Cucumber Salad

1 English cucumber

1/2 medium red onion

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

(or vegan mayo)

1 T reduced-fat sour cream

(or vegan sour cream)

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Halve cucumber lengthwise. Using a teaspoon, scrape out seeds; slice cucumbers very thinly on the diagonal. In a medium bowl, combine cucumbers with onion, sliced thinly (and vertically). In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, honey poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Add to cucumber mixture; toss and serve immediately.

This salad is GREAT alone or topping a veggie burger!!

Texas Caviar

Salad Ingredients:

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black-eye peas, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can white shoepeg corn, drained

1 cup chopped bell pepper, any color

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion (red preferred)

2+ jalapenos, finely diced

1 small jar chopped pimiento - optional

Combine beans and veggies in a large bowl.

Dressing Ingredients:

1 cup salad oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine above dressing ingredients in small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Let cool. When cool, add to beans and veggies and stir. Let marinate a few hours to overnight. Drain well before serving.

Serve with Fritos Scoops or your favorite tortilla chips!

Black Bean Avocado Dip

Need a great fun summer dip that isn't just your regular guacamole? Try this dip for your next gathering, picnic, appetizer and you will not be disappointed! Quick and easy and equally scrumptious!

Dip:

• 1 can sweet corn
• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 medium red onion
  
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 ripe avocados
  
• 1/4 cup cilantro

Dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Chop up tomatoes, red onion and cilantro.
   
2. Put beans, corn, red onion, tomatoes and cilantro in a bowl.
   
3. Combine dressing ingredients and pour into bowl.
   
4. Add avocado just before you're ready to serve dip and enjoy with your favorite chips!
   

Chain Champ: Flat Top Grill

538 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53705
Phone: 608-236-0500

and

2751 N. Mayfair Road
Wauwatosa, WI 53222
Phone: 414-258-7676

I should preface this review by saying, Flat Top is not a national chain (yet?). It is located in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana currently. I was introduced to Flat Top Grill for the first time in Chicago with two girlfriends over two years ago. Then, I was thrilled to find out that Madison opened the restaurant in Hilldale and now I found out Wauwatosa has a location in Mayfair, which is exciting since I'll be moving to Milwaukee in less than a month!

Flat Top has always been a flavor explosion when I go. It's fun to try new sauce combinations, and I've never had the same meal twice (even when I've tried). I love the Roti Prata bread that you get with the blue stick and add a brown stick, and you get deliciously browned tofu. Yum! The greatest thing about Flat Top, is the fact that my carnivore boyfriend is happy and so am I. I love the great selection of fresh veggies, brown and white rice, noodles, tofu and the sauce choices. My bowl is usually heaping and a struggle to finish. My second time there, it was a struggle because I made it so damn spicy I thought I was going to die. (The waiter helped me fix that before I sweated out the joint).

What I don't love about Flat Top, the price for dinner... A bowl, while extremely satisfying and filling, is $13.00 for dinner (unless you have a student ID, in which case, you get a $2 discount). I love the lunch price, which is under $10.00. Despite the fact you get up and fill your own bowl, then sit and are served your bowl once it's cooked stir-fry style, you still need to tip (and I hope you are all nice tippers). So, if you get a drink, it can get a little pricey for rice and veggies. You can also pay a buck or two more to get the endless bowls (which I cannot imagine finishing more than one) but you have to pay extra to take your leftovers. I enjoy having all those choices so much, that it's worth the price once and awhile.

The best part about Flat Top is that you can have an incredible vegan meal without giving the waiter the third degree about ingredients and explaining that yes, even butter is an animal product. Overall, a place I will continue to go and dine. Plus, it's a restaurant that can please just about anybody.

Chain Champ: Chili's

Even though I try to avoid chain restaurants for the most part, sometimes it's the only thing that seems to please the whole party and it's unavoidable. So, the Veg Vixens will also be reviewing the chains and letting you know the good, the bad and the ugly.

When I have gone to Chili's, I have really enjoyed their Guiltless Black Bean Burger. It's nicely seasoned and has whole black beans in the patty. In my few experiences here, they are also willing to accommodate vegetarians, since the options aren't plentiful. I've modified the fajitas to be just veggie and that's been satisfying for the most part as well. The downside is the very very limited choices, especially if you are vegan. The upside is, the choices that are there, I think are pretty delicious, though I am huge black bean burger lover, so I might be easier to please than most.

I'd love to see more chain restaurants offering meat substitutes (like marinated portobellos, tofu, seitan) though I think that might be wishful thinking for now. Overall, if you're in the mood for a black bean burger or veggie fajitas, go for it, if not, good luck and plan on filling yourself with a garden salad or sides. Vegans beware!

Brasserie V- Madison, WI

Brasserie V
1923 Monroe Street
Madison, WI 53711
(608)255-8500

This has become my most favorite restaurant in Madison. I have never had something on the menu that I did not LOVE and I mean LOVE. It is a casual, but seemingly upscale restaurant with an incredible selection of beer. The first experience there, I had my most intense foodgasm with the Apple & Provolone Sandwich. I have since recreated this sandwich from home many times with equal satisfaction. It is tucked away on Monroe Street, and prior to hearing about the restaurant, I had walked by it several times without knowing what it was.

I was turned onto this restaurant by Picky Pepper, who raved about the Cucumber & Cream Cheese Sandwich. So the three of veg vixens made it a lunch date back in January, and since then, I have been back there once a month. It's very difficult for me not to order the same thing that I know I love so dearly, but I have always been pleased when I try something new. However, I have only been to Brasserie V for lunch, never dinner yet. I love the lunch menu, even with just a few choices, it's often very difficult for me to choose what to eat. I love the Baby Spinach Salad, Grilled Portobello, the Muffaletta (without meat of course), and of course, being the salt lover that I am, I also love the Frites. The sides have never been disappointing and in my visits have ranged from a fresh cucumber salad, to a carrot curry soup, a potato and leek soup and a delicious quiona spring salad. Each time extremely full of flavor and very satisfying.

I'm anxious to go there for dinner to try two salads, the Pear & Brie and the Tarragon & Radish salads. The one downside to dinner, is that the vegetarian options for dinner are more limited than at lunch.

All in all, the staff is extremely friendly and knowledgable, plus the service in my five visits has always been excellent. They use local ingredients when available and take good food very seriously. The beer selection is impressive, if not overwhelming, even for a beer drinking Wisconsin girl. I cannot recommend this place strongly or highly enough. I'm a huge fan.

Hubbard Street Diner - Middleton, WI

Hubbard Street Diner
7445 Hubbard Ave
Middleton, WI 53562
(608) 831-6800

As a nice Memorial Weekend brunch on Sunday, my parents, my boyfriend and I headed to downtown Middleton and had a very lovely brunch. Here's what was ordered:

• My mom had the Spicy Szechuan Salad with marinated portobello mushrooms in place of grilled chicken.
  
• My dad ordered the Daily Double, two eggs (over-hard), two buckwheat pancakes and two sausage patties :(
  
• Ryan had the Breakfast Quesadilla which was spicy black beans, scrambled eggs, salsa, cheddar cheese all folded in a flour tortilla with hash browns.
  
• Since I'm not big on breakfast foods, I ordered the Mid-town Portobello Sandwich, which was a marinated portobello, peppers, onions and Monterey Jack cheese on focaccia bread with pesto aioli (a new favorite sandwich spread of mine).

Out of everything that was ordered, my mom's salad was my favorite. Full of flavor, spice and deliciousness. My dad's pancakes were fantastic and very hearty. Ryan's quesadilla was good, but not enough flavor and spice for me, plus it's something you could very easily make at home. My sandwich was delicious, very flavorful and scrumptious. My only compliant on my sandwich was that the portobello mushroom was so marinated that it was almost too much (pretty salty and very juicy) and somewhat of a drippy mess. However, it was still fantastic flavor. This diner is famous for pie, which we didn't even consider because we were left so full from our brunch. Plus, I'm not big on sweets, more a salty girl, so it didn't appeal to me that much. Though, the carmel apple walnut pie did look enticing, along with the carrot cake. So, perhaps, this will become our next dessert stop when the meal isn't filling enough. Overall, everyone seemed very happy with their food and I'd definitely go back again, since there were plenty of veggie choices and prices are fairly reasonable. If you are a dessert lover, this is probably a place for you to be!