Tag Archives: food

Vegetarian Vegas – I LOVE Burgers

16 May

My apologies to the local people of Las Vegas, but visiting Vegas for the first time you feel like going to an amusement park. It’s really visiting one street you walk up and down the whole time you’re there. And depending where you’re staying, you get to really learn the ins and outs of the hotels, where everything is, how to best get there from here…

 

A hotel we visited a few times because of the ambiance, the décor, and basically because it’s THE LARGEST HOTEL in the world was The Pallazo/The Venetian hotel combo. And The Shoppes that connect both hotels are just so special with a replica of a Venetian Channel running all through the center and the ceilings painted as a clear Italian sky… it’s really like an amusement park for adults.

We traversed these shoppes so many times that one particular restaurant captured my eye, time and time again – I LOVE Burgers. I love burgers too… but I needed to know if they loved vegetarian burgers just as much as I do.  AND THEY DO!!!! They have one Eggplant Parmesan Burger on the menu and a Vegan Burger that they only tell you about if you ask about vegetarian burgers. I think they should put it in the menu so people KNOW they have 2 options to choose from.

One day we made it a point to have lunch here. Here is what we had:

Of course we ordered the 2 vegetarian burgers on the menu… The Eggplant Parmesan is just that, an eggplant parmesan sandwich with tomato sauce and cheese on a whole grain burger bun.

The Vegan Burger is a patty made from a bunch of stuff… because it’s not on the menu I’m going by what I remember the server told me – black beans, rice, oatmeal, and a variety of veggies. It comes served on a whole grain bun with onions, lettuce and tomatoes. I was extremely tempted to ask to put some cheese on top, but decided to go truly vegan and opted not to. But not being the greatest fan of beans, the texture is creamy like refried beans, luckily not so much that a little ketchup and mustard could not solve for me.

I LOVE Burgers claim themselves to be on the way to having the Largest Fry Menu in Las Vegas… typical Vegas where everyone is in LOVE with superlatives. We asked the server which were the MOST POPULAR and she recommended the Parmesan Garlic Fries with Roasted Garlic. The fries were AWESOME… really crispy and salty from the sharp Parmesan grated on top. The whole plate was GONE. We had to negotiate who would get the last bites…

We almost ordered a Salad… remember I need to have a salad to feel I am being good to my figure. But luckily we didn’t order because we would not have been able to finish it all. After yesterday’s Buffet at the Wynn, we wanted to take it easier today… We would have ordered de Warm Spinach Salad – The Vegan version with warm wild mushrooms and truffle balsamic vinaigrette. Sounds delicious, no???

The verdict… A great alternative if you want something more casual. And if I go there again, I am sure going to break character and ask some cheese on my vegan burger… deal??

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Vegetarian Vegas – The Wynn Buffet

13 May

To go to Las Vegas and not experience the delights of a true Vegas Buffet is just inconceivable!!!!

Growing up, Buffets and Topless fantabulous reviews were two of the things Vegas was known for. So even though today, Las Vegas has evolved into the mecca of the celebrity chef – Bobby Flay has Mesa Grill, Mario Batali has Otto, B&B and others, Wolfgang Puck, Todd English, Michael Mina, Tom Colicchio, Charlie Palmer, José Andrés, Scott Connant,  Hubert Keller, and Thomas Keller (no relation…) all have one or various posts where they showcase their delectable creations, we needed to give fair chance and airtime to the long-standing Vegas Buffet.

We did a little bit of research… and we had some time, because we had a trip scheduled for The Grand Canyon 4 days into our stay in Vegas, and the recommendation of the Tour is not to eat at any buffet prior to the trip because they WOULD NOT give us any refunds if we got food poisoning from eating at a buffet. What a vote of confidence for the buffets of the city… or the overeating habits of the average American consumer… discuss amongst yourselves.

We got various recommendations, but they were based on the amount of meat and shrimp we could eat. Unfortunately, Las Vegas has many vegetarian options, but the FullVegetarian restaurant or Vegetarian Buffet is not part of the alternatives just yet.

We wanted a SPECIAL BUFFET, somewhere where the food would be more special than any self serve/all-you-can-eat cafeteria. So we turned to one of the most special hotels we encountered on this trip – The Wynn Hotel. We LOVED the Wynn and Encore Hotels… So chic, so modern, everything decorated so whimsically and bold at the same time. We said that if the hotel décor and ambiance are that special, the food at the buffet for sure would be too.

 

Check out the décor of the place… It was stunning. We felt we were inside Wonderland and that Alice would pop up at anytime asking us the way to a Tea Party… I was feeling special already. I felt I was underdressed and needed a hat, like those at the Royal Wedding or the Kentucky Derby to fit in more appropriately.

The options were MANY… you will have to excuse the presentation here. I am not a very good platter and buffets are not conducive to the best plate presentation. It’s about what you like and how much can you pile on your plate to avoid constant trips back and forth. Here was what we had:

I had to start with SALAD… Eating salad first makes me feel, regardless of my choices afterwards, that at least I ate something raw and fresh. And there where were many Salads to choose from. You mixed and matched ingredients and topped with your favorite dressing. I think I decided on a creamy parmesan dressing. There you also see a Butternut Squash Risotto made with vegetable broth and currants, Crispy Corn and Quinoa Polenta Triangles with a Tomato Ragu on top, one of my mom’s faves as she went for seconds on this. Also some roasted potatoes… I loved the risotto and the polenta triangles.

The next stop was a bit more International in flavor… Here you see in the cup a Waldorf Salad with blue cheese, grapes and pears. Sooooo delicious… and I had 2 salads under my belt. I was being healthy, right?? Also, some grilled naan bread, hummus and cucumber/yogurt raita. The whole grain bun is to counteract the fact the naan was made of white flour… and no offense, but my hummus recipe is much better.

Continuing with the international flavors, we moved onto the Japanese and Mexican side of the Buffet. Here we had Vegetable Sushi Rolls, various vegetarian ceviches and corn tortilla chips served with red and green salsas. I picked the red salsa because it was milder and the raita was an awesome dipping sauce for the tortillas… note to self to create something that integrates Mexican and Indian flavors. I also had some vegetable spring rolls with a tangy apricot sauce, but the photo did not come out pretty at all…

I was particularly surprised with the ceviches – I only noticed them in a third go around to the buffet line… I had dismissed then as seafood ceviches until I read the labels well. One was made with jicama, shitake mushrooms and hearts of palm and the other one was made with a mixture of beans… I preferred the jicama/mushroom one because we already know how I feel about beans. But the flavors were interesting and certainly something I would entertain to make in the future at home…

Desserts… OMG!!! The only difficult thing about desserts in a non-vegetarian environment is that most of them have some sort of egg or gelatin in them. But we managed… We had strawberry and coconut sorbets, the filling of an apple cobbler and the strawberry and whipped cream filling they were using for the crepes… I just couldn’t resist myself and had to have a crepe made to order. I know, I know it was true gluttony, but I just couldn’t resist myself…

Lucky for us, in Vegas you need to walk as much as you need… because after that “jartera” you need to walk if you don’t want to fall into a food-induced coma. So for all you vegetarians or vegetarian-friendly people… if you go to Vegas and need a recommendation for a Buffet, I fully recommend the Wynn Hotel Buffet. You will not be disappointed AT ALL… I dare you to go out to dinner afterwards!!!

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Vegetarian Vegas – Otto

11 May

Yes… we were in Las Vegas and we were on a mission to eat lunch at the big name chef restaurants.

When we were hanging at one of our favorite hotels, The Venetian and went to The Shops at the Pallazo to listen to the gondoliers sing and push on their gondolas that travel all across the shoppes, we got hungry.  Las Vegas is like going to Walt Disney for adults… you walk sooooo much!!!  Which is a good thing; because you eat and drink so much you need a way to burn off the calories.

Right in the Piazza San Marco replica… next to the street performer’s platform is OTTO, the Pizzeria and Enoteca from Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich.  I’ve been meaning to eat at OTTO in NYC for years and always something happens…  Once we actually got there, but they were closed in between lunch and dinner service.  So here in Vegas, I would actually have the chance to taste Mario Batali’s recipes.

This is what we ordered:

The Acetaia Vinegar Maker’s Salad… this was sort of a chef’s salad but I asked to leave out the bacon and grated eggs.  The arugula, cucumbers, onions and other veggies were really crispy and nice against the lemony vinaigrette.

 

The Fried Artichoke hearts with the whipped Burrata cheese…  This was the second time having burrata cheese, which apparently is one of the “hot” cheeses around.  Fresh Mozzarela di Buffala is passé, move over and make room for burrata.  It’s delicious and creamy and a great contrast to the fried artichoke and salad on top.  I would have had another one…

 

Penne a la Norma featuring a tomato sauce with eggplants… I’ll be honest; I was underwhelmed by the presentation and the amount of food on the plate.  I get it was a pasta plate, primi for the Italians and it was lunch, but almost $20 for the simple pasta we got was a bit pricy.  It was delicious, but it did not blow our minds away.

 

We did not have dessert here either because we unknowingly “splurged” by ordering  a bottle of sparkling water… had I known the water was going to be $10 a bottle, I would have traded for dessert certainly.

 The final veredict… Otto was good, but not great.  I am not going out of my way to recommend it to people. But, if someone invites me there again, I would love to maybe explore other things in the menu, like the Meatless Mondays menu.  We were there some other day of the week, so these alternatives were not available… just like we couldn’t order our pasta whole wheat because it is not the day of the week they serve whole wheat pasta.  Weird, no??

 

I am sure there are better Italian options in Vegas, what has been your experience??

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Cottage Cheese Tortilla Dip

5 May

I am eating this dip as I am writing this post…

Today is 5 de Mayo and everyone has their craving for something Mexican. I have been so busy lately that I haven’t had the chance to cook anything new. My days are filled with boiled potatoes mashed with olive oil and sandwiches. Munchies are the order of the day… and today I have munchies for tortilla chips. But, with what???

This is my new go-to no fuss dip for tortilla chips… When I am by myself at home and want just something to much on with chips, my friends gravitate towards the salsa, but I am more of a cheesy girl 😉 I usually go for sour cream to dunk my chips, but one day I was out of sour cream and all I had that resembled something creamy was COTTAGE CHEESE. Yes indeed…

To me, white tortilla chips dunked in cottage cheese are delicious, creamy… and it may not be all that Mexican, but it’s my way to celebrate 5 de Mayo with all of you.

COTTAGE CHEESE TORTILLA DIP – Serves 1

½ cup of cottage cheese
A squirt of lime juice (optional)
Your preferred tortilla chips…

I don’t even know why I include instructions for this because they’re really none…

  1. Just place the cottage cheese in a small pretty bowl and mix in the lime juice, if using.
  2. Dunk the chips in the cheese and enjoy…

I do not feel this needs any salt because the tortilla chips I buy are already salty, but if you are making your own tortilla chips and want to add a bit more salt, go ahead.

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Italian Night @ Devanand Yoga Center

10 Apr

Last night we had our Italian Night @ the Yoga Center… part of our International Night Series to educate people that vegetarian food is tasty and varied.

The night belonged to my mom’s cooking team, usually featured by Rosani, Angie and her. But on Friday afternoon they officially recruited me to join the team in charge of “appetizers” and desserts. I say “appetizers” because in our Devanand dinners, we serve buffet-style, so everything is served at once and people pick and choose what they prefer.

Even though I was officially recruited on Friday, I have been part of the creative engine behind the menu since the team selected Italian as their featured cuisine. Welcome or not, I had forwarded Rosani and my mom a few ideas I had up my sleeve… Mami told me they wanted to avoid pasta and pizza at all costs and she wanted me to supply a few wisps of inspiration…

Among the original ideas I shared were – a Caprese salad presented in a different way, making the tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella bocconcini kind of like the “dressing” for the lettuce. Another idea was to make polenta with a mushroom ragú… something quite different from the typical expected Italian treats. I also suggested they could make a Minestrone Soup or Ribollita, which integrates bread into the brothy soup. My guess is that this idea was avoided due to the wheat-avoiders we have in the Center. You want to offer something most people can enjoy without having to make double batches.

Finally, the menu consisted of the following:

Tomato Basil Bruschetta with 2 choices of crostini – Whole Wheat or GlutenFree

With WholeWheat Crostini

 

with GlutenFree Crostini

 

Pesto Rice – This was MY FAVORITE for the night… The flavors were awesome and fresh… I’ll share Rosani’s recipe with you soon…

Baby Red Potatoes and SnowPeas with a Rosemary, Parsley and Garlic Seasoning

Pasta Vegetali – brown rice penne pasta with broccoli, cauliflower and other veggies in a tomato basil sauce with plenty of cheese. Even though the team wanted to avoid pasta… it crept back into the menu.

Eggplant Parmesan – This version was fully baked, not fried prior, but still very delicious. Here are 2 versions of Eggplant Parmesan if you would like to try one out soon enough…  Version 1 and Version 2.

Vegetable Pizzas in Whole Wheat and Gluten-Free versions – Our GuruJi wanted pizza, so we made him pizza…

Green Salad with a Red Bell Pepper and Parsley Dressing

And the runaway hit of the night… Strawberry Sorbeto. Just like the Very Berry Sorbet I have already shared with you, but made only with strawberries. People were asking for seconds and thirds. We also planned on a second dessert – a Mango Ginger Granita, but because this was a recipe I was trying out for the first time, I realized I did not allow enough time for the juice mixture to become a granita. As soon as I perfect the recipe and have all the times down pat, I will certainly share with you all.

 

We had a lot of visitors last night… most of them impressed with the variety and deliciousness of the menu. Rosani, Angie and Mami were very happy too… Vishnu, one of our littlest members of the Center was super pleased with both the bruschetta and the sorbeto.  And when I told him I could turn that bruschetta into Shrek’s Spaghetti his eyes lit up. I see some spinach pasta in his future…

I hope you enjoyed this latest Devanand International Menu… which other cuisine do you think our cooking team should tackle?? Middle Eastern? Greek? Any suggestions??

If you’re based in Puerto Rico, hope you can join us for our next International Night. If you’re interested in receiving an invitation, just visit our page on FaceBook or send me an email to karmafreecooking{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will certainly keep you posted on all the upcoming International Dinners.

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