Friday, September 12, 2008

ECOPOLITAN = HALLELUJAH


2409 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55405.


Wow! I am so happy to have found this restaurant. I had heard about it and just hadn't had a chance to make it over there till last week. I was insanely excited to go there because, get this, I can eat EVERYTHING on the menu!!!! Everything! Do you hear the angels singing? It is a raw and vegan menu, so I thought my seldom showering, moccasin wearing brother, would be the perfect date ;)

I was post-call tuesday, so Nick and I planned to meet for supper early at around 5pm because he had practice that night. But, If you have ever tried to coordinate something with Nick, you must remember that times and plans are all relative. SO, true to form, riduculosity ensued. Nick drove to the gas station, got gas, and killed the car right at the pump. Two hours and a very angry Super America clerk later, the car was finally back in order thanks to Mom and Dad to the rescue. I'm so glad we aren't too old to get bailed out by M&D:) Thankfully, we still had enough time to make it over to Ecopolitan and enjoy an evening meal on their wooden porch.

It was warm and sunny, and as we sat looking at our menues the girls at the next table recommended the pesto-an off menu item. Nick decided to go with that, while I chose a very simple marinara. Nick's pesto was on julieened beet "noodles" and a bed of baby greens. My marinara had zucchini "noodles" topped with a sweet sun-dried tomato sauce with red onions, olives, walnuts, strawberries and fresh herbs on balsamic spinach! We also splurged and got an appetizer! Cashew "cheese" rolled in sun-dried tomatos, olives and fresh basil with balsamic onions and reduction served with flax seed crackers. HOLY YUM! Plus you can eat a big-ol-plate of "pasta" and not feel like a blimp for the rest of the night. Trust me, you skeptics out there, it still fills you up!


The Strawberry Marinara

It was so much fun, we decided to try to come back regularily, as it's so close to Nick's new apt. We have have breakfast items, tons more "pasta" options, salads, and a whole lists of pizza's to try. Oh darn, it's such a tough life! Finally a safe restaurant! And I'm back in the game!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Whoa.


Whoa.

I've been totally MIA from this blog. I apologize profusely to all my readers... ehm...mom. Anyways, my excuse is twofold: 1) no camera right now, but hopefully I'll be getting one soon.
2) rotations started, and holy cow, sometimes I'm glad I even ATE, let alone described it!

I've mainly been enjoying the bounty of late summer veggies, grilling and whipping up some quick salads for lunch. Of note, I prepared a hodgepodge meal of ribs ( no pictures, but I'll post recipes!) I originally wanted to just experiment with different BBQ sauces, but the two I picked ending up being so INSANELY different I really had to stretch my creative fibers to create some sort of cohesive meal plan. I ended up "taking an international culinary tour", or something...

RIBS
my favorite Balsamic BBQ sauce:
1 cup balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar combo
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Spice rub: brown sugar, sweet paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, smidge chili powder, ancho chili and chipotle, S&P

option 2 Cranberry Chipotle Sauce:
1 tablespoon canola oil, for cooking
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
2 cups cranberry juice
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped chipotle chili pepper (canned peppers in adobe sauce works best)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Spice Rub: S&P, chinese 5 spice and brown sugar.
Roast these ribs on top of a sliced onion, with a titch of butter

bake ribs, covered, at 350 for about 3 hours-ish

Ari's Israeli Salad
Bite size Cucumber
Bite size tomato
Diced vidalia onion
Chopped Italian parsely
Salt, pepper, olive oil
let sit for a bit, but not too long, just enough so that the veggies mingle and release some liquid

And finally: Orange Curry Quinoa-veggie jumble

Orange-Curry Dressing:
1/2 onion
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry powder (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon flax seeds, ground

Blend dressing till smooth. This makes a goodly amount of dressing, so make a bigger (1.5 Cups maybe) batch of Quinoa. Thoroughly rinse Quinoa, and the cook as package indicates. Add in whatever veggies you have on hand. I had green and red peppers, zuchinni, onion, brocolli and mango. yum!!! Leftovers for lunch to boot!

Do you know about Quinoa-holy healthy!

Coming soon...Ecopolitan Review. So excited about this restaraunt!!!!