Real Food Daily’s Organic Vegan Cuisine Menu for January

Good for you food and yummy comfort food can both be delicious and drool-worthy. Vegan and vegetarian food has come a long way but most people still think of them as tasteless boring vegetable dishes. That is so untrue and the complete opposite, especially with the abundance of choices in Los Angeles. So for 2010, I’m promising myself to remember to try out more new healthy delicious dishes. One of my favorite and very popular restaurant for this occasion is Real Food Daily. This place has done all the work for you in preparing yummy high maintenance food for vegans, vegetarians, macrobiotic dieters, organic eaters, kosher certified, low-calorie low-fat and low-sugar, and all foodies. My favorite is the Cold Soba Salad with soba noodles, julienne vegetables, cucumbers, cilantro, sesame seeds, peanuts, peanut dressing, and marinated tempeh. Check out their new menu [...]

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Recipe Review: Pappardelle Veggie Bolognese

I’ve been planning a holiday party menu for a group of friends with some vegetarians. It’s almost impossible to please every taste bud, but it’s fun trying. Here’s a dish that hit the right spot for me. This Papparadelle Veggie Bolognese is a lusciously rich and hot dish but also vegetarian. Top it off with some fresh shreds of basil and a heavy hand of parmigiano-reggiano for some extra love. The best part is that it’s all ready to serve within an hour!
Recipe: by Melissa Roberts
Yield: 4 Servings
Time: Total 55 minutes, 20 minutes active
Ingredients:
1 oz (28 g) dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)
1 cup boiling-hot water
2 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium shallots, quartered lengthwise
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 [...]

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Recipe Review: Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach

I’m making lasagne! I’m loving this more than any other pasta dish at the moment. It’s something about having all the hearty rich tomato, pancetta, cheese combination with the bite of wide pasta noodles bubbling in the oven. I find it so irresistible, especially in this chilly weather. I just want to cuddle up with the aroma and warm myself over a steaming bowl. Gourmet’s recipe for Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach is seriously to die for. You can almost achieve a besciamella sauce and come as close as possible to the homemade texture and flavor of a lasagne bolognese of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region in your own home.
Recipe: by Melissa Roberts
Yield: 8 Servings
Time: Total 3-1/4 hour, 1 hour active
Ingredients:
For bolognese sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 oz sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 [...]

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Restaurant Review: Alcove Cafe & Bakery – Los Feliz, CA

My 3pm brunch doesn’t have to be at home with Alcove Cafe & Bakery around. This place is the perfect spot for lingering over heart-warming meals in a garden setting that feels just like home. Their menu serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and a dizzying list of pastries throughout the entire day and night. I love this place!
Finally, I can have a seriously good brioche french toast with side of apple wood smoked bacon as late as I want. I had to order the fruit plate to add something healthy to my table. They also have an impressive coffee/smoothie bar and variety of other drinks to order. There is plenty of patio seats around the front and sides of this house converted cafe – with umbrellas for shade in this sunny spot on the block.

Apple Wood Smoked Bacon – cooked to order! Goes perfect [...]

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Grocery Bag: Little Bear Crunchitos Extra Cheddar

Cheese plus crunch equals Little Bear Crunchitos Extra Cheddar. These taste better than cheetos or doritos and are also far better for my bottom line – the behind bottom, the one that counts. Crunchitos are baked with all natural ingredients, neglible saturated fats and no hydrogenated oil. I can actually taste the salty cheddar flavor in these! My fingers did turn a little orange, but they weren’t fluorescent.
Ingredients: Organic cornmeal, expeller pressed corn oil, whey, cheddar cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), salt, autolyzed yeast extract, annatto and turmeric extracts (for color), lactic acid, citric acid, natural flavor.

Click here to see more Grocery Bag items.
Let me know if you’ve tried this or have any recommendations.

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Grocery Bag: Annie’s Organic Wheat Cheddar Bunnies

I really like the Annie’s cookies and decided to try out the cheddar crackers. I’ve always liked the cheese cracker snacks like Goldfish or Cheez-Its or frankly anything crispy with cheese. Annie’s Organic Wheat Cheddar Bunnies is one of the very few wheat cracker versions I’ve found that actually does taste cheesy. I like this one the best. As all the other Annie’s snacks, this is probably the most wholesome healthy option available. Not only are the ingredients all natural and organic, but the nutrition chart gives me more reason to keep on munching: 0g trans-fats, low in saturated fat, no cholesterol, added sugar and non-gmo. I think the adorable bunnie shapes also make this a winner (sorry Goldfish, but bunnies are way cuter).
Ingredients: organic wheat flour, expeller pressed vegetable oil (safflower and/or sunflower), salt, aged cheddar cheese (pasturized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), yeast [...]

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Restaurant Review: Fig & Olive Kitchen & Tasting Bar – Manhattan, New York

I like to try out lots of different dishes wherever I’m dining at so I can enjoy a variety of flavors and combinations created by the chef. This can be pretty tricky, since most places in the U.S. serve up gigantic one-size fits all portions. Most of the time, I’m served one of these supersize me dishes and I’m looking around for the other 3 people it’s supposed to feed. I don’t have that problem over at social spot Fig & Olive and I’m also not emptying out my wallet either. Fig & Olive Kitchen & Tasting Bar, over in the Meatpacking district, NY, is the perfect place to hang out with friends that you’d actually want to chat with while enjoying some delicious food & drinks. The high ceilings and modern natural design without that annoying noise level, makes you feel like spending the entire [...]

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Restaurant Review: Balthazar Restaurant – Soho, NY

Sunday is for having brunch with friends. That means Balthazar, one of the all-time best spots in New York for brunch. The place is packed all the time and the food is consistently superb in all the years this place has been open. Their traditional french bistro fare turns up perfectly in every dish. Their tiny bakery next door is just as well renowned and included in their brunch menu. This is why brunch here is one of the experiences I think everyone should have in their lifetime. Needless to say, their Le Panier basket of fresh daily pastries and bread was one of the first things I ordered (bottom pic). There were slices of brown bread that I thought was just brown bread, and was floored when I realized it was actually sliced chocolate bread – pure chocolate! The service here [...]

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Restaurant Review: Currant Brasserie – San Diego, CA

It’s hard to find a decent nice place serving good food for dinner in the downtown area of San Diego that doesn’t smell like a frat party. Currant Brasserie is just around the corner at the base of the Sofia Hotel. It’s about the same mid-high price range as most dinner restaurants around here but has the atmosphere and matching food fare of a classic french bistro all in one cozy laid back location. This is an adorable and comfortable place that takes you out of the city.
Here’s the order: Vanilla bean creme brulee (top pic), Salmon tartar (pic below), Scallop risotto fritters, Steak Frites, Macaroni cheese gratinee, Mussles Frites, Leek fromage blanc beet tart, Grilled halibut with figs and saffron rice, 3 onion cheese soup, Saffron pistachio ice cream.

Here’s a sample of items from their dinner menu:
MENU:
Starters:
Caramelized Five Onion Soup – Aged jack cheese crostini 7.95
Soup [...]

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Restaurant Review: Extraordinary Desserts – San Diego, CA

I’m always looking for a late night place that serves a full menu of fresh savory treats, wide selection of cheese to nibble, and most importantly a serious variety of hot fresh out of the oven pastries and extravagant desserts to please any mood or occasion. The best spot in San Diego is a place in Little Italy called Extraordinary Desserts. There’s no guessing game with this name, everything here is extraordinary!
Their chocolate croissaint bread pudding enraptured everyone and was a constant topic days later. This is a dish worth traveling for. Everyone kept talking about how soon we could go back for another round. Their menu is amazing – full of hot fresh paninis, salads, bruschettas, artisan cheese selection and more!

Chocolate croissant bread pudding.

Tray of chocolate croissant bread pudding.

Strawberry raspberry coffee cake.

Raspberry Linzer danish.

Kiwi lemonade.

Greek tomato feta olive cucumber panini on ciabatta.

Serrano ham panini.

Portabello [...]

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