From the monthly archives: September 2011
When I saw this, I knew I’d be scooping out pale green goodness and pairing it with chocolate for my main wo-man’s {CP} birthday cake. Gosh heck, I just love avocado. The Alligator Pear. I’d eat that green meat here. I’d eat it there. On a chair. With a hare. Or, of course, mashed and inside a chocolate cake… and beat into icing.
Ah, mash good.
I have had this container of supermarket cocoa for a long time. Deep, dark Dutch cocoas have been used while this light brown stuff watches on. I need to use it up once and for all and never skimp on this important ingredient again.
I was worried about the icing, but it was marvelous.
Just a gorgeous natural hue–beat avocado, lemon juice and a pound of sugar. I would like to try this icing with mango.
Be forewarned: let the cake cool thoroughly before icing cake and taking a car service to the other side of Brooklyn. Continental drift occurs.
Don’t you wish you can step behind the counter sometimes, take a restaurant’s menu and create vegan options with their raw materials? Sneak in fresh-made vegan whip, wipe the waffle grill with softened Earth Balance, caramelize their bananas? I want to do that at Waffle and Wolf, a new Dutch taco counter spot in Williamsburg. I love that this omni-eatery offers a hearty buckwheat vegan waffle option to hold their fresh fruits, nuts and their interesting molasses-tahini spread but… when it comes to waffles, it’s hard for me not to miss sweet syrup and EB rivers flooding those hot boxed alcoves. But their dark and tasty waffle, smiling service and blocks-proximity to my apartment will surely have me back. Welcome to the neighborhood! {Pictured: CP‘s Sweet waffle sandwich #4}
Now that I am working again I need to get myself back into the kitchen. I need to start making lunch again. It has been a long time since I cooked anything, sadly, and I’ll have to start again slow. Slow like with one of my easy favorites: pancakes.
I made some for a late lunch today to wet my appetite.
Perfect salty and sweet, oh how I love pancakes.
So for the week, a whole slew of lil’ silver dollar ones. They aren’t the greatest re-heated but that’ll motivate a better choice for next week.
Goodbye, dear summer. You moved so swiftly through your weeks. But first, a few more bites…
Goodbye, peak season for juicy and tender summer fruits. Soon it’ll be time for apples, pumpkins and figs.
Goodbye, peaches and characteristically-summer stone fruit, best warm-skinned and taunt on the beach. Goodbye, grilled peaches, a different entity altogether, may the sparking lumpwood charcoal let you sweat your sugar.
Goodbye, real vanilla beans; coconut milk ice cream. You’ll pair up with some sweet goodies later, and I’ll see you then.
Goodbye, summer-ish marinade: Cindy’s Kitchen‘s amazing mango coconut marinade. Your sweet zing is perfect when infiltrating tempeh’s densely-packed atoms.
Goodbye, elaborate ice cream concoctions with aforementioned summer fruits, hot fudge and Smucker’s marshmallow topping. You’ll hardly seem appropriate after today. Warm, baked cakes and cookies soon will lessen the sting… till then…
Goodbye, Summer!
Rawvolution in New York City’s East Village is the baby of raw chef and author Matt Amsden. The small counter cafe serves up delicious raw foods for the price-savvy. And with its food delivery service, Rawvolution provides accessible and healthful food for all.
After CP shared the lead a few weeks back, it was time to give it a try because, let’s be honest… real good vegan options are hard to find in the East Village. [I mean, there are ok vegan food options (like the brunch-y Organic Grill and Kate's Joint, a nostalgic favorite with its hit-or-miss waitstaff) but the characteristically bad service (Angelica Kitchen, Caravan of Dreams and the now-defunct Counter), cramped space, stunted veg food craft (Atlas) and annoying clientele of the East Village make it a good option for newbie vegetarians with considerably lower standards than a mature vegan foodie.] Considering, we were delighted to find great service and well-done raw options!
To wet the appetite, a sweet bite: Rawvolution’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ball. This very delicious ball of maca, raw chocolate chips and the unmistakably scrumptious taste of coconut-sweetened oil was a perfect couple of bites.
My tasty sandwich, the Cocophoria: curried coconut jerky, cashew mayo, onions and tomato on their own delicious “bread” made of flax and dehydrated onion. This sandwich is flavor-packed thanks to the amazing “bread” and the curried coconut strips, balanced by cool tomatoes and mayo. My only critique is to leave out the onion out because, paired with the mostly onion bread, it is a little too dominant. But an A+!
Here’s a cross-section of the sandwich showing off the goods: the curried coconut strips. Nevermind that thumb, battered and unkempt from putting together my classroom.
A final sweet (a Chocolate Haystack: chocolate and coconut mound of love) and on the house (!) because the new cafe is still working out the kinks. A kind gesture on top of an already great experience.
Vegan Reporting By Location
