FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

BeeTizzle

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I woke up this morning knowing it was in the cards to go to Restaurant BT for lunch today.  I tossed my point and shoot in my purse, rushed out the door, and texted Robbie the second I landed at my desk.

Unless I’ve exhausted a lunch spot (cough, Cafe Hey) he’s usually up for whatever I suggest, making him the ultimate partner in lunch-time crime.

After my first BT visit last year, I couldn’t get enough of the place.  So when I heard that the Hyde Park Village location was closing, to say I was heart broken was an understatement.  Shortly after closing, news about a new Design District location surfaced and I was overcome by a sense of relief.

This was our first time dining at this location and we were both curious to see what it was all about.  My overall impression was that, although still very hip, it was less stiff than the prior operation – it matured, finding an unassuming confidence.

Then the food arrived and we spent less time spectating and more time noodle slurping.  Robbie had the Hanoi Beef Pho and I had the Tofu “Bun” Noodle Salad Bowl.

I’m pleased to report that we were both uber satisfied with our meals.  BT’s quality is undeniable and I still maintain that it’s the freshest fancy restaurant in town.  And!  Having a variety of intentionally vegetarian dishes on their menu makes me crush on this hip spot even harder.  I’ll be seeing ya soon, BT!

Im-Pressed

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Clearly, I didn’t win the tofu press.  But I have fallen in loves with pressing tofu, so heavy cookbooks and sopping paper towels will have to do for now.

I left the tofu under the massive stack of books for a little over four hours and then sliced it into crouton-esque squares.

I adapted my croutons from this recipe.  I didn’t have corn meal or Italian seasoning on hand so I blended together a few things from my herb shelf.

FoodFash’s Modified Tofu Croutons

1 TSP Basil Leaves

1 TSP Rosemary

1 TSP Garlic Salt

1 TSP Oregano

2 TSP Olive Oil

12ish Ounces of Extra Firm Tofu, Pressed

Put all of the ingredients into a container with a lid and shake until all sides of the tofu are evenly coated.  Some of the tofu squares may stick together, so you may have to manually separate to coat all sides of the tofu.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and set on the top rack of a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

You could hear the tofu “screaming” in the oven as the moisture was escaping.  They also popped around the cookie sheet like little jumping beans and shriveled up quite a bit.  I would have never guessed tofu to be so crispy.  Random details aside, they were awesome.    And if you read yesterday’s post, you know these croutons were so awesome that I ate every last square and they never made it atop a salad!

Snackity Snack, In Pictures

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Breakfast: Key Lime Soy Yogurt, Ground Flax & Blackberries

Lunch: Spinach, Refried Bean & Nacho “Cheese” on Brown Rice Tortillas

Snackage: Homemade Coconut Oil Chocolate

Dinner Part I: Tofu Croutons

Dinner Part II: Mango, Mini (locally grown) Cukes, Pita & Homemade Hummus

I didn’t realize how many newly discovered favorite things I consumed today until uploading pictures, but here goes, starting with breakfast…

I thought the only place I could find Key Lime WholeSoy Yogurt was LA, but I found it at Rollin’ Oats over the weekend – total score!

I happened to read a Hungry Hungry Hippie post discussing Vegan Gourmet Nacho “Cheese” and was drawn to the familiar packaging at Whole Foods last night.  I agree with the not great appearance and pretty good flavor, but I disagree on the meltability.  Mine melted.  She sliced, I finely shredded, that could be the difference.  Either way, I love her blog and you should check it out!

TOFU CROUTONS!!!  I modified the tofu crouton recipe from the Rollin’ Oats website for the lush dinner salad I planned on making tonight.  But there was a big oops, a big one.  They were so stinking good I ate all the croutons, so an entire package of tofu, before the lettuce even made it out of the fridge.  See?  Oops!  I’ll post the modified crouton recipe tomorrow.

And then I scrambled together a few random snacks because, let’s face it, a block o’ tofu is not an acceptable dinner.  The locally grown, mini cucumbers were even tastier than I had anticipated.  I assumed correct that they’d be firm and lack seeds, but they had a slight sweetness to them that caught me by surprise.

What a day!

 

Yum Yum Chocolate and a GIVEAWAY!

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I can tell you the first time coconut oil was a blip on my radar.  It was sample day at the Lemmon Ave Whole Foods (Dallas days) and they were handing out chocolate in the frozen food section.  I questioned the need for freeze and the high saturated fat content and they gave me the spiel about how coconut oil is composed mainly of medium chain fatty acids and how the body processes this kind of fat better than other saturated fats (long chain fatty acids).

Every now and then I would google recipes that called for coconut oil and all I can think of is that none of them wooed me enough to justify purchasing a jar.

And just as I started researching coconut oil recipes again, Kelapo contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing their product.  I, of course, said yes.  I also asked if they would provide an extra jar for one lucky FoodFash reader.  And to that, they generously replied yes.

So this is where you come in!!!

Well almost.  First, I’d like to tell you about The Great Sunday Chocolate Experiment.  I’ll make it quick.  I made 4 types: Original, “Milk”, Maple, and Coffee.  They were all fairly similar, as I had no idea what I was doing, but they ended up tasting slightly different and uniquely delicious.

It was super easy.  I stirred all of the ingredients together, let harden in the freezer for a few minutes, cut/formed them into little triangles, and then put them back in the freezer.

None of the ingredients were exceptionally fancy, but the use of the Kelapo coconut oil turned ordinary cocoa into fancy, fancy.  You know that specialty chocolate you splurge on every once in a while?  The kind where you take a bite and your eyes automatically shut because the chocolate is flat out dreamy?

Well, I made shut your eyes, dreamy chocolate tonight and you can too!

Kelapo Coconut Oil (8 oz) Contest Entry Instructions:

1.   Follow me on Twitter and tweet “I just entered to win @Kelapo_Coconut oil at @FoodFash and you should too! https://foodfash.com/?p=1818” and then leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.  (If you’re already following me on Twitter all you have to do is tweet and comment on this post)

2.  Follow @Kelapo_Coconut on Twitter and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

3.  Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so. (If you’re already following me on Facebook all you have to do is comment on this post)

4.  Follow Kelapo Coconut on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

The contest will run between now and 8PM EST on May 9th (MY BIRTHDAY!!!) Please leave a separate comment for each entry as each individual comment represents a number and a random number generator will be used to select the winner.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 10th.

Best of luck to you all!