Currently viewing the tag: "lemon"
With summer on the outs, and a stock of Asian noodles to utilize, I wrapped up some end-of-summer rolls. Fresh, vibrant and with a variety crunchy textures, these see-through beauties have all the elements of a delicious summer snack.
Inside: vermicelli, basil and mint from the backyard, cilantro, sliced English cucumber (for their seedlessness), red/yellow/orange peppers, sliced green chili pepper, diced scallion, and crushed peanut. 
They were so good, but I hardly had the appetite after eating so many nibbles during prep. Luckily they store well and are perfect right out of the refrigerator.
With a hankering for wet cake batter (I get this odd hankering once in a while), I whipped up a batch of lovely vanilla cupcakes. I usually make Isa’s basic vanilla recipe from VCTOTW, but wanted to switch it up. I used this recipe from All About Cupcakes and I love it! They had a nice, fluffy and a not so oily-wet texture. So I dressed their outsides to the nines to match.
I wanted to use the beautiful yellow sugar crystals from India Tree so I added a litte lemon juice to the icing… and a leave of mint from the yard. I love having it out there as a garnish option.
With the fig season here, I have been rejoicing. So as to not shove the entire pint in my mouth, I though fig pancakes were in order, inspired by Cinnamon Snail‘s recent menu addition. Here those fantastically-textured fruit sliced and getting cozy in the pancake batter (always this recipe).
As always with most of the times I make pancakes, I enjoy making them so much that I forget what is a rational portion. The combination of fig pancakes didn’t work so great. The seeds became a bit overwhelming and the large wet slices didn’t help the pancake’s texture. Of course, this was with a stack of three. One might have been just fine. 
Do you know how much I love arugula? I can’t open the fridge without sneaking a leaf as if it was this decadent, forbidden food. The bitterness blows my mind. Add roasted yellow beets, crisp red pepper, a heavy hand of sunflower seeds, and a dousing of Bragg’s ginger and sesame vinaigrette and Wow! 
I have just returned from a tremendous bout of traffic along U.S. Coastal Route 1. If I didn’t think that this was one of the most beautiful highways in the entire country, I’d probably be a bit more frustrated now. But a day of eating fried and hearty fare and I am cemented here dazed, trying to channel enough brain activity to complete this post. I’m going to be brief, as a picture is worth 10,000 words.
Today’s food highlights: Flore in Silver Lake for a spectacular brunch.
I got the Chicken & Waffles. Breaded and seared Gardein chicken cutlet and a thin banana waffle served with real maple syrup and Earth Balance with a side of gravy-smothered homefries.
Behold one fantastic dish. So, so salty, the maple syrup was oh so necessary. I was a member of the clean plate club.
I don’t usually like to eat things like Gardein (super-processed frozen patty type things), but every 3 or 4 years, sure.
For dessert, a lemon-berry cupcake. Adorable and so fine. The cake was light and spongey and the frosting was not cloyingly sweet or all shortening-ish.
The view of today, hazy and hot, from the Griffith Observatory.
Mohawk Bend is a huge restaurant, bar, and venue in Echo Park. They also have some amazing vegan dishes.
My choice, the Avo & Chips, beer-battered deep-fried avocado, side of fries, some horseradish slaw, and smoked paprika aioli. Deep fried avocado. What can be better?
Looking a bit closer.
CandyPenny‘s selection: Bangers & Mash. Amazing pub fare at an awesome space.
I think I need to fast when I get back to New York.
The Vakery is New York City’s latest vegan cupcake supplier! Though founder and pastry chef L.A. Brandon’s operation is via online ordering, I caught wind of her goodies being at Little Atlas Cafe in the West Village. I set out early for my cupcake breakfast, needed fuel for a day of errands in Manhattan. Thankfully, there was a selection available for my sampling.
Heck, why not buy 3 cupcakes? I bought this lovely assortment hoping to see Vakery’s range. I got the Cookies N’ Creme, the Lemon Ginger, and what looked like a s’mores but tasted more like a chocolate cheesecake. The chocolate cakes were delicious: good texture and flavor, similar to Isa’s basic chocolate. My favorite, the Cookies N’ Creme, had a spot-on buttercream. Not too-too sweet and a texture that holds teeth marks. The gluten-free lemon ginger cake was very dense, and the icing, kind of bakesale. I look forward to trying more of her flavors. Also for sale on the website: Loco-Lime Margarita, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, the Jelly Doughnut, Red Velvetty, and a Peanut Butter Cup. 
It’s great that vegan goodies are sprouting up all over the place. Good luck, Vakery!
I finally got around to trying the famous Cinnamon Snail all-vegan food truck! Hailing from New Jersey, The Snail used to only come as close as Hoboken. Now that New York City hot spots are on their weekly schedule, I knew it was fine time to taste their offerings. I got to the “FiDi” early to avoid the crowds and scarfed down my footlong ravenously.
Hubba, hubba. Can we take a look at this sandwich, the Al Pastor Seitan...? Toasted bread. Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth homemade seitan. Beer-battered jalapeños. Grilled pineapple (!!) and greens with a spicy, drip-all-over your fingers chipotle mayonnaise. This is good eating. No packaged crapola, just unadulterated flavor and texture. 
Let’s look again, shall we? This enormous sandwich was $9. It very well should have been two servings but, well “when in Rome”… The grilled pineapple was such a delightful addition. The moisture from the seitan and the pineapple might have demolished a less hearty bread, but no. They thought of that. 
I can’t wait to try something else at Cinnamon Snail. It has me believing a tool like Twitter may, in fact, be necessary after all. Follow them here to find out where they are and when.
I was full but still. I needed to try Cinnamon Snail’s sweet treats too. CP recommended the Creme Brule donut. After eating 2.5 cupcakes this morning, this donut had me wired on sugar for the remainder of the day. Think custard center, crunchy bruleed top and greasy, fried donut. Moderation is a must. Luckily my dinner plans were much more healthful.
So dinner:: There’s a new sushi joint in town that is all vegetables and fruits! That’s right. No stray fish eggs littering your roll. Beyond Sushi is all-veg sushi that need not utilize those super-processed fake fish things (I’m talking to you Soy and Sake!) for a delicious, textured bite with complex and bold flavors. Beyond Sushi does it right. Very right! Here’s the spread…
I bought the combo–2 rolls and 2 a la carte pieces. Here is the individual Baked tofu piece. The firm tofu is wrapped with seaweed atop black rice, served with chili mango sauce. I’ll get to those sauces in a second.
For my first roll I chose the Green Machine, six grain rice, English cucumber, green asparagus and marinated basil. Scrumptious.
The individual Mango piece. 
La Fiesta roll: black rice, avocado, pickled jalapeno, chayote, and cilantro, drizzled with jalapeno wasabi
I mentioned the jalapeno wasabi and the chili mango, yes. They are two of the 7 spectacular drizzle combos you can customize for your order… or take their menu’s suggestions. When you order to-go you get these fun tubes so you can interact with your delicious sushi and push the amazing flavors further. Of course you also get soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger. That is a must!
Here I am playing with different combinations. 
The small space on 14th street has also got rice paper wraps, salads, and fresh-made juices. I stopped in today but they celebrate their Grand Opening tomorrow. They had a steady stream of customers, which was good to see. It’s worth a mention that Beyond Sushi’s owner is ex-Hell’s Kitchen chef Guy Vaknin. This show is one of my guilty pleasures.
Ok, what a day of eating I had! Thank goodness the New York City area is only my half-home during the summer. Otherwise I’d be broke and I’d need a new wardrobe.
I kind of fell in love with this vibrant compilation of summer recipes. It got me thinking more creatively about what would be an tasty snack during these high temps. Easy, fresh, and colorful were musts. I diced some mango and basil and doused with fresh lime juice, the first summer bruschetta option.
Bruschetta number 2 was a diced avocado and jalapeno with a shower or lemon juice and lime zest. Not much tampering is required to create something delicious when one has a perfectly ripe avocado. Ah avocado, one of the Earth’s most perfect jewels.
Of course a sliced baguette drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt then toasted, brings both of these fantastic toppings together. The perfect pool-side snack.
And check out my Evil Under the Sun look. Now I am all ready to spend the day riding inflatables.
Is there anything more relaxing than drifting in the water with the sun on your back?
A hungry Bumble Bee feasts on lavender.
Sweet treats for all! This huge, gorgeous Monarch gets first dibs from the butterfly bush.
Remember this? Creepshow was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Having older siblings, I began watching horror movies at a very young age. Who knows the psychological effects this has had on my development and outlook. Anyway, this past weekend was Father’s Day! So I wanted to try something different for my Dad. You see, he is always trying new things. While the rest of my family shy away from vegan foods (even after 15 years of veganism), my dad always gives it a try. And when we order in on birthdays and special events, he rarely gets the same thing twice. I decided to whip up a special bundt cake to honor his adventurous tastes. But it also had to be good… So I tried Hannah’s Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake.
It was a gorgeous and delicious batter. I wanted to drink it. Thank goodness I do not use egg in my baking as I’d sure to be infected with salmonella with the amount of raw batter and dough I spoon in my mouth. I improvised with the recipe a little bit, being short on yogurt, by adding more milk to the batter. Though the cake was a pleaser, this small change watered down a bit of the cake’s sweetness and affected the texture. That’s what I love about baking. The precision required.
The lemon glaze was nice but a thick opaque dripped glaze would have enticed my family a bit more. The thinness didn’t present well.
How I love a good marble! The thinner blueberry batter made thin blue ribbons in the remaining thick, lemony batter. Next time, FRESH blueberries for a better bunch of blue!
My critiques aside, the cake was a big hit! A tasty summer cake–zesty and lively. Now, I better start brainstorming for dad’s birthday cake next month!
Life is like a…
(box of vegan chocolates) You never know what you’re gonna get.
Back at the amazing Divine Treasures in Manchester, Connecticut, CandyPenny and I had a breakfast of chocolate. This vegan gem of a chocolate shop sandwiched between the Chinese take-out and the tobacco shop in an unsuspecting strip mall in Manchester Township would likely make my top 10 vegan spots in the country. The chocolate, the caramel, the selection, the exquisite soft-serve… they’re all very much worth the trip on their own. But they’re all there. And they’re all unbelievably delicious.
For a ton of other pictures of Divine Treasure goodies, check this post from last summer.
One of their best sellers, the caramel cashew is the best of everything: texture, taste and the lingering exit of sea salt. The salt taps each taste bud on the shoulder, asking each “Are ya getting all this flavor?”
Of course, the cross-section shot. Spectacular.
The soft serve is the best vegan ice cream I’ve ever eaten. Yes, thinking back I can to say that with confidence. And it’s covered in real, warm hot fudge. Both things are difficult vegan feats. 1, vegan soft serve is often not creamy nor rich with flavor. It often turns to half milky soup in barely a few minutes. This is not true of Divine Treasures soft serve. And the hot fudge is fudgey and hot, not simply dark brown and sweet. Its texture responds to the cold soft serve like I remember as a kid.
I’ve got my box of chocolates and my vanilla soft serve with hot fudge. They ought to set up some tables outside so the tobacco shop employees don’t need to worry about loitering vegans.
Another familiar spot in Connecticut, Shoreline Diner in Guilford, Connecticut. With easy-on, easy-off via I-95, I have visited this “vegetarian enclave” several times in the past couple of years. It’s hard not to. They have a billboard off the interstate that drops the v-bomb. Even if I’m not hungry, it seems worth the stop. 
Since my first stop with The Electrician in 2010, the area surrounding the diner seems to be catching on with the veg craze. A Mexican joint up the street totes a banner announcing its vegetarian friendliness, while Food-Works‘ parking lot is bustling. The Shoreline offerings are a cut above vegan comfort food classics that often rely too much on packaged and/or frozen foods. They make their own patties and meatballs. 
I had the Southwestern Frittata. A tofu frittata with veggies and fresh avocado. It hit the spot though binding and moisture created a bit of a texture issue. The avocado was so perfect that I would have eaten a shoe sole with it. And a homefries or other potato side would have been a million times better than the chips. But isn’t that always true.
And now, the reason for our excursion: G-Zen in Bradford, Connecticut. G-zen is a vegan eatery with a scrumptious variety of vegan and raw options. The restaurant is a peaceful and gorgeous space, more akin to dining at a fancy-pants friend’s house. The decor and ambiance beams positivity. The communal feel of the space is welcoming, however being amidst the staff’s personal conversations was a bit unnerving (the counter and register are very close to tables.) The service was a bit abrupt, though knowledgable, and tad lacking grace… with every visit she bumped into adjacent tables and shuffled our placemats with everything she set down. We enjoyed the food a great deal, so let’s talk about that.
For an appetizer, we got the Sufi Kiss: marinated artichoke and Kalamata olives wrapped in filo and served with a smoked paprika aioli over organic greens. With a squeeze of lemon, this appetizer hit all the right notes. The delicate layered filo added a perfect texture to the warm salty artichoke and olive blend.
After taking a bite of CandyPenny‘s reuben at the Shoreline Diner, I decided that I wanted a reuben! G-Zen‘s reuben is sublime. Made with my favorite bread (a bread that’s pan-fried,) the house-made kraut was in balance perfectly with the marinated tempeh. Too add another layer of kick, the mustard and Russian dressing wake up all taste buds for the party. Add some sweet potato fries to the side and, bingo bango, there’s a perfect lunch. 
For dessert I got the Coconut Creme Custard. The bowl of custard was a bit overwhelming in size. I can’t see how anyone could finish such a huge bowl of tapioca after a meal. The custard was subtle; it tasted a bit more like a breakfast oatmeal than a dessert. CP got the Lemon Tart, which was delicate and divine on its ground almond crust.
After my visit, I had a few issues with some of the claims on the website. One being “everything is thoughtfully prepared from scratch.” This is a bold claim. And my only complaints just happen to align with how this claim is not true. Dishes at higher-end eateries like G-Zen are knocked down several notches when they rely on things like Daiya cheese and Soyatoo as ingredients. Although vegan, these are processed foods. Processed foods are neither sustainable in their production nor made from scratch. The restaurant also describes itself as organic, which neither of these products are. Please, G-Zen, ditch these products! Your chef/s are clearly capable and needn’t take these shortcuts. And a restaurant with a very vegan menu ought not to have peacock feathers in their bathroom.
My beloved friends Andrea and Tim tied the knot this past Friday! If that isn’t happiness enough, the bouncingly happy couple brought the quasi-wedding party and both sides of the family to the beloved Candle 79, New York City’s best vegan upscale restaurant. The very un-vegetarian group offered their gift of flexibility and were pleased to find the food delicious.
The veg-power couple high five, very aware of a slight weight wrapped about their ring fingers. Congratulations T & A!
I couldn’t resist diving into the Seitan Chimichurris on the table, sneaking in bites in between emotional toasts and speeches. Such tender seitan drizzled with horseradish cream and a red pepper coulis. Luckily, the need to photograph the plate was completely understood by the happy couple.
The Seitan Piccata, noted on the menu as the couple’s favorite, was my entree choice. I had had the cutlets of succulent seitan atop creamed spinach, grilled potato cake, oyster mushrooms and flooded before. I had revelled in the scrumptious lemon-caper sauce on a previous visit to the highly awarded all-vegan spot. Heavenly. Although there were several other entree choices on our menus, I couldn’t stray.
For dessert: The Chocolate Peanutbutter Bliss.. a rich chocolate mousse layered with a sweet and salty peanut butter mousse, covered in a chocolate shell and sitting on a dark chocolate base, drizzled in a berry coulis. A perfect ending to a fabulous meal to celebrate the love of my dear friends.
After making it to my dinner destination the night before, the day following my birthday was a bit more open. I wanted to wander a bit, remove myself from the track of routine set destination. But I knew I had to get good coffee and a baked good before exposing myself to the pace and rhythm of the Catskills. I started the day at Alternative Baker in Rosendale, a quaint little town 20 minutes or so from my motel in New Paltz. They had several vegan muffin options available but I opted for the strawberry-lemon. Looking out the lace curtains to the waking town before me, Rosendale seemed an idyllic small town. With its independent movie house, its tiny little recording studios, The New York Times on the bakery table and a lack of Paladino for Governor signage, I understood the allure of upstate New York. I was content as the resident pooch sniffing my boots under the table… and the muffin was moist and delicately delicious.
But I had to make the most of the morning if I wanted to make in back to the city in time to share dinner and drinks with my people. I needed to see fall’s foliage. It was one of the main reasons I opted to day trip north. And the region’s deciduous trees were wearing their finest peak colors and would soon be losing leaves. It is the deciduous trees of the temperate forest that trumps all other climate zones. Having an autumn birthday, I have always associated the colorful fall–trick or treat weather–with excitement. Below are some of my best shots, delivering us from Rosendale to New Paltz and into Woodstock for lunch.
Ah, lunch at Garden Cafe in Woodstock. This is one of my absolute favorite restaurants. Everything is always spot on: flavorful, fresh, thoughtful. Even a simple tofu sandwich is transformed into magic with a delicious curry base, sliced mango, caramelized onion and red pepper pressed into a scrumptious panino with amazing texture and taste. Even the side of greens is absolutely delish!
Time to head home!
So this cake is a big hit with my family. After whipping it up for my Dad for his birthday, my sister requested it specifically. I gave the recipe a try after seeing that there was no need to make a grocery run for it. I bet you have all its ingredients in your pantry too! The citrus taste is subdued, flavored only with a cup of orange juice, but the lemon icing packs a sweet and tart punch. Because this may very well be requested again, I am posting the easy-schmeasy cake and icing recipes here to my blog.
Orange Bundt Cake
Dry:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Wet:
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease up your Bundt pan well and then sprinkle it with flour.
In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup mix together wet.
Combine dry and wet and mix until a smooth batter.
Pour it in prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes till golden.
Lemon Icing
½ cup Earth Balance
2 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
6 tbsp water, as needed
Mix all ingredients except water. Mixture should be very thick.
Add a tbsp of water, repeating until desired consistency is reached. Icing should pour off the spoon.
After cake has been removed from pan and cooled some, spoon icing on the top of the cake.
Let the heat from the cake help the icing warm up and run.
Let the cake set in the fridge.
This is way too easy!
I have finally picked up a breadmaking book: The Bread Book by Sara Lewis. It’s a gorgeous book with tons of innovative bread recipes that are very easily veganizable. Yes, it isn’t an exclusively vegan cookbook. I don’t believe there are any bread ones! (Can someone get on that?) This week’s loaf is a courgette (uh, zucchini in American), tarragon and lemon bread.
Look at those colors! Here shredded zucchini, chopped fresh tarragon and the zest of one lemon sit in a pool of shallow olive oil and wait to be spooned with 4 1/2 cups of flour. I ran out of bread flour and subbed in a cup of dark rye flour and a cup of all purpose flour. Luckily the texture did not suffer.
There she is all ready to be dressed, a speckled green and golden crusted canvas!
Vegan Reporting By Location
