When it's too fucking hot to cook

Spring Rolls are what is for dinner! I feel like this is a reoccurring theme with me where I tell you how much I used to hate something but gush about how I love it now but here goes.... Spring rolls used to gross me the fuck out. Not because of the fillings but because of the wrapping, they always me reminded me of flaccid penis. No joke. One day that all changed but don't get me wrong, they totally still remind of a limpy. A delicious and healthy limpy!

I was determined to make something cold but still filling for dinner and everything I was coming up with just wasn't tickling my fancy until I started thinking about limpies spring rolls. I set out to the grocery store and picked up all my fresh veggies and had to make a quick detour to a small local Asian market for the spring roll wraps(my grocery store doesn't carry them? wtf).


For the filling I used baby spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrots, pickled beets and mint. I got them all rolled up and chilled them for about 30 minutes to maximize the coldness.

After I got home and got all my veggies chopped I threw some sunflower seeds in the blender with some olive oil. I then mixed in some soy sauce, lemon juice, fresh ginger, apple cider vinegar, Asian chili sauce and thought it was good. Jeremy thought it wasn't hot enough so he added cayenne which really made it much better.

I made about a dozen huge rolls and dipped them in the sunflower sauce and a sweet chili sauce. We inhaled them with some fresh lemon and mint water too.  Now all I need is a Tofutti Cutie to make my cold meal complete.

Grasshopper and Gizmo meets Santa

Grasshopper is definitely the vegan restaurant I visit the most when I am in the Boston area. The portions are huge, the prices are decent, the food is always cooked to perfection and service is QUICK! The atmosphere is a little lacking and I'm always really cold when I am in there but it's a small price to pay. A lot of people I talk to either love it or could care less about it, but me, I obviously love it. Now that I think about it, I can't think of a vegan restaurant I've been to that I haven't loved. I am starting to think I am really easy to please, I always thought I was difficult. Moving on...

I recently purchased some CoupMe coupons for Grasshopper which gets your $15 worth of food for $1. Seriously? Even if you don't love the restaurant, that is a deal! I bought 5 of them, they can only be used for dine-in and it is 1 per visit, but hey, $15 is $15.

Since Jeremy and I were heading into Boston the week before last, we decided to stop over on our way home. We were both starving due to excessive drinking the night before and this is definitely the place to go for some delicious Asian comfort food. It's comfort food, to me at least.

My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach because we ended up ordering so much food. Jeremy of course finished his entire plate, plus everything I couldn't from my soup or appetizer. I took my leftover entree home though.We definitely had ourselves a feast.

We started out with the House Special Assorted Appetizer plate. That could have been a meal in itself, it had Vermicelli Rolls, Fried Wontons, Fried Dumplings, Fried Bean Cakes and Fried Spring Rolls. It was a lot of fried, but that's just what I want when I have a hangover. Everything was great, with the exception of the Bean Cake. I didn't really know what to make of it. It looked like a muffin but was really dry and didn't have much flavor.

Next was the Wonton Soup. I could have probably guzzled a gallon of the broth. It had plenty of wontons, carrots and potatoes in it. I'm not sure what they were filled with but they tasted good.

Jeremy got the Eggplant & Tofu Surprise which was really good. It reminded me of a dish we usually get at our local Thai restaurant. There were tons of eggplant, tofu, peppers and baby asparagus. The portion was so huge, I can't believe he ate the entire thing. Including his side of rice. And the rest of the appetizer and soup I couldn't finish. He is a garbage disposal.

Last but definitely not least was my entree. The dish that most people know Grasshopper for. The No Name. It is a bunch of little chunks of battered gluten fried and tossed with sweet and sour sauce, steamed veggies and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It is the perfect balance of crispiness and chewiness and is SO filling. I barely made a dent in it but I definitely took it home. It didn't last the night though, I ate the rest of the No Name when we got home a few hours later and Jeremy ate the rice.

Before our trip to Grasshopper we did stop of at the MSPCA Angell to have Gizmo's picture taken with Santa.

Vegan World and Vegan Mofo!

Hey peeps! Long time no blog! My laptop is hating me lately so it's with the IT guy at my office being fixed. I am currently blogging from my sister's laptop in sunny California! I am so excited to be here, this trip is years overdue. I flew in Thursday afternoon and after a 6 hour flight I was definitely ready for some food.

We started Thursday with a quick meal at Vegan World in Studio City. The inside is a little rundown looking but still very clean. When I say rundown I mean that it could certainly use a coat of paint, some new counters, and a fresh look. Also, they have a picture menu up on the wall with very poor and outdated photographs. It certainly doesn't do the food any justice at all. But, the menu is pretty large and very cheap.

I got the Beef Burger and added avocado and soy cheese and my sister got the Pepper Steak Burger. They were both a little salty but very delicious. The "beef" was little pieces, not a patty like you would expect.

I spoke with the owner because I wanted to know what kind of meat alternatives they were using because I went to an Asian vegan restaurant here in Mass before and the "meat" was very similar and they purchase from May Wah. She told me they get it from USA Soy Meat. I couldn't find anything online about them and she did have a very hard to understand accent so I could also be mistaken.

The burger was so good but the Thai Iced Tea we got was even better. I love going to Thai restaurants and the one thing I miss is being able to have it because it's made with dairy. Today is my last full day in LA and I have lots planned for it. I am hopefully meeting up with a fellow PPKer for lunch, doing some shopping and spending some quality time with my sis when she gets out of work. I do have a Halloween post that I am going to do but not until I get back to the East Coast.

Also, today is the beginning of Vegan MoFo! For the entire month, vegan bloggers like myself blog at least 5 times a week but many aim for everyday. This is my first year participating and I am very excited. I have some awesome things planned so stay tuned!