Northstar Cafe

Northstar Cafe, located in the Short North in Columbus is my all-time favorite restaurant. They classify their food as "New American Cuisine with a healthful influence on organic ingredients." I have only been there for dinner, but they also serve a brunch that I have heard is AMAZING! This is a staple restaurant my dad and I always go to when I am in town. He is not generally into the "organic" movement, but he really likes Northstar.

There are many menu options Menu that are vegetarian and about half of the menu can be prepared meat and dairy free! Although Tuesday, when I went, I ordered the Buddha Bowl (organic tofu, long grain brown rice with peanut sauce and bright veggies) vegan, and they said the peanut sauce has honey in it. I had it anyway..because..it's not june yet.

Every time I come, I get a rice bowl,and I have tried them all. I can't get the Korma Bowl any more because it comes with a curry cream sauce (which is to die for by the way). But the square meal is delicious as well. The rice/bean/avocado mix makes it so creamy!

My dad, is more adventurous than me when ordering but now he usually sticks with the flatbread pizzas. Tuesday, he ordered a veggie flatbread. It was sooo good but..not vegan with the cheese =[ . If you are ever in Columbus and are looking for a healthy restaurant with a great atmosphere in the heart of downtown, check out Northstar! Guaranteed you will love it!The best news of all....NORTHSTAR WILL BE OPENING AT EASTON THIS FALL!!! YAY for healthy lunch during a day of shopping!

Vegan Baking??

To preface the post, I want to start out by saying..I'm not the best baker. I can cook up anything and it's usually pretty good, but when it comes to baking..I ALWAYS mess things up. So needless to say..my vegan "chocolate chip" cookie turned out interesting.

I found the recipe on vegweb.com called Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am aware that chocolate is not animal friendly because it has milk in it, so the recipe called for carob chips as a substitute. A carob chip which is produced from the carob plant, looks just like a chocolate chip but tastes more bitter and nuttier.

Even though I am a terrible baker and I was using fake chocolate, I think the cookies turned out surprisingly well! They are not too sweet which is what I prefer anyway. I have let some friends try them and the general consensus is "dislike" and "this tastes too healthy" but I think you either love them or hate them. I was going to bring them to work today, but there were only 3 left this morning so they cant be that bad! I am impressed with my baking ability here, so I will try more in the future!

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp.salt
cinnamon to taste (I used a lot)
carob chips
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. Add chips. Make a well in the center and set aside.
3. In a medium size bowl mix raw sugar and oil. Mix it well. Add the vanilla and then add the water. Mix it well.
4. Add the wet to the well in the dry. Mix it well but be careful not to overwork it. Add more chips if you need to.
5. Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Put them in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes and then flip and rotate the sheets.(top to bottom,and 180 degree rotation) Bake another 4 minutes and check them.

The cookies are done when they seem a little bit softer then you want them to be.

May 10, 2010 - A New Beginning

Today is the day. Annie McDonnell a fellow vegetarian at Kent and I have decided we are going to try out being vegan for a month. The official start date is June 1st, 2010. Until then, I will eat my remaining bag of shrimp, finish my eggs and gorge on sushi!

I have considered going vegan for about 6 months now. I read Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet" and wanted to take the final steps to go vegan. Unfortunately, being a college student in a small town has prevented this from happening. There is one Natural Food Co-op that is smaller than Starbucks and is pretty expensive.

I graduate on Saturday and am moving home to Columbus. A much bigger city with tons of vegetarian/vegan restaurants makes me think this might be possible. Also, the availability and, in turn, affordability of natural, organic products makes this more feasible now. Granted I will still miss sushi..and chocolate..and eggs..but I can do it, at least for a month.

WISH ANNIE AND I LUCK!