A quick and easy meal that I like to make often is vegetable stir fry. The ingredients are:
-Organic eggs (from farmers who are nice to the chickies! Be careful when buying organic eggs because some cartons say 'cage free, hormone free, vegetarian diet, etc.' but they are not actually organic unless you see the organic symbol on the carton. Without the organic symbol, companies can just be making claims and it may not necessarily be true)
-Instant brown rice (Trader Joe's has nice options, you can microwave or boil in a pouch)
soy sauce
-veggie mixture (Trader Joe's has a pre-cut mixture of a good variety of veggies)
garlic
-Organic Butter (contrary to belief, it is okay to eat butter as long as it is real butter and organic. Thanks Dusty, the man who knows everything.)

First, saute the onions then add the garlic and other veggies. Cook until tender. Then add the eggs and scramble all together. Lastly add the brown rice and soy sauce.

That's it! It doesn't look too appetizing, but it is yummy and very nutritious:

Zare at Fly Trap

I have been wanting to try Zare at Fly Trap for the past few months because I heard they have a special vegetarian menu. I finally went this past Saturday for an early dinner, compliments of Krishen's brother Seantanu, and his girlfriend Marienna, as a thank you for taking care of their puppy a few months back.

Krishen and I arrived around 5:15 to an atmosphere that felt elegant, calming, and cozy. The walls were decorated with old sepia toned photos and illustrations, all framed to fit together like wallpaper. When we arrived, the restaurant was virtually empty, but the crowd quickly grew and every seat ended up being filled by 7pm.

For being such a classy restaurant, they have a great happy hour deal at the bar, even on a Saturday! I believe it goes until 6pm and includes $3 beers and $5 house wine and well drinks.

The vegetarian menu offered some sides and main dishes that I had never heard of before. The downside though, is that most of these options were an appetizer sized-portion, so you have to order two. A few options offered a larger portion for not too much of a price increase, but these were pasta dishes, which I did not want.

I ordered a mushroom cake as my main dish. It is a baseball sized mushroom cake on top of a bed of greens and steamed asparagus which were cut into bite size pieces surrounding the mushroom cake. The presentation was very nice for all the dishes. Krishen and Seantanu ordered halibut, and Marienna ordered a beet salad and a pasta dish.

The dessert menu was very interesting. One desert was a lemon sorbet with noodles in it, topped with tequila and a few berries. There was also a chocolate moose with Rice Crispies added for texture!

The menu is Mediterranean with a Persian influence, which made for a great menu selection. It seemed there was something for everyone. I will definitely be back to Zare, just not often because it was too pricey for my budget. It is a nice date or special occasion restaurant, but not quiet and pretentious feeling. I noticed majority of the tables were filled with groups enjoying each others' company.

No turkey on Thanksgiving? What ever shall you do?!

If you have a vegetarian guest coming to your Thanksgiving dinner this year and are worried about satisfying them, don't worry. There are plenty of other options, and any vegetarian going to a Thanksgiving dinner full of meat-eaters knows what they're getting themselves into anyway.

Just because you don't eat turkey, doesn't mean you have to skip your family's Thanksgiving meal this year, and there's no need to make Tofurkey to substitute the main course. Try one of these recipes that SFGate has provided. Just make sure to cook enough for everyone else at dinner, because it'll look so good that all the carnivores will think it's their side-dish!

Later this month I'll share my all-time-favorite Thanksgiving dish - jello salad with fresh fruit and sour cream! I can't wait...yum...

Feeling Sick? Eat this!

The unpredictable weather patterns in San Francisco have been making me feel a bit sniffly and watery lately. No matter how healthy you eat, sometimes you just can't beat a little cold. I recently felt the need to flush out my body at the first sign of an itchy throat, so I loaded up on antioxidants and cold weather comfort food.

My salad consisted of broccoli, avocado, sauteed bell peppers, and asparagus. I dipped some of the veggies in hummus for some protein, and slurped tomato soup to feel comfy when it was cold and drizzly outside.

The peach was dessert, and the Kombucha washed it all down. No, I'm not drinking the hippie tea. It is actually quite tasty and has a little bite to eat sip. My favorite flavors are Guava Goddess and Mango. If a name like Guava Goddess isn't convincing you, learn about the health benefits and the odd way the Chinese tea is made.

Tips to fight the sniffles this winter:
-Eat healthy and over-hydrate yourself! (It's easy to forget about water throughout the day, so consciously think of over-doing it and you should be spot on.)
-Drink antioxidant teas instead of coffee to keep you awake and warm without dehydrating or crashing. I really like Kukicha twig tea or basic Chai.
-Make sure to always bring a jacket and scarf. Even if you are just walking down the street, always be prepared for a wind chill in SF!
-Clean your work space, living space, kitchen, and bathroom frequently.
-And for your neighbors health too, please wash your hands.

Wheat Pasta - yes or no?

Here's an informative article I came across today about wheat pasta (which I love). I love eating it with olive oil, garlic, and lemon pepper. If you cook the lemon pepper and garlic in olive oil before adding it to the pasta, it is delicious.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/dining/13appe.html?_r=1&ref=dining

What are your thoughts on eating wheat pasta?

Reading dinner

On Friday night, Krishen felt like sharing some of his heritage with me and took me to an authentic Indian restaurant. The great thing about Indian menus is there are so many vegetarian options, since many Indians think so highly of animals and are raised as vegetarians. I've only had Indian food twice: First time was when I made chicken curry with Krishen's dad. It wasn't too easy and I would have never been able to figure out the proper spice ratios on my own. The second time was when I went to a family dinner with them and tried a variety of Indian food that was very tasty and filling.

I had trouble figuring out what on the menu to order, but went with a type of curry that is a sort of cashew nut and heavy cream mix, with spices, potatoes, and vegetables mixed in. You pour this mixture over rice or naan bread to eat. It was so delicious and I will definitely come back:
The appetizers we shared were vegetable samosas, and garlic cilantro naan bread dipped in a variety of sauces. Krishen particularly like a sauce that can be easily made by combining tomatoes, onion, and Indian spices (I named it Indian salsa) but it was too spicy for me.

Krishen ordered a chicken curry, and he admitted to liking my vegetable curry more!!!!

chili-garlic edamame

Ingredients: Edamame soy beans (Trader Joe's has a nice pre-packaged kind in the fridge section)
chili pepper flakes
chopped garlic
olive oil or organic butter

This is the finished product:
These are a great snack. Use as little or much chili and garlic as your taste buds prefer. Easy to make, can be a bit messy on the fingers.

To make:
1. Heat olive oil in pan.
2. Add chopped garlic, cook on low heat for about 3 minutes until very slightly golden.
3. Add chili pepper flakes, and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add edamame beans, still in shells. Cook on low heat no longer than 5 minutes.
*times are approximate. It is very easy to burn the garlic, so keep at a low heat. Edamame should be a bit soft on the outside and garlic should be golden brown.

Pumpkinsauce

Happy October! It's pumpkin pickin' season.

A nice little snack that I often enjoy is this 'pumpkinsauce' that I've so appropriately coined. It is similar to applesauce, but consists primarily of pureed pumpkin from a can.

Don't use the pre-made pumpkin pie filling, that is completely different with tons of added sugar, etc. Look at the ingredients on the can and make sure the only ingredient is pumpkin.

How to make: Spoon some pumpkin into a bowl, add a little bit of vanilla extract, and top with some cinnamon. Stir together and enjoy! Good cold or hot. Pumpkin is a vegetable, so this is actually healthy. If you close your eyes and image pumpkin pie, it might taste the same...

Ingredients:
Pureed pumpkin ($3 and up per can, depending on what brand and if organic)

Vanilla extract

Cinnamon

Prep time: less than five minutes.

Paleo tacos - Gourmet Sunday

My brother, Dusty, introduced Paleo tacos to the family a few months ago. The idea is removing the tortilla taco shell, and replacing it with iceberg lettuce instead.

A main ingredient of Paleo tacos is this paste mixture which includes onions, tomatoes, garlic, and chili peppers. Cook the vegetables down until they are extremely soft, then blend into a paste in your blender or food processor.
I made my own version, adding my Trader Joe's fake taco meat to the paste. I also added re-fried beans, avocado, and cheese:

Traditional Paleo tacos include shredded chicken on top of the vegetable paste, finished with avocado chunks. These were Dusty's:

There was quite a variety of Paleo tacos the family assembled that night. It is a great idea to replace the tortilla shells with lettuce, and it doesn't take away from the experience of eating a taco. The crunch with each bite is still there, without all the 'bad' carbs. You still get 'good' carbs through the other ingredients.

For further instructions on how to make Paleo tacos, you can ask me or google the recipe.

Ace Wasabi in the Marina

This Friday night, I tried oysters for the very first time at Ace Wasabi in the Marina. I went with a group of five boys, plus me. They ordered oysters and I decided to try one because I've been rather curious about them lately.

I put too much crushed garlic on mine because I was afraid of the taste. It tasted alright, but I don't think I'll eat one again.



My sushi roll had avocado, crab, cucumber and cream cheese, with crunchies wrapped outside. It was an average roll, it tasted like a roll from any other sushi restaurant (except not as good as Kane). I was debating over whether or not crunchies is a commonly used word to describe the tempura bits that make sushi crunchy...anyone know?

The best part of the meal were the amazing Saki bombs with some sort of sparkling pear beer and sparkling Saki. My friend's sister worked there and hooked it up with free Saki bombs. I wanted to slowly sip mine instead of chug it since it was so yummy, but since I was outnumbered by boys, I had to man up and chug.

Service: slow, they were very crowded

Food: average

Price: $ pretty cheap for sushi, and for being in the Marina

Atmosphere: W sat in the back room, which is where they seat large parties. It was so loud with groups of drunk people and I was getting overwhelmed. I noticed every person who walked into that back room though was extremely attractive as if every guy and girl in there was coming from a photo shoot with professional hair, makeup, and styling. Guess that's just the neighborhood?

Date Night: Cava 22

Sunday night I went to Cava 22 in the Mission, conveniently on 22nd and Mission. I had anticipated it to be a bit nicer than it was, because of the reviews I read online.

We started with a guacamole appetizer, which was so disappointing. They had fluffed it up with either sour cream or mayo, and it did not compare to my good guac recipe. I was so disappointed with it that there was over half of the guacamole left uneaten, which is a huge deal. I don't like wasting food, especially guacamole.

I ordered chili and lime marinated prawns, with a side of vegetables and beans. I was unhappy with the frozen vegetable medley, but the prawns were delicious.

Dessert was tiramissu, which was the part of the meal in my opinion.
Service: very slow
Food: 4 in 1-5 scale
price: $$ we got one appetizer, two entrees, and dessert for total of $45.
Atmosphere: Sit down and be served. Cava 22 also has a large bar, but I didn't order any drinks.
Cleanliness: (often a deciding factor when eating in la Mission) It was very clean and I didn't feel like I would find a bug mixed in with my beans.

I'll be going again, because I have another restaurant.com gift card to use. This time I could bring 1 or 2 more people along...takers?

Mom's Tacos - my favorite

One of my favorite things to eat when I come home is TACOS!! Especially when they are made by my Mom. I know she made these tacos pictured below, because I would not have taken the time to wrap the bottoms in foil so nicely.


Tacos are easy to make, you simply take your favorite ingredients and make them to your liking. I usually use wheat tortillas from Trader Joes, but you can fine wheat tortillas at any grocery store. I make my good guac or just cut up avocados, add tomatoes, lechuga, CILANTRO (this is key for me, I like cilantro in every bite), black refried beans, brown rice, diced onion, sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese or soy cheese, and sometimes finish with sour cream.

I also buy this really delicious fake taco meat that is pre-cooked and seasoned from Trader Joes. You just mix it in with beans while cooking them to heat it all together.

French toast

While we're on the topic of breakfast food kicks, I recently went through a french toast phase. You can pair them with any fruit you like, such as...
Naners and agave....
I like to use a protein style bread from Trader Joe's, beat two whole eggs in a bowl with lots of cinnamon, dip the bread in the egg mixture, then cook bread on both sides in a medium-heat pan, and that's it. Sprinkle with more cinnamon, powdered sugar, syrup, or agave - depending on how healthy you are trying to be.
Blackberries and powdered sugar...

A little powdered sugar never killed anybody :) I love this breakfast because it's very filling and gets your eggs, grains, and fruit in. I think getting these food groups in is good, but if you don't eat bread, then I'm assuming you don't eat sugar, and I'm sorry because this recipe is just a tease.

Eggs benni!

I'm on a real eggs benedict kick right now. I make it without the ham, but you can add avacodo and/or spinach instead. OR if you want to go all out you can have the bread, ham, avacado, spinach, egg, cheese and hollondaise sauce.

I use toasted Trader Joes wheat english muffins. The hardest part is making the poached eggs just right and not having the water boiling too high because it can overcook the egg or break it apart. I give credit on all the poached eggs to Krishen because I mess them up. He even does it without a slotted spoon! (If you have an extra slotted spoon I'd really love one)

I get a pre-made sauce also at Trader Joes, that you spoon into a double boiler pan to melt it. It's very bad for you...so you can't eat these all the time. If it's the weekend and you've already thown all health concerns out the window, pair with mimosas!

*Secret to the sauce is adding in a special herb...I usually use dried basil before melting it down.

Stuffed artichokes

Made these delicious stuffed artichokes on Mother's day...stuffed with bread crumbs, onion, garlic, parmesean cheese and lemon juice squeezed on top. No need for dipping mayo with this!

Hi, I'm Nikki...

Here's a bit about me and the key players in my life who will be shown throughout this blog...I'm starting this blog because I love to cook and eat and often am so proud of my gormet creations that I take pictures before I eat it :) I recently moved to SF so there will be some restaurant reviews on here as well. I want to go to chef school badly but it's too expensive. For now I'm stuck behind a computer all day.

These are my parents on their wedding night in the 70s. They are really awesome parents and I love them and they love me. They have always been completely supportive, until now when I have to pay all my own bills...
There are going to be lots of photos of my cat Cali on here...she is a model and the coolest cat in the world, seriously.

My boyfriend Krishen loves to eat meat...it's kindof a problem because I don't eat meat. He's just gotta have that protein to keep up his hot bod. Most of the food on this site won't have meat in it, but if it does it's because it's Krishen's version.

My brother (Dusty) is the ultimate carnivore. He has a very strict paleo diet where he only eats things the cavemen would eat back in the day. He eats more meat than anyone I know, and does not approve of my non-meat eating habits, but is always offering nutritonal advice on how to work in what I don't get from meat. We often partake in 'gormet sundays' in Danville, which I will elaborate on in another post. Dusty is in the black, he looks a lot like Krishen...I know it's wierd. Dusty never drinks alcohol, this is a very rare moment where he was. If he does drink, it's vodka and coke zero (NOT PALEO)

Turning football sunday into gourmet sunday

My Dad and boyfriend are obsessed with football....and I am not. In an effort to enjoy a Sunday last fall, I decided to make some really gormet snacks to go along with football Sunday. I made from scratch artichoke dip and bite size cheesy mushroom toasts.
Both pretty easy to make. I remember the dip was wierd because I used frozen spinach...but it turned out tasty. Not the healthiest dip, has a ton of mayo.

Toasts were very easy to make, just sautee some cut up mushrooms with olive oil and maybe some garlic/onion if you're into that, then put a spoonfull onto a sliced baugett, top with cheese, and put in broiler for a few minutes until melted and golden :)

Soy nuggets - good on salad

Soy nuggets are really good cut up ontop of a salad. It seems like you're eating a crispy chicken salad :) Or you can just eat them on the side dipped in your favorite sauce like this.

Good Guac

you're going to see a lot of mexican food on this blog, mexican is by far my favorite food group, if it counts as a food group. It's easy for vegetarians because so much of mexican food used beans and rice. I like to use instant brown rice and black beans - trader joe's has good refriend black beans with a bit of spice, but they aren't too spicy (I'm not a fan of spicy).
One of my favorite things to make is guacamole - again, good for the vegetarian diet. I usually mix avacado, onion, garlic, tomato, lime juice, and sometimes some sort of pepper cut up. Cheese melted on top and eaten with trader joes multigrain tortilla chips. yummm

Homemade pizza

before cooking...
and ready to eat...

Trader Joe's crust, rolled out and topped with tomatoe sauce, mozzerella cheese, veggies, and half with meat.