An American Diner Versus A Diner in America

I love big brunchy type breakfasts..well who doesn't? So seeing as it was my birthday on Monday the American Vegetarian treated me to an American style breakfast at The Diner (at my request). Now The Diner prides itself by serving "Classic American Dining", which is why I wanted to go there. Looking at the menu, I have to say my mouth was watering, and it reminded me of my days spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I used to always get breakfast at this fantastic diner called Daisy's Diner. I would sit at the counter with my Harry Potter book and order two eggs (my way), side of home fries and coffee. Being in America the cup was obviously bottomless, so was re-filled regularly; and all for $5. I was in breakfast heaven. 

So treating me to an American breakfast is a sure way to make me happy. Having studied the menu, for at least a week (or two) beforehand I knew the menu looked good and most importantly I knew exactly what I wanted. Eggs Benedict with home fries.

When we got there I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have any outdoor seating especially as we were experiencing tropical heat in London, but anyways, we sat near the open window so it wasn't too bad. The Diner is decked out like you would expect; booth type seating arrangements, with an assortment of condiments at your disposal. I saw that they had root beer on the menu, which immediately put a big smile on the American Vegetarians face,  now I can't stand root bear, to me it tastes like medicine, but the American Vegetarian loves it, so we wanted to order that. "Sorry, we've run out, we can't even order any from stock" came the reply from the slightly 'over eager to take our order' waitress. So we had some fresh OJ instead. Now the home fries were stated as being "spicy" home fries, I thought that this was unusual, as home fries that I've had in the states are just not spicy, but hey I ordered them anyway. Now the American Vegetarian ordered a Belgian waffle and home fries. We wanted some fresh fruit to go on top of the waffle, as that's quite usual too, but they said that they didn't have any fresh fruit!!! What? No fresh fruit anywhere in the building??? Not even a banana? an apple? or a grape? "No sorry, we've got some blueberries". "Fantastic, we'll have some blueberries" I said, "They are in syrup though...from a tin". "Oh well, we'll just have the waffle. Au natural then".

And so the food came, my Eggs Benedict was nice, but I've had better hollandaise sauce at other places, and the spicy home fries, were not spicy at all. They were just seasoned with rosemary. So that made the home fries even more bizarre. In the beginning I wanted just your everyday American style home fries, then after seeing the menu I got used to the idea that they were going to be spicy, and once they arrived I ended up with seasoned potatoes with onions!!

The Belgian waffle was just too sweet and too small to be classical American, and the fact they didn't have any fresh fruit...well what American diner doesn't have fresh fruit?

So all in all it wasn't the ideal American breakfast I had fantasied about in my head. The menu looks much better then the product they serve. If you want to eat at an American diner, than I whole heartedly suggest you buy an airplane ticket to the states and go to any diner you want. The food will be big, filling and will leave you with a slightly comatose smile on your face.

The picture above on the top is my breakfast from The Diner and the picture on the bottom and below is taken from a fantastic diner called The Broken Egg Bistro in Virginia Beach. The servings are big, the fruit fresh, and you get what you ask for...satisfaction.

Dips and Salsa or nothing for a whole week and then 3 come along at once!!!

What's a barbecue without dips and salsa? We all need something to dip into, some more than others, and these three dips are easy, quick and simple to make. You can then add these dips onto your burger, or just use them as a dip with crisps, chips, or chopped carrots and celery etc.

Auro (Roasted Aubergine dip)

Ingredients

2 Aubergines
2-3 tbsp of natural yoghurt
3/4 tsp of freshly ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
3/4 tsp of salt
A good handful of fresh coriander; chopped
Some oil

Method

Preheat oven to 200 Celsius
Pierce the aubergine and brush some oil on to them. Then roast them in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, turning them halfway. Once they are done (the skin will look slightly wrinkly and burned and you should be able to pierce a knife through the aubergine very easily), cut the top off and place in a bowl and chop and mash the aubergines up with a knife and fork. Then add the yoghurt, spices, salt and coriander. Mix well, taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Cucumber Raitu (Cucumber yoghurt dip)

1 cucumber
2-3 cups of natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp freshly ground cumin powder
Mint (optional)
Fresh coriander (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Coarsely grate the cucumber then squeeze the water out of it. Cucumber retains a lot of water, so you really have to do this step, so the dip doesn't become too watery. After you have grated the cucumber, get a handful of the stuff, and squeeze until no more water comes out. Repeat until you've done the whole cucumber.

Then in a bowl, mix all the ingredients together, and garnish with fresh coriander.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

1 can of chopped tomatoes
Handful of fresh coriander; chopped
1/2 onion; chopped
Juice of half a lemon

Red chilli flakes or ground black pepper (you don't need both as they both give the dish heat)

Salt for seasoning

Method

Combine all the above ingredients together, and serve immediately.

Hope you like recipe number 7, 8 & 9 in my quest to give you 21 brilliant vegetarian barbecue recipes.

Sweetcorn and Potatoes

I know the weather hasn't exactly been barbecue friendly, in fact it just hasn't been friendly full stop, but I still want to continue with my quest to give you 21 brilliant vegetarian barbecue recipes. So here is 'recipe' number 5 & 6. Well when I say recipe I mean, more simple things you can just add on to the barbecue, while everything else is cooking. Sweetcorn and potatoes.

Sweetcorn Cob

This is sooooooo good barbecued. Now there are two ways of doing this, so no meat juices get on the sweet corn. Either wrap each cob in foil, and then just place on the grill. OR make sure whoever is in charge of the barbecue, has left a space on the grill for the veggie food to go. The latter would be the better option, as having sweetcorn cooked by the smoke of the coal is delicious.

Ingredients

Sweet corn cobs
butter (optional)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Place the cobs on the barbecue, (wrapped or unwrapped). Once cooked, add butter and season to taste.

Sit back and enjoy.

Hot Potatoes

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
butter
salt and pepper

Method

Wash the potatoes, wrap in foil, and add to the barbecue, from the beginning. Once cooked, unwrap and season with butter, and salt and pepper.

The Veggie Burger

What's a barbecue without a burger? Barbecues are so much fun, and its so nice to eat a freshly made burger in a bun, with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. So lets include the vegetarians, in this gorgeous way of eating.

Now I'm still tweaking and adapting this recipe, and I think you can do the same, but here's where I am so far. As with most veggie burgers, you might not be able to cook them actually on the grill, as they may fall apart. So shallow fry them on the hob, then join the rest of the party outside!

I use red kidney beans for my burger, but you can experiment with different kind of beans, like black beans, chick peas, or puy lentils.

Ingredients

1 can of red kidney beans; drained and rinsed

1 medium sized potato; boiled and mashed up

1 onion; chopped
50 grams of bulgar wheat; made to packet instructions
50 grams of bread crumbs

A good handful of parsley; chopped

1 cube of ginger; peeled & grated
1 clove of garlic; finely chopped

1/2 tsp of freshly ground cumin powder

3/4 tsp of ground coriander

1/2 tsp or a bit less of chilli powder (optional)
1 tsp of salt
Pepper for seasoning
Some oil

Method

Heat the oil and the fry the chopped onions on a medium heat for a good 15 minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, chilli powder and cumin powder. Stir and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, then set aside to cool down. Get a big bowl and add the red kidney beans. Begin to mash these up with a potato masher, but make sure you have some whole kidney beans left in the mix, now gradually add the mashed up potato, bulgar wheat, cooled down onion mix, parsley and breadcrumbs. Add salt and pepper for seasoning. Mix everything really well. I use my hands as you can really make sure everything is combined. Then make into 2 big burgers, or 4 smaller size burgers. Chill until ready to cook.

Heat some oil, in a pan and shallow fry burgers on both sides until done. Make sure you push the burgers up to the sides of the pans so the sides get cooked as well.

Serve, with a lovely toasted bun, fresh lettuce, beef tomatoes, ketchup, and some lovely chips! The above picture has a layer of guacamole too! De-li-ciuos!!!

Enjoy recipe number 4 in my quest to give you 21 brilliant vegetarian barbecue recipes.

Chocolate Bananas

I can't remember who first introduced this to me, but I am forever grateful. This is an awesome barbecue dessert. Its soooo delicious, that my mouth is watering now just at the thought. This barbecue treat is great to share with friends. Its quite rich, so I find that I can never eat a whole chocolate banana, so its an ideal food to share.

Chocolate Bananas

Ingredients

Some Bananas

Chocolate; Anything you fancy, chocolate buttons, Dairy Milk, Green & Blacks, Nutella.

Method

Keep the bananas in their skin and cut a slit down the middle of them. Fill this slit with chocolate. Then wrap each banana in tin foil, and place on the burning embers of your barbecue for about 10-15 mins.

Gently un-wrap the bananas, find a friend, scope out and eat the gorgeousness that awaits.

Enjoy recipe number 3 in my quest to give you 21 Great Vegetarian Barbecue recipes!

Barbecues for Vegetarians

As I mentioned in my previous post, when I received my Olive magazine this month it came with a free booklet; 21 Brilliant Barbecue Recipes. Not one recipe was vegetarian which annoyed me a bit to be honest. Barbecues are for vegetarians too! So I thought I would try and give you my 21 Brilliant Vegetarian Barbecue Recipes.

So to start off with I'm going to share two salad recipes that I had the pleasure of eating on Friday night at Nafisa's house.  Now I didn't make either of these salads, they were made by Nafisa and her friend Magali, so I don't have the exact quantities to give you, but I think you can experiment with what suits your taste buds.

Chick Pea and Red Onion Salad

Ingredients

Can of chick peas

Red onion; diced

Fresh Coriander; chopped

Yoghurt

Some oil
Mustard seeds
Poppy seeds

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Method

Drain and rinse the can of chick peas and then mix in the red onion, yoghurt, and the fresh coriander. Set aside. Heat the oil, and add the mustard seeds and poppy seeds. Once they start to pop and become aromatic add this to the chick peas and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. 

Potato, Egg and Pea Salad

Ingredients

Baby potatoes; boiled

2-3 hard boiled eggs

Onion, cut into rings

Frozen or fresh peas

Yoghurt

Mayonnaise (optional)
Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Method

Cut the boiled potatoes and eggs into quarters or bite sized pieces. Then mix in the onion, cooked peas and yoghurt. You can use a mix of mayonnaise and yoghurt if you wish. You can also add some herbs if you wish. Parsley, chives or dill would go well with this salad. Season with salt and pepper

So here are my first two recipes in my quest to give you 21 Brilliant Vegetarian Barbecue Recipes.

Enjoy!!

A week of no cooking!

So I feel like I've been cooking myself out lately, especially last week (or two weeks ago now!) which was the lead up to the marathon, when I appointed myself chief nutritionist for the American vegetarian. So last week I decided to give myself the week off from cooking. And it turned out to be quite nice.

On Monday we went to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant called Cafe East. It's a little gem of a place with the most authentic dishes on offer. Now this isn't the best place for vegetarians, as it only has ONE veggie option available. Usually this fact would make my blood boil, but the veggie option at Cafe East is soooooo good, that we keep going back. Its a spring roll noodle salad. Spring rolls, are not my favourite thing. I always find the pastry to filling ratio favouring the pastry, they seem to be too greasy, and they look better than they taste. But not the ones at Cafe East. Here the spring rolls, are the best I've ever tasted. Crisp, light, and a generous filling to boot. These are then placed on top of a very generous serving of noodle salad with fresh herbs. It really is a delight to eat, and at only £6.50, a fantastic bargain.

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of being invited round for dinner, by my neighbour Viv. She had her organic veg box delivered that day, so I knew I was in for a treat. Now I won't go into too much detail about the dinner as it wasn't entirely vegetarian, but the sprouting broccoli, grilled courgette, and for dessert; roasted rhubarb with fresh orange juice was delicious.

On Wednesday I went to a fantastic 'cheap eat' vegetarian restaurant called Sagar. This restaurant serves delicious South Indian cuisine. Dosa's, Idli, Thali, and authentic Indian street food like Bhel Puri, Aloo Papdi Chaat, and Bhajia. We went with two friends who had never been there before. I find it's always nice to introduce new places to eat, to new friends. South Indian food is fantastic for vegetarians. There is a lot of choice and the food is reasonably priced, and very filling. If you've never had a dosa before, I do recommend you try them. They are savoury pancakes filled with potato curry and served with a lentil and vegetable soup called sambhar and coconut and coriander yoghurt chutney. You can get ones without filling, with a spicy tomato chutney or a paper dosa, which is just fun to eat.

On Thursday, I gave in and made fajitas. But not much cooking was involved with that. I just sauteed off some peppers, mushrooms, onion and courgette, with a fantastic already made spice mix. Made some guacamole, salsa and put it all in a wholemeal tortilla.

On Friday, I went to my very first summer barbecue. The American vegetarian and I went over to my very good friend Nafisa's (Naf) house, and she layed on an amazing spread. The veggie options were as follows;

• three types of veggie burgers
• sweet corn
• halloumi
• green salad
• a chick pea and red onion salad
• potato, onion, peas and egg salad
• an assortment of dips and salsa
• crisps and muffins

Now on that same day I received my monthly subscription of Olive magazine, and it came with a 'free' booklet titled '21 Great Summer Barbecue recipes'. I thought, 'Fab, what can I impress people with now?', But not one single recipe in the booklet was vegetarian. I have to say I was disappointed and a bit hacked off. There are a lot of vegetarian dishes you can make for barbecue season. And so I intend to put as many dishes as I can think of on this site. But not now, as this is my 'No cooking' week.

On Saturday we ate at Wahaca. Now Wahaca have this philosophy that they want their customers to be able to eat whenever they feel like it, and not be pinned down to a booking time. So with this in mind they don't take any bookings. Now you might think 'fab, we can go there now. We'll be able to get a table as they don't take bookings', but not so fast batman. Every time we have gone to the Covent Garden branch, there is always a waiting time of 1hr-1hr and a half. That to me is not being able to eat when I want. When I go to a restaurant, I'm usually hungry at the time that I decide to go. I don't want to wait for over an hour for a table so I can have some guacamole. On these grounds, Wahaca annoys me. Luckily on Saturday we were at Westfield, and there was no que (line) and we only had to wait 10 mins for a table. The food was lovely. I recommend getting a selection of the vegetarian street food. My favourite being the black bean Tostadas.

On Sunday, I went home to my brothers house for my second summer barbecue. It rained all day. When I went to sleep on Saturday night, it was raining, when I got up on Sunday morning it was raining. On the drive to my brothers, it was raining. When we (ok, my brother, Dad and some cousins) tried to put up a gazebo, it was raining and windy, (cancel gazebo). When we (ok, my brother and cousin) lit the charcoal it was raining. When the meat food was cooking on the bar be it was raining. But it didn't matter, as it was a fab day with family, and some amazing food, including my veggie burgers, which I will put up as a recipe this week.

So no recipes, last week, but I did have some fabulous food cooked by friends, family and some lovely 'cheap eats'. Oh and the picture above is of a cake my niece made. I had to put something up which was home made.