweet. As much as I was ready to be done sitting in a car for 8 hours a day, I was also a little sad that our road trip adventure was ending. Mom and I had a LOT of laughs this week, and saw some pretty amazing things along the way.

We skipped hotel continental breakfast for the first time this morning and actually went out to eat. We found a place called Bandits Barista Espresso Bar in the hotel guide book - unfortunately, in Elko that means a greasy spoon diner in the bottom of a casino. There was a stuffed polar bear in the lobby - I'm not kidding. I actually had a mini panic attack while we were waiting to be seated, and Mom had to reassure me that it would be ok. "Look Katie: if that little 5 year old boy isn't scared to eat here, you shouldn't be either!"

The White King and his liberal slots - looks like a perfect place for breakfast

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. True, the only vegetarian option on the breakfast menu was the pancakes (I am not a baked goods/pastry/maple syrup girl), but I ordered eggs and hash browns off the a la carte menu. The waitress was even sweet enough to oblige my request for extra vegetables in my $1.99 eggs. And they actually tasted pretty good!


So, no offense to anyone who hails from the Silver State, but Nevada is creepy. I mean, super creepy. It is full of ghost towns and prisons and strip clubs - oh my!

A thriving Nevadan metropolis

However, once we got out of the desert, things started to improve. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called the Black Rock Pizza Co. in Sparks. Mom and I split the Mt. Rose pizza, an olive oil and garlic pizza topped with artichoke hearts, smoked roma tomatoes, basil, gorgonzola cheese, and walnuts. Good Lord, it was delicious - kind of pricey but so worth it.

Notice that my slice is covered in hot pepper flakes. I actually don't have any tastebuds - I've burned them all off.

After a totally satisfying lunch, we got back onto I-80 heading towards South Lake Tahoe. Rather than try to describe what we saw next, I'm just going to provide a photo montage - enjoy!

Umm, there are bears here???

Finally back in California! Have you missed me the past two weeks, Golden State? We checked into our hotel and promptly stuck our feet in the cool, clear lake. PS - the water is totally warmer than the ocean in Santa Barbara. I'm just saying...


We decided to have dinner at a place on the lake called the Lakeside Beach & Grill Restaurant. We had a steamed artichoke appetizer, and I had a Mediterranean platter for dinner, which was full of flatbread, hummus, kalamata olives, and veggies. There weren't a ton of vegetarian options on the menu, but what I ordered was really tasty and filling. The sunset view wasn't bad either.

Lesson(s) Learned: Get ready, here's my big finish...

1. I am able to spend 24 a hours day with my mom, 8 of which enclosed in a tiny Honda Civic, and enjoy every minute of it. Can you say the same? (I know - that's because my mom is the coolest).

2. Finding vegetarian food on the road was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. There are plenty of cool, funky restaurants throughout the country. There was almost never a menu with no vegetarian options at all, and even then, servers were more than happy to alter the menu to meet my needs (even at a steakhouse in Nebraska). Oh, and there is always Dominos for a cheese pizza last resort.

3. Having a AAA book is better than a GPS. It provides descriptions and directions to restaurants I never would have found otherwise, and when you have dietary restrictions it helps to do a little extra research.

4. I wouldn't be able to do cool things like move to Lake Tahoe if it weren't for the support of my family and friends. Thank you.

5. Oh, and Lake Tahoe is ridiculous! It's going to be a great summer.

The Westward Waistline Expansion: Day 5

Taking it with 1 billion grains of salt...

We left Rock Springs this morning heading for SALT Lake City, UT and the Great SALT Lake Desert (which includes the Bonneville SALT Flats). I'm feeling thirsty just thinking about it. The remainder of the drive through Wyoming was pretty boring, although we did start to see snowcapped mountains in the distance. We also found a place (if you can even call it a 'place') called Little America, WY. We were bombarded with roadside billboards, sort of like South of the Border in the Carolinas, but not nearly as funny or racist. What we found, however, was little more than a glorified gas station with a playground. They didn't even have any "Little America" postcards - lame! We bought some 95 cent coffee and continued on our way.

TRUE patriotism lives on in Little America, WY

Soon afterwards, however, we crossed the border into Utah and were rewarded with this:

Someone is coming snowboarding with me in Park City. I mean it.

Yikes! I had always heard that Utah was beautiful but really had no idea it was this picturesque. Not only was the drive breathtaking, but we also found a great place to eat lunch in Salt Lake City. At the suggestion of our AAA tourbook, we stopped at The Dodo Restaurant in Sugarhouse and it was fabulous. The highlight was the Roasted Tomato Polenta Cakes with avocado spread and tomato-pine nut relish (see below). I had a mushroom, feta and spinach quiche with a side of gazpacho soup for my actual meal; everything was delicious and reasonably priced.

We continued westward out of Salt Lake City and into the desert. This was the part of our trip Mom and I were most worried about, prompting us to buy about 10 jugs of drinking water just in case something happened in that 40 mile long stretch of highly travelled commercial highway. We weren't exactly in the wilderness, but were prepared with enough food and drink to take us into 2011. You can never be too careful. Edward Abbey is one of my favorite authors, and I was really looking forward to seeing some of his beloved Utah desert up close. Although our brief journey through the Great Salt Lake Desert wasn't exactly Desert Solitaire, it was still amazingly beautiful landscape. The sand was so starkly white, and the mirages looked like giant lakes with floating icebergs in the desert.

That being said, getting into Elko, NV was anticlimactic to say the least. There were a couple of restaurants in 'town' and I'm sure that I could have found a cheese pizza somewhere, but instead opted to eat cheese and crackers and drink wine in the hotel room.

Dinner of Champions

We also ended up digging into that box of emergency supplies in the car, and had some canned vegetarian Hormel chili. Meh. Better than venturing out into Elko after dark.

Lesson(s) Learned: Be prepared. Even if you aren't stranded in the desert, you may get stranded at a Days Inn in Elko.

The Western Waistline Expansion: Day 4

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam...

When you think of the Great Plains, you probably think of wide open grasslands but good god - neither of us were prepared for the nothingness we encountered today. From Western Nebraska to Cheyenne, WY we saw approximately 4 houses and about 5,000 cows. LOTS of wide open spaces. Is this what the Dixie Chicks were referring to??

We stopped for lunch in Cheyenne and loved how cowboy kitschy it was. We ate at a trolley-car-turned-diner called the Luxury Diner, which was perfectly tiny and charming. And lo and behold, they had a veggie sandwich that wasn't bad. The fries were really good (Stacy, I thought you were on a diet...). Mom even met a celebrity - who knew John Wayne was still kickin' it in Cheyenne?!

She took this just to make my aunt jealous (that means you, Lil!)

I hope they replaced those signs on the actual railroad track...

We took the 'scenic' route from Cheyenne to Laramie on Happy Jack Road (SR 210). It turned out to be the best part of the day. We drove through Medicine Bow National Forest, and it was breathtaking. We even drove past snow-capped mountains (see below - thumbs up!).

Overall, the landscape was rugged, uninhabited, and perfectly western. The change from Midwest to West was tangible. Oh, and we passed the Continental Divide! We were hoping for a whole tourist stop complete with statues of Buffalo Bill and funnel cake, but there was only a dinky green sign on the side of the highway that we passed by so quickly that we couldn't even get a picture. Fail, Wyoming. We will forgive you, IF you show us a bison tomorrow. And speaking of wildlife, Mom saw elk! I only saw a dead one on the side of the road, but am hopeful for what tomorrow may bring.

How did that rock get UP there??

For dinner, we walked to a chinese restaurant down the road from our hotel in Rock Springs, WY. I ordered vegetable lo mein; it was so boring that I am not going to post a picture. Use your imagination.

Lesson(s) learned: I am really tired of driving but invigorated by the pioneer spirit!

The Western Waistline Expansion: Day 3

Nebraska is a pancake (not the delicious, chocolate chip variety).

Today was certainly an educational day. Do you know how much corn is being grown in Middle America?! Holy Toledo - err...Omaha? Anyway, there was a lot of pastoral Americana to be had today; a true feast for the eyes. One pleasant surprise: wind power! Iowa (note the $6 t-shirt) is chock full of beeeeautiful turbines, pumping out clean energy. Be still, my hippie heart.

Today we stopped for lunch in Omaha, NE. Mom and I had done a little online research the night before and found directions to a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Restaurant that we were excited to try. Alas, the restaurant closed at 2pm and we arrived at exactly 2:19pm. We proceeded to drive aimlessly around Omaha for about 2o minutes, getting increasingly annoyed until we stumbled upon this:

You had us at "rainbow umbrellas" - the restaurant is called McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe. Come on, seriously? You're making this too easy. The menu was full of fresh produce and embarrassingly exciting vegetarian options. I ordered the 'Morrockin' Salad' with falafel and hummus on top of tons of vegetables. Mom ordered a salmon sandwich with a beautiful grain salad on the side. This was truly a gift from Omaha, and a reassurance that maybe I was being too snobbish to assume that it would be difficult to find vegetarian food in Middle America.

After a very long drive through very flat country, we finally arrived in North Platte, NE. However, the history nerd inside me got really excited to hit part of the Lewis and Clark Trail between Iowa and Nebraska (Shout out, Dr. Thorp!). We settle into our third Comfort Inn of the trip, but found that there were VERY few dining choices in North Platte. We decided on a place called Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill. Uh-oh. At least there were fun Wild West amusements on the way! Mom just had to tempt a grizzly.

So, actually quite typically of steakhouses, there were zero vegetarian options on the menu apart from the house salad (aka: iceburg lettuce with shredded cheese and ranch.) I went with what they called rattlesnake pasta, which was supposed to include red peppers, onions, and chicken - I just asked them to hold the chicken. What I got was a buttery, creamy bowl of pasta with one pathetic slice of onion in it. Of course it tasted good, it just wasn't what I wanted. But I felt validated that even at a steakhouse in Nebraska, I could find something fattening to eat and wouldn't starve. God Bless America.

Lesson(s) Learned: There are hippies everywhere. Even Nebraska.

The Westward Waistline Expansion: Day 2

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the Midwest.

On the second day of our roadtrip across the country, Mom and I traversed Indiana, Illinois, and part of Iowa (all the best 'I' states). Most of it was very flat, and it was VERY hot and humid outside, but we actually made some pretty cool side trips and found some hidden midwestern gems.

After leaving Toledo, we continued to head west. We felt it was kind of a shame to drive so close to Lake Michigan and not actually see any of it from the highway, so we detoured to Indiana Dunes State Park to have a picnic lunch on the beach. Yes, beaches NOT on the ocean - seagulls and everything! Who knew? This was also a way to avoid crappy road food, instead opting for soynut butter sandwiches, apples, and Sunchips. After lunch, I officially stuck my feet in Lake Michigan and we continued on our way.

We also felt like it was kind of a shame to pass so close to Chicago and not even see the skyline, so we did a quick loop through the city which turned into a trafficky mess. It was cool to see Chicago, though, however briefly. It is definitely a place I would like to come back and actually visit in the future.

We got as far as Iowa City, where we decided to post up for the night, and it ended up being such a great surprise! For two people who had never been to Iowa before and had no idea what to expect, we were quite impressed when we arrived in this cute college town on the Iowa River. It was still hot as hell, but we really enjoyed walking along the river and through the Downtown area. We had dinner at Masala Indian Vegetarian Cuisine, which you can probably guess from the name, specializes in vegetarian and vegan dishes. The food was delicious and inexpensive - they even had organic wines for under $5 per glass! Way to go, Iowa!

Lesson(s) Learned: College towns offer lots of dining options for vegetarians; fewer hotel options if it happens to be freshman orientation.

The Westward Waistline Expansion: Day 1

Holy Toledo!

Today, Mom and I embarked on our journey across the country. I took a job in Lake Tahoe, CA and Mom was awesome enough to agree to drive out with me. As I've never been farther inland in the US than West Virginia, this should be quite the adventure.

As a vegetarian, I thought it would be interesting to see how difficult it would be to find meatless fare on the road. Just in case, we packed a LOT of emergency snacks (and charles shaw).

We drove about 8 hours from Virginia to Ohio, stopping outside of Pittsburgh for lunch. We dreamed of french fry sandwiches at Primanti Brothers, but alas, did not have a GPS to guide us there. We settled on the Eat n' Park, a chain restaurant that we had long laughed about (shouldn't it be PARK and then EAT?). Either way, we were pleasantly surprised. For what seemed like a shlocky chain restaurant, they actually had a good number of vegetarian options. They even conveniently listed all of their vegetarian dishes on the back of their menu. Mom and I both ordered gardenburgers, which we found sufficiently delicious. We also had an adorable server named Tina whom we will probably reference for the remainder of the trip.

We made it as far Toledo. Maumee to be exact. Maumee, OH. We'll send you a postcard. We settled quite nicely into our Comfort Inn with our car snacks and Charles Shaw, but took a recommendation from the front desk and hoofed it over to the Holiday Inn restaurant across the street. The place was completely empty - not entirely shocking considering we were in a street comprised solely of hotel chains and Friendly's restaurants on a Monday night - but we were exctied to see the $4.50 house wine. I was a little concerned that there was exactly one vegetarian dinner option on the menu, but que sera, sera. The vegetarian pizza was fine, and Mom really liked her Walleye.

Lesson(s) Learned: Ohio is full of tractors and corn. If all else fails, order pizza.