Oh yeah, am in the home stretch. I will be gradually reintroducing dairy and eggs (how I have missed you) into my diet at the end of this week, but otherwise, I think eating vegetarian at home as much as possible, if not vegan, will be a great way to balance out the decadence (and meatiness) of my meals out—and keep me healthy and feeling good. I’m always a little dismayed at how great I feel on a cleanse—but being a sober, caffeine-free, gluten-free vegan is just not in my cards. What can I say? I like Champagne and salumi too much. But can I integrate some healthy habits from my cleanse, and strive to find more balance in my eating? Definitely.
A few recent finds from this past week: first, this amazing miso-mustard salad dressing recipe (thanks Food Gal) kind of blew my mind with deliciousness. I swapped out the sugar with agave syrup, and added some shaved raw asparagus I had chilling in an ice bath for an hour. #WINNING
When you’re on a cleanse, you don’t really feel like hanging out in bars and restaurants and watching your friends eat and drink everything you can’t. (Trust me, it was sheer torture to watch a table of pals eat cheeseburgers and fries at Serpentine while I ate my salad.) But one advantage to our quality local cocktail scene is you can have a bartender make you some rather tasty non-alcoholic cocktails—both Serpentine and Dosa on Fillmore impressed me with their fresh and on-the-fly concoctions. And you may not get a kick from booze, but I ask for a kick of heat instead—Serpentine had some spicy chile bitters, and Dosa added some fresh jalapeño to my drink. Humina.
Lastly, I have been counting my blessings for Hodo Soy Beanery tofu—their spicy yuba strips, in particular. I like having a container of these creamy and custardy strips around so I can take a couple bites when I want something “protein-y” (it has a texture this meat-and-cheese-eating girl finds herself craving during a cleanse, and the richness of the yuba is pleasing in a fatty, decadent way).
So I was pleased to learn if I missed the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market that I can now swing by the new Hodo Soy retail kiosk in the Ferry Building Marketplace (almost ironically near Gott’s). You can pick up their various tofu and yuba products, along with organic and vegan sandwiches, salads, smoothies (made with soymilk and soy custard), and desserts. I am a huge fan of the yuba kung pao salad (yuba, brown rice noodles, cucumber, cilantro, daikon, carrot, and soy nuts tossed in a spicy kung pao dressing), and I think the lotus forbidden rice pudding sounds really good (Hodo Soy crème, Hodo Soy custard, Indian spices, candied ginger, and toasted coconut). Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 8am-6pm, and Sun 11am-5pm.
Another thing I’ve been eating a lot of is seaweed, from nori to hijiki to kombu. This Friday May 27th is a produce dinner at ~18 REASONS~ featuring seaweeds and Strong Arm Farm, and you’ll be able to learn all about both of them. The multi-course meal by Linh Phu will be vegan and Japanese-inspired. The meal will be paired with sake and beer. $50 for 18 Reasons members; $60 for the general public. Buy tickets and more info here.
Asparagus “vichyssoise” from The Ahwahnee at Star Chefs/Meals on Wheels. (I had to give the bite of pancetta on top to my friend.)
