Review: By CHLOE

 The best vegan restaurant in the bizz? Quite possibly.

I went here 5 times on a 20 day trip to New York. 5 TIMES. GUYS. Seriously, that’s pretty much an addiction. lol. But I’m actually obsessed.

 I went with pretty high hopes the first time (and the decor was gorgeous. so aesthetic. (I’m joking, but for real)) and it did not dissapoint. Even my mum was like holy hell yum yes please. The first thing I tried was the avocado pesto pasta at the Bleeker Street branch. Creamy, dreamy, avocado-y, basil goodness. I was hooked from the first bite!

So we obviously had the go back and this time went to the Flatiron branch. From my experience, the Bleeker Street branch was so much better as I found everything at Flatiron was really oversalted (I went twice, and both times were ok but not to the amazing standard that the Bleeker street branch had set). I tried the sweet potato mac and cheese (creamy and gorgeous and the shiitake bacon – wow. Legit tasted like real crispy bacon!), kale artichoke dip (good, but salty, passable) and air baked sweet potato fries. Ok. We need to talk about their dips for one sec. Beet ketchup and chipotle aioli. what whaaaat?! Actually amazing and so inventive. 

So then another time I tried their desserts for a little snack. The banana bread was so moist and the chunks of walnuts made it like 10000/10. To be honest, to me it tasted more like a gingerbread cake loaf but in a really good way. Filled with spices and all that cozy good stuff. Buuuut I also tried their kale cookies and cream ice cream and I’ve got to say it was quite meh. It was overly sweet and almond essence flavoured for me (probably because they use almond milk as a base). I personally think you could get a better ice cream from the store or Van Leeuwen.

We also had to try their famous guac burger another time which was real good. Filled with lots of guacamole, sweetcorn and a black bean, sweet potato and quinoa burger. And obviously I loaded it with the chipotle aioli. It was like fast food but made you feel good? Possibly the weirdest explanation ever.

And the final thing I tried (and got TOTALLY hooked on) was their quinoa taco salad. If you go, you need to get this. I would literally eat this everyday if I could. If you have an image of a sad salad with cucumber and salad tomatoes in your head, GET THAT SHIZ OUT! This is hearty and packed with flavour. Spicy seitan chorize (this seriously scarily had the texture and taste of spiced ground beef. so weird), avocado, cherry tomatoes, crispy tortilla chips and a quinoa and bean salad (a salad on top of a salad!!) all on top of a lettuce dressed perfectly with an agave lime vinaigrette. Oh, and topped with the best cashew crema on top. Hell yes. Thinking about it is making me drool.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve said ‘amazing’ or ‘delicious’ in this post but it’s definitely been too many. But honestly it was so amazing and places like this show that plant based food can be flavour packed and inventive and so damn mouth-watering. Honestly, I’m craving it now and its 9am in London. help.

By CHLOE
Address: 85 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012, United States
Tel: N/A
Website: http://bychefchloe.com

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Mushroom, Shiitake & Spinach Dumplings

 I’m here with a super simple but super delicious recipe today of some dumplings!
Dumplings have always been a favourite of mine as they’re so easy to make a big batch of and freeze them for a later date (perfect for any university students who need some meal prep inspiration).

These are packed with vegetables but feel free to add some extra firm tofu into them to make them more hearty and filling.

I flavoured mine with ginger and sesame oil to give a true asian feel to the recipe, but if you can’t find these ingredients – not to worry! You can just season with salt and pepper and serve with soy sauce.

Mushroom, Shiitake & Spinach Dumplings vegan, dairy free
Makes 12-15 dumplings dumplings

These dumplings are simple but full of flavour. For the skins, you can make your own or they’re easy to buy from any super market these days (you’ll find them under the name ‘gyoza wrappers’ or ‘dumpling wrappers’). To cook, you can either steam them or pan fry them, resulting in a crispy base.
If freezing, make the dumplings and put them in a zip lock bag (don’t cook them)!

5 chestnut mushrooms, diced
2-3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water to rehydrate
3 handfuls of spinach
1/2 white onion, diced
Small knob of ginger, grated
Extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion and a pinch of salt, letting it cook for about 4 minutes until translucent.

Add the ginger and chestnut mushrooms, season, and cook for about 5 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated.

Add the spinach and sliced shiitake to the pan and stir around for 30 seconds until the spinach has wilted. Turn the heat off and add the sesame oil.

Add the filling into the dumplings and wrap.

To steam, put the dumplings in a bamboo steamer and cook for around 4 minutes, until the wrappers and soft and the filling is steaming.

Summer Nectarine, Apple & Raspberry Crumble

So it’s been a while… again.

*lengthy essay coming up, so feel free to skip this bit and head to the bottom for the recipe!*

I’ve been away for a month in Tokyo where I really enjoyed myself and it was so lovely to not think about anything apart from relaxing and having a good time. Not thinking about any work and really letting myself take a rest. I think that break really benefitted me. It wasn’t that I wasn’t inspired before but there was a time in the midst of exams where I made such simple and basic meals that I didn’t feel like they were ‘worthy’ of sharing.
I’m sure anyone else who blogs or is a content creator understands this feeling of creating things that ‘aren’t good enough’. I put these in inverted commas because I feel like it’s all to easy to be so hard on yourself and sometimes it’s hard to remember that you’re your own worst critic.
Now that I’m back and well rested I feel so inspired and I’m excited to get into the kitchen and try and make something delicious. I craved that feeling for a while, of being passionate about creating and I feel like I’m back in the gist of it all.

Anyway, back to the recipe!

I adore crumbles so much and my favourite has to be rhubarb – I love the tartness and sweetness that contrast against the crumbly oaty topping. However, rhubarb season is all over and I thought it would be best to work with available fruits like nectarines which are so sweet at this time of year. The apple in the crumble has a bit of bite which adds a nice texture and the raspberries add the tartness that provides a wonderful contrast.

The crumble is delicious too and packed with goodness like desiccated coconut, cashew butter and cacao nibs as well as oats to keep it traditional.
The oats also make it acceptable to eat this for breakfast, right? 😉

Summer Nectarine, Apple & Raspberry Crumble vegan, gluten free, dairy free
Serves 4 small portions

This summer crumble is a wonderful ode to the ripe and sweet summer fruits that are readily available. Feel free to swap the fruit to suit what you like, maybe switching the berries. In autumn, pears and cinnamon would make a delicious filling, and would work equally as wonderfully with the ‘buttery’ oaty topping.
I also want to mention that you can substitute coconut sugar for regular brown sugar with great results.

For the topping:
100g rolled oats
2 tbsp cashew butter
2 tbsp coconut oil, softened/ melted
2 tbsp coconut sugar (you can use less or more depending on how sweet you want it)
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

For the filling:
1 nectarine (you could also use a peach), cored and diced
1 pink lady apple, cored and diced
Handful of raspberries
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp coconut sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Mix all of the topping ingredients apart from the oats in a large bowl.
Add the oats slowly, starting with 50g and adding them until you think the texture is perfect. The topping should be crumbly but there should be some chunks.

Put the nectarine and apple in a pan with the water and sugar and let it simmer for around 5 minutes until the fruit is hot but the apples have a bit of texture to them. Add more water if needed.

Place the fruit in the bottom of oven safe jars and top with fresh raspberries.

Place the crumble on top and place in the oven for 15 minutes until piping hot.

Serve as they are or top with oat cream (my personal favourite), coconut yoghurt, or a dairy free cream alternative.