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Check out the Lotus Foods giveaway going on right now!

Boston Restaurant: Myers & Chang

On our last night in Boston we decided to make a last minute reservation at Myers & Chang located in the South End. Like Grezzo we have wanted to visit Myers & Chang on our many past trips to Boston but had never really been in the area. However, this time our hotel was only a 20 minute walk from the restaurant so we decided to go, and boy were we glad we did.

The atmosphere of Myers & Chang reminds me of something I’ve seen on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in Toyko or Beijing; it is very loud & high paced with low lighting and hip-hop playing over the speakers.  The food is served family style which is my favorite way to eat because dishes come out as they are ready so if you’re lucky you get to enjoy each dish as a separate “course”.

Since the husband had been making comments all weekend about trying a Scorpion Bowl we decided that since there was one on the drink menu that we must start with it. For those of you who don’t know a Scorpion Bowl is generally filled with some sort of variation of 3 different kinds of rum, gin, vodka, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine- basically it taste like a tropical vacation.

Hubz trying out the Scorpion Bowl

For our dinner we decided to go with four dishes- 2 snacks, a noodle and a green.  One of the great features to the vegetarian menu (oh don’t forget to ask them for one when you arrive) is that all vegan dishes are marked with (v) so that they are easily identifiable. For our dishes we went with:

edamame and celery slaw with sesame oil & candied lemon

grilled 5-spice tofu buns-bao, brandied hoisin, house pickles

spicy brussels sprouts

vegetarian wok-charred udon noodles, tofu, baby bok choy

Since the place was packed and we made a super last minute reservation we were stuck at probably the worst table in the house, you know the one right next to the kitchen where servers hustle in and out.  We were however sitting close enough to the open kitchen that we could see the chefs cook up the meals and the huge flames which gave all the food this great barbeque/charred flavor.  All of the food was amazing and I would order everything again.

Since we were craving something sweet we decided to see if there were any vegan dessert options. Our waiter came back to let us know that there was an orange granita or a chocolate mousse that both were vegan.  We decided to go with the chocolate mousse which was whipped tofu, vanilla and dark chocolate.

If you are vegetarian this usually comes with 5-spiced homemade marshmallows

Boston Restaurant: Grezzo

After years of talking about visiting Grezzo (pronounced GRAY-zo and means raw in Italian) we finally went for lunch on our last Boston trip.  The restaurant is located in the North End of Boston and is open for lunch and dinner.  The restaurant is very quaint, filled with large paintings of fruits and vegetables that were beautiful and I just wanted to take them home with me. The very tiny kitchen is located at the back of the restaurant and has no stoves or ovens just prep tables, refrigerators, a dehydrator and other essential appliances for creating raw meals.

We sat and looked over the menu for quiet awhile, not because it was big but because everything sounded amazing and we were having such a hard time deciding on what we wanted to try. We decided to start of with some drinks which can come with or without sake (we went without):

Grezzo Mojito - with kombucha

Chai Mudslide - creamy, spiced concoction, coconut milk

Both were decorated with pretty edible flowers

These drinks were incredible! Neil had the Chai, it tasted like a chai milk shake and was delicious.  I had the Mojito – it was delicious and so refreshing.  For lunch I decided to go with the Gnocchi Carbonara-the gnocchi were so good and the cream sauce was amazing. The hubz went with the BLTA (“Bacon”, Lettuce, Tomato & Avocado)- this was honestly the best sandwich either of us had ever had.  It came with sweet potato chips and pickled vegetables which were also delicious.

Gnocchi Carbonara - house-made dumplings, creamy rawmesan and fresh English peas with pea shoots and crispy eggplant

BLTA Italian Bread Wrap- eggplant bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and house cheese

Lastly, we decided that we just couldn’t leaved without trying one of the desserts since everyone raves about them. We decided to go with the Cheesecake of the Day which happened to be a New York style and was served with raspberry gelato. Overall we loved our meal and can’t wait to go back again.  I think we will try dinner next time as the dinner options sound amazing as well.

Delicious Dessert

Product Review: HURRAW! Lip Balm

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I recently posted a review for Crazy Rumors vegan lip balm.  I have found another great vegan lip balm, HURRAW! a great all natural, vegan  and made from premium raw and fair trade ingredients.  One thing that I love about this lip balm is the shape, it’s oval versus round which helps to coat the lips better.  I loved the Cinnamon Tinted Lip Balm; it was a great flavor and gave my lips a nice pink tint. My hubby loved the Vanilla Bean Lip Balm and he was also a big fan of this stuff. It’s great to find not only a vegan but also raw lip balm. I would definitely recommend these to any raw foodist or vegan looking for a new lip balm.

Disclaimer: HURRAW! provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Perfected Foods Soy Jerky

And The Winners Are:

Jessie: “Yum, the Cajun flavor sounds awesome!”

Gina- “YUM! The Sweet BBQ sounds so good “

________________________________________________________________________

"Perfected Foods strives not only to improve the quality of food, but improve the quality of life. Our Soy Jerky is all natural, cholesterol free, vegan, packed with protein and made right here in the United States." Source

Perfected Foods sent me a few samples of their vegan jerky to try. They sent me one of each of their flavors Mesquite, Hot Wing, Cajun, or Sweet Barbecue flavors. Although these products are all natural, cholesterol free and vegan I didn’t find them to be my favorite vegan jerky. They were really dry and tough to chew. I have to say I really like the creative flavors that they have. Now I am not a huge fan of jerky myself so others might like these more than I did. I am going to give 2 of you a chance to try Perfected Foods vegan jerky out for yourself.  This giveaway will end March 9, 2010 at 8am.

To Enter:

1. Visit the Perfected Foods website and let me know which flavor you’d like to try.

Additional Entries:

1. Follow Cooking For A Vegan Lover on Facebook (leave a comment)
2. Follow cookveganlover on twitter (leave a comment)
3. Tweet “I want to win @cookveganlover Perfected Foods Vegan Jerky http://wp.me/ppaTI-ug” (leave a comment)

You can also send a photo of yourself with a pack of Perfected Foods to info@perfectedfoods.com and they will post it on our site. ONE LUCKY PERSON A MONTH WILL WIN A FREE CASE OF SOY JERKY!!!!!

Disclaimer: Perfected Foods provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Vegan in Boston

Hi Everyone! So as many of you know my husband and I have run off to Boston, my old home for a brief time, for some R&R and of course yummy eat s and drinks.  I was recently asked about vegan options in Boston and I have put together a list of places that my husband and I love as well as some other options we have yet to try but I hear are good:

I hope this list is helpful! People say Boston isn’t vegan friendly but it so is! There are tons of options here are some:

• Bagel Rising www.bagelrising.com
  • Has the best bagels with tofu spread ever! These are my husband and I’s favorite thing to get when we go to Boston.  These are usually located within Espresso Royale’s.  Our favorite location is on Newbury St.

• Grasshopper            *Vegan*
• 1 North Beacon Street, Allston, MA 02134 http://grasshoppervegan.com/
  • I have had mixed experiences at Grasshopper, but have come to learn that the only dishes you should get here are ones that are deep fried.  The No-Name is most people’s stand-by and it is delicious.

• Spike’s Junkyard Dogs www.spikesjunkyarddogs.com
  • This place sells a yummy veggie dog. These are so good and you can get so many different combinations. So for something quick, easy, yummy and cheap this is a good choice.
• Chilli Duck 829 Boylston Street, Boston, MA www.chilliduck.com
  • This Thai place has a vegetarian menu that is all vegan and the food is good!

• The Elephant Walk             www.elephantwalk.com
  • I haven’t visited this place yet but I hear that has amazing food and the vegan options are labeled on the menu. (There are a Boston, Cambridge and Waltham locations. Oh and reservations recommended).

• The Other Side Café           407 Newbury Street
  • This was always my college standby when I was going to school in Boston.  The atmosphere is really fun and the food is delicious.  There are tons of vegan options as well as raw vegan options.  The tea selection is amazing and so good as well. If there is one really great place to visit I would suggest here.

• My Thai Vegan Cafe 3 Beach Street, 2nd Floor formally Buddha’s
  • This place is cheap and delicious.  It has great vegan thai food. (There is also a Brookline location.)

• Pho Pasteur II             682 Washington Street
  • This place is just below My Thai Vegan Cafe and has great Vietnamese food. They have a great vegetarian menu that has vegan friendly options. The food is cheap, yummy and you get a ton of it.

• Addis Red Sea     544 Tremont Street www.addisredsea.com
  • This place is AMAZING! My husband and i absolutely love it and the food is delicious.  The place is Ethiopian and is served very traditional and is so good it is a must try if you like Ethiopian food or are interested in trying something new. Also all the vegetarian items are vegan. (I don’t care for their Cambridge location.)

• Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts    334B Massachusetts Avenue wheelersblacklabelveganicecream.blogspot.com
  • Vegan Ice Cream Shop

• Le’s   36 JFK Street-  Located at Harvard Square in Cambridge- I believe there is an Allston location as well
  • Le’s serves delicious and affordable Vietnamese food in a casual setting.  There are plenty of vegetarian dishes to chose from, many of them are vegan.

• The Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub 472 Massachusetts Avenue www.mideastclub.com
  • this place has great Middle Eastern foods.  You could also try ZuZu which is part of The Middle East group and is next door- it’s a little fancier and I hear has great food

• Lizzy’s Ice Cream Parlor  29 Church Street www.lizzysicecream.com
  • This place is located near Harvard Square in Cambridge and it has yummy vegan ice cream and sorbet options

• Veggie Planet   47 Palmer Street Cambridge www.veggieplanet.net
  • I haven’t tried this place yet but people love it.  The vegan options are listed on the menu.

• Also Faniuel Hall has a big food court with a ton of options that vegans can eat from sushi to indian to thai.  There is also a great Mexican place at Quincy Market that I can’t remember the name of but it’s on the left side of Quincy Market and has great food.

• There are also tons of options at the Prudential Center food court.
• If you are going with Omni’s Legal Seafood has one vegan dish.
• There is also PF Changs and CPK which has some vegan options.
• For quick items there is Bolocco and Qudoba that both have vegan options.

• Other Vegan Options:
• TJ Scallywaggles      487 Cambridge Street- www.scallywaggles.com Vegan pizza and subs

• Peace O’Pie http://peaceopie.com/ vegan pizzas and subs

• Upstairs on the Square http://www.upstairsonthesquare.com/

• 28 Degrees One Appleton Street Boston, MA 02116 www.28degrees-boston.com
  • Vegan Options:
  • • -Radicchio Salad (adaptable)
    • -Fried Polenta
    • -Tomato, Basil Pizza (adaptable)
    • -Sauteed Spinach
    • -Grilled Bread, Olive Tapenade, Bean Puree

• This is a great site that has a number of other options that might interest you: http://www.veganboston.com/
• If you are outside the city at all Prana in Newton has amazing raw vegan food and The Watertown Diner has a yummy vegan breakfast.
• Also incase you were wondering Rock Bottom has a veggie burger but it’s not vegan and none of the beer is.
• Also b. Good used to have a vegan veggie burger but it is not vegan anymore.

Recipe Post: “Fried” Veggies

My husband and I are headed to Boston this weekend for a leisurely weekend away and I had a bunch of produce to use up.  This morning I decided since I was going to be out of the house all day that it would be good to get something prepped for dinner ahead of time.  We have been trying to eat high raw now that our winter CSA is over and we don’t have ridiculous amounts of rutabaga and turnip to use every week.  This recipe is almost raw with the exception of the nutritional yeast which gives it a yummy cheesy flavor.

Ingredients (makes 2 large portions or 4 sides):

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 8oz button mushrooms, cut in half (you can also try baby bella or portobello if you’d like)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into medium sized chunks
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (if you want to make this totally raw you can omit this ingredient)
• 1/4 cup cold pressed olive oil
• 3T lemon juice
• 1t onion powder
• 1t garlic powder
• 1/2t salt
• 1/4t black pepper

Directions:

1. Toss the veggies with the nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; make sure everything is evenly coated.
2. Spread evenly onto mesh dehydrator sheets (I used 2 in my Nesco).
3. Dehydrate at 115F for 1-2 hours (this helps to reduce fermentation) then turn down to 105F for at least 10 hours but you could dehydrate these up to 24 hours if you want them really crispy.

Recipe: Raw Pizza Crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quinoa, sprouted 24 hours, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 10 sundried tomatoes, soaked for 1-2 hours
• 2T Nama Shoyu
• 1/4 Cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 1t italian seasoning
• 2T nutritional yeast (optional, not raw but adds great flavor)

Directions:

1. To a food processor add sunflower seeds through italian seasoning and blend until almost smooth.
2. In a medium bowl mix together the quinoa, flax meal, nutritional yeast (if using) and sunflower seed mixture and mix until everything is evenly mixed together.
3. Spread thinly onto teflex sheets, parchment paper or fruit roll sheets (I use fruit roll sheets for my Nesco dehydrator).  At this point you can score the mixture to have even crackers or you can just break into pieces once they are done.
4. Dehydrate at 115F for 2 hours then turn down to 105F for 10-15 hours (I like to do this in the evening and let them dehydrate over night.

New Restaurant: Mint

The hubz took me out for a spontaneous date night to the new vegetarian restaurant and tea lounge Mint in Waitsfield, VT. The small restaurant is all vegetarian and focus primarily on natural, organic whole foods and ingredients. They try to source all of their ingredients locally when possible and are 95% organic. The restaurant is quaint and has a really relaxing atmosphere. The food menu is small but has a number of really tasty sounding dishes. Although their food menu is small their tea list is extensive and is even broken down into types of teas such as dessert and evening teas. We opted for a glass of organic wine instead of tea but I’d like to try one of their teas on our next visit.

After spending awhile looking over the menu hubz and I finally decided on what we would order. I ordered the Sproutada:

Sproutada: toasted corn tortilla with brown rice, black turtle beans, chili sauce, soy mozzarella, topped with tahini dressed greens, snowpea sprouts, shredded carrots, fresh avocado and homemade salsa

and the Hubz ordered the Flavors of Mint Special:

Flavors of Mint Daily Special: roasted tempeh and asparagus over citrus braised greens and a peanut dipping sauce (their description was a little better but I forget what is actually said)

The food was delicious! Although the prices were slightly high you are paying for what you get which is not only delicious organic & local whole foods but a great experience. I also must say that although the plates looked small the food was filling and we left satisfied with our meal. We can’t wait to go back!

Also don’t forget to enter the Bodum French Press giveaway that ends March 5, 2010 at 8am.

Recipe: Raw Pecan Chard Pate

Raw Pecan Chard Pate

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw pecans
• 1 cup chard leaves
• 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1T cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 2T Nama Shoyu (or you can sub tamari or soy sauce)
• 1t italian seasoning
• 1/4t black pepper
• 2T water

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except water in the food processor and process to a paste.
2. Scrape down the sides and then process for another minute and slow stream the water into the pate.

Serve with veggies, crackers or my favorite nori rolls.