Category Archives: Vegetarian

August 7, 2012 · 9:09 pm

Khasiyat

After hearing that I enjoy Indian food, my coworker offered to take me to her favorite hole-in-the-wall Indian place for some traditional Indian street food. She is Indian and said this place reminds her of her family’s cooking. How could I resist?

Hole in the wall is right. Khasiyat is located just south of downtown off of Lancaster Road, and it’s easy to miss. They don’t serve Indian food like what you might be used to. They are a vegetarian restaurant that serves less formal Indian cuisine, almost like fast food. It’s a very simple place and looks like a dive, but the food was so good and different from any Indian food I had ever had. The food is served on paper plates, and you get plastic silverware, but the service was really friendly and I don’t need fancy utensils.

The meat was definitely not missed. Everything had layers of flavor. I was glad Anita was with me to help me navigate the menu. A large portion of their offerings are “Bites,” meant for sharing like tapas. We ordered three of these bites, and it was plenty of food. I left stuffed, despite the food being lighter than typical Indian curries.

Bhel Pure

Khasiyat-Bhel Pure

I start with my favorite dish (although all were wonderful). This was a bowl of puffed rice, poori (wheat bread), sev (very thin noodles made of flour), onions and chutney. I was eating this by the spoonful. It was very crunchy but also thick and hearty. The texture made it so much fun to eat. Even the onions were crunchy.

Samosa Chaat

Khasiyat-Samosa Chaat

Here they take two fried samosas, filled with potatoes and peas, and mash them to form the base of the dish. Then they topped the mashed deliciousness with yogurt, lentils, chickpeas, onions and various chutneys. I was familiar with samosas, but I had no idea they could be used this way. The flakey crust soaked up all the toppings, and everything melted together so well.

Sev Puri

Khasiyat-Sev Puri

These are bite-sized bread puffs stuffed with spices, lentils and yogurt and topped with sev. I was instructed to pop the whole pocket in my mouth. It was a lot but tasted really good. The spices heated my whole throat, but the yogurt cooled everything down.

I really enjoyed my experience trying the other side of Indian cuisine. I loved all the uses of chickpeas and lentils and the many layers of spices throughout the dishes.

What is your favorite Indian dish?

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Filed under Indian, Lunch, Quick Service, Vegetarian

December 14, 2011 · 10:27 pm

Virgin Olive Market

My lunch yesterday involved a quick trip down Orange Ave. in downtown Orlando to Virgin Olive Market, a new-to-me spot. It’s a really cute café with plenty of options for vegans, meat-eaters and in between. They have a really good sized menu of soups, sandwiches and salads. I ordered “The Big Cheese,” a sandwich consisting of a huge slice of fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, pesto and basil on focaccia bread. They pressed the sandwich, and it was warm and gooey.

the big cheese

It was served with a side of couscous that had raisins and apples. I’m not the biggest fan of cold couscous. I prefer to eat it warm, but I also munched on a bag of sweet potato chips.

Also ordered at our table was the curry chicken salad wrap, and the “Mutha Clucka” salad.

curry chicken salad wrap

salad

I have my eye on that wrap for my next trip. Everything was really delicious. I’m so surprised I haven’t been there sooner.

Thanks for all your supportive comments on my last post about getting my MBA (and Parko’s pink eye). It’s been a huge challenge lately for me to balance everything (hence my blogging after 10 p.m. whereas normally I’d be tucked in bed already), but I’m slowly trying to figure out how to juggle. Unfortunately, my workouts have been suffering the most. I fit them in quickly whenever I can, especially on the weekends, but it’s hard for me to justify going to the gym when I could be studying, even though I know both are important.

Parko’s pink eye is starting to clear up. He’s on a strict schedule of eye drops four times a day, and the poor guy hates receiving them. The vet said it was caused by either an allergic reaction or hitting his eye on something. Ouch!

I hope you’re having a great week and that it’s far less hectic and stressful than mine has been!

Where does working out fall in your list of priorities?

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Filed under Downtown Orlando, Lunch, Sandwich, Vegetarian

September 2, 2011 · 6:06 pm

Diamond in the rough

Happy Friday! Fridays before long weekends make the day even sweeter.

Usually on the Friday before a long weekend, our office will let everyone leave early around 3 p.m., but for the past few early Fridays, I’ve been super busy and stayed until at least 5 anyway. Since I’m busy, I don’t mind and I’m not focused on the time anyway, but today, I managed to leave around 4. I took full advantage of my hour early release and headed to the gym.

Why does just about every office building have a Nature’s Table? I’ve worked in three different office buildings in the greater Orlando area since college, and two of them have had a Nature’s Table, including my current building. Also, there’s another office building Nature’s table about a block from mine.

I see Nature’s Table as having pretty mediocre food and something to be avoided. Plus I bring my lunch 95 percent of the time. If I’m going out to eat, I’m going to make it count and grab something delicious.

However, today I was in a pinch and needed something quick that I could eat back at my desk. I ordered an avocado and cucumber sandwich and was pleasantly surprised.

avocado and cucumber sandwich

It was actually pretty delicious. The sweetness of the wheat bread balanced out all the veggies inside. I love avocado, and this had plenty of big chunks inside in addition to cucumbers for crunch, sprouts, tomatoes and lettuce. Next time I may ask them to throw some onions on there.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed my lunch.

bite

It’s time to start the weekend! I can’t wait to spend time with Kevin this weekend since we’ve both been so busy lately. And Parko, of course. He demands attention.

Parko

Do you work near a Nature’s Table? What’s your go-to meal there?

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a dish?

Any plans for the long weekend?

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Filed under Downtown Orlando, Lighter Options, Lunch, Sandwich, Vegetarian

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August 23, 2011 · 8:25 pm

Greens, Goddess…and a GIVEAWAY

Tuesdays are always the roughest day of the week for me. Although I dread Mondays when the weekend is coming to an end, I feel like I’m always far more exhausted on Tuesdays and reach the apex of longing for the weekend again. Does anyone else have a rough time waking up on Tuesdays? Well hopefully I can brighten yours with my blog’s first-ever giveaway! But first you have to read about my recent eats.

Since Kevin’s late-night working has continued into this week, I needed another go-to dinner for one. I’ve been hankering for a giant salad that would keep me full. Although I’m a meat-eater, this salad happens to be vegetarian. I try to go meatless for some meals to help balance the meat I do eat.

salad

I layered on my plate:

And then topped it with Annie’s Goddess salad dressing.

Annie's

Holy deliciousness. It was yummy and filling. The Morningstar “chicken” goes really well with the Goddess dressing. I love a hearty salad.

Giveaway

It is no secret that I love OpenSky. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s what they call “Twitter for shopping.” You can follow celebrity curators, which gives you access to their favorite things on sale. Blog superstars Kath, Tina and Gina are all curators, and so are various actors, models, etc. I scored a great deal on BIC Bands through OpenSky and recently bought my newest obsession: stainless steel straws.

straw

Drinking through a straw is just more fun. Through OpenSky and curator Lulu Powers, I bought a bundle of eight stainless steel straws and a cleaner made by Stainless Cups. They’re great for the environment and make your drink taste even colder. I especially love them for summertime cocktails, iced coffee and motivating me to drink more water.

About two weeks after I received my shipment from OpenSky, I received a second shipment from them. I opened it to see what it was and realized it was my exact same order again. I called OpenSky to tell them they had shipped it to me twice, and they told me not to worry about shipping it back, so I decided that I am going to pass it on to one of you! OpenSky has awesome customer service, so I wanted to make sure to share that.

What you get:

  • 4-9.5” long straws
  • 4-7” long straws
  • 1-straw cleaning brush

laid out straws

According to Stainless Cups’ website, this is a $22 value. The straws are made of stainless steel so they won’t rust and are dishwasher safe.

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post with what your favorite drink would be to use the straw for. This giveaway will be open for one week until next Tuesday, August 30 at midnight eastern daylight time. I’ll use Random.org to select a winner. That’s it!

Note: Each straw and cleaner is individually wrapped, but the paper bag they all came in is open from when I was investigating what came in the mail. Also, this is only open to U.S. residents.

P.S. If you want to sign up for OpenSky, feel free to do so through this link, which gives me credit for referring you.

I hope you’re as excited about this giveaway as I am!

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June 13, 2011 · 10:14 pm

Eating in: English peas

First of all…Super 8 was awesome! I highly recommend it, but I will admit that I’m biased and am kind of in love with JJ Abrams. But really, it was a great movie.

The other night I prepared another goodie from my Fresh Box Organics delivery. I did my research and began to prep the pound of English peas I received. Kevin had an intramural soccer game after work, so I turned on Army Wives on Netflix and began to de-pod the peas.

This actually took me quite awhile—about two full episodes of Army Wives.

Once they were all removed from the pods, the resulting batch was actually about a cup or so of peas.

I brought a pot of water to a boil and blanched the peas for a couple of minutes then drained them and tossed with margarine, salt, pepper and rosemary. The peas aren’t as sweet as regular peas and have a firmer texture. They made for a great summertime side dish and their mild flavor make them extremely versatile.

Workout

Today I did the Ab Burner workout from my Nike Training Camp app on my iPhone. This is by far one of my favorite apps. It used to be $10, but I think it may be free right now. It works like a personal trainer telling you what workout to do and when to switch moves. There are all sorts of workouts as well from circuits to ones that target specific parts of your body. It works really well for me because sometimes if I’m unmotivated I can lag a little, but this forces me to keep going without resting until the designated rest times.

After the core workout, I jumped on the stationary bike to get in some cardio.

What is your favorite app?

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