Monday, January 7, 2013

Veggie Grill

If you live in LA, you've probably heard of Veggie Grill.
If you haven't, then you've got to yelp it and go!
It's a vegan chain restaurant that even my anti-vegan dad loves.
It's that good. 

I'm sure whatever you try you'll like, but here's what I love:
 All Hail Kale Salad + Tempeh


 Top to bottom:  
Santa Fe Burger, Buffalo Wings, Sweetheart Chili Cheese Fries, Chop Chop Salad


 All American Stack Burger + Chili + Mac n' Cheese
(we had a hard time deciding on the side, the cashier must've felt bad because he brought us both)


Chop Chop Salad again because it's my favorite!
(with chili these fries plopped on the side, another favorite)

The workers at all the Veggie Grill locations I've visited are super nice.
(i.e. the cashier mentioned above)
I think their niceness is part of what makes me always want to go back.
But mostly the food.

If you join their Veggie Club or something by a similar name, 
you even get a birthday meal on the house!

Veggie Grill in five words:
Delicious High Quality Vegan Food  

...watch-your-back-McDonald's... 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

New York Noshings

Heyo. My family and I took our first trip to New York recently and I had only one request, which was to eat at Candle 79.  It felt pretty awesome to be able to order anything off the menu, knowing it was all vegan.
Here's what we had:
 Guacamole Timbale
Grilled Kale Salad
 Cannoli
 Housemade Ice Cream & Sorbet Sampler
 Mexican Chocolate Brownie (AWESOME)

 Then my sister said The Plaza Food Hall was the place to eat, so we had lunch there another day:

 Uptown Veggie Roll
 Classic Flatbread with Basil
 Caramelized Brussel Sprouts (veganized by chef)

 The Plaza is so swanky! 
There's even an Eloise shop with really pink and girly stuff.

 What are some of your favorite vegan places to eat or shop in your town? 


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Cafe Gratitude LA

So I took my mom and brother to Cafe Gratitude in LA this past Saturday.
Okay, I kind of coerced them into going with me. I had been to the Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley during my Cal days, but didn't dig it, but the LA one looked so nice and hip that I wanted to try the food.

Before we get to the food, guess who we had lunch with. Natalie Portman!
Okay not with, but right next to at the communal table. She had her baby in a chest carrying sling thing and was with her man, husband? Not sure. They sat right next to us!
My mom and brother noticed as soon as they sat next to me (which is why I couldn't really see), but I didn't know until we got our check. Its funny because I kept looking at the maple-miso glazed brussels sprouts she was eating and thinking, ooh, that looks good. She is the most delicate, petite person you ever saw.

Anyway, enough with my starstruck self, here's what we had:
Flax Crackers with Guacamole

Veggie Burger with Side Salad

BLT Sandwich with Side Salad

Massaged Kale Salad
(so delicious, creamy dressing!)

This is how my brother felt about his veggie burger. Poor little dude got veggied out. He did like the strawberry shake though. It was really good and real-tasting!

I ordered the cacao fig shake, which was pretty awesome, too, but I think the strawberry one was better, more fresh. The little bro didn't finish his so I ended up finishing both shakes. I got so full, but I wasn't about to let an almost $9 shake go to waste. I'm so bad...
All of Cafe Gratitude's plates say:
I was grateful for my mom and brother for coming to Cafe Gratitude with me.
My brother said he was grateful that we don't have to eat here every week.
Haha... -_- I would if I could!

What are you grateful for?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Fancy, Simple Meals

It's funny how some of the best foods are so naturally simple and delicious.
In most restaurants, the dishes I love are the ones that star un-messed with, fresh ingredients.
For example, the Mediterranean plate at the Getty Villa:

Hummus, Pita, Olives, and Quinoa Salad

Another simple awesome meal I had was at the Childhood Obesity Conference:

Grilled Tofu over Mushroom Barley and Peas,
with White and Green Beans

What is a favorite food of yours that is so naturally delicious it's hard to believe?
For me, it's steamed Kabocha squash. Oh maybe a perfectly ripe mango, too.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Homemade Lasagna


Yello. I rediscovered this blog today and it is mine! I noticed I apologize a lot for not posting often and today's follows suit. I just finished my dietetic internship a couple weeks ago, so I guess I'll use that as my excuse for the last year.

This is a lasagna I made with my little sister and brother during the holidays.
I always thought lasagna was too complicated to make at home, but it wasn't that bad.
Its much easier when you have a hand with layering the ingredients. We just used the recipe on the side of the lasagna noodle box. :P

While this one wasn't vegan, you could easily sub in Daiya Mozzarella Shreds and mashed white beans for the mozzarella and ricotta cheese. We used marinara sauce, sauteed onion-mushroom-garlic, and frozen spinach in our layers, too. I would top it with nutritional yeast in place of parmesan.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Homemade Kimbop

Today my mother was telling me she can't find good Korean food blogs, so we are on a mission to bring good authentic Korean home cooking to the world. This is a picture guide to making "Kimbop," or Korean seaweed wrapped rice rolls.

A note: your first roll is not going to be perfect!
Don't sweat it-- just eat it with a fork if it's that bad, then roll up your sleeves and try again. It takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it's fun and you feel so proud of yourself afterwards!

First steam a few cups of white sticky rice (sushi rice works best). Then gather your favorite fillings, examples are soy meat, tofu, carrots, avocado, cucumber, pickled daikon, and kimchi:
Use whatever you like or have on hand, just make sure you cook and season (with a little salt and pepper) the ingredients that need cooking (fry, grill, or steam) and cut everything into strips for easy rolling.Set up your Kimbop-making station with several cups of steamed sushi rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and furikake flakes to your taste (about a tablespoon of each). Place a sushi mat on top of a large cutting board and lay a seasoned nori sheet on the sushi mat:Spread some seasoned rice as above, at least 2 mm thick to cover the seaweed. This will ensure you get a good sized roll, not a wimpy little rice taquito. Then lay the prepared fillings across the rice nearer to you:Unlike the photo above, it is easier to roll if you lay the fillings on top of each other, not all spread out (just for you to see the ingredients better :).

Now the tricky part. Fold the bottom of the sushi mat with the bottom edge of the nori over the fillings and press firmly: Keep rolling everything while pressing down to compact after each roll, while pulling the mat out of the roll as you go (see the first photo-- you don't want to eat the mat):When you finish rolling up to the edge, give the whole thing a last good squeeze (with the mat still on) along the whole length of the finished roll. Then unwrap! You'll be so proud of yourself (poke the fillings back in if they're sticking out like below):Make sure it is round by checking the side view:Then hold the roll in shape and slice with a sharp serrated knife into little rounds (a little less than 1 inch thick):Arrange pretty patterns or stack on little plates and devour! (after you admire your beautiful handiwork). Then repeat with a new nori sheet until you use up all your ingredients!
Kimbop are perfect for picnics and lunch boxes ("doshirak"). In Korea, they are sold a-dollar-a-roll in little Kimbop shops where little Korean ladies with permed hair make them perfectly with lightening speed (years and years of practice!).
Another note: the Asian ingredients you can find in Korean markets, maybe even Chinese or Japanese markets).
You can even leave them uncut and eat them like skinny Kimbop burritos!

This is surefire way to impress your family and friends.
Good luck and have fun!

(Thank you to Mommy for making everything shown above!)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Fruits of Summer

Summer is pretty much here and so are strawberries! The luscious red berry is to be found everywhere, such as in this Strawberry Shortcake Sundae at Coco's .Anita and Sarah (above) were admiring it before our banquet at the Anaheim Hyatt.

Then at the banquet, a Dark Chocolate Cheesecake:
See! They are everywhere. Where should you go if you love strawberries?
Oxnard! Pick your own while tasting as you go (so fun!)
Sarah, Karen, me, and Minju at the KCCC banquet!

What's your favorite summer fruit?
I love cherries and mangoes!