Weekend of Sweet Brooklyn Eden (Eatin')

This weekend Mom and me spent the most beautiful weathered weekend together gallivanting through the city! We spent the first day at the High Line Park and Chelsea Market where we found an unopened bottle of wine left in a store next to a chair and liberated it from being consumed by people who didn't need it as bad as we did! After hitting up the market, we walked to the East Village to try and go to dinner at Souen, a super delicious macrobiotic restaurant, but the 13th st one was closed. We decided the the Alphabet City Souen would be too far to walk to so we went to Sacred Chow on Sullivan St in the West Village.

I didn't have my camera, but we ate delicious collards with sesame seeds, steamed asparagus with Dijon mustard, and absolutely scrumptious eggplant and millet cakes with Dijon mustard. We also ordered a pitcher of Sangria which wasn't that good, but it was such a nice day for it, the idea of delicious Sangria might have been enough!


The next day, we spent the day in Williamsburg, we checked out a bunch of used clothing stores and vintage shops and stopped in the afternoon for a beer. I had a Flower Power IPA from Ithica Brewing Company. It is something that I have been wanting to try for a long time! It was delicious, very robust and full of sensuous flavors of bitter hops and grapefruits! We also snacked on Falafel chips (my mom got me hooked!) and the most amazing vegan cheese I have ever eaten, Dr. Cows Aged Cashew Cheese. It seems like it might be a tad expensive, but once you take your first bite, it is entirely worth every penny.


We stopped at the farmers market and bough a bottle of tart cherry nectar, we decided to make our own Sangria later with the Nectar, the wine we commandeered, some raspberry vodka, and a granny smith apple I had in my apartment. We also decided to do dinner in that night and made a super delicious Coconut Curry with tofu, cauliflower, carrots, kale, and mango over Basmati Rice. we Ate on my roof and watched the sunset with the sangria and a few beers.

The next day we planned to go to the Brooklyn Flea market in Park Slope and then the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. We saw some beautiful roses and an English Weeping Beach Tree and relaxed in the grass. Later we ran into a street fair and then stopped for dinner at The V Spot in Park Slope. After dinner we went to Lula's Apothecary and got a pint of PB+J and Banana Vegan Cashew Ice Cream. Superb!!!!



SE FIN!

Saag With TOFU

Oh my god. I am bowing down to Jenn Shaggy! Her fantastic Vegan Food blog gave me the craving for this delicious Indian dish. Really, I ate until I could not eat anymore. I am in heaven.

Now I understand why she is serving this dish at her wedding. Here is her recipe, with a few slight alterations. She uses home made vegan paneer for this dish, which I simply did not have time to do, but if you are looking to make this dish "authentically" Indian, I suggest you try the paneer, it just sounds so damn good.

Saag Tofu

• 2 TBSP Vegan Ghee (recipe follows) or Sunflower Oil
• 5 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 TBSP finely chopped Ginger
• 1 cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 TBSP ground Coriander
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 large bag of fresh spinach
  
• 1 package of extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
  
• 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder

Fry cut up tofu in 3 Tbs oil or Vegan Ghee until golden brown. Set aside.

Heat oil in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger root; stir-fry 1 to 2minutes or until garlic is golden brown.

Stir in tomato sauce, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground red pepper, and salt; reduce heat to low. Partially cover and simmer 7 to 8 minutes or until thin film of oil starts to form on surface of sauce.

Stir in chopped spinach. Cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until spinach turns a light olive green.

Stir in fried tofu. Cover and simmer 3 to 4 minutes; remove from heat.

Stir in milk and Garam Masala.

Vegan Ghee

• 1 stick (or 8 TBSP) of Vegan Margarine

Heat the stick of margarine over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it reduces by a little more than half. This should take about 7-10 minutes.