Dining Out in Paris - Sol Semilla

Assiette du Jour (Dish of the Day) - Sol Semilla

This is another postponed recount of my vegan tour of Paris (see my earlier post on the delicious Hank Burger here). I walked across the city to visit Sol Semilla for dinner and it was well worth it! I spotted the brightly colored cafe, which also houses a small market for their selection of supplements and organic food products. The website is dedicated to these "Superaliments" that you can also purchase online. I was warmly greeted (despite its Spanish name and location within a French city, in English, which was a relief as a typical language-deficient American). I took a seat at the window for prime people-watching while dining alone. 

Menu boards inside with the WiFi password, of course!

 

The Green Detox Juice - Sol Semilla

My ordering decision was very easy because the menu is short, but my meal definitely didn't lack variety. I ordered the Dish of the Day which included about six different tasty, nicely seasoned vegan side dishes made with chickpeas, beets, potatoes, brown rice, homemade hummus, and garnished with greens and apples. I appreciated that the ingredients were all whole vegetables and grains, no processed soy products here. They had various vinegars and oil on the table to dress the dish. For a beverage I opted for a green juice and skipped the full meal option which also included a dessert, since I was already feeling full from my colorful plate. My juice was the Green Detox, apple juice mixed with chlorella, a vibrant green algae in the form of powder. 



I would visit Sol Semilla again. The food was nourishing, fresh, and reminded me of a home-cooked meal, something I was craving given my longer than usual travels in Europe. It was a bit pricey (15.50 Euros for the dish alone, plus a couple more for the juice), but I was happy to spend it given my options in this city. 

Sol Semilla

23 Rue des Vinaigriers

75010 Paris, France

Sol Semilla Website (in French)

Sol Semilla Facebook Page

Dining In - Curry Mustard Seitan with Yellow Rice (Vegan Version of Chicken Kitchen Chop-Chop® and Pollo Tropical TropiChops®)

Curry Mustard Seitan with Yellow Rice

This is a first for this blog, but I am finally posting a recipe that was not prepared by me! My loving and skilled non-vegan boyfriend did all the cooking on this one. It's also an original recipe, handcrafted by him! The photo doesn't do it any justice - it was a knockout.

The inspiration for this dish came from a homemade dinner he cooked just a couple of nights earlier, a non-vegan copycat version of his favorite meal in Miami, where he lived for many years...Chicken Kitchen's Chop Chop dish. The original dish consists of chopped chicken breast, yellow rice, and an addictive curry mustard sauce (you could drink this stuff it's so good). He was so proud of his work in recreating a dish he never thought he would get to enjoy up north so he wanted me to enjoy it, too!

It was adapted from the non-vegan version he created for himself - recipes for that can be found here.  I totally gorged on this, it was tasty!

Serves 2 (really hungry people!) to 4

Yellow Rice
1 cup yellow rice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable broth (we used, organic, low sodium)
2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine 
1/2 packet of Goya Sazón with Azafrán seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt (or skip if trying to keep the sodium down)

Curry Mustard Sauce
4 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (we used Whole Foods brand)
1 tablespoon non-dairy creamer (try Silk or So Delicious brands)
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons yellow mustard

Vegan "Chicken"
Seitan strips or Chickenless Strips (from Trader Joe's)
1 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Seitan, Vegan Mayo & Vegetable Broth

To Prepare Yellow Rice:

In a medium pot, bring water, broth, seasoning, margarine, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Add rice and stir. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Remove from heat and leave covered when the rice is tender.

To Prepare Curry Mustard Sauce:
 
Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and use a whisk to blend. Stir vigorously until well combined. Add more or less water depending on how thick you want your sauce.


To Prepare Vegan Chicken:

In a medium frying pan, heat oil on medium-low heat and then add your choice of vegan protein.

Sprinkle on salt and pepper and allow to warm for approximately 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the vegan protein heats evenly and does not burn.

To Prepare Dish:

Start with a portion of yellow rice,  layer on a helping of vegan protein (in this case chopped seitan), and pour a generous amount of curry mustard sauce on top. Serve and enjoy a Miami tradition!

Vegan Chicken Kitchen Chop Chop!

Dining In - Kate Middleton's Pasta Alfredo

Kate Middleton's Pasta Alfredo - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

I first made this dish last December for Christmas. I had just gotten Chloe Coscarelli's new cookbook Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen (buy yourself a copy here to fully enjoy!) and was rapidly making my way through it. My mom helped a lot with this one! It makes a huge batch when using one pound of pasta so get ready for leftovers, or feed to a large group.

I just made this again for dinner for my boyfriend and I. With a reminder on the taste, I can say it's on the sweeter side because of the caramelization of the vegetables. It's not your traditional alfredo sauce and without any soaked nuts to add fat it left me wanting a slightly creamier, more satiating sauce. Regardless it's still a good dish and with the added homemade vegan Parmesan (a little on the sweet side, as well) it was enjoyable. I don't know if it lives up to the adorable name, but for how easy it was to prepare it's worth a try!






Pasta Alfredo

12 oz. cauliflower florets, fresh (use a kitchen scale to measure)
5 garlic cloves, whole
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 pound fusili pasta (I used Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Brown Rice Fusilli)
2 cups almond milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ground black pepper
Italian parsley, fresh, for garnish


Parmesan Topping
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon maple syrup


To Prepare Pasta Alfredo:

Cauliflower, Onion, and Garlic Cooking

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix cauliflower, garlic, and onion with olive oil in a large baking pan, season with sea salt. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring a few times, and remove from oven when vegetables are fork tender.

While vegetables are cooking, prepare the pasta according to package in salted water. Drain and rinse, particularly if using gluten-free pasta as the water gets cloudy.

In a blender, add in cooked vegetables, almond milk, lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Blend until smooth. Toss sauce with the cooked pasta and add pepper to taste. Top with parsley garnish and Parmesan topping.

To Prepare Parmesan Topping:

Making Blanched Almonds

In a food processor, combine blanched almonds, nutritional yeast and sea salt. Pulse until it forms a crumble. Add in maple syrup and pulse again. Use this to top each serving of the pasta alfredo. 

Parmesan Topping - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

Leftover Parmesan Topping!

Dining In - Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew

Curried Lentil, Squash, and Apple Stew - Chloe's Kitchen

This hearty, colorful stew would be great during the fall, but worked just as well as an entree for the end of winter, too! I was in the mood for a "Chloe recipe" and cracked open Chloe's Kitchen to see what I had left to test, as there are few recipes that have gone untouched. You can find this recipe and others in Chloe's Kitchen (buy your copy here). The protein and fiber from the lentils make this dish both filling and satisfying. I loved the sweetness of the butternut squash and apples, and with a decent amount, possibly too much, salt it was a great combination. My boyfriend and I enjoyed this as a full meal, eating a larger portion, though the recipe says it will feed 6 as a smaller bowl. 

I would make this again! The prep was easy enough and once you've got your ingredients thrown together in the pot you can leave it to cook; this was pretty low maintenance in my opinion. Allow at least an hour for the cooking process. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, large, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated and diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (I might cut back next time because the vegetable broth adds a lot of salt already)
1/2 cup lentils, dry
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 1/2 cups fresh butternut squash cubed
1 apple, diced, skin on
5 ounces fresh baby spinach

Precut Butternut Squash

After prepping your vegetables (I cheated and bought precut butternut squash, see photo), begin by heating the olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots and cook until they soften.

Next add to the pot the garlic, ginger curry, salt, stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Onions, Carrots, Garlic, Ginger, Curry Powder and Salt Cooking in Large Pot

Add in dry lentils, vegetable broth and tomato paste. Stir again and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. 

Add in butternut squash and apples, stir, cover again and cook for an additional 25 minutes on the same heat setting. Check that the vegetables are tender then remove from heat and add in fresh spinach. Stir together so the spinach is heated and wilted. That is the last step! 

Serve warm.

Before the last step, adding in spinach next!

Dining In - Pesto Mac 'N' Cheese

Pesto Mac 'N' Cheese - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

Eating this dish felt like being a kid again. It's mac 'n' cheese for one thing, but it's also colorful with a bright orange pasta sauce and bright green pesto topping. It'd be a great dish to make in the summer, but we loved it just as much in the winter. :) I made this to enjoy as dinner with my non-vegan boyfriend. I was worried it, served with the Creamed Spinach wouldn't be enough of a meal, but I'm happy to report it was a winner for both of us and we were very full! The sauce was creamy and cheesy from the blended roux made with nutritional yeast. The basil pine nut pesto was spot on, adding more salt to the dish. This makes a huge batch, which for us often results in overeating, but you could save lots for leftovers or serve to a bigger group (like for a summer BBQ... that unfortunately is months away).

Mac 'N' Cheese
1 pound elbow pasta (I used gluten-free brand Tinkyada) 
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour (or gluten-free flour to make it a fully GF dish)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups almond milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pesto Sauce
2 cups basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup pine nuts (I used raw)
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon sea salt (I found the pesto to be too salty, so next time I'll reduce this)
1/4 cup olive oil


To Prepare Mac 'N' Cheese:

Gluten-Free Elbow Pasta

Begin by preparing the pasta according to the package, and adding a pinch of salt to the water. Drain and rinse the pasta. I do this more often when using gluten-free pasta to wash away the milky-looking cooking water. Set aside.

Make the cheese sauce by blending flour and olive oil in a medium saucepan. This looks like a pale green paste and I was worried about cooking it too long for fear of burning it, but Chloe suggests cooking for 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for just a minute. Next add almond milk, nutritional yeast, tomato paste, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat to allow to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Roux in the Making - Flour, Oil, Garlic

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Toss cooked pasta with the sauce in a large bowl. When I first did this I thought there was way too much sauce, but I let it sit for a while to thicken and even put it in the oven to keep warm. This helped quite a bit and the sauce to pasta ratio was just fine.

To Prepare Pesto Sauce:

Vegan Pesto in Under 5 Minutes!

Use a food processor to chop up basil leaves, garlic cloves, pine nuts and blend with lemon juice and salt. Once blended add in olive oil and pulse until incorporated and it resembles traditional pesto sauce.
Top each serving of mac 'n' cheese with pesto sauce and savor every bite!

Dining In - Pasta Carbonara with Shiitake Bacon

Pasta Carbonara with Shiitake Bacon - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

This recipe came from Chloe Coscarelli's newest cookbook Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen (buy a copy here). I don't own this yet, but she was kind enough to share this recipe with her fans and followers on her website, link here. I made it with my mom for a family dinner. Though my dad modified his by adding ham and making it not vegan, it was enjoyed by all. I was happy to eat it again for leftovers the next day. The sauce was creamy and light, similar to an alfredo sauce. I'm not a fan of mushrooms, but of all of the varieties I do prefer shiitake the most. The method of baking these until they crisp up for that"bacon" crunch for a topping was a great idea. They were coated in olive oil and it added nice texture to an otherwise simple bowl of pasta. I had many helpings of this, as is the usual struggle when eating Italian food. The tofu in the sauce brought in some needed protein along with the brown rice pasta I used. I would make this again without a doubt! I served it with a few slices of toasted Italian bread to soak up any sauce, but the sauce was fairly thick and stuck to the pasta instead.

Shiitake Bacon Topping
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and cut into thin slices, about 1/4 inch
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Pasta Carbonara
1 pound gluten-free pasta (recommended: linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped 
3 cloves of garlic, minced
14 oz. of soft tofu (I used silken tofu and didn't have any issues)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, for garnish
Vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast, for topping

To Prepare Shiitake Bacon:
Start by making the shiitake bacon first. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toss mushrooms with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake on large cooking sheet for about 30 minutes, turning frequently with a spatula, until lightly browned and crisp.


To Prepare the Pasta Carbonara:

Using a large pot, boil water with a pinch of salt. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain (rinse if using gluten-free pasta) and return to the pot.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and let cook until soft. Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes, until fragrant. Remove from heat.
 
In a blender, add in onion, garlic, tofu, water, lemon juice, and salt. Blend on high for about two minutes until very smooth.

....After Blending

Add sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Season with salt and  pepper. Let pasta sit for about 5 minutes to allow sauce to thicken slightly. Top with shiitake bacon, parsley, vegan Parmesan topping, if using, and serve.  

Allow Pasta to Sit to Soak in Sauce!

Dining Out in New York City - Two Boots Pizza

V for Vegan Pizza - Two Boots

This could really be titled a "Dining In" post, because I ordered delivery, something I haven't done since college! You'd think living in NYC means I can walk outside and find a meal within a few blocks, and while that is true when the temperature drops and you have websites like Seamless it's so tempting to just order online and never leave your building! 

A pizza craving hit me this weekend and I needed to satisfy it so I checked off one of the places I learned about from another vegan blogger. In what some might consider the pizza capital of the world, second of course to Italy, I had high hopes of finding delicious pizza here even with the added challenge of being vegan-friendly. I now have a decent list to work through, and Two Boots was first. They have multiple locations throughout NYC and beyond, like Baltimore, LA, and Jersey City. It's easy to order online and they are open until 4:30am on weekends and 2am on Thursdays. That spells trouble!


I loved that it was simple to spot my vegan options on the menu at Two Boots. There are two speciality vegan pizzas (Earth Mother and V for Vegan) and a make-your-own option. I opted for the V for Vegan Pizza with whole wheat crust topped with a generous helping of Daiya dairy-free cheese, artichokes, red onions, shiitake mushrooms, basil pesto and red pepper pesto. It packed more flavor than a lot of the non-vegan pizzas I've had! It's also nice to look at with all the veggies and stripes of pesto giving it extra color. 

The small size was plenty for me. I had to control myself and not eat the whole thing. For leftovers, it's great cold, but got a little soggy when reheated in the microwave with all the cheese and veggies layered on, so I recommend reheating in the oven. I have a feeling you could convince a non-vegan to try this pie and get a positive response!

Two Boots

Multiple Locations Throughout New York City

Two Boots Website