Quinoa is scrumptious on its own. But add sauteed kale… oh boy. Throw in some thinly sliced shallots, diced yellow pepper, dried cranberry, cashews and a bunch of cilantro and you tap on the majority of the surface area of the tongue, waking up even the laziest of buds.
A quinoa salad is always pretty but this nutritionally dense grain-like seed delivers so much more: a complete source of protein thanks to all nine amino acids, the all important fiber and some important minerals, including iron. Why would anyone settle for the nutritionally-void filler grain (rice), when they can eat the food of Incan warriors!
Brooklyn Tap House in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn has “no crap on tap.” The gorgeously modern and spacious bar also has some vegan eats on their menu. Here is their Vegan Brat. Though I praise the “vegan corner” on their menu, I was hoping for a bit more creativity than store bought sausage, slaw and bread. I would definitely return but more for the tons of great brews, than the food.
Ever since I saw the Philadelphia’s Memphis Taproom on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives and learned it had a couple of vegan options, I’ve been wanting to go. The draw? Their vegan “bacon”. Not a packaged meat analog but coconut. Smoked coconut, smoked in a smoker. This ingenious creation is used in their vegan B.L.T. and graces the plate on their tofu scramble, along with vegan blood sausage. And one gorgeous day, CandyPenny and I were there to give it a try.
The Vegan Rooster. A moist tofu scramble, two chunks of the deceivingly light vegan blood sausage, a pile of smoked coconut bacon, some potato wedges and toast. Spot on! Though it may look like any other scramble, the Memphis Taproom does it much better: with housemade accompaniments and extra points for creativity. I cleaned my plate. After all, we had a bit of a drive and were hungry. I was a bit concerned the portion would not satisfy at first. But it was the perfect amount of food.
With some time to kill before our dinner reservation, the gorgeous unseasonably potent sun out and the guise of coming to Philadelphia with any other reason other than eating stripped, we took a quick detour to Bethlehem, home of the famous Vegan Treats!
There was so much to choose from. A slew of adorable personal cakes, danishes, cannoli, cheesecakes–My goodness! I have never seen a more impressive bakery case. Vegan or not. Hands…down.
I got the gorgeous and nostalgic Funfetti mini-layer cake and had a quick photo shoot with it before my first bite. It was nice to see other patrons snapping pictures of their beautiful selections as well.
More fun on the inside. Vegan Treats sure can whip up decadent delights in many shapes and forms. The delicious treat hit the spot and helped us through the hours until our next meal.
This was it. The reason for our trip: Vedge, Philadelphia new vegan fine dining spot from former Horizons owners (you remember Horizons, don’t you?) The vegetable-based menu looked downright heavenly and, though we were stuffed with sweets and scrambles, we were ready.
Firstly, Vedge sells plates and the house recommends 3-4 to make a full meal. It would save the wait staff a good portion of time if the menu and website indicated this. That being said, the plates are assembled to perfection, shaking your taste buds’ hands at first and then leaving them panting and lusting for more in the end. Vedge knows food. Knows how to combine it to produce pleasure. Wow. Did I mention my first plate? Layers of gold beets, smoked tofu, avocado and capers next to a puddle of cucumber dill sauce and a toasted wedge of pumpernickel. My only critique was that the capers were too many. An easy fix.
My second plate was one off of “The Dirt List”, their farm vegetable sides: Brussels, shaved and grilled with smoked mustard
This was my main plate: a tender and light grilled seitan in black lentils and mushroom topped with a creamy horseradish sauce and garnished with a pickled kohlrabi, a type of turnip. Utterly fantastic. Vedge, I will return. And next time I will be getting dessert.
I first noticed Dun-Well‘s doughnuts popping up at Bone Shakers in my neighborhood in Brooklyn quite some time ago. Since the dapper vegan doughnut duo have raised their fundraising goal on Indiegogo & opened their very own space on Montrose avenue in East Williamsburg. It took me several weeks to check the place out even though I’ve since learned it’s about a 15-minute walk from my apartment.
With an early start and high hopes for fresh vegan doughnuts that can do the East coast proud, I was finally outside their door. With the West coast trumping big time (the almighty Mighty O in Seattle, the quirky vegan selection at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland & Eugene, the famous Ronald’s Donuts in Las Vegas and San Fran’s Peoples Donuts, etc), doughnuts just seemed to be an aside for the big east bakers. The doughnut ain’t no cupcake, ain’t no cookie. It’s a damn doughnut.
And here they are. Rows and rows of doughnuts, dressed to kill. Yeasty raised puffed pillows of yum. Deep fried wonders drenched in a shiny sugar dress. I want to bite you. But first, I want to look at you… Ok. Special thanks to the Dun-Well man for letting us behind the counter to take a shot. It was decision time.
I chose the banana-walnut yeast-raised baby, dripped and drizzled in vanilla and chocolate glaze. It was a fantastic doughnut. New York City gets a bit more vegan credibility and I have a new neighborhood option in which to devour all that which my taste buds desire. Next time I will have to try a fried one. Or two.
I am so excited Dun-Well is here and wish than success. With this level of quality, maybe NYC can be a contender in vegan eats. C’mon New York!
Emma, the vegan personal chef of Emma Eats Plants, does an all-vegan pop-up at Brooklyn’s Halyards Bar in Gowanus on Thursdays. (That sounds like some kind of mnemonic.) The weekly menu incorporates her Cuban roots and dedication to fresh, lively veganism. Thanks, Emma.
Halyards is a classy joint, dark and lovely. It was a bit difficult to read the menu, which are placed about the tables. The selection this week: a vegetable lasagna, roasted potato chunks in a creamy red pepper sauce; an almond butter, chocolate and coconut pressed sandwich dusted with cinnamon sugar; and a kale and chickpea corn taco with sunflower seed sauce. What would accompany my Old Fashioned with its potent house-soaked cherries?
The corn taco was scrumptious. Several bites of fresh flavor, very well balanced. It needed a bit of color, however. This I only realized after the flash lit it up. It tasted better than the picture shows.
The red pepper topped potatoes took a bit longer to arrive. Given the restrictions of pop-up dining I understand their being cold. I really enjoyed the red pepper cream on its own but it didn’t mesh well with the potatoes. They pulled my mouth in opposite directions.
I would definitely hit Halyards up again on a Thursday to check out another menu. And maybe I’s stay for the trivia which started up as we were leaving… or bring some records to play as their “juke box” is a record player.
I was just plain sick of these bulky rice wrappers taking up space in my pantry. With Spring and Summer’s veggies far away, I had no use for a stockpile of rice wrappers. They had to get a move on. For this last installment of Pantry Turnover here is the simple stir fry I whipped up with these thin and feeble noodles, who proved to reheat unappetisingly and gelatinously. You live, then you learn. Not vice-versa.
The first night. The wrappers joined a hot pool of sesame and chili oil, and some broccoli and cilantro. Simple and good. Sure beats the costs I’d incur buying innards for a Spring time summer roll party.
To bid farewell to 2011 I coated it in beer batter and slipped it into hot oil. And in a homage to a year packed to the brim with forward progression, I used the seasonal beer I enjoyed with 2010′s last meal to make the batter. The last bottle had been incubating for this exact purpose for 12 months, as will 2011′s brew North Coast Brewing’s Old Stock Ale.
Beer-battered tofu, sweet potato fries and roasted Brussels was the complete meal. Of course the fried filets had to have a tartar sauce puddle to bathe in (recipe from The Gluten-free Vegan.) I kind of love tartar sauce. I wanna dip everything in it.
For a cocktail, an Old Fashioned. Bring it on, 2012!
There is an efficiency to pound cake. Maybe because you don’t need to bother with a frosting, maybe because there is more cake packed in its bite. Either way, a good vanilla pound cake can fulfill a multi-leveled craving: sweet, cakey, buttery and a decadent fruit companion.
I made this gorgeous golden vanilla pound cake hoping to use what was in the pantry, straying from my usual go-to (Isa’s Golden Vanilla). You see, I had a container of coconut oil sitting pretty on the shelf. Usually I use coconut oil sparingly given its hefty price tag. But when you score a $1.19 jar in a suburban grocery’s store’s Caribbean section, you are more apt to experiment with it.
To liven up the pound cake a bit, I added some chopped maraschino cherries from Tillen Farms. I hadn’t really eaten any of them cherries since July when I had a strong hankering for a banana split. But there they sat in my designated shelf in the Electrician‘s fridge. They are sweet deliciousness and, at $7.00 a jar, I was about to utilize them to the max in this, one of the last days of 2011.
The Iced Whale ornament waited patiently for the Christmas tree, comforted by the whiff of the salty scent of the Atlantic that wafts to The Electrician‘s home. In protest to a premature holiday kick-off, he waited well-past Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber-Monday to adorn the tree.
Aaaah, a Poinsettia in front of a frosted window. The gorgeous red and green leaves illuminated by the morning light. More Christmas than I know what to do with.
My adorable nieces inside one of the best gifts I’ve ever given as an Aunt: Buddy Bumper Balls. These zany ladies sure can have fun.
Three batches of my favorite cookie recipe. Check! Winning the heart of palates more inclined to enjoy super-processed snack cake Little Debbie‘s: Not-so check. Oh well, I think it was Princess Leia who said, “Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor but they couldn’t possibly all have good taste.”
I have a ton of vintage aprons but I much prefer using my pants. Here they are dusted with flour and cocoa. I think I just like making a mess so I can clean it up.
Hilarious card from one of my students. Luckily there is no onomatopoeia coming from that sleeping one next to the tree.
Christmas morning. We watched the Yule Log & listened to WQXR‘s gorgeous choral classics.
Onward to my parents’ house. Their Christmas tree was oozing ornaments: old and new. It looked like a display and served as a timeline.
With the week off, I found myself ricocheting from Long Island to Brooklyn, delivering all my gifts and goodies back to my apt, then thrifting and digging through my storage stowed years ago and delivering that back. Waiting for the parking restrictions to end, I hit Champs for lunch. Brief rant: I can barely breathe in there. There is zero ventilation and a grey, burnt-smelling cloud hovers in the dining area. Nothing is made to order and grows cold within minutes, as microwaved foods usually do. Why, Why, why, New York City?! Why can’t you get all-vegan right like so many other cities have?
After watching a Storage Wars marathon, I remembered I had some goodies in my sister’s storage locker. I paid it a visit and uncovered a slew of my old treasures. Plus I got to play real life Tetris with the space, leaving chaotic and haphazard organized neatly and efficiently. I found a bunch of my old indierock shirts, which I left to increase their value, and my gorgeous accordion… and my banana-seat bike is doing well.
Unsweetened coconut is like tomato paste. It should come in a smaller package. I think it’s been in my pantry since: this, a time when I had much more time to make cookies. Christmas cookies! So it’s about two years now. This time, I made gluten-free toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies. They’re hearty, made of almond flour and coconut. They are sweet, with brown sugar and maple syrup. And they ooze coconut. Coconut oil, that is.
The pantry is looking much better after this turnover. I need to use a ton of rice paper wraps though that may have to wait till Spring when produce aligns.
Winter is the time for chili. Chili is foolproof, reheats excellently and is packed with heartiness. Plus you can utilize those corners of your pantry long neglected. You know. The package of dried chipotles taking up valuable real estate. Here is Part 2 of the great pantry turnover. 3 Bean Chipotle Chili.
Food with a variety of colors is so much more appetizing. Especially after a week of that mutely hued Shepard’s Pie, I was ready to ingest some different carotenoids. I chose yellow, red and orange peppers, along with the requisite Vivaldi onion and chapped garlic.
Next, load the pan with some hot, hot heat: fresh jalapeno and several dried chipotles. Let those bad boys bathe in the fire-roasted stewed tomato blend with a hefty dumping of cumin (ground and seeds) and chili powder. 3 beans, black, kidney and cannelli give even more wonderful, color contrast.
Though I made this chili for my work holiday potluck next week, knowing full-well chili that sits only gets better, I just had to give it a taste. Spectacular! Who needs all that fake dairy stuff in a vegan chili when you got a stew of earthen jewels?
The only missing element is the corn bread, forthcoming, and a sprig of cilantro.
Dried chipotle closer to turnover. Done. Tune in next time for the great pantry turnover part 3: dried coconut.
Quinoa is scrumptious on its own. But add sauteed kale… oh boy. Throw in some thinly sliced shallots, diced yellow pepper, dried cranberry, cashews and a bunch of cilantro and you tap on the majority of the surface area of the tongue, waking up even the laziest of buds.
A quinoa salad is always pretty but this nutritionally dense grain-like seed delivers so much more: a complete source of protein thanks to all nine amino acids, the all important fiber and some important minerals, including iron. Why would anyone settle for the nutritionally-void filler grain (rice), when they can eat the food of Incan warriors!
With an early start and high hopes for fresh vegan doughnuts that can do the East coast proud, I was finally outside their door. With the West coast trumping big time (the almighty 
