New York City's Twelve Best Vegetarian Restaurants?

Refinery 29 recently put together a slideshow of what they consider to be the 12 best vegetarian restaurants in New York City...and having lived in or just outside NYC for four years, I'm not so sure I agree with all of their picks.

Image via: Refinery 29

Grocery Shopping? Go to the Farmer's Market First.

I love the farmer’s market experience.

Image via: The Atlantic

In fact, when my husband and I were on our honeymoon in Kauai, we went to the local farmer’s market. (We weren’t cooking on our honeymoon, but when I saw the ad, I had to check it out.)

I just love being outdoors, in the fresh air, picking through recently-delivered heaps and barrels of local produce, and feeling the raw potential of how those ingredients can be combined, seasoned, presented.  

I also love the fact that buying from the market cuts my grocery bill by about 30% every week.

Now, I know this isn’t something that holds everywhere. When I lived in New York City, the Union Square Farmer’s Market, for example, while inspiring, wasn’t cheap.

However, if you pick the right places to go, research now is showing that farmer’s markets are, in most cases, less expensive than surrounding grocery stores.

This article from The Atlantic outlines the major findings of the research: The Farmer’s Market Myth

The kitchn did a summary post: It’s true! Farmer’s Markets are Cheaper than Supermarkets!

 

To take advantage of this, I go to the produce market first, pick up everything I can get from there, and whatever I can’t get (tortillas, dried beans, bread, Daiya cheese), I pick up at my second stop – the grocery store. This cuts my grocery bill by about $30 a week. Plus, the produce is fresher.

 

Here are seven more tips on making the most of the farmer’s market, from Serious Eats: 

LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET US KNOW: Is your local farmer's market is cheaper than the supermarket? Do you use any of the tips offered by Serious Eats? How do you make the most of the farmer's market?

You Might As Well Market Weight-Loss Cookies

According to this recent NY Times article, exclusive nightclub owners in New York City have partnered up with a high-end beauty vendor to create a line of cocktails that will erase your fine lines, even out your skin tone, and restore elasticity and glow to your skin.

Awesome!

Things that used to make you look like crap – lots of alcohol, late-night partying, and little sleep – can now actually help you look younger, healthier, glowing!

How does it work? Frank Bruni had the same question when he was researching this article, and didn’t see any fine lines disappearing. The cocktail co-creator’s response:

“…the antioxidants and other nutrients infused into the cocktails had undeniable health benefits, and that getting them via alcohol was better than not getting them at all.”

Ok, guess what. Green tea is supposed to suppress your appetite and help you lose weight. So how about I bake some green tea powder into my new fabulous recipe for chocolate chip cookies and create a new line of desserts that will help you lose weight? Will you buy them – my weight-loss-inducing chocolate chip cookies?

Right, I didn’t think so.

FACT: Alcohol is dehydrating, as cookies, albeit delicious and whimsical, are fattening. So, mix whatever you want into your cocktail – or your cookie – it’s not going to help your skin (or your waistline).

Thank goodness the article ended on this note, from Manhattan dermatologist, Patricia Wexler,

“Nothing in a cocktail will give you younger skin,” she said in an e-mail. “But your judgment might be impaired, and you might see Angelina in the mirror.”

If you want great skin, these cocktails got one thing right - it does start with what you put into your body. And a plant-based diet can do wonders, because healthy skin is rested, hydrated, and well-nourished, by naturally occurring sources of vitamins and minerals.

Here’s the truth, from personal experience, (and common sense):

I used to have terribly congested skin. Maybe I’ll put a photo on this blog one day. I went to dermatologists for years. I took pills and underwent procedures. Nothing worked.

Then, I transitioned to a completely plant-based, vegan diet. I cut out alcohol and processed foods. I drank water all day long (with the help of this). It took time for my body to fully detoxify. But, it did. My skin has completely cleared up. The scars have diminished. I don’t take any medication. I will have the occasional drink, but mostly stick to non-alcoholic grown-up beverages like the ones in this post. I feel confident enough to go out without makeup on. And my 22-year-old self would not have believed that I could have looked the way I did at my wedding last December. (Not a point of vanity or arrogance, just personal joy at a food-initiated transformation and healing.)

(Here’s the woman who helped me do it – and the proof is in her own skin. She’s turning 72 this year – 72.)

Want your skin to lock in hydration? Save yourself the $20+ dollars on the Soothing Cucumber cocktail, and go spend $0.49 cents on a cucumber. Throw it into a salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, shredded carrots, baked tofu, and sprouts, dressed lightly with some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Drink a tall glass of water, flavored with a couple of orange slices – or even cucumber slices! (Like they do at actual spas, where they specialize in actual skincare, and serve you cocktails water with cucumber.) Go to bed on time. And, call me in the morning and let me know how it works out for you.

LEAVE A COMMENT & LET US KNOW: How has a plant-based diet improved your skin, or your health overall? What other products, making outrageous health claims, do we need to watch out for? 

Would you have eggplant parm for dessert?

Eggplant parm for dessert...?


It's not what you think - according to Mark Bittman, pastry chef Brooks Headley's version is a "fantastic version of a classic Neapolitan eggplant-and-chocolate dish." In fact, when Bittman, "...ate this dish in Naples, it was grossly sweet; [Headley's] version is like a dessert eggplant Parmesan prepared by a wizard."


Continuing the trend of chefs who are showing that vegetables can be the star of a dish, and in line with predictions that 2011 would be the year of the vegetables, Chef Headley is earning rock-star reviews with his vegetable-based desserts, including a plate composed of "...celery sorbet with a little dressed celery salad; goat-cheese-mousse balls coated with olive-oil-sautéed bread crumbs; [and] macerated figs with balsamic vinegar."


No matter where you fall on the herbivore - omnivore spectrum, it's exciting and inspiring to see continued innovation with fruits and vegetables, further elevating them as foods of interest (not just sides) to the masses. 


Click here to read the full article, with four vegetarian recipes.


LET US KNOW: Would you make one of these vegetable-based desserts?http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/magazine/mag-08Eat-t-000.html