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Last Night’s Leftovers: Lunch Edition

July 16, 2014 0

New lunch destinations to try [Eater] Where to find and how to make granita this summer [Post] Squid ink cocktails are on the rise. [Zagat] Washington Firehouse turns historic building into Bloomingdale restaurant. [WBJ] Free veggie dogs today from PETA reps clad in lettuce bikinis [Washingtonian] The Navy Yard Oyster Company coming to the Capitol Riverfront. […]

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Drinkable Quinoa Exists And Everything Is Officially Wrong In The World

July 16, 2014 0

Just when you thought quinoa couldn’t get any more obnoxious, drinkable quinoa entered the world. A company called NUWI has just introduced NUWI Quinoa Snacks, a liquid snack of blended quinoa with fruit and vegetables. Remember when yogurt became a drinkable snack? It’s kind of like that, but worse.

The first drinkable quinoa flavors are Apple, Banana, Strawberry and Blueberry, and according to a press release, savory flavors like Carrot & Ginger, Split Peas and Tomato are coming soon. We can hardly wait.

There are so many things wrong with this snack, we don’t really know where to begin. For one, quinoa is delicious when eaten as a solid. It’s light but satisfying, fluffy yet hearty, and it tastes great in sweet (think breakfast) and savory dishes. Turning quinoa into a liquid totally eliminates its unique texture, and we can only imagine what it would do to the taste.

Second, in a press release about NUWI Quinoa Snacks, co-founder of NUWI Gabriel Poblet Maristany describes quinoa as a grain. Sorry, Gabriel, but the part of quinoa that we eat is really a seed. “People are often hesitant at first about this product because it’s unfamiliar territory. But if you stop and think about it, people drink their fruits and vegetables in smoothies and pressed juices, why not drink your grains?” asks Maristany. It’s a fair question, but for one, we like chewing out grains. Fruits and vegetables lend themselves to smoothies because of their high water content, which makes them blender- and juicer-friendly. Grains, not so much. More importantly, quinoa just ain’t a grain, no matter which way you cut it — or liquify it (it’s the seed of a grain).

We thought the quinoa trend peaked at quinoa whiskey. How wrong we were.

NUWI Quinoa Snacks are available for $2.99 per drink in stores in the New York metro area like Whole Foods Market, Gristedes and Fairway.

Here are other places you can find NUWI Quinoa Snacks, according to NUWI’s Facebook page…

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The Next Generation Of Travel Mugs Will Blow Your Mind

July 16, 2014 0

Are you a coffee fiend? Do you find yourself always en route somewhere? Have you had food or drink spill in your purse/backpack/messenger bag more than once? If you answered yes to all of those questions, you are just the customer for Smash Cup.

The …

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Here’s Another Way You Never Considered Peeling A Mango

July 16, 2014 0

Mangoes are tricky. They have really thin skin that is difficult to peel off and a huge, flat pit running right down the middle that gets in the way of everything. But a new food hack might have just convinced us that mangoes might not be as inaccessib…

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The Brooklyn Shop That’s Nailing The Next Must-Try Indian Condiment

July 16, 2014 0

As food lovers, we regularly go to great lengths to seek out something new, sometimes spending hours in pursuit of little-known flavors, exotic ingredients and one-of-a-kind dining experiences. And once in a while, a new food product comes along that totally steals our hearts. The latest find: A tiny operation called Brooklyn Delhi whose achaars we just can’t get enough of. Otherwise known as Indian pickles, achaars are something like a relish that accompany all kinds of food. They consist of chopped up vegetables or fruits mixed with oils and spices and can come in a variety of flavors and tastes, from sweet to sour to spicy. Achaars are used alongside rice, dal, curry or yogurt all over India, and the ones from Brooklyn Delhi are absolutely addictive.

While achaar is a common condiment throughout India, it isn’t always easy to find in the U.S. The achaars that are available tend to be very oily and they rarely use fresh ingredients. Enter Chitra Agrawal, founder and owner of Brooklyn Delhi, and her fiancé Ben Garthus. After bringing home some achaar from a trip to India, Agrawal introduced the stuff to her then-boyfriend, Garthus, who became instantly hooked. Agrawal and Garthus realized that achaar in the U.S. was not only difficult to find but lacking in comparison to the kind from India. So the pair decided to take matters into their own hands — literally.

Agrawal started making her own achaar with ingredients found locally in Brooklyn, and Garthus, a designer and sculptor, designed the packaging. Agrawal makes her achaar at St. John’s Bread and Life, a soup kitchen, food pantry and social services non-profit in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She works closely with Christy Robb, the organization’s food services director, making the relishes and employing some of the St. John’s workers to do so. It’s a win-win for both parties, and a great example of community synergy.

In addition to operating her own business and working with St. John’s Bread and Life, Agrawal also teaches Indian cooking classes, hosts supper club dinners and blogs at The ABCDs of Cooking. It was actually at one of her cooking classes years ago that Agrawal made her first batch of achaar. (She has been working on and perfecting a variety of flavors ever since.) And if that weren’t enough, her cookbook, South Indian Home Cooking Using Local Ingredients, is slated for release by Ten Speed Press in March of 2016.

When she launched Brooklyn Delhi in December 2013, Agrawal was committed to using local ingredients, like the ones in her newest flavor, Rhubarb Ginger, which she gets from New York-based Samascott Orchards and Wilcklow Orchards, and Pennsylvania-based Willow Wisp Organic Farm. Like all of the relishes, the Rhubarb Ginger flavor was developed according to what was available locally, and inspired by flavors Agrawal grew up eating. This particular achaar — a spicy one — was based on the mango pickles common in Southern India, where Agrawal’s mother is from. (Her dad is from Northern India, so she has both influences, combined with her American background.)

In addition to being small-batch, fresh and local, Brooklyn Delhi’s relishes are extremely versatile — the achaars goes just as well with quesadillas as they do dosas — bridging Indian cuisine with many others. Fort Greene-based market The Greene Grape serves a sandwich with the Rhubarb Ginger achaar mixed with mayonnaise, for example.

You can find us using the Roasted Garlic Achaar with grilled chicken and the Tomato Achaar on eggs, dal and couscous. Move over, Sriracha. It’s all about achaar.

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Edible Wrappers Let You Eat Cupcakes With Reckless Abandon

July 16, 2014 0

Gone are the days of delicately peeling back your favorite cupcake’s wrapper as you slowly savor all that sugar and butter. Now, you can pop a whole one in you mouth a la Garfield — without giving it a second thought.

Dr. Oetker, a European sweets co…