Vegan Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Vegan in New York - Handsome Dan's Snocone & Candy Stand

Stop 5 (the third food stop on Saturday before 5pm, but who's counting): Handsome Dan's Snocone and Candy Stand in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Unless there's a mysterious ingredient in snow cones of which I am unaware, I'm pretty sure they are always vegan friendly. So why am I even bothering to point out Handsome Dan's snow cones? Because Handsome Dan makes the best snow cones, no joke. I'm not an expert on what all goes into Dan's snow cones, but I do know that the flavoring is homemade with natural juices and that the Rose Pomegranate was served with raspberries.

The snow cone itself easily stands far and above the rest on its own, but is further enhanced by the whole experience Dan has created with his shop. It's only about the size of a walk-in closet, but it is packed full of character...and candy. The walls are lined floor to ceiling with all sorts of sweets, there is a red and white candy-striped pole in the middle, Dan dresses like an old fashioned soda jerk, and have I mentioned the snow cones?

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Vegan Buttermilk Raspberry Scones

I still have two more stops on the New York City food tour to write about, but I thought I'd take a break today to share with you this recipe for Vegan Buttermilk Raspberry Scones.

I have a confession about these scones, but before I tell you, I want you to know they are delicious and I am not dead. With that said, my confession is I used expired hemp milk. Here's how that happened:

I really wanted to make scones, but we didn't have any soy milk. As I searched the kitchen high and low in my pajamas for any hiding soy milk, I started weighing my options of either giving up on the scones idea or getting dressed to go to the grocery store. It was then I saw the carton of hemp milk that had been given to me and my fiancé a long time ago. Sure enough, it had been expired for about a year, but it didn't smell bad, it didn't taste bad, and it still looked like a non-dairy milk. So since I was just making these for myself and using expired hemp milk was far more appealing than getting dressed, I decided to use it and if the scones ended up worse because of the decision, my dogs would just get a special treat.

Well, you already know the end of this story and as for now no one has food poisoning. My general rule of thumb of if it smells okay and it tastes edible, then it's fine came through once again. It may get me in trouble one day, but so far it hasn't failed me yet.

I can't be the only one who takes expiration dates as more of a suggestion than the rule, right?

Vegan in New York - Foodswings

Stop 4: Foodswings

Before my sister even knew I was going to New York, she told me I had to find a way to get myself to Foodswings. She had never been and was basing her recommendation completely on their menu, which is chock full of fast food: Milkshakes, burgers, fries, drumsticks, and all sorts of other things that are readily available to the general public, but not so much for vegans. 

I ended up coercing a bunch of non-vegan friends to join me while I satiated my vegan milkshake cravings after a long and exhausting circus class, which by the way oh.my.goodness talk about post-workout soreness...I have a new found respect for acrobats. But enough about exercise, let's talk about food.

Foodswings was fantastic! I don't know if you can tell from the second picture above, but I couldn't wait the 3 seconds it took for my drumstick to come out before I drank nearly 1/4 of my peanut butter, chocolate cookie milkshake, it was so good. Let's be real though, milkshakes aren't that hard as long as you're starting off with a good non-dairy ice cream - which I found out they buy, rather than making in house. What blew me away was the drumstick. I ordered the southern fried variety, with a side of barbecue sauce for dipping. It was some of the best fake chicken I have ever had. So crispy on the outside and I still have no idea how they got the inside the texture they did. Can anyone identify the mystery faux meat? I'm thinking it's in the wheat gluten family.

It's places like Foodswings that make me grateful I don't live in a big city yet; otherwise, I would most assuredly be part of the small percentage of obese vegans. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. 

(Unrelated, but sort of related side note: I recently found out The Veggie Grill is opening a new location in Seattle just a few blocks from where I'll be living! The fiancé and I are quite excited, but have also started brainstorming ways to increase our aerobic activity. I'm standing by my suggestion to join the circus, but I'm not sure he's sold just yet.)

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Vegan in New York - Chickpea and Olive

Stop 3 on the NYC vegan food tour: Chickpea and Olive at Smorgasburg

As we strolled through the various booths at Smorgasburg, the Saturday food market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I spotted a bright orange banner with stitched, plaid lettering spelling out "Vegan Sliders" from across the way. I was drawn in like a moth to a flame. 

I tried samples of the Grilled Daiya Cheese on multigrain bread with a spicy aioli and the Tater Salad. Both were delicious. I also tried their lemon ginger ginseng iced tea, which had a wonderful flavor, but as I've mentioned before, I'm a sweet tea kind of girl, so I ended up saving my $3 and passed on the full glass. What I did get a full portion of was what drew me to their stand in the first place, the Phatty Beet Slider with all the fixin's. 

The slider was made out of beets, lentils, barley, and mushrooms. It was sandwiched between a homemade vegan brioche bun and topped with habanero ketchup, vegan mayo, pickled jalapenos, Daiya cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. It was exactly perfect;  I can't think of anything that could've been added or taken away to make it better. I'd even venture to say it was the best thing I ate all weekend, which is saying a lot since the weekend also included vegan milkshakes and drumsticks. 

From what I understand, Chickpea and Olive doesn't have a store front, but you can find them every Saturday at Smorgasburg, and every Sunday at the Brooklyn Brewery. They also offer cooking classes at Haven's Kitchen. And they are available for catering. Definitely check out their website and track them down some way some how, because Chickpea and Olive is a must. And when you do find them, be sure to get your hands on some (or 80) of those Phatty Beet Sliders.

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Vegan in New York - Angelica Kitchen

Second stop on the vegan tour of New York City: Angelica Kitchen in the East Village

(I apologize for the sub-par photos. Angelica Kitchen was a no phone zone, so these were being taken incognito.)

I've heard rave reviews of Angelica Kitchen, so when we happened to find ourselves a few blocks away at dinner time, I can't say I was exactly heart broken. 

I loved the menu choices and the unique way they combined the fairly typical fare of vegan staples, such as tempeh, tofu, seitan, and vegetables into satisfying dishes that teetered on the edge of revolting against imitating meat and embracing it. Once on the table, however, some dishes left a little something to be desired. Aesthetically they were beautiful, but I think the best way to describe what I mean is that I could tell in some cases that the food was vegan. That's not to say it was a total loss. Far from it actually. For every item that lacked in flavor and texture, there was at least one stand out dish to compensate. I would say the show stealers for the night were the tempeh (the best I've ever had), the seitan burrito with a molé sauce, and the feta in the kale salad. Taking everything into account, I would go back again, no question. Next time I might just say no to the mashed potatoes and corn bread.

Pictured clockwise from top left: southern style corn bread || kale salad with imitation feta || open faced tempeh sandwich with a mushroom gravy over a bed of spinach and a side of mashed potatoes || seitan burrito in a mole and imitation cheese sauce

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Vegan in New York - Physical GraffiTea

I spent the weekend in New York City to say goodbye to a few friends before I make the big move to Seattle. Not unlike most of my excursions, the theme of the trip quickly evolved into "how much food can Elicia eat in one day." To not let my over indulgence go to waste, I thought I would share with you my vegan food journey over the weekend in New York.

First stop: Physical GraffiTea in the East Village

As we walked along the High Line, we started to work up an appetite, but it was still much too early for dinner. It was then it occurred to my friend what we needed was matcha (a high quality, finely milled green tea) at Physical GraffiTea. When we got there she ordered two iced, soy matchas, one without honey for me. At first it was a bit chalky, bitter, and grassy, but it really started to grow on me as I neared the end of the glass, leaving me with a want for the unique flavor as I sipped my last sips. Luckily for me, as I was finishing my first glass, I noticed Physical GraffiTea had agave nectar. So for the sake of science (and no other reason), I ordered another with agave. Considering I'm a fan of sweet teas, the matcha with agave was the instant winner in my book. But if you're one who drinks your tea without any additives, I would say go for the unsweetened version. Either way though, it was delicious and refreshing. Too bad it was $6 a glass. No wonder they conveniently failed to list the price on the menu.

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Summertime Grilling

An entire garden full of vegetables and a new grill adds up to a summer of grilling. Other than the mushrooms, broccoli, potatoes, tofu, and most ingredients in the biscuits everything pictures above went straight from the garden to the grill. On the menu:

- Carrots

- Kohlrabi

- Green beans

- Potatoes

- Mushrooms

- Broccoli

- Tofu

- Beets

- Zucchini

- Summer squash

- Whole wheat "buttermilk biscuits" (made on the grill!)

And we weren't the only ones enjoying the wonderful, albeit very hot and humid, outdoors. I caught a glimpse of our intrepid hunter, Elmer, in action:

Garden Flowers

Freshly picked zinnias from the garden.

A Slice of Happy

My favorite spot in the morning is my bedside table. It's sandwiched nicely between the most comfy, oversized chair imagineable (craigslisted for $15!) and my bed. When the light shines in on it from the above window, it's nothing but happiness.

Breakfast: green tea with pomegranate, whole wheat bread with Tofutti cream cheese and raspberries, and whole wheat bread with avocado and salt. 

Vegan Flag Cake - The Ups and the Downs

To commemorate America's 236th day of freedom, I decided to make one of those oh so trendy American flag cakes. It started off well, but then as things progressed, it became apparent that my cake was not going to make it to the cover of Martha Stewart Living. My first sign was when I thought to myself "maybe I should make a double batch" and then decided that a single batch would probably be enough.

My second clue was when I gave up on adding food coloring after about half a teaspoon and decided that the nice pinkish hue would "do" for the red and maybe it would "get richer" in the oven. It did not.

My third sign something might be wrong was when I disregarded the instruction to use three pans for red, two pans for white, and one pan for blue. Instead opting to use one pan for red, one pan for white, and one pan for blue, with the intention of cutting the red in thirds and the white in half once baked. Which I believe is all fine and good, except one would have to make sure to triple the amount of red and double the amount of white for even layers, naturally, right? I did not do this.

And finally the fourth indication was the realization after the cakes came out of the oven that I had forgotten to mix raspberries in with the red batter as I had intended. Thus, I decided instead to add them between the red and white cake layers, full well knowing that whole, fresh berries in between layers does not always make for the cleanest lines, upon which this cake's success is primarily dependent.

Well folks, you might think that this all would be enough to make me pause and consider giving up my hopes of having a surprise inside flag cake and instead make just a a three-layer cake of pink, white, and light blue with a berry filling. But like our forefathers, I did not give up! I persevered through hardships and I made the cake - pastel, wafer thin layers and all!

The ups: The cake was arguably one of the best white cakes I've made. And with the help of one of my favorite Russians, the outside ended up looking quite nice, adorned with freshly picked, wild berries.

The downs: Once sliced the flag was, well, a tad more abstract than I had intended. However, considering this was my first attempt at one of those surprise inside sort of cakes, I'm not getting too down on myself. There will be more Independence Days, and now that I'm armed with the knowledge of what did not work this year, I can avoid repeating my mistakes in the future. And that kids, is why we study history.

Mmm...melting flag. I do promise it tasted much, much better than it looked.

Vegan Sushi

Vegan sushi is one of the easiest things to make, as long as you have a little patience. The most difficult part of the process is slicing each of the ingredients into long, thin pieces, and then methodically spooning the rice on the nori (seaweed paper), and rolling each roll.

I'm giving you the recipe I use for the sushi rice. Other than that, I'll leave it up to you to decide what to use as the filling. The rolls pictured are a combination of salted and baked tofu, carrots, avocado, and cucumber. 

Garden Fresh Whole Wheat Pizza

This pizza was inspired by the need to use vegetables from the garden. There were a few non-garden items (I'm looking at you, olives), but the majority of  the toppings were freshly picked from the backyard.

Homegrown:

- Sund dried tomatoes which had been dried and frozen from last year

-  Zucchni

- Green peppers

- Onions

- Fresh oregano & basil

Not Homegrown:

- Canned olives (because despite what my fiance says, a pizza is not a pizza without olives)

- Daiya cheese

- Canned tomato paste for the sauce

It just doesn't get any better than using local, fresh ingredients.