Garlic Broiled Tomatoes and San Diego

The two things in the title of this post have nothing to do with each other, except that I did both of them this week. Last night I ended up throwing together a pretty delicious, completely vegan dinner really quickly. We had corn that we needed to cook before it went bad, so we had ears of corn. We had one random tomato left so I sliced it up, put it in a pan with olive oil, garlic salt, sliced fresh garlic, and pepper and broiled that in the oven for about 5 minutes. And then we had leftover green beans, and Patrick had a piece of garlic toast. The picture doesn't make the tomatoes look too great, but they were really delicious. I am brainstorming what to make for my family when I go home to visit NC. I want to make them a great, completely vegan dinner. This tomato dish made me think of making them garlic roasted tomatoes over asparagus over some kind of pasta dish, with a salad, and some kind of yummy vegan dessert. We'll see.

In other news, I went to San Diego for the first time today! Patrick and I tagged along with our friends Jane and Richard, who are awesome California natives, so they showed us the ropes. We toured a WWII aircraft carrier, then we went to Old Town San Diego where we got hand made tortillas, made right in front of us! They were only 2 for $1. You order right from the sidewalk, and the woman made them right there, outside. They were so unbelievably fresh and amazing and delicious.

Basically all of Old Town San Diego smelled amazing because of all the amazing restaurants. For lunch we ate in Oceanside at a local diner called Mary's. I got a BLTA minus the B (bacon), so lettuce, tomato, and avocado sandwich on whole wheat, with a side of fries. See, it's easy to be vegan and not make everyone go far out of their way to accommodate you. Just pick something from the menu and don't be a brat about it. I am spoiled though, living in California where there is such an abundance of avocados and delicious fresh local veggies.

Also, I took some of my homemade banana bread to share in the car on our mini-road trip. Jane and Richard approved! I had packed a little bag of snacks for the day including the banana bread, two apples, and a half a peanut butter tortilla sandwich, just so I would be prepared had there not been anything vegan for me to eat. Luckily there was, so I shared the banana bread and brought the rest back home, but that is always a good idea as a vegan, to be prepared so you don't have to make people go out of their way on a group outing and so you aren't hungry! Especially since as a vegan you most likely eat smaller meals/snacks more frequently throughout the day as opposed to fewer, bigger meals. 

Happy Eating!

-Gina