Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Chunky Seitan Sauce; "Blue Cheese" Salad

A couple of Wednesdays ago I had made a chunky tomato-seitan sauce and was saving it to perhaps make a pizza out of it. My aunt was visiting from Connecticut and staying with us and I wanted her to try this sauce. Instead of pizza, I made spaghetti squash, simply by putting it into boiling water for 20-30 minutes till a fork easily pierced the flesh, then cutting it in half and, using a fork, (easily) teasing out the strands. I served it with the sauce on top.

I love the vegan cheese ("sheese") out of Scotland from Isle of Bute Foods, and opened their Blue variety. It tastes very good, and reminds me very much of what I remember Blue cheese tasting like (mind you, it's probably been over ten or fifteen years since I've had Blue cheese, and I had only had it a few times in my life). I made a simple salad and included chunks of the Blue sheese. Sauteed tempeh topped with hot sauce rounded out the meal. It was good though I wish I had made a bit more.

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We had a big party for my parents this past weekend. On Friday, my wife and I were given tickets by Fox Searchlight for a sneak preview of the upcoming release of The Namesake, which I am going to be reviewing (I'm the film reviewer for Saathee Magazine); we wanted to visit with family and not take time to cook after the film, so had a South Indian dosa (rice-lentil crepe) meal at Udipi Restaurant in Cary. The whole family went out to another South Indian restaurant on Saturday, Tower in Morrisville - I was delighted to have appam, a light fermented rice pancake that isn't always available. The party was on Sunday, and it was catered by India Palace North Indian restaurant from Morrisville - it was better than I expected, especially a chickpea dish.

I've been eating out a lot! Before the weekend, I teach on Thursdays and we eat out. We had gone to Sage Cafe, a nice Persian vegetarian restaurant in Chapel Hill (check out the very nice recent article about it, including the rich faisanjan pomegranate stew recipe that I usually order).