Dosa Brothers' Dosa

I think I have posted more about dosas on this blog than any other food. I'm OK with that. A couple days ago I tried my local dosa place's kitcheree. Today, I got a dosa to show you. I don't have too much to say about it, except that it was delicious. In the first photo you see it slathered with sriracha while protecting a timid scoop of coconut chutney. The other photo is a close-up of it on a fork.

In a box

On a fork

You can get your own from the Dosas Brothers on the corner of Market and Montgomery in San Francisco, on weekdays. Make sure to specify "vegan," because it comes coated with some kind of animal secretion by default.

Vegan Home Brew: Part 1, The Wort

I got my shit together and completed the first step of my first batch of home-brewed beer. As I mentioned in an earlier post, several of my dearest friends got together and bought me an avalanche of beer brewing equipment. The only missing ingredient was... ingredients. For that, I went to the closest home brewing supply shop, San Francisco Brew Craft. The place was smaller than I expected, and I instantly found myself in front of the hirsute dude working behind the counter. He greeted me with, "hey, what's up?" and before I finished explaining that I needed ingredients he'd already started filling out a hot pink "Beer Recipe and Brewing Instructions" sheet. I told him I was thinking about a pale ale a little less hoppy than Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. He scribbled a couple more things on the sheet and started shoveling ingredients from bulk containers around the shop. This was a pleasant surprise, as I had expected to be handed a dense box of pre-selected ingredients. Instead, I was getting a customized set of ingredients and brewing instructions! I was out of there in under 15 minutes, a mere $42 poorer.

I had prepared for Brew Day by reading SF Brewcraft's brewing instructions and the first chapter of "How To Brew," which came with my brewing supplies. I also watched Homebrew Heaven's awesome "Getting Started Homebrewing" DVD, wherein Chris and Don demonstrate the rudiments of brewing and bottling your own beer. (I watched this video repeatedly, mostly for my fascination of the cheap porn production quality.) Finally, I talked to my good friend and brewing veteran Dave for reinforcement.

Despite all this preparation, the whole process seemed to take all day. It took forever to heat the wort, and then to bring it to a boil after adding the malt extract. Then it took forever to cool it down to "pitching" temperature, which was a little higher than ideal due to my impatience. Consequently, I rehydrated my yeast about an hour too soon, but assured myself that yeast is a hearty little organism and wouldn't mind waiting for all the delicious sugar I was about to feed it. When I pounded the lid on the fermenter and stuck the airlock into its hole I really had no idea if I had succeeded. I had to wait for a couple days to know for sure.

And man, did I succeed! The airlock was bubbling along happily in the second and third days (see the video!), and calmed down toward the end of the week. The beginning of the week enjoyed ridiculously hot weather (high 70s!), so the beer didn't hit ideal fermenting temperatures for a couple days. I left it near an open window with a temperature-activated fan to keep things between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm pretty confident that this is going to turn out well.



Next episode: Secondary Fermentation.

I Made Chocolate Chip Cookies

There was no soy milk, so I ate them with beer.

I finally made something with my own two hands for VeganMoFo 2011.  I decided to cease posting boring, every-day fast food simply for the sake of posting something.  The rest of my October posts will discuss stuff that I made myself.  (Exceptional exceptions excepted.) Consequently, this is my last October post.  JUST KIDDING.  Probably.

So, back to cookies. I used to make chocolate chip cookies all the time throughout my adolescence. While my peers were playing sports and making out, I was getting high and chubby on cookies. My parents got a microwave/convection oven back in the late 80s and we all thought that it was the shit.  It came with a cookbook that showcased some of the amazing things you could do with this cutting-edge technology.  One of the recipes therein was an ordinary chocolate chip cookie recipe that exploited none of this technology.  It was a straight-up, dependable recipe that I used to pump out hundreds of perfect chocolate chip cookies.  (By "pump out," I mean, "pump through my digestive system.")  Then, one day, I grew up and became vegan.

Since being vegan, I've made chocolate chip cookies about three times.   The first time, I adapted that wonderful recipe from my youth.  The results were disappointing.  I tried a couple vegan-ready recipes after that.  Shrugworthy.  Finally, I tried the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  Oh, em, gee.  They turned out so well.  They were lightly crunchy on their perimeters, chewy at their epicenters.  I shaved a minute off the bake time with each of the three batches and the last one was the best.

I was curious about the Internet's opinion of this recipe, so I did an image search.  It's certainly popular.  But I'm surprised by their wild variation.  Mine definitely turned out darker than others'.  Maybe that's because I used golden brown sugar instead of light brown. Well, I don't care;  I'm just glad that I can resume pumping chocolate cookies through my digestive system.

The Plant Cafe's Beety Burger

For lunch today I got a Plant Burger to go from The Plant Cafe at 101 California. The Plant Cafe has three locations in San Francisco, but for as long as I can remember Google has not acknowledged this one. Try for yourself: go to maps.google.com and search for "plant cafe san francisco." You'll get the other two locations only. This is very frustrating, because I stopped remembering numbers, names, and places several years ago when I got my first iPhone. A rare alignment of luck and miracle helped me find it today, and the reward was significant; The Plant Burger is delicious. It's hearty in flavor, but light in matter. You could probably eat two and still be able to walk back to work fully upright. There's a bunch of other vegan stuff on their menu but I didn't really pay much attention; this is the go-to to go item. (Oh, and don't worry--that undocumented dollop of white stuff is Veganaise.)

Backlog: More Loving Hut, Appetite for Reduction Recipes

The title of this post should really be "Welcome back!" because I haven't posted for months.  But it wouldn't make a lot of sense, because I'd really be welcoming myself back.  Self-welcoming probably has some affirmative psychological value, but it's corny.  More importantly, it doesn't encourage SEO-friendly blog titles.

So I've collected 4 bloggable things in as many months.  Let's cover them chronologically.  First off, way back in December I made a couple dishes from Isa Moskowitz's newest book, Appetite for Reduction.  I went for fast and apparently delicious, choosing Cauliflower Pesto Soup with a side of OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings.

The soup came out pretty good; it's mild and soothing, suitable for post-shoveling nourishment, or for nursing an ailing loved one back to health.  I'd look for something with more character--and calories--if I wanted to impress a guest.  Unless that guest was trying to lose weight, in which case this soup hits the mark--it weighs in at 50 calories per serving.  50.  I do not believe that anything could taste better than this without being more caloric.

I fucked up the onion rings.  I couldn't find any healthy bread crumbs at my local rip-off health food store, so I bought a bag of Ian's Whole Wheat Panko Bread Crumbs. (Isn't "bread crumbs" redundant in that product name?)  The problem with this panko is that it doesn't adhere to the onions rings with the batter from this recipe.  The crumbs are too large.  I was on the verge of throwing the whole mess away, but chose to improvise instead.  I replaced the panko with a mixture of flour and salt and coated the rings with cooking spray before throwing them in the oven.  I gave about half of the results to my beloved and eternally hungry companion Thisbe, and saved the best for the photo.  Now that some time has passed since that crisis, I can appreciate the results more objectively and admit that the onion rings look just fine.  They tasted just fine, too.  While they're much healthier than their deep-fried counterparts, 220 calories a serving is no small sum; it might be worth it to save up your onion ring desires less frequent, more fried experiences.

Let's take a break from my amateur cooking stories and appreciate a photo my friend promnesiac took of a recent meal at Loving Hut in San Francisco Centre Mall.  I think I've blogged about this place more than any other single topic.  Well, it's no mystery why.  It's always mildly bizarre, and always heavily delicious.  Shown in the foreground is a Rainbow Salad.  In the distance, a Garden Vermicelli.  To the right, a vegan Thai iced tea.  Everywhere, deliciousness.

Professionally designed.

Great.  Back to amateur cooking.  In fact, back to Appetite for Destruction.  By far my favorite dish from the book thus far is the combination of Broiled Blackened Tofu and Jerk Asparagus. My tofu didn't turn out very black, but its coating sure did.  I had to slap two wailing smoke detectors off my ceiling like an angry bear slapping wailing smoke detectors off his hibernation cave ceiling.  You know, like in the fairy tale.  Anyway, I made one significant and accidental modification to the tofu: I added a minced habanero to the coating.  It's significant, because it's hot (though not as hot as I expected; I guess burning it burns off its burn).  It's accidental because I meant to add it to the jerk sauce.  The good news is that it worked, and I would do it again.  The tofu was very tasty, remarkably so for 100 calories a serving.  The asparagus, on the other hand was amazing.  It was so, so good.  Just look at it!  How many calories a serving? 40.  That can't be legal, either by human social standards or by universal laws of physics standards.

Lazily improvised.

Now let us contrast that delicious, creative dish with my own boring, uninspired what-I-usually-prepare dish here: grilled tofu and steamed asparagus.  Edible, sure.  Low-calorie, too. But look at the apologetic color of the asparagus. Sauteing it would clearly have been a better way to go. The saving component of this dish is the Caulipots from Appetite For Reduction, weighing in at 169 calories per serving.  I've made that side about 5 times already.  It's the only sane way to eat large quantities of cauliflower.

A Vegan in Worcester, MA

My friends Dave and Jo moved to Worcester, MA about a year ago.  At the time, Worcester offered them one significant feature: it was equidistant to two important places outside of Worcester. In the past year, however, they have discovered that Worcester offers them far more than a convenient geographical location.  They have grown to appreciate other important Worcester qualities, such as cheap rent, loud neighbors, vandalism, and theft.  I was eager to see what this special place was all about, so I forced myself upon them for 20 hours.

I made sure to eat plenty of food before I visited Worcester, hoping that a calorie surfeit would fuel me through most of my stay.  But eventually, hunger got the best of me.  When I apologetically mentioned this to my hosts, Dave reminded me that there was rumor of a vegan restaurant somewhere in Worcester--"Belmont something-or-other."  That rang a bell.  I vaguely remembered hearing about such a phenomenon through my deteriorating Boston area vegan network.  So off to Google we went.

It wasn't easy to find Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant's eye-watering Web site, but along the way I did find http://vegworcester.com/, which I initially assumed to be a squatted domain.  According to this site, there are quite a few vegetarian-friendly restaurants in the Worcester area, though only 3 or 4 seem to be exclusively vegan (including the ubiquitous Loving Hut). So my culinary prejudice diminished.  We departed for Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant.

From the outside, it looks like any sub shop store front you'd find on a busy, gritty, New England "city" street. Inside is a bright, spartan dining area containing two booths and an order window, which is flanked by a chalkboard displaying the day's menu.  The chalkboard listed: "Curry, BBQ, Veggie Stew, Black Bean + Soy, Pepper Steak, and Mac + Cheese."  Eventually, Steven, the proprietor and cook, approached us with an offer to try a sample plate.  "You try everything.  If it's not for you, you can go on your way," he offered, amicably.  "Go on our way?"  I thought.  That's like saying, "If the water is too cold at this oasis, you may crawl 46 miles to the east for an alternative."  But we humored him and tried everything, while listening to light reggae.

The food is generally differently-prepared soy or tofu chunks, like you might find at a buffet. You have three options when you order: small ($6.50), medium($9.50), and large($11.50).  You get a bed of rice upon which Steven will scoop any combination of chalkboard items.  I ordered the pepper steak and curry, and was quite pleased; the pepper steak was especially good and spicy,  the curry was pleasant and mild.  I considered getting one of the "patties" displayed behind the order window, but the medium bowl had stuffed me a bit too much.  Maybe next time.

UPDATE:  I only thought that vegworcester.com was a squatter domain because it came up in Google search results.  I couldn't believe that such resource existed. I assumed that some crafty Search Engine Optimizer has mashed the word "Veg" with every city he or she could imagine, and sat back to enjoy the long tail traffic.  It's a great site and I wholeheartedly recommend that everyone in the Worcester area--and beyond--visit it to find out what's edible in the region.  Thanks, Drew!

Gardein Again, Including Limited Edition Collector's Meal

I don't think I've ever bought Gardein products for myself.  They're very similar to their meaty counterparts (well, what I remember of their meaty counterparts) and that makes me uncomfortable. The less my food resembles a corpse, the more eager I am to eat it. But whenever I visit Back East, my Mom stocks the fridge with all sorts of booty from the remote Whole Foods, which I appreciate very much.  Invariably, there are a few Gardein products in the haul, and I don't mind trying trying them because God damn it, I'm in the middle cultural nowhere and lucky to eat anything that's not iceberg lettuce.

So, Gardein product the first: Tuscan Breasts.  Uncanny meat-like texture under a tasty, tomato-based sauce. This seems to be the "no frills" Gardein product, and it performs exactly as advertised.  I think a transitional omnivore would really dig it. It's shown here with a variety of Whole Foods buffet sides.

Gardein product the second: Limited Edition Savory Stuffed Turk'y.  (They're too snooty to call it "Stuff'd Turk'y," unfortunately.)  This was really good. It's a Gardein orb stuffed with celery, onions, cranberries, and bread crumbs; coated with a light, crispy breading.  It's like a croquette.  It comes with a delicious gravy that gives Tofurky's a run for its money.  This is my favorite of the few Gardein products I've tried thus far, due to its under-emphasized meatiness. It's all about the breading, stuffing and gravy.  And that's really what Thanksgiving is all about, anyway.  Well, that and smallpox.

Wherein I Blog About Making A Recipe That Someone Else Had Blogged About Making

We take a lot of the Internet's magic for granted.  A talented recipesmith can put together an interesting dish way out in the middle of nowhere, and the next day I can follow her instructions and produce the same dish, 1665 miles away.  (Well, not the same dish; there are some minor components that can't yet be conveyed over the Internet, such as skill, experience, and technique.) By comparison, it took about 770 years for the first cheesecake recipe to travel from Greece to Great Britain.  What's more, I'm certain that my version of Isa's Butternut Rancheros is far more genetically similar to the original than the British cheesecake was to its Greek ancestor. (Though it's clear that the attractiveness gene did not make it into my remote manifestation.) Welcome to the future.

Two elements of this recipe will forever remain in my culinary arsenal: the charbroiled squash, and the ranchero sauce.  Ok, those are the two core elements of the dish.  My point is that they are independently delicious, and can be used to great effect in separate dishes.  But now that I'm thinking about it, you could cube the roasted butternut squash and wrap the whole thing in a tortilla.  It would probably blow a mind.

Red Lentil Soup [sic]* from Allrecipes.com

Among the 14 tweets @DomesticVegan produced back on October 25, 2010, was:

Dinner: Red Lentil Soup! One of my favorites! So easy, healthy, and delicious! http://bit.ly/98iVG8

For some reason, that stuck with me. It's such a sincere tweet.  She seems so darned wholesome, this Minnesota girl.  Surely I, too, would enjoy this easy, healthy, and delicious dish, despite my flaws and sinful lifestyle.  I could just go to the store to get the ingredients, assemble them according to the recipe, and experience a brief but deeply gratifying period of simple perfection. Enjoy some clarity.  Maybe lapse into some optimistic thoughtfulness, should the moment get a hold of me.  Who knows, I might even plan for my future a little bit, maybe refill a prescription or two. Wouldn't that be swell?

Well, dear reader,  it turns out that Day 3 of VeganMoFo 2010 is the first day of the rest of my life.  I just birthed myself into a bright, hot, thick-and-delicious bowl of red lentils and squash, and by golly it's a beautiful place to be!  My one departure from the rules was adding more cayenne pepper than suggested, and using hot curry powder instead of not hot.  Otherwise, I think this recipe's a winner out of the gate.

Now go simmer yourself some salvation.  (Goes well with beer.)

* "Soup" is not the word I would use to describe my results.  "Stew" is more accurate.  But stew is also more delicious than soup, so I'm not complaining.

Word "Vegan" Appears on New Jalapeño Pop Chips

Two things.

Thing #1

I've been eating a lot of Popchips since I discovered them about a year ago.  For those of you who don't know, they're a relatively low-calorie baked potato snack food.  They're like a cross between Pringles potato chips and rice cakes.  They come in many flavors, three of which list no animal ingredients on their packages: Original, Sea Salt & Vinegar, and Salt & Pepper.  So I have always assumed that those flavors were vegan, and I have eaten copious amounts thereof.  I suppose I shouled have e-mailed them for re-assurance, but now, I don't have to! It seems that Popchips have begun using the word "vegan" in the nutritional information of eligible products.

Thing #2
Popchips have released a new flavor,  Jalapeño Potato.  (Yes, I think that "potato" is redundant.)  I was initially thrilled to see them at my corner store, but assumed that any flavor that radical would be needlessly tainted by whey or milk or lactose, as is common among snack foods.  So I grabbed a bag for the habitual ingredients scan and that's when I saw the word "vegan."  Amazing.  But not as amazing as what they taste like.  I'll just repeat what my friend Robin said when she had a fistful: "That's the best flavor of any food ever."

Interestingly, this flavor does not yet appear on their Web site.  They could be testing regional markets, or they could have a lazy Web team.  Here's hoping they're indeed a permanent addition to their product line.

Pick A Pita

What is up with the names of falfel shops in New York City? Pita Hut, Pita Pan, Pita Like a Racehorse... There's a falafel/shawarma place on 8th Ave. between 39th and 40th that makes a pretty good falafel for $6. Pick A Pita. (Why they didn't call themselves Pita Picked a Peppa, I don't know. Maybe the sign would be too expensive.) They're kosher, so they don't put any dairy in their toppings, which might adorn something off the the rotating meat column as easily as they would a few falafel balls. If you're vegan, that's great, because the vegan and non-vegan stuff are well segregated.

All of their sandwiches are served in pita pockets, as their name suggests. You can pick one of two pitas: regular or whole wheat. The whole wheat pitas fall apart easily, so be sure to grab a fork if that's your preference. Or you can screw the pita altogether and get the "platter," which is a salad version, but more copiously appointed and a couple bucks more expensive. Whatever route you go, you're sure to be stuffed by the end of your journey.

They have a wide selection of toppings: hummus, tahini, cucumbers, tomatoes, cucumber and tomato salad, red cabbage, pickles, tabouli, fried eggplant, and hot sauce. I hate eggplant, but they season and deep-fry theirs in such a way that I was able to tolerate it in my first few sandwiches. After that, the novelty of its preparation wore off and I stopped adding it.

If there's one thing I've learned in my brief blogging-about-food career, it's that I'm really good at making food look less appetizing than it really is.The above photo is no exception. Don't let it turn you off; Pick a Pita delivers a solid falafel sandwich that I've returned to more times than I can count.

It's Just a Chunk of Metal

A group of vegan and vegetarian friends and I go out to lunch once a month. We call ourselves The Veggie Five. We're like super heroes, but without special powers, and we don't fight crime. We just get together occasionally and eat vegetarian food. Today we ate at Pukk in the East Village.

Pukk is another "pan Asian" vegetarian restaurant, like Zen Palate or Gobo, but with an emphasis on actual vegetables over meat analogues, in a Thai style. They offer $6 lunch specials which come with "vegetable clear soup" and your choice of an appetizer and an entree. I chose Spicy Spring Rolls for my appetizer, and Pepper Garlic Chicken for my entree. The spring rolls are fried, and wrapped in eggless egg roll wrappers. The Pepper Garlic Chicken has a few chunks of fake chicken and a good helping of vegetables. The "vegetable clear soup" is much tastier than it sounds, and saltier than one would expect. All-in-all, it was a filling and tasty lunch, but nothing amazing. It was better than Zen Palate, and cheaper.

Our pal Ravi ordered Pad See-Ew Duck, which he claimed tasted very duck-like in both flavor and texture. (We were a little concerned about Ravi's familiarity with authentic duck cuisine.) It even came with a surprise chunk of metal that looked like a twisted stainless steel suture. When he brought this to the attention of our waitress, she said something vaguely apologetic and retreated to the kitchen for more information. She eventually returned and assured Ravi that the metal was nothing to worry about, and mumbled something about a free dessert, should he be interested. We eventually pressed her further on that point and he got a free chocolate cheesecake mousse, which he shared with all of us. It was delicious and metal-free.

The bill for all five of us was around $73, gratuity included. I would definitely go back, but would scrutinize my dish for foreign matter.

Her Majesty's Secret Symphony

Ok, that's a shitty title. But it's staying because if I spend any time thinking up something better I'm not going to get my daily VeganMoFo entry done before the deadline.

So I went to my all-time favorite weekday lunch spot, Green Symphony, to throw together "the usual:" collard greens, broccoli, couscous with hummus, and a chubby little samosa. All that, a Vitamin Water, and a bag of Stonewall's for under $15. After putting that together I go up to the counter and the proprietor (who always asks my co-worker if he's vegetarian, but who doesn't give a shit about my superior veganism) pulls out a golden, ornate picture frame and plops it down in front of me. It's a promotional photo of Daniel Craig, autographed. The proprietor then waited patiently for my reaction.

Having been to Green Symphony a dozen times already, I've become familiar with the wall of fame in the tiny dining area: about 20 framed, autographed headshots of actors and musicians of varying degrees of notoriety.

"Oh!" it dawned on me. "Was he in here earlier today?" I would have said, "Hey! Daniel Craig came in!" except I couldn't remember the actor's name and had to later ask a friend who plays the new James Bond.

"He's the second most popular person," he said, proudly, in broken English, gesturing over his shoulder toward the Wall. "Just under Billy Joel."

"Oh, well that's great!" I said, somewhat genuinely. "It's great that all these people come here to eat."

He thumped an open hand on his aproned chest and said, "They take care of themselves. They're healthy." He pointed at the photo of Mr. Craig sitting beside my cash, "He's healthy too. Egg whites!"

I nodded as if to say, "I'll be damned," brows raised and all.

And, indeed, people come to Green Symphony to be healthy. In addition to the buffet (which is mostly vegetarian), Green Symphony also offers custom smoothies, herbal supplements, healthy sandwiches and salads, lots of vegan and gluten-free baked goods, and a broad spectrum of pre-packaged, vegetarian-friendly nutrition bars and snacks. And coffee and tea and stuff, too.

My lunch was delicious, as usual. But I never figured out a way of closing this blog entry with a clever reference to Daniel Craig or James Bond.

Scrambled Tofu

I dropped the ball Friday, missing a weekday of VeganMoFo blogging. To make up for it, I took a picture of my brunch. Well, my lunch, really. I just don't think it qualifies as a "brunch," as I made it myself in the privacy of my own dungeon-like apartment. And I didn't make mimosas.

The recipe is basically Vegan with a Vengeance's "Scrambled Tofu," to which I added cayenne pepper and broccoli. The English muffins are spelt, from Rudi's Organic Bakery.

OK, you can go back to bed now.

I made something!

Well, "threw some shit together" might be more accurate. But it was delicious: Barilla whole grain spaghetti, grilled Field Roast Italian sausage, steamed broccoli, and homemade vegan pesto. Minimal effort for maximum satisfaction. I'd buy it, if I could.

(After I took the picture, I defiled its beauty with a fistful of nutritional yeast.)

Jerquee

When I lived in San Francisco, it seemed that you could buy Stonewall's Jerquee from anyone. Dudes offering you great deals on expensive watches down at United Nations Plaza would whip out a consolation bag or two of Stonewall's when you declined their initial offers. Midas mechanics would find ways to work Stonewall's Jerquee into the bill for your catalytic converter replacement. You couldn't check out of the UCSF's emergency room without signing an agreement that you would consume several bags of the stuff during your recovery period.

When I moved to Boston, Jerquee was no longer accessible through conventional means; I had to order it online. Even when I moved to New York City, I didn't find Jerquee until I'd been there for several months and came across it at a West Village deli. Today, I found Jerquee at my current favorite lunch spot: Green Symphony. I was thrilled. I scooped up a half dozen bags from the bottom-most shelf of their prepackaged food display, plopped them on the counter, brushed off the dust, removed the expired bags, and then purchased the remaining four. Delicious stuff. Recommended. You, too, can get it online at amazon.com. Just click the image to the right, disgorge some credit card numbers, and wait patiently for the postperson to bring it to you.

Video: Vegan Pesto

I produced my first "cooking" video over the weekend: making Isa Moskowitz's "Classic Pesto" from Vegan with a Vengeance. It was a clumsy effort, but it accomplished its goal: eliminating the surplus of basil from my herb garden.

Here's the recipe straight out of the book, republished here with permission from the author:

Classic Pesto

1/2 cup walnuts

3 cups packed basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Toast the walnuts in a toaster oven at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes or on a baking sheet in a conventional oven for 10 minutes, turning once.

Combine the walnuts, basil, garlic, and salt in a food processor or blender and process while you add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice, and pulse to combine. The sauce should be the consistency of a slightly grainy paste, not a puree.

I learned a lot about DIY cooking video production. Some key lessons being: don't mix wildly different cameras in multi-camera shooting; don't bang shit around so much; keep your whining, over-heating laptop as far from the microphone as possible; don't say "um" so much; and rehearse before shooting.

I Guess It's Kinda Like A Dosa

Today my camera and I took a long lunch down at Washington Square Park, to get one of my favorite meals in the city: a dosa from the NY Dosa cart at West 4th St. and Sullivan. I got to the cart at 2:45 PM, well before the dosa guy usually sells out, which is around 4 PM. But today must have been busy; when I ordered my customary pondicherry, he laughed and said he was all out of pondicherry and dosa filling. But he told me that he could throw together a few things to make a "meal" for me, including extra lentil soup. "OK," I said, and stepped aside to wait.

He ended up giving me a "veggie stick" (some egg roll type fried thing) in a dosa wrapper, a "drumstick" in a moderate pool of barbecue sauce, and two cups of lentil soup. All for $5! A bottle of water and a $2 tip and I was out a mere $7.

But the thing is, the consolation dosa wasn't nearly as good as the chubby, potato and veggie-filled pondicherry I'd grown accustomed to. The meal was filling, and the lentil soup was excellent, as usual. But it just wasn't the same thing. The "drumstick," by the way, is a gluten-based chicken leg analog on a wooden stick (exactly the same as the one served by V-Spot in Brooklyn). I appreciated his improvising with what he had, and giving me a break on the price. But I'll have to go back again soon to get the real experience.

On the way back to work I grabbed a coffee and, feeling a little unsatisfied by my consolation lunch, swung by Green Symphony on 43rd St. between 7th and 8th for a snack. Green Symphony is a great little buffet/deli that offers a surprising amount of vegan food. They have a lot of homemade bars and cookies, almost none of which can be metabolized for under 600 calories. I got a "BMW" bar, the name of which is an acronym, but for what I can't remember. Maybe "Body, Mind, Wellness?" I don't know. It's filled with walnuts and apple chunks and raisins. It's mushy and filling. It may very well be gluten free. It tastes like it looks. I don't recommend it, unless you're starving and have few other choices.