Nourishing Spoon

What does a gluten-free, vegan do when she doesn't have enough time to prepare her lunch in the a.m.? Two options: a. Go hungry; or b. Contribute to the abundance of the national economy by eating out!  There's hope - being Cinco de Mayo, I was craving for something Mexican, but that was short-lived when my friends were too busy.  So I opted for the next best - something spicy, something close by and with PROTEIN and not saturated with FAT.  I went to Chickpea.  I like that name, sounds like a cute baby store or something of that sort.  Their falafels are BAKED - not fried! Yum!  Love those little spinach-broccoli ones. They are full of flavor and texture and go so well with the basil hummus or tahini.  I got the falafel nuggets sans pita.  The tahini and hummus are vegan and dairy-free. The basil hummus simply melts in your mouth! If you are ever looking for a quick snack, a side order of five falafel bites is onl...

As far as I can remember, back to when I was a little girl, we were always vegetarian on Mondays.  Monday is Lord Shiva's Day and worshippers of Lord Shiva abstain from eating meat, fish or eggs on that day. My mother is a true believer in Lord Shiva and she was blessed (?) with me on Mahashivratri, which is Lord Shiva's birthday! Growing up, if it was Monday, it meant dahl rice (lentil soup with basmati rice) and potato tikis (similar to latkes)! When I first came across "Meatless Mondays," I was curious about the site and read more about it -  http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ Meatless Mondays is a non-profit initiative in association with John Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health. I encourage you to become meatless on Mondays for improving your own health and the health of the planet. Byran Walsh's article in the Times  mentions that "The meal plan of the average American family accounts for 2.8 tons of C...