sushi

Dinner Was A Deal, But What An Expensive Nap

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Yesterday afternoon the Hubz declared that last night would be date night, and who am I to pass up on date night.  We decided to do dinner and a movie since we have been talking about going to the movies for weeks now and there was finally something that we both wanted to see.

How could I pass up a date with this hunk?

Since we are trying to be more frugal with our dining out we decided to use one of our Living Social deals to Asiana Noodle Shop, a favorite spot of ours where I usually get a giant bowl of noodle and vegetable soup that I could fit my whole head in.  Last night neither of us were in the mood for noodles so we flipped to the back of their extensive menu and decided to both get sushi.

Neil got the

Vegan Chirashi  
Shitake Mushroom, Sweet potato, Seaweed, Oshinko, Kampyo, Tofu, Yamagobo, Asparagus ,Wakame, Spinach, Avocado, Cucumber and Tofu skin

It was so delicious and came with a bowl of miso soup that he kindly shared with me.

I ordered the Union Maki which was so delicious and MASSIVE but don’t worry I had no trouble eating the whole thing, I even ate the salad on the side.  I was hoping that Asiana had a description of the roll on their online menu but they don’t seem to but basically it was filled with asparagus, fried tofu, cucumber and sesame peanut sauce rolled and topped with tofu skin and avocado- DELICIOUS!

After dinner we walked around, popped in Stone Soup for a vegan macaroon and then we were off to the movies to see Margin Call.


So this is when I proceeded to have the most expensive nap of my life.  The movie cost $9.25 (remember the good ol’days when movies were like $5?) well I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The movie wasn’t bad or boring so much as just really slow and not that exciting.  I decided it just wasn’t a theater movie for me.  I would have done so much better watching it at home while multitasking.  The Hubz on the other hand really enjoyed the movie, he agreed that at times it was really slow moving but he really enjoyed all the character development.

Have you ever fallen asleep at the movies? 

Local Dining: HJ House

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After a crazy day at work the Hubz and I decided to take ourselves out to a new(er) restaurant, HJ House,  in downtown Burlington. This little hole in the wall restaurant opened a few months ago and each time we walk past it we always say to each other “I wonder how it is.”  Well a few weeks ago we were talking with the owner of a local organic nursery and she was telling us how it was good and inexpensive; we were sold and finally tried it tonight.

As soon as we sat I made sure to ask which ramen bowls were vegan and we were directed to the Vegetable Ramen Bowl and the Curry Vegetable Ramen Bowl.  The Hubz and I both ordered the curry one as well as an inari roll and avocado roll. I loved that they gave you the option to have brown rice in the sushi roll; which of course we got.

We started off with some complimentary tea that tasted meh okay not my favorite.

Our sushi rolls which were good but over priced compared to other sushi spots in town.

The Curry Vegetable Ramen was good; I loved that it was filled with veggies and seaweed- a pleasant surprise.  The flavor was good but  I don’t think I would order the curry one again because the flavor just got to be a little old after awhile, but that’s okay I really didn’t need all the broth anyways.

Overall the we liked the HJ House and will go back again for ramen, however for sushi we will go else where.

I’ve Died and Gone to Sushi Heaven

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The Hubz and I started our weekend with a trip to Miya’s Sushi in New Haven CT. I just happened to find out on Friday morning that my friend Lisa is 105 Academy right now with Bun the owner of Miya’s. Well she must have put in a good word because when we arrived at the restaurant later that evening for dinner they rolled out the red carpet.  We were spoiled rotten with amazing food and drinks all night.  I honestly can’t tell you everything we ate because there was so much that I forget.  However I did photograph it all so you can see all the beautiful amazing food we ate.  One of the items that was our favorite that you can see in the first row of photos is the vegan Toyko Fro- it’s these yummy fried potatoes with a creamy sauce on top – it was to die for.  Also yummy was the pumpkin miso soup; I had never experienced anything like it and if I was able to I’d eat it everyday.

As for the sushi, we were treated to a number of small samples of different rolls and they were all absolutely amazing and unfortunately I can’t remember all the names.  I do however know that I was in love with all of the ones with roasted garlic it was a yummy surprise in every bite. You really can’t go wrong ordering any of the vegan sushi at Miya’s because it is all delicious and super inventive.  Now that I know Bun is at raw school at 105 Degrees I will be curious to see if he adds any raw vegan dishes/sushi to his menu.

If you haven’t already figured it out Miya’s is the best sushi I have ever had and I would gladly move to New Haven just to eat there everyday. I encourage anyone visiting, passing through or if you just live within a 5 hour radius to jump in their car and go there now and get yourself some amazing sushi.

Miya's Sushi- New Haven, CT

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Friday night my husband and I had one of the most amazing meals of our lives. It was one of those meals that not only had amazing food but was topped off with the best service and experience at a restaurant that we have ever had.  Prior to our trip away I had contacted Bun the owner of Miya’s Sushi about the vegan options as well as what was included in a vegan platter.  He quickly responded back to me to give him to tell him how much we would like to spend and that he would put together a great vegan spread for us.  Before we left he followed up on our reservation and told me to just let one of the guys know when we got there that we had a special vegan meal waiting for us.  Much to our delight we were seated, ordered our drinks and then the food just started to come out.  It was the best feeling to just sit down and not have to worry about what we were going to order and it was an exciting adventure to see what dish would be coming out next. Below are photos with descriptions of all of our dishes we had (we had 8 samples of vegan sushi rolls and I can’t remember what they all were):

sweet mother’s milk: a whole steamed artichoke served with our sauce made from spicy homemade middle eastern pureed jalapeno makdoos.

 

A vegan version of: tokyo fro- hip hop is the most popular music of japanese youth & has made the afro tokyo's most popular hairstyle; to have japanese hair processed into an afro costs over a thousand dollars at a trendy hair stylist. this recipe was inspired by the afro; it looks & tastes exactly like a japanese processed fro, drizzled with a delicious chef secret sauce.

Vegan version of Tokyo Fro: hip hop is the most popular music of japanese youth & has made the afro tokyo's most popular hairstyle; to have japanese hair processed into an afro costs over a thousand dollars at a trendy hair stylist. this recipe was inspired by the afro; it looks & tastes exactly like a japanese processed fro, drizzled with a delicious chef secret sauce.

 

 

 

Deep Fried Spinach

 

An assortment of amazing veggie sushi rolls - I think there were 8

A tasting of 8 vegan sushi rolls

 

Overall the food was amazing, the atmosphere was fun and the staff were great.  Although Bun was not he created a magical experience for the two of us and I can’t wait to return for some more sushi. 

Vegan Mofo #10: Pecan Nori Rolls

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My hubz and I have been craving sushi for awhile now, however as well all know that because of the rice it can take a little extra time to prep- making this not a spur of the moment dish. However, if you have some pecans on hand suddenly rice is replaced with pecan pate and if anything is even more delicious! 

 

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My favorite recipe for this comes from http://glivng.com and is Vanessa Sherwood’s Recipe

Nori Rolls 
with Pecan Paté, Spicy Miso, and Fresh Veggies (raw)

(http://gliving.com/nori-rolls-with-pecan-pate/) by GreenChef Vanessa Sherwood

 

For the pecan paté:

2 Cups Pecans

1/3 Cup Minced Red Onion

1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 Teaspoons Nama Shoyu

2 Teaspoons Cold Pressed Sesame Oil

 

Place the pecans into a food processor. Process until you have small crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse chop in.

For the Rolls:

1 Normal Avocado, Sliced

Hand Full of Sprouts (I used cucumber instead because I was all out of sprouts)

1 Normal Red Bell Pepper, Julienned

2 TablespoonsDark Miso Mixed with 1/4 Teaspoon cayenne

Nama shoyu and wasabi powder for dipping

To Assemble:

Spread 1 teaspoon of the spicy miso on a sheet of nori. Smear 2-3 tablespoons of the pate evenly across the bottom third of the nori sheet leaving 1 inch of nori sheet exposed at the bottom. Top with cucumber(or sprouts) , red bell pepper and avocado slices. Make sure to lay the sliced vegetables horizontally to make the rolling easier.

Fold the bottom of the sheet up and over the ingredients tucking the edge under the ingredients and roll all the way up. Before you get to the end, you may want to moisten the top edge of the nori sheet with a little water and then roll shut. This will keep it from opening up.

Cut the roll in half  (or in bite sized pieces) and put on a plate. Serve with some nama shoyu mixed with wasabi powder if desired.