Tempeh Cakes at Terrene

Terrene is one of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis, partially because they always have one reliably delicious vegetarian entree, and partially because the staff there are so sweet and friendly that the dining experience is enhanced by their presence.

These tempeh cakes knocked my socks off! They are smokey, savoury, sweet all at the same time. I think about them all the time now. I am working on getting the chef to give me his recipe. Go eat at Terrene! They will not overload you with butter and salt. And you might just eat something that you can't find ANYWHERE ELSE IN TOWN!

Mashed Frites with Seitan and Mushrooms and Backyard greens

This one was inspired by one of the courses we had at an "underground dinner" a few weeks ago. Now while I found that whole experience culinarily underwhelming, I did particularly enjoy this dish, especially since it was family style and I was able to sneak lots of extra morels onto my plate. This is about as "home cookin" as vegetarian food can get.

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes, boiled skins on

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 T butter

1 handful parsley

salt and pepper

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1 cup seitan

4 cups shitake mushrooms (or morel if you are lucky)

garlic

shallots

white wine

butter

a pinch or two of flour (optional)

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1 large bunch of your favorite greens

splash of apple cider vinegar

1 t honey

raw veg salad

Inspired by a perfect "fatoosh" salad at The Vine, my favorite local Middle Eastern eatery, I went to the Tower Grove Farmers Market this morning and bought the ingredients for this simple salad. All local and all delicious. It's easy, and you can put in basically anything. Just dice it all up!

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes

1 small red onion

1 zucchini

2 ears corn

1 lemon (juice of)

1 handful parsley

1 handful basil

salt and pepper to taste