Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Onion and Seitan, (Canned) Minestrone Soup

Though my wife enjoyed dinner today, we were tight on time and I was a little embarassed to serve a meal like I might make in college, simple and not so interesting. Of course, I love my slow cooker for soups but have a few cans of soup in the pantry and need to use them up, so heated some Amy's Organic Minestrone Soup - I don't know why, but some of their varieties, including this one, have a strange taste to them.

I made some mashed potatoes and tried mixing in Lars' Own crispy onions. I also served the Scottish "cheddar" and chives vegan "sheese" atop a baguette and, to the side of the potatoes, served some raw seitan chunks.

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I haven't seen the hardcopy of my article in yesterday's paper, but did find it online; it seems reasonable. Yesterday after my photography class, we went to a gourmet southern Italian restaurant that we love, Trilussa La Trattoría in Chapel Hill. The owner chef, Florentine Giovanni Caligari, is a very accomodating and interesting man, great to talk with and who creates a social and gustatory experience certainly reminiscent of Italia. We trusted him to come up with family style servings of vegan choices, and had a nice salad and excellent sauteed mushrooms and vegetables for appetizers, followed by five shared main courses, including great gnocchi, good curried vegetables, black beans (good but beans can bother my stomach so I just carefully sampled a few), and grilled vegetables. It was a great hours-long dining experience that my wife and I shared with two friends visiting on business from California.