Great Vegan Cafe: J Selby's, Saint Paul

The 'cheese' burger at J. Selby's

Selby is a name you see throughout Saint Paul. MN. Selby Avenue is a main street, and the Cathedral of Saint Paul was once a farm owned by a man named Selby.

The packed J. Selby's

The farmer, J Selby, would likely be tickled that his name adorns a new plant based restaurant, J. Selby's. The restaurant is what we old schoolers would call vegan, but that word can have negative connotations. No one is judging you here for wearing leather shoes or a silk shirt.

We went on a Sunday night, when we thought we could just waltz in, but it was completely packed. J. Selby's is the kind of place where you order at a counter, and take your number to a table. Except there were no tables. A server came over and pointed out a group that was finishing, and we ordered and sat.

The food was incredible. And filling. We saw the portions and realized there was no need for appetizers. though I have to go back for the cauliflower 'wings.' And the chili. And the brunch.

Brunch, served on weekends only, has a vegan take on biscuits and gravy. Sounds fabulous. There is also a children's menu.

BBQ 'beaf'

But what we had was equally wonderful. My daughter got a 'cheese' burger, which comes with one patty (a solo) or two (the dirty secret). You can have a Field Roast, Beyond Burger or Herbivorous Butcher patty. Since we'd already eaten at the Herbivorous Butcher earlier in the day, Nora had the Beyond Burger.

It came on a whole wheat bun, with pickles, onions, lettuce and tomato. There was homemade ketchup, of course, and sriracha if that's how you roll. The burger comes with fries, a salad, chips and salsa or spicy slaw.

I had that spicy slaw on my BBQ 'beaf.' The sandwich was like pulled pork, on a hoagie bun.

My husband got the burrito bowl, with soy chorizo, brown rice, guacamole and a cheesy, creamy sauce that was, of course, vegan.

Or plant based. Whatever you want to call it, it was delicious.

To Cheese or Not to Cheese: Vegan or Vegetarian?

The grocery area at Riverdel

Many vegetarians, myself included, might become vegan except for the cheese issue. Cheese is so yummy, improves almost any dish (peanut butter and cheddar. Seriously) and is a great source of protein.

Jarlsberg cheese sticks

I even got to try a new Jarlsberg cheese snack, which is a perfect on the go snack for kids, adults, even dogs. Cheese sticks are a popular 'high quality' snack at the Prospect Park off leash hours, with the added benefit that if you are suddenly peckish, you can share the cheese with your pup (note: my dog does not share).

The  individual wrapped Jarlsberg cheese sticks are also lactose free; one of my kids is lactose intolerant, which is why she seeks out good quality vegan alternatives.

Vegan cheese

Riverdel, in Brooklyn

Riverdel, in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, is a small vegan shop with a huge selection of vegan cheese, plus a well curated grocery with local vegan products, from coconut milk ice cream to nut milk yogurt and a vegan alternative to fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce. 

The vegan Italian

The shop also makes sandwiches to order, and we tried three: the Italian, with "muzzarella," tomatoes, pesto and arugula, on ciabatta, M. Night Shalami, a "salami" and cheese, also on ciabatta, and a special of Pepper Jack and seating bacon on rye.

Sandwiches are $9 - $10, with an extra $1.50 for gluten-free bread. Everything we had was fresh and delicious, and I'll return for the pastries, and the Just Jack, which has jackfruit, carrot slaw and cilantro mayo.

Note: Jarlsberg sent me a sample of the cheese sticks. I was not otherwise compensated.

Going Vegan - with Coffee! Finding Natural Bliss

Acai bowl toppings, with coconut creamer in the base

When I was training for the marathon, I cut down drastically on the dairy I consumed. I wasn't completely vegan, but I started avoiding milk and using almond or soy milk for my morning coffee.

Vegan dishes

So I was excited to hear about Coffee-Mate's new creamer line, the plant-based Natural Bliss. There are four varieties: vanilla almond milk, caramel almond milk, hazelnut almond milk, and sweet creme  coconut milk.

To highlight these, and offer a deep dive into vegan food, Coffee Mate invited me to a tasting at the Tasting Table Test Kitchen in Soho. There, we were treated to vegan food, cocktails and the full line of plant based creamers.

Cocktail choices

Since I knew I was taking home one of each creamer, I stuck to the cocktails; who can resist a maple old-fashioned? Or, for that matter, an expertly prepared French 75?

The soba noodle salad with shiitake bacon and beet salad with watermelon radish were delicious, but what impressed me most was the acai bowl. The bowls were made with berries, acai, and the coconut creamer. So if you use only a tiny splash of creamer each day, you don't have to worry about it spoiling; you can easily use it up in a smoothie.

We could top our bowls with a variety of fruit, granola and chia seeds. Maybe if I had a high powered blender and a food prep guy on hand I would eat a more nutritious breakfast.

Natural bliss needs to be kept refrigerated, or on ice at a party

I tried the vanilla almond milk in my coffee this morning and it was delicious. And since it was snowing and we'd run out of skim milk, I used the coconut milk to make oatmeal. It was a touch sweet, but tastier and heartier than water and vegan to boot.

The Natural Bliss creamers come in 16 bottles refrigerated containers are made with no GMO ingredients.

Note: Opinions expressed are my own and I was not compensated for this review. Cocktail consumption was an added benefit.

Vegetables Have Their Moment in the Sun: Dovetail

The amazing egg with truffle at Dovetail

Vegetarians often have to make compromises when dining with carnivores: choosing the lone pasta dish, making a meal of sides, or eating fish even if they really prefer to avoid sea creatures and the term pescetarian.

At Dovetail, on a side street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, everyone can be happy. The restaurant has either prix fixe meals or tasting menus, with plenty of choices for plant eaters and a special vegetarian tasting menu.

At a recent meal, (which I took a subway, a bus and a Via to arrive at - I had a few stops along the way) I started with grilled bluefoot mushrooms with salsify and jicama; my husband had the soft poached egg with potato crisps and shaved winter truffles. Both were excellent and so appealing that the other diners at our table all eschewed the meat to try these. Sadly, no one got the sun choke fondue with broccoli and gruyere - that will have to be another time.

The bluefoot mushroom appetizer

For my entree, I had to have the beet with grain salad, black trumpet mushrooms and thyme milk. This was a fantastic earthy dish, perfect on a winter night. It's so lovely that it's part of the regular meat menu, with ham (it didn't need it).

Perfectly cooked fish

My husband had striped bass with cauliflower and smoked grapes over yellow curry.

Chocolate souffle

We shared a cheese plate and bittersweet chocolate soufflé  for dessert. The soufflé  came with a pitcher of rich chocolate sauce to put in the center, and a scoop of sage ice cream that nicely offset the chocolate.

Rose cocktail with gin

The interesting cocktail list included an old fashioned made with kirsch and ramazzoti (an Italian amaro) and a lovely gin drink, a rose is a rose is a rose, with chareau (an aloe based liqueur), prosecco and a rose petal.

Cheese plate

Though Dovetail is not inexpensive, it also isn't outrageously priced.

Open Sesame: New Gluten Free Snacks

Original flavor Superseed Crunch

When I was a kid, my health fanatic grandfather had one weakness: sesame seed candy. He would sneak us the super sweet plastic wrapped candy and hold his finger over his lips: Shhh. Don’t tell.

Of course, we didn’t like the sticky candy - we wanted chocolate, or cookies.  But my grandfather may have been onto something: the new Superseed Crunch is a tasty and early nutritious snack from the makers of Absolutely Gluten-Free.

In addition to being certified gluten-free, the snacks are vegan, organic, soy free and Kosher. And they are made with flax and chia seeds, as well as sesame.

Superseed Crunch comes in three flavors: original, toasted coconut and cinnamon. I am not really a coconut lover (OK, I hate it) but the coconut in all three flavors is subtle enough that it didn’t overwhelm the other flavors. Plus I tried it sprinkled on plain Greek yogurt, so there is even less coconut flavor.

You can also eat it straight out of the bag, though if you have trouble exercising self-control, you might want to portion some out into a bowl.

The Superseed Crunch is a good source of fiber, protein, antioxidants and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper and calcium. These aren't a health food - they are a snack - but they are certainly better for you than chips or candy and they are nutrient dense.

The Absolutely Gluten-Free line also includes: flatbreads, crackers and a cauliflower crust pizza that should have those with Celiac dancing in the grocery store aisles

The Real Cooking Competition: Ellie’s Real Good Food

Ellie with guests at her launch party

Television abounds with cooking shows: chefs making Instagram-worthy meals and reality shows where amateur and professional chefs compete to remake processed food or combine ingredients that should never been in the same home, let alone the same plate (salmon cupcakes anyone?).

What I’ve not seen till now is a chef who is also a nutritionist making real food that busy parents or grad students can throw together quickly. Ellie Krieger, a New York Times best-selling author, has a new show, Ellie’s Real Good Food on public television.

At the launch party for the show, Ellie described her approach as “the sweet spot where delicious and healthy meet.”

Talking about Real Good Food

In fact, in Episode 2, Say Yes to Chocolate, Ellie shows how a little good chocolate goes a long way. Keep her hot chocolate recipe in mind for when the weather turns cool (or for cool nights at the beach this summer). She uses just 3 ingredients: good quality cocoa powder, a bit of sugar and low fat milk. You can make this vegan with soy or almond milk, or spice it up with some fresh ginger; this is far superior to the fake chemical laden packets most of us reach for.

Busy Mom AND grad student

My daughter is in graduate school and has very little free time; imagine also being a new mom! Ellie shows a mom who is also a grad student that whisking together your own salad dressing takes just seconds, and it keeps for a week. No more high fructose corn syrup in dressing, or cheap oil.

And for breakfast; I’ve always soaked steel cut oats in milk overnight for cold weather breakfasts, but I never think about oats in summer.

Ellie has a recipe for rolled oats soaked in milk and plain yogurt, with blueberries and chia seeds. It’s a delicious, healthy breakfast, and since you mix it up the night before, you can just grab and go in the morning.

Now that’s Real Good!

Hotel Monaco: Staying Fit While Eating Around Philly

The well equipped gym at Hotel Monaco in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has become a foodie paradise, and vegetarians and vegans will find plenty of places where they can fill their bellies.

The pulley machine

But what to do about belly bloat? If you stay at the Hotel Monaco, you can work out at the excellent gym. The bright, spotless gym has state of the art cardio equipment, all with their own television screens - or you can watch the hive of activity below around the Liberty Bell.

There are also stability balls and a bosu ball, hula hoops, free weights and weight machines and weighted balls. The large pulley machine intimidated me.

Cardio machines at Hotel Monaco

The gym also keeps in mind creature comforts, with a water cooler, soft towels - and chilled ones - ear buds if you've forgotten, newspapers - even fresh fruit so you don't hit the mini bar and negate all that exercise.

If you are shy about your workout, you can use the yoga mat in your room.

Gym amenities include chilled towels

Group fitness fans can take one of the free weekly classes; cardio sculpting at 6:30am on Wednesdays, or cardio boxing, also on Wednesdays at 6pm. Of course, that cuts right into the free daily cocktail social hour...

If you prefer to get your cardio outside, take one of the free bikes for a spin. The hotel is right on a bike lane and you can easily zip over to Fairmont Park.

Veggies to Go: Healthy Drinks

Orange Mango Smoothie

One of the first things my kids learned to make in the kitchen was smoothies. First, they just peeled the bananas and dropped them into the blender; they gradually added skills such as washing berries, cutting mangoes and pouring in milk.

As they became tweens, they took over the whole operation (minus the clean up). But as busy teens, they don’t have time in the morning to make a smoothie.  Enter Green Mustache, fruit and veggie juice smoothies. These veggie packed drinks come in grab and go 10 ounce bottles, ideal for a vitamin packed drink on the run.

The brand was started by a NYC mother of two, VanTrang Manges, who had to sneak veggies into her younger daughter’s diet. Once your kids learn to read, though, the gig is up.

The orange mango has spinach and kale, plus chia seeds, but the fruit flavors dominate. My daughters liked the strawberry banana which had pineapple (I’m allergic) and more spinach, kale and chia seeds. There is also a mixed berry, with pear, three berries and more of the healthy green stuff; soon to come is Tropical Twist, with pineapple, guava and passion fruit.

The nutrition labels will make you happy - no added sugar, great source of vitamins A and C,  plus rich in folate, iron and fiber.

The smoothies are organic, vegan and gluten free, with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. They are sold at sold at FreshDirect.com, some Fairways in New York and all Gourmet Garage stores in NYC.

One oddity; the FDA requires a serving size based on eight ounces, so the bottles technically have 1.3 servings. Really?

Back to School - and International Vegetarian Cooking

Those of us with school age children often have to curb our travel once the school year starts, Yes, there is Christmas break, February break for NYC public school students (aka the ski week) and Spring break, but we don't like to travel over Passover and Christmas is one of the most expensive times to travel. So we stay put more during the year, and I cook more. 

Luckily, I curbed my wanderlust with The Healthy Voyager's Global Kitchen, a vegan cookbook with recipes from around the world. Author Carolyn Scott-Hamilton, a travel writer, TV host and nutritionist, has vegan takes on a wide variety of international cuisine, form conch fritters (made with oyster mushrooms, which have the right chewiness) to Palak Paneer. You wouldn't even know that tofu subbed for cheese unless you made it.

But the point isn't to trick carnivores. The book offers vegans (and vegetarians like me, who might use regular mozzarella in the mushroom pupusas) recipes for often elusive foreign dishes. I love to try local food specialties when I'm traveling, but I'm often limited in my choices in meat-centric countries. 

With The Healthy Voyager's Global Kitchen, you can travel and not leave your dietary restrictions behind.

Giveaway: milk for the lactose intolerant

Cooking vegetarian meals for my family got more challenging when my oldest daughter stopped eating dairy. She loves cheese and milk, they just didn’t love her back.

So cream soups, cheesy lasagna and pizza were all out. Or so I thought until we tried Lactaid. This lactose-free milk looks and tastes like regular milk (it is just slightly sweeter, though without any added sugar) so we could sub this into regular recipes.

Chef Melissa d’Arabian is a mother of 4 daughters, one of whom is also lactose intolerant. She said recently that even many lactose-intolerant people, like her daughter, can eat hard cheese and yogurt. So aged cheddar and Gouda, which are quite tasty, can be eaten in small amounts.

And goat cheese has less lactose, so many people with dairy insensitivity, like my sister, can eat goat cheese.

I am also lactose intolerant, and can almost never eat ice cream. I was pleased to find out that Lactaid makes 5 flavors of lactose-free ice cream, including chocolate.

And if you like buttermik, you can make your own by adding a little vinegar to Lactaid. My kids like ranch dressing, and I found this dressing recipe on Lactaid’s website:

'Buttermilk' Dressing'

·       3/4 cup mayonnaise

11/3 cup LACTAID^® Fat Free Milk

·       1 teaspoon chopped garlic

·       1 teaspoon chopped onion

·       1/4 cup cider vinegar

·       1 teaspoon chopped parsley

·       1/4 teaspoon salt

·       1/4 teaspoon white pepper

·       2 ounces goat cheese

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until smooth. (The cheese might still be somewhat lumpy, but that is fine). Refrigerate until ready to use.

But things couldn't be easy forever. One of my daughters decided to become a vegan.

Lactaid provided me with a coupon to try a product free, and I am giving one away to a reader. To enter, please leave your email address below and tell me who in your family is lactose intolerant.

Vegetarian in Vermont: family friendly dining

The Common Ground Café, in Brattleboro, Vermont, was a Mecca for vegetarians. On any trip to Vermont, whether for skiing or biking, we detoured slightly off I-91 for interesting soups and sandwiches. Sadly, The Common Ground closed, but vegetarians can still eat well in the Green State.

For breakfast, The Hatchery, in Ludlow, has a vegan tofu scramble with avocado and salsa, that fuels you for the day’s activities. The Hatchery is only open for breakfast and lunch; lunch vegetarian choices include a grilled vegetable sandwich with spinach, mushrooms and feta, a tofu wrap with cilantro pesto and the ‘asparagui,’ with grilled asparagus, cheddar cheese, arugula and roasted peppers. On our recent family ski trip to Okemo, we had planned to have dinner one night at Harry’s Café, about 5 miles down the road from the resort. Unfortunately, we didn’t make reservations in advance and couldn’t get a table until 8:30. So this vegetarian-friendly restaurant, with a Thai night on Thursdays (and a few Thai items on the regular menu) will have to wait for another trip. Fortunately, Ludlow, a quintessential New England ski town, has other vegetarian and family friendly choices. The Cool Moose Café bills itself as a steakhouse, but t has great veggie burgers. The Bleu Moose & shrooms burger (also available in beef or chicken) has bleu cheese and mushrooms, and the tasty jacked up Philly burger includes jack cheese and cooked peppers and onions. Both are “2 napkin’ meals. There are several fish entrees, a roasted Portobello entrée and a hearty salad with local goat cheese, good greens and cranberries. Kid meals include a smaller burger, pizza and salad. Cool Moose also has a large selection of local craft beers. Coleman Brook Tavern, in the Jackson Gore Inn, is a farm to table restaurant with a few vegetarian choices. The pappardelle was loaded with fennel, roasted peppers and white beans in a wild mushroom broth. There is a filling roasted beet salad with Vermont chevre and pumpkin seeds, a Portobello strudel that works as a light appetizer and a delicious baked cheese stuffed with maple pumpkin butter and ginger-butternut squash. There’s an extensive and quite pricey wine list, great martinis and lots of single malt scotch to sip. Best of all, when you stay at the Inn, you can simply take the elevator to your room.

Cambodian Food in Boston

Ethnic cuisine is often a great bet for vegetarians who are traveling, and Elephant Walk, with 3 Boston area restaurants, is no exception.

Elephant Walk separates out Cambodian, French and vegetarian entrees, and even has gluten-free offerings. In its prix-fixe menu, it offers to make some dishes vegan or vegetarian. We were in faux-hog heaven. Spring rolls are an excellent way for kids to eat their veggies. The spring rolls at Elephant Walk had greens, shiitake mushrooms, carrots and bean sprouts, with a peanut dipping sauce. We had 2 different vegetarian curries, one redolent of ginger; both were spicy and filled with vegetables and tofu. The restaurant also made creative cocktails, and had a local IPA from Mayflower Brewing Company on tap.

Veggie Burgers in New York City

A restaurant specializing in burgers, with bison, elk, wild boar and ostrich among the protein choices may not seem like the obvious choice for a vegetarian, but Bareburger, a mini New York City chain, has extensive vegetarian, and gluten-free options.

And since I chose a vegetarian diet as an environmental choice, how can I not support a place that has all organic produce and dairy, made its tables from reclaimed wood, and sevres organic beer and wine?

Bareburger offers 11 burger choices, and vegetarians can have the vegan patty, or portabella, with any of the vegetarian toppings.

The California, with avocado and cheddar, is a classic choice, as is the classic itself, with pickle relish, smoked onions and ketchup.

If you like spicy food, try the Jalapeno Express, with pepperj ack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, jalapeno relish, horseradish mayo and chipotle ketchup.

My faves are the Pesto Red Pepper, with the portabella option, and the Mediterranean, with either veggie choice. The Pesto burger comes with smoked mozzarella, roasted red peppers, baby spinach and pesto mayo; the Mediterranean has cucumber mint yogurt, lettuce, cucumber, tomato and smoked onions.

You can also customize a burger, or add an or more cheese, for extra protein.

Bun options include a multigrain roll, brioche, or the gluten-free tapioca rice bun. There are also diet-friendly wheat or lettuce wraps.

The only vegetarian sandwich is the portabella with blue cheese; there are also salads.

I do wish you could get a baked potato instead of French fries; the fries, cooked in peanut oil, are delicious, but even our family of 5 can't finish the huge basket.

And $7 for a side of pickles is a bit steep for a place where the entrees run $10 or $11. Granted, the pickles are Rick's Pick's, and you get adorable little jars of 4 kinds, plus mediocre cole slaw (admittedly, I am not a cole slaw fan) but unless you have a pickle fetish or are eating with 7 others, you are unlikely to come close to finishing.

Cooking for Kids

Once kids learn to say “no, they often direct their negativity towards food. Anything that has a funny look, smell or feel may be rejected.

Then the parents spend hour between meal times figuring out what their picky kids can eat.

And it doesn’t necessarily go away when they grow up. My teens make sudden, random statements like “you know I don’t eat lentils,” (Really? Since when) and “Now I’m vegan” (sorry, kid, we’re vegetarians and I’m still using cheese and eggs).

But I still appreciate cookbooks designed for families, especially ones like Parents Magazine Quick & Easy Kid-Friendly Meals, which has some pretty healthy and tasty dishes.

Take the banana quinoa waffles. One of my kids loves pancakes and waffles, but has been on an anti-banana kick lately, probably from a microscopic brown spot that she spied on a seemingly ideal banana.

These, waffles, made with whole whet flour and quinoa, are even better if your banana is covered with brown spots. The banana is mashed in, so if you hide offending skin, you can easily sneak a little banana back into your kid’s diet.

Other recipes include an easy black bean soup (made with canned beans) that has undetectable sweet potato (and if you swap out the chicken broth for vegetable, the soup is vegetarian).

I’m looking forward to watermelon season and the cold watermelon soup. You serve it with raisins to look like watermelon seeds – inspired!

Corn & edamame salad and cauliflower “popcorn” roasted with olive oil and topped with Parmesan cheese will please fussy kids and adults.

Park Slope Throw Back

Before Park Slope was the home of the multi-million dollar brownstone, it had a reputation as a Brooklyn hippie haven. And Naidre's cafe fit right in. It offered vegan and gluten-free food before they were in vogue, and extras like agave to sweeten your coffee.

This low-key place, which serves breakfast and lunch, has just a few tables; you can also eat on the bench out front, or take your food to go.

Naidre's is one of the few places where you can have a vegan breakfast; steel-cut oats, coffee with soy milk, and tofu or tempeh scramble.

Unfortunately, our tofu and tempeh were cool; they would have been much better hot. And they needed a jolt of spice.

Much better choices, though not vegan, are the breakfast burrito, with eggs, or the egg sandwich. You can have this with veggie sausage for a filling breakfast.

And you can still get in touch with your inner hippie, scanning the cafe copy of Mother Jones.

Family Travel: Philadelphia Vegetarian

Mi Lah Vegetarian in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia is actually a vegan restaurant with some Chinese food but a mix of other cuisines.
A weekend brunch has breakfast quesadillas, an Indonesian dish with seitan and potatoes, and blueberry pancakes for kids.

And since you are in Philly, you can get a vegetarian version of the city’s classic cheese steak at lunch, with mushrooms, peppers and vegan cheese.

Lunch also offers a great way to sample a few things from the menu. The lunch special includes soup, an appetizer and a choice of some of the entrees.

I tried both the butternut squash/coconut soup and the cauliflower soup laced with truffle oil. The truffle gave the cauliflower richness without cream, and a haunting depth of flavor.

For appetizers, we tried the edamame dumplings, which were nothing special, but the Indonesian rolls, with seitan, were delicious. They came with an unusual basil avocado sauce, giving the dish a Mexican spin.

Our entrees were excellent. The ma-po tofu was spicy and savory and the See-U noodles had lots of vegetables.

Mi Lah is also Kosher and can make many dishes gluten free. Next time in Philly I have to try the smoked Portobello with beets and the curried cauliflower steak. Or the African nut stew…

Food on the Beach: Not just lobster rolls

Head east on July 16th for the first annual Dan's Taste of Two Forks. Over 40 restaurants from the Hamptons and the North Fork, plus over a dozen local wineries and food purveyors, will all be at Sayre Park, Bridgehampton.

Marcus Sammuelsson (Red Rooster Harlem) hosts and Good Day NY co-anchor Rosanna Scotto )whose family owns FRESCO by Scotto is Master of Ceremonies.

Babette's serves both meat and plenty of vegetarian and vegan options at its East Hampton restaurant, so check it out for vegetarian tastes. Southfork Kitchen specializes in sustainable seafood restaurant and local produce; it even has its own garden. One of the North Fork restaurants, Noah’s, serves lobster rolls and small plates.

It won’t all be healthy eating; newlywed Dylan Lauren will have a Dylan's Candy Bar table.

The event benefits East End food pantries through Have a Heart Community Trust. Buy tickets online.

Cheese Loving Vegetarian

I could never be a vegan – I love cheese too much. So I was excited to be invited to a cooking class with Top Chef Ariane Duarte and the makers of Finlandia Cheese.

Finlandia has a new Lacey Swiss, with less fat and fewer calories. They also make Swiss, light Swiss muenster and other cheeses, all made in Finland.

We helped make a rich, gooey macaroni & cheese, with chipotle paste, and mushroom & Swiss cheese tartlets. The tarts are easy to make and if your kids like mushrooms, a fun dinner.

Chef Ariane’s recipe, below, can be tweaked with the addition of some chopped spinach or broccoli – I love to sneak in some greens.

Mushroom and Finlandia Swiss Tartlets
1c shitake mushroom sliced
1c Portobello mushrooms sliced
½ c domestic button mushrooms sliced
2 shallots diced
2T olive oil
1T butter
1T chopped parsley
1c Finlandia Swiss Cheese, small dice (I made this with the low-fat Lacey Swiss and it was just as good)
1/2c parmesan
Salt & pepper
4 eggs
2 c heavy cream
36 prepared tartlet shells

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a sauté pan add butter and oil. Get hot and add shallots and mushrooms. Cook on high heat until mushrooms are brown and soft. Season with S&P. Add parsley.
In a blender add mushrooms, eggs, cream and parmesan. Blend for about 1 minute (not too smooth) Add in Swiss cheese. With a small scoop fill tartlets. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15-18 minutes.

Vegetarian Toothpaste

It may come as a shock to most people, but toothpaste typically contains detergent. It also often contains a host of other unhealthy things, like synthetic colors and flavors. But Dr. Sharp’s line of natural toothpaste has organic botanicals, no fluoride and is vegan to boot. As someone who avoids the gelatin in marshmallows and chewy candy (it’s meat!) I can truly appreciate a vegan toothpaste.

Of course, you are not supposed to eat your toothpaste, but it does go in your mouth, and fluoride toothpastes contain warnings about kids under age six using. The Dr. Sharp toothpaste is safe for kids to swallow, and the strawberry cream kids line offers a nice child-friendly flavor. If your kid has a more sophisticated palate, she can try the mint, or even the green tea flavors.

Dr. Sharps’ paraben-free paste contains no sodium lauryl sulfate or alcohol. The eco-friendly toothpaste packaging is printed with soy ink

Eating with Carnivores

Going out to dinner with another couple involves negotiations; what time should we eat, where, when? But the hardest thing for vegetarians is finding a place we want to eat that the carnivores will also like.

Thistle Hill Tavern fits the bill. The new American restaurant, in the south Slope, is committed to local and sustainable produce, dairy, seafood and meat. Locavores and foodies can find plenty to eat and drink here.

And the seasonal produce is so appealing that out meat-loving friends chose vegetarian entrees so we could all share. One salad, a fall green market salad, had speck, which we ordered on the side so we could all taste the roasted yellow beets, honey crisp apples, frisee, pumpkin seeds and pecorino. Even better, the grilled trumpet mushroom salad had 
watercress, shallots, piave vecchio and just the right amount of truffle vinaigrette.

Start with home made pickled vegetables, spicy or not, and curried pumpkin fritters, which could have used more tahini sauce. The grilled beans and charred kale give you more than your quotient of daily veggies.

The menu changes frequently, but the burger and vegan burger come with addictive salt & pepper French fries. Make sure someone in your group orders one so you can poach some fries.

Fall vegetarian entrees include a squash gratin with kale and goat cheese, and a rich pappardelle with roasted pumpkin, mushrooms and radicchio. If you eat seafood, go for the grilled octopus, served now with black lentils, olives and roasted parsnips. There are also curried mussels and Arctic Char with cauliflower.

The menu also includes an inventive cocktail list, local beers like Kelso of Brooklyn and Sixpoint on tap, and Brooklyn Oenology, Social Club Red wine, made in Queens with Long Island grapes.