Hiatus

As you can probably tell, I haven't posted in quite a while. I'm on a mini-hiatus from blogging. I am still eating, photo shootin', and doing art. Be back soon! ♥

HOLY COW! (minus the cow)

Sometimes you crave a frozen treat, but perhaps you are lactose intolerant, or do not want any animal ingredients involved (look, you might be vegan, but you still have a pulse, for pete's sake! )

Well, good news for you! The brand
SO Delicious is taking our store freezers by storm. I keep seeing new types of SD frozen desserts (sandwiches, pops, yogurts, pints) popping up everywhere from my co-op to Whole Foods to some general markets. I couldn't rave about this brand enough. They have managed to listen to my inner longing for dairy-free (but also soy-free) choices. Though not everything is soy-free (make sure to read the ingredient list), a great selection is, and they are good about letting you know which ones are right on the packaging. They also use more natural sugars like agave nectar and organic ingredients you can recognize and feel good about.

Below: the ultimate yum! Vegan Banana Split Minis, a "mini" 3.5 g's of fat each, and sooooo damn good!

The Eye of Sauron

Jerusalem Artichoke (a perennial tuber plant, otherwise known as sunchoke, sunroot, or earth apple) is a root vegetable that I have never tried before. I knew they did, at times, end up in my "hippie pasta," due to my obsession with reading back label ingredients, but that was about it for my experience with them. Time to experiment!

Objects may not be what they appear You look like a ginger root, you're not even from Jerusalem, you're not an artichoke, and you taste a little like a potato...so what's the deal, yo!? The name Jerusalem is due to folk etymology; when the Jerusalem artichoke was first discovered by Europeans, it was called Girasole, the Italian word for sunflower. The Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower, in the same genus as the garden sunflower Helianthus annuus. Over time, the name Girasole transformed into Hierusalem and then to Jerusalem.(source)

Sunchokes are only skin deep Most of their nutrients are stored just under the skin, so it's best not to peel them. Once cut, they discolor quickly, so it's best to cut them close to serving time, or immerse them in water with lemon or vinegar to prevent oxidation. Cooking them with the skins may cause them to darken because of their high iron content (but that's where the nutrients are).(source)

They're magically...nutritious! Sunchokes are chock full of vitamin C, phosphorus, thiamine, potassium, and are an excellent source of iron. They're also very rich in inulin (not insulin), a carbohydrate linked with good intestinal health due to its prebiotic (bacteria promoting) properties.(source) They are recommended as a potato substitute for diabetics, since they are filling but not absorbed by the body, and because they also show indications of assisting in blood sugar control. Jerusalem artichoke flour is also recommended for those who are allergic to wheat and other grains.(source)

(featured below: jerusalem artichokes baked in their skins with olive oil & sea salt, lightly steamed kale, and grilled tempeh "steak")
One final note, from our own (albeit, farting) forefathers "Gerard's Herbal," printed in 1621, quotes the English planter John Goodyer on Jerusalem artichokes: "which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men." (source)

Yar! (or something) People surely were....passionate...in the 1600's! One way to avoid that today, however, (for people with sensitive stomachs), is to pre-cook them before baking, or a good boiling is recommended, and eating them raw should be avoided. My tip: try a handful first and see how they taste and feel, starting with only a small portion. If all goes well, tell John Goodyer to stuff it! These lil' roots are pretty darn delicious and worth a try. Good luck!

Kentucky Fried Tofu (in Brooklyn)

I eat pretty healthy for the most part, but sometimes you just want a deeply fried & crispy dish to satisfy your bad side. I found this recipe in a copy of Peta's free "Vegetarian Starter Kits" laying around while I was in DC. It came out really awesome! It probably would be even more bad-ass in a deep fryer, but a regular ol' frying pan did the trick just fine.

Fried "Chicken"

• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 onion powder
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 4 Tbsp nutritional yeast (I use Red Star brand)
• 3 Tbsp yellow mustard
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 lb mock "chicken" (I used cubed Tofu instead!)
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable oil

Mix together the salt, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder, flour, and nutritional yeast in a deep bowl, dilute the mustard with the water. Add 1/3 cup of the flour mixture to the mustard mixture and stir. Combine the baking powder with the remaining flour mixture.
Dip chunks of mock chicken (or tofu, like I used) into the mustard batter, then drop into the flour mixture to coat with the desired amount of "crust." Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat (or use a deep fryer) and fry until crispy and golden brown, turning as needed.

I accompanied the fried tofu with some broccoli to try and cancel out the 20 or so pieces I ended up greasily lickin' and chowin' down (just like a real bucket o'chicken!), and whipped up a vegan-style aioli dipping sauce made of Vegenaise, garlic powder, parsley, and a dash of yellow mustard and sea salt on the side.

Cupcake Camp NYC!

What's better than a cupcake? How about a room full of adults shoveling down dozens of free cupcakes in the Lower East Side, and then washing them down with booze, perhaps?

Cupcake Camp NYC: I love the idea of this event!! It's a foodie magnet, and great press if you run a blog, catering company, or just want to mingle with cute people over lil' cutie cakes. I didn't have the time to register myself, but fellow bloggers CP and KZ set up their table full of vegan treats, and I was sure there to eat 'em up!

Candy Penny's "gluten-free" cakes sure weren't free of anything delicious with this heavenly peanut butter frosting!

KZ Goods used the brand new-to-the-vegan-scene Dandies marshmallows, which were like soft sweet memories of childhood S'mores.


As with any foodie event, the paparazzi showed up before they were all gone (and they went quick!)

German chocolate, cupcakes & beer...does it get cooler than this? Awesome stuff, ladies!

Randoms

Sometimes the busy life is a bit overwhelming, and I can't keep up with posting nearly as much as I'd like to. Here a few random homemade food photos, with an additional view from my living room window, and a one tired & pooped-out cat (from what, I don't know exactly) in his usual Caturday sun spot:

(click on pic for a full-sized view of montage):

(from left to right) 1. Tuscan white bean soup, 2. raw veggies on the chopping block, 3. ramen with cilantro, lime and kale, 4. breaded baked broccoli, 5. red lentil marinara sauce over whole wheat noodles and broccoli, 6. oatmeal with rice milk and blackberries, 7. guacamole and blue sesame chips, 8. tempeh "meat" sauce, 9. veggie burger with "cheese" and sauteed onions over millet, cauliflower, and red bell peppers, 10. quinoa with black beans and seitan, kale and guac & chips, 11. tofu scramble with sweet potatoes, veggie links and mago, 12. Live Raw salad of fruit, sprouted beans and pesto.

Homemade sushi!

Fellow friend and blogger Candypenny dreamed the dream, and the rest of us followed suit with eyes wide and hungry bellies. Not that long ago, Miss CP went to Japan, returning with a sushi vision and a healthy glow that only traveling far East can give to you.

We were a little spoiled because our dear friend had already skipped us a step of traveling far north (this time, to Edgewater, New Jersey) to the Mitsuwa Marketplace for sushi supplies, as well as preparing the sticky rice in advance.

We filled the handmade rolls with a few different veg varieties: avocado, red bell pepper, spicy tempeh, edamame, and tempeh with pear salad.

Rolling proved easier than expected! (with the help of Sake and Pomegranate martinis). Not featured (due to a dying camera battery) was a miso soup with green tea noodles, and gluten-free matcha green tea cupcakes.

Thanks, Candypenny!

Birthday 3: Blossom Organic

Right off the bat, I must apologize for the poorly lit photos that had me succumb to using the dreaded camera flash, but man, this place sure was dark. Having said that, however, the food was FANTASTIC! And the dark lighting and moody decor added greatly to the quaint dining experience (just, not for the amateur food paparazzi, such as myself).

I have heard about the almighty Blossom Gourmet Organic Vegan Cuisine for some time now, and decided to use my birthday dinner treat here instead of my usual automatic birthday go-to Candle 79 (Candle, I will always love you, and you still remain my favorite upper scale veg restaurant), but having just been there for Tim's birthday this year, I wanted to change it up this time.

We started with the divinely delicate "Ravioli with Cashew Cream," spinach, mushroom, and pine nut filling:
I might "front" on trying new things, but I still ordered the familiar dish I always order at Candle 79 (Seitan Piccata), this time going by the name of "Seitan Scallopini") in a white wine, lemon, and capers sauce, with mashed potatoes, and sautéed kale. Oh, how I LOVE that lemony zest SO!

Tim got the "Port Wine Seitan:" seitan cutlets pan-seared in a sauce of port wine and mushrooms, accompanied by mashed potatoes, tempura onion and sautéed garlic spinach. This dish was juicy and very savory!

For dessert, we ordered two luscious lovelys, the Blossom "Cheesecake" and the "Chocolate Ganache."

Overall, this restaurant was really great, with amazing food, and an excellent wait staff (the waitress accidentally tapped our wine glass with her hand, while not breaking it or touching it, replaced the 1/4 left glass of wine with another full one on the house!) They were super nice, attentive, and didn't try to kick us out or start flipping chairs over when we stayed past closing time and were the last ones in there. Bellissimo, Blossom! We will most definitely be back soon!

Birthday 2: 'SNice

I know, how many times can I feature this vegetarian sandwich joint, but when you get treated for lunch on your birthday and take such a good-lookin' close-up on the ever favorite "Vegan Panini," you want to blog about it...just one more time.

If I haven't mentioned it before, this is my all-time favorite sandwich at 'SNice Brooklyn, made so popular for it's perfectly crusty bread, smoked tofu, vegan pesto and sundried tomatoes. An ol' favorite, for an ol' girl on her birthday!

Birthday, 1: Kiku Sushi

Pop Sparrow came out to treat me for my pre-birthday, one day early. I chose a local sushi place that I've been dying to try named Kiku (which always make me think of the NY Botanical Garden's "Kiku Chrysanthemum" exhibit in the Bronx, when me & Alex repeated the word "kiku" over and over off a wine buzz...and then some).

And, while speaking of buzzed, Pop Sparrow ordered the Saki straight away to start, (while still on empty bellies), and insisted that it would make us "blitzed." Being a veteran drinker myself, I wryly smirked at him when he said, "this stuff'll creep up on ya." But damn, was he right! I got a little numb and away with myself while ordering a little too much food:

1. Vegetable Gyoza

2. Inari Avocado Kampyo

3. Miso soup & 4. Green salad w/ Carrot Ginger

5. Vegetarian Sushi combo

6. Green Tea Ice-Cream (not vegan)

I give Kiku props for including more creative vegetarian options than most Japanese places I have been to, as well as great presentation, although I still long for the day where someone opens up an entirely veg sushi joint in NYC (ha!) Any takers?

Ramen & ice cream

Finding real vegetarian Ramen has become a quest of mine. You have your supermarket 20-cent variety filled with sodium and meat stock, not to mention partially-hydrogenated oil on the otherwise outrageous ingredient list (although, the smell does bring me back to my broke-ass art school days with nostalgia). Then there are the higher end places such as Momofuku and Setagaya, which do not offer anything for a vegetarian except for maybe one non-noodle soup dish (so, what's the point?) A few take-out-style inbetween'ers have tried, but I'm always wary of what's in the broth (fish is NOT a vegetable).

So when CP told us about the grand opening of macrobitoic Souen Organic Ramen in the East Village, I were there in a flash!

We started off with the fantastic "Home-made Seitan Dumplings," steamed with hakusai, ginger, garlic and scallions.

I ordered the "Vege Shoyu Ramen," with leek kombu broth, soy sauce, wakame, kombu, kimpira, carrot, scallion, sprouts and organic wheat noodles. It was not your dirty 20-cent variety taste, but it was, in fact, dee-licious! And it felt good to slurp up with a smile, knowing your not being deceived with crappy ingredients.

Another item on my foodie quest list... good quality vegan ice cream!

Lula's Sweet Apothecary is downright adorable; from their old ice cream parlor charm to the couple that owns it. Behind the counter you can purchase any veganized candy you can think of (including white chocolate!) kept in cute ol' fashion jars.


The soft-serve "Cake Batter" sugar cone with sprinkles was SOOO GOOD, and so was Tim's choice of the rich nut-based take on the popular favorite "Rocky Road."

Highly recommended!