Restaurant Review: Hillel's Kitchen NOLA

This morning we had some symphony "kiddie" shows and we decided to have lunch nearby at Hillel's Kitchen, immediately after the shows. If you check out their website, you'll find a complete menu and it specifies exactly what is vegan and gluten free (V & GF). Though take note, the place opens at noon M-Th, NOT 10 am, as specified on their website. I noticed this on their current menu in the cafe today.

The cafe is inside Tulane University's Hillel Jewish center, which is a very new, bright yellow building. It's all very clean with wood floors and funky bright green chairs. The tables are all large, so you can't really grab a small corner table for one or two. We were in there around 1 pm and there weren't too many folks in there, so you could've taken a large table for yourself.

You order at the counter, pay, and wait for your number to be called to go pick up your order. The menu doesn't seem to really have any big entrees on it. It's mostly sandwiches and salads, with some great looking breakfast items, served all day (vegan granola, vegan bagels & cream cheese, etc.) and snack food like chips/salsa and guacamole.

I ordered the Roasted  Sweet Potato and Pesto sandwich (marked as vegan). It wasn't huge, but was quite enough. I don't usually eat that much bread anyway. Surprisingly, it came with some sort of a BBQ sauce on the bottom AND the pesto on the top. Just a hint of spiciness with a nice mix of sweet and salty. A very good sandwich! I'd order it again. It was served with a pickle, which to my surprise, was pretty darn sweet.  I wish they had some sort of whole grain bread, but it seems they only had varieties of white bread. Same with the pita, it seems (though the pita is straight from Israel).

S got the Roasted Beet and Lentil Salad (also vegan). I thought about ordering that too. Good thing I didn't...it had olive bits in it (I HATE olives). Wish they'd specified that on the menu. Anyway, he loved it. I tasted some of it..without the olives, and it was good. I suppose I could just order it without the olives now that I know they're in there.

For dessert,  I ordered the Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is both vegan and gluten free. I must admit, it was quite sweet. Much sweeter than I would normally eat, but once in a while is ok with me. It was very crunchy. Would have been nice with some coffee. The cashier did say there was some free coffee in the lounge, just around the corner (a few feet away). She wasn't sure there was any left and I wasn't sure how long it had been sitting there......so I didn't try it. Maybe next time. I think the cafe has almond, rice, and soy milks for their smoothies (according to the website), so I'm sure you could use some in your coffee.

I picked up a couple of house-made vegan bagels with some vegan cream cheese on the side to bring home. I was impressed that they made their own bagels (albeit white flour). That reminds me, I should make some bagels soon. I haven't tasted them yet, but I'll update this post when I do. I meant to try their roasted tomato soup (vegan) that was on the website, but I either forgot or didn't see it listed on their in-cafe menu. Maybe next time.

Overall, we had a good time. Good food, a nice, clean, atmosphere, not overly pricey. The chef, Harveen Khera, introduced herself to me while I was ordering. Very nice woman. You should read about her on the Hillel's Kitchen website. She even told me about tomorrow's vegan special...I think it involved quinoa and sounded amazing! Unfortunately, I can't go in tomorrow :(  I will, however, be following them on Twitter, to stay updated on their specials.

Don't be afraid to step into the Hillel Jewish Center. No need to make a face when you hear "kosher restaurant"! This place is coming along nicely. I'm excited to go back and try something else (or get that awesome sweet potato sandwich again!).  If you're in the New Orleans area, do stop in for some good vegan food!

Eat smart,
T.

Two Restaurant Reviews

Last week, we had a concert on the Northshore in Covington, LA. I found a nice little place for us to eat afterwards: Toad Hollow Cafe.  It's right in the center of town and pretty small. They've got just a couple of outdoor tables, but they mostly seat only two and we were four, so we had to sit inside.

They seemed to have some nice vegan options on the menu, including hummus, miso soup, salads, tempeh tacos (w/o sour cream), and a few other items. The full menu is on their website. The tempeh reuben looked good, but I wasn't sure if it was vegan or not (ok, I didn't ask...). I ordered the Asian Salad, which was a pretty basic salad, not particularly Asian at all, outside of the peanuts.  The dressing was good. It was ok. No picture, because my phone took a really fuzzy picture of it (hahaha, it wasn't me, it was the phone!).  S ordered the tempeh tacos:

He liked them a lot.  I thought the tempeh filling was way too salty. But...I really loved the side of black beans and rice! (might just order that next time). I got a bottle of local beer, they had no taps, unfortunately, but it was still good:

And the dessert was to die for! VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!! Yup, oh so tasty. I'd go there just for that:

If I were in the area, I'd go back and have that mousse. I may even try something else, like the tempeh reuben, if it's vegan. The service was VERY slow, but it was pretty packed and the town had some big event going on. I'm sure it's not like that normally. The waitress was very friendly, so that helped.

Back in New Orleans, there's a relatively new Ethiopian restaurant in town: Cafe Abyssinia. We went there yesterday. It didn't open until noon, so we walked around for a while. We were the first ones in there and had our choice of tables. It's a pretty small place, and it did fill up by the time we left. There was also only one waitress, but she did an excellent job of taking care of all the tables! And she was very friendly and helpful.

We started by sharing the Beet Salad (vegan), which was delicious!

S and I shared the Veggie Combo (all vegan), which was served atop injera. Some extra injera also came on the side. Really excellent.....albeit a bit oily.

I believe they also have a few vegan appetizers....so definitely check it out if you're in town!

Hope you all had a nice Earth Day yesterday....you can celebrate all year round :)

Eat smart,
T.

NOLA VeggieFest 2010

So we went to NOLA VeggieFest this past Sunday, even though the rain was awful.  It was flooded everywhere!  But then again....this is New Orleans.....we shouldn't expect anything less. It floods in a matter of minutes here.

We were a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived. Tables everywhere.....samples of foods.......lots of books.....t-shirts.....stickers....more food.....beer.....wine......WOW! They even offered free magazines when you entered....a Vegetarian Times and a VegNews. I am already a subscriber to both, so I didn't take any.  We each got a nice bag from Sublime restaurant to fill with all the good stuff.  My husband, of course, felt much more comfortable once he had a beer in hand, thanks to NOLA Brewing:

He got the Blonde, and I got the Brown......ales of course :)

They also had samples from Frey Vineyards in California.  There were lectures from several different people, including the one we heard from Josh Hooten, the co-founder of Herbivore Clothing Company in Portland, OR.  Very interesting guy. Other sponsors/tables included: Book Publishing Company (and I met Rick, who has been kind enough to send me some great books for review!), Vega, Bute Island (Sheese), Tofurkey, Daiya Foods, Field Roast, Primal Spirit Foods, Coconut Bliss, Parma, Sunshine Burgers, Mary's Gone Crackers, So Delicious, Amy's, Theo Chocolate, Bob's Red Mill, and so many others.  I can't possibly list them all.  Most had free samples for us to taste, and some had free stuff to take home, including some sample hot cereals from Bob's Red Mill, Parma, Soyatoo, and other magnets, stickers, and cool pamphlets from Farm Sanctuary, PCRM, and more.

We ate a ton!  In the back courtyard, we had some vegan jambalaya:

And there was an Indian family there with their own delicious food....we packaged it up to take home because my husband loves Indian food but we were so stuffed by that point.

Our own Hollygrove Market was there with food (our weekly farmer's market), as well as great coffee I got from Hey Cafe, with some So Delicious Coconut Milk creamer.

And remember my major SHEESE FAIL???  Well, they  were there, and we had to try something else from them, or I'd always hate them.  Unfortunately, they didn't have the block cheeses to try, but we tried their spreads and they were delicious!! YES.....that's right.....DELICIOUS! So, at least I can't avoid them completely now...and perhaps I just had a bad batch.....???

We tried a Gardein product.....I've never had it before and it was really good.  Then we tried the Sunshine Burgers, and although it didn't wow me, my husband liked it.  I don't think I can get any Gardein products locally without going to Whole Foods, which I'm trying to avoid.  Oh well.  At least I got to try it.  We don't really buy much in the way of pre-packaged processed foods anymore anyway.  We had Tofurkey deli slices with Nasoya dijon "mayo" on it....very tasty.   Sampled some chili from Amy's and that was really good too.

Another local restaurant (they're actually based in Louisville, KY) that was there, was J Gumbo's and we tried their White Bean Chili, which was vegan and it was awesome! And they have a location right near our house :) How convenient.....

For dessert, there was a local couple there from the Northshore (Mandeville, LA): KC's Babycakes.

The owners:

Red Velvet Vegan Cupcakes:

Cookies and Cream Vegan Cupcakes:

The marble cupcake with chocolate frosting that we brought home:

So good!

Here's the stash I brought home:

Couldn't go home without the awesome t-shirts!!

Now that I'm off work....I'll try to post more, and believe me, I need to catch up. Coming up next: Book review (Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin) and my Barley "risotto" recipe!

Giveaway: Check out Leslie Loves Veggies to win Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan!

Blogger of the Week: Cathy's Bread Experience Blog.  If you love baking your own bread, this is a great blog to check out AND she recently tested out a sprouted grain bread that I had requested!!

Eat smart,
T.

Weight Loss Goal Reached!!

I was excited this week because I finally reached my weight loss goal!! In the last 8 1/2 months, I've lost 32 pounds. I think this lowfat vegan diet has really helped me!  Along with my regular exercise, of course :)

I was at my heaviest in 2002 and I've lost 80 pounds since then!! It's hard to believe it, when I really think about it.  My husband lost 90 pounds! And now, I've set another 5 pound goal, haha.....I think that's what usually happens. You set one goal, then you get there and think...."well if I made it this far....I can do more!". So now I'll be going in 5 pound increments until I'm done, which is hopefully only another 5 or 10 pounds. But I've had this particular goal (that I surpassed this week) since last summer, so this is a big deal for me and I just went out and bought some jeans that I never thought I'd fit into!

Anyway, if I get a chance, maybe I'll post before and after pics (if I can find before pics....we lost most of them in Katrina....good riddance!)

Last Saturday we went to the market, of course, and here's what we got: bok choy, white button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, strawberries, kale, english peas, brown rice, onions, yellow squash, and sweet potatoes.

Other stuff I've been eating:

Chard:

Bok Choy, steamed, with rice and Asian Sauce:

Stir Fried vegetables with soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, a hint of agave, garlic, red pepper flakes, and arrowroot:

Don't forget: NOLA VEGGIE FEST THIS SUNDAY!! Click here for info.

Blogger of the Week: The Healthy Voyager. If you're traveling and need to find good vegan eats, this is the blog to go to!

I'm overloaded with sweet potatoes....if you have recipes or links to recipes, please leave them in the comments section! I tried to make sweet potato fries.....not my thing.

Eat smart, 

T.

Winner announced!

Just wanted to thank all of you for entering my first giveaway! I can't believe there were so many entries. I hope to do another one soon.  And the winner of the Le Creuset giveaway is........EMMA!

Congratulations, Emma.  I will be emailing you about your prize!

We're back to work after a few days off, and I'm still trying to finish our taxes, so there probably won't be a ton of blogging in the next few days.  I'll do my best.  But I'll be posting about Saturday's market and Blogger of the week in the next day or two.

Also, if you live in the New Orleans area, I highly recommend La Divina Gelateria for your favorite gelato, or in my case, sorbet!  We went there the other day and I got the TurboDog Chocolate Sorbetto and it was absolutely amazing and NO DAIRY :)  I even sent an email and one of the owners wrote me right back with a list of ingredients. How nice.  (They even ship FedEx!!) I'm very impressed with this place as they also do a lot of recycling and composting and try to use as many local ingredients as possible, like Abita beer (TurboDog), Louisiana sugar cane, and Louisiana strawberries.  Go treat yourself to a delicious dessert! 

Eat smart,

T.