We started off with their salatim (variety of salads).  They bring out two teirs of awesome vegetable salads along with pickles and olives, all to be shared at the table:

• tabbouleh
• beet salad
• spicy carrot salad (my favorite)
• pickled kohlrabi
• roasted eggplant (good & smoky)
• okra & tomato
• shaved fennel salad
• classic Israeli salad

All of these salads amazed me, for they were deliciously consistent with what I remember!  Also, they brought out their hummus and laffa bread, which is baked in a hearth visible from the dining room.  How unreal?  It is crispy and delicious around the edges and soft/bready bas you get closer to the center of this flatbread, spread with good olive oil and sprinkled heavily with za’atar spices.  It is the perfect accompaniment to both the hummus and the salads.  We ordered a second one  The hummus came out with chick peas “swimming” in the oil & spice mixture they delicately drizzle over the top of the hummus mound.  Unfortunately, they put too much tahini in the hummus for me to enjoy something like that all the time, but once in a while someone else’s hummus is a nice change to my own!  I highly recommend their salatim/hummus for the table.  You will enjoy.

Then came the small-plates style Israeli food.  I had a fantastic salad of grilled turnips, which melted in the mouth, couscous, almonds, and chantarelle mushrooms.  The turnips were out of this world in terms of texture and flavor, with a nice smoky undertone from the roasting.  Mushrooms…need I say more than that I love them?

My other tasting plate was grilled eggplant with an asparagus puree and shaved, grilled asparagus over a bed of Israeli couscous (yes, it’s different), with the perfect pungency to offset the richness of the eggplant.  Needless to say, my eggplant-loving mother consumed a good portion of the plate, since I was so intent on my other one!  One of the sides of a dish my parents split (lamb sausage) came out with an awesome tomato compote, perfect for scooping with yet another huge piece of laffa into my awaiting mouth.  Yum.

Lunch with college friends was a feast to behold!  Tucked away inside one of my favorite holes-in-the-wall, Cafe Asean, we consumed a fantastic rendition of tradition-gone-fusion in the style of Southeast Asia.  I wrote about Cafe Asean last time I went to New York to visit the Penn friend who lives there, Eric.  Yet this time, I fortunately experienced a whole new side of this little dive: an outside courtyard, sandwiched between classic New York low-rises so common in the Village.  We all decided to split some appetizers, each ordering his own entree but providing ample samples to all at the table.

Our appetizers included two varieties of delicious dumplings: shrimp of some sort with veggies and a dipping sauce on one side and wild mushrooms and herbs with an equally delicious yet different dipping sauce on the other.  The mushrooms were tender yet meaty with the unmistakable quality of freshness so ubiquitous in fantastic little dives like this.

For our meals we all received some sort of stir-fry or curry.  There was a brown curry for one of our group, rice noodles with beef/chicken for two others, tofu and narrower noodles for another, and veggies with tofu and rice for yours truly.  I was not a fan of the white rice, though it did soak up the flavors nicely from the rest of the stir-fry.  The tofu: veg ratio was off for me, but I can’t expect all restaurants to get it right just for me!  It was all delicious, but the veggies ran out so fast, followed by my hunger, for this was 2nd lunch.  I tried the noodles, and I must say that the rice noodles were reminiscent of the steamed rice rolls so common in dim sum carts everywhere.  Everything looked and smelled fantastic, too.  Cafe Asean is fantastic, and I could not recommend it more highly as both a neighborhood gem and and sorrowfully overlooked location for excellent, authentic, cheap SE Asian meals to suit all tastes.

After lunch we wandered the village, popping into some cafes and various stores while seeing classic sights and experiencing the village as best we could. Then came dinner. Oh my was it quick but incredible on the way to the theatre to see Next to Normal, an excellent musical about a manic depressive woman who projects issues onto the rest of her seemingly normal family. It is about the trials and tribulations of family life: humorous yet simultaneously serious. Dinner was eaten on the run at a hole-in-the-wall falafel shop.

I got a warm pita filled with chunky hummus (just as delicious though surprisingly different than the hummus offered the night before at Caravan) and extra Israeli salad. I wolfed it down with passion, savoring the incredible flavors and differences of the hummus both nights. I love the way a similar food can be expressed in so many different ways, imprinted with personal preferences and regional differences of the various chefs. The others received falafel sandwiches stuffed with crispy falafel, salad, and a generous dollop of tahini. Tahini on its own is not one of my personal favorites, but it does go well with a strongly parsley-ed falafel. We all really enjoyed this small place where we could grab to go and eat outside. Nothing else could’ve remotely satisfied my craving for Middle Eastern fare. The funny thing is that I had no idea that was my craving! I recommended the place, since I saw it and just got the feeling for pita with hummus.

After the show, it was about 10:30, and several of our group were ready for some more classic New York eating diversity.  We decided on Our first stop was for some excellent Japanese food: ramen.

I don’t like eating a lot late at night, so I sampled some pickled radishes…yum! My friends got various styles of ramen off the traditionally scant menu. We sat around a low bar, close together, with the ramen-dealers hovering over us ready to take our orders, refill our waters, and provide us with excellent, friendly service. Leaving ramen-ya, Rai Rai Ken, in the East Village led us to one of the oldest Italian cafes in the area, where the crew indulged in some Italian desserts and other cafe goods. At this point it was about one o’clock, which rendered me out of my mind with tiredness. Walking back to our downtown residence for the night, I grabbed a huge apple and two delicious nectarines, and we subsequently chatted until about 2:30, at which point we crashed into bed and rested up for another shot at New York life, Sunday-style!

Check back tomorrow for the last installment of this epic weekend adventure!

What an epic weekend I had in front of myself with only a MegaBus ticket to NYC and a BoltBus ticket back the following Sunday. After work on Friday, I managed to finish two books on my way to the Big Apple to meet her.  We went to Caravan of Dreams in the East Village, and it was a meal to remember to say the very least.

We began with a humble-sounding but absolutely delectable appetizer of sprouted wheat pita to dip in a hummus of perfect texture. Not too far on the smooth side to denote a ridiculous amount of tahini, and not too far down the dark side of an under-oiled mash of chick peas. Oh no, this hummus was almost as satisfying to my palate as my very own creation. If only they had used almond butter! ; )

There is nothing more comforting than a delicious hummus to finish off with vegetable crudite, after the inhalation of such amazing pita. The sprouted wheat had a very excellent flatbread quality, though it was served more as a tortilla than as a pita loaf. Regardless of its departure from traditional Middle Eastern style, the za’atar spice brought the traditional flair right back to gently smack us in the face. What an epic blend of spices that enhanced all aspects of the appetizer complete with a tomato and olive garnishing the top of the mound of golden love.

After our appetizer, we continued to sample the goods of the menu in the salad department: the menu was so huge and our funds so tight that we couldn’t manage separate entrees of our own. We enjoyed the Mediterranean salad, complete with sea vegetables, fresh mediterranean vegetables, delicious mixed salad greens, and a lovely house dressing. And the interesting part was the topping of surprisingly delicious grilled and glazed chunks of tofu. We also experienced an all-raw salad with various veggies, nuts and fruits. ‘Twas an excellent choice for her, where I was floating on air with my own decision for hummus and Mediterranean deliciousness.

Saturday morning began with a wonderful 8.5-mile run with some oatmeal and an apple to keep me fueled. Afterwards, we stopped at the Union Square market to browse around for free samples of things, since neither of us had brought any money.  We tried all sorts of jams, preserves, crackers, breads, and spreads (the best ever was the spiced pumpkin butter…I loved it!) and found some tomato chunks to munch on as well.  Back at her place, we freshened up, ate some lettuce and couscous salad, and I had an apple.  After our snack, I said goodbye to my host and zoomed off to my next adventure with some fellow Penn students, culminating in an overnight stay in a Greenwich Village apartment with one friend’s parents!

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. carrots, coarsely grated (for the record: most delicious way to eat raw carrots)

- 2 c. cooked chick peas (preferrably from dried for textural purposes)

- 1 small bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves, roughly chopped

- 1/4 c. nuts or seeds (I used sunflower seeds), toasted

- juice of one lemon

- 1 tsp. smoked sweet paprika

- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne, adjusting for personal taste

-1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground

- salt and freshly cracked black pepper

- olive oil

What to do…

Combine the carrots and chickpeas and set aside in a large bowl, and put everything else (except salt, pepper, and oil) into the food processor.  Pulse until chunky and there are no large cilantro stems poking around.  Then turn on the processor and add olive oil or chick pea cooking water (or as I do, a combination of the two), until a chunky paste is formed.  Mix with the chick pea & carrot mixture, garnishing with salt, pepper, and a pinch of paprika/dash of chopped cilantro for color.  Serve with some delicious whole grain pita and other various meze goods.

We began with some deliciously pickled vegetables: fennel; turnips; small, sweet carrots; cauliflower; and, one of my favorites, ramps.  The pickles were on the sweeter side, whereas I prefer savory and salty vegatbles.  However, they were still wonderfully prepared and served in such a perfect two-piece-per-veg style for sharing.  Along with the vegetables came the famous Kinnebec potato fries.  If nothing else, know that I can be defined by my love of carrots and kale and dislike of potatoes.  They’ve never done anything for me, and I don’t see these facts changing, for I have disliked them for my entire life.  Anyway, I tried them last time and figured I should give one of the most famous things on the menu a second chance….  They were good for what they were, entirely homemade potato fries with some nice zingy spices and aioli; but they did not convert me to a lover of potatoes.  I had maybe three.  Everyone I have ever talked to about the restaurant or reviews I have read have thrived over the fries, vegetarians and carnivores alike, so I reccomend a tasting, regardless of potato indifference.

The salad was of arugula and beets, not over-dressed in a delicious vinaigrette.  There were some toasted beet greens underneath that retained their oven-induced crispiness, and we enjoyed munching on them along with the perfectly roasted beets.  Yum.

For our main course, we indulged in the coconut risotto cakes, served atop a bed of mild red lentil dal.  The flavors were reminiscent of a variety of Asian influences: the mild seasonings of Japanese cooking with the components of various other regional cuisines.  The sauteed beans and mushrooms piled in the center taking a decidedly Chinese flair, and the dal decidedly Indian.  Everything was delicious, and the oyster mushrooms were, to me, the star of the dish!  I highly recommend the grilled oyster mushroom appetizer if you are even remotely guilty of a love of all things mushroom.

Risotto is like a pasta dish or a stir-fry in that you can use anything that’s in the pantry or farm market stand at that time of year.  We had some lovely swiss chard, which I love, and some frozen peas in the freezer, the one vegetable that is always redolent of the springtime.  Mushrooms went in as well for earthiness, for they are somewhat a spring “crop” as well.  Green onions serve as the perfect crunchy, pungent contrast to the rich risotto.  This risotto was not supremely rich, since it got its body from the garlic & onions, homemade vegetable stock, and dried porcini mushrooms to go along with the crappy button mushrooms we got at Acme.  TO be fair, they were decent, else we would not have purchased them .

Springtime in a Bowlplate

On the Road (Kerouac Anyone?)

My day started with a trip to three successively farther markets.  The first was a close little farm where we picked up some home-milled whole wheat flour for my homemade pita bead, using a recipe I found on FoodGawker.  We also got some dried stinging nettle, and at this point, I still have to find a use for it besides tea or some such infusion.

The Second Stop

The second stop was a roadside market where they made their own pies, baked goods, and dinner goods.  Instead of perusing those things, I shot straight for the produce section, where they had the most beautifully red swiss chard I had ever seen in my life.  I also picked up some arugula for dirt cheap.  I love when they are still dirty from being organically plucked from their little homes in the ground .  I fantasized about the to-be-made sauteed swiss chard with garlic, onions, and a hint of honey all the way to the next market.

The third market was a local market in Stockton, NJ, where the vendors sometimes change week to week.  The one guy who is always there is the man of local honey.  I have a confession to make; I am a vegan who is okay with the humane cultivation of honey by knowing, caring, and loving beekeepers.  One of my friends from work is keeping bees, and I have had a very emotional struggle with the concept of using honey.  After seeing both she and this man talk about their bees and seeing their love for these animals and the care they put into looking after them, I feel that they are doing a good thing.  First of all, bees are dying out in the wild, so they are providing a protected home for these insects.  Harm is not part of this picture.  Commercial honey production cruelty aside, I have no problem labeling myself as a vegan and consuming on rare occasions this local honey.  If you have a problem with my self-labeling and honey consumption, then don’t think of me as a vegan.  Think of me as a herbivore, get over it, and realize that everyone is his own person.  My feelings may change at a later time, and this emotional fluidity is something that makes us human.  So I apologize for this digression, but it is something I needed to type out on the blog to help clarify and solidify my inner contemplations regarding this issue.  Thanks for hearing me out, and if you just skipped to the end of the paragraph after my revelation of an ethical struggle, just know that you can keep reading unaffected by this past paragraph .

So this next market had a lady selling dried fruits as well as nuts.  We got ample supplies of cashews, figs, goji berries, and Turkish apricots.  I am not a cashew man, so my parents polished them off while I set to work on the goji berries throughout the rest of the week.  Yum.  Also, the first farm we visited that day had a stand at this last market where we picked up the freshest dandelion greens and pea shoots I have ever seen in my life!  They rivaled the swiss chard I had already bought for their ability to make me envision plates of greens cooked/prepared in various ways in my head.  I couldn’t wait to get home to my soaking chickpeas and prepare the beast of a meal that graced our table late that Saturday evening.

Kneading...

Pita!!!

The hummus turned out beautifully, and I made so much that we had it in the fridge for several days.  Something lasting multiple days in the fridge with me in the house is almost apocalyptic.  And it was absolutely superb!  The roasted garlic was added in perfect proportion to the lemon juice, balancing and intensifying all of the complex flavors of the dip/spread.  It was also the perfect consistency.  It was not too thin that you couldn’t scoop and spread, but not so thick that it would sit in one’s stomach for several hours post-ingestion.  I used almond butter instead of tahini because it imparts a less intense flavor to the hummus and allows the chickpeas their chance to shine.

Hummus Love

Muhammara was interesting to make.  With some roasted red peppers and walnuts in the food processor, I added in various herbs and spices, finished with some deliciously fruity olive oil we had on hand.  The result was much thicker and heavier than the hummus, so it was perfect for a bread-spread rather than dippage.  Where the hummus was light, airy, and fluffy, this dip was heavy, smoky from the toasted nuts and roasted peppers, and spicy from the ample cayenne.  It was an excellent contrast, and a little went a long way.  Good thing I only made a little!  My parents loved it in combination with the hummus as a pita-pocket sandwich base, but I was all over the hummus like it was my biznazz.

Muhammara

Pita is not one of the hardest breads to make, and I was surprised and relived when they puffed up just as well on the oven rack as they would have if only we had a pizza stone (which should definitely be in our future).  They were light, airy, puffed, wheaty, and downright delicious.  Most were pliable and delicious, whereas some were burnt.  No problem since all were either perfect for sandwiches or scooping.  They were 100% whole wheat and did not lose any deliciousness as a result.

Farm Milled Flours

There was the standard tabbouleh, loaded with veggies and parsley, as well as a carrot salad which rightfully will have its own post it was that face rocking!  I apologize for the lengthiness of this post and the tedium of its execution, but there are ample pictures!  Disregard my ethical conundrum if it gives you ajida or raises anger/frustration.  Just remember that we are each our own person and must individually tackle our own archetypal identity crisis.  Boy would my english teacher love that sentence!

Falafel

Tabbouleh

The Spread

After our coffee, oatmeal, and some ample digestion time, we slipped on the running shoes (both Asics 2100 series) and booked it out for a 6.2 mile run through the city.  I got to see avenues A through D as well as the Eastern waterfront, Southern Waterfront where we stopped to see the sights and appreciate the gorgeous day for enjoying one another’s company.  We also got a good walk in after the much-needed run through the Village with all of its wonderful sights.  I really do love spending time in New York.  After returning to the maison, we prepped ourselves for a brisk walk to the train station, with a lengthy Whole Foods stop on the way for their delicious salad bar.  And by “salad” bar they mean “everything under the sun that is delicious” bar.  I am proud to say that I got my friend hooked on both grain salads and Whole Foods prepared foods, all of which is made with love and deliciousness.  How do they do it?  I stuffed a box full of greens, grains, and all other things that a) they have and b) I love.  Needless to say, I spent a mini fortune at Whole(paycheck) Foods.  I could think of no better way to spend my last moments in the city before hopping on the express (yay) train to Hamilton.  All of this excitement after finals, cooking for my family, and New York caused my body to succumb to some sort of stomach bug, and I was out of commission for the rest of the week.  I still found time to enjoy the time off, though!

After meeting my friend and hugging in the middle of the street NYC style, we chatted for a good hour before my stomach started to rumble.  We decided it would be best if she studied for her final and I waltzed around the city for lunch and a little entertainment.  After parting ways, I booked it to Pure Juice and Takeaway by the lovely Sarma, queen of raw foods and deliciousness.  The hipsters behind the counter were fun to talk to, as were the other like-minded customers.  I got the most beautiful seaweed salad, composed of arame, hijiki (my fave), daikon, and other asian sea/land goods.  I added on carrots, mushrooms, and cucumbers to satisfy my strange fusion tastes.

I then mosied my way around SoHo and found a cute little convenience store where I saw a gorgeous prepared foods bar.  I picked up some sweet potato and fruit.  This lunch was wolfed down eaten with savor in the closest Starbucks with a delicious side of iced coffee and New Yorker people-watching.  I swear one of the girls in there kept lookin’ at me ; ).

After lunch, it was time to waste some of my life walking around looking into stores: I got a single polo shirt at Uniqlo and remembered how much I dislike clothes shopping!  My friend finished her final, and we got together to chat in her dorm until we were both too hungry to concentrate on anything except the deliciousness to come.  Angelica Kitchen was everything we had been hoping for/hearing about and more.  We both got Pantry Platters which are lovely customer-picked concoctions of various small plates that they offer.  I received a mound of seaweed salad (=love), kimchi, and various pickled and roasted vegetables.  Everything was delicious!  My only concern was that the kimchi was mild…too mild for me.  But it was absolutely fantastic otherwise.  The vegetables were roasted to perfection, the others pickled perfectly, and the seaweed was well-dressed and perfect for me.  Next time we go, I really want to try their dashi broth in a cup for a drink.  I love the idea of serving a delicious stock as a sort of veg cocktail!

My friend devoured (with my help ) a large pool of hummus with deliciously baked za’atar-spiced pita crisps, roasted vegetables, a delicious grain salad (which is now one of her faves), and their seductive-looking ruby rred sauerkraut.  It made me want to go home and ferment some veggies.  The hummus was not as grainy as I like, but it was delicious with the chips and crudites.  We both loved the gorgeous bed of lettuce adorning each of our plates, and of course I ate mine.  Our waitress was perfect as well.  She embodied the vibe of the restaurant: casual, cute, friendly, warm, understanding, and well-grounded.  We could not have asked for a more perfect night.  We ended this fantastic evening chatting more about college as we walked to her apartment for some Jasmine tea and much-needed shuteye.