Monday, June 18, 2012

Green Smoothie Recipe: Banana, Lemon and Swiss Chard




I've made two food discoveries recently.

One of them, thanks to my roomie Lauren, is the glory of swiss chard.

The other may sound strange (it did to me at first), but it turns out bananas and lemons in a smoothie are a sweet, refreshing combo!

What I like about the following smoothie recipe I'm about to share is that it satiates a sweet tooth like mine by combining sweet fruit with swiss chard, which also happens have a sweet quality when eaten raw that I really enjoy.

So here it is. Have it for breakfast or a sweet snack. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :

Banana, Lemon and Swiss Chard Smoothie:
Take...
2 bananas
1/2 cup "milk" of your choice (hemp, almond, rice, oat, etc.)
1 heaping cup swiss chard leaves and stems
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 heaping teaspoon vanilla extract ( I use Simply Organic brand)
optional: flax oil and/or oats (to make a heavier meal to sustain you in the morning)
..and blend!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

My Best Friend's Vegan Birthday: Cafe Blossom on Carmine and Papacitos Brooklyn




Cafe Blossom on Carmine

If you've read enough of my posts, you'd know that one of my best friends is my girl Michelle, 'cause I mention her all over the place here! We're always going to this restaurant or that vegan event together...

Sooo...you know this gal made a fuss over her birthday!

Her actual birthday was this past Monday, but she celebrated on Saturday with her friends.
We went to the hot (and delicious!) new restaurant Cafe Blossom, located on Carmine Street in the West Village. It was the perfect spot for a birthday dinner. Elegant. And did I say delicious?

Here are just some of the things we had...


We shared some limey Guacamole and Chips and their classic, amazing Black-Eyed Pea and Potato Cakes with chili pepper aioli to start.

I ordered their decadent Sauteed Mushroom Risotto with scallion and miso mustard cashew cream...
Also worth mentioning is their Seitan Marsala with sautéed spinach, poached pear, shallot and thyme marsala reduction. I wasn't able to get a picture but the dish is actually beautiful and order-worthy!


Here is their Lavender Creme Brulee with vanilla blueberry compote. We also ordered a Peach and Strawberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream for the birthday gal...






Afterwards, we found ourselves strolling through Washington Square Park at midnight, where we came across this awesome old time jazz band that moved us to dance. It was a magical time!




We capped off the night with more dancing to 80's music at Beauty Bar in the East Village. We had so much fun!




Papacitos Brooklyn


On Michelle's actual birthday, we met after work at Papacitos in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We love this spot!! My roomie Jeff is actually a frequent visitor of this establishment as well. I think I've run into him 60% of the times I've been there!

So what's so awesome about Papacito's, and why should you come to Greenpoint to try it?
It's a great place to go for a Mexican food fix, and it's super vegan-friendly! You can have a completely vegan taco or burrito with a choice of soyrizo, spicy tempeh, seitan or grilled veggies for your filling. They also have a great back area that's fun to sit in during the summer.

Michelle and I love to drink The Papacito-their margarita with fresh grapefruit juice and fresh jalapeno juice (yum!).

We shared their Guacamole and Chips, which is awesome here. I ordered three tacos-two with their spicy tempeh and one with grilled veggies. Michelle got her fave- their Burrito Grande with spicy tempeh and she made it wet by smothering it in enchilada sauce, cheese & sour cream.

Michelle's half-eaten Burrito Grande..Wet!
What's left of my tacos..with sour cream (vegan, of course!)

After dinner, we went to my place for a practice session of a certain cover song we're working on (you'll see!) and a tarot card reading by moi! It was such a fun night, full of laughs and frank conversation...


I love you Michelle ma belle!

xo,
Ellie

Friday, June 8, 2012

Goosewatch NYC, Chickpea and Olive, Caravan of Dreams..All in a Vegan Saturday!



If you're my friend on Facebook (and if you're reading this, you probably are), you've probably noticed that I've posted some (seemingly) random pictures of geese. Is it because I love geese? Well, if I didn't before, now I do! You see, I've been taking trips to nearby East River State Park to help my friend David and other volunteers from Goosewatch NYC keep an eye on the geese there to see if they are likely targets for killings by the USDA.
"Say what?!", you ask? Um. Yeah.

To explain briefly, ever since the "Miracle on the Hudson" incident, there's been an "all-out war" on the Canadian geese of NYC. The government has arranged with the USDA roundups of geese in NYC parks every year.
The killing of geese is not only an ineffective use of our tax money, it's also cruel. That's my two cents on the matter, anyway.
For more comprehensive info, check out this link! :
http://www.goosewatchnyc.com/our-story

So yes, I've been visiting the park..looking at geese. And I have to say, the experience has given me an appreciation for them! They are beautiful, and I love watching them communicate with eachother.
 It's June, and baby goslings are springing up in NYC parks. East River State Park has two families!




I was there last Saturday with some others from Goosewatch, talking to some of the locals. We are trying to find some residents in the area who would volunteer to document the roundups if and when they occur. And, we want to inform people about what's going on. A lot of people don't know about this (did you?), and some of the people we spoke to were really shocked and upset.

The dad (or mom?) hissed at me for getting too close. Oops!


After canvassing for a while, I stopped into nearby Smorgasburg for a bite. I met the peeps from Chickpea and Olive, friends of Goosewatch, and not only were they lovely, sweet folks, but their food was amazing!!!




I had their Slider (composed of beets, barley, lentils and mushrooms) with all the fixin's (pickled jalapenos, bibb lettuce, cheddar daiya cheese and sliced roma tomatoes) on a homemade brioche bun with a side of their Dotty's Potato Salad and a chamomile-lemon verbena-mint tea from Brooklyn Grange (local rooftop farm biz). Cool side note: Chickpea and Olive used greens from Brooklyn Grange for their sliders!




So I'm just going to repeat myself and say again that their slider was amazing! I'll even go as far as to say that one would not miss a conventional beef burger eating this. Yeah, that's right. It's a strong statement, and I stand behind it!

Afterwards, I headed into the East Village and met with my friend Shaliga to check out Howl Festival.




We stopped into Caravan of Dreams for a bit and had a great meal. Shaliga had their raw Zucchini And Yellow Squash Spaghetti (with "meatballs"), and I had their Rosemary Shiitake Mushroom Burger on ciabatta bread. We split their Caravan Cocktail smoothie (coconut shake, raw almond butter, cinnamon). The smoothie was so good and the sandwich was excellent! I don't know why I don't go to Caravan more often! Admittedly, knowing what to order is important when going to Caravan, but what I like about this place is that they have a plethora of juices, smoothies, soft drinks and other cool beverages to choose from. And their Chocolate Acai Berry Pie is to die for!

 caravan cocktail smoothie
 raw "spaghetti" and my awesome mushroom sandwich on delicious olive ciabatta bread



So that about sums up my vegan Saturday! If you're interested in hearing more about Goosewatch, go ahead and check out their Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/goosewatchnyc

Have a great weekend everyone!
xo,
Ellie