Angelica Kitchen

I recently enjoyed a peaceful late lunch at the heavenly restaurant Angelica Kitchen in NYC.  I walked in from the hot summer streets, and was greeted with a quote by William Ruckeshaws, drawn on a chalkboard reading, "Nature provides a free lunch only if we control our appetites."   I sat down and heard the gentle sounds of  fiddles and Gillian Welch vocals.  The waitresses floated back and forth dawning their sweet checkered summer dresses and aprons.  The menu is very wheat/sugar/dairy free friendly with all fresh local vegan ingredients. They even serve coffee with rice milk, gluten free cornbread, and desserts like almond anise cookies! Not everything is wheat/gluten free, but they label things very clearly for you.  I ordered the daily special, quinoa croquettes served with fresh green snap peas, collards, grape tomatoes, a vegan tart sauce on a bed of white beans.  The colors were so bright and vitamin packed!  It was the perfect balance of heartiness and freshness. Make sure you go here if you are in NYC!

In business!

So I must admit that I started this blog after watching the movie, "Julie and Julia."  I was inspired by Julie's story, especially the part where she made it big and got rich off her blog-turned-book-turned-movie!  So I decided to make my own blog, hoping that I too could be discovered, write a book, and then direct/write and star in my own movie, about me!  :)  Did I mention that I love attention?  I am actually making one of my dreams come true this summer by writing and performing in a play in New York City.  It's a risky creative adventure, but I figure I may as well dive right into my dreams with full force and commitment.  One of my favorite professors, Art Keene, once told me to take yourself seriously- to believe in your work and to give it the respect and passion it deserves.  I have never forgotten that.  So I am taking myself very seriously, with this play and with my blog.  I went ahead and made Happy Tummy business cards.  So now, when people ask me about my blog I can hand them my fancy little business card and show them that I mean business!

4th of July Coleslaw

I am staying at my friend Liz's apartment in Brooklyn and she asked me to pick up her farm share vegetable box.  Since I have been eating out so much in NY (great food, but not the same as home made), I was thrilled to do the favor for her.  There is nothing more centering for me than being around freshly picked vegetables: collard greens, dill, summer squash, carrots, and cabbage!  I was instantly inspired to make some 4th of July coleslaw.  I have many fond childhood memories of chowing down on crispy coleslaw at my my favorite seafood restaurant near Rockport, MA.  We often went there on the 4th of July to see the fireworks over the ocean.  Even though I was a scrawny little child, I would always order the fisherman's platter, just like my father.  The platter was a mountain of fried shrimp, scallops, cod, calamari, full-bellied clams with french fries and coleslaw!  My father and I would both finish our platters.  I inherited my father's love of unique flavors and foods, like the creamy green stuff in lobster, grapefruit and tonic water, and rich uni nigiri.  He is also the king of BBQ.  My father will BBQ outside, in the middle of winter (in Boston) just because he loves his steak grilled.  His terriyaki chicken is still the best I have ever had.  Growing up, our family usually bought our coleslaw from Stop and Shop to have at our BBQ's, but below is my recipe for a traditional coleslaw (that is wheat/sugar/dairy free!)

Coleslaw 

Ingredients

• 1 head of cabbage
• 6 carrots
• 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise (Spectrum has sugar free kind, or use Vegannaise if you don't eat eggs)
• 1 tablespoon of celery seed
• 1 tablespoon of honey or agave
• The juice of one big lemon
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1.  Cut and shred the cabbage as thinly as possible.
2.  Grate carrots.
3.  Mix cabbage, carrots and mayo in a large bowl.
4.  Mix in the celery seed, honey/agave, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
5.  Best if you let it "marinate" for an hour or more in the fridge!

Rice balls in Brooklyn

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We all scream for ice cream!

Mark Twain said,"The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."  It's true, summer in San Francisco is foggy, windy and cold, hitting the low 50's many days!  I grew up in Boston where summer is so hot and humid that the minute you step out of a refreshingly cold shower you are already dripping with sweat.  Moving to San Francisco makes me miss those days of east cost summers that envelope you, for better or for worse, in a blanket of steaming heat.  I just returned to Boston this week, where I have been hit with the blazing hot sun reflecting off the pavement and the abruptly beautiful thunderstorms.  I love it!  Today I ordered a mango smoothie for lunch, which I realize I never do in San Francisco because it is never hot enough (for me at least) to want a large cup of icy cold fruit puree.  And ice cream is so much more delicious when you don't have to put on a scarf and wool socks to enjoy it!  Lucky for people like me, who are on restricted diets, we can also enjoy wheat/sugar/dairy free ice cream nowadays!  So Delicious now has a line of "Ice cream Minis" vegan novelty items like ice cream sandwiches and ice cream popsicle bars!  Some flavors do contain beet sugar and wheat, so make sure you read the ingredient labels!  But none the less, today when I got home with my shirt soaked with sweat, I grabbed one of the chocolate almond bars and enjoyed every cold, delicious bite!

Home

I am the constant.  I am home.
I read this in a yoga magazine and it really hit "home" with me.  For much of my adulthood I have been searching for a home, a community, a place where I feel fully accepted for who I am. On this quest, I have begun to realize that the closer I get to truly loving and accepting myself, the closer I get to finding this sense of home. And amazingly, when I get in touch with my self worth, people who really value that seem to just come into my life. Last year when my relationship with my ex fell apart, I was feeling wrong, unlovable, and lost.  I had to find a new place to live (figuratively and literally). I was very stressed out about finding an apartment with good roommates, but in almost no time I landed in the most perfect place.

My roommates were strangers on Craigslist, but I instantly felt at home with them.  They are welcoming and friendly, they like to listen to show tunes and watch Glee, they're culturally open minded, and most importantly they love to eat and cook healthy food!  My roommates are not grossed out or annoyed by my wheat/sugar/dairy free diet, but rather impressed and intrigued by my cooking.  I even converted them all to rice tortillas and Coconut Bliss ice cream! And for my birthday, my roommate's girlfriend wanted to throw me a dinner party with all Jasmin-friendly food!  They brought gluten-free crackers, researched dishes like quinoa and black beans, checked the ingredients on cans of jalapenos, and made it seem like a pleasure to cook wheat/sugar/dairy free, not a nuisance. Best of all, since all the dishes were Jasmin-friendly, I actually felt included and part of the group, not separate like some w/s/d free side dish that nobody else wants to eat.  Before we dug in, I had to make a toast to everyone for making me feel so loved.  And to myself, for finally starting to truly love who I am- wheat/sugar/dairy free diet and and all!

Perfect Pesto

Pesto is a staple in my diet, and I crave it all year round.  But during the winter I hesitate to use the out-of-season basil, with it's purple spots and shriveled leaves.  So sometimes I'll substitute arugula or spinach.  But now finally it is spring and basil is in season again!  I found the most lusciously green and shiny basil at Rainbow and I knew I had to make some pesto.  I love the sharp garlic flavors, the sweet basil, the creamy nuts, and the way it makes everything turn bright green.  And it is so easy to make w/s/d free!  I use miso paste instead of parmesan, because it is salty and creamy.  I love to coat chicken breasts in pesto, scramble it into my eggs, put it on my pizzas and grilled cheeses, or even just saute my veggies in it.  It's a boldly flavorful and healthy thing to have on hand.  Here is my recipe for the perfect w/s/d free pesto!

Perfect Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of fresh organic basil (or experiment with arugula or spinach....)
• 1/2 cup or so of organic pine nuts.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (if raw garlic is too much, mince by hand and saute it in oil for a minute before putting in food processor.)
• 1 tablespoon of miso paste
• olive oil...about 1/4 of a cup.
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

•  Peel garlic and toss into the food processor.  Pulse a few times (scrape the chunks down the sides if needed.)
• Add pine nuts into food processor, pulsing first then blending.
• Scrape down the sides, add the miso, and blend some more.
• Wash and dry basil, then pull of leaves from stems.  Throw basil leaves into food processor a little at a time.
• Add olive oil into processor, blending until you get the consistency you desire. 
• Coat pasta (or whatever dish) in pesto and store extra in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.