Restaurant Review: Green

Last weekend before going out to see some good music, we stopped in at Green for a date night dinner out. Green is an excellent local restaurant in South Scottsdale, and it is completely vegetarian. We go pretty often, but I thought I would take a moment for a proper review.

This is a hip joint. There are always a bunch of cool kids hanging out and eating delicious vegetarian eats. There’s a neat indie local, sustainable vibe going on that helps make the whole environment so slick.

First of all, always check the board for specials (it’s above the cash register so you can’t miss it). The specials are a great opportunity to get some neat food and some of my Green faves have been from there. Next, be aware that you have to wait in line to order, get a number, and food will be brought to your table. Beverages are self serve either via a cup or getting a specialty soda out of the cooler on your way to the register.

As for appetizers, I am a huge fan of the Artichoke Gratine and the Spicy Buffalo Wings – that’s right wings. Through the magic of science, technology, and hippie ingenuity, we have the pleasures of fake meats. And at Green they are the best. Period. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it to date, but I am allergic to chicken. Since I only found this out a couple of years ago, and at the time I was eating the sweet bird probably twice a day, I miss it. I particularly miss it when it’s drenched in Buffalo sauce.

Green, however, manages to make an excellent Buffalo Chicken meal, whether it be wings or the “G” Sandwich (Buffalo Chicken sandwich) (I prefer it with the veggie ranch over the veggie mayo as I think that mayo is gross). Simply delicious. I think that various Asian noodle dishes are good, though not always for me, but the Oricciette pasta is always a winner. If offered a side, go for the Thyme fries. They are super skinny (sacrilege) but delicious. When we went, we got the wings and I paired it with a Balsamic Picnic Salad (small, no figs). It’s a great meal for going out because it’s light and gives you lots of great energy.

So basically, everything we have had here is good, if not great, if not phenomenal. The only thing we haven’t liked is the pizza. Soy cheese is an acquired taste that we just don’t have, but you might, so proceed as desired. The meat is fantastic here, but the cheeses are not my bag – I just love real cheese too much.

While I didn’t that day, I usually end the meal with a Tsoynami. They’re huge, wicked excellent soy blizzards. I have had everything from birthday cake to tiramisu to strawberry shortcake. Get one.

Plus, how can you not love a restaurant that does this. Love it. Even Muad’ Dib would approve.

Green to the Right

Green Up Above

Numbero 21 esta aqui

Yes, More Chips Please

One of the things I have yet to mention with all of my foodiness is that my husband, while a lover of good food, is vegetarian.

This can make things a little difficult sometimes when I am planning meals (or dreaming of giant beef roasts). At first, I was pretty terrible with the fake meats. Mostly the fake meats would just make me angry. I sort of had to learn the hard way that there was nothing to actually cook in the meat substitutes. You just had to defrost and/or heat. At this point, I’m fairly well versent in the varietals of fake meat brands and flavors and have (mostly) given up on trying to cook them.

Tonight, I was making organic meat n’ potatoes burritos and so I decided to try something a little different. I made a little onion, garlic, oregano, chile, and cilantro collection in some vegetable oil and then let that cook until thick. At that point, I split off some of the batch and put it into a different pan. Into the primary pan, I put some more of the delicious grass fed beef and let that begin to cook. In the other pan, I threw in some meatless ground and mixed it up, sort of letting it sit and hopefully soak in some of the juices.

While these were cooking, I cut the mixed (red, white, purple, yellow?) fingerling potatoes from McClendons and threw them in some hot oil with a dash of California Pepper from Penzey’s and a pinch of salt. I grated some cheese, cut an avocado and a little more roasted green chile as garnishes.

As the meats finished (essentially at the same time), I set things out, all prepped for yumminess.

I had stopped at Mango’s on Main Street and splurged and some fresh tortillas and chips and salsa. Despite it being burro night, I was more interested in the chips, and slathering a fresh tortilla in butter, my meat and potatoes carefully arranged on the side of the plate.

I feel like making the onion/garlic mix first was really useful in helping to make me feel like I was actually cooking my husband’s meal. I’ve often felt that the fake meats were just sort of a cheat. He tells me that the flavor was essentially the same (last time I had actually cheated and used *gasp* Trader Joe’s taco spice mix to flavor his meatless ground.) Still, though, while more time consuming, I feel like the added step was worth it in that it helped me to better judge how to make the fake meat seem like part of a dish rather than a weird vegetable condiment.

The more I cook, the more I like making more dishes, and that has gone a long way in making extra entrees fun. As I’m still battling my sinuses and hiding from the unusual cold and wind outside, it’s time to say goodnight as my day and my dinner is done. Have a good night and a fabulous bowl of chips of your own.

Restaurant Review: Los Favoritos

First you have the chips smothered with beans

Then you add the carne asada and sour cream

Red or Green are available

The red had a sweetness I wasn’t expecting

While I didn’t like the styrofoam, I liked the image.

This past week, in my food adventures, I forgot to mention an excursion to local Gilbert fast-food Mexican joint, Los Favoritos. I was immediately struck by the interior of the restaurant, because that’s what it felt like to me, a restaurant. The tables and chairs were real and so were the decorations and the paintings on the walls. It seemed legit, but just happened to serve your classic Filibertos-style Mexican food. I had gone, not having brought lunch, thinking I would try my signature menu item at places like this: 3 rolled tacos with cheese and guacamole.

The interior gave me new hope, however, and so I sprung for the Super Nachos. Super Nachos, are a sort of conglomeration of flavors, each usually made better by it’s proximity to the next. I can’t say that Los Favoritos had a spectacular version. Each layer was placed directly on top of the other, creating a layer of uber-topped chips while the rest remained dry and without topping. I think the chips, while hot, were fried in oil that had been going for a while (or the weekend) because while it wasn’t bad, there was a flavor to them that wasn’t purely chips. The meat was average, if not good, but not amazing, and I did like the guacamole quite a bit.

Really, the whole dish was decent, but not fantastic, and while I would go back to try other things, I don’t think I would go back for the Super Nachos. I will note that I was disappointed to see the Horchata coming out of a soda fountain rather than a jar, or something. I understand the juegos mexicanos are a pain, but I’d rather just have regular soda available that sub-par juices and horchata. The salsas were pretty good, though not too hot and a little sweet.

While I wasn’t thrilled with my meal, I got the feeling that I hadn’t ordered the right thing. In Counter Intelligence, Jonathan Gold talks about being sure to order the specialty or to account for the regional flavors and skills of the cooks. Obviously the Super Nachos was neither. So, I think I’ll try again – another lunch perhaps – and see what there is to offer – this time being more real and more honest about what I expect from them and what they expect from me as a member of the suburban Gilbert lunch crowd. Also, I’ll eat in instead of getting take-out. Crunchiness is a valuable commodity in fast Mexican foods. Here’s to spicing things up and giving a new restaurant a second chance.

Product Review: Cheez Puffs

This afternoon, during our Pathfinder session, I pulled out my contribution to our gaming snacks – a bag of Cheez Balls. It was a bag, as opposed to the well known blue canister with yellow top. Also, the bag had a cartoon crocodile wearing sunglasses on it. Sadly, I did not think to take a photo before the bag was empty and in the trash.

Let me tell you…a page taken from childhood was revisited. It was delicious corn crunch. It was delicious cheese taste. It was delicious atomic orange powder becoming weirdly sticky on your fingers at the slightest hint of humidity.

I think that everyone was pretty excited to eat them, and I think we all tried at least one (before, you know, finishing off an entire bag in maybe 20 minutes). While I am not prepared to make Cheez Balls a recurring item on my grocery list, they were completely and totally a blast from the past bit of deliciousness and I loved every cheezy crunchy airy moment. Go ahead. Buy a bag. It’s worth all two dollars and ninety-eight cents on sale. You’ll be happy you did.