Home, And Close To It

To continue exploring the eats of my neighborhood, I have started a Take-out Thursday ritual.  On this particular Thursday, with a bit of a dizzy buzz from after work drinks, I made the mistake of ordering Shangri-La. It always makes my belly grumble on with strange commentary throughout the evening.  I should have known when at first glance of these fried tofu skin stuffed appetizers. 🤐

I am still enjoying monthly vegan products via Vegan Cuts and was excited to get this jar of Bumble Bloom this month.  This honey alternative would be great for the impending apple season.  Since I have not gotten out there to apple-pick yet, it’ll pair nicely with my cinnamon-heavy batch of chia oatmeal.

Dinner out with my teacher friend is always therapeutic.  She wanted to take me to one of her favorite Bay Ridge eateries, Gourmet Fit.  As a vegan, often people say of a ‘healthy’ (finger quote) eatery, “Oh you’d like this place.”  But I am usually not a fan of the healthful eateries with their menus filled with chicken and salmon.  I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food at Gourmet Fit: fresh and flavorful.  But first, Sangria, and nice cool autumn breezes blowing in from the window.  I’m so glad it’s here.

We split this amazing citrus salad–mache, mixed greens, orange, grapefruit, red onion, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes–with a lemon mint dressing. Everything I want from a salad, except maybe a sprinkling of nuts.  Maybe pistachio? Colors, vibrancy, zest. 

My Vegan Burger: a housemade (thank you!) quinoa, sweet potato and wild rice patty, alfalfa sprouts, avocado lettuce tomato, and onion on top of a grilled pineapple.  And a side of baked sweet potato fries. Very yummy. 

Burger on pineapple.  Ok, sure.

Cross-contamination alert☠️! Though I have been vegan a very long time and abstaining from animal-derived products is second nature, there are pebbles in the road that can be a bit frustrating as the world catches up. So this is my public service announcement, now that “vegan” is being embraced all over the place.  It’s time to impart some fine-tuning:  Like getting any of the assorted vegetable sushi rolls at random sushi place and having residual fish eggs all about your sushi pieces.  Firstly, sushi making is an art form I appreciate and this is just plain sloppiness.

These bright orange fish roe are just a gross site.  Even bigger no-no, arguing with customer that these are not, in fact, fish eggs on my veggie roll as Suki Sushi did.  I sent this sushi back and asked for a clean roll–one, to be able to eat what I ordered, but also two, to build awareness of what might seem like common sense. Get your fish eggs off the vegetable sushi rolls!

Also, let’s stop de-veining shrimp on the gosh darn train.  This was so disturbing that I had to take a picture of it.

I have officially found my favorite Indian spot close to home.  Like two blocks away, Bombay Grill.  We shared my favorite Chana Saag and some samosas (not pictured). It was really good Indian… and I appreciate the prompt delivery of sauces and all the garnishes in the rice. I’ll definitely be back!

And just because these little gems from Eating Evolved are fantastic.  They are my reward for dealing with how annoying it is even to step foot into Brooklyn’s Whole Foods on a Sunday.