Sunday, May 20, 2012

NOLA.

I went to New Orleans 3 weeks ago (and am just now posting a re-cap...I know). I was very excited to try the food (obviously) as I'd never really tried Cajun food before. Unfortunately, what I realized is that there aren't a lot of vegetarian options since the options were predominantly seafood-based cuisine. Fortunately, the vegetarian food that was available was not only different from what I'm used to but quite tasty too!

Here's a quick review of some of the food I tried whilst in New Orleans:


Grilled cheese vegetable sandwich with a side of eggplant fries from The Red Fish Grill. All I have to say is that one cannot go wrong with breaded and fried eggplant. (Not a health food whatsoever, but delicious nonetheless).


Veggie po' boy from Frank's. This was basically a regular sub with a sort of olive mixture inside. I really liked it because it added a flavor different from the usual veggie sandwich. The downside of this sandwich was the massive pool of oil I found when I lifted the sandwich off the plate.


Beignets. These are French doughnuts, and I highly recommend trying them. Beignets are not as dense as regular doughnuts are, and are a lot smaller. They also come with a nice mountain of powdered sugar. The amount of sugar involved is definitely not humanly possible to consume.


A veggie omelette with a side of grits (and butter) at a cafe. This is a standard breakfast, but I found it interesting to have an omelette served with grits. This was my first time trying grits, and I liked it, minus the butter that it was cooked in. I don't understand how or why anyone would feel the need to include that extra butter packet?!


Bread pudding. I found this on every menu and wanted to try it to at least say that I did. For some reason, the image I had of bread pudding was not at all what it was in reality. In fact, the real version was more delicious than I ever would have imagined! It was actually very light, and only slightly sweet. And quite buttery.

Obviously, I felt the need to restart my metabolism after returning from this trip! But I like exploring and trying new cuisines, and this was a good opportunity to do so. Plus, I was inspired to make my own version of some of the dishes I tried...starting with beignets!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Goodbye quinoa.

So...I'm alive.

I don't even know where to begin with the updates. And I have a million pictures to share. This just means there are a lot of blog updates coming your way. (And this time I mean it).

Hooray!

Okay. So about 3 weeks ago, I made this delicious meal that I ate for dinner everyday. And I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you. Make it. You will not regret it.


BBQ Lentil Lettuce Wraps


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked lentils
  • 2-3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • 1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • salt
  • ~1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I used 1 small can)
  • veggies of choice (carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, etc)
  • romaine lettuce
  • optional: green chilies

Cook the lentils.


Stir in mushrooms, BBQ sauce, salt, smoked paprika, and green chilies.


Scoop onto a lettuce leaf and top with veggies of choice. I used shredded carrots and yellow bell pepper.


Not the most photogenic of meals, but actually quite satisfying! And complete in 3 easy steps.

So what have I been doing lately? One weekend I went to New Orleans (food pictures to follow in the next post!) and one week I had surgery on my mouth and was (and still am) unable to eat most food items. It is quite the sad situation. Luckily, my juicer has come in handy! Unluckily, I am not allowed to eat quinoa, chia seeds, carrots, or nuts for the next 3 months. 

Breakfast ideas are welcome...I've been eating overnight oatmeal with chia seeds for over a year now!