Toronto Part 3!! & Lolo's Orange Sesame Salad :)

Day 3:

Queen Street SHOPPING!!! MUCHMUSIC STUDIO!!
Starting off our morning fuelled with green smoothies again, we continued to shop along Queen Street the next day. It’s amazing, though, how much heat & excitement can curb your appetite. I found I was eating much less than usual because of the heat wave (yeeeaaahhh, 40 degree weather!!).
When we felt the tummy rumbles, we tried finding a restaurant that would offer us quality vegan food. Sure, you can grab a veggie burger anywhere. But we were determined to feel satisfied & refreshed rather than full & bloated. We had a lot more shopping & walking to do!
We came across the Queen Mother café, & I truly believe we couldn’t have picked a better place to have lunch that day. Our server was outstanding & accommodating, & went over & above what I would ever expect from a server.

We indulged in martinis, of course, which accidentally matched our shirts! Haha. Lolo had a citrus martini, & mine was a Blue Hawaiian. We shared a beautiful garden green salad with romaine, chickpeas, olives, red onions, & a Dijon dressing on the side. We then ordered the same appy: 3 rice wrap rolls, containing romaine, carrots, vermicelli noodles, zucchini, etc, with an amazing peanut sauce on that side. WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! If you’re in the Toronto area, we both highly recommend this restaurant!! Two green thumbs up :)

When we went home for dinner that night, we kept it simple (isn’t raw usually simple? Hehe). Our salads contained a bed of mixed greens w/ sliced cucumber, chopped Roma tomatoes, pea sprouts, & Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger dressing *wipes drool from chin*
See the patty on the side? Prepared in ‘Zara’s Gourmet Kitchen,’ these Lentil & Vegetable Patties stole our little vegan hearts <3 They contained brown basmati rice, potatoes, split yellow lentils, carrots, peas, filtered water, sunflower oil, coriander leaves, garlic, cumin seeds, tumeric powder, chilli powder, lemon juice, sea salt, cloves, cinnamon & black pepper. These little patty delights were packaged with a delicious dipping sauce…which we discovered tasted even better when we combined it with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Oh yeah. We like spicy food. Frank’s was a new experience for us both & we were all over it. (Half the bottle was gone in just a couple of days.)
Oh, & as you can see from the photo...we were already finished with a couple drinks before dinner ;)

Day 4:

We had a BIG day ahead of us! After sharing some fruit & green smoothies for breakfast, we hopped into the car & headed to Niagara On The Lake. It was our first stop before the Falls, because Lolo wanted me to see how beautiful it was there. Was it ever! We didn’t spend a lot of time there, but looking at all the adorable shops & soaking in the atmosphere of an ‘older time’ village was exciting. We went into the Prince of Wales Hotel to use the washroom…just so she could show me how fancy it was! If you ever have to pee while visiting Niagara on the Lake, go in there. Do it.

With angry tummy grumbles demanding food, we decided to have lunch at Shaw Cafe & Wine Bar. The service wasn’t anything to rave about (though it wasn't horrible), but our food was beautiful!! We both ordered the falafel wrap, which was served with lettuce, tomato, red onion & obvs falafel patties in a whole wheat wrap. With a big side of baby greens dressed in olive oil & balsamic vinegar, our moans of delight continued with every bite. Feeling satisfied, we headed to the beautiful Falls.

I was so overwhelmed at finally seeing Niagara Falls that I actually had tears building up. You know when you hear & read about places your whole life, but never get to see them? I never thought I’d get to see the Falls. They were more spectacular than I could have ever imagined! Oh, & Lolo took a photo of me for Vega’s ‘Where Will Your Smoothie Take You?’ contest. Vote for me!! :D
Of course, we couldn’t go all the way there without going into the Falls: it’s part of the experience!! Once we were on the Maid of the Mist, I marvelled at how close I was to the Falls. I could feel the spray, hear them flowing…until there was so much water falling all over us that we couldn’t see anything! Haha, no better way to cool down in 40 degree weather than to chill out in Niagara Falls. I am so, so grateful for that experience. We were absolutely DRENCHED after!!

The drive home was quite long, though I passed out on poor Lolo. I’d had only two hours of sleep the night before (*sigh* insomnia/ time change), but I felt much better after my nap.
Our dinner that evening was kept quite simple, & Lolo was insistent on plating it. The salad, her creation, was soooooooo amazing!! The juiciness of the orange slices w/ the crunch of the almonds & sesame seeds, all married with Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger dressing? Fabulous. Check out the recipe below!

The “rawzagna” was one of the delights we had picked up at Noah’s. It was also created by ‘LIVE’ restaurant in Toronto. Delicious? Holy crap. In our first bites, we fell madly in love. It took us a minute to figure out what herb was in the “rawcotta” that tasted so damn incredible. DILL!! Since then, I have not stopped craving dill. Every time I try a new rawzagna I am continuously amazed; everyone has their own way of doing it, but I truly believe ‘LIVE’ takes the cake.
Ingredients in this bad boy? Zucchini, tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, spinach, cashews, lemon, onion, dill, nutritional yeast, celtic sea salt.

Lolo’s Orange Sesame Salad
Ingredients:

4 cups mixed greens
1 large orange, peeled & sectioned
2 tbs slivered almonds
2 tbs sesame seeds
2 tbs Newman’s Own Sesame Ginger dressing

Directions:
1) Toss greens together with dressing in a bowl. Place equal amounts onto two plates.
2) Top each plate of greens equally with orange slices, almonds, & sesame seeds.
3) Serve. Om nom nom.

Georgie & Lolo, xo