The Eggplant Experiment Take 1

I love eggplants. I think it's a very unique, exotic, and delicious vegetable. Nothing else tastes or feels like it. I don't think I've ever not liked something with eggplant in it. Every time I see eggplant on a menu, I almost always have to order it as it somehow stirs my innate food curiosity. The only problem is that I don't really know how to prepare eggplants. The only thing I've ever done with eggplants was to just stir-fry them, which is delicious, but I feel just stir-frying these wonderful violet vegetables would be not only boring but a dint on my cooking rep.

Max and I have been getting a lot of eggplants at our farm share. Apparently it's eggplant season! They have all kinds of eggplants, from the Japanese long and slender ones to the big round and dark Italian ones to the cute white-striped rosa biancas. We always get at least 2 eggplants, but I never know what to do with them, so I've decided to do some experiments on eggplants. Here's one of them.

The inspiration for this experiment came when I was at Trader Joe's, where I almost bought their Indian Fare Punjab (eggplant) instant curry packet. I looked at the ingredients on the box, which was so straightforward: eggplant, tomatoes, onions, sunflower oil, pumpkin, garlic, salt, coriander, chilies, cumin, ginger, turmeric, cloves. I've got almost everything (except the pumpkin) in my pantry, so there was no reason why I should spend $3 on a pre-packaged food instead of just making a fresh homemade dish.

Eggplant Experiment Take 1: Indian Eggplant Curry. It didn't turn out exactly like TJ's. It was better. It was one of the best eggplant curries I've ever had! I couldn't believe how delicious it was! It was packed with so much flavor, and the freshness of all of the vegetables really brought our the true taste of nature in every bite. To complement the curry, I made a brown basmati rice pilaf, which was also delicious.

Eggplant Experiment Take 1: success! Now I'm thinking an eggplant soy parmesan for Take 2.

brown basmati pilaf and indian eggplant and tomato curry

An All-American Dinner... Except It's Vegan!

Max's grandpa just came to America for the first time ever from Ukraine, so Max went home to keep him company for a few days, which means I've been alone at home. Usually when I'm by myself, I don't do much cooking. I pretty much just stir-fry my way through the days. Stir-fried baby bok choy with shiitake mushroom, garlic and a splash of soy sauce can be surprisingly refreshing and satisfying, but even simplicity can become borderline boring. That's why I decided to answer to my guilty pleasure craving --- french fries!

Yes, it's true. French fries are my Achilles ankle. I crave a lot of things, but what I crave the most often is crisp French fries with a glass of ice cold beer. Oh gosh... I can't think of anything more satisfying than that combo on a summer afternoon. I usually take care of my fries craving when I coax Max into going to a bar with me, but with him gone, I can only sit there and count my days until my next fries-and-beer fix. Today, I finally got off my lazy butt and took care of business.

Of course, I can't have fries as my main course (not saying that's never happened before, not gonna lie), so I decided to make a grilled vegetable sandwich. I've made this before, and it was amazingly delicious, so I just made it again. I got some fresh summer vegetables today at my farm share. Everything I got was freshly picked today. I grilled up eggplant, squash, carrots, and onions and put them between two slices of whole wheat nine grain sourdough bread from Wholefoods (my favorite bread of all time), smeared with garlic aioli. It was the most satisfying and perfect summer meal. To complete the picture, of course I had to throw in a bottle of blackberry wheat beer. Seriously, it was just as good as it sounds, probably better.

Now that I've got my fries fix, I've gotta find a decent recipe for vegetarian pho...

Grilled seasonal vegetables, baked garlic fries, and blackberry wheat beer
(maybe eating alone isn't so bad)

Good Eats from The East Coast to The West Coast (2 of 2: LA)

Now on to LA (this is part 2 to the previous post, so read that one before reading this one). The one thing I look most forward to other than my family when I visit LA is all the vegan food that the city has to offer. Its got everything from the traditional Chinese vegetarian restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley to the most trendy and cutting-edge vegan cafes clustered on the West Side and around Silverlake. I was more than eager to revisit my favorite eateries.

Los Angeles
Thursday, 7/23, Lunch
Sante - This was my second time at this restaurant. Much has happened to both me and the restaurant since my first visit. I became a vegetarian, and the restaurant got a complete face lift. My first experience was decent, but definitely not worth the second trip, but I went back because this restaurant was actually featured on Kitchen Nightmare, who know, that reality TV show hosted by Gordon Ramsey, who pretty much goes to restaurants and point out every horrific thing there is to it, then transforming it to something equivalent to a 4-star restaurant.

The menu was quite extensive. Although it's not a vegan restaurant, or even a vegetarian restaurant, almost everything on the menu can be made vegan. I went there with my friend and her boyfriend. We all shared the Vegan Nachos, which was pretty good. I would say it was about 80% of the standard of the vegan nachos at Real Food Daily. The nacho was topped with veggie chili, tomatoes, home-made vegan nacho cheese, cilantro, and scallions. For entree, I got the Spinach Enchilada with home-made vegan mozzarella cheese. Although the dish tasted great, the presentation wasn't very appetizing. Everything kind of look like a big glob, without the distinct shape of enchilada wrappers anywhere to be found. My friend had a tostada that she quite enjoyed. Side note, our waiter, who was the son of the owner, was very nice and accommodating. Also, the portions are HUGE! You can easily share an entree between two people.

I will probably come back one day... after I've hit at least 10 other more notable vegan spots in LA.

Thursday, 7/23, Dinner
Pure Luck - One of my top 5 (probably top 3) favorite vegan eateries in LA. Two words: vegan pub. It's got tons of veganized pub food that is just as satisfying as the traditional conterpart without the guilt and the cruetly. Plus, it's got like 8 beers on tap. If that's not vegan heaven, I don't know what is.

I went here with a good friend, and gosh we ate so much it was awesome. We both had a hefeweissen on tap and borsh soup. We shared a plate of half Rosemary French Fries and half Fried Dill Pickle Chips, which was so perfect crunchy and savory that it was perfect with the beer. I got a Torta with sauteed jackfruit "carnitas" with a side of Caesar salad (by the way, I have a slight obsession with Caesar salad, in which I also have to order a vegan Caesar salad whenever I get a chance, and Pure Luck has by far my favorit Caesar salad yet). The best part about the sandwich was the crisp rustic roll that was used as the bun. If you are ever around Melrose, you've got to check this place out, not to mention the gelato place, Scoops, across the street that always has a few vegan flavors.

Friday, 7/24, Lunch
Studio Cafe - Little cafe in Burbank that serves fresh soup, sandwich and salad. I used to go here when I worked at Disney. Nothing significantly notable except their daily vegan soup that is made from scratch everyday. This is probably the only place that you can find good quality vegetarian food with a half-mile radius from Disney.

Cafe Flourish - My new favorite spot in LA. This little cafe just opened a few months ago, and it's gaining more fans and raves than any other vegan eatery in LA. I came here for the first time during my last LA trip, and was totally blown away by the Mi Casadilla that I just had to do a quick drive by to get some on my way home. The quesadilla is filled with mashed cassava root with garlic sauteed kale and fresh salsa, guacamole and vegan sour cream. It is one of the most innovative vegan dishes I've had in awhile. I also couldn't resist getting The Pearl shake that's made of fresh coconut milk, almond butter, and Medjool dates, even if it's a $9 smoothie. $9?? Really?? For a shake?? But honestly, it is worth every penny.

Saturday, 7/25, Lunch
Vegetarian Wok - The kind of vegetarian food that I ate for 10 years before becoming a vegan. Even with all the trendy and fancy vegan cafes, I still always crave the Chinese vegetarian food that I grew up with, and Vegetarian Wok is one of the places that I always go when I visit LA. For those of you who's never had a real vegetarian meal Chinese-style, you're missing out. There is so much more to Chinese food than just stir-fry and imitation meats. I went with my mom, and between the two of us we ordered four dishes. Although delicious in its own right, I keep going back mainly for reminiscing reasons.

Sunday, 7/26, Dinner
Veggie Grill - Another one of my favorites. I almost always try to stop here for dinner right before I get on my flight back to Amherst, and this time I was lucky enough to do just that. I have been here 5 times, have gotten different things every time, and it was deliciously remarkable every single time, including this time. I went with my mom and her friend, who both are Chinese vegetarians and clueless about Western vegan cuisine. I ordered for everyone. I got their daily soup, which was Gumbo, Baja Fiesta salad, Carne Asada burger, Papa's Portobello burger, and Carrot Cake. My mom and her friend were so impressed and satisfied that they completely cleaned their plates down to the last quinoa. I totally can't wait for my next visit.

Looking back, I honestly cannot believe how much I really ate. I mean, I feel like that's all I did, and I am so proud and grateful. This is what I miss about LA, that after eating at over 20 vegan and vegan-friendly places in LA, I still manage to find new spots to check out every time I'm back. Who knows where I will go next?