Beyond Sushi, Beyond Amazing

January 9, 2014January 10, 20142 Comments

The Mighty Mushroom and Green Machine

I’m a huge fan of sushi and I mean the veggie rolls that are simple, healthy and don’t make you feel bad after eating almost 10. Serve me up a good avocado or cucumber roll with a side of edamame and I’m a happy camper. Though veggie rolls are great, they lack real flavor. Aside from the soy sauce on the side with the wasabi, there is no real depth to the flavor of these rolls (not that there is anything wrong with that). Today for lunch I ate at a remarkable vegan sushi joint, Beyond Sushi. You may be skeptical initially, but I promise this is perfectly filling and the genius behind this place has really done his work jazzing up the plainest of vegetables and making them exquisite. Let us leave your preconceived notions on sushi behind and open up your mind to the possibility that vegan sushi could be your new favorite thing.

La Fiesta Roll

Let me start off by saying the location I visited was pretty much a hole in the wall but it was cozy, perfect for wintertime lunches with friends. I instantly felt at home. It radiated sustainable eating, animal kindness and fine dining all at the same time. Who wants to eat at a vegan restaurant that doesn’t have ambiance and doesn’t convince you to eat there over and over again? I walked in, got cozy and started salivating at the many options available to me. This was heaven for a vegan foodie! The menu is impeccable. From the Mighty Mushroom (my favorite)–rolled with six grain rice (their own unique blend-how fab is that?), enoki, shiitake, tofu and micro arugula and carefully topped with a sensationally sweet yet savory shiitake teriyaki sauce which perfectly coats the palate, sending your tastebuds on a wild ride–to their delicate mango, tofu or seaweed individual rolls, this is truly a godsend for us sushi loving vegans.

Miso Soup

Say sayonara to boring cucumber rolls and say hello to rolls worthy of vegan high priestesses (if those even exist). All I know is, I wanted to practically lick my plate clean and was sad once the meal was over- for me, this is a rare occasion.

Head on over to Beyond Sushi for lunch or your next dinner date with your favorite vegan, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Check out Beyond Sushi at these awesome locations:

Beyond Sushi: 229 East 14th St. New York, NY 10003

The Green Roll: 75 Ninth Avenue New York, NY 10011

Peace, love and NO Beef!

Guramrit

Vegan Corn Chowda’

January 8, 2014January 8, 20141 Comment

If you can’t tell, I’m in a soup mood. After a long day at work, running errands or anything else that takes over the day, putting on a pot of soup is really the ultimate comfort. One thing I have missed about eating dairy is the creaminess cheeses, heavy cream and milk give to soups, mac and cheese and lasagna. I am lucky enough to have figured out a way to get the same creamy goodness of a non-vegan corn chowder and made it vegan! Say sayonara to the dairy version and say HELLO to this tasty soup that is sure to please your loved ones.

What You Need:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
5 small red potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
3 cups of vegetable stock
3 cups of sweet corn (either fresh or frozen-whatever is available)
1 4 oz. can of finely diced jalapeños
1/2 cup of dairy free creamer (coconut creamer is THE best if you can find it)
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

How To Make it:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot and add onions, garlic, celery and carrot. Sauté until golden. Add potatoes and stir to coat. Let cook over medium high heat for a few minutes.

2. Add stock and mix well. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and cover until potatoes are tender.

3. Add can of jalapeños, corn, dairy free creamer to the mixture. Stir and continue to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

4. Add salt and pepper to soup. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately with some sprouted grain toast or your favorite crackers!

Bon Appetit (oh and don’t forget no beef here)

Vegan Tortilla Soup

January 2, 20142 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! I am excited for a whole new year of blogging, eating, dancing, yoga-ing and more! I am thrilled to share that for Christmas my very thoughtful (and smart) boyfriend bought me a Vitamix. As a result, I will be in the kitchen even more than before experimenting with nut milks, smoothies, soups, nut butters, sorbets and more. I cannot wait to share these incredible recipes with you. Here’s to a healthier, happier and more delicious year!

Let’s get 2014 started with a very simple yet comforting soup. Upgrade your taco night with a soup even the meat eater in your life will love!

What You Need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 ears fresh corn
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
3 tbsp ground cumin
One 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 jalapeño, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth/stock
2 tbsp chia seeds (this helps thicken the broth)
1-2 cans black beans (or beans of choice)
salt & pepper & crushed red chili pepper, to taste
Bag of your favorite tortilla chips (I’m a fan of blue corn tortilla chips)

How to Make it:

1. In a large pot over medium to low heat, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes (or until translucent).

2. Chop the peppers, zucchini, green onion, and remove corn from cob (use a knife and slice off the cob down the four corners). Add the veggies to the pot and sauté for an additional 5-10 minutes.

3. Add crushed tomatoes, cumin, broth, beans and chia seeds. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Simmer on low-medium heat for 25-30 minutes.

4. After the soup simmers, ladle into bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips and your favorite toppings (avocado, vegan cheese, more green onions). Serve immediately and enjoy!

Peace, love and no beef y’all!

Guramrit

Vegan Broccoli Cheeze Soup

December 7, 20131 Comment

As I continue to heal and recover from my concussion, I am really fond of making soups. I have little to no energy to create extravagant meals and soups are the best. One of the things I miss about pre-veganism are creamy soups so I decided to take on a vegan version of one of my favorites: Broccoli Cheese. This vegan take is sure to have you convinced that this is JUST as good as the dairy version and just a tad better for your health!

Here is my adapted version of a recipe I found on my favorite Vegan blog, Oh She Glows. Check it out!

Ingredients:

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped celery
2 large heads of broccoli, chopped (or 2 bags of precut broccoli from Trader Joes)
2 large peeled & chopped potatoes
2 cups vegetable broth, 1 cup water
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes)
Vegan cheeze sauce, divided (see below for recipe)
Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
Daiya cheese, to garnish
Smoked Paprika, to garnish

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil, onion, and garlic over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Cook for about 5-6 mins.

2. Add in the celery, broccoli, and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Now, add the broth, nutritional yeast, and cayenne pepper and simmer for another 15 mins or so until the potatoes are just fork tender.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your cheeze sauce (see below) while the soup simmers.

4. Carefully transfer the soup (in two batches) into a blender. Blend until almost smooth and place back into the pot. Stir in the cheeze sauce. **PLEASE BE CAREFUL AS SOUP WILL BE HOT**

5. Top the soup with Daiya cheese and serve immediately!

Cheeze Sauce (yields just about 1 2/3 cup of sauce):

Ingredients:

1.5 cup unsweetened, unflavoured coconut milk
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp cashew cheese (optional, not needed)
1/4 cup Daiya cheddar cheese
1 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy buttery spread
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. In a skillet or pot, melt the Earth Balance over medium heat.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup milk until all clumps are gone.

3. Whisk in the remaining milk (1.25 cups) as well as the milk and flour mixture into the pot. Now whisk in the nutritional yeast, cashew cheese and Daiya cheese. Reduce heat to low-medium.

4. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently over low heat until the sauce thickens up, for 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat once thick.

I made a few adaptations to this cheeze sauce recipe since I’m not a huge fan of mustard and I really, really love the flavor and creaminess of cashew cheese. I’m sure this will be a hit at dinner tonight!

I hope you all enjoy this fabulous and delicious recipe. I enjoyed it twice, for dinner and lunch! Yum!

Peace, love and NO BEEF!

From Sunday Funday Dinner to Super Leftover Meatless Monday

February 26, 2013Leave a comment

After a beautiful Sunday service at Unity of New York I began to crave something new. Yes, this is possible. I wanted to create something I haven’t created before (and add my own spin of course). After much contemplation I decided to make a veggie paella. Traditionally paella is made with seafood and poultry or other meat products but it is chock full of veggies and made with smoked paprika, short grained rice and saffron. I found a fabulous recipe on Tienda.com which I ultimately revamped and made my own to cater to the picky-ness of my household. Here is this delectable recipe:

What you need:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced (a lot of garlic but I LOVE GARLIC)
1 large yellow bell pepper (or any other color)
2 tablespoons of smoked paprika (or regular if you can’t find smoked)
2 zucchini, cubed
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped (I didn’t seed or peel, I love the liquid)
1 cup chopped Tuscan kale
2 cups frozen peas
3 cups of vegetable broth/stock (keep warm)
1 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of one lemon
5-10 strands of saffron
1 1/2 cups of short grained rice (you can use arborio, bomba, brown, or calaspara rice)
Salt and pepper to taste

How you make it:
1. In a large pan (if you have a rice pan, use that) heat the oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and bell pepper. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until translucent (or tender). Add smoked paprika, saffron, zucchini and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes (raise heat to medium for this).

2. Stir in rice and stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat back to medium low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

3. Once most of the liquid is absorbed toss in the kale, peas, half of the cilantro and stir.

4. The paella is ready when the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. If you like the crunchy rice at the bottom, turn up the heat to high for just about a minute. Once you smell the toasting of the rice, shut the heat, add the lemon juice and serve.

I ate this for dinner last night and tonight! I served it with fresh tomatoes and avocado today. Delish!