Gluten Free NYC!

I go to NYC when I am craving long talks with old friends, walking down tree-lined streets of gorgeous brownstones, feeling invincible in the hot summer night air, and most importantly enjoying the best gluten/sugar/dairy free dinning! I have blogged before about my favorite places to eat out in NYC, but this trip I decided to try all new restaurants. My first stop was Sun in Bloom, a gluten free and vegan restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. On a lazy afternoon, I strolled into this freshly designed restaurant and ordered their sunny "Couture Futomaki" with raw pickeled vegetables, avocado, and the most amazing sesame ginger dressing! I also sipped a nice cold coffee with almond milk and agave to sweeten it.  For dessert, I picked out this precious "strawberry shortcake" cupcake. It was filled and topped with fresh strawberries! I also stopped by Sun in Bloom another afternoon and got a pro-biotic coconut milk and blueberry smoothie to go - heavenly.

Another new place I tried in NYC was the Jivamuktea Cafe in Union Square. My friend Eric had recommended the Jivamukti yoga center and told me I had to stop by the cafe after class! I am so glad I did, as there was an amazing selection of vegan and gluten free options! I had a hard time deciding what to order, but ended up getting a "BLT" sandwich made with fried tempeh and served on gluten free bread.  It was extremely satisfying. They also had tons of smoothies and salads that I want to try next time! 

When I think of NYC, I think of bagels. This trip I was determined to find a gluten free bagel place in NYC. Luckily I discovered Vic's Bagel Bar which not only serves gluten free bagels, but also vegan cream cheese! I had a fat poppy seed bagel sandwich with vegan cream cheese, smoked salmon and tomatoes - my favorite! The bagel was very flavorful, though slightly tougher than I remember glutinous bagels being. But the overall lox sandwich experience was just what I was hoping for! 

Also, one day I was wandering around the East Village and stumbled upon Tu Lu's Gluten Free Bakery. It is an adorable little spot filled with gluten free treats. I asked the lady behind the counter which items didn't have sugar in them and she pointed me to the brownies and oatmeal cookies. I said, "I'll have one of each!" The cookie was nice and hearty, and the brownie was decadent!

Finally, I couldn't resist returning to my two favorite places in NYC: Angelica Kitchen and Babycakes. I have blogged about both of these treasures before on Jasmin's Happy Tummy, and still can't stop talking about them! I have no pictures of my yummy Babycakes brownie and banana bread (I stopped there as I was running in the rain to catch the Chinatown bus), but I do have a picture of the most fabulous kale salad. Now, I eat a lot of kale dishes, but this one had an incredible dressing, sun dried tomatoes and pieces of creamy soft herbed tofu that tasted like goat cheese! I am craving this salad right now as I type! I can't wait to go back to NYC and enjoy all my favorite gluten/sugar/dairy free eateries!

Gluten-Free Friendship

I was just visiting NYC and staying with a dear old friend of mine who lives in Brooklyn.  Our friendship goes back to the summer after sixth grade where we met at an art camp.  We attended different schools, but had experienced parallel years of being ostracized by our circle of girlfriends.  We bonded one afternoon sitting on her balcony, sharing stories from our own traumatic sixth-grade years.  Our friendship was sealed on that validating afternoon, and since then continued to flourish over our mutual love of theater, art, and dance.  Our newest common interest is gluten-free living.  Both of our mothers happen to have Celiac's disease and for own health we both now avoid gluten.  The other night my friend and I cooked a delicious gluten-free dinner in her lovely Brooklyn apartment.  She had bought a log of polenta that was speckled with colorful quinoa, which we cut it into cubes and fried up to make gluten-free "croutons" for our salad.  We sprinkled the croutons onto a salad of butter lettuce, fresh sliced strawberries and a simple balsamic vinaigrette.  We cooked up some gluten-free pasta and topped it with sauteed zucchini and tomatoes.  She even had gluten-free beer for us to enjoy with our meal!  I only had a little, but it was quite refreshing on a hot summer night!  We finished off our hearty meal with a gluten-free brownie I bought at Tu-Lu's Gluten Free Bakery in the East Village.  As the breeze came in through the kitchen window, I was reminded of the origin of our friendship and felt so grateful to be sitting with her, 18 years later, sharing a gluten-free meal.

Dad's Cooking

I know, it's been a while since I blogged.  Life has been busy and I spend less time cooking these days. But I am now on summer vacation and enjoying the sweeter things in life- like sunset walks and good food!  I visited my father in Tampa last week and was treated to his delicious cooking.  His tastes have influenced my own; we both love tonic water and lime, we both love the green stuff in lobster, we both prefer savory over sweet, we both love cilantro and freshly grated ginger.  Every day he cooked me flavorful meals: perfectly poached eggs (his secret is he puts vinegar in the pot to keep the eggs together, but rinses the eggs off before serving so there's no vinegary taste), chipolte rice noodle salad (his trick is to add all the spices and seasonings in before adding the mayo so the flavors go right into the noodles), and Thai curry chicken with snow peas (in which he chops the chicken with my grandmother's old meat cleaver.)  While visiting my father I asked him about our family history and he told me that his grandfather owned a Chinese restaurant in Michigan- back in the day when there were no other Chinese people around! I don't know how he was successful, but his cooking must have been good to overcome racial boundaries in Saginaw, MI.  Watching my father cook for me, I realized that cooking is a real family tradition, one that I hope to keep up.