gone fishing

other priorities in my life are competing for my time - and winning. so for now, i'm closing up shop. maybe inspiration will strike when the growing season starts.
until then,
h

rad dog meatless gourmet hotdogs

i love street food. and i love hot dogs. so when i heard about a new vegetarian hot dog vendor in town, i had to check it out.
rad dog veggie hot dogs doesn't disappoint, i think this is as good as vegetarian hot dogs get. a friend and i ate our dogs on a high street bench and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace in the old lunch routine.
rad dog offers kraut, chili or peppers & onions for toppings in addition to the standard ketchup, mustard and relish. they also offer blue sky soda (made with real sugar!) and delicious vegan cookies from pattycake bakery. yummy, cheap, healthy and fun! rad dog moves around town, so check out his website to see where you can catch him.

sweet summer treats

often life gets too busy for me to visit my parents in western new york as often as i'd like. however, the fourth of july is one holiday i try never to miss. when i was growing up, christmas and the fourth of july were the two holidays our entire family got together. both holidays are filled with great food traditions and memories, but the fourth is my favorite for one reason - cherries. i have really fond memories of picking cherries with my mom and grandparents as a child, memories i've been lucky to recreate as an adult.

so this year when my parents and i loaded into the car and drove out into the country in search of u-pick cherries, the news that almost the entire sweet cherry crop had been destroyed by hail came as a big disappointment. but we were determined to pick something, so we headed out to find the next best crop that was in season - raspberries.
we found raspberries to pick and in one fun, sweaty and sticky hour, we picked about six pounds. we ate a good bit while picking and back at the house, about a pound was turned into raspberry sauce and eaten over ice cream and the rest went onto cookie sheets to be frozen and then stored in bags for enjoying later.
the cherries, strawberries (and corn, peas and tomatoes) were purchased at the farm stands we stopped at along the way to locate a farm that offered u-pick raspberries. - a tasty price we were happy to pay. this cute little robin's nest was right in the middle of a large raspberry bush!

the hulk

when i want something yummy, easy, good for you, and satisfying, this dish really fits the bill. i usually make "the hulk" pasta on sunday evening and parse it out for lunches that week. i call it "the hulk" for two reasons: as a tribute to a bonotogo pizza called the "hulk" that is topped with green toppings and because this is a really nutritionally dense dish that will make you as strong as the hulk.

the hulk pasta

1 lb whole wheat pasta (or barilla plus, which i prefer)
1/2 lb frozen edemame
1/2 lb frozen broccoli
1/2 cup prepared pesto (i like trader joe's)
pecorino romano

cook pasta, with 4ish minutes left, add broccoli and edemame to pot. drain and return to pot. add pesto. top with pecorino romano when serving.

akai hana wakes me up in the middle of the night

here it is, my kryptonite - the sweet potato tempura roll at akai hana. i know it's not hardcore, but i don't eat sushi to be a bad ass. you'll never see me order uni. yuck.

the sweet potato roll consists of radish sprouts (cute and tasty!), spicy mayo (yes please!) and sweet potato tempura (does it get better?) just thinking about it starts a powerful craving. it's such a pleasing combination of tastes and textures. the sweet and crispy potato plays perfectly against the creamy spicy mayo and the slight crunch and bite of the radish sprouts.
here's a peek at akai hana's party boat for four. who doesn't love a boat filled with sushi and delivered to your table? the service and atmosphere at akai hana are great, just be sure to call for a reservation if you'd like a table on the weekend.

akai hana
1173 old henderson road
columbus, ohio 43220
614.451.5411

tweet!

for a few months i've been twittering, so if you'd like to tune in to what's on my mind 24/7, check me out: http://twitter.com/sopressata

twitter is a microblogging site that i almost exclusively update via my smartphone. it's what i'm thinking and doing in 140 characters or less, which is almost always food related.