Break Out The BBQ!

Hey All,

One of the greatest weeks so far this year, well as far as the weather goes. How was that wrap? I could eat that chickpea salad every day of the week, but this week I had something of a challenge for myself. I love BBQ food, the smokey flavors, the tangy sauces, and even that little bit of char that we all secretly love. As a vegetarian, its suffice to say I will not be eating any meat to obtain these flavors, which leaves me in the middle of a quite unfortunate BBQ plight. I came across a recipe with a great solution, but required some serious tweaking and skills -I will try to translate those into my post the best I can.

Quinoa is fantastic but otherwise flavorless, unless you cook it with stuff. With a binder and some basic ingredients, you could make it into a delicious patty of literally any flavors you want. From Indian to Tex-Mex... and yes, even BBQ! To compliment it well, every BBQ needs some coleslaw. Now, I don't know about any of you readers, but I personally hate coleslaw. I don't like the dressing. Maybe I've just not met the right coleslaw? Maybe I'm just not looking? Maybe that search is finally over, and all I needed was a little apple in there to change things up. Yes, for the first time, I actually enjoyed coleslaw. Want to know how I did that? Lets get right to it:

If A Recipe Is That Good, You Share It.

If a recipe is that good, you share it. It's plain and simple.

Hey all,

Did you make/enjoy those noodle bowls? I meant to say that I had made and cooked seitan and added it so I had something meaty in there. Anyway. This week was a recipe that I'd gotten from a friend after instantly falling in love with the dish. I never missed meat when I gave it up, but I did miss certain flavors and styles of foods... So, I learned to create things similar and have found that I enjoy them even more than when there was meat in there!

This week I made a Tuna/Chicken salad-esque delight out of chickpeas, it's delicious and healthy all at once, and I cannot get enough of it. It's vegan, gluten free, and packed full of flavor.

Here's how I made it:

For an old friend...

Hey All,

How did the week treat all of you?

This week marked the two year anniversary of an incident that happened in the lower east side of Manhattan. There was this restaurant called Sushi Park (it was fantastic,) that had an explosion due to an improper gas set up. The incident injured and claimed a few, and I was there two days prior bragging about how amazing the place was, that I've always gone there, that I was always going to go there. It scared the hell out of me, I wont lie, and I miss that restaurant terribly. This place was an old friend, I knew some of the wait staff, they took care of me as a regular customer. We'd sit down and discuss life and family. In such a busy city, it was a place where you could feel very welcomed. I decided, in its honor, I'd make some spicy "beef" ramen -the dish I would never not order from that place; I'm salivating just thinking about that broth. Mine came close, but nothing beats the original... None the less, here's how I did it: