Incredible India… Chai Masala Tea November 14, 2009

This is something I learned in this past trip to India…

Every time you visit a store or for breakfast you get offered tea.  And the tea they refer to is chai masala tea.  This is a tea made already with milk and seasoned with some kind of sugar/sweetener and a blend of spices or masala. 

The masala blend for the tea is usually a spice mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, ginger and sometimes even peppercorns.

I am not the tea drinker; Annie Mariel is the tea drinker here.  And the teas I usually drink are mostly herbal (chamomile, spearmint, linden, lemongrass, etc.) to avoid the caffeine in most teas.  But I was intrigued by this chai masala I was being offered all the time. 

I loved it… it is traditionally served in these clay cups.  Not to worry, the cups are disposable and used only once.  Even when you get seconds, the cups are never reused.  I was told the cup itself gave some flavor to the tea and that even a second pouring would not taste the same as the first one.  And when I had tea in a paper cup or in a regular china cup, it did not taste the same as that original clay cup.

     

The one-time clay cups are also the preferred way to drink lassi, I later learned.  I believe these disposable clay cups are partly the reason why there’s so much dirt flying in the air all the time… Imagine all these clay cups being thrown into the curbside, they get pulverized, the dirt then flies all over the place… you can imagine the picture.

But my love affair with this tea was short-lived…  I wondered why I had not been offered this tea during my first trip if it’s so popular everywhere in India.  The reason??  It has caffeine, and in the line of vegetarianism I practice, we avoid caffeine as it is a stimulant that is not beneficial to a healthy nervous system.

But it is sooooooo good, I am on a mission now to recreate this delicious chai masala tea in a decaffeinated version.   Just stay tuned…  OK?

Incredible India… Breakfasts November 12, 2009

Be careful what you wish for… because you might actually get it.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted my official job description to read – PROFESSIONAL JET-SETTER. Because travel is one of my true, deep passions… well, this last October I got to visit India for the second time.  In the last 2 months, this is my 4^th trip.  My friend Annie Mariel asked me to accompany her run some errands in Delhi and I immediately said yes.  How could I really say NO to that invitation?!?!?!

My first trip, exactly 5 years ago, had a spiritual purpose – visiting various religious temples in the Himalayas – but this one was much touristy.  We visited Delhi, Varanasi and Agra, to see the Taj Mahal. 

   

Breakfasts are really important to me… especially when traveling.  I do not know why, but my appetite is HUGE during breakfast when I travel.  Delhi has a lot of smog and is much dustier than what we’re accustomed on our side of the world.  So I made it a point to always eat lots of fruit and yogurt to maintain my body’s defenses.  Here are a few examples of typical breakfasts I had at our hotels:

The first was in Delhi – papaya pieces, plain yogurt, porridge or oatmeal made with milk.   Just the way I like it.  I always complemented breakfast with some freshly squeezed juice and apparently something very popular is watermelon juice.  I found watermelon juice in Delhi and in Varanasi.  They would even prepare it to order… super sweet and delicious.

   

This second was in Agra – papaya pieces with pomegranate seeds, plain yogurt, corn or wheat flakes.  Here breakfast was complimented by salted lassi and pineapple juice.  I much more prefer sweet lassi, but we’ll talk about that a little later on in a future post…

 

But these are very typical breakfasts… you might be thinking.   But this was not all I ate each morning… this was just the starter complimented also by one of two Indian versions of breakfast too.  Indians do not limit their curry and savory food intake from lunch on.  They have their savory and spicy foods right after they open their eyes.  Even though we stayed in Northern India, we got to taste the breakfast preferences of both North and South India.

NORTH INDIA

When we were in Delhi, I was intrigued by what my table neighbor was eating.  I saw this puffed up bread and I immediately was curious.  It is called chole bhature and it is fried bread made from either maida flour (very-fine wheat flour) or rice flour.  I had them both and you can barely notice a difference.  You eat this fried, puffy bread with curried chickpeas and spicy/sweet mango chutney.  The yogurt on my regular breakfast plate helped to cool my mouth because of the spices for the chickpeas and chutney. 

Our servers at the hotel restaurant were so impressed with our interest in their local food, after I ordered just out of curiosity, that they would bring a service of this chole bhature without us having to order it.

Not what I normally crave for breakfast, but certainly interesting enough to enjoy it while in India…  and I am all to have the most out of my travel experiences.

 

SOUTH INDIA

After an overnight train experience that left a lot to be desired, we arrived in Agra at 9:30AM and we were HUNGRY for breakfast.  The buffet spread was exactly what we needed.  That’s where we learned about Dosas.

Dosas are the typical South India version of breakfast… it’s a rice flour crepe filled with a curried-potato mixture.  They’re made to order and you enjoy them with a coconut or tomato chutneys.  And you know me, I am a crepe fanatic.

The potato mixture is spicy, but the chutneys were way spicier for my taste.  So after tasting them initially, I kept on eating without the accompaniments.  Salted lassi helped ease the spice level on the tongue.  They were so good, we had dosas every morning we had breakfast in Agra.

     

 

I hope this encourages you to try out these Indian favorites the next time you travel to India or visit an Indian restaurant in your neighborhood.  Tasting the local flavors is an integral part of getting to know a new country/culture.  It’s what separates the travelers from the tourists… don’t you think?

Miami Favorites November 11, 2009

I have barely set foot in my house these last few months… you have “witnessed” from my posts from Mexico (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) to my whole series on Paris from a vegetarian perspective.  Right after returning from Paris, I went for a week to Miami to visit my family and to take care of some business at the same time…

I’ve been sooooooo many times to Miami that I never do any of the touristy stuff…  I rent a car and do regular stuff with my family and go through a list of places to go and things to do, usually shopping and eating at places not available in Puerto Rico. 

CRACKER BARREL

My sister took me the first time to a Cracker Barrel when she was living in Texas.  I looooooove breakfast foods.  I could eat breakfast foods at any time of the day every day.  Cracker Barrel is a restaurant that serves breakfast foods all day long. 

Every time I go to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale I make it a point to grab breakfast at least once there.  My mom, sister and brother-in-law are also fans.  We always order the same: Buttermilk pancakes, pecan pancakes, and our favorite Hash Brown Casserole.  This is a cheesy potato dish we ALL love… we may share in the pancakes, but we all order a personal serving of hash browns.  It’s that good…

 

CHICHARRITAS DE PLÁTANO

I already talked to you about Chicharritas de Plátano… also called mariquitas or as we call them in Puerto Rico, platanutres.  But I wanted to show you how they serve them at the restaurants in Miami.  You will find them usually in the appetizer section, although my aunt usually considers them as a side dish or a snack.

The best thing about ordering them in a restaurant… the garlic/lemon mojito they’re served with.  I used to go to this restaurant in Hialeah called Las Delicias, especially because they make their chicharritas super thin, but also because they served the mojito already on top the chicharritas.  Now, they serve the mojito on the side.  Oh well, it’s not the same thing but it’s still good…           

WHOLE FOODS                                                                                            

Every time I visit Miami, my mom and I need to make a pit stop at Whole Foods.  We wish we had one in Puerto Rico…  we usually buy stuff we have no access to here and to bring some treats to my sister’s house. 

This time around my mom was craving a cheese she used to buy at Costco with cranberries inside… the closest thing I could find at the cheese counter was this goat cheese covered with almonds, walnuts and cranberries – excellent.  I also bought a small piece of gruyere to snack with these whole grain water crackers.  This was the first time my brother-in-law tasted gruyere… he liked it.

SHOP @ TARGET

We do not have Target stores in Puerto Rico YET (I hope the operative word in that statement is the YET). So every time I travel to where there’s a Target, we usually stop to at least walk the store.  We usually like to go by the house wares department to check out the kitchen and bath stuff and the FOOD/Supermarket section to buy my favorite risotto mixtures.  A new addition to my shopping cart – couscous mixes.  Really good when you’re hungry right NOW…

EATING PIZZA @ LINCOLN ROAD

I love eating pizza and in Lincoln Road there’s a pizzeria that makes pizza on whole wheat crust any time of day – Pizza Rustica.  In Puerto Rico, whole wheat crusts are not very common and the place we go to, only makes pizza on Friday nights.  So it’s a real treat for us to eat pizza for lunch when we travel.

We ordered a whole pie divided into 2 flavors – Margherita (with fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves) and a roasted eggplant and goat cheese varieties.

  

The pizza was delicious… but what surprised me the most was that 1) I could find Orangina on the menu 2) and that it was double the size as the ones I had had in Paris and at half the price.  I paid 5€ (which is about $7USD) for a 8ox Orangina at the Deux Maggots in Paris.  I know Lincoln Road is not Paris, but the difference was astounding…

Sofrito 102 November 9, 2009

I have already shared with you my basic recipe for SOFRITO 101 here.  It’s a basis of flavor for most recipes I make… including onions, peppers and garlic.  However, there might be some variations.

You could also add into the mix some AJÍ DULCES… these are local sweet peppers.  These are grown by my aunt in her backyard.  Very similar to these are AJÍ PICANTES, or spicy little peppers.  As soon as I learn their names in English, I will share with you.

 

Ají Dulces give an interesting dimension to your Sofrito… plus, some color when they turn red.  They’re not as sweet as a bell pepper, but they’re not spicy like a jalapeno or Serrano chile.  It’s something in between, but really nice.

 I personally am allergic to the heat of the spicy ones.  And sometimes when you buy them in the store you need to be careful because they might mix the sweet and the spicy kind.  That’s why I only use the ones from my aunt’s backyard.  Because if I ever touch the seeds of the spicy ones my hands are burning for days.

Add some Aji Dulces to your sofrito next time… and if you ever get bitten by the sting of an ají picante, just dunk your hands in tequila… a trick I learned the hard way.

 

Organic Lollipops November 8, 2009

I have a sweet tooth… and for Halloween all I was craving were there lollipops from Yummy Earth.

 

I tasted them first when my mom received them as a gift for her birthday.  They are not easy to find here in Puerto Rico, but you can indeed find them.  They’re not only delicious, but they’re also ORGANIC.

The bag comes in 4 flavor varieties…  my favorite are Pomegranate Pucker and Mango Tango.

 Try them soon and let me know what you and your kids think, OK?

A Vegetarian in Paris… Eating with the Locals November 4, 2009

I am very fortunate to have friends living all over the world… my friend Clari is in Turkey, Sonia just moved back from Barcelona, Rocío thought a move to Australia was a good thing but came halfway around and is now living in Madrid, Mara was in Lima until last month but now is in Chicago, Jesiel is in NYC and wants to move to Paris…  But our friend Nicole is already living there… in Paris now for a year.

Nicole moved when her husband was transferred from PR back to Paris.  We were friends from the Alliance Française and she is part of the original Les Francophones group.  She was super excited when we told her we would be visiting Paris this September. 

As soon as we arrived, she and her husband Martin wanted to invite us for breakfast and to visit them at their home.  We agreed to meet for breakfast early so we could catch-up on or comings and goings and then continue with our sight-seeing.   I love hanging out with them because Martin speaks French beautifully and always lets us know when we are saying something we shouldn’t. 

This particular morning we learned how the French eat their breakfast – le petit dejeuner.    And the key word here is PETIT.  The French merely eat tartines, which are toasted baguette, or a croissant with butter or confiture.  They drink their café crème or café au lait and on their way they are.  The omelets or other egg concoctions you see on the menus is for the tourists… not the locals.  They eat them, but at other times of the day, not for breakfast.  Being the tourist that I was, that morning Martin ordered for us croissants and jus d’orange.  But I was left empty… I had to order a tartine to at least feel I had had breakfast, especially when on vacation that my appetite opens up exponentially.

  

After having had the tartine breakfast for a few days in a row, we needed a change… and we had seen a Le Pain Quotidien near our apartment.  I have mentioned Le Pain Quotidien to you on my last trip to NYC.  Their oatmeal is AMAZING and Annie Mariel and I were craving something warm and different.  To our surprise, Le Pain Quotidien in Paris, or at least this one we came to, does not serve oatmeal.  People would just never order it, and as a result, they took it off the menu.  So what did we order???  Bread and Croissants, AGAIN!!!   At least this time, the bread was whole-grain. We just could not eat the whole basket, so we took the leftovers to our picnic at the Tour Eiffel.  And the juices were freshly squeezed – orange and guess what the red one is made of…  vegetables!!!   Tasted just like a V8, but looked more like beet juice.

   

 Later on in the week, Nicole and Martin invited us to dinner at their Parisian apartment in the 20^th arrondissement. 

  

Knowing we are vegetarians, they treated us to a nice variety of goodies:  puffed pastry filled with cheese, guacamole with tortilla and potato chips, as well as apple and cheese skewers for appetizers.  Dinner was a cucumber and yogurt salad, cheese and veggie quiche-like tart and a tomato and goat cheese tart.  For dessert, we had fruits, cheese, bread  and fruit tarts.  Delicious… it was a much appreciated effort knowing they are not vegetarians and they bended-themselves backwards to accommodate us. 

 

The evening was really lovely… plus hanging out with Nicole, Martin and their daughter we got to speak in all three languages simultaneously – English, Spanish and French…  Merci beaucoup!!!

Pasta with Eggplant Puree November 2, 2009

We are in eggplant season, and I wanted to share an easy recipe I adapted a long while ago from Giada DeLaurentiis.  As usual, I use whatever I have handy in my pantry, fridge and what I believe my taste buds will prefer.

It’s easy to make, and the leftovers keep very well.

 

 

PASTA WITH EGGPLANT PUREE

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes

½ pint of cherry tomatoes or 2 small tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup of walnuts, toasted

½ bag of whole-wheat penne pasta

2 tbs Olive Oil

½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped finely – optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. While the oven is heating, place walnuts on a baking sheet with lined with parchment paper.  Toast in the oven until you get a first whiff of walnut smell, about 5-8 minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool on a separate plate.
3. Line the baking sheet with new parchment paper.  Place the eggplant, cherry tomatoes, garlic on baking sheet.  Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them evenly on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven until the vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden, about 35 minutes.
4. While we wait for the vegetables to cool of a bit, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.  Return pasta to the same pot where you cooked it.
5. While the pasta is cooking, transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor and puree to form a chunky paste.
6. Transfer the pureed vegetables to the pot with the pasta, add the Parmesan.  Stir to combine, adding the pasta cooking liquid 1/4 cup at a time until the pasta is saucy. Add the walnuts and chopped parsley, if using, and toss again. 

Pumpkin Polenta October 30, 2009

I am a fan of Italian flavors… and this recipe fits very well with the flavors of autumn.   We do not have autumn here in Puerto Rico, but pumpkin is a favorite of mine and I wanted to do something that would highlight the flavor and nutrition of the pumpkin.  Plus, I still had some pumpkin seeds in my fridge I wanted to use up…

 

 

PUMPKIN POLENTA

1 ½ cups of pumpkin, peeled and cubed

4 tbs quick cooking polenta

½ cup of water

½ cup of milk

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

¼ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted – as garnish

 

1. First we steam the pumpkin… place in a steamer for about 10-15 minutes to cook thoroughly.  After the pumpkin is done, mash it well and place it in a colander lined with a coffee filter or a paper towel and let the moisture of the pumpkin drain out a bit.  This can be done well in advance before moving on to the rest of the steps.
2. Then we make the polenta… I heat the water, milk and salt in a medium pot and bring to a boil.  Add the polenta while stirring to avoid getting lumps.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the desired consistency, which is like a smooth cream of wheat.  I’ll be honest; I follow the instructions on the polenta package I buy.  If the instructions on your package are different, follow the instructions on your package, but what I do is to replace ½ the water the recipe calls for milk – makes a creamier polenta, in my opinion.
3. When the polenta reached the desired consistency, add the drained pumpkin puree, the grated cheese and season with pepper.  Stir well for the cheese to melt and the pumpkin to combine well with the polenta cream.
4. Serve warm and sprinkle with the toasted pumpkin seeds.

 

Great vegetarian alternative for Thanksgiving lunch or dinner… don’t you think?

A Vegetarian in Paris… Unexpected Finds October 28, 2009

Being a traveler involves some planning ahead to make sure that you don’t miss something you want to do due to lack of certain knowledge (check out my adventures trying to locate a famous ice cream shop and a favorite falafel stand in Paris), but also means being flexible and being able to throw away all your plans and walk a city without a specific purpose to see where fate leads you…

This is how we found St. Michel and Passage du Panoramas…

St. Michel is an area right over the Seine on the Rive Gauche/Quartier Latin right across the Notre Dame cathedral.  How we came about it, I can’t even remember.  We got off from our L’Open Tour bus and were walking and I saw a small street that looked like it had a lot of movement… I asked Annie Mariel if she felt we should go that way… and we did.

St. Michel is an area with small pedestrian streets filled with restaurants from all over the world – French, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Italian, you name it…  we decided to go for fondue that night.  Not the best fondue we have ever had, but the reason why we were drawn to this particular restaurant was because it mentioned vegetarian options.  A testament that not all vegetarian restaurants are good indeed…   we had fondue with salade, potatoes, and bread.  Could not believe the bread was stale.   Sadly, the worst meal we had in Paris.

  

   

Another night we were a bit tired, but not so much to stay in, so we decided to go see a movie close to our apartment.  It had to be in French and without subtitles.  We had a great time… we understood the movie theme, but only got 50% of the dialogue.  But, that’s part of learning and immersing yourself in a new language and culture, right?

After the movie, we walked a bit trying to decide if we were hungry enough to eat something. And then we saw this little passageway with lots of restaurants and decided that at least we had to sit down and try something.  We were mesmerized by the insistence of this Croatian woman who kept inviting us to eat her delicious Coquilles St Jacques or scallops.  I knew I was never going to please her by ordering the scallops, but she was charming enough to be our favorite spot there.

    

I ordered a fromage de chevre with tomates sechés au soleil (sun-dried tomatoes) with a salade and potatoes provençal.  I really should have ordered these vegetables in a puffed pastry, but was afraid if they were made with some kind of stock… 

     

For dessert, I tried the Tarte Tatin and Annie Mariel the profiteroles.  The Tarte Tatin was warm and the whipped cream delicious.  I need to try this soon for you guys…  I took a stab at it before but was not very successful…

   

Goes to show you that letting things flow allows you to find the true heart and soul of a city…   Bonne soirée.

A Vegetarian in Paris… Fine-Dining in Paris October 26, 2009

Annie Mariel and I love good food…  so we knew we had to experience some of the fine dining Paris has to offer, vegetarian style.

We were extremely lucky to score some tickets to the premiere of the French opera Mireille, at the Opera Garnier.  We had wanted to buy tickets to this show for about 3 months prior to our trip, but it was not until 1 hour before the show that we actually got tickets…  So it was only fitting that we celebrate this achievement or lucky strike with a nice dinner.

COSTES

We were recommended Costes by the concierge at the Intercontinental Hotel right in front of the Opera.  Located in fancy Rue St. Honoré, the choice could not have been better.   I was pleasantly surprised the menu included true vegetarian options.  This is what I ordered:  A salade caprese with tomates cerises and buffalo mozzarella fromage, a quinoa risotto with asparagus tips and a sorbet made of fruits rouges.  Truly delicious… costly, but exquisite.

Aside from the restaurant’s food, the ambiance is really nice.  Our server was super nice and cheery, putting aside all the rumors of Parisian people being rude.  Nice-looking people frequent this restaurant, so it’s nice for people gazing.  And for a night cap, the bar has a great atmosphere too.

 

BUDDHA BAR

Annie Mariel was keen on going to dinner to Buddha Bar.  It was a favorite of hers from a previous visit to Paris.  So I followed suit.  I was a bit unimpressed by their vegetarian options… if it’s vegetarian it also spicy and I do not do spicy well.    Because the menu is sushi-heavy, I though the best bet was to order some vegetarian rolls… NOT!

I had to almost “threaten” that I was merely going to watch my friend eat before I could convince the server to ask the sushi chef to make some vegetable rolls for me.  He almost argued with me the sushi rolls were already made and that was the reason I could not request anything specific…  sushi rolls already made?!?!?  Is this Buddha Bar or the sushi counter at Costco or my local supermarket???  Really??  Please!!

After much negotiation and convincing, this is what I finally ordered – Vegetable Spring Rolls and a custom-made vegetable roll, with asparagus, cucumbers and some other pickled vegetables I could not recognize.  It would have been better with cream cheese in it, but I was not about to piss-off the server and chef once more… and I got about 3 huge spring rolls, I guess he took seriously my threat that I would not eat anything there and tried to put as much food on the plate from the stuff I did order.

   

We were sitting right in front of the Buddha statue… the music a bit too loud for my taste.  The bar extremely expensive – we paid 15€ for a drink each.   The French guys who go there, super nice thanks to Pierre and Matthieu.  They were great company and because their Spanish or English was so-so, we were able to speak French almost exclusively with them.  Superbe!!!

 

Traditional French cooking is not very vegetarian friendly, but a vegetarian can still find great eats fine-dining in Paris, even if we need to “threat” a few people for it.

A Vegetarian in Paris… Snacking in the Champs Elysées October 23, 2009

With all the walking we did in Paris, we had to do our three meals and a few snacks in between… these were a few of our favorites from our week in Paris.

   

Frites and Orangina at the Champs Elysees

I love French fries and it was a real pleasure to sit down at a café to taste a small plate of frites with ketchup and Dijon mustard.  You could taste these did not come from a frozen bag.

  

Orangina was my beverage of choice during my week in Paris.  I remembered it well from my first trip to Europe.  It’s a natural soda with orange juice and pulp.  It’s refreshing… not something to drink every day, but certainly, a vacation treat.

A picnic at the Tour Eiffel

One of my dreams was to go to a street market, buy fresh fruits, cheese, bread and take it to a Parisian park to enjoy the company and the views.  When we drove past the Tour Eiffel and the Champs de Mars I immediately knew this was the location for our picnic.

Our initial plan was to visit the Marché Breteuil , open weekly on Thursdays and Saturdays, and then head for the Champs de Mars.   The thing was the market is open and available early in the morning, so when we went at about 3PM for our afternoon picnic snacking, there was nothing there except the empty area where usually the market stands are. Lesson learned there.

Alternatively, we went to a small market on our way to Champs de Mars and bought our fixin’s – crackers, fromage de chevre, Roquefort, strawberries, and the very Parisian BBQ flavored Lay’s potato chips.  It was truly wonderful… a dream come true.  It was a bit chilly, but very enjoyable. 

 Next time… a picnic somewhere we can see the Seine.

A few things to eat at home

Because we were staying at an apartment with a full kitchen… – full in the sense that had everything we needed, but super small according to US or PR standards. – We headed to a supermarket to gather some “munchies” and breakfast alternatives.

We were amazed by the amount and variety of cheeses in the cheese case.  To cheese lovers like us, we felt as if we were in cheese heaven.  We just could not bring ourselves to choose…  Among our purchases:   whole grain baguette, citrus juice, goat cheese crottins, comte cheese, some nectarines and peaches, among a few other necessities. 

   

It was really nice to arrive to our apartment, relax for a bit watching some French-language TV and enjoying French cheese, French bread before heading out to a late dinner… felt really Parisian, just like we wanted.  But please do not dare ask me how many pounds we gained in just that week…  OK?

A Vegetarian in Paris… Crepes October 20, 2009

Something I knew was on my TO EAT list when I arrived in Paris was CREPES!!!! 

I love crepes… I eat a spinach, cheese and walnuts crepe almost every Saturday when I attend my French classes at L’Alliance Francaise.  But I love them all… savory (salé) or sweet (sucré)… going to Paris and not eating crepes is like going to NYC and not eating a slice of pizza… right?

Just like in NYC there are hot dog stands in almost every corner… the same applies to crepe stands in Paris.  Even cafes or bistros have a small window facing the street where they can fix crepes to any hungry person passing by. 

With only a week in Paris, there were not as many opportunities as one would like to taste all the flavor varieties available… but let’s go chronologically…

My first crepe of this Paris trip was in Montmatre…  I had the munchies after climbing all those stairs from the Metro station up to Sacre Coeur.  I also wanted to eat away my sorrows after finding a spectacular painting I loved, but too expensive for my budget…  so how better to compensate than eating crepe and cheese together??

    

I ordered a crêpe au fromage with gruyère cheese.    The thing… the cheese was not inside the crepe, but on top.  It was more like a crêpe gratin… the crepe was soft and the cheese was salty.  Super nice start to my crepe adventure…

When we went to Versailles, we wanted to have lunch where the locals eat.  We wanted to walk away from the Palace and the rest of all the tourists and were pleasantly surprised to find a maze of streets filled with small cafes, stores and creperies for us to choose from…  We selected a creperie with a special offering 1 crepe salé + 1 crepe sucré and a beverage for a fixed price…  And look at the menu of options for the crepes!!!!  There were at least 50+ varieties of savory and 50+ varieties of sweet options to choose from.  Granted, not all the choices were vegetarian, but still impressive, don’t you think?

      

I loved the savory crepes, also called gallettes, which were made with Sarracene wheat or buckwheat instead of regular wheat flour.  I ordered mine filled with spinach, potatoes and cheese.  Annie Mariel did not steer too far away and ordered a potatoes and cheese crepe.  They were delicious…

For dessert, I ordered my new favorite flavor for desserts – caramel beurre salé with vanilla ice cream.  Annie Mariel, true to her passions, ordered a crepe topped with chocolate syrup topped with café glace.  My toffee was inside the crepe, the chocolate in turn was on top of the crepe… apparently there is no consistency of where the crepe accompaniment will be placed.  But what you can be sure of is the accompaniment will help bring that thin crepe to a whole new place…

And so far, I’ve had crepes sitting down in restaurants… granted, the tables I ate them were in sidewalks, but still I was sitting down and ate them with a fork and knife.  But how about trying out one of those street-side crepes???  While walking down the street on Avenue St. Germaine we decided to stop by Les Deux Maggots… but my mind was on the creperie across the street right in front of the St. Germaine de Près church…  I had to order the classic Nutella, which is very much Italian, but perfect to eat inside a French crêpe…  it was so cool to see the crêpe being made right in front of me.  Super thin and perfectly golden after just a few minutes… they give it to you wrapped in paper ready to take a bite right then a there…   

      

 

    

Next time you visit Paris, be sure to try your favorite flavors of the ubiquitous crepe…  I am sure you’ll fall in love with them as much as the city itself.

A Vegetarian in Paris… Musts from the Internet October 19, 2009

Last month I spent a whole week in Paris… because I haven’t been in Paris since I was 16, I wanted to do all the touristy things 1^st time visitors do – Tour Eiffel, Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triomphe, the Seine River, Notre Dame, the Louvre Museum, Montmatre, Sacre Coeur, etc…

But in addition to the monuments musts, I also had a separate list – the FOODIE MUSTS.  Reading on the Internet, I built a list of foodie must do’s I wanted to try.  I only had a chance to do only a few things, but here are several of the highlights…

Berthillon Ice Creams

At Serious Eats, many contributors mentioned the ice creams for Berthillon were “to die for”.  So the day we decided to walk over to Place Vendome, visit la Place de la Bastille, we made our way to Ile de St. Louis to try out these spectacular ice creams. 

After walking a great deal trying to find this ice cream parlor, we were bummed to find out they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays…  so we had to do the next best thing – cross the street and have our ice cream at the café in front, where the advertised they serve the delicious ice creams from Berthillon.

       

All the reviews said the best was bitter chocolate, so I ordered chocolate and a new flavor recommended by the server, caramel beurre salé.  It’s true what they say… these ice creams are superb!!!  The chocolate is not super sweet and the caramel beurre salé tastes like a salted toffee, my favorite flavor.  Annie Mariel followed recommendations as well and ordered chocolate and pistachio.  The pistachio flavor tasted like real nuts and did not have that artificial green color most US pistachio ice cream have.

After having our first taste of these Berthillon ice creams, we would order a few flavors every time we saw them listed on any menu… so when visiting Notre Dame, we also had a chance to try the nougat and coffee flavors.  Outstanding as well… 

      

When you visit Paris, forget about your waistline for a few minutes and try out these spectacular ice creams.  Hey, when you’re on vacation, you can break the rules once in a while, no?

POÎLANE BREAD

Ever since I got Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook a few years back, I’ve been planning to visit this bakery.  She says it has the best bread in Paris and that’s a lot… because bread in Paris is the best in the world.  Just ask my little niece Mariana, who visited Paris about 3 years ago when she was only 4 and right before my trip to Paris she told me: “Titi Madelyn, the bread in Paris is soooooooooooooo good!!!!”  She still remembers… and she was only 4.  She has the food-loving gene, I know…

I did not get to visit the famous bakery on the same street that Giada DeLaurentiis lived when she attended culinary school, but during my first meal in Paris, we had tartines made from whole-grain Poîlane bread.   Again, all bread in Paris is good.  But I will have to do a specific taste-test to be absolutely sure the Poîlane bread is head and shoulders above the rest.  I’ll keep you posted on this one.

L’AS DU FALAFEL

The Marais is located between the 3^rd and 4th arrondissements… and it’s kind of “the West Village” of Paris.  It’s filled with small pedestrian streets with plenty of shopping and restaurants to last you a whole month in Paris.  It’s also part of the Jewish district… so it’s the place to go for some Middle Eastern food.  And I sure needed a break from the bread, cheese and potato diet I had been carrying for the last few days.

I’ve read about L’As du Falafel in many internet discussions and about the huge lines formed right in front of this stand.  Even the Director of the Alliance Française in PR knew about this place… he knew the street address by heart.  That’s how well-known this place is for the locals and foodie tourists alike.

We searched for this street in every map we had… I had to consult my newly bought map by arrondisement to actually find it.  We walked past a mob of people to find L’As du Falafel CLOSED.  For the second time, I arrived to an internet recommendation to find the place closed.  It happened to be Saturday and some Jewish people observe the Sabbath, and the owners of this stand apparently do too.

Then, on our way back to a main avenue, we noticed again the mob of people on the street.  I read the name of the place, Chez Marianne, and thought nothing of it.  What could be happening here that people are standing in line for???  Well, apparently when L’As du Falafel is closed, people stand in line at Chez Marianne for their falafel fix.  We were not sure how to order, so we found a little table right next to the pick-up window to observe how the locals were doing it.

    

After much deliberation and salivation, we decided to order a plate of 5 components that we then used to stuff some pitas and create some falafel sandwiches.  Our order included falafels, tabbuleh, eggplants cooked with tomatoes, eggplant dip, a salad and pickles.  With a squirt of lemon juice on top, the falafel sandwich was exquisite.  The falafels were crispy and light… nothing greasy.  Just what my appetite needed… no cheese for just one meal.  Can you believe I just said that???

LA DURÉE PASTRY SHOP

Pastries in Paris are as beautiful as any other masterpiece at the Museé du Louvre or Museé d’Orsay. And one of these pastry museums is La Durée.  We just found it serendipitously while walking towards La Madeleine church.  I saw the name on the store and immediately said: “We need to go in there”.

La Durée is famous for their pastries, but most of all, for their macaroons.  To me, macaroons are like coconut kisses (besitos de coco), but in Paris, macaroons are something different.  They are these meringue-like sandwich cookies. 

We had to stand in line for about 15-20 minutes to buy these macaroons.   While in line I photographed some of the marvels they make there… check them out.  Aren’t they gorgeous??

         

PIERRE HERMÉ

Walking from the Museé du Luxembourg towards Boulevard St. Germaine, we ran into my friend’s Jesiel favorite pastry shop, Pierre Hermé.  She has actually decided she wants to move to Paris to be a pastry chef and sometime intern with Pierre’s famous crew.  I was impressed by how people line outside the store to taste their masterpieces.

I was tired and craving a crepe, so we decided to pass on standing in line this time… but I will most definitely try to go in the next time I visit Paris.

 

Even though I got to experience all these foodie adventures, I still have some pending stuff I have waiting for my next trip…

• Go to Poîlane Bakery to see the lamp made from bread
• Le Grand Epicerie at le Bon Marché
• Visit E. Dehillerin to see the best stocked kitchen gadget store in the world
• Go to a street market in the MORNING so I can purchase all the components to a great picnic lunch
• Sitting at an outside table at Café de Flore
• Have dinner at a Joel Rebuchon restaurant
• Go to the Le Creuset outlet store and drool for a few hours

A Vegetarian in Paris… Mon premier repas à Paris October 13, 2009

You already know I am in love with anything French.  And it was only fitting that I would visit the capital of France to experience firsthand all that Paris has to offer.   Last May, my friend Annie Mariel and I decided that we would go to Paris in September.  June was too close, July too hot, August emptied of real Parisians… so September was the ideal time to go.

I had not set foot in Paris since I was 16… we will not actively reveal how many years ago that is.  Just know that it’s been a real while.  They used the French franc then and the European Union did not exist. 

So this trip was a re-acquaintance trip of sorts – getting to know Paris as an adult, testing my French language skills, and discovering all that French cuisine has to offer, to a vegetarian.  Because something else is also different on this trip when compared to my previous one…  I was not a vegetarian then.  Not even dreamt about it.  On that original trip, I remember quite well ordering steak frites, one of Paris’ staples.  But I was confident I would manage…

I will divide my trip experiences in a few installments … because I noticed I took as many pictures of what I ate as pictures from the well-known Parisian monuments – the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe, the Mona Lisa, Place de la Concorde… 

I hope you will enjoy Paris as much as I did, even if it’s vicariously thru my pictures and commentary… on y va!!!

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The trip to Paris is quite long… 3 ½ hours from SJ to NYC and 7 hours from NYC to Paris.  It’s a “sort-of” overnight trip because you arrive in Paris at 7AM Paris time, even though it’s actually 1AM for your mind and body.  We were lucky to fly 1^st class from SJ to NYC, but not so lucky on the long leg of the trip… we ordered vegetarian meals for both of us, Annie Mariel and I, and this is what we got:   Curried Chickpeas with White Rice – is this a flight to Paris or to India??? –  some overcooked broccoli, a salad and cantaloupe.  This reminded me of the airline food challenges in Top Chef a few seasons back.  Pathetic to say the least…  I was very much looking forward to some great Parisian food.

We arrived in Paris at about 7:30AM.  We got into the city at about 8:30AM.  Our landlady was waiting on us in our Parisian apartment.  We rented an apartment in the 2eme arrondissement because we wanted to live as the Parisians do.  And besides, it’s much cheaper than a hotel if you’re staying more than a few days.  We were a bit jetlagged and took a power nap to get our energy up…

We arrived on a Sunday morning and Sundays in Paris are very much like I remember things in PR about 30 years ago – no shops are open, everything is closed for the day.  Only the Champs Elysées and the touristy areas are open.  But we wanted to live as Parisians and that meant to walk to a touristy area if you want to eat in a café or restaurant on a Sunday.

We decided to walk around our neighborhood to get familiarized with it…  we were located right in between the Opera/Madeleine area and the Louvre – all that within walking distance.  Following my namesake, we decided to head towards Opera/La Madeleine and see where that would lead us.

We found a café aptly named Café Madeleine… hey, I had to eat there!!!  I loved that most everything on the menu was accompanied by “frites et salade”, French fries and salad.  Remember I told you, all fries in France and French fries… you need to order frites.  I ordered a tartine which is an open faced sandwich on toasted whole-grain Poîlane bread (check!!).  I ordered the one with cheese and tomato, sans the jambon.  The server was not too happy, but I explained in my best French that I was vegetarian and I did not want the ham at all… he understood or was it he felt compelled to please me by my attempt of speaking French by the locals… I will never know.

The tartine looked and tasted delicious… way better than what we had had on the airplane a few hours back.  The salad was simply dressed with vinaigrette, worthy of any French café.

 And because we were on vacation, we had to end with ice cream…  Annie Mariel loves chocolate and I had to oblige.  It was delicious.  And the wafers that came on the side were awesome too.

This was light and a perfect introduction to our culinary/eating adventures in Paris…  stay tuned for more on my French vegetarian adventure.  A bientôt…

Vegetarian Awareness Month October 3, 2009

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month.  This is an initiative of the North American Vegetarian Society to promote vegetarianism and its benefits across the US and North America.

For vegetarians, it’s a way to celebrate and promote our healthy, compassionate life-style and dietary choice.  And for those who still have not made the change, it serves as an incentive and motivation to give meatless meal a more serious look and possibly even giving it a try.  You will be helping to create a better world because vegetarian diets have proven health benefits, save animals’ lives and help to preserve the Earth.

Please consider joining us, with the thousands of others this October, who will be exploring the vast variety of tasty and healthful meat-free foods, and sharing information about the benefits of vegetarian diets with the people in their local communities…

If you are still not a vegetarian, consider these few tips from NAVS on how you can still support Vegetarian Awareness Month:

• Eat meat-free for the day or throughout the month
• Learn how a vegetarian diet can benefit you personally
• Try the meatless options available at local restaurants and eateries
• Discuss vegetarianism with your interested friends, family and co-workers
• Host a meatless meal or potluck for your friends
• Eat meatless meals on a regular basis

Provençal Rice September 21, 2009

With my stove out of commission for a few weeks, I resorted to my trusted friend the rice cooker to help me out in the kitchen.

This is a dish I used to order a lot as accompaniment when I used to eat at La Parrilla Argentina, a “fast food” joint found here in PR in mall food courts.  Never been to Argentina, it’s still in my to-travel list, but apparently this is a popular side dish too.  The name is “french” but that’s the way the named it at La Parrilla, I guess because it uses parsley and garlic.

It’s easy to make, delicious and you don’t need to occupy a stove range when making it.  I usually set the rice cooker and then go off to take a shower, meditate, and do other stuff without having to tend to the food itself.  Rice cookers are the best invention ever…

 

PROVENÇAL RICE

1 cup of whole grain, brown Texmati rice (I use the measure in my rice cooker… so I am not completely sure if my “cup” is the same size as yours)

1 tbs sofrito or  2 cloves of garlic, chopped

¼ cup minced flat leaf Italian parsley

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Water

Salt

Olive oil

 

1. Measure rice and wash well.
2. Place in the rice cooker and fill with rice with about ¼ more than the rice cooker lines say.  Brown Texmati rice needs a bit more water than regular white rice.
3. Add the sofrito, salt and olive oil to taste. Mix it all in a bit.  I usually pour about 1 tsp to 2 tsp of oil.  I learned to do this by “eyeballing” it.  Cover and turn the rice cooker on.
4. In my rice cooker, when the chime goes off, I still need to let it rest for about 10-15 more minutes to make sure the steam finish cooking the rice.  After this time has passed, fluff the rice with a fork and stir in the parsley and the parmesan cheese.
5. Let the flavors meld for about 5-10 minutes more and serve.

 

I had this rice with a tomato and avocado salad and french fries.  YUM!!

Mexican Recipes Recap September 19, 2009

To celebrate the Fiestas Patrias in México in September, conmemorating Mexico’s Independence, let’s do a recap of Karma Free Cooking’s Mexican-inspired recipes so far:

Cheese Rice Burritos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

 

Corn Tostada Stacks

 

Guacamole

 

Mexican Salsa

 

Mexican Lasagna

 

 

This is more TexMex than typical Mexican, but it’s really delicious…  Veggie Tortilla Soup

 

And my non-traditional Quesadillas…

 

French Quesadilla         

Quesadilla Caprese

Mexico – Beautiful and Delicious – Part 3 September 17, 2009

This is part 3 on a series on the delicious Mexican cuisine I had while traveling in Guadalajara.  You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Now, after having my friends Ana and Salvador guide me through the culinary delicacies of Guadalajara, I felt confident enough to break out on my own.  I mean, I speak the language indeed, but there are many things to learn about the Mexican ingredients I am totally new to…

When you think about concession stands at a trade show, you really do not think about great tasty food.  Well, not at ConfitExpo.  One of the things I learned about was nopales.  I had seen them in Mexican restaurant menus, but really never tried them. 

One of the lunches I had while at the trade show was a Taquiza of Rajitas de Nopales y Maiz Tierno.  Basically, 4 tacos with a concoction of nopales strips with sweet corn and pieces of cheese.  The nopales/corn stew was a bit spicy, but nothing I could not handle.  I am sure there were some jalapeños cooked in there too.  You get these 4 tacos on a plate and then you direct yourself to the fixins bar to dress them with your choice of lettuce, tomato, onions, parsley, shredded cheese, lime wedges, salsas and cream.  The Mexican cream is not as sour as our sour cream… very tasty and delicious. 

          

        

These tacos were awesome!!!  Creamy, a bit spicy, some sweetness from the corn…  really nice.  I wish my stomach was larger so I could have eaten some more.  My only problem… it showed I was a tourist because the sauce from the tacos kept spilling out and I made a mess…  the waiter helping in my section told me that I needed to visit Mexico more often to get a better hang of how to eat a taco properly.  I was so embarrassed by the mess I made in my table!!!  I used up almost all the napkins on the holder in front of me…  I am sure I was a spectacle.  But the tacos were so good, I did not care in the end. 

I had to drink an agua fresca… they were made of lime/limón, Jamaica or rice horchata.  I had tasted lime/limón before, but the Jamaica was new to me. It’s what’s called hibiscus flower.  I had seen the flowers at a stand that morning and they look like dried, wilted rose petals for potpourri.  I wished I had known I would like it so much, I would have photographed them.  Well, for next time.  Super refreshing -  perfect to offset the slight spiciness of the tacos.

Another afternoon I dared to venture by myself to the Mercado de San Juan de Dios to see if I could find some silver jewelry.  But I can’t shop properly on an empty stomach, so I decided to go to the kioskos to eat something… here I visited the stand of this nice lady, Marisol, who prepared me another Chile Poblano Relleno de Queso.  This time was another cheese I forgot to write down and this time I ate with a tomato sauce with nopales strips cooked in the sauce.  She assured me the sauce did not have any chicken or beef broth and that she cleaned the poblanos very well so they were not spicy until you get close to the stem part.  Of course, she mace the tortillas on the spot, to order.  She was super interested in me being vegetarian, so she sat next to me and talk while we both ate her delicious food.  I drank an horchata made with rice and cinnamon.  All this cost me about $3USD – Amazing food, extremely delicious and dirt cheap.

        

 

                

 

 

When I got back from my trip I was still craving Mexican food, but I do not dare try the food here in PR, because I know I will be disappointed if I eat it right away.  It’ll never be as authentic as the food I had in Guadalajara.  I can’t wait until my next trip there… if our business is successful, I may have to return in the near future.  I am very much looking forward to tasting more and more authentic Mexican, and still vegetarian, fare…  ¡¡DELICIOSO – VIVA MEXICO!!

KarmaFreeCooking is getting some publicity… September 14, 2009

Hey guys…  KarmaFree Cooking has been getting some exposure on the web.

My friend Silka, from Siembra 3 Vidas CSA Farm is featuring in her blog a series of interviews with the supporters of the CSA project.  An interview about me was featured last August 24.  I know the text is in Spanish, but I promise to edit this post with the translation into English.

Click here to read the full interview…

 

Monday, August 24, 2009

MADELYN RODRIGUEZ/Serie Entrevistas Auspiciadores

 oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  

I promised I would provide you with the translation to my interview… here it is.   Please feel free to comment on it, as always.

 

1) What motivates you to support ecological agriculture in Puerto Rico?

 

 

For a lot of years now I have been exposed to organic agriculture.  Since my days in college in the early 90’s when I had the chance to work on a project to promote the consumption of organic fruits and vegetables in PR.  Back then, organic produce was not readily available in supermarkets like today. Also, there wasn’t a consciousness about the damages pesticides and other chemicals in our food stream have on our health.

And given the last 10 years I’ve been exposed to a vegetarian lifestyle and knowing how a healthier lifestyle leads to better health, I wanted to integrate more organic produce into my diet, even if it meant paying a bit more to acquire them.

About 3 years ago I started reading about CSA farms on the internet, where people contributed to their local farmers in exchange for fresh seasonal crops.  It sounded very appealing to me how I could contribute to small business owners in my area and at the same time have fresh organic produce readily available.  The pictures and stories I read on the internet were fascinating and reeled me into the idea.

Being an entrepreneur myself, I understand it’s my responsibility to contribute and support other small business owners in PR.  If I don’t support the small business industry, then who will?  I would like to believe this support and contribution will translate into benefits to my own business somehow.  That’s the law of karma in action…

2) Do you believe the opportunity to support S3V contributes to your interests in this topic?  How?

I believe supporting the local organic agriculture contributes to the collective consciousness of PR, demonstrating the importance of eating more naturally and steering away from chemicals, preservatives, colorings and additives, which produce so many ailments.  Lack of knowledge is our own worst enemy… and helping to promote in some way the availability of more natural and organic food sources promotes that eating more healthfully is not necessarily more difficult or inaccessible as people might think.  The more we know about where our food comes from, the more awareness we have about taking care of it, not harming it and the benefits it provides us everyday.

3) What other activities you share regarding this same topic?

By being vegetarian and simultaneously developing a love for cooking, I have noticed how people are intrigued and curious about the vegetarian lifestyle.  In PR we are not known for a plant or grain-based diet.  We have been raised that if you do not have a piece of meat on your plate, you’re not eating at all.  But it’s incredible the amount of interest and questions people have when they learn you are vegetarian…  people think you only eat salad.

That’s why I decided to share my vegetarian lifestyle and many of the recipes I have developed over the years thru my blog KarmaFree Cooking – to educate my community and the public at large how easy it is to follow a vegetarian lifestyle –  that it’s simple, varied and promotes health and well-being.  Also, my recipes have been tried and tested on all my non-vegetarian friends, which validates them even more in the eyes of the incredulous.  Thanks to the public’s acceptance to KarmaFree Cooking, I also started a Spanish version, KarmaFree Cooking en Español. 

Participating in S3V has helped me to have more topics to share in KarmaFree Cooking – letting the PR community know that organic agriculture is alive and well here, challenging me to cook and prepare dishes with seasonal ingredients that possibly I have never cooked with.  It’s a challenge when you do not have a large family to cook for every night, but I enjoy it anyhow.  If you click on the section From my CSA Box or Desde mi cajita CSA you’ll find a collection of recipes and comments developed based on the contents of my weekly CSA box from S3V.

4) What other benefit you enjoy by being a S3V sponsor?  What do you do with the vegetables you receive?

 My mom and I belong to a yoga center – Centro Cultural Yoga Devanand in Caparra Terrace – and people in the Center cook daily for all the hatha yoga students, partly to educate them on how delicious and accessible vegetarian cooking is.  Weekly, we use the vegetables in the S3V box to prepare lunches and dinners at the Center, specially the great variety of lettuces.  The center is managed thanks to the donations and contributions of the hatha yoga students and initiated members.  So the S3V box helps us cook more frequently with organic produce than we would be able to without it.

 5) Do you have a certain ideal for PR in regards to ecological agriculture/the environment and/or health?

 I would like for the PR community to discover the vegetarian lifestyle as one that will bring long-lasting health benefits to our community in general.  And if someone is not ready to make the “leap” into a full-fledged vegetarian lifestyle, to at least commit to consuming less animal products, to consume more fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, to consume less refined flours, less products with added chemicals and colorants we can’t even pronounce, to consume less soft-drinks and less alcohol.    Doing all of this will most certainly lead to have a healthier and more prosperous life.  I am certain of that.  To gain understanding that real health does not come from taking pills from a bottle, it comes from prevention – understanding our health comes from what we actually place in our mouths and by making small changes everyday, we can evolve into a more healthful and more harmonious society.

 I wish Puerto Ricans would develop a consciousness of the union and dependence we have on nature and that preserving our natural interests is as important as taking care of our own families.  We should respect more our trees, our rivers, our beaches, our mountains… we would recycle more and waste less.  We should realize when we leave trash on the streets leaves a lot to be desired of and it does not communicate the true quality of people we are.

 And even if not a lot of people share this same ideal, we need to start with ourselves and be the example.  That if we want our surroundings to be better, we need to set the example and be agents of change.  We can’t be complacent and think we can’t have some positive effects in our society, because if we all thought that way, nobody would do anything different.  In the words of one of the philosophers of our time, Michael Jackson, “If you want to make a world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change”.

 6) What do you do for a living?

 Currently I have my own marketing consulting business, helping small and medium-sized companies without a marketing staff with their marketing functions.  I also have a small artisanal “gig” selling a few vegetarian goodies and dips – like hummus, veggie dips, tomato sauces for pastas, stewed soy crumbles, cakes, etc. 

 

You can read more about Madelyn and her recipes in KarmaFree Cooking.

 

Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Sandwich September 12, 2009

In my CSA box we’ve been receiving many eggplants and zucchini… why not combine them both in one of my favorite applications? A SANDWICH!!!

Super simple, super tasty and travels really well…

  

GRILLED EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI SANDWICH

1 small Japanese or Italian eggplant

1 small zucchini or summer squash

2 oz of goat cheese, at room temperature works best

A handful of arugula lettuce – washed well and pat dry

Extra virgin Olive oil

Sea salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

1 whole-wheat whole grain demi baguette

 

1. Preheat your grill – I use my George Foreman grill for this…
2. Slice the eggplant and the zucchini in ¼ inch slices.  Brush with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Place on the grill for about 4-5 minutes to cook and get pretty grill marks.
3. In the meantime, slice the baguette in top and bottom halves and toast in a toaster oven.  Slather both sides of bread with goat cheese.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper to season cheese.
4. Remove the eggplant and zucchini slices from grill and let cool down a bit.  Place on bottom half of bread.  Add lettuce on top of grilled veggies.  Season lettuce with a bit of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Top with top half of bread.

 

Simple, yet very tasty and nutritious.   You could add some tomatoes or even some roasted red peppers or roasted piquillo peppers too.